海底兩萬里 第395期 第25章 地中海四十八小時(24)
Where are we? I said.
我們是在哪里呢？
In the very heart of an extinct volcano, the captain answered me, a volcano whose interior was invaded by the sea after some convulsion in the earth. While you were sleeping, professor, the Nautilus entered this lagoon through a natural channel that opens ten meters below the surface of the ocean.
我們是在一座熄滅了的火山中心，船長回答我，這：座火山由于地面震動，海水侵入內(nèi)部，火熄滅了。教授，當(dāng)您睡眠的時候，諾第留斯號在海面十米下，從一條天然開鑿的水道駛進(jìn)這小咸水湖里面。
This is our home port, secure, convenient, secret, and sheltered against winds from any direction!
這里是湖中停船的港口，是安全、方便、秘密、羅盤上所有方位的風(fēng)都可以躲開的港口！
Along the coasts of your continents or islands, show me any offshore mooring that can equal this safe refuge for withstanding the fury of hurricanes
請在你們大陸的海岸或你們的海島，給我找到一個跟這港灣一樣的港口來罷，要安全的，不怕颶風(fēng)襲擊的。
Indeed, I replied, here you're in perfect safety, Captain Nemo. Who could reach you in the heart of a volcano? But don't I see an opening at its summit?
是的，我回答，尼摩船長，您在這港內(nèi)很安全。誰可能到這火山中心來呢？
Yes, its crater, a crater formerly filled with lava, steam, and flames, but which now lets in this life-giving air we're breathing.
不過，在那頂上：我不是望見有一個孔嗎？是的，那是噴火口，這火口從前充滿火石、煙氣和火焰，現(xiàn)在是使人生動活潑、我們呼吸的空氣的通路了。
But which volcanic mountain is this? I asked.
不過這座發(fā)火的山是什么呢？我問。
It's one of the many islets with which this sea is strewn. For ships a mere reef, for us an immense cavern. I discovered it by chance, and chance served me well.
它是這海洋中許多小島的一個。對船只來說，它僅是一個簡單的暗礁，對我們，那就是巨大的巖洞了。我無意中發(fā)現(xiàn)了它，在里面，它無意中給我許多好處。
But couldn't someone enter through the mouth of its crater?
但人們不可能從那以前是火山噴口的孔下來嗎？
No more than I could exit through it. You can climb about 100 feet up the inner base of this mountain, but then the walls overhang, they lean too far in to be scaled.
不可能，跟我不能從這里上去一樣。直到一百英尺左右，這山內(nèi)部下層是可以走的，但再上一點(diǎn)，石壁就很陡峭，山腰間的石層不可能越過。
