海底二萬里

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

   SECOND PART

   第二部 第一章

   CHAPTER 1

   印度洋

   The Indian Ocean

   這次海底旅行的第二部分現在開始了。第一部分在珊瑚墓地動人的場面上結束,在我心中留下很深刻的印象。 看來尼摩船長的生活是完全在那無邊大海中間度過的,甚至他的墳墓,他都在最秘密的深淵中預備好了。那裡,不會有這樣或那樣的海怪來擾亂諾第留斯號船員的長眠。這些船員共命運,同生死。在那兒“也不會有一個生人來擾亂!” 尼摩船長又補充了這一句。

   NOW WE BEGIN the second part of this voyage under the seas. The first ended in that moving scene at the coral cemetery, which left a profound impression on my mind. And so Captain Nemo would live out his life entirely in the heart of this immense sea, and even his grave lay ready in its impenetrable depths. There the last sleep of the Nautilus's occupants, friends bound together in death as in life, would be disturbed by no monster of the deep! "No man either!" the captain had added.

   他對人類社會總是表示那樣的不信任,倔強,堅決,這是一種無可妥協的不信任。

   Always that same fierce, implacable defiance of human society!

   對我來說,我再也不能滿足於康塞爾的那些說法了,雖然這個老實人仍堅持他的看法,認為諾第留斯號的船長是被埋沒的一位學者,是拿蔑視來回答人世冷淡的一位學者。

   As for me, I was no longer content with the hypotheses that satisfied Conseil. That fine lad persisted in seeing the Nautilus's commander as merely one of those unappreciated scientists who repay humanity's indifference with contempt. For Conseil, the captain was still a misunderstood genius who, tired of the world's deceptions, had been driven to take refuge in this inaccessible environment where he was free to follow his instincts. But to my mind, this hypothesis explained only one side of Captain Nemo.

   他還以為船長是一位不為人們所瞭解的天才,受不了人世的欺騙,不得已才逃避到這個他的本能可以允許他行動自曲而別人卻不能到達的大海裡來。但是,照我來看,這些說有一億五千萬公畝的廣闊水面,海水十分澄清,低下頭來望它的人都會感到頭暈目眩。

   In fact, the mystery of that last afternoon when we were locked in prison and put to sleep, the captain's violent precaution of snatching from my grasp a spyglass poised to scour the horizon, and the fatal wound given that man during some unexplained collision suffered by the Nautilus, all led me down a plain trail. No! Captain Nemo wasn't content simply to avoid humanity! His fearsome submersible served not only his quest for freedom, but also, perhaps, it was used in lord-knows-what schemes of dreadful revenge.

   Right now, nothing is clear to me, I still glimpse only glimmers in the dark, and I must limit my pen, as it were, to taking dictation from events.

   But nothing binds us to Captain Nemo. He believes that escaping from the Nautilus is impossible. We are not even constrained by our word of honor. No promises fetter us. We're simply captives, prisoners masquerading under the name "guests" for the sake of everyday courtesy. Even so, Ned Land hasn't given up all hope of recovering his freedom. He's sure to take advantage of the first chance that comes his way. No doubt I will do likewise. And yet I will feel some regret at making off with the Nautilus's secrets, so generously unveiled for us by Captain Nemo! Because, ultimately, should we detest or admire this man? Is he the persecutor or the persecuted? And in all honesty, before I leave him forever, I want to finish this underwater tour of the world, whose first stages have been so magnificent. I want to observe the full series of these wonders gathered under the seas of our globe. I want to see what no man has seen yet, even if I must pay for this insatiable curiosity with my life! What are my discoveries to date? Nothing, relatively speaking-- since so far we've covered only 6,000 leagues across the Pacific!

   Nevertheless, I'm well aware that the Nautilus is drawing near to populated shores, and if some chance for salvation becomes available to us, it would be sheer cruelty to sacrifice my companions to my passion for the unknown. I must go with them, perhaps even guide them. But will this opportunity ever arise? The human being, robbed of his free will, craves such an opportunity; but the scientist, forever inquisitive, dreads it.

   That day, January 21, 1868, the chief officer went at noon to take the sun's altitude. I climbed onto the platform, lit a cigar, and watched him at work. It seemed obvious to me that this man didn't understand French, because I made several remarks in a loud voice that were bound to provoke him to some involuntary show of interest had he understood them; but he remained mute and emotionless.

   While he took his sights with his sextant, one of the Nautilus's sailors-- that muscular man who had gone with us to Crespo Island during our first underwater excursion--came up to clean the glass panes of the beacon. I then examined the fittings of this mechanism, whose power was increased a hundredfold by biconvex lenses that were designed like those in a lighthouse and kept its rays productively focused. This electric lamp was so constructed as to yield its maximum illuminating power. In essence, its light was generated in a vacuum, insuring both its steadiness and intensity. Such a vacuum also reduced wear on the graphite points between which the luminous arc expanded. This was an important savings for Captain Nemo, who couldn't easily renew them. But under these conditions, wear and tear were almost nonexistent.

   When the Nautilus was ready to resume its underwater travels, I went below again to the lounge. The hatches closed once more, and our course was set due west.

   諾第留斯號通常是在水深一百和二百米間的地方行駛。好幾天內都是這樣。對於不十分愛海的人,定然覺得在船中的時間過得很長和非常單調,但對我來說就不同了,我每天在平台上散步,呼吸海洋的新鮮空氣來鍛鍊身體。並通過客廳的玻璃觀察物產豐富的海水景象,閲讀圖書室的書籍,寫我的筆記,這樣就消磨了我所有的時間,不讓我有一刻的厭煩或無聊。

   We then plowed the waves of the Indian Ocean, vast liquid plains with an area of 550,000,000 hectares, whose waters are so transparent it makes you dizzy to lean over their surface. There the Nautilus generally drifted at a depth between 100 and 200 meters. It behaved in this way for some days. To anyone without my grand passion for the sea, these hours would surely have seemed long and monotonous; but my daily strolls on the platform where I was revived by the life-giving ocean air, the sights in the rich waters beyond the lounge windows, the books to be read in the library, and the composition of my memoirs, took up all my time and left me without a moment of weariness or boredom.

   我們各人的健康情況都使人很滿意。船上的飲食起居對我們也完全適合,在我個人來說,尼德-蘭由於不滿的無情而想法做出口味不同的菜,實在也用不着。還有,在海底經常穩定的溫度下,甚至于傷風也不會有的。另外,法國南方稱為“海茵香”的那種石蠶屬的草樹,在船上還儲藏有相當數量,它跟那腔腸動物容易溶化的肉和起來,可以作為一種治療咳嗽的優良藥膏。

   All in all, we enjoyed a highly satisfactory state of health. The diet on board agreed with us perfectly, and for my part, I could easily have gone without those changes of pace that Ned Land, in a spirit of protest, kept taxing his ingenuity to supply us. What's more, in this constant temperature we didn't even have to worry about catching colds. Besides, the ship had a good stock of the madrepore Dendrophylia, known in Provence by the name sea fennel, and a poultice made from the dissolved flesh of its polyps will furnish an excellent cough medicine.

   好幾天內,我們看到了大量的水鳥,噗足鳥,大海鷗或海鷗。有些海鳥很巧妙地被打死後,用一種方法烹調起來,使人又嘗到很可口的水禽野味。

   For some days we saw a large number of aquatic birds with webbed feet, known as gulls or sea mews. Some were skillfully slain, and when cooked in a certain fashion, they make a very acceptable platter of water game. Among the great wind riders--carried over long distances from every shore and resting on the waves from their exhausting flights-- I spotted some magnificent albatross, birds belonging to the Longipennes (long-winged) family, whose discordant calls sound like the braying of an ass. The Totipalmes (fully webbed) family was represented by swift frigate birds, nimbly catching fish at the surface, and by numerous tropic birds of the genus Phaeton, among others the red-tailed tropic bird, the size of a pigeon, its white plumage shaded with pink tints that contrasted with its dark-hued wings.

   諾第留斯號的魚網打到好幾種海龜,它們是海甲魚屬,背後隆起,龜甲很是寶貴。這些龜容易潛入水中,閉起鼻腔外孔的活肉塞,就可以在水中停留很久。有些海甲魚被網打來的時候,它們還在甲殼中睡覺,那是為了要躲避海中動物的捕捉,這些甲魚肉一般說是不好吃的,但甲魚蛋卻是美味的珍品。

   The Nautilus's nets hauled up several types of sea turtle from the hawksbill genus with arching backs whose scales are highly prized. Diving easily, these reptiles can remain a good while underwater by closing the fleshy valves located at the external openings of their nasal passages. When they were captured, some hawksbills were still asleep inside their carapaces, a refuge from other marine animals. The flesh of these turtles was nothing memorable, but their eggs made an excellent feast.

   至于魚類,當我們從打開的嵌板窺見了它們的水中生活的秘密時,總是激起我們的讚美。我仔細地看好幾種魚。

   As for fish, they always filled us with wonderment when, staring through the open panels, we could unveil the secrets of their aquatic lives. I noted several species I hadn't previously been able to observe.

   這些魚以前我一直沒有機會觀察過。 我主要想說的是紅海、印度洋和近赤道美洲那一部分太平洋所特有的牡蠣類。這些魚類跟甲魚、執豚、雲丹、甲殼類一樣,保護它們身體的,不是白堊的,也不是石質的,而是真正骨質的甲殼。這種甲殼有時為立體三角形,有時為立體四方形。

   I'll mention chiefly some trunkfish unique to the Red Sea, the sea of the East Indies, and that part of the ocean washing the coasts of equinoctial America. Like turtles, armadillos, sea urchins, and crustaceans, these fish are protected by armor plate that's neither chalky nor stony but actual bone. Sometimes this armor takes the shape of a solid triangle, sometimes that of a solid quadrangle. Among the triangular type, I noticed some half a decimeter long, with brown tails, yellow fins, and wholesome, exquisitely tasty flesh; I even recommend that they be acclimatized to fresh water, a change, incidentally, that a number of saltwater fish can make with ease. I'll also mention some quadrangular trunkfish topped by four large protuberances along the back; trunkfish sprinkled with white spots on the underside of the body, which make good house pets like certain birds; boxfish armed with stings formed by extensions of their bony crusts, and whose odd grunting has earned them the nickname "sea pigs"; then some trunkfish known as dromedaries, with tough, leathery flesh and big conical humps.

   我從助手康塞爾每天寫的札記中。又可以舉出這一帶海中所特有的腹魚類,比如紅背脊,白肚腹的針魚,這魚很特別,它有三行縱列的綫紋。還有長七英吋,顏色鮮艷的電魚。其次,作為其他魚屬的標本,可以舉出類似黑褐色蛋時卵形魚,這魚有白色的帶紋,沒有尾:魚虎,這魚是真正的海豪豬,身上多刺,可以鼓起身子,變成一個滿佈尖刺的球;各海洋所同有的海馬魚,會飛的長嘴飛馬魚,這魚的腹鰭很闊大,形狀生得像翼一般,雖然不能高飛,但至少也能跳人空中:構形鴿子魚,這魚的尾上有許多魚鱗的圓環;下巴很長的大顎魚,這是長二十五公分,帶漂亮顏色的美味好吃的魚;灰白的美首魚,這魚的頭部是高低不乎的;無數會跳的奇形魚,這魚身上帶黑紋,長長的腹鰭,能以驚人的速度在水面上溜來溜去:美麗的風帆魚,這魚可以豎起所有的鰭,就像向着順流扯起布帆來一樣;華美的彩魚,這魚受大自然的特別優待,一身具有黃、天藍、銀白和金黃各種顏色;絨翼魚,這魚的翼全由絲條組成;老是沾上污泥的刺鰭魚,這魚發出蟋嗦的聲音;海幼魚,這魚的肝被認為有毒;波帝魚,這魚在眼睛上戴有一個會動的眼罩,最後,管狀的長嘴哨子…… 魚,這魚是真正的海中家雀,帶有一支槍,夏斯包式和雷明答式槍的製造者所沒有想到的一種槍,射出一滴水就可以把昆蟲打死。

   From the daily notes kept by Mr. Conseil, I also retrieve certain fish from the genus Tetradon unique to these seas: southern puffers with red backs and white chests distinguished by three lengthwise rows of filaments, and jugfish, seven inches long, decked out in the brightest colors. Then, as specimens of other genera, blowfish resembling a dark brown egg, furrowed with white bands, and lacking tails; globefish, genuine porcupines of the sea, armed with stings and able to inflate themselves until they look like a pin cushion bristling with needles; seahorses common to every ocean; flying dragonfish with long snouts and highly distended pectoral fins shaped like wings, which enable them, if not to fly, at least to spring into the air; spatula-shaped paddlefish whose tails are covered with many scaly rings; snipefish with long jaws, excellent animals twenty-five centimeters long and gleaming with the most cheerful colors; bluish gray dragonets with wrinkled heads; myriads of leaping blennies with black stripes and long pectoral fins, gliding over the surface of the water with prodigious speed; delicious sailfish that can hoist their fins in a favorable current like so many unfurled sails; splendid nurseryfish on which nature has lavished yellow, azure, silver, and gold; yellow mackerel with wings made of filaments; bullheads forever spattered with mud, which make distinct hissing sounds; sea robins whose livers are thought to be poisonous; ladyfish that can flutter their eyelids; finally, archerfish with long, tubular snouts, real oceangoing flycatchers, armed with a rifle unforeseen by either Remington or Chassepot: it slays insects by shooting them with a simple drop of water.

   拉色別德所分類的第八十九種魚屬,屬於骨質魚類的第二亞綱,特徵為有一個鰓蓋和一塊鰓膜,在這個屬裡我看到有蝎子魚,這魚的頭上有尖刺,只有一個脊緒,這些魚按照所屬的不同亞屬,細小的鱗或有或沒有。第二亞屬中有一些兩指魚的品種、這魚長三至四分米,身上有黃色帶紋,頭的形狀很是古怪。至于第一亞屬,也有一些外號稱為“海檐賒”的怪魚品種,這是腦袋很大的魚,頭上有時帶很深的皺紋,有時腫起一個一個的瘤,身上各處帶利刺和疙瘩,有長短不一和看來很可怕的角’,身上和尾上滿是鷄眼,這魚的利刺刺人很危險,是使人討厭、害怕的魚。

   From the eighty-ninth fish genus in Lacépède's system of classification, belonging to his second subclass of bony fish (characterized by gill covers and a bronchial membrane), I noted some scorpionfish whose heads are adorned with stings and which have only one dorsal fin; these animals are covered with small scales, or have none at all, depending on the subgenus to which they belong. The second subgenus gave us some Didactylus specimens three to four decimeters long, streaked with yellow, their heads having a phantasmagoric appearance. As for the first subgenus, it furnished several specimens of that bizarre fish aptly nicknamed "toadfish," whose big head is sometimes gouged with deep cavities, sometimes swollen with protuberances; bristling with stings and strewn with nodules, it sports hideously irregular horns; its body and tail are adorned with callosities; its stings can inflict dangerous injuries; it's repulsive and horrible.

   從1月21日至23日,諾第留斯號每天二十四小時走二百五十里,即五百四十海里,也就是說每小時走二十二海里。

   From January 21 to the 23rd, the Nautilus traveled at the rate of 250 leagues in twenty-four hours, hence 540 miles at twenty-two miles per hour.

   我們所以能在走的時候認識各種各樣的魚,是因為這些魚受電光的吸引,前來陪伴我們,大部分的魚追不上船的速度,不久就落在後面,但有些魚在一定的時間內仍然可以跟上來,在諾第留斯號附近的海水中浮游。

   If, during our trip, we were able to identify these different varieties of fish, it's because they were attracted by our electric light and tried to follow alongside; but most of them were outdistanced by our speed and soon fell behind; temporarily, however, a few managed to keep pace in the Nautilus's waters.

   24日晨,在南緯12度5分,東經94度33分,我們望見了企林島,這是造礁珊瑚浮起的島,島上有很多高大好看的椰子樹,達爾丈和費茲一羅亞船長曾到過這島。諾第留斯號在距離不遠的水中沿這座荒島的懸崖行駛。它的打撈機打了許多腔腸類和棘皮類動物,以及軟體動物門的好些新奇介殼動物。

   On the morning of the 24th, in latitude 12 degrees 5' south and longitude 94 degrees 33', we raised Keeling Island, a madreporic upheaving planted with magnificent coconut trees, which had been visited by Mr. Darwin and Captain Fitzroy. The Nautilus cruised along a short distance off the shore of this desert island. Our dragnets brought up many specimens of polyps and echinoderms plus some unusual shells from the branch Mollusca. Captain Nemo's treasures were enhanced by some valuable exhibits from the delphinula snail species, to which I joined some pointed star coral, a sort of parasitic polypary that often attaches itself to seashells.

   不久,企林島在天邊看不見了,航行路線是指着西北,向印度半島的尖端駛去!

   Soon Keeling Island disappeared below the horizon, and our course was set to the northwest, toward the tip of the Indian peninsula.

   那天,尼德-蘭對我說:“到了有文化的地方了。這當然比巴布亞強得多,在巴布亞碰見的野蠻人比鹿還多呢! 教授,在這印度半島的陸地上,有馬路,鐵路,有英國的、法國的和印度的城市。走五英里路,一定可以碰到一個本國人。嗯!跟尼摩船長不客氣,離開他的機會,現在不是到來了嗎?”

   "Civilization!" Ned Land told me that day. "Much better than those Papuan Islands where we ran into more savages than venison! On this Indian shore, professor, there are roads and railways, English, French, and Hindu villages. We wouldn't go five miles without bumping into a fellow countryman. Come on now, isn't it time for our sudden departure from Captain Nemo?"

   “不,尼德,不,”我聲調很堅決地回答他,“像你們水手說的,讓它跑去。諾第留斯號走近人居住的地方,它要回到歐洲去了,讓它帶我們去吧。一到我們的歐洲海中,我們要謹慎小心地出主意,決定我們要做的事情。並且,我想足摩船長不會讓我們踏上馬拉巴爾①或科羅曼德爾②海岸,像在新幾內亞森林中一樣去打獵。”

   "No, no, Ned," I replied in a very firm tone. "Let's ride it out, as you seafaring fellows say. The Nautilus is approaching populated areas. It's going back toward Europe, let it take us there. After we arrive in home waters, we can do as we see fit. Besides, I don't imagine Captain Nemo will let us go hunting on the coasts of Malabar or Coromandel as he did in the forests of New Guinea."

   “那麼!先生,我們不要他的准許不成嗎?”

   "Well, sir, can't we manage without his permission?"

   我不回答加拿大人。我不願意爭論。實際上,對於命運中所能有的一切機會,我心中都要儘力思考。難道不正是命運把我送到諾第留斯號船上來的嗎?

   I didn't answer the Canadian. I wanted no arguments. Deep down, I was determined to fully exploit the good fortune that had put me on board the Nautilus.

   從企林島起,船行速度一般他說已慢下來。行程也比較任意,時常把我們拉到很深的地方去。船員使用了幾次縱斜機板,船內部槓桿可以把機板對浮標線作傾斜的移動。 我們這樣就一直到了二三公里深的地方,但對於這一萬三千米的探測器都還不能達到底的印度海的深處,從未加以實測。至于低水層的溫度,溫度表老是不變地指着四度。 不過在上面水層中,我注意到,在深水處的水總比大海面的水寒冷。

   After leaving Keeling Island, our pace got generally slower. It also got more unpredictable, often taking us to great depths. Several times we used our slanting fins, which internal levers could set at an oblique angle to our waterline. Thus we went as deep as two or three kilometers down but without ever verifying the lowest depths of this sea near India, which soundings of 13,000 meters have been unable to reach. As for the temperature in these lower strata, the thermometer always and invariably indicated 4 degrees centigrade. I merely observed that in the upper layers, the water was always colder over shallows than in the open sea.

   1月25日,洋面完全荒涼,什麼也沒有,這一天諾第留斯號是浮出水面來度過的。強大的推進器攪動水波,把水流噴人高空。在這種情況下,人們怎麼會不把它當作一條巨大的鯨魚類動物呢?這一天四分之三的時間我都在乎台上。我遠望大海。天邊什麼也沒有,只在下午四點的時候-,有一艘長形的汽船,跟我們對渡而行,在西方行駛。這船的桅杆有一個時候可以看見,但它不可能看見緊挨着水面的諾第留斯號。我想這艘汽船是屬於印度半島和東方航線輪船公司的,它航行于錫蘭島和悉尼之間,中途停泊在佐治玉呷和墨爾本港。

   On January 25, the ocean being completely deserted, the Nautilus spent the day on the surface, churning the waves with its powerful propeller and making them spurt to great heights. Under these conditions, who wouldn't have mistaken it for a gigantic cetacean? I spent three-quarters of the day on the platform. I stared at the sea. Nothing on the horizon, except near four o'clock in the afternoon a long steamer to the west, running on our opposite tack. Its masting was visible for an instant, but it couldn't have seen the Nautilus because we were lying too low in the water. I imagine that steamboat belonged to the Peninsular & Oriental line, which provides service from the island of Ceylon to Sidney, also calling at King George Sound and Melbourne.

   下午五點的時候,在熱帶地方白天和黑夜之間的短暫的黃昏來臨之前,康塞爾和我看到一個新奇的景象,使我們驚嘆。

   At five o'clock in the afternoon, just before that brief twilight that links day with night in tropical zones, Conseil and I marveled at an unusual sight.

   那是一種迷人的動物,照古代人的說法,碰見它,就預告將有好運氣到來。亞里士多德,雅典尼③,普林尼,奧比安②,研究過它的性情嗜好,並且使盡希臘和意大利學者們所有的詩詞來對待它。他們稱它為“諾第留斯”和“龐比留斯”。但近代科學沒有接受這個名稱,這種軟體動物現在名為“阿哥那提”——肛魚。

   It was a delightful animal whose discovery, according to the ancients, is a sign of good luck. Aristotle, Athenaeus, Pliny, and Oppian studied its habits and lavished on its behalf all the scientific poetry of Greece and Italy. They called it "nautilus" and "pompilius." But modern science has not endorsed these designations, and this mollusk is now known by the name argonaut.

   這時候在洋面上走動的正是這肛魚屬的一群。在我們看來,有幾千幾萬條。它們是帶突瘤的肛魚屬,是印度洋特有的一種。這些美麗的軟體動物是向後倒退來行動的,它們使用運動管,把吐出的水從管中排出,就走動起來了。它們有八根觸鬚,其中六根又長又細,浮在水面上,其他兩根彎圓作掌形,迎鳳張開,像輕帆那樣。

   Anyone consulting Conseil would soon learn from the gallant lad that the branch Mollusca is divided into five classes; that the first class features the Cephalopoda (whose members are sometimes naked, sometimes covered with a shell), which consists of two families, the Dibranchiata and the Tetrabranchiata, which are distinguished by their number of gills; that the family Dibranchiata includes three genera, the argonaut, the squid, and the cuttlefish, and that the family Tetrabranchiata contains only one genus, the nautilus. After this catalog, if some recalcitrant listener confuses the argonaut, which is acetabuliferous (in other words, a bearer of suction tubes), with the nautilus, which is tentaculiferous (a bearer of tentacles), it will be simply unforgivable.

   Now, it was a school of argonauts then voyaging on the surface of the ocean. We could count several hundred of them. They belonged to that species of argonaut covered with protuberances and exclusive to the seas near India.

   我完全可以看見它們的螺旋波紋的介殼,居維埃的比方很恰當,說這殻是一隻精美的小艇。是的,這殻真正是一隻小船,雖然它是這個動物分泌出來的,但它沒有緊緊附着它,而是它把這動物裝載在裡面。

   These graceful mollusks were swimming backward by means of their locomotive tubes, sucking water into these tubes and then expelling it. Six of their eight tentacles were long, thin, and floated on the water, while the other two were rounded into palms and spread to the wind like light sails. I could see perfectly their undulating, spiral-shaped shells, which Cuvier aptly compared to an elegant cockleboat. It's an actual boat indeed. It transports the animal that secretes it without the animal sticking to it.

   “肛魚可以自由離開它的介殼,”我對康塞永說,“但它從不離開它。”

   "The argonaut is free to leave its shell," I told Conseil, "but it never does."

   “尼摩船長就是這樣,”康塞爾很恰當地回答,“所以稱他的船為肛魚號更恰當些。”

   "Not unlike Captain Nemo," Conseil replied sagely. "Which is why he should have christened his ship the Argonaut."

   大約有一個鐘頭左右,諾第留斯號在這群軟體動物中例行駛。一會兒,不知道發生了什麼可怕的事情,突然把它:們嚇住了。它們好像聽到信號一樣,所有的帆一下子都捲起來了,胳膊都收回去了,身體都縮起來了,翻倒的介殼改變了重心,整個隊伍都沉在水波中不見了。這是一瞬間的事,從來沒有一隻艦隊的演習能執行這麼整齊劃一的動作。

   For about an hour the Nautilus cruised in the midst of this school of mollusks. Then, lord knows why, they were gripped with a sudden fear. As if at a signal, every sail was abruptly lowered; arms folded, bodies contracted, shells turned over by changing their center of gravity, and the whole flotilla disappeared under the waves. It was instantaneous, and no squadron of ships ever maneuvered with greater togetherness.

   這時候,黑夜突然來臨,微風僅能掀起一些海浪在諾第留斯號邊緣下緩慢地推過去。

   Just then night fell suddenly, and the waves barely surged in the breeze, spreading placidly around the Nautilus's side plates.

   第二天,1月26日,我們在東經82度上穿過了赤道綫,船又回到北半球了。

   The next day, January 26, we cut the equator on the 82nd meridian and we reentered the northern hemisphere.

   這一天,一大群鮫魚陪着我們。這些可怕的動物在這一帶海中繁殖,使這一帶變成很危險的地方。其中有背脊栗子色,肚腹灰白色的煙色鯨,嘴裡有十二排長牙;有睛點鮫,這鮫脖子上有一個大黑點。被白圓圈圈起來,很像一隻眼睛;有淡黃蚊,嘴臉圓形,帶有灰點。這些力大的動物時常衝撞客廳的玻璃,來勢猛烈,使人害怕。尼德-蘭情不自禁了。他要上水面去調叉這些怪物,尤其有一種鯊魚鮫類。 嘴中有一列一列的牙,組成花紋一樣,又有一種虎皮大蚊,長五米,特別刺激他,使他技癢,忍耐不住。但諾第留斯號增加速度,不久就把這些最炔的鮫魚都甩在後面了。

   During that day a fearsome school of sharks provided us with an escort. Dreadful animals that teem in these seas and make them extremely dangerous. There were Port Jackson sharks with a brown back, a whitish belly, and eleven rows of teeth, bigeye sharks with necks marked by a large black spot encircled in white and resembling an eye, and Isabella sharks whose rounded snouts were strewn with dark speckles. Often these powerful animals rushed at the lounge window with a violence less than comforting. By this point Ned Land had lost all self-control. He wanted to rise to the surface of the waves and harpoon the monsters, especially certain smooth-hound sharks whose mouths were paved with teeth arranged like a mosaic, and some big five-meter tiger sharks that insisted on personally provoking him. But the Nautilus soon picked up speed and easily left astern the fastest of these man-eaters.

   1月27日,在廣闊的孟加拉灣口,我們好幾次碰見了淒慘怕人的景象!有很多屍體浮在水波上面。那是印度城市中的死人,從恆河流下,輸送到大海,因為這地方的唯一掩埋者——騖烏——沒有能完全吞食他們。但海中鯨魚很多,可以幫助騖鳥來完成這件喪氣事。

   On January 27, at the entrance to the huge Bay of Bengal, we repeatedly encountered a gruesome sight: human corpses floating on the surface of the waves! Carried by the Ganges to the high seas, these were deceased Indian villagers who hadn't been fully devoured by vultures, the only morticians in these parts. But there was no shortage of sharks to assist them with their undertaking chores.

   晚上七點左右,諾第留斯號在奶海裡航行,船身一半在水裡,一半露在水面上。一望無際的大洋呈侞白色。這是月光的力量嗎?不是的,因為新月還不到兩天,早在陽光中水平綫下不見了。整個天空,雖然有星光照亮,但跟水上的白色對比,顯得很黯淡。

   Near seven o'clock in the evening, the Nautilus lay half submerged, navigating in the midst of milky white waves. As far as the eye could see, the ocean seemed lactified. Was it an effect of the moon's rays? No, because the new moon was barely two days old and was still lost below the horizon in the sun's rays. The entire sky, although lit up by stellar radiation, seemed pitch-black in comparison with the whiteness of these waters.

   康塞爾以為自己的眼睛昏花了,不敢相信,他問我這種新奇現象的原因。很幸運,我可以答得出來。

   Conseil couldn't believe his eyes, and he questioned me about the causes of this odd phenomenon. Luckily I was in a position to answer him.

   “這就是人們所稱道的奶海,”我對他說,“是闊大的白色水流,時常在盎波尼島海岸和這一帶海中看到。”

   "That's called a milk sea," I told him, "a vast expanse of white waves often seen along the coasts of Amboina and in these waterways."

   “不過,”康塞爾問,“先生可以讓我知道是什麼原因產生這種效果嗎?因為,我想這海水並沒有變成奶呀!”

   "But," Conseil asked, "could master tell me the cause of this effect, because I presume this water hasn't really changed into milk!"

   “不,康塞爾,這種使你驚奇的白色是由於水中有無數億萬的細微滴蟲,那是一種發光的微蟲,外形是膠質無色的,有一根頭髮那樣厚,長也不超過一毫米的五分之一。這些微生滴蟲在好幾里長的海面上彼此連接起來、形成一片白色。”

   "No, my boy, and this whiteness that amazes you is merely due to the presence of myriads of tiny creatures called infusoria, a sort of diminutive glowworm that's colorless and gelatinous in appearance, as thick as a strand of hair, and no longer than one-fifth of a millimeter. Some of these tiny creatures stick together over an area of several leagues."

   “好幾里長!”康塞爾喊道。

   "Several leagues!" Conseil exclaimed.

   “是的,老實人、你不用去計算這些滴蟲的數量。你一定算不出來,因為我聽說過,某些航海家在這奶海上走了四十多海里遠。

   "Yes, my boy, and don't even try to compute the number of these infusoria. You won't pull it off, because if I'm not mistaken, certain navigators have cruised through milk seas for more than forty miles."

   在幾小時內,諾第留斯號的沖角衝開這白色水流,向前行駛,我看見它沒有聲響地在這肥皂泡沫的水面上溜過去,就像在海灣中、順流和逆流相衝時所形成的水沫上面行駛那樣。

   I'm not sure that Conseil heeded my recommendation, because he seemed to be deep in thought, no doubt trying to calculate how many one-fifths of a millimeter are found in forty square miles. As for me, I continued to observe this phenomenon. For several hours the Nautilus's spur sliced through these whitish waves, and I watched it glide noiselessly over this soapy water, as if it were cruising through those foaming eddies that a bay's currents and countercurrents sometimes leave between each other.

   半夜左右,海面忽然又現出乎常的顏色來,但在我們船後面,直至天邊盡處,天空反映着水面的白色,很久都像受北極的模糊曙光澈照一樣。

   Near midnight the sea suddenly resumed its usual hue, but behind us all the way to the horizon, the skies kept mirroring the whiteness of those waves and for a good while seemed imbued with the hazy glow of an aurora borealis.