那么,可以自由行動的方法是什么呢?我問。
We use the Rouquayrol-Denayrouze device, invented by two of your fellow countrymen but refined by me for my own special uses, thereby enabling you to risk these new physiologicalconditions without suffering any organic disorders. It consists of a tank built from heavy sheet iron in which I store air under a pressure of fifty atmospheres. This tank is fastened to the back by means of straps, like a soldier's knapsack. Its top part forms a box where the air is regulated by a bellows mechanism and can be released only at its proper tension. In the Rouquayrol device that has been in general use, two india-rubber hoses leave this box and feed to a kind of tent that imprisons the operator's nose and mouth; one hose is for the entrance of air to be inhaled, the other for the exit of air to be exhaled, and the tongue closes off the former or the latter depending on the breather's needs. But in my case, since I face considerable pressures at the bottom of the sea, I needed to enclose my head in a coppersphere, like those found on standard diving suits, and the two hoses for inhalation and exhalation now feed to that sphere.
那就是使用您的兩個法國同鄉(xiāng)—盧格羅爾和德納露茲創(chuàng)造的器械。為了符合我的要求,我改善了這種器械,靠了這種器械,可以在新的生理條件下在海水中生活,您的器官一點也不感到什么痛苦。它有一個厚鋼板制的密封瓶,瓶中滿貯五十大氣壓力壓縮的空氣。它像士兵的背囊一樣,用一條腰帶捆在人的背后,瓶的上部像個鋼盒,盒中的空氣由吹風機操縱,只在一定的壓力下才能流出來?,F(xiàn)在通用的盧格羅爾器械,都有兩條膠皮管子從鋼盒通出來,套在口鼻上罩著的喇叭形東西;其中一條是吸氣用的,另一分是呼氣用的,人的舌頭按照呼吸的需要,控制這兩條膠皮管的開關。但是,在海底下受到的壓力很大,所以我要像潛水員一樣,把我的腦袋裝在銅制的圓球中,那兩條膠皮管—吸氣管和呼氣管就連結(jié)在這個圓球上。
That's perfect, Captain Nemo, but the air you carry must be quickly depleted; and once it contains no more than 15% oxygen, it becomes unfit for breathing.
好極了, 尼摩船長。不過您所攜帶的空氣很快就會用完的,空氣中只含有百分之十五的氧時,就不宜再呼吸了。
Surely, but as I told you, Professor Aronnax, the Nautilus's pumps enable me to store air under considerable pressure, and given this circumstance, the tank on my diving equipment can supply breathable air for nine or ten hours.
可不是,但我跟您說過,阿龍納斯先生,諾第留斯號的打氣機使我可以把高壓壓縮的空氣裝進去,在這種條件下,這套器械的密封瓶能供應的空氣足夠我呼吸九到十小時。