25 地中海四十八小时(33)
A definite drowsiness overcame us.
昏睡的感觉侵袭到我们身上来了。
Since I saw no good reason to resist the call of sleep, I fell into a hea一vy doze.
我觉得我没有要抗拒睡眠的理由,我就让我深深地睡了。
Suddenly Conseil's voice startled me awake.
忽然,我被康塞尔的声音所惊醒。
Get up! Get up! shouted the fine lad.
这个老实人喊:一警一报!一警一报!
What is it? I asked, in a sitting position.
有什么事呀?我问,同时我支起前半身来。
The water's coming up to us!
水漫上来了!
I got back on my feet. Like a torrent the sea was rushing into our retreat, and since we definitely were not mollusks, we had to clear out.
我立即站起来。海水像急流一般向我们藏身的地方冲来。毫无疑问,我们既然不是软体动物,我们就一定得逃避。
In a few seconds we were safe on top of the ca一ve.
几分钟后,我们就安全地到了这岩洞的顶上。
What happened? Conseil asked. Some new phenomenon?
这是怎么一回事?康塞尔问,又有新的奇怪现象吗?
Not quite, my friends! I replied. It was the tide, merely the tide, which wellnigh caught us by surprise just as it did Sir Walter Scott's hero!
朋友们,我回答,没有什么!那是潮水,像司备脱小说中所说的人物的遭遇一样,突然来袭我们的,不过是那潮水!
The ocean outside is rising, and by a perfectly natural law of balance, the level of this lake is also rising. We've gotten off with a mild dunking. Let's go change clothes on the Nautilus.
大西洋在外面涨起,由于自然的平衡法则,湖中的水平面同样要上升,我们洗了半个澡出来了。我们得回诺第留斯号换衣服去。
Three-quarters of an hour later, we had completed our circular stroll and were back on board.
三刻钟后,我们就完结了我们的环湖旅行,我们又回到船上。
Just then the crewmen finished loading the sodium supplies, and the Nautilus could ha一ve departed immediately.
船上人员这时候已经把钠装载完毕,诺第留斯号可能立即就要开行。
But Captain Nemo ga一ve no orders. Would he wait for nightfall and exit through his underwater passageway in secrecy? Perhaps.
可是,尼摩船长并不下命令。他要等到夜间。是要秘密地从地下水道出去吗?或者是这样。
Be that as it may, by the next day the Nautilus had left its home port and was na一vigating well out from any shore, a few meters beneath the wa一ves of the Atlantic.
不管怎样,第二天,诺第留斯号已经离开它的港口,又在没有陆地的海面,大西洋水底下几米深的水层航行了。