28 惊奇还是意外(4)
We must confer with Captain Nemo, Conseil said.
“需要问一下尼摩船长。”康塞尔说。
But where do we find him? Ned Land asked.
“到哪里去找他呢？”尼德·兰问。
Follow me, I told my two companions.
“你们跟我来。”我对我的两个同伴说。
We left the lounge. Nobody in the library.
我们离开客厅。图书室中，没有人。
Nobody by the central companionway or the crew's quarters.
中一央楼梯边，船员工作室，没有人。
I assumed that Captain Nemo was stationed in the pilothouse.
我想或者尼摩船长是在领航人的笼间中，
Best to wait. The three of us returned to the lounge.
最好还是等待着。我们三人又回客厅来。
I'll skip over the Canadian's complaints. He had good grounds for an outburst.
我这里不讲加拿大人如何咒骂。这是他动火的好机会，
I didn't answer him back, letting him blow off all the steam he wanted.
我让他的坏脾气尽情发泄，不回答他一句。
We had been left to ourselves for twenty minutes, trying to detect the tiniest noises inside the Nautilus, when Captain Nemo entered.
我们这样过了二十分钟，同时竭力想法听到诺第留斯号里面发生的一些最轻微的声音，这时候，尼摩船长进来。
He didn't seem to see us. His facial features, usually so emotionless, revealed a certain uneasiness.
他好像没有看见我们。他的面容经常是很镇定没有表情的。现在露出一些不安的情绪。
He studied the compass and pressure gauge in silence, then went and put his finger on the world map at a spot in the sector depicting the southernmost seas.
他静静地看看罗盘、压力表，手指放在平面图上的一点，就是地图上表出南冰洋的这一部分。
I hesitated to interrupt him. But some moments later, when he turned to me, I threw back at him a phrase he had used in the Torres Strait:
我不想打断他的思路。直到过了一刻，当他向我转过身一子来的时候，我才拿他在托列斯海峡对我说的一句话，反过来问他：
An incident, captain?
“船长，是偶然事件吗？”
No, sir, he replied, this time an accident.
“不，”他答，“先生，这一次是意外事件。”
Serious?
“很严重吗？
Perhaps.
“可能很严重。”
Is there any immediate danger?No.
“立即有危险吗？”“没有。”
The Nautilus has run aground?Yes.
“诺第留斯号触礁了吗？”“是的。”
And this accident came about...?
“这次触礁是怎么搞的呢？…”
Through nature's unpredictability not man's incapacity.
“是由于大自然的任一性一胡来，而不是由于人们的笨拙无能。
No errors were committed in our maneuvers.
在我们的指挥驾驶中，并没有犯一点错误。
Nevertheless, we can't prevent a loss of balance from taking its toll. One may defy human laws, but no one can withstand the laws of nature.
可是，我们不能阻止平衡力不发生这种效果。人们可以冒犯人为的法则，但不能抵抗自然的法则。”