海底兩萬里 第349期 第23章 珊瑚王國(48)
Hence, Captain Nemo, this isn't the first time you've gone through the Red Sea aboard the Nautilus?
尼摩船長，這樣說來，您乘諾第留斯號(hào)經(jīng)過紅海，難道這回不是第一次嗎？
No, sir.
不是第一次，先生。
Then, since you've already mentioned the crossing of the Israelites and the catastrophe that befell the Egyptians, I would ask if you've ever discovered any traces under the waters of that great historic event?
那么，您上面說過以色列人走過這海和埃及軍隊(duì)淹沒水中的事，我要問問您，您在海底下曾經(jīng)看到這件歷史大事的一些痕跡嗎？
No, professor, and for an excellent reason.
沒看見，教授，因?yàn)橛幸粋€(gè)顯明的理由。
What's that?
什么理由呢？
It's because that same locality where Moses crossed with all his people is now so clogged with sand, camels can barely get their legs wet.
就是賜西帶領(lǐng)他的人民走過的地方，現(xiàn)在完全是沙土了，差不多駱駝的腿也泡不濕了。
You can understand that my Nautilus wouldn't have enough water for itself.
您很明白，我的諾第留斯號(hào)沒有足夠的水，是不可能駛過那里。
And that locality is...? I asked.
這地方在哪兒？…我問。
That locality lies a little above Suez in a sound that used to form a deep estuary when the Red Sea stretched as far as the Bitter Lakes.
這地方在蘇伊士上面一點(diǎn)，在從前是很深的河口的海漢里面，因?yàn)楫?dāng)時(shí)紅海的水面還一直伸到這些咸水湖中。
Now, whether or not their crossing was literally miraculous, the Israelites did cross there in returning to the Promised Land, and the Pharaoh's army did perish at precisely that locality.
現(xiàn)在這條水道是不是能發(fā)生奇跡，暫且不管，但從前以色列人就是通過這里走到巴勒斯但去的，法老的軍隊(duì)也就是在這里被水淹沒的。
So I think that excavating those sands would bring to light a great many weapons and tools of Egyptian origin.
所以我想，在這些沙土中間來做發(fā)掘工作，一定可以發(fā)現(xiàn)埃及制造的大量武器和用具。
Obviously, I replied. And for the sake of archaeology, let's hope that sooner or later such excavations do take place, once new towns are settled on the isthmus after the Suez Canal has been cut through-a canal, by the way, of little use to a ship such as the Nautilus!
那很顯然，我回答，同時(shí)希望考古學(xué)家有一天要把這種發(fā)掘工作趕快進(jìn)行，因?yàn)樘K伊士運(yùn)flpffi穿后，許多新的城市就要在這地峽上建設(shè)起來了。對(duì)于諾第留斯號(hào)這樣的一只船來說，這條運(yùn)河實(shí)在沒有什么用處！
