海底兩萬里 第232期 第18章 太平洋下四千里(4)

What's more, I've detected those falling and rising currents that make up the ocean's true breathing. I've seen a molecule of salt water heat up at the surface, sink into the depths, reach maximum density at -2 degrees centigrade, then cool off, grow lighter, and rise again. At the poles you'll see the consequences of this phenomenon, and through this law of farseeing nature, you'll understand why water can freeze only at the surface!"

此外，我又注意過那些由上而下和由下而上的水流，形成真正的海洋呼吸作用。我看見了海水的分子，在水面上受到熱力，沉人根深的地方，至零下二度的時候，密度到了最大，然后，溫度再降低，它的重量減輕，又浮上來了。您將在極圈地方看到這種現(xiàn)象所產(chǎn)生的結(jié)果，您將了解到，冰凍作用之所以只在水面上才發(fā)生，就是由于有遠(yuǎn)見的大自然的這個規(guī)律。”

As the captain was finishing his sentence, I said to myself: "The pole! Is this brazen inpidual claiming he'll take us even to that location?"

當(dāng)尼摩船長說完了他這句話的時候，我自己心中說：“極圈嗎!這個大膽的人一直要把我們帶到極圈中去嗎!

Meanwhile the captain fell silent and stared at the element he had studied so thoroughly and unceasingly. Then, going on:

不過船長這時不作聲，他全神注視他時刻不停地細(xì)心研究的海洋。一會兒他又說起話來：

"Salts," he said, "fill the sea in considerable quantities, professor, and if you removed all its dissolved saline content, you'd create a mass measuring 4,500,000 cubic leagues, which if it were spread all over the globe, would form a layer more than ten meters high. And don't think that the presence of these salts is due merely to some whim of nature. No. They make ocean water less open to evaporation and prevent winds from carrying off excessive amounts of steam, which, when condensing, would submerge the temperate zones. Salts play a leading role, the role of stabilizer for the general ecology of the globe!"

“教授，海水中鹽的分量是多到了不得的，如果您把溶解在海中的鹽提出來，您可以造成一個四百五十萬立方里的體積的鹽堆，在地球上全面灘開來;可以鋪成十來高的一層表皮。您不要以為海中有這些鹽是大自然無意識的任性行為!不是的。鹽質(zhì)使海永不容易蒸發(fā)，使海風(fēng)不能將分量過多的水汽帶走，不然的話，水汽重化為水，簡直就要把溫帶地方完全淹沒了。這真是巨大得了不得的作用，是調(diào)節(jié)全地球的力量，使其保持平衡的偉大作用!”

Captain Nemo stopped, straightened up, took a few steps along the platform, and returned to me:

尼摩船長不作聲了，站起來，在乎臺上走了幾步，又向我走回來。他說：

"As for those billions of tiny animals," he went on, "those infusoria that live by the millions in one droplet of water, 800,000 of which are needed to weigh one milligram, their role is no less important.

“至于那些原生秒水蟲，那些一滴水中便有億千萬的不可計數(shù)的微生動物，它們在一毫克的水量中便有八十萬個，它們的作用也是一樣重要。