海底兩萬里 第54期 第5章 冒險活動(9)

The mountains of arguments amassed over a year collapsed all at once, and each man now wanted only to catch up on his eating and sleeping,

一年來累積起的像磐石一般的理由，一下子完全垮下來了，這時每個人都想好好吃一吃，睡一睡，

to make up for the time he had so stupidly sacrificed.

來彌補因為自己愚蠢而犧牲了的時間。

With typical human fickleness, they jumped from one extreme to the other.

由于天生就的動搖性，容易從一個極端跑到另一個極端。

Inevitably, the most enthusiastic supporters of the undertaking became its most energetic opponents.

當初最熱誠擁護這次遠征的人，現(xiàn)在卻變成最激烈的反對者了。

This reaction mounted upward from the bowels of the ship,

這次反響從艙底發(fā)生，

from the quarters of the bunker hands to the messroom of the general staff;

從倉庫看守人的崗位傳到船參謀部的軍官餐廳。

and for certain, if it hadn't been for Commander Farragut's characteristic stubbornness, thefrigate would ultimately have put back to that cape in the south.

毫無疑問，如果不是法拉古艦長特別堅持，這艘船早就掉頭往南開了。

But this futile search couldn't drag on much longer.

可是，這種無益的搜索再也不能拖得過久。

The Abraham Lincoln had done everything it could to succeed and had no reason to blame itself.

林肯號已經盡了最大的努力，實在絲毫沒有可以責備的地方了。

Never had the crew of an American naval craft shown more patience and zeal; they weren't responsible for this failure; there was nothing to do but go home.

美國海軍部派到這只船上的人員，從沒有表現(xiàn)過這么大的耐心和熱情;失敗并不能怪他們;現(xiàn)在除了回航沒有什么可做了。