Since conditions inside were universally unbearable, how eagerly, how happily, we put on our diving suits to take our turns working! Picks rang out on that bed of ice. Arms grew weary, hands were rubbed raw, but who cared about exhaustion, what difference were wounds? Life-sustaining air reached our lungs! We could breathe! We could breathe!
對我們?nèi)w來說,我們在船上都覺得難受,所以輪到自己挖冰的時候,人人都很迅速地、很高興地穿上潛水衣,立即出去工作!鐵锨在冰層上通通作響。胳膊累了,手弄破了,但這些疲倦算什么,這些傷口有什么要緊!總算有新鮮空氣到肺中了!人們總可以呼吸了!人們總可以呼吸了!
And yet nobody prolonged his underwater work beyond the time allotted him. His shift over, each man surrendered to a gasping companion the air tank that would revive him. Captain Nemo set the example and was foremostin submitting to this strict discipline. When his time was up, he yielded his equipment to another and reentered the foul air on board, always calm, unflinching, and uncomplaining.
可是,沒有誰超出指定的時間,延長自己在水下的工作。備人工作完了,各人就將有氧氣放出來的氣箱交給自己的同伴。尼摩船長自己先做個榜樣,他第一個遵守這種嚴格的紀律。時間到了,他把他的氣箱給另一個人,回到船上有害的大氣中,他老是那么鎮(zhèn)定,一點不示弱,不發(fā)一句怨言。
That day the usual work was accomplished with even greater energy. Over the whole surface area, only two meters were left to be removed. Only two meters separated us from the open sea. But the ship's air tanks were nearly empty. The little air that remained had to be saved for the workmen. Not an atom for the Nautilus!
這一天,一定的工作經(jīng)常是更有力地完成了。在整個面積上,只剩下兩米的冰要挖去。把我們跟自由海水分開的,只有兩米的冰了??墒莾Σ貛觳畈欢嗫樟恕JO碌囊恍┛諝庵荒鼙A艚o工作人員使用。一點也不能繪諾第留斯號!
When I returned on board, I felt half suffocated. What a night! I'm unable to depict it. Such sufferings areindescribable. The next day I was short-winded. Headaches and staggering fits of dizziness made me reel likea drunk. My companions were experiencing the same symptoms. Some crewmen were at their last gasp.
當我回到船上的時候,我是半窒息了。多么難過的夜!我簡直不能加以描寫。這樣的一類痛苦是木可能寫出來的。第二天,我的呼吸阻塞不通。頭腦疼痛又加上昏沉發(fā)暈,使我成為一個醉人。我的同伴們也感到同樣的難受。有些船員已經(jīng)呼吸急促,正在發(fā)喘了。
That day, the sixth of our imprisonment, Captain Nemo concluded that picks and mattocks were too slow to deal with the ice layer still separating us from open water--and he decided to crush this layer. The man had kept his energy and composure. He had subdued physical pain with moral strength. He could still think, plan, and act.
這一天,我們的監(jiān)牢剩下第六層的最后一米冰,尼摩船長覺得鐵锨挖得大慢,決定用高壓力來沖開那個把我們和底下水面分開的冰層。這個人仍然保持他原有的冷靜和精力。他拿他的精神力量抑制他的肉體痛苦。他思想,他計劃,他執(zhí)行。
At his orders the craft was eased off, in other words, it was raised from its icy bed by a change in its specific gravity. When it was afloat, the crew towed it, leading it right above the immense trench outlined to match the ship's waterline. Next the ballast tanks filled with water, the boat sank, and was fitted into its socket.
按照他的指示,船減輕了分量,就是說,由于重力的變化,它從冰凍的一層浮起來。當它浮起來的時候,人們就想法把它拖到照它的浮標線所畫出的寬大的坑上。然后,讓它的儲水池裝滿了水,它降下,裝在坑里。
Just then the whole crew returned on board, and the double outside door was closed. By this point the Nautilus was resting on a bed of ice only one meter thick and drilled by bores in a thousand places.
這時候,所有的船員都回到船上來,跟外間交通的兩重門都緊閉起。諾第留斯號這時是躺在冰層上,這冰層只有一米厚,并且有千百處被探測器鉆通。