海底两万里 第238期 第18章 太平洋下四千里(10)

I stood up, went, leaned on my elbows before the window, and I saw it.

我站起来，我时靠着玻璃，我看着。

In the broad electric daylight, an enormous black mass, quite motionless, hung suspended in the midst of the waters. I observed it carefully, trying to find out the nature of this gigantic cetacean. Then a sudden thought crossed my mind.

在电光照耀中，我看见一团巨大的黑东西，静止不动，悬在海水中间。我很注意地观察它，想法辨认这条巨大晾鱼类动物的性质。但心中忽然醒悟，喊道：

"A ship!" I exclaimed.

“一只船!”

"Yes," the Canadian replied, "a disabled craft that's sinking straight down!"

“是的，”加拿大人回答，”一只撞在暗礁上沉了的船!”

Ned Land was not mistaken. We were in the presence of a ship whose severed shrouds still hung from their clasps. Its hull looked in good condition, and it must have gone under only a few hours before. The stumps of three masts, chopped off two feet above the deck, indicated a flooding ship that had been forced to sacrifice its masting. But it had heeled sideways, filling completely, and it was listing to port even yet. A sorry sight, this carcass lost under the waves, but sorrier still was the sight on its deck, where, lashed with ropes to prevent their being washed overboard, some human corpses still lay! I counted four of them--four men, one still standing at the helm-- then a woman, halfway out of a skylight on the afterdeck, holding a child in her arms. This woman was young. Under the brilliant lighting of the Nautilus's rays, I could make out her features, which the water hadn't yet decomposed. With a supreme effort, she had lifted her child above her head, and the poor little creature's arms were still twined around its mother's neck! The postures of the four seamen seemed ghastly to me, twisted from convulsive movements, as if making a last effort to break loose from the ropes that bound them to their ship. And the helmsman, standing alone, calmer, his face smooth and serious, his grizzled hair plastered to his brow, his hands clutching the wheel, seemed even yet to be guiding his wrecked three-master through the ocean depths!

尼德·兰并没有弄错。我们面前是一只船，上面弄断了的护桅索仍然挂在链上二船壳看来还很好，船沉下来至多不过是几小时以前的事。三根断桅从甲板上两英尺高的地方砍下来，表明这只遇难的船不得不把桅墙牺牲了。但船是侧躺着，内部装得很满，是向左舷倾斜的。这种落在波涛中的残骸的景象，看来实在是凄惨;更为凄惨的，是看见甲板上还有躺着挂在绳索上的尸体!我看见有四具尸体——四个男子，其中一人站在舵边一还有一个妇人手中抱着一个小孩，在船尾眺板格子上站着。这妇人还年轻。有诺第留斯号的电光的照亮，我可以看出她那还没有被海水所腐蚀的面容。她作最后绝望的努力，把小孩举在她头上，这可怜的小生命正把两只小手抱着妈妈的脖子呢!四个水手的姿态我觉得非常伯人，因为他们身躯抽搐得不成样子，他们作最后的努力，摆脱那把他们缠在船上的绳索，然后才死去。唯有那个看航路的舵手，比较镇定，面貌很清楚、很严肃，灰白的头发贴在前额，痉挛的手放在舵轮上，他好像是还在深深的海底驾驶着他那只遇难的三桅船!

What a scene! We stood dumbstruck, hearts pounding, before this shipwreck caught in the act, as if it had been photographed in its final moments, so to speak! And already I could see enormous sharks moving in, eyes ablaze, drawn by the lure of human flesh!

多么伯人的场面!我们沉默不能作声，在这真实的沉船事故面前，可以说在这最后一刻掇下来的沉船景象面前，我们的心跳动得厉害!我又看见了一些巨大的鲛鱼，眼睛冒火。被这人肉的饵物所引动，已经向前游来了!

Meanwhile, turning, the Nautilus made a circle around the sinking ship, and for an instant I could read the board on its stern:

这时，诺第留斯号向前行驶，绕过沉没的船，我因此可以看见写在船尾牌子上的船名：

The Florida Sunderland, England

佛罗利达号，山德兰港。