Leaning against the sides of the skiff, we were chatting of one thing and another, when Ned Land stretched his hand toward a point in the water, saying to me: 我们靠在小艇侧面，大家随便地说东道西，正谈的时候，尼德·兰伸手指着海上的一点，对我说：

See anything out there, professor? 教授，您看见那边的东西吗？

No, Ned, I replied, but you know I don't have your eyes. 没有，尼德，我回答，我的眼睛不好，您是知道的。

Take a good look, Ned went on. There, ahead to starboard, almost level with the beacon! Don't you see a mass that seems to be moving around? 好好地看一下，尼德·兰又说，那右舷前头，差不多在探照灯的同一直线上！您看不见那块好像动的东西吗？

Right, I said after observing carefully, I can make out something like a long, blackish object on the surface of the water. 是的，我仔细地看一下说，我望见水面上有一个灰黑色的长东西。

A second Nautilus? Conseil said. 是另一只诺第留斯号吗？康塞尔说。

No, the Canadian replied, unless I'm badly mistaken, that's some marine animal. 不是，加拿大人说，或者我弄错了，或者那是一只海牛动物。

Are there whales in the Red Sea? Conseil asked. 红海中有鲸鱼吗？康塞尔问。

Yes, my boy, I replied, they're sometimes found here. 有的，老实人，我回答，人们有时碰得见呢。

That's no whale, continued Ned Land, whose eyes never strayed from the object they had sighted. We're old chums, whales and I, and I couldn't mistake their little ways. 那不是鲸鱼，尼德·兰回答，同时目不转晴地盯住那东西，鲸鱼和我，我们是老相识，它们的形状我决不至弄错。

Let's wait and see, Conseil said. The Nautilus is heading that direction, and we'll soon know what we're in for. 我们等着吧，康塞尔说，诺第留斯号向那边驶去了，一会我们就可以知道那是什么东西。

In fact, that blackish object was soon only a mile away from us. It looked like a huge reef stranded in midocean. What was it? I still couldn't make up my mind. 正是，这灰黑的物体不久离我们只有一海里远了。它很像搁浅在海中间的大礁。是什么呢？我还不能说出来。

Oh, it's moving off! It's diving! Ned Land exclaimed. Damnation! What can that animal be?  啊！它走动了！它潜入水中了，尼德·兰喊道，真奇怪！可能是什么动物呢？

It doesn't have a forked tail like baleen whales or sperm whales, and its fins look like sawed-off limbs. 它没有跟鲸鱼或大头鲸一样的分开来的尾巴，它的鳍好像是切断的手足那样。

But in that case-I put in. 那么是…我说。

Good lord, the Canadian went on, it's rolled over on its back, and it's raising its breasts in the air! 好吗，加拿大人立即又说，它朝天翻过来了，它把奶头挺起在空中了！

It's a siren! Conseil exclaimed. With all due respect to master, it's an actual mermaid! 那是人鱼！康塞尔喊道，是真正的人鱼，请先生原谅我这样说。