海底兩萬(wàn)里 第465期 第28章 驚奇還是意外(5)
Captain Nemo had picked an odd time to philosophize.
尼摩船長(zhǎng)選擇這時(shí)候來作這種哲學(xué)思考，真是太離奇了。
All in all, this reply told me nothing.
總之，他的答復(fù)對(duì)我沒有什么幫助。
May I learn, sir, I asked him, what caused this accident?
“先生，”我問，“我可以知道這件事故發(fā)生的原因嗎？
An enormous block of ice, an entire mountain, has toppled over, he answered me.
“一群巨大的冰，整整一座冰山，翻倒下來了，”他回答我，
When an iceberg is eroded at the base by warmer waters or by repeated collisions, its center of gravity rises.
“當(dāng)冰山下面或受溫?zé)岬乃?，或受來回的沖擊耗損的時(shí)候，它們的重心就往上移。
Then it somersaults, it turns completely upside down. That's what happened here.
那時(shí)它們就大大的翻轉(zhuǎn)，它門翻筋斗了?，F(xiàn)在的情形就是這樣。
When it overturned, one of these blocks hit the Nautilus as it was cruising under the waters.
其中有一大冰群，翻倒的時(shí)候，碰上了在水底行駛的諾第留斯號(hào)。
Sliding under our hull, this block then raised us with irresistible power, lifting us into less congested strata where we now lie on our side.
然后在船身下溜過，又拿不可抗拒的力量把船頂起來，這冰群把船帶到淺一些的水層，靠在船身上不動(dòng)了。”
But can't we float the Nautilus clear by emptying its ballast tanks, to regain our balance?
“我們把儲(chǔ)水池的水排出去，使船重新得到平衡，諾第留斯號(hào)不就能脫身嗎？”
That, sir, is being done right now. You can hear the pumps working. Look at the needle on the pressure gauge.
“目前就是做這種工作，先生。您可以聽到抽水機(jī)正在那里動(dòng)作。
It indicates that the Nautilus is rising, but this block of ice is rising with us, and until some obstacle halts its upward movement, our position won't change.
請(qǐng)看壓力表上的針，它指出諾第留斯號(hào)正在上升，但冰群跟它一齊向上，一直要到它的向上運(yùn)動(dòng)被一件障礙物擋住，我們的地位才可能改變?！?/p>
Indeed, the Nautilus kept the same heel to starboard. No doubt it would straighten up once the block came to a halt.
果然，諾第留斯號(hào)老是右舷同樣傾斜倒在那里。當(dāng)然冰群自己停下的時(shí)候，船就可以站起來。
But before that happened, who knew if we might not hit the underbelly of the Ice Bank and be hideously squeezed between two frozen surfaces?
但在這個(gè)時(shí)候，誰(shuí)知道我們會(huì)不會(huì)碰上冰山的上部，被擠在兩個(gè)冰面中間呢？
I mused on all the consequences of this situation. Captain Nemo didn't stop studying the pressure gauge.
我思考我們所處的地位可能發(fā)生的一切后果。船長(zhǎng)不停注視壓力表。
Since the toppling of this iceberg, the Nautilus had risen about 150 feet, but it still stayed at the same angle to the perpendicular.
諾第留斯號(hào)自冰群倒下來，只上升了一百五十英尺左右，但它跟垂直線所成的角度總是一樣。
Suddenly a slight movement could be felt over the hull.
忽然船殼上感到一種輕微運(yùn)動(dòng)。
Obviously the Nautilus was straightening a bit.
很顯然，諾第留斯號(hào)是站起一點(diǎn)來了。
