海底两万里 第317期 第23章 珊瑚王国(16)

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You mean, I said, that such primitive methods are still all that they use?

那么，我说，他们总是使用这种原始方法吗？

All, Captain Nemo answered me, although these fisheries belong to the most industrialized people in the world, the English, to whom the Treaty of Amiens granted them in 1802.

总是使用这种原始方法，尼摩船长回答我，虽然这些采珠场是属于地球上最灵巧的人民一英国人—因为 1802年的阿米恩条约把采珠场转让给他们了。

Yet it strikes me that ping suits like yours could perform yeoman service in such work.

不过，我觉得，像您使用的那种潜水衣对于采珠可以大有用处。

Yes, since those poor fishermen can't stay long underwater.

是的，很有用，因为那些可怜的采珠人不能在水底下留得很久，

On his voyage to Ceylon, the Englishman Percival made much of a Kaffir who stayed under five minutes without coming up to the surface, but I find that hard to believe.

英国人培西华在他写的锡兰岛游记中，说有一个加非列利人在水下留了五分钟，没有上水面来，这件事我觉得不甚可靠。

I know that some pers can last up to fifty-seven seconds, and highly skillful ones to eighty-seven;

我知道有些潜水人可以留到五十六秒，最有能耐的可以留到八十六秒，

but such men are rare, and when the poor fellows climb back on board, the water coming out of their noses and ears is tinted with blood.

不过这种人是很少的，并且，回到船上来，这些可怜人的鼻孔和耳朵都流出带血的水来。

I believe the average time underwater that these fishermen can tolerate is thirty seconds, during which they hastily stuff their little nets with all the pearl oysters they can tear loose.

我认为这些采珠人可以留在水里面忍受的平均时间为三十秒，在这三十秒内，他们得赶快把自己采得的珍珠贝塞在一个小网中。

But these fishermen generally don't live to advanced age:

一般的说，这些采珠人不能活得很久，

their vision weakens, ulcers break out on their eyes, sores form on their bodies, and some are even stricken with apoplexy on the ocean floor.

他们的眼力很早就衰退，眼睛上发生溃疡，他们的身上有许多创伤，他们有时甚至于在水底下就中凤了。

Yes, I said, it's a sad occupation, and one that exists only to gratify the whims of fashion.

是的，我说，这是一种凄惨的职业，这是为满足少数人的偏好的。

But tell me, captain, how many oysters can a boat fish up in a workday?

不过，船长，请您告诉我，一只船一整天可以采得多少珍珠贝呢？

About 40,000 to 50,000. It's even said that in 1814, when the English government went fishing on its own behalf, its pers worked just twenty days and brought up 76,000,000 oysters.

大约四万至五万左右。甚至有人说， 1814年，英国政府实行公营采珠，它的采珠人在二十天的工作中，一共采得七千六百万珍珠贝。