23 珊瑚王国(53)
THE SAME DAY, I reported to Conseil and Ned Land that part of the foregoing conversation directly concerning them.
就在当天，我把这次谈话的一部分告诉了康塞尔和尼德·兰，这使他们立即发生兴趣。
When I told them we would be lying in Mediterranean waters within two days, Conseil clapped his hands, but the Canadian shrugged his shoulders.
当我让他们知道，两天时我们就要进入地中海的时候，康塞尔高兴得拍手，尼德·兰耸一耸肩，喊道：
An underwater tunnel! he exclaimed. A connection between two seas! Who ever heard of such malarkey!
一条海底地道！一条两海之间的通路！谁曾听说过呢？
Ned my friend, Conseil replied, had you ever heard of the Nautilus?
尼德好朋友，康塞尔回答，您曾听说过诺第留斯号吗？
No, yet here it is! So don't shrug your shoulders so blithely, and don't discount something with the feeble excuse that you've never heard of it.
没有，可是它是存在的。所以，就是轻轻的耸肩也用不着，不要以为您从没有听说过，您就来反对说没有了。尼德·兰摇摇头，立即答道：
We'll soon see! Ned Land shot back, shaking his head.
我们瞧着吧！我巴不得相信有这条地道，
After all, I'd like nothing better than to believe in your captain's little passageway, and may Hea一ven grant it really does take us to the Mediterranean.
相信这位船长，并且愿苍天让他把我们带到地中海。
The same evening, at latitude 21 degrees 30' north, the Nautilus was afloat on the surface of the sea and drawing nearer to the Arab coast.
当天晚上，在纬度21度30分，诺第留斯号浮在水面上，挨近阿拉伯海岸。
I spotted Jidda, an important financial center for Egypt, Syria, Turkey, and the East Indies.
我望见奇达，这是埃及、叙利亚、土耳淇和印度之间的重要市常不久，
Soon Jidda faded into the shadows of evening, and the Nautilus went back beneath the mildly phosphorescent waters.
奇达在晚间的一陰一影中看不见了，诺第留斯号潜入微带磷光的海水中。
The next day, February 10, several ships appeared, running on our opposite tack.
第二天，2月10日，出现好几只船，向着我们开来。
The Nautilus resumed its underwater na一vigating; but at the moment of our noon sights, the sea was deserted and the ship rose again to its waterline.
诺第留斯号又潜入水中航行，中午，在地图上记录船的方位时候，海面上什么也没有，它于是又浮上来，一直露出浮标线。