23 珊瑚王国(13)

NOW WE BEGIN the second part of this voyage under the seas. The first ended in that moving scene at the coral cemetery, which left a profound impression on my mind.

这次海底旅行的第二部分现在开始了。第一部分在珊瑚墓地动人的场面上结束,在我心中留下很深刻的印象。

And so Captain Nemo would live out his life entirely in the heart of this immense sea, and even his grave lay ready in its impenetrable depths. There the last sleep of the Nautilus's occupants, friends bound together in death as in life, would be disturbed by no monster of the deep!

看来尼摩船长的生活是完全在那无边大海中间度过的,甚至他的坟墓,他都在最秘密的深渊中预备好了。那里,不会有这样或那样的海怪来扰乱诺第留斯号船员的长眠。这些船员命运,同生死。在那儿“也不会有一个生人来扰乱!”

"No man either!" the captain had added.

尼摩船长又补充了这一句。

Always that same fierce, implacable defiance of human society!

他对人类社会总是表示那样的不信任,倔强,坚决,这是一种无可妥协的不信任。

As for me, I was no longer content with the hypotheses that satisfied Conseil.

对我来说,我再也不能满足于康塞尔的那些说法了,

That fine lad persisted in seeing the Nautilus's commander as merely one of those unappreciated scientists who repay humanity's indifference with contempt.

虽然这个老实人仍坚持他的看法,认为诺第留斯号的船长是被埋没的一位学者,是拿蔑视来回答人世冷淡的一位学者。

For Conseil, the captain was still a misunderstood genius who, tired of the world's deceptions, had been driven to take refuge in this inaccessible environment where he was free to follow his instincts.

他还以为船长是一位不为人们所了解的天才,受不了人世的欺骗,不得已才逃避到这个他的本能可以允许他行动自曲而别人却不能到达的大海里来。

But to my mind, this hypothesis explained only one side of Captain Nemo.

但是,照我来看,这些说有一亿五千万公亩的广阔水面,

In fact, the mystery of that last afternoon when we were locked in prison and put to sleep, the captain's violent precaution of snatching from my grasp a spyglass poised to scour the horizon, and the fatal wound given that man during some unexplained collision suffered by the Nautilus, all led me down a plain trail.

海水十分澄清,低下头来望它的人都会感到头晕目眩。诺第留斯号通常是在水深一百和二百米间的地方行驶。好几天都是这样。

No! Captain Nemo wasn't content simply to avoid humanity! His fearsome submersible served not only his quest for freedom, but also, perhaps, it was used in lord-knows-what schemes of dreadful revenge.

对于不十分海的人,定然觉得在船中的时间过得很长和非常单调,但对我来说就不同了,我每天在平台上散步,呼吸海洋的新鲜空气来锻炼身体。并通过客厅的玻璃观察物产丰富的海水景象,阅读图书室的书籍,写我的笔记,这样就消磨了我所有的时间,不让我有一刻的厌烦或无聊。