诺第留斯号由双层船壳造成， 一层是内壳，另一层是外壳，两壳之间，用许多T字形的蹄铁把它们连接起来，使船身坚硬无比。

　　In fact, thanks to this cellular arrangement, it has the resistance of a stone block, as if it were completely solid.

　　是的，由于壳与壳之间有这种细胞式的结构，这船像是一大块实铁，中间饱满无隙，可以抵抗一切。

　　Its plating can't give way; it's self-adhering and not dependent on the tightness of its rivets; and due to the perfect union of its materials, the solidarity of its construction allows it to defy the most violent seas.

　　它的边缘不可能松动；船身合而为一，是由于结构本身的力量，不是由于铰钉的扣紧；因为材料配置完全适合，构造整齐划一，它可以在海洋中行驶，不怕最汹涌的风浪。

　　The two hulls are manufactured from boilerplate steel, whose relative density is 7.8 times that of water. The first hull has a thickness of no less than five centimeters and weighs 394.96 metric tons.

　　这两层船壳是用钢板制造的，钢的密度与海水密度的比例是十比七至八。第一层船壳至少有五厘米厚，重量是三百九十四点九六吨。

　　My second hull, the outer cover, includes a keel fifty centimeters high by twenty-five wide, which by itself weighs 62 metric tons; this hull, the engine, the ballast, the various accessories and accommodations, plus the bulkheads and interior braces, have a combined weight of 961.52 metric tons, which when added to 394.96 metric tons, gives us the desired total of 1,356.48 metric tons. Clear?

　　第二层内壳，就是龙骨，有五十厘米高，二十五厘米宽，只重六十二吨。机器，镇船机，各种附属船具和装置品，内部的各样墙板和木材等等的重量和上面的三百九十四点丸六吨，就是总重量一千三百五十六点四八吨中的一部分了。这您明白吗？

　　Clear, I replied.

　　明白。我答。

　　So, the captain went on, when the Nautilus lies on the waves under these conditions, one-tenth of it does emerge above water.

　　所以，船长又说，在这种条件下，当诺第留斯号在海中时，它浮出海面十分之一。

　　Now then, if I provide some ballast tanks equal in capacity to that one-tenth, hence able to hold 150.72 metric tons, and if I fill them with water, the boat then displaces 1,507.2 metric tons-or it weighs that much-and it would be completely submerged. That's what comes about, professor.

　　但是，如果我装设了容积等于这十分之一的储水池，容水重量为一百五十点七二吨，如果我让水池装满了水，这时船的排水量或重量是一千五百零七吨，那它就完全潜入水中了。

　　These ballast tanks exist within easy access in the lower reaches of the Nautilus.

　　教授，事情原来就是这：样。这些储水池实际是存在的，它们在诺第留斯号的下层。

　　I open some stopcocks, the tanks fill, the boat sinks, and it's exactly flush with the surface of the water.

　　我打开储，水池的门，水池就填满了，刚被水面齐顶淹没的船于是往下沉了。