就在當天，我把這次談話的一部分告訴了康塞爾和尼德-蘭，這使他們立即發生興趣。當我讓他們知道，兩天時我們就要進入地中海的時候，康塞爾高興得拍手，尼德-蘭聳一聳肩，喊道：
THE SAME DAY, I reported to Conseil and Ned Land that part of the foregoing conversation directly concerning them. When I told them we would be lying in Mediterranean waters within two days, Conseil clapped his hands, but the Canadian shrugged his shoulders.
“1條海底地道！一條兩海之間的通路！誰曾聽說過呢？”
"An underwater tunnel!" he exclaimed. "A connection between two seas! Who ever heard of such malarkey!"
“尼德好朋友，”康塞爾回答，“您曾聽說過諾第留斯號嗎？沒有，可是它是存在的。所以，就是輕輕的聳肩也用不着，不要以為您從沒有聽說過，您就來反對說沒有了。”
"Ned my friend," Conseil replied, "had you ever heard of the Nautilus? No, yet here it is! So don't shrug your shoulders so blithely, and don't discount something with the feeble excuse that you've never heard of it."
尼德-蘭搖搖頭，立即答道：“我們瞧著吧！我巴不得相信有這條地道，相信這位船長，並且願蒼天讓他把我們帶到地中海。”
"We'll soon see!" Ned Land shot back, shaking his head. "After all, I'd like nothing better than to believe in your captain's little passageway, and may Heaven grant it really does take us to the Mediterranean."
當天晚上，在緯度21度30分，諾第留斯號浮在水面上，挨近阿拉伯海岸。我望見奇達，這是埃及、敘利亞、土耳淇和印度之間的重要市場。
The same evening, at latitude 21 degrees 30' north, the Nautilus was afloat on the surface of the sea and drawing nearer to the Arab coast. I spotted Jidda, an important financial center for Egypt, Syria, Turkey, and the East Indies. I could distinguish with reasonable clarity the overall effect of its buildings, the ships made fast along its wharves, and those bigger vessels whose draft of water required them to drop anchor at the port's offshore mooring. The sun, fairly low on the horizon, struck full force on the houses in this town, accenting their whiteness. Outside the city limits, some wood or reed huts indicated the quarter where the bedouins lived.
不久，奇達在晚間的陰影中看不見了，諾第留斯號潛入微帶磷光的海水中。
Soon Jidda faded into the shadows of evening, and the Nautilus went back beneath the mildly phosphorescent waters.
第二天，2月10日，出現好幾隻船，向着我們開來。諾第留斯號又潛入水中航行，中午，在地圖上記錄船的方位時候，海面上什麼也沒有，它於是又浮上來，一直露出浮標線。
The next day, February 10, several ships appeared, running on our opposite tack. The Nautilus resumed its underwater navigating; but at the moment of our noon sights, the sea was deserted and the ship rose again to its waterline.
我坐在平台上，有尼德-蘭和康塞爾陪着。東岸好像有一大塊東西，在濕霧中隱約顯現。
With Ned and Conseil, I went to sit on the platform. The coast to the east looked like a slightly blurred mass in a damp fog.
我們靠在小艇側面，大家隨便地說東道西，正談的時候，尼德-蘭伸手指着海上的一點，對我說：
Leaning against the sides of the skiff, we were chatting of one thing and another, when Ned Land stretched his hand toward a point in the water, saying to me:
“教授，您看見那邊的東西嗎？”
"See anything out there, professor?"
“沒有，尼德，”我回答，“我的眼睛不好，您是知道的。”
"No, Ned," I replied, "but you know I don't have your eyes."
“好好地看一下，”尼德-蘭又說，“那右舷前頭，差不多在探照燈的同一直線上！您看不見那塊好像動的東西嗎？”
"Take a good look," Ned went on. "There, ahead to starboard, almost level with the beacon! Don't you see a mass that seems to be moving around?"
“是的，”我仔細地看一下說，“我望見水面上有一個灰黑色的長東西。”
"Right," I said after observing carefully, "I can make out something like a long, blackish object on the surface of the water."
“是另一隻諾第留斯號嗎？”康塞爾說。
"A second Nautilus?" Conseil said.
“不是，”加拿大人說，“或者我弄錯了，或者那是一隻海牛動物。”
"No," the Canadian replied, "unless I'm badly mistaken, that's some marine animal."
“紅海中有鯨魚嗎？”康塞爾問。
"Are there whales in the Red Sea?" Conseil asked.
“有的，老實人，”我回答，“人們有時碰得見呢。”
"Yes, my boy," I replied, "they're sometimes found here."
“那不是鯨魚，“尼德-蘭回答，同時目不轉晴地盯住那東西，“鯨魚和我，我們是老相識，它們的形狀我決不至弄錯。”
"That's no whale," continued Ned Land, whose eyes never strayed from the object they had sighted. "We're old chums, whales and I, and I couldn't mistake their little ways."
”我們等着吧，”康塞爾說，“諾第留斯號向那邊駛去了，一會我們就可以知道那是刊-麼東西。”
"Let's wait and see," Conseil said. "The Nautilus is heading that direction, and we'll soon know what we're in for."
正是，這灰黑的物體不久離我們只有一海里遠了。它很像擱淺在海中間的大礁。是什麼呢？我還不能說出來。
In fact, that blackish object was soon only a mile away from us. It looked like a huge reef stranded in midocean. What was it? I still couldn't make up my mind.
“啊！它走動了！它潛入水中了，”尼德-蘭喊道，“真奇怪！可能是什麼動物呢？它沒有跟鯨魚或大頭鯨一樣的分開來的尾巴，它的鰭好像是切斷的手足那樣。”
"Oh, it's moving off! It's diving!" Ned Land exclaimed. "Damnation! What can that animal be? It doesn't have a forked tail like baleen whales or sperm whales, and its fins look like sawed-off limbs."
“那麼是……”我說。
"But in that case--" I put in.
“好嗎，”加拿大人立即又說，“它朝天翻過來了，它把奶頭挺起在空中了！”
"Good lord," the Canadian went on, "it's rolled over on its back, and it's raising its breasts in the air!"
“那是人魚！”康塞爾喊道，“是真正的人魚，請先生原諒我這樣說。”
"It's a siren!" Conseil exclaimed. "With all due respect to master, it's an actual mermaid!"
人魚這個名字使我摸到了們路，我明白了這個動物是。 屬於這一目的海中動物，就是神話中當它是魚美人的人魚水怪。
That word "siren" put me back on track, and I realized that the animal belonged to the order Sirenia: marine creatures that legends have turned into mermaids, half woman, half fish.
“不，我對康塞爾說，“這不是人魚，是一隻奇怪的動物，在紅海中並不見得有多少。這是海馬。”
"No," I told Conseil, "that's no mermaid, it's an unusual creature of which only a few specimens are left in the Red Sea. That's a dugong."
“人魚目，魚形類，單官哺侞亞綱，哺侞綱，脊椎動物門。”康塞爾回答。
"Order Sirenia, group Pisciforma, subclass Monodelphia, class Mammalia, branch Vertebrata," Conseil replied.
康奏爾這樣說過後，那就沒有什麼可以說的了。
And when Conseil has spoken, there's nothing else to be said.
可是尼德-蘭老是注視着。他的眼睛看見這東西，閃出要把它捉到手的貪婪光芒。他的手像是要去叉它。看他的樣子，真是讓人要說，他是等待時機，躍人海中，到水裡面去攻打它。
Meanwhile Ned Land kept staring. His eyes were gleaming with desire at the sight of that animal. His hands were ready to hurl a harpoon. You would have thought he was waiting for the right moment to jump overboard and attack the creature in its own element.
“呵！先生，”他情緒激動，聲音發抖地說，“我從沒有打到過這種東西。”
"Oh, sir," he told me in a voice trembling with excitement, "I've never killed anything like that!"
魚叉手的全部心意都表現在這一句話裡面。
His whole being was concentrated in this last word.
這時候，尼摩船長在平台上出現。他望見了海馬。他朋白了加拿大人的姿態，立即對魚叉手說：
Just then Captain Nemo appeared on the platform. He spotted the dugong. He understood the Canadian's frame of mind and addressed him directly:
“蘭師傅，您要是手拿魚又，一定會手癢得難過，要試一下嗎？”
"If you held a harpoon, Mr. Land, wouldn't your hands be itching to put it to work?"
“您說得正對，先生。”
"Positively, sir."
“將來您再躁叉魚這一行的時候，把這只鯨科動物加在您曾經打過的鯨魚賬上，您不會不高興吧？”
"And just for one day, would it displease you to return to your fisherman's trade and add this cetacean to the list of those you've already hunted down?"
“這樣我決不會不高興。”
"It wouldn't displease me one bit."
“那麼您可以試一試。”
"All right, you can try your luck!"
“謝謝您，先生。”尼德-蘭回答，眼睛亮起來了。
"Thank you, sir," Ned Land replied, his eyes ablaze.
“不過，”船長立即又說，“我請您不要放走這東西，這列。 您有利呢。”
"Only," the captain went on, "I urge you to aim carefully at this animal, in your own personal interest."
“打這海馬有危險嗎。”我問，我並不理會加拿大人做着聳肩的姿態。
"Is the dugong dangerous to attack?" I asked, despite the Canadian's shrug of the shoulders.
“是，有時候有危險，”船長回答，“這東西向攻打它的人轉過身來，把他的小艇撞翻。但對蘭師傅來說，這種危險用不着害怕。他的眼光很敏捷，他的胳膊很準確。我所以勸他留心，不要放走這海馬，是因為人們把這東西看作一種美味好吃的獵物，我也知道，蘭師傅決不至討厭一大塊一大塊好吃的肥肉。”
"Yes, sometimes," the captain replied. "These animals have been known to turn on their assailants and capsize their longboats. But with Mr. Land that danger isn't to be feared. His eye is sharp, his arm is sure. If I recommend that he aim carefully at this dugong, it's because the animal is justly regarded as fine game, and I know Mr. Land doesn't despise a choice morsel."
“啊！”加拿大人喊道，“這東西原來還是好吃的珍品嗎？”
"Aha!" the Canadian put in. "This beast offers the added luxury of being good to eat?"
“是的，蘭師傅。它的肉是真正好吃的肉，極端被重視，在馬來群島，人們都把它保留起來作為全公餐桌上的食品。 所以人們對這種好東西要拚命獵取，對它的同類海牛也是”一樣，因此就弄得這類動物日漸稀少了。”
"Yes, Mr. Land. Its flesh is actual red meat, highly prized, and set aside throughout Malaysia for the tables of aristocrats. Accordingly, this excellent animal has been hunted so bloodthirstily that, like its manatee relatives, it has become more and more scarce."
“那麼，船長，”康塞爾很正經地說，“如果這條海馬竟是它種族中的最後一條，為科學的利益起見，放過它，不是比較好些嗎？”
"In that case, captain," Conseil said in all seriousness, "on the offchance that this creature might be the last of its line, wouldn't it be advisable to spare its life, in the interests of science?"
“或者好些，”加拿大人回答，“不過為膳食的利益起見，那還是打它好些。”
"Maybe," the Canadian answered, "it would be better to hunt it down, in the interests of mealtime."
“蘭師傅，您打吧。”尼摩船長回答道。
"Then proceed, Mr. Land," Captain Nemo replied.
這個時候，船上的七個船員，老是不作聲和無知覺似的，到平台上來。一個人拿一支魚叉和一根跟釣鯨魚用的相同的鈎竿。小艇鬆開來，從它的窩中拉出，放到海中去。 六個槳手坐在橫木板上，小艇艇長手把着舵。尼德，蘭、康塞爾和我，我們三人坐在後面。
Just then, as mute and emotionless as ever, seven crewmen climbed onto the platform. One carried a harpoon and line similar to those used in whale fishing. Its deck paneling opened, the skiff was wrenched from its socket and launched to sea. Six rowers sat on the thwarts, and the coxswain took the tiller. Ned, Conseil, and I found seats in the stern.
“船長，您不來嗎？“我問。
"Aren't you coming, captain?" I asked.
“不，先生，我祝你們打海馬勝利。”
"No, sir, but I wish you happy hunting."
小艇離開大船，六支槳把它划走，很快向海馬駛去，那時海馬正在距諾第留斯號二海里的海而上游來游去。
The skiff pulled clear, and carried off by its six oars, it headed swiftly toward the dugong, which by then was floating two miles from the Nautilus.
到了距離這鯨科動物還有幾盲米遠的時候，小艇就慢慢地走，獎沒有聲息地放到平靜的水中去。尼德。蘭手拎魚叉，站在小艇前端。用來打鯨魚的魚叉，通常是結在一條很長的繩索一端，受傷的動物把叉帶走的時候，繩索就很快地放出去。但現在這根索只有二十米左右長，它的另一端結在一個小木桶上面，小木桶浮着，指示海馬在水裡面走的道路。
Arriving within a few cable lengths of the cetacean, our longboat slowed down, and the sculls dipped noiselessly into the tranquil waters. Harpoon in hand, Ned Land went to take his stand in the skiff's bow. Harpoons used for hunting whales are usually attached to a very long rope that pays out quickly when the wounded animal drags it with him. But this rope measured no more than about ten fathoms, and its end had simply been fastened to a small barrel that, while floating, would indicate the dugong's movements beneath the waters.
我站起來，很清楚地看見加拿大人的對手。這海馬又名為儒良，很像海牛。它的長方身體後邊是拉得很長的尾巴，它兩側的緒尖端就是指爪。它跟海牛不同的地方是它的上顎有兩枚很長很長的牙齒，作為分在兩旁的防禦武器。
I stood up and could clearly observe the Canadian's adversary. This dugong--which also boasts the name halicore--closely resembled a manatee. Its oblong body ended in a very long caudal fin and its lateral fins in actual fingers. It differs from the manatee in that its upper jaw is armed with two long, pointed teeth that form diverging tusks on either side.
尼德，蘭準備攻打的這條海馬身軀巨大，身長至少超過七米。它在水面上躺着不動，好像睡着了，這種情況就比較容易獵取。
This dugong that Ned Land was preparing to attack was of colossal dimensions, easily exceeding seven meters in length. It didn't stir and seemed to be sleeping on the surface of the waves, a circumstance that should have made it easier to capture.
小艇小心地挨近海馬，只有五六米遠了。所有的槳都、掛在鐵圈子上不動。我身子站起一半。尼德-蘭全身有些往後仰，老練的手揮動魚叉，把叉找出。
The skiff approached cautiously to within three fathoms of the animal. The oars hung suspended above their rowlocks. I was crouching. His body leaning slightly back, Ned Land brandished his harpoon with expert hands.
忽然聽到一聲呼嘯，海馬沉下不見了。龜叉用力過猛，可能是打在水中了。
Suddenly a hissing sound was audible, and the dugong disappeared. Although the harpoon had been forcefully hurled, it apparently had hit only water.
“鬼怪東西！”憤怒的加拿大人喊道，“我沒有打中它！”
"Damnation!" exclaimed the furious Canadian. "I missed it!"
“打中了，”我說，“那東西受傷了，瞧，那不是它的血？ 不過你的叉並沒有釘在它的身上。”
"No," I said, "the animal's wounded, there's its blood; but your weapon didn't stick in its body."
“我的魚叉！我的魚叉！”尼德-蘭喊。
"My harpoon! Get my harpoon!" Ned Land exclaimed.
水手們又划起來，小艇艇長讓小艇向浮桶划去。魚叉收回來，小艇就追趕那海馬。
The sailors went back to their sculling, and the coxswain steered the longboat toward the floating barrel. We fished up the harpoon, and the skiff started off in pursuit of the animal.
海馬時時浮出海面上來呼吸。它受到的傷沒有使它的…… 氣力削弱，因為它跑得非常快。小艇由健壯的胳膊划著，迅速追上去。好幾次只相距兒米了，加拿大人就要投叉了，但海馬立即沉下，躲開了，簡直不可能打中它。
The latter returned from time to time to breathe at the surface of the sea. Its wound hadn't weakened it because it went with tremendous speed. Driven by energetic arms, the longboat flew on its trail. Several times we got within a few fathoms of it, and the Canadian hovered in readiness to strike; but then the dugong would steal away with a sudden dive, and it proved impossible to overtake the beast.
人們可以想象到，這個時候，性急的尼德-蘭被激怒到了什麼程度。他對這條不幸的海馬發出英語中最有力量的咒罵。在我個人，我只是因為海馬把我們所有的計謀部弄失敗，心中有些不高興罷了。
I'll let you assess the degree of anger consuming our impatient Ned Land. He hurled at the hapless animal the most potent swearwords in the English language. For my part, I was simply distressed to see this dugong outwit our every scheme.
我們在一個鐘頭內，不停地追趕它，我正在想，捕捉它： 恐怕是很不容易了，但這個東西忽然起了不良的報復念頭。 這是它要後悔的呢！它回過身來，攻擊小艇。
We chased it unflaggingly for a full hour, and I'd begun to think it would prove too difficult to capture, when the animal got the untimely idea of taking revenge on us, a notion it would soon have cause to regret. It wheeled on the skiff, to assault us in its turn.
海馬的這種行徑逃不過加拿大人的眼光。
This maneuver did not escape the Canadian.
“小心！”他說。
"Watch out!" he said.
小艇艇長說了幾句他的奇怪語言，當然是他通知水手們，大家要小心警戒。
The coxswain pronounced a few words in his bizarre language, and no doubt he alerted his men to keep on their guard.
海馬到了離小艇二十英呎的水面上停住，它那不在嘴尖端，而在嘴上部敞開的大鼻孔，突然吸着空氣。然後，鼓起氣力，向我們撲來。
Arriving within twenty feet of the skiff, the dugong stopped, sharply sniffing the air with its huge nostrils, pierced not at the tip of its muzzle but on its topside. Then it gathered itself and sprang at us.
小艇不可能躲開它的衝撞，艇身翻倒了一半，海水跑進艇中有一兩噸之多。這水必須排出去。由於艇長的機靈，艇身只是斜面的而不是正面的受到海馬攻擊，所以沒被憧翻沉沒。尼德。蘭緊靠在小艇前頭，把魚叉向巨大的動物刺去，這東西牙齒咬住小艇的邊緣，把小艇頂出水面，像獅子咬小鹿那樣。我們都被撞翻，彼此身子壓着，如果不是那狠命地跟海馬戰斗的加拿大人把叉打中了動物的心臟，我真不知道這次的冒險打獵將怎樣結束呢。
The skiff couldn't avoid the collision. Half overturned, it shipped a ton or two of water that we had to bail out. But thanks to our skillful coxswain, we were fouled on the bias rather than broadside, so we didn't capsize. Clinging to the stempost, Ned Land thrust his harpoon again and again into the gigantic animal, which imbedded its teeth in our gunwale and lifted the longboat out of the water as a lion would lift a deer. We were thrown on top of each other, and I have no idea how the venture would have ended had not the Canadian, still thirsting for the beast's blood, finally pierced it to the heart.
我聽到牙齒在小艇鐵板上的喳喳聲響，海馬沉沒不見了，把叉帶走了。但不久小木桶浮上水面來，一會兒，海馬的軀體現出，脊背翻過來了。小艇劃向前去，把它拖在後面，向諾第留斯號划去。
I heard its teeth grind on sheet iron, and the dugong disappeared, taking our harpoon along with it. But the barrel soon popped up on the surface, and a few moments later the animal's body appeared and rolled over on its back. Our skiff rejoined it, took it in tow, and headed to the Nautilus.
把這條海馬拉到大船的乎台上，必須使用力量很大的起重滑車。它重五千公斤。人們就在加拿大人面前把它宰割了，他一定要看人宰割時的所有動作。當天，管事人在午餐時，就把船上廚師做得很好的這種肉拿出幾片來給我吃。我覺得這肉味道很好，甚至于賽過小牛肉，雖然不一定： 勝過大牛肉。
It took pulleys of great strength to hoist this dugong onto the platform. The beast weighed 5,000 kilograms. It was carved up in sight of the Canadian, who remained to watch every detail of the operation. At dinner the same day, my steward served me some slices of this flesh, skillfully dressed by the ship's cook. I found it excellent, even better than veal if not beef.
第二天，2月11日，諾第留斯號的食物儲藏室又增加了一種美味的獵物。一群海燕落到諾第留斯號上面，被我們捕獲了。那是埃及特產的尼羅河海燕，嘴是黑的，頭灰黑，有斑點，眼睛周圍有白點的圈，脊背、兩翼和尾巴是灰黑色，肚腹和胸頸白色，腳爪紅色。我們另外還捉到十來個尼羅河的鴨子，這是很美味的野烏，脖子和頭上是白色，並且帶有黑班點。
The next morning, February 11, the Nautilus's pantry was enriched by more dainty game. A covey of terns alighted on the Nautilus. They were a species of Sterna nilotica unique to Egypt: beak black, head gray and stippled, eyes surrounded by white dots, back, wings, and tail grayish, belly and throat white, feet red. Also caught were a couple dozen Nile duck, superior-tasting wildfowl whose neck and crown of the head are white speckled with black.
諾第留斯號的速度那時很緩慢。可以說，它是慢步溜躂着前進。我注意到，紅海的水愈接近蘇伊士，愈少威味了。
By then the Nautilus had reduced speed. It moved ahead at a saunter, so to speak. I observed that the Red Sea's water was becoming less salty the closer we got to Suez.
下午五點左右，我們測定北方是拉斯一穆罕默德角，這角是石區阿拉伯的極端，在蘇伊士灣和亞喀巴灣中間。
Near five o'clock in the afternoon, we sighted Cape Ras Mohammed to the north. This cape forms the tip of Arabia Petraea, which lies between the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba.
諾第留斯號進入尤巴爾海峽，這海峽通到蘇伊士灣。 我清楚地望見一座高山，山在兩灣之間俯瞰拉斯一穆罕默德角。那是何烈山、西奈山，山頂上就是摩西當年曾與上帝面面相對的地方，人們心中想象這山頭是不斷有閃電籠罩着。
The Nautilus entered the Strait of Jubal, which leads to the Gulf of Suez. I could clearly make out a high mountain crowning Ras Mohammed between the two gulfs. It was Mt. Horeb, that biblical Mt. Sinai on whose summit Moses met God face to face, that summit the mind's eye always pictures as wreathed in lightning.
六點，諾第留斯號有時浮上來，有時沉下去，從多爾灣的海面上經過。多爾位於海灣裡面，灣中海水呈紅色，這點尼摩船長在前面已經加以說明了。一會兒，黑夜來臨，在沉重的靜默中間，有時有塘鷄和一種夜鳥的叫聲，怒潮打在岩石上的聲響，或一隻汽船的響亮水門攪打灣中海水所發生的遠遠的聲音，把寂寞衝破了。
At six o'clock, sometimes afloat and sometimes submerged, the Nautilus passed well out from El Tur, which sat at the far end of a bay whose waters seemed to be dyed red, as Captain Nemo had already mentioned. Then night fell in the midst of a heavy silence occasionally broken by the calls of pelicans and nocturnal birds, by the sound of surf chafing against rocks, or by the distant moan of a steamer churning the waves of the gulf with noisy blades.
八點到九點，諾第留斯號在水深兒米的地方行駛。 照我的計算，我們應當很接近蘇伊士了。從客廳裡的嵌板看。我望見了受我的電光清楚照出的水底岩石。我覺得海峽是愈來愈窄了。
From eight to nine o'clock, the Nautilus stayed a few meters beneath the waters. According to my calculations, we had to be quite close to Suez. Through the panels in the lounge, I spotted rocky bottoms brightly lit by our electric rays. It seemed to me that the strait was getting narrower and narrower.
九點一刻，船又浮出水面，我到平台上來。心中急急想穿過尼摩船長的海底地道，我不能安靜等待，我要上來呼吸夜間的新鮮空氣。
At 9:15 when our boat returned to the surface, I climbed onto the platform. I was quite impatient to clear Captain Nemo's tunnel, couldn't sit still, and wanted to breathe the fresh night air.
不久，在黑暗中，我望見一些黯淡火光，被濛霧弄得模糊了，火在距我們一海里遠的地方亮着。
Soon, in the shadows, I spotted a pale signal light glimmering a mile away, half discolored by mist.
‘一座浮在水上的燈塔。”有人在我身旁說。
"A floating lighthouse," said someone next to me.
我回過頭來，我看見是船長。
I turned and discovered the captain.
那是蘇伊士的浮在水上的燈火，”他又說，“我們不久就要走人地道口了。”
"That's the floating signal light of Suez," he went on. "It won't be long before we reach the entrance to the tunnel."
“進口不容易嗎？”
"It can't be very easy to enter it."
“不容易，先生。因此，我照例是親自到領航人的籠間中，守在那裡，指揮航行。阿龍納斯先生，您請下來，諾第留斯號現在要潛入水中了，到通過了阿拉伯海底地道後，它才浮上來。
"No, sir. Accordingly, I'm in the habit of staying in the pilothouse and directing maneuvers myself. And now if you'll kindly go below, Professor Aronnax, the Nautilus is about to sink beneath the waves, and it will only return to the surface after we've cleared the Arabian Tunnel."
我跟着尼摩船長下來。嵌板關閉了，儲水池裝滿了水，船潛入水底十來米深左右。
I followed Captain Nemo. The hatch closed, the ballast tanks filled with water, and the submersible sank some ten meters down.
當我要回房中去的時候，船長留住我，他對我說：
Just as I was about to repair to my stateroom, the captain stopped me.
“教授，您高興同我一起到領航人籠間裡去嗎？”
"Professor," he said to me, "would you like to go with me to the wheelhouse?"
“我不敢請求您，我正是求之不得呢！”我回答說。
"I was afraid to ask," I replied.
“那麼，請來吧。您這樣就可以看見，這次同時是地下又是海底航行的一切情況。”
"Come along, then. This way, you'll learn the full story about this combination underwater and underground navigating."
尼摩船長領我到中央樓梯，在樓梯欄杆的中腰，他打開一扇門，沿上層的長廊走去，到了領航人的籠間裡，上面說過，這籠間在平台的前方尖端。
Captain Nemo led me to the central companionway. In midstair he opened a door, went along the upper gangways, and arrived at the wheelhouse, which, as you know, stands at one end of the platform.
那是一門每面有六英呎寬的小艙房，跟密西西比……和哈得遜河汽船上領航人所占的籠問差不多一樣。艙房中間，有一架垂直放著的機輪轉動，輪齒接在舵纜上，纜直通到比第留斯號的後面。叼個裝上兩面凸鏡片的船窗，缺在艙間的複壁上，使守舵人四面八方都可以看見。
It was a cabin measuring six feet square and closely resembling those occupied by the helmsmen of steamboats on the Mississippi or Hudson rivers. In the center stood an upright wheel geared to rudder cables running to the Nautilus's stern. Set in the cabin's walls were four deadlights, windows of biconvex glass that enabled the man at the helm to see in every direction.
這籠間是黑暗的，但我的眼睛不久就習慣了這種黑暗，我看見裡面的領骯人。他很精壯，兩手扶住機輪的車輛。在外面，平台上另一端的探照燈在籠間後面照耀，光映海面，分外明亮。
The cabin was dark; but my eyes soon grew accustomed to its darkness and I saw the pilot, a muscular man whose hands rested on the pegs of the wheel. Outside, the sea was brightly lit by the beacon shining behind the cabin at the other end of the platform.
“現在，”尼摩船長說，“我們來找地道吧。”
"Now," Captain Nemo said, "let's look for our passageway."
有好些電線把領骯人的籠間跟機器房接連，從籠間裡面，船長同時可以對諾第留斯號發出航行方向和速度快慢的指示。他按一下金屬鈕，機輪的速度就立即減低。
Electric wires linked the pilothouse with the engine room, and from this cabin the captain could simultaneously signal heading and speed to his Nautilus. He pressed a metal button and at once the propeller slowed down significantly.
我默默地注視我們此刻走過的十分陡峭險峻的高牆，這是沿海高厚沙地的堅牢基礎。我們在一個鐘頭內沿著這座高牆走，相距只不過幾米，尼摩船長兩眼不離那個掛在籠間，有兩個大小同心圓的羅盤，看他做一個手勢，領航人就每時每刻改變諾第留斯號行駛的方向。
I stared in silence at the high, sheer wall we were skirting just then, the firm base of the sandy mountains on the coast. For an hour we went along it in this fashion, staying only a few meters away. Captain Nemo never took his eyes off the two concentric circles of the compass hanging in the cabin. At a mere gesture from him, the helmsman would instantly change the Nautilus's heading.
我在左舷的船窗邊，望見了珊瑚累積成的十分美麗的基層建築，無數植蟲、海藻、介殼動物，舞動它們的巨大爪牙，在岩石凹凸不平的外面，長長地伸張出來。
Standing by the port deadlight, I spotted magnificent coral substructures, zoophytes, algae, and crustaceans with enormous quivering claws that stretched forth from crevices in the rock.
十點一刻，尼摩船長親自把舵。一條寬闊的長廊，又黑又深，在我們面前出現。諾第留斯號直衝進去。在它兩旁發出一種我沒有聽慣的沙沙聲響。這是紅海的水，由於地道的斜坡，衝到地中海上。諾第留斯號跟着這道急流下去，像箭一般快，雖然它的機器想要儘力慢一些，把推進器逆流轉動，也沒有起作用。
At 10:15 Captain Nemo himself took the helm. Dark and deep, a wide gallery opened ahead of us. The Nautilus was brazenly swallowed up. Strange rumblings were audible along our sides. It was the water of the Red Sea, hurled toward the Mediterranean by the tunnel's slope. Our engines tried to offer resistance by churning the waves with propeller in reverse, but the Nautilus went with the torrent, as swift as an arrow.
地道兩邊狹窄的高牆上，我只看見飛奔的速度在電光下所畫出的輝煌綫紋、筆直線條、火色痕跡。我的心跳動不止，我用手壓住心頭。
Along the narrow walls of this passageway, I saw only brilliant streaks, hard lines, fiery furrows, all scrawled by our speeding electric light. With my hand I tried to curb the pounding of my heart.
十點三十五分，尼摩船長放下舵上的機輪，向我回過頭來，對我說：
At 10:35 Captain Nemo left the steering wheel and turned to me:
“到地中海了。”
"The Mediterranean," he told me.
不到二十分鐘，諾第留斯號順着水流，就通過了蘇伊土地峽了。
In less than twenty minutes, swept along by the torrent, the Nautilus had just cleared the Isthmus of Suez.