I withdrew. From that day forward our position was very strained. I reported this conversation to my two companions.
我只好退出來。從那天起,我們的處境就變得非常緊張。我向我的兩個同伴匯報了我的談話。
Now we know, Ned said, "that we can't expect a thing from this man. The Nautilus is nearing Long Island. We'll escape, no matter what the weather."
“我們現(xiàn)在知道,”尼德說,“對于這個人沒有任何可指望了?!W鵡螺號’正在向長島靠近。不論天氣如何,我們逃走吧?!?/p>
But the skies became more and more threatening. There were conspicuous signs of a hurricane on the way. The atmosphere was turning white and milky. Slender sheaves of cirrus clouds were followed on the horizon by layers of nimbocumulus. Other low clouds fled swiftly. The sea grew towering, inflated by long swells. Every bird had disappeared except a few petrels, friends of the storms. The barometer fell significantly, indicating a tremendous tension in the surrounding haze. The mixture in our stormglass decomposed under the influence of the electricity charging the air. A struggle of the elements was approaching.
但天氣變得越來越糟,出現(xiàn)了一些大風暴的跡象。大氣灰沉沉的。天際邊一層層散開的卷云的后面,緊隨團團烏云,還有一些低云飛快地掠過。海水高漲,海浪澎湃。除了暴風雨的朋友海燕外,其他的鳥兒都不見了。晴雨表明顯下降,說明空氣中濕度極高。在大氣中飽含的電離子的作用下,雷鳴電閃:暴風雨就要來了。
The storm burst during the daytime of May 13, just as the Nautilus was cruising abreast of Long Island, a few miles from the narrows to Upper New York Bay. I'm able to describe this struggle of the elements because Captain Nemo didn't flee into the ocean depths; instead, from some inexplicable whim, he decided to brave it out on the surface.
5月13日,確切地說,當“鸚鵡螺號”船只浮在與長島同一緯度上,距紐約水道幾海里時,暴風雨發(fā)作了。我之所以能描繪下這場暴風雨,是因為尼摩船長由于不可解釋的任性,不是讓船潛入海底避雨,而是正面與暴風雨對抗。
The wind was blowing from the southwest, initially a stiff breeze, in other words, with a speed of fifteen meters per second, which built to twenty-five meters near three o'clock in the afternoon. This is the figure for major storms.
當時風從西南面刮來,先是陣陣每秒15米風速的涼爽大風,到晚上三點鐘,刮到了每秒25米。這是臺風的速度。