海底兩萬(wàn)里 第259期 第20章 托列斯海峽(7)
"It's the heartland of the blacks who occupy all Malaysia," Mr. de Rienzi has said; and I hadn't the foggiest inkling that sailors' luck was about to bring me face to face with these daunting Andaman aborigines.
雷恩茲說過：“巴布亞是占據(jù)全部馬來(lái)亞的黑人的集中地。”我很相信，這次航行的偶然機(jī)會(huì)，已經(jīng)把我拉到可怕的安達(dá)孟尼人面前來(lái)了。
So the Nautilus hove before the entrance to the world's most dangerous strait, a passageway that even the boldest navigators hesitated to clear: the strait that Luis Vaez de Torres faced on returning from the South Seas in Melanesia, the strait in which sloops of war under Captain Dumont d'Urville ran aground in 1840 and nearly miscarried with all hands. And even the Nautilus, rising superior to every danger in the sea, was about to become intimate with its coral reefs.
諾第留斯號(hào)于是駛到地球上最危險(xiǎn)的海峽口上來(lái)了，這海峽，就是很大膽的航海家也差點(diǎn)兒不敢冒險(xiǎn)通過，路易·已茲·德·托列斯從南方海上回到美拉尼西亞群島時(shí)，曾經(jīng)冒險(xiǎn)穿過，1840年，杜蒙·居維爾的幾艘船擱淺在那里，幾乎全部都要沉沒了。諾第留斯號(hào)雖然可以超越海中所有的危險(xiǎn)，現(xiàn)在也要來(lái)試試這珊瑚礁石群的厲害了。
The Torres Strait is about thirty-four leagues wide, but it's obstructed by an incalculable number of islands, islets, breakers, and rocks that make it nearly impossible to navigate. Consequently, Captain Nemo took every desired precaution in crossing it. Floating flush with the water, the Nautilus moved ahead at a moderate pace. Like a cetacean's tail, its propeller churned the waves slowly.
托列斯海峽約有三十四里寬，但有無(wú)數(shù)的小島、島嶼、暗礁和巖石堵在里面，給航行帶來(lái)很多困難，幾乎沒法前進(jìn)。因此，尼摩船長(zhǎng)為了安全通過這海峽，采取了必要的措施。諾第留斯號(hào)浮在水而上前進(jìn)，它的推進(jìn)器像鯨魚類的尾巴一般，慢慢地沖開海浪。
Taking advantage of this situation, my two companions and I found seats on the ever-deserted platform. In front of us stood the pilothouse, and unless I'm extremely mistaken, Captain Nemo must have been inside, steering his Nautilus himself.
乘這個(gè)機(jī)會(huì)，我的兩個(gè)伺伴和我都走上總是沒有人的平臺(tái)上來(lái)。在我們面前是領(lǐng)航人的籠間，如果我沒有搞錯(cuò)，那是尼摩船長(zhǎng)本人在里面，他親自指揮諾第留斯號(hào)。
