THE PART OF THE planet earth that the seas occupy has been assessed at 3,832,558 square myriameters, hence more than 38,000,000,000 hectares. This liquid mass totals 2,250,000,000 cubic miles and could form a sphere with a diameter of sixty leagues, whose weight would be three quintillion metric tons. To appreciate such a number, we should remember that a quintillion is to a billion what a billion is to one, in other words, there are as many billions in a quintillion as ones in a billion! Now then, this liquid mass nearly equals the total amount of water that has poured through all the earth's rivers for the past 40,000 years!
地球上海水占的面積共計為三百八十三億二千五百五十八萬平方公里。海水的體積共有二十二億五千萬立方米，它可以成為一個圓球，這圓球的直徑為六十里，重量為三百億億噸。想瞭解上面這個數目，必須設想這個數目對十億之比，同於十億對單位之比，即是說，在這個數目中所有的十億數，等於十億中所有的單位數。而這個數目的海水也就等於地上所有的河流在四萬年中所流下來的水量。
During prehistoric times, an era of fire was followed by an era of water. At first there was ocean everywhere. Then, during the Silurian period, the tops of mountains gradually appeared above the waves, islands emerged, disappeared beneath temporary floods, rose again, were fused to form continents, and finally the earth's geography settled into what we have today. Solid matter had wrested from liquid matter some 37,657,000 square miles, hence 12,916,000,000 hectares.
在地質學的紀元中，火的時期之後為水的時期。首先，處處都是海洋。“然後，在初期志留紀中，山峰漸漸露出來了，島嶼浮現，又在部分發生的洪水下隱沒，重又現出，連接起來，構成大陸，最後，陸地才固定為地理上的各大陸，跟我們今天所看見的一般。固體大陸從流體海水所取得的面積為三千七百萬零六百五十七平方英里，即一千二百九十一萬六千公畝。
The outlines of the continents allow the seas to be divided into five major parts: the frozen Arctic and Antarctic oceans, the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Pacific Ocean.
地球上各大陸形狀不同，把海水分為五大部分，即，北冰洋，南冰洋，印度洋；大西洋和太平洋。
The Pacific Ocean extends north to south between the two polar circles and east to west between America and Asia over an expanse of 145 degrees of longitude. It's the most tranquil of the seas; its currents are wide and slow-moving, its tides moderate, its rainfall abundant. And this was the ocean that I was first destined to cross under these strangest of auspices.
太平洋從北至南，是在南北兩極之間，從西至東，是在亞洲和美洲之間，共有經度145度的寬廣。太平洋是最平靜的海，海潮闊大緩慢，潮水中常，雨量豐富。我的命運要我在最奇異的情況下首先走過的，就是這個海洋。
"If you don't mind, professor," Captain Nemo told me, "we'll determine our exact position and fix the starting point of our voyage. It's fifteen minutes before noon. I'm going to rise to the surface of the water."
“教授，”尼摩船長對我說，“如果您高興，我們先明確地記下我們現在的方位，決定這次旅行的出發點。現在時間是正午差一刻“我現在叫船浮上水面來。”
The captain pressed an electric bell three times. The pumps began to expel water from the ballast tanks; on the pressure gauge, a needle marked the decreasing pressures that indicated the Nautilus's upward progress; then the needle stopped.
船長按了三次電鈴；怞水機開始把儲水他的水排出，氣壓表上的針從不同的氣壓度數，指出諾第留斯號的上升運動，後來船停住了。
"Here we are," the captain said.
船長說：“我們到了。
I made my way to the central companionway, which led to the platform. I climbed its metal steps, passed through the open hatches, and arrived topside on the Nautilus.
我走上通到平台去的中央梯子；我踏上一層一層的鋼鐵梯級，從打開的鐵蓋板，到了諾第雷斯號的上面部分。
The platform emerged only eighty centimeters above the waves. The Nautilus's bow and stern boasted that spindle-shaped outline that had caused the ship to be compared appropriately to a long cigar. I noted the slight overlap of its sheet-iron plates, which resembled the scales covering the bodies of our big land reptiles. So I had a perfectly natural explanation for why, despite the best spyglasses, this boat had always been mistaken for a marine animal.
平台僅僅浮出水面八十釐米。諾第留斯號前頭和後部現出象紡錘形狀，正好比一根長雪茄煙。我看到船身上的鋼板，彼此稍微的鱗次着，很像地上大爬蟲類動物身上所有的鱗甲。所以我很自然地明白了，即使有最好的望遠鏡，這船總會被認為是一隻海中動物。
Near the middle of the platform, the skiff was half set in the ship's hull, making a slight bulge. Fore and aft stood two cupolas of moderate height, their sides slanting and partly inset with heavy biconvex glass, one reserved for the helmsman steering the Nautilus, the other for the brilliance of the powerful electric beacon lighting his way.
約在平台中間，有那只半藏在船殻中的小艇，好象是一個微微突出的瘤。在平台前後，各裝上一個不很高的籠間、向側邊傾斜，一部分裝着很厚的凹凸玻璃鏡：這兩個籠間卜一個作為諾第留斯號領航人之用，另一個裝着強力的電燈，光芒四射，探照航路。
The sea was magnificent, the skies clear. This long aquatic vehicle could barely feel the broad undulations of the ocean. A mild breeze out of the east rippled the surface of the water. Free of all mist, the horizon was ideal for taking sights.
海上風平浪靜，天空清朗無雲。長長的船身差不多感不到海洋的闊大波動。一陣輕微的東風吹皺了洋面。夭慚全無煙霧，可以望得很遠。
There was nothing to be seen. Not a reef, not an islet. No more Abraham Lincoln. A deserted immenseness.
我們望不見什麼。望不見暗礁，望不見小島。林肯號不見了；望見的只是一片汪洋的海水。
Raising his sextant, Captain Nemo took the altitude of the sun, which would give him his latitude. He waited for a few minutes until the orb touched the rim of the horizon. While he was taking his sights, he didn't move a muscle, and the instrument couldn't have been steadier in hands made out of marble.
尼摩船長帶了他的六分儀，測量太陽的高度，因此可以。知道船所在的緯度。他等待了幾分鐘，讓太陽跟地平綫相：齊。當他觀察的時候，他的肌肉沒有一處顏動，儀器也像握：在鐵石的手中一般，絶對平穩。
"Noon," he said. "Professor, whenever you're ready. . . ."
“正午，”他說，“教授，您要我們這時出發嗎？”
I took one last look at the sea, a little yellowish near the landing places of Japan, and I went below again to the main lounge.
我最後看一下海面，因為靠近日本海岸，海面微作努色，然後我回到客廳中來。
There the captain fixed his position and used a chronometer to calculate his longitude, which he double-checked against his previous observations of hour angles. Then he told me:
客廳中，船長在地圖上記了方位，按合時計來算經度卜同時他拿從前做的“時角”觀察記錄來校對。然後他對我說：
"Professor Aronnax, we're in longitude 137 degrees 15' west--"
“阿龍納斯先生，我們是在西經137度15分……”
"West of which meridian?" I asked quickly, hoping the captain's reply might give me a clue to his nationality.
“您根據哪種子午綫算的呢？”我急急地問，想從船長的回答中知道他的國籍。
"Sir," he answered me, "I have chronometers variously set to the meridians of Paris, Greenwich, and Washington, D.C. But in your honor, I'll use the one for Paris."
“先生，”他答覆我，“我有各種不同的時計，可以根據巴黎、格林威治和華盛頓子午綫來計算。但因為您的關係，我以後將根據巴黎子午綫計算。”
This reply told me nothing. I bowed, and the commander went on:
這個回答使我得不到什麼。我點頭表示謝意，船長又說：
"We're in longitude 137 degrees 15' west of the meridian of Paris, and latitude 30 degrees 7' north, in other words, about 300 miles from the shores of Japan. At noon on this day of November 8, we hereby begin our voyage of exploration under the waters."
“我們在巴黎子午線西經137度15分，北緯30度7分，即是說，距日本海岸約為三百海里。今天11月8日，中午，我們開始作我們的海底探險旅行。”
"May God be with us!" I replied.
“願上帝保佑我們！”我答。
"And now, professor," the captain added, "I'll leave you to your intellectual pursuits. I've set our course east-northeast at a depth of fifty meters. Here are some large-scale charts on which you'll be able to follow that course. The lounge is at your disposal, and with your permission, I'll take my leave."
“教授，”船長又說，“我現在讓您做您的研究。我要船在水深五十米下，向東北偏東方行駛。這裡有標記分明的地圖，您可以看著我們的航行路線。客廳您可以隨便使用，我向您告辭了。”
Captain Nemo bowed. I was left to myself, lost in my thoughts. They all centered on the Nautilus's commander. Would I ever learn the nationality of this eccentric man who had boasted of having none? His sworn hate for humanity, a hate that perhaps was bent on some dreadful revenge--what had provoked it? Was he one of those unappreciated scholars, one of those geniuses "embittered by the world," as Conseil expressed it, a latter-day Galileo, or maybe one of those men of science, like America's Commander Maury, whose careers were ruined by political revolutions? I couldn't say yet. As for me, whom fate had just brought aboard his vessel, whose life he had held in the balance: he had received me coolly but hospitably. Only, he never took the hand I extended to him. He never extended his own.
尼摩船長對我行個禮，出去了。我一人留下，默默地沉思。所想的都是關於這位諾第留斯號的船長。這個古怪的人，自以為不屬於任何國籍，我將永遠不知道他是哪一國的人嗎？他對於人類的那種仇恨，或者他對於使他有那種仇恨的人，要想法作可怕的報復嗎？他是不是像康塞爾說的，“有人給他受過痛苦的”一位被人輕視的學者，一位天才，一位近代的伽利略呢？或者他是一位科學家，像美國人莫利一般）學術研究事業因為政治上的變動受到挫折呢？這我都還不能說。我是由於偶然的機會被拋在他船上的人，我的生命躁在他手中，他冷淡地，但客氣地收留了我。不過他從不握我伸出去的手，他也從不將他的手伸出來。
For an entire hour I was deep in these musings, trying to probe this mystery that fascinated me so. Then my eyes focused on a huge world map displayed on the table, and I put my finger on the very spot where our just-determined longitude and latitude intersected.
整整一個小時，我浸沉在深深的思慮中，總想明了這使我十分感興味的秘密。後來我的眼光盯着擺在桌上的平面大地圖，我就把手指放在上面所指出的經緯度相交的那點。
Like the continents, the sea has its rivers. These are exclusive currents that can be identified by their temperature and color, the most remarkable being the one called the Gulf Stream. Science has defined the global paths of five chief currents: one in the north Atlantic, a second in the south Atlantic, a third in the north Pacific, a fourth in the south Pacific, and a fifth in the southern Indian Ocean. Also it's likely that a sixth current used to exist in the northern Indian Ocean, when the Caspian and Aral Seas joined up with certain large Asian lakes to form a single uniform expanse of water.
海洋跟大陸一樣，也有江河。這些江河是特殊的水流，從它們的溫度、它們的顏色，可以辨認出來，其中最顯著的是大家所知道的“暖流”。科學決定了在地球上有下面的五條主要水流路線：第一條在大西洋北部，第二條在大西洋南部，第三條在太平洋北部，第四條在太平洋南部，第五條在印度洋南部。很可能在印度洋北部從前有第六條水流存在，那個時候，裏海和阿拉伯海還跟亞洲的各大湖連起來，成為一片大海。
Now then, at the spot indicated on the world map, one of these seagoing rivers was rolling by, the Kuroshio of the Japanese, the Black Current: heated by perpendicular rays from the tropical sun, it leaves the Bay of Bengal, crosses the Strait of Malacca, goes up the shores of Asia, and curves into the north Pacific as far as the Aleutian Islands, carrying along trunks of camphor trees and other local items, the pure indigo of its warm waters sharply contrasting with the ocean's waves. It was this current the Nautilus was about to cross. I watched it on the map with my eyes, I saw it lose itself in the immenseness of the Pacific, and I felt myself swept along with it, when Ned Land and Conseil appeared in the lounge doorway.
正是，在平面地圖上記下的那個點，展開了上面說的一條暖流，日本人叫做黑水流，黑水流從孟加拉灣出來，受熱帶太陽光線的直射，很為溫暖，橫過馬六甲海峽，沿著亞洲海岸前進，人太平洋北部作環彎形，直到阿留地安群島。它將樟腦樹幹和各地方的各樣土產輸送出去，它的暖流的純靛藍色跟大洋的水流顯然分開。諾第留斯號要走的就是這條水流。我兩眼盯着它，我看見它抿沒在太平洋的無邊水際中；我正感到自己跟水流一齊奔馳的時候，尼德-蘭和康塞爾在客廳門口出現了。
My two gallant companions stood petrified at the sight of the wonders on display.
我的兩個老實同伴看見堆在他們眼前的神奇物品，驚怪得發楞了：
"Where are we?" the Canadian exclaimed. "In the Quebec Museum?"
“我們在什麼地方呢？我們在什麼地方呢？”加拿大人喊，“我們在魁北克博物館嗎？”
"Begging master's pardon," Conseil answered, "but this seems more like the Sommerard artifacts exhibition!"
“如果先生認為可以，”康塞爾答，“還不如說這是桑美拉大廈呢！”
"My friends," I replied, signaling them to enter, "you're in neither Canada nor France, but securely aboard the Nautilus, fifty meters below sea level."
“朋友們，”我回答，我同時做個手勢，讓他們進來，“你們不是在加拿大，也不是在法蘭西，而是在諾第留斯號船上，在海底下五十米。”
"If master says so, then so be it," Conseil answered. "But in all honesty, this lounge is enough to astonish even someone Flemish like myself."
“當然要相信先生的話，因為先生這樣肯定了。”康塞爾回答，“老實說，這個客廳，就是讓我這個佛蘭蒙人看來也要驚奇。”
"Indulge your astonishment, my friend, and have a look, because there's plenty of work here for a classifier of your talents."
“朋友，你驚奇吧，你好好地看吧，因為對於你這麼能幹的一個分類者，這裡實在有不少的工作可做哩。”
Conseil needed no encouraging. Bending over the glass cases, the gallant lad was already muttering choice words from the naturalist's vocabulary: class Gastropoda, family Buccinoidea, genus cowry, species Cypraea madagascariensis, etc.
我並不需要鼓勵康塞爾去做。這個老實人早就彎身在玻璃柜子上，嘴裡已經低聲說出生物學家所用的詞彙：腹足綱，油螺科，磁貝屬，馬達加斯加介蛤種，等等……
Meanwhile Ned Land, less dedicated to conchology, questioned me about my interview with Captain Nemo. Had I discovered who he was, where he came from, where he was heading, how deep he was taking us? In short, a thousand questions I had no time to answer.
這個時候。尼德-蘭——他不是貝類學家——問我關於我跟尼摩船長會談的情形。他問我，我是否發現他是哪一國人，他從哪裡來，到哪裡去，把我們拉到多少深的海底去？他問了許多問題，我簡直來不及回答他。
I told him everything I knew--or, rather, everything I didn't know-- and I asked him what he had seen or heard on his part.
我將我所知道的全部告訴他，或不如說，將我所不知道的全部告訴他。我又問他，他看到些什麼或聽到些什麼。
"Haven't seen or heard a thing!" the Canadian replied. "I haven't even spotted the crew of this boat. By any chance, could they be electric too?"
“什麼也沒有看見，什麼也沒有聽到！“加拿大人回答，“我甚至于連這船上的人員的影子也沒有看見。真的，是不是他們都是電人？”
"Electric?"
“電人！”
"Oh ye gods, I'm half tempted to believe it! But back to you, Professor Aronnax," Ned Land said, still hanging on to his ideas. "Can't you tell me how many men are on board? Ten, twenty, fifty, a hundred?"
“說真的，我是要這樣想呢。可是您，阿龍納靳先生，”尼德-蘭問，他總是不忘記他的那個念頭，“您不能告訴我這船上一共有多少人嗎？十人，二十人，五十人，一百人嗎？”
"I'm unable to answer you, Mr. Land. And trust me on this: for the time being, get rid of these notions of taking over the Nautilus or escaping from it. This boat is a masterpiece of modern technology, and I'd be sorry to have missed it! Many people would welcome the circumstances that have been handed us, just to walk in the midst of these wonders. So keep calm, and let's see what's happening around us."
“尼德-蘭師傅，這我可不能回答您。而且您要相信我，此刻您必須拋棄您那奪取或逃出諾第留斯號的念頭。這船是現代工業的傑作，我如果沒有看見它，我不知要怎麼惋惜呢！許多人，只為能看看這些神奇事物，也就樂意接受我們的處境了。所以您必須保持鎮靜，我們想法觀看我們周圍所有的事物。”
"See!" the harpooner exclaimed. "There's nothing to see, nothing we'll ever see from this sheet-iron prison! We're simply running around blindfolded--"
“觀看！”魚叉手喊，“除了這鋼板的監牢，我們看不見什麼，我們將來也看不見什麼！我們就是跑，我們就是盲目行駛……”
Ned Land was just pronouncing these last words when we were suddenly plunged into darkness, utter darkness. The ceiling lights went out so quickly, my eyes literally ached, just as if we had experienced the opposite sensation of going from the deepest gloom to the brightest sunlight.
當尼德-蘭說最後這句話的時候，忽然全廳黑了，這是絶對的黑暗。明亮的天花板熄滅了，並且熄滅得十分快，使我的眼睛發生一種疼痛的感覺，跟在相反的情形中，即從漆一般的黑暗中忽見最輝煌的光明所發生的感覺一樣。
We stood stock-still, not knowing what surprise was waiting for us, whether pleasant or unpleasant. But a sliding sound became audible. You could tell that some panels were shifting over the Nautilus's sides.
我們都默不作聲，動也不敢動，不知道有什麼是福是禍的意外事件等着我們。我們聽到一種滑走的聲音。簡直要使人認為是蓋板在諾第留斯號的兩側動起來了。
"It's the beginning of the end!" Ned Land said.
“現在一切真要完蛋了！”尼德-蘭說。
". . . order Hydromedusa," Conseil muttered.
“水母目！”康塞爾低聲說。
Suddenly, through two oblong openings, daylight appeared on both sides of the lounge. The liquid masses came into view, brightly lit by the ship's electric outpourings. We were separated from the sea by two panes of glass. Initially I shuddered at the thought that these fragile partitions could break; but strong copper bands secured them, giving them nearly infinite resistance.
忽然，光線穿過兩個長方形的孔洞，從容廳的備方面射進。海水受電光的照耀，通體明亮地顯現出來。兩塊玻璃晶片把我們和海水分開。初時我想到這種脆弱的隔板可能碎裂，心中害怕得發抖；但由於有紅銅的結實框架頂住，使它差不多有無限的抵抗力。
The sea was clearly visible for a one-mile radius around the Nautilus. What a sight! What pen could describe it? Who could portray the effects of this light through these translucent sheets of water, the subtlety of its progressive shadings into the ocean's upper and lower strata?
在諾第留斯號周圍一海里內的海水，現在都可以清楚’地看見。多麼光怪陸離的景象呵！無論多麼高明的妙筆也描寫不出來！誰能描繪光線穿過透明的水流所產生的新奇景色呢守誰能描繪那光線照在海洋上下兩方，漸次遞減的柔和光度呢！
The transparency of salt water has long been recognized. Its clarity is believed to exceed that of spring water. The mineral and organic substances it holds in suspension actually increase its translucency. In certain parts of the Caribbean Sea, you can see the sandy bottom with startling distinctness as deep as 145 meters down, and the penetrating power of the sun's rays seems to give out only at a depth of 300 meters. But in this fluid setting traveled by the Nautilus, our electric glow was being generated in the very heart of the waves. It was no longer illuminated water, it was liquid light.
我們認得海洋的透明性，我們知道海水的清澈超過山間清泉。海水中所含有的礦物質和有機物質，甚至于可隊增加它的透明性。在太平洋中的某部分，例如在安的列斯群島，一百四十五米深的海水可以讓人看見水底下面的沙床，十分清澈，而陽光的照射力好像直至三百米的深度方纔停止。但是，在諾第留斯號所走過的海水中，電光就在水波：中間照耀。這不是明亮的水，而是流動的光了。
If we accept the hypotheses of the microbiologist Ehrenberg-- who believes that these underwater depths are lit up by phosphorescent organisms--nature has certainly saved one of her most prodigious sights for residents of the sea, and I could judge for myself from the thousandfold play of the light. On both sides I had windows opening over these unexplored depths. The darkness in the lounge enhanced the brightness outside, and we stared as if this clear glass were the window of an immense aquarium.
如果我們承認愛蘭伯的假設，認為海底是有輝煌的磷光照耀的，那麼，大自然一定給海中的居民保留下一種最出奇的景象，我現在看見這種光的無窮變化，就可以想到這景象是多麼美麗。客廳每邊都有窗戶開向這未曾經過探測的深淵。廳中的黑暗愈顯出外面的光輝，我們細看，好像這片純晶體，真就是那大到了不得的養魚缸的玻璃一樣。
The Nautilus seemed to be standing still. This was due to the lack of landmarks. But streaks of water, parted by the ship's spur, sometimes threaded before our eyes with extraordinary speed.
諾第留斯號好像是不動了，這是因為水中沒有標熾盼緣故。可是，時時有那些船頭沖角分開的水綫紋，在我們眼前迅速地向後掠過。
In wonderment, we leaned on our elbows before these show windows, and our stunned silence remained unbroken until Conseil said:
我們簡直心醉神迷了，時靠在玻璃窗面前，我們誰都還。沒有打破這由於驚怪發怔所引起的靜默。此時康塞爾說：
"You wanted to see something, Ned my friend; well, now you have something to see!"
“尼德-蘭朋友，您不是要看嗎？現在您看吧！”
"How unusual!" the Canadian put in, setting aside his tantrums and getaway schemes while submitting to this irresistible allure. "A man would go an even greater distance just to stare at such a sight!"
“真新鮮！真新鮮！”加拿大人說，他忘記了他的憤怒和他的逃走計劃，受到一種不可抗拒的誘惑，“我們要從更遠更遠的地方走來讚美欣賞這景象哩！”
"Ah!" I exclaimed. "I see our captain's way of life! He's found himself a separate world that saves its most astonishing wonders just for him!"
“啊！”我喊道，“我現在明白這個人的生活了！他自己另外造了一個世界，給他保留下最驚人的神奇！”
"But where are the fish?" the Canadian ventured to observe. "I don't see any fish!"
“可是魚在哪裡呢？”加拿大人說，“我看不到魚呀！”
"Why would you care, Ned my friend?" Conseil replied. "Since you have no knowledge of them."
“尼德-蘭好朋友，”康塞爾回答，“那沒有關係呀，因為 您不認識它們哩。”
"Me? A fisherman!" Ned Land exclaimed.
“我不認識魚！我這打魚的人！”尼德-蘭喊道。
And on this subject a dispute arose between the two friends, since both were knowledgeable about fish, but from totally different standpoints.
關於這個問題，他們兩個朋友間發生了爭論，因為他們都認識，但認識的方式不同。
Everyone knows that fish make up the fourth and last class in the vertebrate branch. They have been quite aptly defined as: "cold-blooded vertebrates with a double circulatory system, breathing through gills, and designed to live in water." They consist of two distinct series: the series of bony fish, in other words, those whose spines have vertebrae made of bone; and cartilaginous fish, in other words, those whose spines have vertebrae made of cartilage.
大家知道魚類是脊推動物門中的第四綱和最後一綱。魚類的確切定義是：“有雙重循環作用的，冷血的，用鰓呼吸的，生活在水中的脊椎動物”。魚類由不同的兩類構成：硬骨魚類一即脊骨是硬骨脊椎——和軟骨魚類——即脊骨是軟骨脊椎。
Possibly the Canadian was familiar with this distinction, but Conseil knew far more about it; and since he and Ned were now fast friends, he just had to show off. So he told the harpooner:
加拿大人也許懂得這種區別，但康塞爾知道的就更多，現在他跟尼德。蘭有了友誼，大家很要好，他不能承認自己的知識比尼德-蘭差，所以他這樣說：
"Ned my friend, you're a slayer of fish, a highly skilled fisherman. You've caught a large number of these fascinating animals. But I'll bet you don't know how they're classified."
“尼德-蘭老朋友，不錯，您是千個打魚手，一個很能幹的漁夫。您曾經捕捉過許多這些很有趣味的動物。不過我可以跟您打賭，您不知道人們怎樣把它們分類。”
"Sure I do," the harpooner replied in all seriousness. "They're classified into fish we eat and fish we don't eat!"
“我知道，”魚叉手很正經地回答，“人們把它們分為可吃的魚類和不可吃的魚類！”
"Spoken like a true glutton," Conseil replied. "But tell me, are you familiar with the differences between bony fish and cartilaginous fish?"
“這是講究吃喝的人的一種分類法，”康塞爾回答，“請您告訴我，您知道硬骨魚類和軟骨魚類之間存在的差別嗎？”
"Just maybe, Conseil."
“康塞爾，我可能知道。”
"And how about the subdivisions of these two large classes?"
“您知道這兩大組魚類的小分類嗎”
"I haven't the foggiest notion," the Canadian replied.
“我想我不至于不知道。”加拿大人回答。
"All right, listen and learn, Ned my friend! Bony fish are subdivided into six orders. Primo, the acanthopterygians, whose upper jaw is fully formed and free-moving, and whose gills take the shape of a comb. This order consists of fifteen families, in other words, three-quarters of all known fish. Example: the common perch."
“尼德-蘭老朋友，好吧，請您聽我說，情您好好地記下來吧！硬骨魚類可分為六目。第一目是硬鰭魚，上鰓是完：整的，能動的，鰓作梳子形。這一目共有十五科，就是說，包。括已經知道的魚類的四分之三。這目的類型是：普通鯽魚。”
"Pretty fair eating," Ned Land replied.
“相當好吃的魚。”尼德。蘭回答。
"Secundo," Conseil went on, "the abdominals, whose pelvic fins hang under the abdomen to the rear of the pectorals but aren't attached to the shoulder bone, an order that's divided into five families and makes up the great majority of freshwater fish. Examples: carp, pike."
康塞爾又說：“第二目是腹鰭魚，腹鰭是垂在肚腹下面和在胸緒後邊，而不是長在肩骨上；這一目分為五科，包括大部分的淡水魚。這目的類型是：鯉魚、雄魚。”
"Ugh!" the Canadian put in with distinct scorn. "You can keep the freshwater fish!"
“呸！”加拿大人帶著看不起的神氣說，“淡水魚！”
"Tertio," Conseil said, "the subbrachians, whose pelvic fins are attached under the pectorals and hang directly from the shoulder bone. This order contains four families. Examples: flatfish such as sole, turbot, dab, plaice, brill, etc."
“第三目是副鰭魚，”康塞爾說，”腹鰭是接在胸鱔的下面和掛在肩骨上。這一目共有四科。類型是：蝶魚、比目魚、鞋底魚、大比目魚等。”
"Excellent, really excellent!" the harpooner exclaimed, interested in fish only from an edible viewpoint.
“美味好吃的魚！美味好吃的魚！”魚叉手喊，他只是從口味的觀點來看魚類。
"Quarto," Conseil went on, unabashed, "the apods, with long bodies that lack pelvic fins and are covered by a heavy, often glutinous skin, an order consisting of only one family. Examples: common eels and electric eels."
“第四目是無腹鰭魚，”康塞爾興緻絲毫不減地又說，“魚身很長，沒有腹鰭，身上有很厚的帶粘性的皮；這一目只。有一科。類型是：鱔魚、鰻魚、電鰻魚。”
"So-so, just so-so!" Ned Land replied.
“味道平常！味道平常！尼德。蘭答。
"Quinto," Conseil said, "the lophobranchians, which have fully formed, free-moving jaws but whose gills consist of little tufts arranged in pairs along their gill arches. This order includes only one family. Examples: seahorses and dragonfish."
“第五目是總鰓魚、康塞爾說，“鰓是完全的和自由的，但由許多小刷子構成，一對一對地排在鰓環節上。這一目只有一科。類型是：海馬魚、龍馬魚。”
"Bad, very bad!" the harpooner replied.
“不好吃！不好吃！”魚叉手回答。
"Sexto and last," Conseil said, "the plectognaths, whose maxillary bone is firmly attached to the side of the intermaxillary that forms the jaw, and whose palate arch is locked to the skull by sutures that render the jaw immovable, an order lacking true pelvic fins and which consists of two families. Examples: puffers and moonfish."
康塞爾說：“最後第六目是固顎魚，顎骨是固定在齒顎的顎間骨邊上，上顎的拱形骨跟頭蓋骨縫連接在一起，因而！固定不動，這一目沒有真正的腹鰭，共有兩科。類型是：魄魚、銀鰻。”
"They're an insult to a frying pan!" the Canadian exclaimed.
“這些魚，用鍋來煮，鍋也丟臉！”加拿大人喊道。
"Are you grasping all this, Ned my friend?" asked the scholarly Conseil.
“尼德-蘭老朋友，您明白了嗎？”博學的康塞爾問。
"Not a lick of it, Conseil my friend," the harpooner replied. "But keep going, because you fill me with fascination."
“一點也不明白，康塞爾老朋友，”魚叉手回答，“請您說下去，因為您對這很感興趣。”
"As for cartilaginous fish," Conseil went on unflappably, "they consist of only three orders."
“至于軟骨魚類，”康塞爾很冷靜地又說，“那就只有三目。”
"Good news," Ned put in.
“這更省事了。”尼德-蘭說。
"Primo, the cyclostomes, whose jaws are fused into a flexible ring and whose gill openings are simply a large number of holes, an order consisting of only one family. Example: the lamprey."
“第一目，圓口魚，鰓合成為一個轉動的圈環，魚鰓開合有許多小孔，這一目只有一科。類型：人目鰻。
"An acquired taste," Ned Land replied.
”這魚，我們很喜歡吃。”尼德-蘭回答。
"Secundo, the selacians, with gills resembling those of the cyclostomes but whose lower jaw is free-moving. This order, which is the most important in the class, consists of two families. Examples: the ray and the shark."
“第二目，峻魚，它的鰓類似圓口魚的鰓，但下鰓活動。這一目是軟骨魚類中最重要的，共有兩科。類型：鯊魚、鰓魚。”
"What!" Ned Land exclaimed. "Rays and man-eaters in the same order? Well, Conseil my friend, on behalf of the rays, I wouldn't advise you to put them in the same fish tank!"
“什麼！“尼德-蘭喊道，“鯊魚和鰓魚是在同一目中，康塞爾老朋友，好哇，為鰓魚的利益起見，我勸您不要把它們放在一個魚缸裡吧！”
"Tertio," Conseil replied, "The sturionians, whose gill opening is the usual single slit adorned with a gill cover, an order consisting of four genera. Example: the sturgeon."
康塞爾回答：“第三目：鰭魚，鰓跟平常的千樣，只由一個有蓋的孔開會；這一目有四科。類型：磺魚。”
"Ah, Conseil my friend, you saved the best for last, in my opinion anyhow! And that's all of 'em?"
“啊！康塞爾好朋友，您把最好吃的放在最後了——至少我的意見是這樣。現在您的話完了嗎？”
"Yes, my gallant Ned," Conseil replied. "And note well, even when one has grasped all this, one still knows next to nothing, because these families are subdivided into genera, subgenera, species, varieties--"
“是的，完了，尼德-蘭好朋友，不過您得注意，就是知道了這些，仍是一無所知，因為科又分為屬，屬又分為亞屬，為種，為變種……”“……
"All right, Conseil my friend," the harpooner said, leaning toward the glass panel, "here come a couple of your varieties now!"
“好哇，康塞爾好朋友，”魚叉手俯身到玻璃上說，“這不是各種各樣的魚都走過來了嘛！”
"Yes! Fish!" Conseil exclaimed. "One would think he was in front of an aquarium!"
“真是！魚呀，”康塞爾喊着，“好像我們是在魚缸面前呢！”
"No," I replied, "because an aquarium is nothing more than a cage, and these fish are as free as birds in the air!"
“不，”我回答，“因為魚缸是一個籠子，但這些魚是像空中的鳥一般自由自在。”
"Well, Conseil my friend, identify them! Start naming them!" Ned Land exclaimed.
“好哇，康塞爾好朋友，您現在說說這些魚的名目吧，說說這些魚的名目吧！”尼德-，蘭說。
"Me?" Conseil replied. "I'm unable to! That's my employer's bailiwick!"
康塞爾回答：“那我可說不上來。這是我主人的事！”
And in truth, although the fine lad was a classifying maniac, he was no naturalist, and I doubt that he could tell a bonito from a tuna. In short, he was the exact opposite of the Canadian, who knew nothing about classification but could instantly put a name to any fish.
誠然，康塞爾這個人，狂熱的分類家，不是一個生物學家，我想他不一定能分別鯉魚和鰭魚的不同。總之他跟加拿大人正相反，加拿大人可以毫不遲疑他說出這些魚的名字來。
"A triggerfish," I said.
“是一條箭魚。”我於是說了。
"It's a Chinese triggerfish," Ned Land replied.
尼德-蘭回答：“是一條中國箭魚。”
"Genus Balistes, family Scleroderma, order Plectognatha," Conseil muttered.
康塞爾於是低聲說：“箭魚屬，硬皮科，固顎目。”
Assuredly, Ned and Conseil in combination added up to one outstanding naturalist.
毫無疑問，尼德-蘭和康塞爾，他們倆合起來，會成為一位出色的生物學家。
The Canadian was not mistaken. Cavorting around the Nautilus was a school of triggerfish with flat bodies, grainy skins, armed with stings on their dorsal fins, and with four prickly rows of quills quivering on both sides of their tails. Nothing could have been more wonderful than the skin covering them: white underneath, gray above, with spots of gold sparkling in the dark eddies of the waves. Around them, rays were undulating like sheets flapping in the wind, and among these I spotted, much to my glee, a Chinese ray, yellowish on its topside, a dainty pink on its belly, and armed with three stings behind its eyes; a rare species whose very existence was still doubted in Lacépède's day, since that pioneering classifier of fish had seen one only in a portfolio of Japanese drawings.
加拿大人並沒有弄錯。面前是一群箭魚，壓扁的身軀。皺紋的皮膚，背脊上有箭鏈式的武器，在諾第留斯號周圍游來游去，鼓動着它們尾巴兩邊的四排尖刺。再沒有比它們的外表更使人讚賞的了，上邊灰色，下面全白，點點的金黃在波浪的漩渦中間閃閃發亮，多麼美麗！在箭魚中間，有鰓魚，像隨鳳招展的檯布，翻來轉去，鰓魚中我看到了使我很喜歡的那種中國鯉魚，它上半身黑黃色，肚下淡淡的玫瑰色，眼睛後面帶有三根刺；這種魚是很少有的一種，拉色別德當時甚至于還不敢相信有這種魚，他只在一本日本的圖畫書中看見過。
For two hours a whole aquatic army escorted the Nautilus. In the midst of their leaping and cavorting, while they competed with each other in beauty, radiance, and speed, I could distinguish some green wrasse, bewhiskered mullet marked with pairs of black lines, white gobies from the genus Eleotris with curved caudal fins and violet spots on the back, wonderful Japanese mackerel from the genus Scomber with blue bodies and silver heads, glittering azure goldfish whose name by itself gives their full description, several varieties of porgy or gilthead (some banded gilthead with fins variously blue and yellow, some with horizontal heraldic bars and enhanced by a black strip around their caudal area, some with color zones and elegantly corseted in their six waistbands), trumpetfish with flutelike beaks that looked like genuine seafaring woodcocks and were sometimes a meter long, Japanese salamanders, serpentine moray eels from the genus Echidna that were six feet long with sharp little eyes and a huge mouth bristling with teeth; etc.
在兩小時內，整整一大群的水族部隊圍繞在諾第留斯號周圍。在它們的戲耍，它們的跳躍中間，當它們以美麗、光彩和速度來彼此比賽對抗的時候，我分別認出：青色的海婆婆，帶有雙層黑線的海誹綢魚，圓團團的尾，白顏色，背上帶紫紅斑點的蝦虎魚，身上藍色，頭銀白色的日本海中的美麗鰭魚，不用描寫，單單名字就可以看出的輝煌的碧琉璃魚，或帶藍色或帶黃色的鰭的條紋鰓魚，尾上特別有一條黑帶的線條鰓魚，漂亮的裹在六條帶中的綫帶鰓魚，真正笛子口一般的笛口魚，間有長至一米的海鵪鶉，日本的火蛇，多刺的鰻魚，眼睛細小生動，大嘴中長有利牙的六英呎長蛇等等。
Our wonderment stayed at an all-time fever pitch. Our exclamations were endless. Ned identified the fish, Conseil classified them, and as for me, I was in ecstasy over the verve of their movements and the beauty of their forms. Never before had I been given the chance to glimpse these animals alive and at large in their native element.
我們的讚美一直是最高度的。我們不斷地發出驚嘆聲。尼德-蘭說出魚的名字，康塞爾加以分類；我就在這些魚類偽活潑姿態和美麗的外形面前，感到極大的喜悅，我從沒有像現在這樣的機會，可以任意觀看這些動物，活生生的，自由自在的，在它們本來生長的海水中游來游去。
Given such a complete collection from the seas of Japan and China, I won't mention every variety that passed before our dazzled eyes. More numerous than birds in the air, these fish raced right up to us, no doubt attracted by the brilliant glow of our electric beacon.
在我昏花的眼面前游過的各種類型的水族，簡直就是日本海和中國海的全部標本，我對它們實在不能一一列舉出來。這些魚比空中的鳥還多，可能是受電光的吸引，全部向船邊跑過來了。
Suddenly daylight appeared in the lounge. The sheet-iron panels slid shut. The magical vision disappeared. But for a good while I kept dreaming away, until the moment my eyes focused on the instruments hanging on the wall. The compass still showed our heading as east-northeast, the pressure gauge indicated a pressure of five atmospheres (corresponding to a depth of fifty meters), and the electric log gave our speed as fifteen miles per hour.
客廳中突然明亮。船邊蓋板閉起來。使人神迷的光景隱沒不見了。可是我很久還似做夢般地想著，一直到我的眼光注意到那些掛在牆板上的機械為止。羅盤仍是指着東北偏東方，氣壓表正指五氣壓，表示船在五十米的深處，電力測程器讓我們知道船行是每小時十五海里。
I waited for Captain Nemo. But he didn't appear. The clock marked the hour of five.
我等着尼摩船長，但他不出來。大鐘正指五點。
Ned Land and Conseil returned to their cabin. As for me, I repaired to my stateroom. There I found dinner ready for me. It consisted of turtle soup made from the daintiest hawksbill, a red mullet with white, slightly flaky flesh, whose liver, when separately prepared, makes delicious eating, plus loin of imperial angelfish, whose flavor struck me as even better than salmon.
尼德-蘭和康塞爾回到他們的艙房。我也走進我的房間。晚餐早在房中擺好了：其中有最美味的海鱉做的湯，一盤切成薄片的海誹鯉魚的白肉，鯉魚肝另做，非常可口，一盤金綢魚的內片，我覺得味道比鮭魚肉還好。
I spent the evening in reading, writing, and thinking. Then drowsiness overtook me, I stretched out on my eelgrass mattress, and I fell into a deep slumber, while the Nautilus glided through the swiftly flowing Black Current.
我夜間看書，寫筆記，思考問題。一會兒瞌睡來了，我就躺在海藻葉制的床上，酣美地人睡，這個時候，諾第留斯號正很快地穿過黑潮暖流，迅速地駛去。