海底兩萬里 第287期 第21章 在陸地上的兩天(19)

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Conseil was in dead earnest, but I didn't subscribe to his views. However, the situation had changed in only a short time and we hadn't noticed. Now some twenty dugout canoes were surrounding the Nautilus. Hollowed from tree trunks, these dugouts were long, narrow, and well designed for speed, keeping their balance by means of two bamboo poles that floated on the surface of the water. They were maneuvered by skillful, half-naked paddlers, and I viewed their advance with definite alarm.

康塞爾說的是老實話，不過我不贊同他的意見?？墒悄壳暗那樾我呀?jīng)很不對了，這一點我們還沒有覺察到。這時，有二十多只獨木舟正圍繞著諾第留斯號。這種獨木舟是中空的樹身做的，很長，很窄。為了便于行駛，配上兩條浮在水面的竹制長桿，使舟身可以平衡不傾斜地擺動。獨木舟由半光著身體、巧妙使用自由槳板的上人駕駛，我看見他們駛向前來，心中不能不害怕起來。

It was obvious these Papuans had already entered into relations with Europeans and knew their ships. But this long, iron cylinder lying in the bay, with no masts or funnels--what were they to make of it? Nothing good, because at first they kept it at a respectful distance. However, seeing that it stayed motionless, they regained confidence little by little and tried to become more familiar with it. Now then, it was precisely this familiarity that we needed to prevent. Since our weapons made no sound when they went off, they would have only a moderate effect on these islanders, who reputedly respect nothing but noisy mechanisms. Without thunderclaps, lightning bolts would be much less frightening, although the danger lies in the flash, not the noise.

很顯然，這些巴布亞人已經(jīng)跟歐洲人有過來往，他們見過而且能夠識別歐洲人的船只。但我們這只躺在灣中的鋼鐵圓錐，沒有桅槁，沒有煙突，他們會怎么想呢？他們一定認為這是沒有一點好處的壞東西，因為他們首先站在距離相當遠的地方，不敢近前。可是，看見船停住不動，他們漸漸恢復了信心，想法子跟船熟識。正是這種要求熟識的行動，人們應加以阻止。我們的武器沒有砰砰的聲響，對于這些土人只能有一種很平常的效力，因為他們所害怕的是宏大的炮聲，雷電的危險雖然在閃光而不在聲響。但如果沒有隆隆的轟擊，也很少有人害怕。

Just then the dugout canoes drew nearer to the Nautilus, and a cloud of arrows burst over us.

這時候，獨木舟更逼近諾第留斯號了，一陣一陣的箭落在船身上了。

"Fire and brimstone, it's hailing!" Conseil said. "And poisoned hail perhaps!"

“真怪! 下雹子了!"康塞爾說，“可能是有毒的雹子呢!"

"We've got to alert Captain Nemo," I said, reentering the hatch.

“應當通知尼摩船長?！蔽艺f，同時我就從嵌板中進來。

I went below to the lounge. I found no one there. I ventured a knock at the door opening into the captain's stateroom.

我走到客廳中，客廳里沒有人。我冒昧敲一敲朝著船長房間開的那扇門。

The word "Enter!" answered me. I did so and found Captain Nemo busy with calculations in which there was no shortage of X and other algebraic signs.

一聲“請進”回答我；我進去，我見船長正聚精會神地作計算，上面有很多X 未知數(shù)和其它的代數(shù)符號。