he stopcocks of the ballast tanks were then opened wide, and 100 cubic meters of water rushed in, increasingthe Nautilus's weight by 100,000 kilograms.We waited, we listened, we forgot our sufferings, we hoped once more. We had staked our salvation on this one last gamble. Despite the buzzing in my head, I soon could hear vibrations under the Nautilus's hull. We tilted. The ice cracked with an odd ripping sound, like paper tearing, and the Nautilus began settling downward.
儲(chǔ)水池的龍頭于是完全打開(kāi)來(lái),一百立方米的水都流進(jìn)去,把諾第留斯號(hào)的重量增加了十萬(wàn)公廳。我們等著,我們聽(tīng)著,忘記了我們的痛苦,仍然抱著希望。我們好像賭博,得救與否,完全看這最后一著了。不管我腦子中嗡嗡作響,昏舌、不清,但不久我聽(tīng)到諾第留斯號(hào)船身下顫抖了。下陷的作用發(fā)生了。冰層破裂,發(fā)出新奇的聲響,像撕紙的聲音一樣,諾第留斯號(hào)漸漸沉下去。
"We're going through!" Conseil muttered in my ear.I couldn't answer him. I clutched his hand. I squeezed it in an involuntary convulsion.All at once, carried away by its frightful excess load, the Nautilus sank into the waters like a cannonball, in other words, dropping as if in a vacuum!
"我們穿過(guò)去了!”康塞爾在我耳邊低聲說(shuō)。我不能回答他。我抓著他的手。我完全不由自主地抽搐,緊緊握住他的手。突然間,諾第留斯號(hào)被它的過(guò)分重量所帶走,像一顆炮彈沉入水中,就是說(shuō),它掉下去,像它在真空中盡可能快地掉下去那樣!
Our full electric power was then put on the pumps, which instantly began to expel water from the ballast tanks. After a few minutes we had checked our fall. The pressure gauge soon indicated an ascending movement. Brought to full speed, the propeller made the sheet-iron hull tremble down to its rivets, and we sped northward. But how long would it take to navigate under the Ice Bank to the open sea? Another day? I would be dead first!
于是把所有的電力都送到抽水機(jī)上,抽水機(jī)立即把儲(chǔ)水池中的水排出。幾分鐘后,我們的下降停止。并且不久,壓力表就指出船是在上升。推進(jìn)器全速開(kāi)行,船身鋼板發(fā)生震動(dòng),一直在螺絲釘上都感到,它帶我們向北方駛?cè)?。但是,現(xiàn)在從冰山下到自由海的航行,要延長(zhǎng)多少時(shí)候呢,還要一天嗎?如果是這樣的話,那我仍不免要死在前頭了!
Half lying on a couch in the library, I was suffocating. My face was purple, my lips blue, my faculties in abeyance. I could no longer see or hear. I had lost all sense of time. My muscles had no power to contract. I'm unable to estimate the hours that passed in this way. But I was aware that my death throes had begun. I realized that I was about to die...Suddenly I regained consciousness. A few whiffs of air had entered my lungs. Had we risen to the surface of the waves? Had we cleared the Ice Bank?
我半身躺在圖書室的長(zhǎng)沙發(fā)椅上,我不能出氣了。我的臉孔發(fā)紫,我的雙唇變藍(lán),我身體器官失靈。我看不見(jiàn),我聽(tīng)不到。時(shí)間的概念在我心中消減了。我的肌肉不能伸縮了。這樣度過(guò)的時(shí)間,我不可能估量。但我意識(shí)到我臨死的痛苦開(kāi)始了。我明白我是快要死了……忽然我蘇醒過(guò)來(lái)。幾口空氣吹入我的肺中。我們是回升到了水面嗎?我們是越過(guò)冰山了嗎?