海底兩萬里 第214期 第16章 在海底平原散步(5)

We were walking on sand that was fine-grained and smooth, not wrinkled like beach sand, which preserves the impressions left by the waves. This dazzling carpet was a real mirror, throwing back the sun's rays with startling intensity. The outcome: an immense vista of reflections that penetrated every liquid molecule. Will anyone believe me if I assert that at this thirty-foot depth, I could see as if it was broad daylight?

我們在很細(xì)，很平，沒有皺紋，像海灘上只留有潮水痕跡的沙上行走。這種眩人眼目的地毯，像真正的反射鏡，把太陽光強烈地反射出去。由此而生出那種強大的光線輻射，透人所有的水層中。如果我肯定說，在水中深三十英尺的地方，我可以像在陽光下一樣看得清楚，那人們能相信我嗎?

For a quarter of an hour, I trod this blazing sand, which was strewn with tiny crumbs of seashell. Looming like a long reef, the Nautilus's hull disappeared little by little, but when night fell in the midst of the waters, the ship's beacon would surely facilitate our return on board, since its rays carried with perfect distinctness. This effect is difficult to understand for anyone who has never seen light beams so sharply defined on shore. There the dust that saturates the air gives such rays the appearance of a luminous fog; but above water as well as underwater, shafts of electric light are transmitted with incomparable clarity.

我們踩著明亮的沙層走動，足足有一刻鐘，它是貝殼變成的粉未構(gòu)成的。像長長的暗礁一樣出現(xiàn)的諾第留斯號船身，已經(jīng)漸漸隱沒不見了;但它的探照燈，射出十分清楚的亮光， 在水中黑暗的地方，可以指示我們回到船上去。人們1只在陸地上看見過這種一道道的十分輝煌的白光，對于電光在海底下的作用，實在不容易了解。在陸地上，空氣中充滿塵土，使一道道光線像明亮的云霧一樣：但在海上, 跟在海底下一樣，電光是十分透亮的，一點也不模糊。

Meanwhile we went ever onward, and these vast plains of sand seemed endless. My hands parted liquid curtains that closed again behind me, and my footprints faded swiftly under the water's pressure.

我們不停地走動，廣闊的細(xì)沙平原好像是漫無邊際。我用手撥開水簾，走過后它又自動合上，我的腳跡在水的壓力下也立即就消失了。