海底兩萬里 第41期 第4章 尼德蘭(10)

Note well, my fine Canadian, I went on, if such an animal exists, if it lives deep in the ocean,

請(qǐng)您注意，我又說，我的誠實(shí)的加拿大人，如果有這樣的一種動(dòng)物，如果它是生活在海洋底下，

if it frequents the liquid strata located miles beneath the surface of the water, it needs to have a constitution so solid, it defies all comparison.

如果它要在離水面幾英里深的海底活動(dòng)，它必然有堅(jiān)強(qiáng)無比的機(jī)體。

And why this powerful constitution? Ned asked.

為什么要這么堅(jiān)強(qiáng)的機(jī)體呢?尼德蘭問。

Because it takes incalculable strength just to live in those deep strata and withstand their pressure.

因?yàn)橐诤苌畹乃猩?，要能抵抗水的壓力，那就必須有一種不可估計(jì)的巨大力量。

Oh really? Ned said, tipping me a wink.

真的嗎?尼德·蘭擠一擠眼睛，看看我。

Oh really, and I can prove it to you with a few simple figures.

真的，一些數(shù)目字很容易給您證明這享。

Bosh! Ned replied. You can make figures do anything you want!

啊!尼德·蘭答，數(shù)目字!

In business, Ned, but not in mathematics.

人們可以隨便拿數(shù)目字來證明自己喜歡的事!

Listen to me. Let's accept that the pressure of one atmosphere is represented by the pressure of a column of water thirty-two feet high.

尼德·蘭，這是實(shí)事求是的，而不是數(shù)學(xué)上的數(shù)目字。請(qǐng)您好好地聽我說。我們都承認(rèn)，一個(gè)大氣壓力等于三十二英尺高的水柱壓力。

In reality, such a column of water wouldn't be quite so high because here we're dealingwith salt water, which is denser than fresh water.

實(shí)際上，這水柱的高度是最小的，因?yàn)槲覀儸F(xiàn)在講的是海水，海水的密度大于淡水的密度。