23 珊瑚王国(7)
I fancied I saw these cylindrical, membrane-filled tubes trembling beneath the water's undulations. I was tempted to gather their fresh petals, which were adorned with delicate tentacles, some newly in bloom, others barely opened, while nimble fish with fluttering fins brushed past them like flocks of birds. But if my hands came near the moving flowers of these sensitive, lively creatures, an alarm would instantly sound throughout the colony. The white petals retracted into their red sheaths, the flowers vanished before my eyes, and the bush changed into a chunk of stony nipples.
我好像是看见薄膜一般的和圆筒形样的细管在海波下颤一动。我要去采它们的带有纤维触须的新鲜花一瓣（有的刚开，有的刚露头）的时候，有些身一子轻快、鳍迅速摆一动的鱼走来，像鸟飞过一样触一动了它们。但是，一当我的手挨近这些活花朵，这些有生命的含羞草的时候，花丛中立即发出一警一报来了。于是雪白的花一瓣缩人它们的朱红匣中去了，花朵在我眼前消失了，珊瑚丛随即转变为一大一团一的石圆丘。
Sheer chance had placed me in the presence of the most valuable specimens of this zoophyte. This coral was the equal of those fished up from the Mediterranean off the Barbary Coast or the shores of France and Italy. With its bright colors, it lived up to those poetic names of blood flower and blood foam that the industry confers on its finest exhibits. Coral sells for as much as 500 francs per kilogram, and in this locality the liquid strata hid enough to make the fortunes of a whole host of coral fishermen. This valuable substance often merges with other polyparies, forming compact, hopelessly tangled units known as "macciota," and I noted some wonderful pink samples of this coral.
偶然的机会把这种植虫动物的一些最宝贵的品种摆在我面前。这种珊瑚跟在地中海、在法国、意大利和巴巴利海岸打到的，一样有价值。商业上对于其中最美的几种给了“血花”和“血沫”这样诗意的名字，它们的鲜艳颜一色一证明这是有道理的。这种珊瑚一直卖到五百法郎一公斤；在这一带的海水里面实在是蕴藏有无数打捞珊瑚人的财富呢。 这种宝贵的物质时常杂有其他种类的珊瑚树， 因此构成名为“马西奥达”的密集和混杂的整块珊瑚，在这些整块珊瑚上面，我看到很美丽的玫瑰珊瑚品种。
But as the bushes shrank, the tree forms magnified. Actual petrified thickets and long alcoves from some fantastic school of architecture kept opening up before our steps. Captain Nemo entered beneath a dark gallery whose gentle slope took us to a depth of 100 meters.
不久，珊瑚树丛就紧密连攀起来，树枝分布增长起来。好像是真正的石质丛林和奇矮建筑的长槽在我们脚步面前摆开了。尼摩船长走人一条长廊般的黑暗过道，从这条倾斜的、过道，我们到了一百米深的地方。