海底兩萬(wàn)里 第295期 第22章 強(qiáng)逼睡眠(2)
And so, by loading up its ballast tanks, or by sinking obliquely with its slanting fins, the Nautilus successively reached depths of 3,000, 4,000, 5,000, 7,000, 9,000, and 10,000 meters, and the ultimate conclusion from these experiments was that, in all latitudes, the sea had a permanent temperature of 4.5 degrees centigrade at a depth of 1,000 meters.
諾第留斯號(hào)或者是把所有的儲(chǔ)水池裝得特別滿，或用縱斜機(jī)板斜斜下降，就可以陸續(xù)達(dá)到三千、四千、五千、七千）九千、一萬(wàn)米的深度）這些實(shí)驗(yàn)最后肯定的結(jié)果是，不論任何緯度下的海水，在一千米下的深度，溫度總是四度半，永遠(yuǎn)不變。
I watched these experiments with the most intense fascination. Captain Nemo brought a real passion to them. I often wondered why he took these observations. Were they for the benefit of his fellow man? It was unlikely, because sooner or later his work would perish with him in some unknown sea! Unless he intended the results of his experiments for me. But that meant this strange voyage of mine would come to an end, and no such end was in sight.
我興趣很濃厚地看他做這種實(shí)驗(yàn)。尼摩船長(zhǎng)對(duì)這種實(shí)驗(yàn)有一種真正的熱情。我心中時(shí)常想，他做這些觀察有什么目的呢？是為人類的利益嗎？這很不可能；因?yàn)?，總有一天，他的工作要跟他一齊在沒(méi)人知道的海中消滅！除非是他打算把他的實(shí)驗(yàn)結(jié)果交給我。這就是預(yù)先要肯定我的奇怪游歷將有結(jié)束的期限，可是，這期限，我還沒(méi)有看到。
Be that as it may, Captain Nemo also introduced me to the different data he had obtained on the relative densities of the water in our globe's chief seas. From this news I derived some personal enlightenment having nothing to do with science.
不管怎樣，船長(zhǎng)同樣又讓我知道他所獲得的各種數(shù)字。這些數(shù)字是關(guān)于地球上主要海洋海水密度的報(bào)告。從他給我的這個(gè)通知，我取得了不是關(guān)于科學(xué)的、而是關(guān)于個(gè)人的知識(shí)。
It happened the morning of January 15. The captain, with whom I was strolling on the platform, asked me if I knew how salt water differs in density from sea to sea. I said no, adding that there was a lack of rigorous scientific observations on this subject.
這是 1月15日的早上，船長(zhǎng)跟我一起在平臺(tái)上散步，他問(wèn)我是否知道各處海水的不同密度。我回答不知道，同時(shí)又說(shuō)，科學(xué)對(duì)于這個(gè)問(wèn)題還沒(méi)有做過(guò)精確的觀察。
I've taken such observations, he told me, and I can vouch for their reliability.
這些觀察我做過(guò)了，他對(duì)我說(shuō)，而且我可以肯定它們的準(zhǔn)確性。
Fine, I replied, but the Nautilus lives in a separate world, and the secrets of its scientists don't make their way ashore.
很好，我答，不過(guò)諾第留斯號(hào)是另一個(gè)世界，這個(gè)性界的學(xué)者的‘秘密’不能傳到陸地上。
