That day the Nautilus was put to work in some depth-sounding experiments that fascinated me deeply. 13日那一天，用诺第留斯号来作探测海底的试验，这使我十分感兴趣。

By then we had fared nearly 13,000 leagues from our starting point in the Pacific high seas. Our position fix placed us in latitude 45 degrees 37' south and longitude 37 degrees 53' west.  我们从太平洋的远洋中出发以来，差不多已经走了一百三千里。测定的方位是我们在南纬45度37分，西经37度53分。

These were the same waterways where Captain Denham, aboard the Herald, payed out 14,000 meters of sounding line without finding bottom.  就是在这一带海水中，海拉尔号的邓亨船长曾投下一万四千米长的探测器，但没有达到海底。也是在这里。

It was here too that Lieutenant Parker, aboard the American frigate Congress, was unable to reach the underwater soil at 15,149 meters. 英国二等战舰会议号，海军大尉已尔克投下一万五千米长的探测器，也没有达到海底。

Captain Nemo decided to take his Nautilus down to the lowest depths in order to double-check these different soundings.  尼摩船长决定送他的船到最深的海底，来检查一下以前多次所得的探测成绩。

I got ready to record the results of this experiment.  我准备把这次试验所得的结果完全记录下来。

The panels in the lounge opened, and maneuvers began for reaching those strata so prodigiously far removed. 客厅的嵌板都打开了，船开始潜水下降的动作，一直要抵达最深的水层。

It was apparently considered out of the question to dive by filling the ballast tanks.  人们很可以想到，现在不是用装满储水池的方法来潜水下降了。

Perhaps they wouldn't sufficiently increase the Nautilus's specific gravity.  或者这种方法不可能充分增大诺第留斯号的比重，使它一直潜到海底。

Moreover, in order to come back up, it would be necessary to expel the excess water, and our pumps might not have been strong enough to overcome the outside pressure. 而且浮上来的时候，要排除多装的水量，抽水机可能没有足够的强力来抵抗外部的压力。