NIGHT FELL. I went to bed. I slept pretty poorly. Man-eaters played a major role in my dreams. And I found it more or less appropriate that the French word for shark, requin, has its linguistic roots in the word requiem.
黑夜來臨，我睡了，睡得很不好。鮫魚在我夢中起了重大的作用，我覺得把“超度”作為“鯊魚”一詞的語源③，說它對也行，說它不對也行。
The next day at four o'clock in the morning, I was awakened by the steward whom Captain Nemo had placed expressly at my service. I got up quickly, dressed, and went into the lounge.
第二天早晨四點，尼摩船長特別吩咐前來伺候我的管事人把我叫醒6我立即起床，穿了衣服，到客廳去。
Captain Nemo was waiting for me.
尼摩船長在廳中等着我。
"Professor Aronnax," he said to me, "are you ready to start?"
“阿龍納斯先生，”他說，“您準備好了嗎？
"I'm ready."
“準備好了。”
"Kindly follow me."
“請跟我來。”
"What about my companions, captain?"
“船長，我的同伴們呢？
"They've been alerted and are waiting for us."
“他們已經得到通知，等着我們了。”
"Aren't we going to put on our diving suits?" I asked.
我問：“我們不穿潛水衣嗎？”
"Not yet. I haven't let the Nautilus pull too near the coast, and we're fairly well out from the Mannar oysterbank. But I have the skiff ready, and it will take us to the exact spot where we'll disembark, which will save us a pretty long trek. It's carrying our diving equipment, and we'll suit up just before we begin our underwater exploring."
“不用穿了。”我不讓諾第留斯號很接近海岸，我們是在馬納爾礁石岩脈的遠處海上。不過我準備好了那只小艇，它可以載我們到下水的地點，讓我們免走一段相當長的路程。艇中放了我們的潛水服裝，到我們要作水底探訪的時候，就穿戴起來。”
Captain Nemo took me to the central companionway whose steps led to the platform. Ned and Conseil were there, enraptured with the "pleasure trip" getting under way. Oars in position, five of the Nautilus's sailors were waiting for us aboard the skiff, which was moored alongside.
尼摩船長領我到中央樓梯，梯上通至平台。尼德-蘭和康塞爾早在那裡了，他們對於準備做的“海底遊玩”很為高興。諾第留斯船上的五個水手拿着槳，在緊靠着大船的小艇中等待我們。
The night was still dark. Layers of clouds cloaked the sky and left only a few stars in view. My eyes flew to the side where land lay, but I saw only a blurred line covering three-quarters of the horizon from southwest to northwest. Going up Ceylon's west coast during the night, the Nautilus lay west of the bay, or rather that gulf formed by the mainland and Mannar Island. Under these dark waters there stretched the bank of shellfish, an inexhaustible field of pearls more than twenty miles long.
夜色還很黑暗。片片的雲彩遮滿天空，只露出很稀微的星光。我兩眼向陸地方面看，我只見一條搖曳不定的直線，封住了從西南到西北的四分之三的天邊。諾第留斯號“鯊魚”法語為requin，是鮫魚的俗稱，它的語源有人認為是從拉丁語requiem（為死者超度的祈禱）轉化過來，因為“鯊魚、一詞和“超度”一詞最相近，人們就聯想，“鯊魚”是最凶惡的一種魚，人被咬了。
就會喪命，只有作“超度”來祈禱他長眠了。這種解釋很不可靠，所以作者說，找出這種語源學的說法，“說它對也行，說它不對也行“。
在夜間上溯了錫蘭島西部海岸，現在到了這海口的西邊，或不如說，到了馬納爾島陸地形成的這個海灣的西邊。這裡深水底下，羅列着小紋貝礁石岩脈，長度超過二十英里，真是采不盡的珍珠生產場。
Captain Nemo, Conseil, Ned Land, and I found seats in the stern of the skiff. The longboat's coxswain took the tiller; his four companions leaned into their oars; the moorings were cast off and we pulled clear.
尼摩船長、康塞爾、尼德-蘭和我，我們坐在小艇後面、小艇挺長用手把着舵，他的四個同伴抉着槳，解了繩索，我們就離開大船了。
The skiff headed southward. The oarsmen took their time. I watched their strokes vigorously catch the water, and they always waited ten seconds before rowing again, following the practice used in most navies. While the longboat coasted, drops of liquid flicked from the oars and hit the dark troughs of the waves, pitter-pattering like splashes of molten lead. Coming from well out, a mild swell made the skiff roll gently, and a few cresting billows lapped at its bow.
小艇向南駛去，艇中的潛水人並不急子下水。他們的槳使勁地在水中劃，我注意到這是海軍戰艦上常用的方法。 每寸秒劃一下。小艇在一定的速度上前進，水珠像熔鉛散射出的液體一樣，落在漆黑的水波中嘶嘶作響。一陣不大的波浪從海面衝來，使小艇發生輕微的顛簸，有些浪花飛濺到它的前頭。
We were silent. What was Captain Nemo thinking? Perhaps that this approaching shore was too close for comfort, contrary to the Canadian's views in which it still seemed too far away. As for Conseil, he had come along out of simple curiosity.
我們沉默不作聲，尼摩船長在想什麼呢？可能在想現在靠近的陸地，他覺得自己太靠近陸地了，這正跟加拿大人的意見相反，加拿大人卻覺得自己跟陸地相距太遠了。至于康塞爾，他坐在那裡什麼也不理會，只是看著新鮮。
Near 5:30 the first glimmers of light on the horizon defined the upper lines of the coast with greater distinctness. Fairly flat to the east, it swelled a little toward the south. Five miles still separated it from us, and its beach merged with the misty waters. Between us and the shore, the sea was deserted. Not a boat, not a diver. Profound solitude reigned over this gathering place of pearl fishermen. As Captain Nemo had commented, we were arriving in these waterways a month too soon.
五點半左右，天邊剛放出來的曙光把海岸的上層輪廓更清楚地襯托出來。在東邊，海岸相當平坦，向南部分又有點突起。我們跟海岸相距還有五英里，它的邊岸跟蒙蒙的霧水相混起來。在邊岸和我們之間，海上什麼也沒有，沒有一隻船，沒有一個採珠人。在這採珠人聚會的場所，是沉重的孤寂。本來尼摩船長已經向我說過，我們到這一帶海中來早了一個月。
At six o'clock the day broke suddenly, with that speed unique to tropical regions, which experience no real dawn or dusk. The sun's rays pierced the cloud curtain gathered on the easterly horizon, and the radiant orb rose swiftly.
六點，天忽然亮了，日夜很快來臨是熱帶地區特有的情形，這些地區是沒有晨暖和黃昏的。太陽光線穿過堆在東方天邊的雲幕，燦爛的紅日很快就升起來了。
I could clearly see the shore, which featured a few sparse trees here and there.
我清楚地看見陸地，稀疏的樹木散在各處。
The skiff advanced toward Mannar Island, which curved to the south. Captain Nemo stood up from his thwart and studied the sea.
小艇向馬納爾島前進，島南部漸漸擴大。尼摩船長站起來，看一下海回。
At his signal the anchor was lowered, but its chain barely ran because the bottom lay no more than a meter down, and this locality was one of the shallowest spots near the bank of shellfish. Instantly the skiff wheeled around under the ebb tide's outbound thrust.
他點一點頭，錨就拋下去了，但鐵鏈只下沉了一點，因為水底只有一米左右深、這裡形成了一處小紋貝礁岩脈突起來的最高峰。小艇受了向大海方面排去的退潮力量，立即轉過頭來。
"Here we are, Professor Aronnax," Captain Nemo then said. "You observe this confined bay? A month from now in this very place, the numerous fishing boats of the harvesters will gather, and these are the waters their divers will ransack so daringly. This bay is felicitously laid out for their type of fishing. It's sheltered from the strongest winds, and the sea is never very turbulent here, highly favorable conditions for diving work. Now let's put on our underwater suits, and we'll begin our stroll."
“阿龍納斯先生，我們到了，”尼摩船長說，“現在您可以看見這狹窄的海灣。一個月後，就在這個地方，無 數珍珠商的採珠船都齊集起來，船中採珠人要大膽去搜索的，也就是這一帶的海水。海灣的地位優良，適合于這類採珠工作。它躲避了最強烈的風，海面也從沒有很洶湧的波浪；對於採珠人的工作，這些都是很有利的條件。現在讓我們穿起潛水衣，開始下水遊覽吧。”
I didn't reply, and while staring at these suspicious waves, I began to put on my heavy aquatic clothes, helped by the longboat's sailors. Captain Nemo and my two companions suited up as well. None of the Nautilus's men were to go with us on this new excursion.
我不回答他的話，我眼望着這可疑的海水，小艇中的水手幫着我穿很重的潛水衣。尼摩船長和我的兩個同伴也穿起來。這次旅行，諾第留斯號的船員沒有一人陪我們同去。
Soon we were imprisoned up to the neck in india-rubber clothing, and straps fastened the air devices onto our backs. As for the Ruhmkorff device, it didn't seem to be in the picture. Before inserting my head into its copper capsule, I commented on this to the captain.
不久，我們的身體都裝在橡皮膠衣裡面，一直套到脖子處，背帶也把空氣箱綁在背上了。可是我們沒有帶蘭可夫燈。我的頭部還沒有套進銅帽中的時候，我向船長提出燈的問題。
"Our lighting equipment would be useless to us," the captain answered me. "We won't be going very deep, and the sun's rays will be sufficient to light our way. Besides, it's unwise to carry electric lanterns under these waves. Their brightness might unexpectedly attract certain dangerous occupants of these waterways."
“蘭可夫燈對我們沒有什麼用處，”船長回答，“我們不到很深的地方去，太陽光線就足以給我們引路了。並且，在這裡的水底下面帶著電光燈也是不妥當的。電燈光亮可能意外地惹來這一帶海中的危險動物。”
As Captain Nemo pronounced these words, I turned to Conseil and Ned Land. But my two friends had already encased their craniums in their metal headgear, and they could neither hear nor reply.
尼摩船長說這話的時候，我回過頭來看康塞爾和尼德-蘭，可是這兩個朋友已經把腦袋裝進金屬的球帽裡面去了。他們不能聽見，也不能答話。
I had one question left to address to Captain Nemo.
我又向尼摩船長提最後一個問題，我問他：
"What about our weapons?" I asked him. "Our rifles?"
“我們的武器呢？我們的槍支呢？”
"Rifles! What for? Don't your mountaineers attack bears dagger in hand? And isn't steel surer than lead? Here's a sturdy blade. Slip it under your belt and let's be off."
“槍支：有什麼用？你們山中人不是手拿短刀去打熊嗎？鋼刀不比鉛彈更可靠嗎？這裡有一把刺刀，把它掛在您腰帶上，我們走吧。”
I stared at my companions. They were armed in the same fashion, and Ned Land was also brandishing an enormous harpoon he had stowed in the skiff before leaving the Nautilus.
我看看我的同伴。他們跟我一樣拿着短刀，此外，尼德-蘭用手揮動一把魚叉，這叉是他離開諾第留斯號之前放在小艇中的。
Then, following the captain's example, I let myself be crowned with my heavy copper sphere, and our air tanks immediately went into action.
然後，跟着船長，我也戴起那沉重的銅球，我們的空氣儲藏器立即活動起來。
An instant later, the longboat's sailors helped us overboard one after the other, and we set foot on level sand in a meter and a half of water. Captain Nemo gave us a hand signal. We followed him down a gentle slope and disappeared under the waves.
一會兒，小艇上的水手們把我們一個一個扶人水中，在一米半的深處，我們的腳踩在平坦的沙上。尼摩船長對我們做個手勢，我們跟着他走，沿著逐漸下斜的坡道走，我們就沒入到水底下了。
There the obsessive fears in my brain left me. I became surprisingly calm again. The ease with which I could move increased my confidence, and the many strange sights captivated my imagination.
在水底下，纏繞我腦際的鮫魚的念頭沒有了，我心中變得十分安靜。由於動作方便，我增加了信心，水底下奇異的景象完全吸住了我的想象力。
The sun was already sending sufficient light under these waves. The tiniest objects remained visible. After ten minutes of walking, we were in five meters of water, and the terrain had become almost flat.
太陽已經把足夠的光度照到水底下來，最微小的物體也可以看見。走了10分鐘後，我們到了五米水深處，底面差不多是平坦的。
Like a covey of snipe over a marsh, there rose underfoot schools of unusual fish from the genus Monopterus, whose members have no fin but their tail. I recognized the Javanese eel, a genuine eight-decimeter serpent with a bluish gray belly, which, without the gold lines over its flanks, could easily be confused with the conger eel. From the butterfish genus, whose oval bodies are very flat, I observed several adorned in brilliant colors and sporting a dorsal fin like a sickle, edible fish that, when dried and marinated, make an excellent dish known by the name "karawade"; then some sea poachers, fish belonging to the genus Aspidophoroides, whose bodies are covered with scaly armor divided into eight lengthwise sections.
在我們走的路上，一大群單鰭屬的新奇魚類，像沼澤地中的一群一群山鷄那樣，飛一般地哄起；這種魚沒有其它的鰭，只有尾上的那一支。我認得其中的爪哇鰻，真正跟蛇一樣，長八分米，肚腹蒼白，很容易跟兩測沒有金綫的海鰻相混，分辨不出來。至于軀體壓縮作蛋形的硬鰭屬中，我看到顏色鮮艷的燕雀魚，脊鰭像鐮刀一樣，那是可以食用的魚，晾乾浸在鹽水中，稱為“卡拉瓦”的美味的好菜；其次為屬於長軸屬的土蘭格巴魚、全身披着上面有八條縱帶的鱗的甲冗。
Meanwhile, as the sun got progressively higher, it lit up the watery mass more and more. The seafloor changed little by little. Its fine-grained sand was followed by a genuine causeway of smooth crags covered by a carpet of mollusks and zoophytes. Among other specimens in these two branches, I noted some windowpane oysters with thin valves of unequal size, a type of ostracod unique to the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, then orange-hued lucina with circular shells, awl-shaped auger shells, some of those Persian murex snails that supply the Nautilus with such wonderful dye, spiky periwinkles fifteen centimeters long that rose under the waves like hands ready to grab you, turban snails with shells made of horn and bristling all over with spines, lamp shells, edible duck clams that feed the Hindu marketplace, subtly luminous jellyfish of the species Pelagia panopyra, and finally some wonderful Oculina flabelliforma, magnificent sea fans that fashion one of the most luxuriant tree forms in this ocean.
太陽陸續上升，照得水底更加明亮了乙地下也漸漸起變化。細沙地之後，接着是突起的岩石路，路上鋪着一層軟體動物和植蟲動物形成的地毯。在這兩門動物的品種中間，我看到殻很薄的大小不一致的胎盤貝，這是紅海和印度洋特有的一種牡蠣；介殼圓形的橙色滿月貝；突錐形貝；一些波斯朱紅貝，諾第留斯號的美麗色彩就由這種貝供應的；多角岩石貝，長十五釐米，在水底下豎起來，像要抓人的手似的；角形螺貝，全身長着尖刺；張口舌形貝，鴨子貝，這是供應印度斯但市場的可以食用的蠅貝；帶甲水母，發出微弱偽亮光；最後還看到使人讚美的扇形圓眼貝，像很美麗的扇子，是這一帶海中最易繁殖的樹枝形動物之一。
In the midst of this moving vegetation, under arbors of water plants, there raced legions of clumsy articulates, in particular some fanged frog crabs whose carapaces form a slightly rounded triangle, robber crabs exclusive to these waterways, and horrible parthenope crabs whose appearance was repulsive to the eye. One animal no less hideous, which I encountered several times, was the enormous crab that Mr. Darwin observed, to which nature has given the instinct and requisite strength to eat coconuts; it scrambles up trees on the beach and sends the coconuts tumbling; they fracture in their fall and are opened by its powerful pincers. Here, under these clear waves, this crab raced around with matchless agility, while green turtles from the species frequenting the Malabar coast moved sluggishly among the crumbling rocks.
在這些活的植物中間，這些水甲蟲的搖籃下面，有無數從伍不整齊的節肢動物跑動，特別多的是齒形蛙類，身上的甲殼作彎曲的三角形；有這一帶海中特產的卑格魚；有那可怕的單性魚，形狀非常難看。我好幾次碰見了那種跟單性魚一樣難看的動物，就是達爾文曾經觀察過的大蟹，大自然給了它一種本能和力量，可以吃椰子。它爬上海岸，爬到椰子樹上把椰子弄下來，椰子掉下來的時候跌破了，它拿它的有力的鉗把椰子剝開來吃。在這裡明亮的水底下，這種蟹在走動的時候非常靈便。不可比擬。同時又有自由自在的魚鱉類，就是常到馬拉巴海岸的那一類，在動搖的岩石中間慢慢地爬走。
Near seven o'clock we finally surveyed the bank of shellfish, where pearl oysters reproduce by the millions. These valuable mollusks stick to rocks, where they're strongly attached by a mass of brown filaments that forbids their moving about. In this respect oysters are inferior even to mussels, to whom nature has not denied all talent for locomotion.
七點左右，我們終於到了小紋貝礁石岩脈上，岩脈上繁殖着不可數計的億萬珍珠貝。 這些寶貴的軟體動物粘附着岩石，它們被那些棕色的纖維結實地縛在石上，擺脫不開。從這點來看，珍珠貝甚至于不如談菜，因為大自然還給淡菜有可能移動的能力。
The shellfish Meleagrina, that womb for pearls whose valves are nearly equal in size, has the shape of a round shell with thick walls and a very rough exterior. Some of these shells were furrowed with flaky, greenish bands that radiated down from the top. These were the young oysters. The others had rugged black surfaces, measured up to fifteen centimeters in width, and were ten or more years old.
雜色小紋貝，所謂珍珠母的兩片介殼差不多相等，殻作圓環形，殻壁很厚，外表很粗，凹凸不平。有些珍珠母的外殼上面帶一條一條的淡青色綫紋，綫紋盡頭處有些發亮。 這是屬於年輕一類的珍珠母。 別的珍珠母，表面上粗一點，黑一點，有十歲以上的年齡了，寬大可以到十五釐米。
Captain Nemo pointed to this prodigious heap of shellfish, and I saw that these mines were genuinely inexhaustible, since nature's creative powers are greater than man's destructive instincts. True to those instincts, Ned Land greedily stuffed the finest of these mollusks into a net he carried at his side.
尼摩船長用手指給我看一大堆小紋貝，我瞭解這個寶藏是采不盡的，因為大自然的創造力遠遠勝過人類的破壞本能。尼德-蘭行使他的這種本能，急急把那些最好的珍珠貝塞到他身邊帶著的魚網中。
But we couldn't stop. We had to follow the captain, who headed down trails seemingly known only to himself. The seafloor rose noticeably, and when I lifted my arms, sometimes they would pass above the surface of the sea. Then the level of the oysterbank would lower unpredictably. Often we went around tall, pointed rocks rising like pyramids. In their dark crevices huge crustaceans, aiming their long legs like heavy artillery, watched us with unblinking eyes, while underfoot there crept millipedes, bloodworms, aricia worms, and annelid worms, whose antennas and tubular tentacles were incredibly long.
但我們不能停步。我們要跟着船長走，他好像沿著只有他才認得的小路走去。水底地面顯然上升，我的胳膊有時候舉起來，伸出在水面上了。其次，岩脈的水平面也任意地低下來。我們時常繞着切為一根一根的四角錐形的高大岩石走過去。在岩石的陰暗凹凸的地方，有粗大的甲殼動物，長長的爪架起來，好像一門大炮，眼睛不動，盯住我們。 在我們腳下，爬着無數的多須魚、藤蘿魚、卷魚類和環魚類，它們在那裡特別伸長它們的觸角和捲鬚。
Just then a huge cave opened up in our path, hollowed from a picturesque pile of rocks whose smooth heights were completely hung with underwater flora. At first this cave looked pitch-black to me. Inside, the sun's rays seemed to diminish by degrees. Their hazy transparency was nothing more than drowned light.
這時候，我們面前現出一個寬大的石洞，洞在滿鋪各種海底花草的岩石堆中。起初，我看這洞中很黑暗。照到這裡的太陽光好像漸漸微弱，以至熄滅了。剩下的模糊的亮光只不過是浸在水裡的光線罷了。
Captain Nemo went in. We followed him. My eyes soon grew accustomed to this comparative gloom. I distinguished the unpredictably contoured springings of a vault, supported by natural pillars firmly based on a granite foundation, like the weighty columns of Tuscan architecture. Why had our incomprehensible guide taken us into the depths of this underwater crypt? I would soon find out.
尼摩船長進入洞中。我們跟他進去。我的眼睛不久就習慣了這種並非漆黑的黑暗。我分辨出那些由天然石砫支架起來的、穹窿很寬大的形成輪廓的起拱石，這些石砫的寬大底座安在花崗岩的石基上，像托斯甘式建築①的笨重石砫那樣。我們的神秘帶路人為什麼拉我們到這海底下的地窖中來呢？我不久就明白了。
After going down a fairly steep slope, our feet trod the floor of a sort of circular pit. There Captain Nemo stopped, and his hand indicated an object that I hadn't yet noticed.
我們走下相當陡的斜坡，我們的腳踩踏了一種圓形的井底地面。到這裡，尼摩船長停住了，他手指一件東西，但我還不能看清楚。
It was an oyster of extraordinary dimensions, a titanic giant clam, a holy-water font that could have held a whole lake, a basin more than two meters wide, hence even bigger than the one adorning the Nautilus's lounge.
那是一隻身量巨大的珍珠貝，一隻龐大無比的車渠，一個盛一池水的聖水盤，一個超過兩米寬的大鉢，所以這只貝比諾第留斯號客廳中放著的還大。
I approached this phenomenal mollusk. Its mass of filaments attached it to a table of granite, and there it grew by itself in the midst of the cave's calm waters. I estimated the weight of this giant clam at 300 kilograms. Hence such an oyster held fifteen kilos of meat, and you'd need the stomach of King Gargantua to eat a couple dozen.
我走近這出奇少有的軟體動物面前。它的纖維帶把它釘在花崗岩的石板上，附着這石板，它就在這石洞的平靜海水中單獨成長起來。我估計這只貝的重量有三百公斤。而這樣一隻貝可以有十五公斤的淨肉，那就必須有一位卡岡都亞②的肚子才能眷食幾打這樣巨大的貝了。
Captain Nemo was obviously familiar with this bivalve's existence. This wasn't the first time he'd paid it a visit, and I thought his sole reason for leading us to this locality was to show us a natural curiosity. I was mistaken. Captain Nemo had an explicit personal interest in checking on the current condition of this giant clam.
尼摩船長分明是知道這只雙殻動物的存在。他到這個地方來不止一次了，我想他帶我們到這裡來只是要給我們看一件天然的奇物。我搞錯了。尼摩船長有特別目的，是為瞭解這車渠的情況而來的。
The mollusk's two valves were partly open. The captain approached and stuck his dagger vertically between the shells to discourage any ideas about closing; then with his hands he raised the fringed, membrane-filled tunic that made up the animal's mantle.
這只軟體動物的兩殻是半張開的。船長走向前去，把短刀插入兩殻間，使它們不能再合攏。然後他用手把兩殻邊掛着的，作為這動物的外套的膜皮弄開。
There, between its leaflike folds, I saw a loose pearl as big as a coconut. Its globular shape, perfect clarity, and wonderful orient made it a jewel of incalculable value. Carried away by curiosity, I stretched out my hand to take it, weigh it, fondle it! But the captain stopped me, signaled no, removed his dagger in one swift motion, and let the two valves snap shut.
在膜皮裡面，葉狀的皺紋間，我看見一顆可以自由擲動的珍珠，跟椰子一般粗大。它的球圓形狀，它的完全透明： 它的無比寶光，使它成為價值不可估計的稀有珍寶。我為好奇心所動，伸手去拿這珠，要掂一掂它的份量，摩摩它！ 但船長阻止我，作個不要動的手勢，他很快怞出他的短刀，讓兩片介殼立即合攏來。
I then understood Captain Nemo's intent. By leaving the pearl buried beneath the giant clam's mantle, he allowed it to grow imperceptibly. With each passing year the mollusk's secretions added new concentric layers. The captain alone was familiar with the cave where this wonderful fruit of nature was "ripening"; he alone reared it, so to speak, in order to transfer it one day to his dearly beloved museum. Perhaps, following the examples of oyster farmers in China and India, he had even predetermined the creation of this pearl by sticking under the mollusk's folds some piece of glass or metal that was gradually covered with mother-of-pearl. In any case, comparing this pearl to others I already knew about, and to those shimmering in the captain's collection, I estimated that it was worth at least 10,000,000 francs. It was a superb natural curiosity rather than a luxurious piece of jewelry, because I don't know of any female ear that could handle it.
我於是明白了尼摩船長的企圖。把這顆珍珠塞在那只車渠的衣膜裡面，無形中這珠就可以漸漸大起來了。每年，那軟體動物的分泌物都在環繞珍珠周圍的薄膜上累積起來。只有尼摩船長才認得這個天然的先比的果實在其中“成熟”的腔洞；又可以說，只是他自己把這顆珍珠培養起來，有一天他可以拿來擺在他那滿自琳瑯的陳列室中。甚至于，他可以照中國人和印度人的辦法來決定一顆珍珠的生產。那就是把一塊玻璃片和金屬物塞人這軟體動物的內部皺摺裡面，螺鋼質漸漸把它包裹起來變成珍珠。不管怎樣，把這珠跟我所認得的珠比較，跟船長所收藏的珠比較。 都是更為珍貴的。我估計這珠的價值至少是一千萬法郎。 它是天然的奇珍異寶，不是奢侈的裝飾品，因為，我想恐怕沒有女人的耳朵能吃得住這顆大珠。
Our visit to this opulent giant clam came to an end. Captain Nemo left the cave, and we climbed back up the bank of shellfish in the midst of these clear waters not yet disturbed by divers at work.
看完了這個胖大的車渠，尼摩船長離開石洞，我們走到小紋貝礁石上。
We walked by ourselves, genuine loiterers stopping or straying as our fancies dictated. For my part, I was no longer worried about those dangers my imagination had so ridiculously exaggerated. The shallows drew noticeably closer to the surface of the sea, and soon, walking in only a meter of water, my head passed well above the level of the ocean. Conseil rejoined me, and gluing his huge copper capsule to mine, his eyes gave me a friendly greeting. But this lofty plateau measured only a few fathoms, and soon we reentered Our Element. I think I've now earned the right to dub it that.
在這些清澈的海水中間，還沒有採珠人來工作，把水攪渾，我們真像閙着無事來此散步的人，我們各走各的路，隨自己的意思，或停下，或走開。至於我自己，我已經不把那件由於空想所引起的十分可笑的事放在心上了。海底這時顯然接近海面，不久，我的頭離水面只有一米了。康塞爾走近我身邊，把他的銅球帽貼著我的銅球帽，他擠弄眼睛，向我作個友誼的敬禮。不過這水底高原只有幾米長，不久我們又回到“我們的”深水中。我想現在我有權利可以這樣講。
Ten minutes later, Captain Nemo stopped suddenly. I thought he'd called a halt so that we could turn and start back. No. With a gesture he ordered us to crouch beside him at the foot of a wide crevice. His hand motioned toward a spot within the liquid mass, and I looked carefully.
十分鐘後，尼摩船長忽然停住了。我以為他是停一下就要轉回去。然而不是。他做個手勢，要我們在一個寬大的窩裡面，挨近他身邊蹲下來。他用手指着水中的一點，我很注意地觀察。
Five meters away a shadow appeared and dropped to the seafloor. The alarming idea of sharks crossed my mind. But I was mistaken, and once again we didn't have to deal with monsters of the deep.
離我們五米的地方，出現一個黑影，下沉到底。使我害怕的鮫魚的念頭又湧現在我心中了。可是，這一次我又錯了，在我們面前的並不是海洋中的怪物。
It was a man, a living man, a black Indian fisherman, a poor devil who no doubt had come to gather what he could before harvest time. I saw the bottom of his dinghy, moored a few feet above his head. He would dive and go back up in quick succession. A stone cut in the shape of a sugar loaf, which he gripped between his feet while a rope connected it to his boat, served to lower him more quickly to the ocean floor. This was the extent of his equipment. Arriving on the seafloor at a depth of about five meters, he fell to his knees and stuffed his sack with shellfish gathered at random. Then he went back up, emptied his sack, pulled up his stone, and started all over again, the whole process lasting only thirty seconds.
那是一個人，一個活人，一個印度人，一個黑人，當然是一個採珠人，一個可憐人，他未到採珠期就前來採珠了。我看見他的艇底。停泊在距他頭上只有幾英呎的水面上。他潛入水中，隨即又浮上來。一塊砸成像小麵包一般的石頭夾在兩腳中間，一根繩索縛着石頭，系在他的艇子上，使他可以很快地到海底下來。以上就是他所有的採珠工具。到了海底，約五米深左右，他立即跪下，把順手拿到的小紋珠： 貝塞人他的口袋中。然後，他上去，倒淨口袋，拉出石頭，又開始下水採珠，一上一下，只不過是三十秒鐘。
This diver didn't see us. A shadow cast by our crag hid us from his view. And besides, how could this poor Indian ever have guessed that human beings, creatures like himself, were near him under the waters, eavesdropping on his movements, not missing a single detail of his fishing!
這個採珠人看不見我們。岩石的陰影擋住了他的視線。並且，這個可憐的印度人哪能想到，在水底下有人，有像他那樣的人，偷看他的動作，細細觀察他採珠的情形呢？
So he went up and down several times. He gathered only about ten shellfish per dive, because he had to tear them from the banks where each clung with its tough mass of filaments. And how many of these oysters for which he risked his life would have no pearl in them!
好幾次，他就這樣的上去又下來……每一次下水，他只采得十來個螺貝，因為螺貝被堅強的纖維帶粘在岩石上，他要使勁把它們拉下來。而且這些螺貝中也還有多少是不含有他不顧性命危險來採取的珍珠呢！
I observed him with great care. His movements were systematically executed, and for half an hour no danger seemed to threaten him. So I had gotten used to the sight of this fascinating fishing when all at once, just as the Indian was kneeling on the seafloor, I saw him make a frightened gesture, stand, and gather himself to spring back to the surface of the waves.
我聚精會神地觀察他。他的工作很規律地進行，在半小時內，沒有什麼危險威脅他。所以我就對這種很有興趣的採珠景象習慣了，忽然間，在這個印度人跪在水底下的時候，我看見他做一個駭怕的手勢，立即站起，使勁往上一跳。 要浮上海面去。
I understood his fear. A gigantic shadow appeared above the poor diver. It was a shark of huge size, moving in diagonally, eyes ablaze, jaws wide open!
我明白了他的駭怕。一個巨大的黑影在這不幸的採珠人頭上出現了。那是一條身軀巨大的鯊魚，發亮的眼睛，張開的嘴巴，迎面斜刺地向前衝來了！
I was speechless with horror, unable to make a single movement.
我伯得發楞，甚至想動一動也不可能。
With one vigorous stroke of its fins, the voracious animal shot toward the Indian, who jumped aside and avoided the shark's bite but not the thrashing of its tail, because that tail struck him across the chest and stretched him out on the seafloor.
這個饑餓的動物，用力撥一下鰭，向印度人身上撲來，他躲在一邊，避開鯊魚的嘴，但沒有躲開鯊魚尾巴的打擊，因為魚尾打在他胸上，他翻倒在水底下。
This scene lasted barely a few seconds. The shark returned, rolled over on its back, and was getting ready to cut the Indian in half, when Captain Nemo, who was stationed beside me, suddenly stood up. Then he strode right toward the monster, dagger in hand, ready to fight it at close quarters.
這個場面不過是幾秒鐘的事。鯊魚回來，翻轉脊背，就要把印度人切成兩半了，這時候，我覺得蹲在我近邊的尼摩船長突然站起來。然後，他手拿短刀，直向鯊魚衝去，準備跟鯊魚肉搏。
Just as it was about to snap up the poor fisherman, the man-eater saw its new adversary, repositioned itself on its belly, and headed swiftly toward him.
鯊魚正要咬這個不幸的採珠人的時候，看見了它的新來敵人，它立即又翻過肚腹，很快地向臘長衝來。
I can see Captain Nemo's bearing to this day. Bracing himself, he waited for the fearsome man-eater with wonderful composure, and when the latter rushed at him, the captain leaped aside with prodigious quickness, avoided a collision, and sank his dagger into its belly. But that wasn't the end of the story. A dreadful battle was joined.
我現在還看見尼摩船長當時的姿態。他彎下身子，帶著一種特別的冷靜，等待那巨大的鯊魚，當鯊魚向他衝來的時候，船長非常矯捷地跳在一邊，躲開衝擊，同時拿短刀刺人魚腹中。不過，事情並沒有完，結果尚未分曉。怕人的戰鬥開始進行了。
The shark bellowed, so to speak. Blood was pouring into the waves from its wounds. The sea was dyed red, and through this opaque liquid I could see nothing else.
鯊魚這時可以說是吼起來了。鮮血像水流一般的從它的傷口噴出。
Nothing else until the moment when, through a rift in the clouds, I saw the daring captain clinging to one of the animal's fins, fighting the monster at close quarters, belaboring his enemy's belly with stabs of the dagger yet unable to deliver the deciding thrust, in other words, a direct hit to the heart. In its struggles the man-eater churned the watery mass so furiously, its eddies threatened to knock me over.
海染紅了，在這渾濁的水中，我什麼也看不見，什麼也看不見，一直到水中露出明亮的地方的時候，我才看見勇敢大膽的船長，抓住鯊魚的一隻鰭，跟這個怪物肉搏，短刀亂刺鯊魚的肚腹，但沒有能刺到致命的地方，就是說，沒有能刺中魚的心臟。鯊魚死命掙扎，瘋狂地攪動海水，攪起的漩渦都要把我打翻了。
I wanted to run to the captain's rescue. But I was transfixed with horror, unable to move.
我很想跑去接應船長。但被恐怖懾住，不能挪動。
I stared, wild-eyed. I saw the fight enter a new phase. The captain fell to the seafloor, toppled by the enormous mass weighing him down. Then the shark's jaws opened astoundingly wide, like a pair of industrial shears, and that would have been the finish of Captain Nemo had not Ned Land, quick as thought, rushed forward with his harpoon and driven its dreadful point into the shark's underside.
我兩眼發直地注視着。我看見戰斗的形勢改變了……船長被壓在他身上的巨大軀體所翻倒，摔在水底地下。一會兒，只見鯊魚的牙齒大得伯人，像工廠中的大鉗一般，尼摩船長的性命眼看就要不保了，忽然，尼德。蘭手拿魚叉，轉念之間，迅速向鯊魚衝去，他投出可怕的利叉，打中了鯊魚。
The waves were saturated with masses of blood. The waters shook with the movements of the man-eater, which thrashed about with indescribable fury. Ned Land hadn't missed his target. This was the monster's death rattle. Pierced to the heart, it was struggling with dreadful spasms whose aftershocks knocked Conseil off his feet.
海水中散出一大團鮮血。海水受那瘋狂得不可形容的鯊魚的激打掙扎，洶湧地激蕩起來。尼德，蘭達到了他的目的。 這是鯊魚的最後喘息了。被叉刺中了心臟，這東西在怕人的怞搐中作最後的掙扎，反衝上來，掀倒了康塞爾。
Meanwhile Ned Land pulled the captain clear. Uninjured, the latter stood up, went right to the Indian, quickly cut the rope binding the man to his stone, took the fellow in his arms, and with a vigorous kick of the heel, rose to the surface of the sea.
可是，尼德-蘭立即把尼摩船長拉起來。船長沒有受傷，站起來，走到那個印度人身邊，急急把他和石頭緒起來的繩索割斷，抱起他，兩腳使勁一蹬，浮出海面來。
The three of us followed him, and a few moments later, miraculously safe, we reached the fisherman's longboat.
我們三人跟他上來。意外得救的人，轉瞬間，都到了採珠人的小艇上。
Captain Nemo's first concern was to revive this unfortunate man. I wasn't sure he would succeed. I hoped so, since the poor devil hadn't been under very long. But that stroke from the shark's tail could have been his deathblow.
尼摩船長首先關心的事是要救活這個不幸的採珠人。 我不知道他是否可以成功。我希望他可以成功，因為這個可憐人浸在水中時間並不很久。但鯊魚尾巴的打擊可能是致命的重傷。
Fortunately, after vigorous massaging by Conseil and the captain, I saw the nearly drowned man regain consciousness little by little. He opened his eyes. How startled he must have felt, how frightened even, at seeing four huge, copper craniums leaning over him!
很運氣，由於康塞爾和船長的有力按摩，我看見那不幸的人漸漸恢復了知覺。他睜開眼睛，看見四個大銅腦袋彎身向着他，他應該怎麼驚奇，甚至于應該怎麼駭怕呢！
And above all, what must he have thought when Captain Nemo pulled a bag of pearls from a pocket in his diving suit and placed it in the fisherman's hands? This magnificent benefaction from the Man of the Waters to the poor Indian from Ceylon was accepted by the latter with trembling hands.
特別是，當尼摩船長從衣服口袋中取出一個珍珠囊，放在他手中時，他心中會怎樣想呢。這位水中人給錫蘭島的窮苦印度人的貴重施捨物，由一隻發抖的手接過去了。
His bewildered eyes indicated that he didn't know to what superhuman creatures he owed both his life and his fortune.
在他驚奇的眼睛裡表示出了救他的性命和給他財產的，一定是不可思議的超人的神靈。
At the captain's signal we returned to the bank of shellfish, and retracing our steps, we walked for half an hour until we encountered the anchor connecting the seafloor with the Nautilus's skiff.
船長點一點頭，我們又下到小紋貝的礁石岩脈間，沿著原來跑過的路走去，走了半個鐘頭後，我們就碰上了輓在水底地面的諾第留斯小艇的鐵錨。
Back on board, the sailors helped divest us of our heavy copper carapaces.
一上了小艇，各人有艇上水手的幫助，解開了沉重的銅腦蓋。
Captain Nemo's first words were spoken to the Canadian.
尼摩船長的第一句話是對加拿大人說的，他說：
"Thank you, Mr. Land," he told him.
“蘭師傅，謝謝您。”
"Tit for tat, captain," Ned Land replied. "I owed it to you."
“船長，那是我對您的報答，”尼德：蘭回答，“我應該報答您。”
The ghost of a smile glided across the captain's lips, and that was all.
一個輕淡的微笑在船長的嘴唇間露出來，此外並沒有——句別的話了。
"To the Nautilus," he said.
“回諾第留斯號船上去。”他說。
The longboat flew over the waves. A few minutes later we encountered the shark's corpse again, floating.
小艇在水波上飛走。幾分鐘後，我們碰到浮在海上的那條鯊魚的屍體。
From the black markings on the tips of its fins, I recognized the dreadful Squalus melanopterus from the seas of the East Indies, a variety in the species of sharks proper. It was more than twenty-five feet long; its enormous mouth occupied a third of its body. It was an adult, as could be seen from the six rows of teeth forming an isosceles triangle in its upper jaw.
看到那鰭梢現出的黑顏色，我認出這條鯊魚就是印度海中厲害怕人的黑鯊魚，真正所謂鯊魚的一種。它身長二十五英呎，它的大嘴占它全長的三分之一。 這是一條成年的鯊魚，從它嘴裡，在上顎上，有擺成等邊三角形的六排牙齒，就可以看出來。
Conseil looked at it with purely scientific fascination, and I'm sure he placed it, not without good reason, in the class of cartilaginous fish, order Chondropterygia with fixed gills, family Selacia, genus Squalus.
While I was contemplating this inert mass, suddenly a dozen of these voracious melanoptera appeared around our longboat; but, paying no attention to us, they pounced on the corpse and quarreled over every scrap of it.
當我注視這個屍體時，十多條饑餓貪食的鮫魚忽然在小艇周圍出現，但這些東西並不理睬我們，全撲到死鯊魚身上去，一塊一塊搶着吃。
By 8:30 we were back on board the Nautilus.
八點半，我們回到了諾第留斯號船上。
There I fell to thinking about the incidents that marked our excursion over the Mannar oysterbank. Two impressions inevitably stood out. One concerned Captain Nemo's matchless bravery, the other his devotion to a human being, a representative of that race from which he had fled beneath the seas. In spite of everything, this strange man hadn't yet succeeded in completely stifling his heart.
在船上，我把我們在馬納爾一帶礁石岩脈間旅行所遭遇到的事故細細回想一下。其中有值得注意的兩點一定要握出來。一點是關於尼摩船長的無比勇敢，另一點是關於他對人類、對於逃到海底下去的這一種族的一個代表的犧牲精神。不管他怎麼說，這個古怪的人還沒有能完全斬斷他愛人的心情。
When I shared these impressions with him, he answered me in a tone touched with emotion:
當我把這一點向他提出來的時候，他口氣稍微有些激動地回答我：
"That Indian, professor, lives in the land of the oppressed, and I am to this day, and will be until my last breath, a native of that same land!"
“教授，這個印度人是一個被壓迫國家的人民，我的心還在這個國家，並且，直到我最後一口氣，我的心也是在這個國家！”