THE NEXT DAY, February 20, I overslept. I was so exhausted from the night before, I didn't get up until eleven o'clock. I dressed quickly. I hurried to find out the Nautilus's heading. The instruments indicated that it was running southward at a speed of twenty miles per hour and a depth of 100 meters.
第二天，2月20日，我醒得很遲。夜間的疲勞使我一直睡到十一點。我趕快穿起衣服，急於要知道諾第留斯號航行的方向。廳中的儀器給我指出，它仍是往南開行，速度每小時二十海里，水深一百米。
Conseil entered. I described our nocturnal excursion to him, and since the panels were open, he could still catch a glimpse of this submerged continent.
康塞爾進來，我告訴他我們昨天夜間的旅行，同時嵌板敞開，他還可以望見那沉沒了的大陸的一部分。
In fact, the Nautilus was skimming only ten meters over the soil of these Atlantis plains. The ship scudded along like an air balloon borne by the wind over some prairie on land; but it would be more accurate to say that we sat in the lounge as if we were riding in a coach on an express train. As for the foregrounds passing before our eyes, they were fantastically carved rocks, forests of trees that had crossed over from the vegetable kingdom into the mineral kingdom, their motionless silhouettes sprawling beneath the waves. There also were stony masses buried beneath carpets of axidia and sea anemone, bristling with long, vertical water plants, then strangely contoured blocks of lava that testified to all the fury of those plutonic developments.
現在，諾第留斯號在僅距大西洋洲平原地面十米的水層行駛。它像一隻在陸地草原上被風推送的氣球一般飛跑；如果我們說，我們在這廳中，就像在特別快車的車廂裡面更恰當一些。在我們眼前閃過的前列景象，是那離奇古怪的割切成的大石塊，從植物界到動物界的樹林，那屹立不動的形影在海水中擠眉弄眼的怪樣子。其次又是那藏在軸形草和白頭翁地毯下面的大堆石頭，上面豎起無數長長在立的蛇婆，其次是輪廓彎折得奇怪的大塊火石，證明地心大火力量的驚人猛烈。
While this bizarre scenery was glittering under our electric beams, I told Conseil the story of the Atlanteans, who had inspired the old French scientist Jean Bailly to write so many entertaining-- albeit utterly fictitious--pages. I told the lad about the wars of these heroic people. I discussed the question of Atlantis with the fervor of a man who no longer had any doubts. But Conseil was so distracted he barely heard me, and his lack of interest in any commentary on this historical topic was soon explained.
當這些奇異景象受我們的電光照耀的時候，我給康塞爾講述那些大西洋人的歷史，他們在純粹空想的觀點上，曾經引起巴夷①寫出很多迷人的篇章。我給他說這些英雄人民的勇敢戰爭。我認真地來討論大西洋洲的問題，可是康塞爾卻心不在焉，不留意聽，他對於這一方面的冷淡，不久我就得到解釋了。
In essence, numerous fish had caught his eye, and when fish pass by, Conseil vanishes into his world of classifying and leaves real life behind. In which case I could only tag along and resume our ichthyological research.
這是因為有無數的魚類吸引他的眼光，當魚類走過的時候，康塞爾就潛入分類法的深淵中，脫離現實世界了。在這種情形下，我只有跟着他一樣做，跟他一塊作魚類學的研究。
Even so, these Atlantic fish were not noticeably different from those we had observed earlier. There were rays of gigantic size, five meters long and with muscles so powerful they could leap above the waves, sharks of various species including a fifteen-foot glaucous shark with sharp triangular teeth and so transparent it was almost invisible amid the waters, brown lantern sharks, prism-shaped humantin sharks armored with protuberant hides, sturgeons resembling their relatives in the Mediterranean, trumpet-snouted pipefish a foot and a half long, yellowish brown with small gray fins and no teeth or tongue, unreeling like slim, supple snakes.
其實，大西洋的這些魚類跟我們以前觀察過的，並沒有根顯著的差別。其中有身軀長大的鰓魚，長五米，體力強大，可以躍出水面。有各種的鮫魚：其中有長十五英呎的海色鮫，有尖利三角形的牙齒，它顏色的透明使它在海水中几乎看不出來。
Among bony fish, Conseil noticed some blackish marlin three meters long with a sharp sword jutting from the upper jaw, bright-colored weevers known in Aristotle's day as sea dragons and whose dorsal stingers make them quite dangerous to pick up, then dolphinfish with brown backs striped in blue and edged in gold, handsome dorados, moonlike opahs that look like azure disks but which the sun's rays turn into spots of silver, finally eight-meter swordfish from the genus Xiphias, swimming in schools, sporting yellowish sickle-shaped fins and six-foot broadswords, stalwart animals, plant eaters rather than fish eaters, obeying the tiniest signals from their females like henpecked husbands.
在多骨魚類中，康塞爾記出有淡墨色的帆船魚，長三米，上顎有一把尖利的刺刀。有顏色生動的海鱔，亞里士多德時代，名字叫海龍，脊背上有利刺，捕捉它們的時候很危險。其次有哥利芬魚，脊背褐色，帶藍色小條紋，圈在邊緣金黃的框子裡面。有美麗的扁魚！月形金口魚，像發出天藍色光線的盤，陽光照在上面，像銀白色的斑點一般。最後有旗形一角魚，長八米，成群結隊地走過，它們帶淡黃色的鰭，鰭長六英呎，作鐮刀和長劍形，這是很勇敢大膽的魚，愛吃革葉，不愛吃小魚，雄一角魚看見雌一角魚的些微動作，立即服從，就像素有訓練的很馴服的丈夫那樣。
But while observing these different specimens of marine fauna, I didn't stop examining the long plains of Atlantis. Sometimes an unpredictable irregularity in the seafloor would force the Nautilus to slow down, and then it would glide into the narrow channels between the hills with a cetacean's dexterity. If the labyrinth became hopelessly tangled, the submersible would rise above it like an airship, and after clearing the obstacle, it would resume its speedy course just a few meters above the ocean floor. It was an enjoyable and impressive way of navigating that did indeed recall the maneuvers of an airship ride, with the major difference that the Nautilus faithfully obeyed the hands of its helmsman.
但是，就在觀察這些海洋動物的不同品種的時候，我也不停地看那大西洋洲的遼闊平原。有時，由於平原地面的崎嶇不平，使得諾第留斯號的速度要緩慢些；它於是像鯨魚類一樣巧妙，溜進許多丘陵形成的狹窄曲折的水道里面去。如果這個五花八門的地帶無從走出，它就跟輕氣球一般浮上來，越過了障礙後，它再到深幾米的海底下迅速行駛。真是使人欽佩和使人神迷的航行，讓人聯想起空中飛行的輕氣球的情形，但有這樣一種分別，就是諾第留斯號完全服從它的領航人的兩手。
The terrain consisted mostly of thick slime mixed with petrified branches, but it changed little by little near four o'clock in the afternoon; it grew rockier and seemed to be strewn with pudding stones and a basaltic gravel called "tuff," together with bits of lava and sulfurous obsidian. I expected these long plains to change into mountain regions, and in fact, as the Nautilus was executing certain turns, I noticed that the southerly horizon was blocked by a high wall that seemed to close off every exit. Its summit obviously poked above the level of the ocean. It had to be a continent or at least an island, either one of the Canaries or one of the Cape Verde Islands. Our bearings hadn't been marked on the chart-- perhaps deliberately--and I had no idea what our position was. In any case this wall seemed to signal the end of Atlantis, of which, all in all, we had crossed only a small part.
下午四點左右，地面上夾帶有化石枝葉的厚泥土漸漸改變了；石頭愈來愈多，有好些變質岩，玄武石凝灰岩，同時又有硫磺火石和黑暇石散在中間。我想山嶽地帶不久就要接上遼闊的平原。真的，在諾第留斯號更往前駛的時候，我望見南方的天際水平綫，被一帶高牆擋起來，好像完全沒有出路似的。很顯然，牆頂是超出大洋水面了。那可能是大陸，至少也是一個島，或加納裡群島之一，或青角群島之一）船方位的標記還沒有做——可能是有意這樣——我不知道我們所在的方位。總之，這座高牆我看來是標記出大西洋洲的盡頭，我們沒有走過的恐怕也只有很小的一部分了。
Nightfall didn't interrupt my observations. I was left to myself. Conseil had repaired to his cabin. The Nautilus slowed down, hovering above the muddled masses on the seafloor, sometimes grazing them as if wanting to come to rest, sometimes rising unpredictably to the surface of the waves. Then I glimpsed a few bright constellations through the crystal waters, specifically five or six of those zodiacal stars trailing from the tail end of Orion.
黑夜沒有中斷我的觀察，我獨自一人留下，康塞爾回他的房中去了。諾第留斯號行駛緩慢，在地面認不清的一堆一堆東西上面往來盤旋，有時它接觸到這些亂堆，好像它想停留在上面似的；有時又很任意地浮出海水面上來。我這：時通過海水透明晶體，望見一些光輝的星宿，那正是跟參墾魚貫排列起來的六七顆黃道星宿。
I would have stayed longer at my window, marveling at these beauties of sea and sky, but the panels closed. Just then the Nautilus had arrived at the perpendicular face of that high wall. How the ship would maneuver I hadn't a guess. I repaired to my stateroom. The Nautilus did not stir. I fell asleep with the firm intention of waking up in just a few hours.
我停留在玻璃窗面前，欣賞海和天的美景，我停留了很久，一直到嵌板閉起來。這時候，諾第留斯號到了那座高牆壁立垂直的地方了。它怎樣行駛，我無法猜測。我回房間中來，諾第留斯號不動了。我睡覺的時候，打定主意，只唾幾小時就要醒來。
But it was eight o'clock the next day when I returned to the lounge. I stared at the pressure gauge. It told me that the Nautilus was afloat on the surface of the ocean. Furthermore, I heard the sound of footsteps on the platform. Yet there were no rolling movements to indicate the presence of waves undulating above me.
但第二天我到廳中來看，已經八點了。我看一下壓力表，曉得諾第留斯號是在洋面上行走。同時我也聽到平台上有腳步聲。 可是船沒有一點搖擺，並不表示出海上波浪起伏的情況。
I climbed as far as the hatch. It was open. But instead of the broad daylight I was expecting, I found that I was surrounded by total darkness. Where were we? Had I been mistaken? Was it still night? No! Not one star was twinkling, and nighttime is never so utterly black.
我一直上到嵌板邊，板是敞開的，但我一看，並不是我所想的大白天，四周都是一片漆黑。我們是在哪裡？我是搞錯了嗎？現在還是黑夜嗎？不！沒有一顆星光照耀着。並且就是黑夜也沒有這樣的漆黑。
I wasn't sure what to think, when a voice said to me:
我簡直沒有法子想象，這時候，有人聲對我說：
"Is that you, professor?"
“教授，是您嗎？”
"Ah, Captain Nemo!" I replied. "Where are we?"
“啊！尼摩船長，”我回答，“我們現在在哪裡呢？”
"Underground, professor."
“教授，在地下呢。”
"Underground!" I exclaimed. "And the Nautilus is still floating?"
“在地下！”我喊道，“但諾第留斯號還是浮着走呢？”
"It always floats."
“它老是浮着走的。”
"But I don't understand!"
“那，我可真不懂了？”
"Wait a little while. Our beacon is about to go on, and if you want some light on the subject, you'll be satisfied."
“您等待一下。我們的探照燈就要亮起來。如果您喜歡把情況弄明白，那您一定可以得到滿足。”
I set foot on the platform and waited. The darkness was so profound I couldn't see even Captain Nemo. However, looking at the zenith directly overhead, I thought I caught sight of a feeble glimmer, a sort of twilight filtering through a circular hole. Just then the beacon suddenly went on, and its intense brightness made that hazy light vanish.
我走到平台上，我在那裡等着。黑暗是完全絶對的，就是尼摩船長的影子我也看不見。同時我注視空中的頂點，正在我的頭上面，我覺得是看到一種隱約浮游的微光，一稱在圓澗中所有的曙光。這時候，探照燈忽然亮了，它那輝煌的光把那模糊的光碟機散了。
This stream of electricity dazzled my eyes, and after momentarily shutting them, I looked around. The Nautilus was stationary. It was floating next to an embankment shaped like a wharf. As for the water now buoying the ship, it was a lake completely encircled by an inner wall about two miles in diameter, hence six miles around. Its level--as indicated by the pressure gauge--would be the same as the outside level, because some connection had to exist between this lake and the sea. Slanting inward over their base, these high walls converged to form a vault shaped like an immense upside-down funnel that measured 500 or 600 meters in height. At its summit there gaped the circular opening through which I had detected that faint glimmer, obviously daylight.
我受電光的突然照耀，覺得晃眼，略為閒了一下眼睛。我再睜開來注視。諾第留斯號靜止不動。它靠近作為碼頭的岸邊浮着。這時浮起它來的海面是有高牆圍起來的圓形的湖，長二海里，周圍六海里。壓力表指出，它的水平面等於外海的水平面，這湖必然跟大海相通。周圍的高牆，下部傾斜，上面是穹窿的圓頂，形狀很像倒過來的漏斗，高度為為五百至六百米。頂上有一個圓孔，我剛纔就從這孔看到一些稀微的光線，這光的來源顯然是那白日的光。
Before more carefully examining the interior features of this enormous cavern, and before deciding if it was the work of nature or humankind, I went over to Captain Nemo.
在更仔細地考察這巨大岩洞的內部情形之前，在自己沒有想想這洞是天然的或人為的作品之前，我就向尼摩船長面前走去。我說。
"Where are we?" I said.
“我們是在哪裡呢？”
"In the very heart of an extinct volcano," the captain answered me, "a volcano whose interior was invaded by the sea after some convulsion in the earth. While you were sleeping, professor, the Nautilus entered this lagoon through a natural channel that opens ten meters below the surface of the ocean. This is our home port, secure, convenient, secret, and sheltered against winds from any direction! Along the coasts of your continents or islands, show me any offshore mooring that can equal this safe refuge for withstanding the fury of hurricanes."
“我們是在一座熄滅了的火山中心，”船長回答我，”這：座火山由於地面震動，海水侵入內部，火熄滅了。教授，當您睡眠的時候，諾第留斯號在海面十米下，從一條天然開鑿的水道駛進這小鹹水湖裡面／這裡是湖中停船的港口，是安全、方便、秘密、羅盤上所有方位的風都可以躲開的港口！請在你們大陸的海岸或你們的海島，給我找到一個跟這港灣一樣的港口來罷，要安全的，不怕颶風襲擊的。”
"Indeed," I replied, "here you're in perfect safety, Captain Nemo. Who could reach you in the heart of a volcano? But don't I see an opening at its summit?"
“是的，”我回答，“尼摩船長，您在這港內很安全。誰可能到這火山中心來呢？不過，在那頂上：我不是望見有一個孔嗎？”
"Yes, its crater, a crater formerly filled with lava, steam, and flames, but which now lets in this life-giving air we're breathing."
“是的，那是噴火口，這火口從前充滿火石、煙氣和火：焰，現在是使人生動活潑、我們呼吸的空氣的通路了。”
"But which volcanic mountain is this?" I asked.
“不過這座發火的山是什麼呢／我問。
"It's one of the many islets with which this sea is strewn. For ships a mere reef, for us an immense cavern. I discovered it by chance, and chance served me well."
“它是這海洋中許多小島的一個。對船隻來說，它僅是一個簡單的暗礁，對我們，那就是巨大的岩洞了。我無意中發現了它，在裡面，它無意中給我許多好處。”
"But couldn't someone enter through the mouth of its crater?"
“但人們不可能從那以前是火山噴口的孔下來嗎？”
"No more than I could exit through it. You can climb about 100 feet up the inner base of this mountain, but then the walls overhang, they lean too far in to be scaled."
“不可能，跟我不能從這裡上去一樣。直到一百英呎左右，這山內部下層是可以走的，但再上一點，石壁就很陡峭，山腰間的石層不可能越過。”
"I can see, captain, that nature is your obedient servant, any time or any place. You're safe on this lake, and nobody else can visit its waters. But what's the purpose of this refuge? The Nautilus doesn't need a harbor."
“船長，我看見大自然隨時隨地都被您所利用，給您方便。您在這湖中很安全，除了您，沒有誰能到這湖水中來。可是這港口有什麼用呢？諾第留斯號並不需要停泊的地方。
"No, professor, but it needs electricity to run, batteries to generate its electricity, sodium to feed its batteries, coal to make its sodium, and coalfields from which to dig its coal. Now then, right at this spot the sea covers entire forests that sank underwater in prehistoric times; today, turned to stone, transformed into carbon fuel, they offer me inexhaustible coal mines."
“是的，它不需要停泊的地方，教授。但它需要電力發動，需要原料發電，需要鈉產生電原料，需要煤製造鈉，需要煤坑採掘煤炭。而正是在這裡，海水淹沒了無數森林，這些森林在地質時期就埋人沙上了。現在僵化成石了，變為煤炭了，對我來說，它們是采不盡的礦藏。”
"So, captain, your men practice the trade of miners here?"
“船長，那麼，您的人員到這裡來都做礦工的職業了。”
"Precisely. These mines extend under the waves like the coalfields at Newcastle. Here, dressed in diving suits, pick and mattock in hand, my men go out and dig this carbon fuel for which I don't need a single mine on land. When I burn this combustible to produce sodium, the smoke escaping from the mountain's crater gives it the appearance of a still-active volcano."
“正是這樣。這些礦藏擺在海水下面，像紐卡斯爾①的媒坑一樣。就在這地方，穿上潛水衣，手拿鋤和鏟，我的人員去採煤，我因此用不着向地上的曠藏要煤。當我燒這種燃料來製造鈉的時候，從這山的舊火口出去的煙，表面看來它還是一座仍在噴火的火山。”
"And will we see your companions at work?"
“我們可以看到您的同伴們做挖煤的工作嗎？”
"No, at least not this time, because I'm eager to continue our underwater tour of the world. Accordingly, I'll rest content with drawing on my reserve stock of sodium. We'll stay here long enough to load it on board, in other words, a single workday, then we'll resume our voyage. So, Professor Aronnax, if you'd like to explore this cavern and circle its lagoon, seize the day."
“不，至少這一次看不到，因為我很急，要繼續我們的海底周游。所以，我只把我所儲藏的鈉拿來使用罷了。裝載鈉的時間，僅僅是一天，我們又要繼續開行趕路了。如果您想在這岩洞中走走，周游這鹹水湖，阿龍納斯先生，那您就利用這一天的時間吧。”
I thanked the captain and went to look for my two companions, who hadn't yet left their cabin. I invited them to follow me, not telling them where we were.
我謝了船長，我去找我的兩個同伴，他們還沒有出他們的房門呢。我請他們跟着我來，沒有告訴他們現在在什麼地方。
They climbed onto the platform. Conseil, whom nothing could startle, saw it as a perfectly natural thing to fall asleep under the waves and wake up under a mountain. But Ned Land had no idea in his head other than to see if this cavern offered some way out.
他們走到平台上。康塞爾是對什麼都不覺得奇怪的，兩眼看著，覺得在水波下面睡過後，醒來在山底下，是很自然的事。尼德-蘭沒有別的思想，只是找尋這洞是不是有出路。
After breakfast near ten o'clock, we went down onto the embankment.
吃了早飯，十點左右，我們下船來，到岸上去。
"So here we are, back on shore," Conseil said.
“我們又在陸地上了。”康塞爾說。
"I'd hardly call this shore," the Canadian replied. "And besides, we aren't on it but under it."
“我不叫這個是陸地，”加拿大人回答，“並且我們不是在上，而是在下。”
A sandy beach unfolded before us, measuring 500 feet at its widest point between the waters of the lake and the foot of the mountain's walls. Via this strand you could easily circle the lake. But the base of these high walls consisted of broken soil over which there lay picturesque piles of volcanic blocks and enormous pumice stones. All these crumbling masses were covered with an enamel polished by the action of underground fires, and they glistened under the stream of electric light from our beacon. Stirred up by our footsteps, the mica-rich dust on this beach flew into the air like a cloud of sparks.
在山崖腳下和湖水之間，有一片是沙的堤岸，最寬的地方有五百英呎。沿著這沙灘，我們可以很容易地環湖走一周。但懸崖的下邊，地勢崎嶇不平，上面累積得很好看，堆着許多火山噴出的大塊石頭和巨大的火山浮石。所有這些大堆石頭分解了，受地下火的力量上面浮起一層光滑的琺瑯質，一經探照燈的照射，發出輝煌的光彩。堤岸上雲母石的微粒，在我們步行時掀揚起來，像一陣火花的濃雲一般飛
The ground rose appreciably as it moved away from the sand flats by the waves, and we soon arrived at some long, winding gradients, genuinely steep paths that allowed us to climb little by little; but we had to tread cautiously in the midst of pudding stones that weren't cemented together, and our feet kept skidding on glassy trachyte, made of feldspar and quartz crystals.
地面漸漸遠離湖水，顯然漸漸往上升起，我們不久便抵達很長、很彎曲的石欄，那是真正的斜坡，可以緩緩地上去，不過在這些累積形成的岩石中間，並沒有洋灰把它們接合起來，走路要很小心，並且在這些長石和石英晶體所造成的玻璃質的粗面岩石上，腳步也很容易滑下去。
The volcanic nature of this enormous pit was apparent all around us. I ventured to comment on it to my companions.
這所巨大洞袕是由火山所形成的，已在很多處得到證實。我對我的同伴們指出，要他們注意。
"Can you picture," I asked them, "what this funnel must have been like when it was filled with boiling lava, and the level of that incandescent liquid rose right to the mountain's mouth, like cast iron up the insides of a furnace?"
“你們想想，”我問他們，“當這個漏斗裡面充滿沸騰的火石，並且這種白熱流質的水平面一直高到山的出口，像熔鐵在熔爐裡一樣，那時候漏斗的情形是怎樣呢？”
"I can picture it perfectly," Conseil replied. "But will master tell me why this huge smelter suspended operations, and how it is that an oven was replaced by the tranquil waters of a lake?"
“我心中完全可以想象這種情形，”康塞爾回答，“但先生是否可以告訴我，那位偉大的熔鑄人為什麼停止他的工作，那熔爐裡面怎樣又換了靜靜的湖水？”
"In all likelihood, Conseil, because some convulsion created an opening below the surface of the ocean, the opening that serves as a passageway for the Nautilus. Then the waters of the Atlantic rushed inside the mountain. There ensued a dreadful struggle between the elements of fire and water, a struggle ending in King Neptune's favor. But many centuries have passed since then, and this submerged volcano has changed into a peaceful cavern."
“康塞爾，很可能的理由大概是因為海洋底下發生地形的變化，造成了現在作為諾第留斯號的航道的出口。大西洋的海水於是流入火山內部來了。當時水火兩元素展開了猛烈的鬥爭，鬥爭的結果是涅豆尼海王勝利。但此後又不知道過了多少世紀，被水沉沒的火山，就轉變為安靜乎和的岩洞。”
"That's fine," Ned Land answered. "I accept the explanation, but in our personal interests, I'm sorry this opening the professor mentions wasn't made above sea level."
“很好，”尼德-蘭回答，“我接受上面的解釋，不過，為我們的利益起見，我很惋惜教授說的那個口為什麼不開在海平面上。”
"But Ned my friend," Conseil answered, "if it weren't an underwater passageway, the Nautilus couldn't enter it!"
“不過，尼德朋友，”康塞爾回答，“如果這口不是在地下，那諾第留斯號就不能穿進來了！”
"And I might add, Mr. Land," I said, "that the waters wouldn't have rushed under the mountain, and the volcano would still be a volcano. So you have nothing to be sorry about."
“蘭師傅，我又得說，如果海水不從山底下衝進去，火山也還是火山。所以您的惋惜是多餘的。”
Our climb continued. The gradients got steeper and narrower. Sometimes they were cut across by deep pits that had to be cleared. Masses of overhanging rock had to be gotten around. You slid on your knees, you crept on your belly. But helped by the Canadian's strength and Conseil's dexterity, we overcame every obstacle.
我們繼續往上走。石徑愈來愈難走，愈來愈狹窄。有根深的空洞時時把路徑切斷，我們必須跳過去。許多兀起懸掛的大石要人繞路過去。我們跪下往前溜，我們附身爬着走。因為有康塞爾的便捷和加拿大人的幫助，——切阻礙都克服了。
At an elevation of about thirty meters, the nature of the terrain changed without becoming any easier. Pudding stones and trachyte gave way to black basaltic rock: here, lying in slabs all swollen with blisters; there, shaped like actual prisms and arranged into a series of columns that supported the springings of this immense vault, a wonderful sample of natural architecture. Then, among this basaltic rock, there snaked long, hardened lava flows inlaid with veins of bituminous coal and in places covered by wide carpets of sulfur. The sunshine coming through the crater had grown stronger, shedding a hazy light over all the volcanic waste forever buried in the heart of this extinct mountain.
到了三十米左右高度，地面性質起了變化：不過還可以走。累積岩和粗面岩後面，接着是玄武岩。後一種結為許多氣泡，一片片地攤開在那裡。前一種形成規律的梭形，像一列石砫排起來，把這巨大穹窿的起拱石支起，真是天然建築物的壯麗模型。其次在玄武石岩中間，有冷了的火石的長流遷迴環繞，嵌上許多瀝青的綫紋，同時又一處處鋪着硫磺形成的寬闊地毯。一道較強大的光線從上層洞口射入，它那隱約模糊的光輝向着所有這些永遠埋在媳滅的火山裡面的、從前被火力排出來的物質照下來。
But when we had ascended to an elevation of about 250 feet, we were stopped by insurmountable obstacles. The converging inside walls changed into overhangs, and our climb into a circular stroll. At this topmost level the vegetable kingdom began to challenge the mineral kingdom. Shrubs, and even a few trees, emerged from crevices in the walls. I recognized some spurges that let their caustic, purgative sap trickle out. There were heliotropes, very remiss at living up to their sun-worshipping reputations since no sunlight ever reached them; their clusters of flowers drooped sadly, their colors and scents were faded. Here and there chrysanthemums sprouted timidly at the feet of aloes with long, sad, sickly leaves. But between these lava flows I spotted little violets that still gave off a subtle fragrance, and I confess that I inhaled it with delight. The soul of a flower is its scent, and those splendid water plants, flowers of the sea, have no souls!
不過，到了二百英呎高左右，我們不能再上去了，那邊有無法通過的障礙物。內部穹窿又成兀起斜出，往上走就轉變為繞圈的行路。在山腰的這一層上面，植物開始跟礦物鬥爭。有些小樹，並且有些大樹從山崖的凹凸處長出來。我認得那大戟草，它們流出腐蝕性的漿汁。又有嚮日草，這名字很不合理，因為太陽光從來照不到它們，那褪了色的和不大香的花串向下垂着，樣子很淒涼。處處有些菊花在悲慼和病態的長葉蘆薈腳下，軟弱無力地長着。但在火石形成的滑道中間，我看見有細小的紫羅蘭，還帶些微的香氣，我承認我很高興嗅這香味。香是花的靈魂，海中的花，像那樓美麗的水草，是沒有靈魂的！
We had arrived at the foot of a sturdy clump of dragon trees, which were splitting the rocks with exertions of their muscular roots, when Ned Land exclaimed:
我們到了一叢健壯的龍血樹下面，這時候，尼德-蘭喊起來：
"Oh, sir, a hive!"
“啊！先生，一個蜂巢！”
"A hive?" I answered, with a gesture of utter disbelief.
“一個蜂巢！”我回答，做個完全不相信的手勢。
"Yes, a hive," the Canadian repeated, "with bees buzzing around!"
“不錯！一個蜂巢，”加拿大人重複說，“並且有好些蜂在周圍飛鳴呢。”
I went closer and was forced to recognize the obvious. At the mouth of a hole cut in the trunk of a dragon tree, there swarmed thousands of these ingenious insects so common to all the Canary Islands, where their output is especially prized.
“我向前走去，我要說，這完全是真實的。在那裡，在龍血樹洞中挖成的一個孔袕上，有無數的勤勞智慧的蜂，它們在加納裡群島上很常見，所產的蜂蜜特別被視為珍品，受人重視。
Naturally enough, the Canadian wanted to lay in a supply of honey, and it would have been ill-mannered of me to say no. He mixed sulfur with some dry leaves, set them on fire with a spark from his tinderbox, and proceeded to smoke the bees out. Little by little the buzzing died down and the disemboweled hive yielded several pounds of sweet honey. Ned Land stuffed his haversack with it.
很自然，加拿大人要採取蜂蜜，留作食用，我如果反對，那就顯得我不近人情。一些乾草雜上一些硫磺，在他的打火機上燃起來，他就拿火煙來熏蜂。周圍的蜂的飛鳴漸漸沒有了。那挖出來的蜂巢一共供應了我們好幾斤香甜的蜜。尼德-蘭把蜜裝在他背上的口袋中。他對我們說：
"When I've mixed this honey with our breadfruit batter," he told us, "I'll be ready to serve you a delectable piece of cake."
“我把蜂蜜跟麵包樹的粉和起來，我就可以請你們吃美味的糕。”
"But of course," Conseil put in, "it will be gingerbread!"
“好嘛！”康塞爾說，“那是又香又甜的麵包呢！”
"I'm all for gingerbread," I said, "but let's resume this fascinating stroll."
“暫時擱起你們的又香又甜的麵包吧，”我說。”我們趕快做我們的有趣味的旅行。”
At certain turns in the trail we were going along, the lake appeared in its full expanse. The ship's beacon lit up that whole placid surface, which experienced neither ripples nor undulations. The Nautilus lay perfectly still. On its platform and on the embankment, crewmen were bustling around, black shadows that stood out clearly in the midst of the luminous air.
在我們沿著走的小徑某處轉彎的所在，這湖的整個面貌都現出來了。探照燈照在湖面上，十分平靜，一點皺痕、一點波紋都沒有。諾第留斯號停在那裡，絶對靜止。在平台上和在堤岸上，船上人員正忙着工作，那就是他們在這光明的大氣中間清楚地投射出來的黑影。
Just then we went around the highest ridge of these rocky foothills that supported the vault. Then I saw that bees weren't the animal kingdom's only representatives inside this volcano. Here and in the shadows, birds of prey soared and whirled, flying away from nests perched on tips of rock. There were sparrow hawks with white bellies, and screeching kestrels. With all the speed their stiltlike legs could muster, fine fat bustards scampered over the slopes. I'll let the reader decide whether the Canadian's appetite was aroused by the sight of this tasty game, and whether he regretted having no rifle in his hands. He tried to make stones do the work of bullets, and after several fruitless attempts, he managed to wound one of these magnificent bustards. To say he risked his life twenty times in order to capture this bird is simply the unadulterated truth; but he fared so well, the animal went into his sack to join the honeycombs.
這個時候，我們繞過這些前列岩石的最高尖峰，它們把穹窿圓頂支起。我那時看到一些東西，在這火山內部，動物的代表又不單是蜂了。那是一些蟄鳥在黑影中盤旋，飛來飛去，或者從它們築在石尖上的巢中飛出來。那是一類肚腹白色的鷂，及鳴聲刺耳的鷹。在斜坡上，又有高矯疾走的，美麗又肥胖的鎢。誰都可以想到，加拿大人看見這美味的獵物是怎樣的發饞，他很悔恨他沒有帶槍。他想法拿石頭來替代鉛彈，投了好幾次都沒有成功，後來他居然打傷了一隻這種美麗的烏。說他不惜冒二十次險，一定要把這鳥弄到手，那是完全確實的事；憑着他的靈巧，他終於把這只鴇塞人口袋中，跟一塊塊的蠟蜜放在一起了。
By then we were forced to go back down to the beach because the ridge had become impossible. Above us, the yawning crater looked like the wide mouth of a well. From where we stood, the sky was pretty easy to see, and I watched clouds race by, disheveled by the west wind, letting tatters of mist trail over the mountain's summit. Proof positive that those clouds kept at a moderate altitude, because this volcano didn't rise more than 1,800 feet above the level of the ocean.
我們這時要下堤岸來，因為這山脊沒法過去。在我們上面，那張開的火山口像闊大的井口一般現出來。從這地方望，天空可以相當清楚的看出，我又看見一堆亂雲，被西風吹送，一直把雲霧的細絲碎片帶到這山峰上。這是很確實的證據，就是這些雲停在不很高的空中，因為火山高出海洋的水平面僅僅不過八百英呎。
Half an hour after the Canadian's latest exploits, we were back on the inner beach. There the local flora was represented by a wide carpet of samphire, a small umbelliferous plant that keeps quite nicely, which also boasts the names glasswort, saxifrage, and sea fennel. Conseil picked a couple bunches. As for the local fauna, it included thousands of crustaceans of every type: lobsters, hermit crabs, prawns, mysid shrimps, daddy longlegs, rock crabs, and a prodigious number of seashells, such as cowries, murex snails, and limpets.
加拿大人打到了鳥半小時後，我們回到內層堤岸來了。在這岸上的花草，有那種海鷄冠草形成的大塊地毯，這草是泡來很好吃的傘形花小草，又名為鑽石草、穿石草和海苗香。康塞爾采了好幾柬。至于動物，那就是各種各樣的甲殼類、龍蝦、大盤蟹、長手蟹、苗蝦、長腳蝦、加拉蟹，以及數不清的大量蚌蛤、磁貝、岩貝、編笠貝。
In this locality there gaped the mouth of a magnificent cave. My companions and I took great pleasure in stretching out on its fine-grained sand. Fire had polished the sparkling enamel of its inner walls, sprinkled all over with mica-rich dust. Ned Land tapped these walls and tried to probe their thickness. I couldn't help smiling. Our conversation then turned to his everlasting escape plans, and without going too far, I felt I could offer him this hope: Captain Nemo had gone down south only to replenish his sodium supplies. So I hoped he would now hug the coasts of Europe and America, which would allow the Canadian to try again with a greater chance of success.
在這個地方，現出一所高大的岩洞。我跟我的同伴們很高興地在洞中細沙上躺下來。火力把琺瑯質的和發光澤為洞壁摩亮了，洞壁上滿是雲母石的粉屑。尼德-蘭用手怕打高牆，探側牆有多厚。我不禁要笑起來。談話於是集中在他那永久不能忘懷的逃走計划上面，我想我不至于太冒進，可以給他這個；希望，就是尼摩船長往南來，僅僅是為補充鈉的儲藏量。所以，我希望他現在又要回到歐洲和美洲海岸去，這或者可以讓加拿大人把他沒有完成的逃走計劃，更有可能成功的執行起來。
We were stretched out in this delightful cave for an hour. Our conversation, lively at the outset, then languished. A definite drowsiness overcame us. Since I saw no good reason to resist the call of sleep, I fell into a heavy doze. I dreamed--one doesn't choose his dreams--that my life had been reduced to the vegetating existence of a simple mollusk. It seemed to me that this cave made up my double-valved shell. . . .
我們躺在這可愛的洞中有一個鐘頭了。談話開始時很生動，以後興緻漸漸減退。昏睡的感覺侵襲到我們身上來了。我覺得我沒有要抗拒睡眠的理由，我就讓我深深地睡了。
Suddenly Conseil's voice startled me awake.
忽然，我被康塞爾的聲音所驚醒。這個老實人喊：
"Get up! Get up!" shouted the fine lad.
“警報！警報：“
"What is it?" I asked, in a sitting position.
“有什麼事呀？”我問，同時我支起前半身來。
"The water's coming up to us!"
“水漫上來了！”
I got back on my feet. Like a torrent the sea was rushing into our retreat, and since we definitely were not mollusks, we had to clear out.
我立即站起來。海水像急流一般向我們藏身的地方衝來。毫無疑問，我們既然不是軟體動物，我們就一定得逃避。
In a few seconds we were safe on top of the cave.
幾分鐘後，我們就安全地到了這岩洞的頂上。
"What happened?" Conseil asked. "Some new phenomenon?"
“這是怎麼一回事？“康塞爾問，“又有新的奇怪現象嗎？
"Not quite, my friends!" I replied. "It was the tide, merely the tide, which wellnigh caught us by surprise just as it did Sir Walter Scott's hero! The ocean outside is rising, and by a perfectly natural law of balance, the level of this lake is also rising. We've gotten off with a mild dunking. Let's go change clothes on the Nautilus."
“朋友們，”我回答，“沒有什麼！那是潮水，像司備脫①小說中所說的人物的遭遇一樣，突然來襲我們的，不過是那潮水！大西洋在外面漲起，由於自然的平衡法則，湖中的水平面同樣要上升，我們洗了半個澡出來了。我們得回諾第留斯號換衣服去。”
Three-quarters of an hour later, we had completed our circular stroll and were back on board. Just then the crewmen finished loading the sodium supplies, and the Nautilus could have departed immediately.
三刻鐘後，我們就完結了我們的環湖旅行，我們又回到船上。船上人員這時候已經把鈉裝載完畢，諾第留斯號可能立即就要開行。
But Captain Nemo gave no orders. Would he wait for nightfall and exit through his underwater passageway in secrecy? Perhaps.
可是，尼摩船長並不下命令。他要等到夜間。是要秘密地從地下水道出去嗎？或者是這樣。
Be that as it may, by the next day the Nautilus had left its home port and was navigating well out from any shore, a few meters beneath the waves of the Atlantic.
不管怎樣，第二天，諾第留斯號已經離開它的港口，又在沒有陸地的海面，大西洋水底下幾米深的水層航行了。