Oh, that Gulf Stream! It truly lives up to its nickname, the Lord of Storms!
啊!海湾暖流!它完全称得上暴风雨之王!
All by itself it creates these fearsome cyclones through the difference in temperature between its currents and the superimposed layers of air.
正是它的水流中的空气层温度差造成了这可畏的飓风。
The rain was followed by a downpour of fire.
一阵闪电跟在大雨的后面。
Droplets of water changed into exploding tufts.
雨滴变成了带电的羽饰。
You would have thought Captain Nemo was courting a death worthy of himself, seeking to be struck by lightning.
尼摩船长站在那里,好像在期望着让雷劈死似的,他觉得只有这种死亡才能配得上他。
In one hideous pitching movement, the Nautilus reared its steel spur into the air like a lightning rod, and I saw long sparks shoot down it.
一阵吓人的摇晃后,“鹦鹉螺号”的钢铁冲角冲向天空,像一支避雷针一样,上面溅出长长的火花。
Shattered, at the end of my strength, I slid flat on my belly to the hatch.
我精疲力尽,瘫倒地上。我向嵌板爬去,
I opened it and went below to the lounge.
打开嵌板下到客厅里。
By then the storm had reached its maximum intensity.
这时的暴风雨最猛烈,
It was impossible to stand upright inside the Nautilus.
在“鹦鹉螺号”船内站都站不住。
Captain Nemo reentered near midnight.
而尼摩船长等到午夜前后才回到船里。
I could hear the ballast tanks filling little by little, and the Nautilus sank gently beneath the surface of the waves.
我听到储水器慢慢地装满了水,“鹦鹉螺号”缓缓地潜入水中。
Through the lounge's open windows, I saw large, frightened fish passing like phantoms in the fiery waters.
透过客厅打开的玻璃窗,我看到了一群惊慌失措的鱼,像一群幽灵一样,在着火的水中穿过。
Some were struck by lightning right before my eyes!
有几条竟在我的眼皮底下被雷击死!
The Nautilus kept descending.
“鹦鹉螺号”船只一直往下沉。
I thought it would find calm again at fifteen meters down.
我想它会在15米深处找回安宁的。
No. The upper strata were too violently agitated.
但不!上层的水摇晃得太猛烈,
It needed to sink to fifty meters, searching for a resting place in the bowels of the sea.
它不得不下沉到50米的深海里才能找到宁静。
But once there, what tranquility we found, what silence, what peace all around us!
而此时,深海里是多么的安宁,多么的寂静,好一片平静的世界!
Who would have known that a dreadful hurricane was then unleashed on the surface of this ocean?
有谁会相信现在海面上正展开着一场可怕的暴风雨呢?
End of Chapter 19
第19章完