I say 150 meters, although I had no instruments for estimating this distance. But I knew that the sun's rays, even in the clearest seas, could reach no deeper. So at precisely this point the darkness became profound. Not a single object was visible past ten paces. Consequently, I had begun to grope my way when suddenly I saw the glow of an intense white light. Captain Nemo had just activated his electric device. His companion did likewise. Conseil and I followed suit. By turning a switch, I established contact between the induction coil and the glass spiral, and the sea, lit up by our four lanterns, was illuminated for a radius of twenty-five meters.
我說我們是在一百五十米的深度;雖然沒有什么器械可以讓我測量,但我知道,即最清澈的海水,陽光也不能再往下照了。正是在這時候,周圍變得漆黑。在十步外什么也看不見。所以我只能摸索著走,這時我看見一道相當明亮的白光忽然閃出來。原來是尼摩船長使用他的電光機器。他的同伴照他那樣做??等麪柡臀乙矊W(xué)著他們的榜樣。我轉(zhuǎn)動螺絲釘,使電磁鐵跟曲玻璃管接通,燈亮了,海中有我們四盞探照燈的照射,周圍二十五米內(nèi)都明亮起來。
Captain Nemo continued to plummet into the dark depths of this forest, whose shrubbery grew ever more sparse. I observed that vegetable life was disappearing more quickly than animal life. The open-sea plants had already left behind the increasingly arid seafloor, where a prodigious number of animals were still swarming: zoophytes, articulates, mollusks, and fish.
尼摩船長繼續(xù)走人森林中最幽深的地方,沿途樹木漸漸稀少。我注意到,在海底,植物界要比動物界消失得早些。海產(chǎn)植物雖然已經(jīng)放棄了這些變?yōu)樨汃さ耐恋兀珨?shù)量很多的動物、植蟲動物、節(jié)肢動物、軟體動物和魚類仍然到處皆是。
While we were walking, I thought the lights of our Ruhmkorff devices would automatically attract some inhabitants of these dark strata. But if they did approach us, at least they kept at a distance regrettable from the hunter's standpoint. Several times I saw Captain Nemo stop and take aim with his rifle; then, after sighting down its barrel for a few seconds, he would straighten up and resume his walk.
我一邊走一邊想,我們帶的蘭可夫燈的燈光必然要引起那些沉黑的海底下居民的注意,齊集前來??墒?,它們雖然前來,但總是留在獵人力量不可及,距離相當遠的地方。好幾次,我看見尼摩船長停步,瞄準他的槍,但經(jīng)過一些時候的觀察后,他又把槍放下,再向前行。