尼德兰总是抱着不肯轻信的态度；

　　he pretended that he never even looked at the surface of the waves, at least while no whales were in sight.

　　除了轮到他在甲板上看守以外，他甚至故意不看洋面—至少在没有发现鲸鱼的时候是这样。

　　And yet the marvelous power of his vision could have performed yeoman service.

　　他的神奇的眼力有很大的用处，

　　But this stubborn Canadian spent eight hours out of every twelve reading or sleeping in his cabin. A hundred times I chided him for his unconcern.

　　可是在十二小时中有八小时，这位固执的加拿大人只是在舱房中看书或睡觉，我多少次责备他的冷淡和不关心。

　　Bah! he replied. Nothing's out there, Professor Aronnax, and if there is some animal, what chance would we have of spotting it?

　　算了吧！他答，阿龙纳斯先生，什么都没有，就算海中真有什么怪物，我们可能有机会看见它吗？

　　Can't you see we're just wandering around at random? People say they've sighted this slippery beast again in the Pacific high seas-I'm truly willing to believe it,

　　我们不是漫无计划地瞎捡吗？据说在太平洋的北部海中，又有人看见了这个无法找到的怪物，这我并不否认：

　　but two months have already gone by since then, and judging by your narwhale's personality, it hates growing moldy from hanging out too long in the same waterways!

　　但是，自从那次碰见后，两个月已经过去了，要是根据您的这条独角鲸的怪脾气来看，

　　It's blessed with a terrific gift for getting around.

　　它决不愿意长久停在这一带海上！