That day the Nautilus crossed a singular part of the Atlantic Ocean. No one can be ignorant of the existence of a current of warm water known by the name of the Gulf Stream.
那天, 《鹦鹉螺号》穿越了大西洋一个独特的地区。没有人会不知道存在着一个被称为墨西哥湾流的暖水流。 —

After leaving the Gulf of Florida, we went in the direction of Spitzbergen.
离开佛罗里达湾后，我们朝斯匹次卑尔根岛的方向前进。 —

But before entering the Gulf of Mexico, about 45° of N. lat.
但是在进入墨西哥湾之前，大约在北纬45°的位置， —

, this current divides into two arms, the principal one going towards the coast of Ireland and Norway, whilst the second bends to the south about the height of the Azores;
这个暖水流分成两股，其中一股主要流向爱尔兰和挪威海岸，而另一股向南弯曲，约到亚速尔群岛的高度； —

then, touching the African shore, and describing a lengthened oval, returns to the Antilles.
然后，接触到非洲海岸并绘制一个细长的椭圆形，返回到安的列斯群岛。 —

This second arm—it is rather a collar than an arm—surrounds with its circles of warm water that portion of the cold, quiet, immovable ocean called the Sargasso Sea, a perfect lake in the open Atlantic:
这个第二股流动，更像是一个领圈而不是一股流动，用温暖的水圈包围着这片寒冷、安静、不动的大西洋称为塞加斯托海的区域，它是大西洋上的一个完全的湖泊： —

it takes no less than three years for the great current to pass round it.
这个巨大的暖水流需要整整三年来绕着它流转一次。 —

Such was the region the Nautilus was now visiting, a perfect meadow, a close carpet of seaweed, fucus, and tropical berries, so thick and so compact that the stem of a vessel could hardly tear its way through it.
这就是“鹦鹉螺号”现在正在访问的地区，一个完美的草地，紧密的海藻、海藻和热带浆果的地毯，如此厚实和紧凑，以至于船只的船身几乎无法穿过。 —

And Captain Nemo, not wishing to entangle his screw in this herbaceous mass, kept some yards beneath the surface of the waves.
为了避免将螺旋桨纠缠在这片草本植物的团块中，尼莫船长将船体保持在波浪的下方几码处。 —

The name Sargasso comes from the Spanish word “sargazzo” which signifies kelp.
“萨尔加索”一词来自于西班牙语中的“sargazzo”，意思是海带。 —

This kelp, or berry-plant, is the principal formation of this immense bank.
这种海带，或者浆果植物，是这个巨大海域的主要组成部分。 —

And this is the reason why these plants unite in the peaceful basin of the Atlantic.
这就是为什么这些植物会聚集在大西洋的和平盆地的原因。 —

The only explanation which can be given, he says, seems to me to result from the experience known to all the world.
他说，唯一可以给出的解释似乎是世界上众所周知的经验所得。 —

Place in a vase some fragments of cork or other floating body, and give to the water in the vase a circular movement, the scattered fragments will unite in a group in the centre of the liquid surface, that is to say, in the part least agitated.
在花瓶中放入一些软木碎片或其他浮动物体，并给花瓶中的水以一个环形运动，散落的碎片将会在液体表面的中心聚集在一起，也就是最不翻腾的部分。 —

In the phenomenon we are considering, the Atlantic is the vase, the Gulf Stream the circular current, and the Sargasso Sea the central point at which the floating bodies unite.
我们所考虑的现象中，大西洋是花瓶，暖流是环流，塞加索海是这些漂浮物体汇聚的中心点。

I share Maury’s opinion, and I was able to study the phenomenon in the very midst, where vessels rarely penetrate.
我赞同莫莉的观点，并且能够在这个现象中进行研究，而这个地方很少有船只进入。 —

Above us floated products of all kinds, heaped up among these brownish plants;
在我们上方漂浮着各种各样的物品，它们被这些褐色的植物堆积在一起。 —

trunks of trees torn from the Andes or the Rocky Mountains, and floated by the Amazon or the Mississippi;
从安第斯山脉或洛基山脉被撕下来并被亚马逊河或密西西比河冲走的树干。 —

numerous wrecks, remains of keels, or ships’ bottoms, side-planks stove in, and so weighted with shells and barnacles that they could not again rise to the surface.
许多残骸，船舶底部的残骸，舷板被撞破，并且被贝壳和藤壳压得无法再次浮出水面。 —

And time will one day justify Maury’s other opinion, that these substances thus accumulated for ages will become petrified by the action of the water and will then form inexhaustible coal-mines—a precious reserve prepared by far-seeing Nature for the moment when men shall have exhausted the mines of continents.
时间总有一天会证明莫莉的另一个观点是正确的，这些积累了数百年的物质将会在水的作用下变成石化，然后形成无尽的煤矿-这是深谋远虑的大自然为当人类耗尽了陆地上的矿产储备做好的宝贵准备。

In the midst of this inextricable mass of plants and sea weed, I noticed some charming pink halcyons and actiniae, with their long tentacles trailing after them, and medusæ, green, red, and blue.
在这一团毫无脱身之处的植物和海草世界中，我注意到了一些迷人的粉色翡翠和海葵，长长的触角在它们身后拖着，还有绿色、红色和蓝色的水母。

All the day of the 22nd of February we passed in the Sargasso Sea, where such fish as are partial to marine plants find abundant nourishment.
2月22日这一整天，我们都在萨尔加斯海度过，那里的一些喜欢海洋植物的鱼类可以找到丰富的食物。 —

The next, the ocean had returned to its accustomed aspect.
接下来的一天，海洋恢复了它平时的样貌。 —

From this time for nineteen days, from the 23rd of February to the 12th of March, the Nautilus kept in the middle of the Atlantic, carrying us at a constant speed of a hundred leagues in twenty-four hours.
从那时开始的19天，从2月23日到3月12日，鹦鹉螺号一直在大西洋中央航行，以每天100海里的恒定速度将我们带来。 —

Captain Nemo evidently intended accomplishing his submarine programme, and I imagined that he intended, after doubling Cape Horn, to return to the Australian seas of the Pacific.
尼摩船长显然打算完成他的潜艇计划，我想他打算绕过好望角后返回太平洋的澳大利亚海域。 —

Ned Land had cause for fear. In these large seas, void of islands, we could not attempt to leave the boat.
尼德兰德有理由害怕。在这些没有岛屿的广阔海域，我们无法试图离开潜艇。 —

Nor had we any means of opposing Captain Nemo’s will.
我们也没有任何途径来反对尼摩船长的意愿。 —

Our only course was to submit;
我们唯一的选择是顺从； —

but what we could neither gain by force nor cunning, I liked to think might be obtained by persuasion.
但是那些我们既无法用武力也无法用诡计获得的东西，我认为可以通过说服得到。 —

This voyage ended, would he not consent to restore our liberty, under an oath never to reveal his existence?
这次航行结束后，他不会同意在永不泄漏他存在的誓言下恢复我们的自由吗？ —

—an oath of honour which we should have religiously kept.
这是一项我们应该忠诚遵守的荣誉誓言。 —

But we must consider that delicate question with the Captain.
但我们必须与船长商讨这个微妙的问题。 —

But was I free to claim this liberty?
但是我有权主张这种自由吗？ —

Had he not himself said from the beginning, in the firmest manner, that the secret of his life exacted from him our lasting imprisonment on board the _Nautilus?
他自始至终不是坚决地说过，他的生活秘密要求我们在“鹦鹉螺号”上永久被囚禁吗？ —

_ And would not my four months’ silence appear to him a tacit acceptance of our situation?
而我的四个月的沉默对他来说不是默许了我们的处境吗？ —

And would not a return to the subject result in raising suspicions which might be hurtful to our projects, if at some future time a favourable opportunity offered to return to them?
如果将这个问题重新提出，岂不是会引起怀疑，而这可能对我们的计划有害，如果将来有一个有利的机会可以回归？

During the nineteen days mentioned above, no incident of any kind happened to signalise our voyage.
在上述19天的航行中，没有任何事情发生来标志我们的航程。 —

I saw little of the Captain;
我很少见到船长；他一直在工作。 —

he was at work.
—

In the library I often found his books left open, especially those on natural history.
在图书馆里，我经常发现他的书是打开的，尤其是那些关于自然历史的书。 —

My work on submarine depths, conned over by him, was covered with marginal notes, often contradicting my theories and systems;
他看过的我关于潜水深度的研究被他做了很多批注，经常与我的理论和系统相矛盾。 —

but the Captain contented himself with thus purging my work;
但船长只对我的工作进行润色， —

it was very rare for him to discuss it with me.
很少与我讨论。 —

Sometimes I heard the melancholy tones of his organ;
有时我能听到他弹奏管风琴的忧郁音调， —

but only at night, in the midst of the deepest obscurity, when the Nautilus slept upon the deserted ocean.
但只有在深夜，当鹦鹉螺号静静地停在空无一人的海洋上时。 —

During this part of our voyage we sailed whole days on the surface of the waves.
在我们航程的这段时间里，我们整天都在海面上航行。 —

The sea seemed abandoned.
整个海面似乎被遗弃了。 —

A few sailing-vessels, on the road to India, were making for the Cape of Good Hope. One day we were followed by the boats of a whaler, who, no doubt, took us for some enormous whale of great price;
有几艘驶向印度的帆船正驶向好望角。有一天，我们被一艘捕鲸船追踪，他们无疑以为我们是一只价值巨大的巨大鲸鱼； —

but Captain Nemo did not wish the worthy fellows to lose their time and trouble, so ended the chase by plunging under the water.
但是尼莫船长不希望这些值得尊敬的人们白费时间和精力，所以他以潜入水中来结束了追逐。 —

Our navigation continued until the 13th of March;
我们的导航一直持续到3月13日； —

that day the Nautilus was employed in taking soundings, which greatly interested me.
那一天，”鹦鹉螺号”正在进行测深工作，这让我非常感兴趣。 —

We had then made about 13, 000 leagues since our departure from the high seas of the Pacific.
从我们离开太平洋高海域以来，我们已经航行了大约13,000海里。测量结果显示， —

The bearings gave us 45° 37′ S. lat.
我们位于45° 37’南纬，37° 53’西经。 —

, and 37° 53′ W. long.
这是与”先驱号”的Denham船长探测到的水域相同， —

It was the same water in which Captain Denham of the Herald sounded 7, 000 fathoms without finding the bottom.
他下到了7, 000浔的深度却仍未触及底部。 —

There, too, Lieutenant Parker, of the American frigate Congress, could not touch the bottom with 15, 140 fathoms.
此外，美国护卫舰”国会号”的帕克中尉，用15, 140浔的深度仍然无法触及底部。 —

Captain Nemo intended seeking the bottom of the ocean by a diagonal sufficiently lengthened by means of lateral planes placed at an angle of 45° with the water-line of the Nautilus.
为了探查海底，尼摩船长计划通过将”鹦鹉螺号”两侧的平面设置为45°角，以对角线的方式延长下潜。 —

Then the screw set to work at its maximum speed, its four blades beating the waves with in describable force.
然后，螺旋桨以最高速度运转，其四片叶片用不可言喻的力量拍打着海浪。 —

Under this powerful pressure, the hull of the Nautilus quivered like a sonorous chord and sank regularly under the water.
在这股强大的压力下，” 鹦鹉螺号”的船体像一个响亮的琴弦一样颤动，并在水下平稳下沉。

At 7,000 fathoms I saw some blackish tops rising from the midst of the waters;
在7000英寻的深处，我看到一些黑色的山峰从水中冒出来； —

but these summits might belong to high mountains like the Himalayas or Mont Blanc, even higher; and the depth of the abyss remained incalculable.
但这些山峰可能属于喜马拉雅山脉或勃朗峰等更高的山脉；深渊的深度仍无法计算。 —

The Nautilus descended still lower, in spite of the great pressure.
尽管面临巨大的压力，诺提勒斯号仍在下降。 —

I felt the steel plates tremble at the fastenings of the bolts;
我感到钢板在螺栓的连接处颤动； —

its bars bent, its partitions groaned;
它的栏杆弯曲，它的分区呻吟； —

the windows of the saloon seemed to curve under the pressure of the waters.
起居室的窗户似乎在水压下弯曲。 —

And this firm structure would doubtless have yielded, if, as its Captain had said, it had not been capable of resistance like a solid block.
如果不是船长所说的能够像坚实的方块一样抵抗的结构，这个坚固的结构肯定会崩溃。 —

We had attained a depth of 16,000 yards (four leagues), and the sides of the Nautilus then bore a pressure of 1, 600 atmospheres, that is to say, 3,200 lbs.
我们已经到达了16000码的深度（四个海里），此时诺提勒斯号的侧面承受着1600个大气压的压力，也就是3200磅， —

to each square two-fifths of an inch of its surface.
对于每个平方二分之五英寸的表面积。

“What a situation to be in!” I exclaimed.
“这是一个什么样的境地啊！”我呼喊道， —

“To overrun these deep regions where man has never trod!
“践踏这些人类从未踏足的深渊！” —

Look, Captain, look at these magnificent rocks, these uninhabited grottoes, these lowest receptacles of the globe, where life is no longer possible!
看啊，船长，看这些壮丽的岩石，这些无人居住的洞穴，这些地球的最低部分，生命在这里已经不可能存在了！ —

What unknown sights are here!
这里真是未知的景象！ —

Why should we be unable to preserve a remembrance of them?”
为什么我们不能留下一些记忆呢？

“Would you like to carry away more than the remembrance?
“你想带走的不只是记忆吗？ —

” said Captain Nemo.
”船长尼莫问道。

“What do you mean by those words?”
“你说的是什么意思？”

“I mean to say that nothing is easier than to make a photographic view of this submarine region.”
“我是说，在这个海底区域，制作一幅照片是再容易不过的了。”

I had not time to express my surprise at this new proposition, when, at Captain Nemo’s call, an objective was brought into the saloon.
我还没来得及对这个新提议表示惊讶，尼莫船长就吩咐人把一个镜头带进了起居室。 —

Through the widely-opened panel, the liquid mass was bright with electricity, which was distributed with such uniformity that not a shadow, not a gradation, was to be seen in our manufactured light.
透过大大敞开的面板，液体质量因电流而明亮，电流分布得如此均匀，以至于我们制造的光中看不到一丝阴影、一丝渐变。 —

The Nautilus remained motionless, the force of its screw subdued by the inclination of its planes:
那艘鹦鹉螺号保持静止，螺旋桨的力量被它的平衡板控制住了。 —

the instrument was propped on the bottom of the oceanic site, and in a few seconds we had obtained a perfect negative.
仪器被支撑在海洋底部的地点，并且在几秒钟内我们就获得了一个完美的底片。

But, the operation being over, Captain Nemo said, “Let us go up;
但是，手术结束后，尼摩船长说：“让我们上去吧；我们不能滥用我们的位置，也不能让‘鹦鹉螺号’太长时间地承受如此大的压力。” —

we must not abuse our position, nor expose the Nautilus too long to such great pressure.”
“再上去！”我惊呼道。

“Go up again!” I exclaimed.
“抓紧点。”

“Hold well on.”
我还来不及明白船长为什么这样警告我，我就被甩到了地毯上。

I had not time to understand why the Captain cautioned me thus, when I was thrown forward on to the carpet.
在船长的手势下，螺旋桨被收起，叶片垂直升起；‘鹦鹉螺号’像气球一样升到了空中，以惊人的速度上升，划开水面，发出轰鸣的声音。 —

At a signal from the Captain, its screw was shipped, and its blades raised vertically;
什么都看不见；四分钟后，它穿过了将它与海洋分开的四个海里，像一条飞鱼一样冒出水面，落下时使波浪反弹到巨大的高度。 —

the Nautilus shot into the air like a balloon, rising with stunning rapidity, and cutting the mass of waters with a sonorous agitation.
没有什么可看的；四分钟后，它已经穿过将它与海洋分开的四个海里，在像飞鱼一样冒出水面后，落下时使波浪反弹到巨大的高度。 —

Nothing was visible; and in four minutes it had shot through the four leagues which separated it from the ocean, and, after emerging like a flying-fish, fell, making the waves rebound to an enormous height.
当船长发出信号后，螺旋桨被拉下，叶片垂直升起；‘鹦鹉螺号’像气球一样飞出，以惊人的速度上升，划过水面，发出轰鸣的声音。