海底兩萬(wàn)里 第57期 第5章 冒險(xiǎn)活動(dòng)(12)

The shores of Japan were less than 200 miles to our leeward. Night was coming on.

日本本上就在高我們不及兩百英里左右的下方。黑夜快到了。

Eight o'clock had just struck. Huge clouds covered the moon's disk, then in its first quarter. The sea undulated placidly beneath the frigate's stempost.

船上正敲八點(diǎn)鐘。一片片的烏云掩蓋了上弦的新月。大海波紋在船后面平靜地舒展著。

Just then I was in the bow, leaning over the starboard rail. Conseil, stationed beside me, stared straight ahead.

這時(shí)候，我倚在船頭右舷圍板上。康塞爾站在我的旁邊，眼睛向前看著。

Roosting in the shrouds, the crew examined the horizon, which shrank and darkened little by little. Officers were probing the increasing gloom with their night glasses.

全體船員，爬在纜素梯繩上面，細(xì)心考察漸漸縮小和沉黑了的天邊。軍官們拿著夜間用的望遠(yuǎn)鏡，向漸次黑暗的各方搜索。

Sometimes the murky ocean sparkled beneath moonbeams that darted between the fringes of two clouds. Then all traces of light vanished into the darkness.

月亮有時(shí)從朵朵的云間吐出一線光芒，使沉黑的海面閃耀著光輝;一會(huì)兒又消逝在黑暗中了。

Observing Conseil, I discovered that, just barely, the gallant lad had fallen under the general influence. At least so I thought.

我看著康塞爾，看出他的情緒多少也受了船上一般的影響。至少我是這樣感覺(jué)。也許，他的神經(jīng)還是第一次在好奇心的力量下震動(dòng)了。