海底兩萬(wàn)里 第372期 第25章 地中海四十八小時(shí)(1)
THE MEDITERRANEAN, your ideal blue sea: to Greeks simply "the sea," to Hebrews "the great sea," to Romans mare nostrum.* Bordered by orange trees, aloes, cactus, and maritime pine trees, perfumed with the scent of myrtle, framed by rugged mountains, saturated with clean, transparent air but continuously under construction by fires in the earth, this sea is a genuine battlefield where Neptune and Pluto still struggle for world domination. Here on these beaches and waters, says the French historian Michelet, a man is revived by one of the most invigorating climates in the world.
地中海，是最碧藍(lán)的海，希伯來(lái)人的“大海”，希臘人酌“海”，羅馬人的“我們的海”，周圍廣植橘樹、蘆卉、仙人掌、海松樹，噴出番石榴花的芳香，四周峻峭的群山壞抱，空氣純潔清新，可是被地下烈火不停地熬煎，這海正是海王涅豆尼和閻王蒲留敦爭(zhēng)奪世界霸權(quán)一直到現(xiàn)在還沒(méi)停止的戰(zhàn)常米歇列說(shuō)，就是在地中海，在它的岸上，在它的水中，是人類在地球上鍛煉自己的最強(qiáng)大有力的一個(gè)場(chǎng)所。
But as beautiful as it was, I could get only a quick look at this basin whose surface area comprises 2,000,000 square kilometers. Even Captain Nemo's personal insights were denied me, because that mystifying inpidual didn't appear one single time during our high-speed crossing. I estimate that the Nautilus covered a track of some 600 leagues under the waves of this sea, and this voyage was accomplished in just twenty-four hours times two. Departing from the waterways of Greece on the morning of February 16, we cleared the Strait of Gibraltar by sunrise on the 18th.
雖然這侮很美，但我只能很約略地瞳望一下。地中海面積共二百萬(wàn)平方公里。就是尼摩船長(zhǎng)本人關(guān)于這海的知幟，我也得不到，因?yàn)檫@個(gè)神秘人物在這次快速度的航海中，一次也沒(méi)有出來(lái)。我估計(jì)諾第留斯號(hào)在這海底下所走過(guò)的路程約有六百里，而這次旅行，他用四十八小時(shí)的時(shí)間就完成了。2月16日早晨從希臘一帶海面出發(fā)，18日太陽(yáng)從東方升起的時(shí)候，我們就通過(guò)直布羅陀海峽了。
It was obvious to me that this Mediterranean, pinned in the middle of those shores he wanted to avoid, gave Captain Nemo no pleasure. Its waves and breezes brought back too many memories, if not too many regrets. Here he no longer had the ease of movement and freedom of maneuver that the oceans allowed him, and his Nautilus felt cramped so close to the coasts of both Africa and Europe.
對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)，事情很明顯，這地中海正處在尼摩船長(zhǎng)要逃避的人所居住的陸地中間，他不喜歡這海。這海水和這海風(fēng)給他帶來(lái)了縱然不是過(guò)多的悔恨，也一定是過(guò)多的回憶。在這海里，海洋賦予他的那種自由自在的神情姿態(tài)，那種獨(dú)來(lái)獨(dú)往的行動(dòng)，他現(xiàn)在沒(méi)有了；他的諾第留斯號(hào)在這些非洲和歐洲相接近的海岸中間，也感到氣悶。
