海底兩萬里 第188期 第14章 黑潮暖流(2)

　　There was nothing to be seen. Not a reef, not an islet. No more Abraham Lincoln. Adeserted immenseness.

　　我們望不見什么。望不見暗礁，望不見小島。林肯號不見了;望見的只是一片汪洋的海水。

　　Raising his sextant, Captain Nemo took the altitude of the sun, which would give him hislatitude. He waited for a few minutes until the orb touched the rim of the horizon. While he was taking his sights, he didn't move a muscle, and the instrument couldn't have been steadier in hands made out of marble.

　　尼摩船長帶了他的六分儀，測量太陽的高度，因此可以。知道船所在的緯度。他等待了幾分鐘，讓太陽跟地平線相齊。當他觀察的時候，他的肌肉沒有一處顏動，儀器也像握：在鐵石的手中一般，絕對平穩(wěn)。

　　Noon, he said. Professor, whenever you're ready. . . .

　　正午，他說，教授，您要我們這時出發(fā)嗎?

　　I took one last look at the sea, a little yellowish near the landing places of Japan, and I went below again to the main lounge.

　　我最后看一下海面，因為靠近日本海岸，海面微作努色，然后我回到客廳中來。

　　There the captain fixed his position and used a chronometer to calculate hislongitude, which he double-checked against his previous observations of hour angles. Then he told me:

　　客廳中，船長在地圖上記了方位，按合時計來算經(jīng)度卜同時他拿從前做的時角觀察記錄來校對。然后他對我說：

　　Professor Aronnax, we're in longitude 137 degrees 15' west-

　　阿龍納斯先生，我們是在西經(jīng)137度15分…

　　West of which meridian? I asked quickly, hoping the captain's reply might give me a clue to his nationality.

　　您根據(jù)哪種子午線算的呢?我急急地問，想從船長的回答中知道他的國籍。

　　Sir, he answered me, I have chronometers variously set to the meridians of Paris, Greenwich, and Washington, D.C. But in your honor, I'll use the one for Paris.

　　先生，他答復(fù)我，我有各種不同的時計，可以根據(jù)巴黎、格林威治和華盛頓子午線來計算。但因為您的關(guān)系，我以后將根據(jù)巴黎子午線計算.

　　This reply told me nothing. I bowed, and the commander went on:

　　這個回答使我得不到什么。我點頭表示謝意，船長又說：

　　We're in longitude 137 degrees 15' west of the meridian of Paris, and latitude 30 degrees 7' north, in other words, about 300 miles from the shores of Japan. At noon on this day of November 8, we hereby begin our voyage of exploration under the waters.

　　我們在巴黎子午線西經(jīng)137度15分，北緯30度7分，即是說，距日本海岸約為三百海里。今天11月8日，中午，我們開始作我們的海底探險旅行。

　　May God be with us! I replied.

　　愿上帝保佑我們!我答。

　　And now, professor, the captain added, I'll leave you to your intellectual pursuits. I've set our course east-northeast at a depth of fifty meters. Here are some large-scale charts on which you'll be able to follow that course. The lounge is at your disposal, and with your permission, I'll take my leave.

　　教授，船長又說，我現(xiàn)在讓您做您的研究。我要船在水深五十米下，向東北偏東方行駛。這里有標記分明的地圖，您可以看著我們的航行路線。客廳您可以隨便使用，我向您告辭了。