THE SAME DAY, I reported to Conseil and Ned Land that part of the foregoing conversation directly concerning them.
就在當天,我把這次談話的一部分告訴了康塞爾和尼德·蘭,這使他們立即發(fā)生興趣。
When I told them we would be lying in Mediterranean waters within two days, Conseil clapped his hands, but the Canadian shrugged his shoulders.
當我讓他們知道,兩天時我們就要進入地中海的時候,康塞爾高興得拍手,尼德·蘭聳一聳肩,喊道:
An underwater tunnel! he exclaimed. A connection between two seas! Who ever heard of such malarkey!
一條海底地道!一條兩海之間的通路!誰曾聽說過呢?
Ned my friend, Conseil replied, had you ever heard of the Nautilus?
尼德好朋友,康塞爾回答,您曾聽說過諾第留斯號嗎?
No, yet here it is! So don't shrug your shoulders so blithely, and don't discount something with the feeble excuse that you've never heard of it.
沒有,可是它是存在的。所以,就是輕輕的聳肩也用不著,不要以為您從沒有聽說過,您就來反對說沒有了。尼德·蘭搖搖頭,立即答道:
We'll soon see! Ned Land shot back, shaking his head.
我們瞧著吧!我巴不得相信有這條地道,
After all, I'd like nothing better than to believe in your captain's little passageway, and may Heaven grant it really does take us to the Mediterranean.
相信這位船長,并且愿蒼天讓他把我們帶到地中海。
The same evening, at latitude 21 degrees 30' north, the Nautilus was afloat on the surface of the sea and drawing nearer to the Arab coast.
當天晚上,在緯度21度30分,諾第留斯號浮在水面上,挨近阿拉伯海岸。
I spotted Jidda, an important financial center for Egypt, Syria, Turkey, and the East Indies.
我望見奇達,這是埃及、敘利亞、土耳淇和印度之間的重要市常不久,
Soon Jidda faded into the shadows of evening, and the Nautilus went back beneath the mildly phosphorescent waters.
奇達在晚間的陰影中看不見了,諾第留斯號潛入微帶磷光的海水中。
The next day, February 10, several ships appeared, running on our opposite tack.
第二天,2月10日,出現(xiàn)好幾只船,向著我們開來。
The Nautilus resumed its underwater navigating; but at the moment of our noon sights, the sea was deserted and the ship rose again to its waterline.
諾第留斯號又潛入水中航行,中午,在地圖上記錄船的方位時候,海面上什么也沒有,它于是又浮上來,一直露出浮標線。