DURING THE NIGHT of December 27-28, the Nautilus left the waterways of Vanikoro behind with extraordinary speed. Its heading was southwesterly, and in three days it had cleared the 750 leagues that separated La Pérouse's islands from the southeastern tip of Papua.
12月27日至28日夜間,諾第留斯號超速度急行,離開了萬尼科羅群島海面。它向西北方開行,在三天之內(nèi),它就走過了從拉·白魯斯群島至巴布亞群島東南尖角的七百五十里。
On January 1, 1868, bright and early, Conseil joined me on the platform.
1868年1.1日大清早,康塞爾在平臺上向我走來,這個老實人對我說:
Will master, the gallant lad said to me, allow me to wish him a happy new year?
先生, 我給您拜年,祝您一年順利,好嗎?
Good heavens, Conseil, it's just like old times in my office at the Botanical Gardens in Paris! I accept your kind wishes and I thank you for them. Only, I'd like to know what you mean by a 'happy year' under the circumstances in which we're placed. Is it a year that will bring our imprisonment to an end, or a year that will see this strange voyage continue?
那還用問嗎,康塞爾,就跟我在巴黎,在植物園中我的工作室中那樣。我接受你的祝賀,我感謝你。不過我要問你,在我們目前所處的情況下,你說的一年順利是什么意思。這是將使我們在船上的囚禁結(jié)束的一年呢?還是仍然繼續(xù)這奇異的游歷旅行的一年呢?
Ye gods, Conseil replied, I hardly know what to tell master. We're certainly seeing some unusual things, and for two months we've had no time for boredom. The latest wonder is always the most astonishing, and if this progression keeps up, I can't imagine what its climax will be. In my opinion, we'll never again have such an opportunity.
我的天,康塞爾回答,我不知道怎樣對先生說才好。我們的確是看到許多希奇古怪的事物,兩個月來,我們一點沒有感到厭煩。最近一次離奇的事也是最驚人的事,長此以往,我真不知道將來怎樣結(jié)局??墒俏矣X得我們永遠找不到這種機會了。