英语听书《海底两万里》第396期 第25章 地中海四十八小时(22)

 I would have stayed longer at my window, marveling at these beauties of sea and sky, but the panels closed.  我停留在玻璃窗面前，欣赏海和天的美景，我停留了很久，一直到嵌板闭起来。

Just then the Nautilus had arrived at the perpendicular¹ face of that high wall. How the ship would maneuver² I hadn't a guess.  这时候，诺第留斯号到了那座高墙壁立垂直的地方了。它怎样行驶，我无法猜测。

I repaired to my stateroom. The Nautilus did not stir.  我回房间中来，诺第留斯号不动了。

I fell asleep with the firm intention of waking up in just a few hours. 我睡觉的时候，打定主意，只唾几小时就要醒来。

But it was eight o'clock the next day when I returned to the lounge.  但第二天我到厅中来看，已经八点了。

I stared at the pressure gauge³. It told me that the Nautilus was afloat on the surface of the ocean. Furthermore, I heard the sound of footsteps on the platform.  我看一下压力表，晓得诺第留斯号是在洋面上行走。同时我也听到平台上有脚步声。

Yet there were no rolling movements to indicate the presence of waves undulating above me. 可是船没有一点摇摆，并不表示出海上波浪起伏的情况。

I climbed as far as the hatch. It was open. But instead of the broad daylight I was expecting, I found that I was surrounded by total darkness.  我一直上到嵌板边，板是敞开的，但我一看，并不是我所想的大白天，四周都是一片漆黑。

Where were we? Had I been mistaken? Was it still night? No! Not one star was twinkling, and nighttime is never so utterly⁴ black. 我们是在哪里？我是搞错了吗？现在还是黑夜吗？不！没有一颗星光照耀着。并且就是黑夜也没有这样的漆黑。

I wasn't sure what to think, when a voice said to me:Is that you, professor? 我简直没有法子想象，这时候，有人声对我说：教授，是您吗？

Ah, Captain Nemo! I replied. Where are we? 啊！尼摩船长，我回答，我们现在在哪里呢？

Underground, professor. 教授，在地下呢。

Underground! I exclaimed. And the Nautilus is still floating? 在地下！我喊道，但诺第留斯号还是浮着走呢？

It always floats. 它老是浮着走的。

But I don't understand! 那，我可真不懂了？

1 perpendicular   

adj.垂直的，直立的；n.垂直线，垂直的位置

参考例句：

• The two lines of bones are set perpendicular to one another.这两排骨头相互垂直。
• The wall is out of the perpendicular.这墙有些倾斜。

2 maneuver   

n.策略[pl.]演习；v.(巧妙)控制；用策略

参考例句：

• All the fighters landed safely on the airport after the military maneuver.在军事演习后，所有战斗机都安全降落在机场上。
• I did get her attention with this maneuver.我用这个策略确实引起了她的注意。

3 gauge   

v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器

参考例句：

• Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。

4 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。