In the very heart of an extinct volcano, the captain answered me, a volcano whose interior was invaded by the sea after some convulsion in the earth. While you were sleeping, professor, the Nautilus entered this lagoon through a natural channel that opens ten meters below the surface of the ocean.  我们是在一座熄灭了的火山中心，船长回答我，这：座火山由于地面震动，海水侵入内部，火熄灭了。教授，当您睡眠的时候，诺第留斯号在海面十米下，从一条天然开凿的水道驶进这小咸水湖里面。

This is our home port, secure, convenient, secret, and sheltered against winds from any direction!  这里是湖中停船的港口，是安全、方便、秘密、罗盘上所有方位的风都可以躲开的港口！

Along the coasts of your continents or islands, show me any offshore mooring that can equal this safe refuge for withstanding the fury of hurricanes 请在你们大陆的海岸或你们的海岛，给我找到一个跟这港湾一样的港口来罢，要安全的，不怕飓风袭击的。

Indeed, I replied, here you're in perfect safety, Captain Nemo. Who could reach you in the heart of a volcano? But don't I see an opening at its summit? 是的，我回答，尼摩船长，您在这港内很安全。谁可能到这火山中心来呢？

Yes, its crater, a crater formerly filled with lava, steam, and flames, but which now lets in this life-giving air we're breathing. 不过，在那顶上：我不是望见有一个孔吗？是的，那是喷火口，这火口从前充满火石、烟气和火焰，现在是使人生动活泼、我们呼吸的空气的通路了。

But which volcanic mountain is this? I asked. 不过这座发火的山是什么呢？我问。

It's one of the many islets with which this sea is strewn. For ships a mere reef, for us an immense cavern. I discovered it by chance, and chance served me well. 它是这海洋中许多小岛的一个。对船只来说，它仅是一个简单的暗礁，对我们，那就是巨大的岩洞了。我无意中发现了它，在里面，它无意中给我许多好处。

But couldn't someone enter through the mouth of its crater? 但人们不可能从那以前是火山喷口的孔下来吗？

No more than I could exit through it. You can climb about 100 feet up the inner base of this mountain, but then the walls overhang, they lean too far in to be scaled. 不可能，跟我不能从这里上去一样。直到一百英尺左右，这山内部下层是可以走的，但再上一点，石壁就很陡峭，山腰间的石层不可能越过。