AT SUNRISE the next morning, February 12, the Nautilus rose to the surface of the waves. I rushed onto the platform. The hazy silhouette of Pelusium was outlined three miles to the south. A torrent had carried us from one sea to the other. But although that tunnel was easy to descend, going back up must have been impossible.
第二天，2月12日，天一亮的時候，諾第留斯號就浮出水面。我立即跑到平台上去。南邊三海里的地方，隱約瑰出北路斯城的側影。一道急流把我們從這一個海帶到另一個海來了。不過，這地道順流而下很容易，逆流而上恐怕就不可能。
Near seven o'clock Ned and Conseil joined me. Those two inseparable companions had slept serenely, utterly unaware of the Nautilus's feat.
七點左右，尼德-蘭和康塞爾也上來了。這兩個分不開的同伴只知安安靜靜地睡了一覺，全沒有留心到諾第留斯號所完成的大膽事業。
"Well, Mr. Naturalist," the Canadian asked in a gently mocking tone, "and how about that Mediterranean?"
“那麼，生物學專家，”加拿大人以略帶嘲笑的語氣問，“您那地中海呢？”
"We're floating on its surface, Ned my friend."
“我們現在就在它的水面上了，尼德朋友。”
"What!" Conseil put in. "Last night . . . ?"
“嗯！”康塞爾哼了一聲，“就是昨夜嗎？……”
"Yes, last night, in a matter of minutes, we cleared that insuperable isthmus."
“對，就是昨夜，幾分鐘內，我們便走過了這不能走過的地峽。”
"I don't believe a word of it," the Canadian replied.
“我不能相信這事。”加拿大人回答。
"And you're in the wrong, Mr. Land," I went on. "That flat coastline curving southward is the coast of Egypt."
“您錯了，蘭師傅，”我立即說，“那向南方彎下去的低低的海岸，就是埃及海岸了。”
"Tell it to the marines, sir," answered the stubborn Canadian.
“先生，您向別人說去吧。”固執的加拿大人回答。
"But if master says so," Conseil told him, "then so be it."
“既然先生肯定了，”康塞爾對他說，“那就要相信先生哩。”
"What's more, Ned," I said, "Captain Nemo himself did the honors in his tunnel, and I stood beside him in the pilothouse while he steered the Nautilus through that narrow passageway."
“尼德，尼摩船長還很客氣地讓我看了他的地道，當他親自指揮諾第留斯號通過這條狹窄地道的時候，我在他面前，在領航人的籠間裡。”
"You hear, Ned?" Conseil said.
“尼德，您明白了嗎？”康塞爾說。
"And you, Ned, who have such good eyes," I added, "you can spot the jetties of Port Said stretching out to sea."
“您的眼力是很好的，”我又說，“尼德，您可以望見那伸出在海中的塞得港長堤。”
The Canadian looked carefully.
加拿大人很用心地看了一下。他說：
"Correct," he said. "You're right, professor, and your captain's a superman. We're in the Mediterranean. Fine. So now let's have a chat about our little doings, if you please, but in such a way that nobody overhears."
“果然，教授，您說得對。您的那位船長是一位傑出人物。我們現在是在地中海了。很好。我們來商談一下我們的小事情吧，但不要使人們聽到我們的談話。”
I could easily see what the Canadian was driving at. In any event, I thought it best to let him have his chat, and we all three went to sit next to the beacon, where we were less exposed to the damp spray from the billows.
我很知道加拿大人要商談的是什麼事情，不管怎樣，我想談一談是好些，因為他要談。我們三人於是坐到探照燈附近，在那邊我們可以受到一些浪花打來的泡沫。
"Now, Ned, we're all ears," I said. "What have you to tell us?"
“尼德，”我說，“我們現在靜聽您的話了。您有什麼好消息告訴我們嗎？”
"What I've got to tell you is very simple," the Canadian replied. "We're in Europe, and before Captain Nemo's whims take us deep into the polar seas or back to Oceania, I say we should leave this Nautilus."
“我要告訴你們的是很簡單的幾句。”加拿大人回答，“我們現在在歐洲了，在尼摩船長的任性行為還沒有帶我們到兩極的海底中，或把我們帶回大洋洲一帶之前，我要求離開諾第留斯號。”
I confess that such discussions with the Canadian always baffled me. I didn't want to restrict my companions' freedom in any way, and yet I had no desire to leave Captain Nemo. Thanks to him and his submersible, I was finishing my undersea research by the day, and I was rewriting my book on the great ocean depths in the midst of its very element. Would I ever again have such an opportunity to observe the ocean's wonders? Absolutely not! So I couldn't entertain this idea of leaving the Nautilus before completing our course of inquiry.
我承認，跟加拿大人飼-論這事，總是讓我心中很為難。 我一點也不想妨礙我的同伴們得到自由，同時我自己又完全沒有離開尼摩船長的願望。由於他，由於他的船，我日復一日地完成了我的海底研究，也就是在海底把我這部關於海底寶藏的書重寫出來。我還能再得到這樣一個機會來觀察這些海洋的秘密嗎？當然不可能！所以我就不可能想象在我們的周期考察完成之前就離開諾第留斯號。
"Ned my friend," I said, "answer me honestly. Are you bored with this ship? Are you sorry that fate has cast you into Captain Nemo's hands?"
“尼德朋友，”我說，“請您直率地回答我。您在這船上覺得厭煩無聊嗎？您很悔恨命運把您送到尼摩船長手中來嗎？”
The Canadian paused for a short while before replying. Then, crossing his arms:
加拿大人停了一刻，沒有回答。然後，交叉着兩子說。
"Honestly," he said, "I'm not sorry about this voyage under the seas. I'll be glad to have done it, but in order to have done it, it has to finish. That's my feeling."
“坦白說，我並不悔恨這次海底旅行。我很高興做了這件事，但是必須做完，才能算數。這就是我的意思。”
"It will finish, Ned."
“尼德，這事一定要做完的。”
"Where and when?"
“在什麼地方和什麼時候做完呢？”
"Where? I don't know. When? I can't say. Or, rather, I suppose it will be over when these seas have nothing more to teach us. Everything that begins in this world must inevitably come to an end."
“什麼地方？我一點不知道。什麼時候？我不能說，或不如說，我假定旅行是要結束的，就在那一天，海洋中再沒有什麼可以給我們學習的時候。在這個世界上，有始必定有終。”
"I think as master does," Conseil replied, "and it's extremely possible that after crossing every sea on the globe, Captain Nemo will bid the three of us a fond farewell."
“我跟先生的想法一樣，”康塞爾回答，“很可能：士遍了地球上的所有海洋後，尼摩船長讓我們三人全體自由飛走。
"Bid us a fond farewell?" the Canadian exclaimed. "You mean beat us to a fare-thee-well!"
“飛走！”加拿大人喊道，“您是說自由飛走嗎？”
"Let's not exaggerate, Mr. Land," I went on. "We have nothing to fear from the captain, but neither do I share Conseil's views. We're privy to the Nautilus's secrets, and I don't expect that its commander, just to set us free, will meekly stand by while we spread those secrets all over the world."
“蘭師傅，我們不用誇張，”我立即回答道，“我們一點也不用怕尼摩船長，但我也不同意康塞爾的說法。我們獲得諾第留斯號的秘密，我想，它的主人就是恢復我們的自由，也不能任我們把這些秘密隨便在陸地上各處宣傳。”
"But in that case what do you expect?" the Canadian asked.
“那麼，您希望什麼呢？”加拿大人問。
"That we'll encounter advantageous conditions for escaping just as readily in six months as now."
“希望有一些我們可能利用，並且應該利用，譬如在六個月後，像現在一樣的環境。”
"Great Scott!" Ned Land put in. "And where, if you please, will we be in six months, Mr. Naturalist?"
“唉晴！”加拿大人說，“生物學專家，請問您，六個月後，我們將在什麼地方呢？”
"Perhaps here, perhaps in China. You know how quickly the Nautilus moves. It crosses oceans like swallows cross the air or express trains continents. It doesn't fear heavily traveled seas. Who can say it won't hug the coasts of France, England, or America, where an escape attempt could be carried out just as effectively as here."
“或者在這裡，或者在中國。您知道，諾第留斯號是跑得飛快的東西。“色跑過海洋，像燕子飛過空中，或快車跑過大陸那樣。”白並不怕常有船隻來往的海洋。誰敢告訴我們說，它不走近法國、英國或美洲海岸，在那裡跟在這裡一樣，不可能有一個很好逃走的機會嗎？”
"Professor Aronnax," the Canadian replied, "your arguments are rotten to the core. You talk way off in the future: 'We'll be here, we'll be there!' Me, I'm talking about right now: we are here, and we must take advantage of it!"
“阿龍納斯先生，”加拿大人回答說，“您的論證根本就錯了。您總是愛說將來，如我們將在那裡或我們將在這裡！ 而我所說的卻是現在：我們現在在這裡，我們就要利用這個機會。”
I was hard pressed by Ned Land's common sense, and I felt myself losing ground. I no longer knew what arguments to put forward on my behalf.
我被尼德-蘭的推理緊緊逼住了，我覺得我在這個場合上輸了。我實在找不出對我更有利的論證來。
"Sir," Ned went on, "let's suppose that by some impossibility, Captain Nemo offered your freedom to you this very day. Would you accept?"
“先生，”尼德-蘭又說，“我們作一個不可能的假定，假定尼摩船長今天就給您自由，您接受嗎？”
"I don't know," I replied.
“我不知道。”我回答說。
"And suppose he adds that this offer he's making you today won't ever be repeated, then would you accept?"
“如果，”他又補充說，“他今天給您自由，以後就不再給了，您接受嗎？”
I did not reply.
我不回答。
"And what thinks our friend Conseil?" Ned Land asked.
“康塞爾朋友怎樣想呢？”尼德。蘭問。
"Your friend Conseil," the fine lad replied serenely, "has nothing to say for himself. He's a completely disinterested party on this question. Like his master, like his comrade Ned, he's a bachelor. Neither wife, parents, nor children are waiting for him back home. He's in master's employ, he thinks like master, he speaks like master, and much to his regret, he can't be counted on to form a majority. Only two persons face each other here: master on one side, Ned Land on the other. That said, your friend Conseil is listening, and he's ready to keep score."
“康塞爾朋友，”這個老實人安靜地回答，“康塞爾朋友沒有什麼可說的，他在這個問題上，是絶對無所謂的。跟他的主人一樣，跟他的同伴尼德一樣，他是獨身的。沒有女人，沒有父母，沒有子女在故鄉等着他。他給先生做事，他同先生一樣想，他同先生一樣說，他很遺憾，人們不能把他算作一票，湊成大多數。現在單單有兩個人出席，一邊是先生，一邊是尼德-蘭。這話說過後，康塞爾朋友靜聽著，他準備記分。”
I couldn't help smiling as Conseil wiped himself out of existence. Deep down, the Canadian must have been overjoyed at not having to contend with him.
我看見康塞爾完全取消了他自己，不能不發出微笑。 實際上，加拿大人，看到他不來反對自己，也應該很高興。
"Then, sir," Ned Land said, "since Conseil is no more, we'll have this discussion between just the two of us. I've talked, you've listened. What's your reply?"
“那麼，”尼德-蘭說，“先生，既然康塞爾不存在，我們倆來討論這問題吧。我說過了，您聽到我的諾了。您有話回答嗎？”
It was obvious that the matter had to be settled, and evasions were distasteful to me.
很明顯，要結束一下，作出結論來，躲躲閃閃是我所不願意的。我說：
"Ned my friend," I said, "here's my reply. You have right on your side and my arguments can't stand up to yours. It will never do to count on Captain Nemo's benevolence. The most ordinary good sense would forbid him to set us free. On the other hand, good sense decrees that we take advantage of our first opportunity to leave the Nautilus."
“尼德朋友，我的答覆是這樣。您反對我，您對。我的論證在您的面前站不住。我們不能指望尼摩船長甘心情願，恢復我們的自由。一般人最常有的謹慎也使他不會讓我們自由的。反過來，小心謹慎也要我們來利用第一次機會，脫離諾第留斯號。”
"Fine, Professor Aronnax, that's wisely said."
“對，阿龍納斯先生，您這些話說得好。”
"But one proviso," I said, "just one. The opportunity must be the real thing. Our first attempt to escape must succeed, because if it misfires, we won't get a second chance, and Captain Nemo will never forgive us."
“不過，”我說，“我要提出一點，單單一點。機會一定要很有把握。第一次逃走計劃一定要成功。因為，如果失敗了，我們就找不到再來一次的機會了，同時尼摩船長也不原諒我們了。”
"That's also well put," the Canadian replied. "But your proviso applies to any escape attempt, whether it happens in two years or two days. So this is still the question: if a promising opportunity comes up, we have to grab it."
“您這些話很正確，”加拿大人回答說，“但您提出的這一點可以應用到所有逃走的計划上面，兩年後做的或兩天內做的都適用。所以，問題還是這個：好機會來了，就要把握住。”
"Agreed. And now, Ned, will you tell me what you mean by a promising opportunity?"
“我同意。尼德，現在請您告訴我，您所謂好機會是指什麼說呢？”
"One that leads the Nautilus on a cloudy night within a short distance of some European coast."
‘我所謂好機會，就是指一個黑夜裡，諾第留斯號很挨近歐洲的某一處海岸的時候。”
"And you'll try to get away by swimming?"
“你打算泅水逃走嗎？”
"Yes, if we're close enough to shore and the ship's afloat on the surface. No, if we're well out and the ship's navigating under the waters."
‘對。如果我們離海岸相當近，船又浮在水面，我們就逃走。如果我們離岸很遠，船又在水底航行，我們就留下。”
"And in that event?"
“留下又怎樣呢？”
"In that event I'll try to get hold of the skiff. I know how to handle it. We'll stick ourselves inside, undo the bolts, and rise to the surface, without the helmsman in the bow seeing a thing."
“留下，我就想法奪取那只小艇。我知道這小艇是怎樣躁縱的。我們走進艇裡面去，把螺釘鬆開，我們就浮上水面來，就是在船頭的領航人也看不見我們逃走。”
"Fine, Ned. Stay on the lookout for such an opportunity, but don't forget, one slipup will finish us."
“好，尼德。您小心偵察這個好機會吧，但您不要忘記，如果失敗，我們就完了。”
"I won't forget, sir."
“我不至忘記，先生。”
"And now, Ned, would you like to know my overall thinking on your plan?"
“現在，尼德，您願意知道我對於您的計劃的想法嗎？”
"Gladly, Professor Aronnax."
“很願意，阿龍納斯先生。”
"Well then, I think--and I don't mean 'I hope'--that your promising opportunity won't ever arise."
“那麼，我想——我不說我希望——這個好機會不會到來。
"Why not?"
“為什麼不會到來？”
"Because Captain Nemo recognizes that we haven't given up all hope of recovering our freedom, and he'll keep on his guard, above all in seas within sight of the coasts of Europe."
“因為尼摩船長不可能不看到，我們並沒有拋棄恢復我們自由的希望，他一定小心警戒，特別在這一帶接近歐洲海岸的海洋中。”
"I'm of master's opinion," Conseil said.
“我同意先生的看法。”康塞爾說。
"We'll soon see," Ned Land replied, shaking his head with a determined expression.
“我們瞧著辦吧。”尼德-蘭回答，神氣很堅決地搖搖頭。
"And now, Ned Land," I added, "let's leave it at that. Not another word on any of this. The day you're ready, alert us and we're with you. I turn it all over to you."
“現在，”我又說，“尼德，就談到這裡吧。以後不要再提這事了。到那一夭，您準備好了，您就通知我們，我們跟着您走。我完全聽從您。”
That's how we ended this conversation, which later was to have such serious consequences. At first, I must say, events seemed to confirm my forecasts, much to the Canadian's despair. Did Captain Nemo view us with distrust in these heavily traveled seas, or did he simply want to hide from the sight of those ships of every nation that plowed the Mediterranean? I have no idea, but usually he stayed in midwater and well out from any coast. Either the Nautilus surfaced only enough to let its pilothouse emerge, or it slipped away to the lower depths, although, between the Greek Islands and Asia Minor, we didn't find bottom even at 2,000 meters down.
這次談話談到這裡就結束了，後來發生很嚴重的後果。 我現在要說，事實好像是證實了我的預見，弄得加拿大人很是失望。是尼摩船長在這一帶很多船隻往來的海上不信任我們呢？還是他僅僅想躲開所有國家在這地中海行駛的無數船隻呢？我不知道。不過，船經常是在水底走，或距海岸很遠的海面行駛；或者諾第留斯號浮出來，只讓領航人的籠間在水面，或者就潛到很深的水底下去。因為在希臘群島和小亞細亞之間，我們找不到深兩千米的海底。
Accordingly, I became aware of the isle of Karpathos, one of the Sporades Islands, only when Captain Nemo placed his finger over a spot on the world map and quoted me this verse from Virgil:
所以，我只能從維吉爾的詩句中認識斯波拉群島之一，嘉巴托斯島，這詩句是尼摩船長的手指放在平面地圖上的一個點時給我念出來的：
Est in Carpathio Neptuni gurgite vates
Caeruleus Proteus . . .
在嘉巴托斯上面住着海王涅豆尼的能預言的海神哥留列斯-蒲羅台……
It was indeed that bygone abode of Proteus, the old shepherd of King Neptune's flocks: an island located between Rhodes and Crete, which Greeks now call Karpathos, Italians Scarpanto. Through the lounge window I could see only its granite bedrock. The next day, February 14, I decided to spend a few hours studying the fish of this island group; but for whatever reason, the panels remained hermetically sealed. After determining the Nautilus's heading, I noted that it was proceeding toward the ancient island of Crete, also called Candia. At the time I had shipped aboard the Abraham Lincoln, this whole island was in rebellion against its tyrannical rulers, the Ottoman Empire of Turkey. But since then I had absolutely no idea what happened to this revolution, and Captain Nemo, deprived of all contact with the shore, was hardly the man to keep me informed.
So I didn't allude to this event when, that evening, I chanced to be alone with the captain in the lounge. Besides, he seemed silent and preoccupied. Then, contrary to custom, he ordered that both panels in the lounge be opened, and going from the one to the other, he carefully observed the watery mass. For what purpose? I hadn't a guess, and for my part, I spent my time studying the fish that passed before my eyes.
Among others I noted that sand goby mentioned by Aristotle and commonly known by the name sea loach, which is encountered exclusively in the salty waters next to the Nile Delta. Near them some semiphosphorescent red porgy rolled by, a variety of gilthead that the Egyptians ranked among their sacred animals, lauding them in religious ceremonies when their arrival in the river's waters announced the fertile flood season. I also noticed some wrasse known as the tapiro, three decimeters long, bony fish with transparent scales whose bluish gray color is mixed with red spots; they're enthusiastic eaters of marine vegetables, which gives them an exquisite flavor; hence these tapiro were much in demand by the epicures of ancient Rome, and their entrails were dressed with brains of peacock, tongue of flamingo, and testes of moray to make that divine platter that so enraptured the Roman emperor Vitellius.
Another resident of these seas caught my attention and revived all my memories of antiquity. This was the remora, which travels attached to the bellies of sharks; as the ancients tell it, when these little fish cling to the undersides of a ship, they can bring it to a halt, and by so impeding Mark Antony's vessel during the Battle of Actium, one of them facilitated the victory of Augustus Caesar. From such slender threads hang the destinies of nations! I also observed some wonderful snappers belonging to the order Lutianida, sacred fish for the Greeks, who claimed they could drive off sea monsters from the waters they frequent; their Greek name anthias means "flower," and they live up to it in the play of their colors and in those fleeting reflections that turn their dorsal fins into watered silk; their hues are confined to a gamut of reds, from the pallor of pink to the glow of ruby. I couldn't take my eyes off these marine wonders, when I was suddenly jolted by an unexpected apparition.
In the midst of the waters, a man appeared, a diver carrying a little leather bag at his belt. It was no corpse lost in the waves. It was a living man, swimming vigorously, sometimes disappearing to breathe at the surface, then instantly diving again.
I turned to Captain Nemo, and in an agitated voice:
"A man! A castaway!" I exclaimed. "We must rescue him at all cost!"
The captain didn't reply but went to lean against the window.
The man drew near, and gluing his face to the panel, he stared at us.
To my deep astonishment, Captain Nemo gave him a signal. The diver answered with his hand, immediately swam up to the surface of the sea, and didn't reappear.
"Don't be alarmed," the captain told me. "That's Nicolas from Cape Matapan, nicknamed 'Il Pesce.' He's well known throughout the Cyclades Islands. A bold diver! Water is his true element, and he lives in the sea more than on shore, going constantly from one island to another, even to Crete."
"You know him, captain?"
"Why not, Professor Aronnax?"
This said, Captain Nemo went to a cabinet standing near the lounge's left panel. Next to this cabinet I saw a chest bound with hoops of iron, its lid bearing a copper plaque that displayed the Nautilus's monogram with its motto Mobilis in Mobili.
Just then, ignoring my presence, the captain opened this cabinet, a sort of safe that contained a large number of ingots.
They were gold ingots. And they represented an enormous sum of money. Where had this precious metal come from? How had the captain amassed this gold, and what was he about to do with it?
I didn't pronounce a word. I gaped. Captain Nemo took out the ingots one by one and arranged them methodically inside the chest, filling it to the top. At which point I estimate that it held more than 1,000 kilograms of gold, in other words, close to 5,000,000 francs.
After securely fastening the chest, Captain Nemo wrote an address on its lid in characters that must have been modern Greek.
This done, the captain pressed a button whose wiring was in communication with the crew's quarters. Four men appeared and, not without difficulty, pushed the chest out of the lounge. Then I heard them hoist it up the iron companionway by means of pulleys.
Just then Captain Nemo turned to me:
"You were saying, professor?" he asked me.
"I wasn't saying a thing, captain."
"Then, sir, with your permission, I'll bid you good evening."
And with that, Captain Nemo left the lounge.
I reentered my stateroom, very puzzled, as you can imagine. I tried in vain to fall asleep. I kept searching for a relationship between the appearance of the diver and that chest filled with gold. Soon, from certain rolling and pitching movements, I sensed that the Nautilus had left the lower strata and was back on the surface of the water.
Then I heard the sound of footsteps on the platform. I realized that the skiff was being detached and launched to sea. For an instant it bumped the Nautilus's side, then all sounds ceased.
Two hours later, the same noises, the same comings and goings, were repeated. Hoisted on board, the longboat was readjusted into its socket, and the Nautilus plunged back beneath the waves.
So those millions had been delivered to their address. At what spot on the continent? Who was the recipient of Captain Nemo's gold?
The next day I related the night's events to Conseil and the Canadian, events that had aroused my curiosity to a fever pitch. My companions were as startled as I was.
"But where does he get those millions?" Ned Land asked.
To this no reply was possible. After breakfast I made my way to the lounge and went about my work. I wrote up my notes until five o'clock in the afternoon. Just then--was it due to some personal indisposition?--I felt extremely hot and had to take off my jacket made of fan mussel fabric. A perplexing circumstance because we weren't in the low latitudes, and besides, once the Nautilus was submerged, it shouldn't be subject to any rise in temperature. I looked at the pressure gauge. It marked a depth of sixty feet, a depth beyond the reach of atmospheric heat.
I kept on working, but the temperature rose to the point of becoming unbearable.
"Could there be a fire on board?" I wondered.
I was about to leave the lounge when Captain Nemo entered. He approached the thermometer, consulted it, and turned to me:
"42 degrees centigrade," he said.
"I've detected as much, captain," I replied, "and if it gets even slightly hotter, we won't be able to stand it."
"Oh, professor, it won't get any hotter unless we want it to!"
"You mean you can control this heat?"
“那麼，您也可以隨意把它減低嗎？”
"No, but I can back away from the fireplace producing it."
“不能，不過我們可以離開這產生熱力的地方。”
"So it's outside?"
“那麼，這熱是外來的。”
"Surely. We're cruising in a current of boiling water."
“不錯。我們現在在滾沸的水流中行駛了。”
"It can't be!" I exclaimed.
“可能嗎？“我喊道。
"Look."
“請看。”
The panels had opened, and I could see a completely white sea around the Nautilus. Steaming sulfurous fumes uncoiled in the midst of waves bubbling like water in a boiler. I leaned my hand against one of the windows, but the heat was so great, I had to snatch it back.
嵌板打開，我看見諾第留斯號周圍的海完全是白的。 一陣硫磺質的水蒸氣在水流中間升起，水流像火鍋中的水一般沸騰。我把手放在一塊玻璃上，但熱得厲害，我趕快把手縮回來。
"Where are we?" I asked.
“我們現在在什麼地方？”我問。
"Near the island of Santorini, professor," the captain answered me, "and right in the channel that separates the volcanic islets of Nea Kameni and Palea Kameni. I wanted to offer you the unusual sight of an underwater eruption."
“教授，”船長回答我說，“我們現在在桑多休島附近，就是在把尼亞一加孟宜小島和巴列亞一加孟宜小島分開的那條水道中。我是想給您看一看海底噴火的新奇景象。”
"I thought," I said, "that the formation of such new islands had come to an end."
“我原以為，”我說，“這些新島嶼的形成早就停止了。”
"Nothing ever comes to an end in these volcanic waterways," Captain Nemo replied, "and thanks to its underground fires, our globe is continuously under construction in these regions. According to the Latin historians Cassiodorus and Pliny, by the year 19 of the Christian era, a new island, the divine Thera, had already appeared in the very place these islets have more recently formed. Then Thera sank under the waves, only to rise and sink once more in the year 69 A.D. From that day to this, such plutonic construction work has been in abeyance. But on February 3, 1866, a new islet named George Island emerged in the midst of sulfurous steam near Nea Kameni and was fused to it on the 6th of the same month. Seven days later, on February 13, the islet of Aphroessa appeared, leaving a ten-meter channel between itself and Nea Kameni. I was in these seas when that phenomenon occurred and I was able to observe its every phase. The islet of Aphroessa was circular in shape, measuring 300 feet in diameter and thirty feet in height. It was made of black, glassy lava mixed with bits of feldspar. Finally, on March 10, a smaller islet called Reka appeared next to Nea Kameni, and since then, these three islets have fused to form one single, selfsame island."
“在火山區域的海中沒有什麼是停止的，”尼摩船長回答，“地球也老是受地下火力的煎熬。根據嘉西奧多爾①和蒲林尼的話，公元19年，已經有一個新島，名字叫鐵那女神，在新近形成的那些小島地位上出現。不久這島沉下去，到公元69年又浮出來，以後又沉下去一次。白那個時期後直到現在，海中的浮沉工作停止了。但是，1866年2月3日，一個新的小島，名為佐治島，在硫磺質的水蒸氣中間，近尼亞一加孟宜小島的地方浮出來了，同月6日，它同尼亞一。 加孟宜合併起來，七天後，2月13日，阿夫羅沙小島出現，在它和尼亞一孟加宜中間讓開一“條寬十米的水道。這件抒事發生的時候，我正在這一帶海中，我可以觀察島嶼形成的所有階段。阿夫羅沙小島是圓圈形，直徑三百英呎，高三十英呎，它的成分為黑色的和坡璃質的火山石，同時大雜了長石碎片。最後，8月10日，又有一個更小的小島，名為列卡島，在近尼亞～加孟宜小島地方出現，自後，這三個小島合併在一起，形成為一個大島。”
"What about this channel we're in right now?" I asked.
“目前我們所在的水道在哪裡呢？”我問。
"Here it is," Captain Nemo replied, showing me a chart of the Greek Islands. "You observe that I've entered the new islets in their place."
“這不是嗎，”尼摩船長情着一張希臘群島的地圖回答我，“您看到，我把新出現的小島都加上去了。”
"But will this channel fill up one day?"
“這水道有一天要填平嗎？”
"Very likely, Professor Aronnax, because since 1866 eight little lava islets have surged up in front of the port of St. Nicolas on Palea Kameni. So it's obvious that Nea and Palea will join in days to come. In the middle of the Pacific, tiny infusoria build continents, but here they're built by volcanic phenomena. Look, sir! Look at the construction work going on under these waves."
“那很可能，阿龍納斯先生，因為，自1866年以來，有八個火山石的小島在巴列亞～加孟宜小島的聖尼古拉港對面浮出來了。顯然，在很近的期間，尼亞和巴列亞兩小島就要連接起來。”
I returned to the window. The Nautilus was no longer moving. The heat had become unbearable. From the white it had recently been, the sea was turning red, a coloration caused by the presence of iron salts. Although the lounge was hermetically sealed, it was filling with an intolerable stink of sulfur, and I could see scarlet flames of such brightness, they overpowered our electric light.
我回到玻璃近邊。諾第留斯號停住不走了。熱氣愈來愈令人不能忍受。海水本來是白的，由於有鐵鹽，發生染色作用，現在轉變為紅色。雖然客廳關得很嚴密，但有一種令人屹不消的硫磺氣味送進來，同時我又望見了赤紅色的火焰，輝煌燦爛，把電燈的光輝都掩蓋下去了。
I was swimming in perspiration, I was stifling, I was about to be cooked. Yes, I felt myself cooking in actual fact!
我全身濕透，喘不過氣未，就要被煮熟了。事實上，我真覺得人家在煮我！
"We can't stay any longer in this boiling water," I told the captain.
“我們再不能留在這沸騰的水流中了。”我對船長說。
"No, it wouldn't be advisable," replied Nemo the Emotionless.
“是的，再留在這兒就大不謹慎了。心平氣和的尼摩回答說。
He gave an order. The Nautilus tacked about and retreated from this furnace it couldn't brave with impunity. A quarter of an hour later, we were breathing fresh air on the surface of the waves.
命令發出，諾第留斯號船身轉過來，離開這座熔爐，冒昧地留下難免要碰到危險呢！一刻鐘後，我們又在海面上呼吸了。
It then occurred to me that if Ned had chosen these waterways for our escape attempt, we wouldn't have come out alive from this sea of fire.
於是我心中想，如果尼德-蘭選擇這－帶的海來實行我們的逃走計劃，我們恐怕不能活着走出這火海吧。
The next day, February 16, we left this basin, which tallies depths of 3,000 meters between Rhodes and Alexandria, and passing well out from Cerigo Island after doubling Cape Matapan, the Nautilus left the Greek Islands behind.
第二天，2月16日，我們離開了這海，它在羅德島和亞歷山大港之間，深度有三千米，諾第留斯號行駛在雪利哥海面，繞過馬達邦角後，就扔下希臘群島不見了。