海底兩萬里 第317期 第23章 珊瑚王國(16)

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You mean, I said, that such primitive methods are still all that they use?

那么，我說，他們總是使用這種原始方法嗎？

All, Captain Nemo answered me, although these fisheries belong to the most industrialized people in the world, the English, to whom the Treaty of Amiens granted them in 1802.

總是使用這種原始方法，尼摩船長回答我，雖然這些采珠場是屬于地球上最靈巧的人民一英國人—因?yàn)?1802年的阿米恩條約把采珠場轉(zhuǎn)讓給他們了。

Yet it strikes me that ping suits like yours could perform yeoman service in such work.

不過，我覺得，像您使用的那種潛水衣對于采珠可以大有用處。

Yes, since those poor fishermen can't stay long underwater.

是的，很有用，因?yàn)槟切┛蓱z的采珠人不能在水底下留得很久，

On his voyage to Ceylon, the Englishman Percival made much of a Kaffir who stayed under five minutes without coming up to the surface, but I find that hard to believe.

英國人培西華在他寫的錫蘭島游記中，說有一個(gè)加非列利人在水下留了五分鐘，沒有上水面來，這件事我覺得不甚可靠。

I know that some pers can last up to fifty-seven seconds, and highly skillful ones to eighty-seven;

我知道有些潛水人可以留到五十六秒，最有能耐的可以留到八十六秒，

but such men are rare, and when the poor fellows climb back on board, the water coming out of their noses and ears is tinted with blood.

不過這種人是很少的，并且，回到船上來，這些可憐人的鼻孔和耳朵都流出帶血的水來。

I believe the average time underwater that these fishermen can tolerate is thirty seconds, during which they hastily stuff their little nets with all the pearl oysters they can tear loose.

我認(rèn)為這些采珠人可以留在水里面忍受的平均時(shí)間為三十秒，在這三十秒內(nèi)，他們得趕快把自己采得的珍珠貝塞在一個(gè)小網(wǎng)中。

But these fishermen generally don't live to advanced age:

一般的說，這些采珠人不能活得很久，

their vision weakens, ulcers break out on their eyes, sores form on their bodies, and some are even stricken with apoplexy on the ocean floor.

他們的眼力很早就衰退，眼睛上發(fā)生潰瘍，他們的身上有許多創(chuàng)傷，他們有時(shí)甚至于在水底下就中鳳了。

Yes, I said, it's a sad occupation, and one that exists only to gratify the whims of fashion.

是的，我說，這是一種凄慘的職業(yè)，這是為滿足少數(shù)人的偏好的。

But tell me, captain, how many oysters can a boat fish up in a workday?

不過，船長，請您告訴我，一只船一整天可以采得多少珍珠貝呢？

About 40,000 to 50,000. It's even said that in 1814, when the English government went fishing on its own behalf, its pers worked just twenty days and brought up 76,000,000 oysters.

大約四萬至五萬左右。甚至有人說， 1814年，英國政府實(shí)行公營采珠，它的采珠人在二十天的工作中，一共采得七千六百萬珍珠貝。