海底兩萬里 第265期 第20章 托列斯海峽(12)
But couldn't we at least get the lay of the land? Ned went on. Here's an island. On this island there are trees. Under those trees land animals loaded with cutlets and roast beef, which I'd be happy to sink my teeth into.
難道我們不可以探一探這地方的情形嗎？尼德·蘭又說，這是一個(gè)島，在這島上有樹。樹下有地上的動(dòng)物，動(dòng)物身上有大塊大片的肉，我真想咬它們幾口呢。
In this instance our friend Ned is right, Conseil said, and I side with his views. Couldn't master persuade his friend Captain Nemo to send the three of us ashore, if only so our feet don't lose the knack of treading on the solid parts of our planet?
這點(diǎn)，尼德·蘭老朋友說得對(duì)，康塞爾說，我贊同他的意見。先生難道不能問一問閣下的朋友尼摩船長(zhǎng)，把我們送到島上去，就是單單讓我們的腳再踩踏一下我們地球上的陸地，讓我們不要忘記了在陸地上行走的習(xí)慣也好啊?
I can ask him, I replied, but he'll refuse.
我可以去問問他，我回答，恐怕他不會(huì)答應(yīng)。
Let master take the risk, Conseil said, and we'll know where we stand on the captain's affability.
請(qǐng)先生試一試好了，康塞爾說，我們對(duì)于船長(zhǎng)的好意非常感謝，決不至有什么意外行動(dòng)。
Much to my surprise, Captain Nemo gave me the permission I asked for, and he did so with grace and alacrity, not even exacting my promise to return on board. But fleeing across the New Guinea territories would be extremely dangerous, and I wouldn't have advised Ned Land to try it. Better to be prisoners aboard the Nautilus than to fall into the hands of Papuan natives.
完全出我意料之外，尼摩船長(zhǎng)居然答應(yīng)了我的請(qǐng)求。他并且很殷勤、很禮貌地答應(yīng)了我，不要我保證一定回到船上來。本來在新幾內(nèi)亞島上逃亡是很危險(xiǎn)的，我決然不讓尼德·蘭去嘗試。落在巴布亞土人手里，還不如在諾第留斯號(hào)船上作俘虜好些。
The skiff was put at our disposal for the next morning. I hardly needed to ask whether Captain Nemo would be coming along. I likewise assumed that no crewmen would be assigned to us, that Ned Land would be in sole charge of piloting the longboat. Besides, the shore lay no more than two miles off, and it would be child's play for the Canadian to guide that nimble skiff through those rows of reefs so ill-fated for big ships.
那只小艇可以供我們明天早晨使用。我不問尼摩船長(zhǎng)是不是跟我們一同去。我并且想，船上可能沒有人來給我們劃艇，駕駛小艇的事要尼德·蘭一人單獨(dú)來擔(dān)任了。此外，我們離岸至多只有兩海里遠(yuǎn)，在暗礁之間的水路中，大船行駛是十分兇險(xiǎn)的，但劃一只輕快的小艇，對(duì)加拿大人來說，算不得一回事，這和玩耍一樣。
