海底两万里 第165期 第11章 诺第留斯号(16)

　　Aside and in special compartments, strings of supremely beautiful pearls were spread out, the electric light flecking them with little fiery sparks:

　　另外，在特殊的格子中，摆着最美丽的串珠，被电光照得发出星星的火花，

　　pink pearls pulled from saltwater fan shells in the Red Sea; green pearls from the rainbow abalone;

　　其中有从红海的尖角螺中取出来的玫瑰红色珠，有蝶形海耳螺的青色珠，

　　yellow, blue, and black pearls, the unusual handiwork of various mollusks from every ocean and of certain mussels from rivers up north;

　　有黄色珠，蓝色珠，黑色珠，以及各海洋中各种软体动物，北方海中蚌蛤类的新奇产品。

　　in short, several specimens of incalculable worth that had been oozed by the rarest of shellfish.

　　最后是价值不可估计的宝珠，那是从最稀罕的珍珠贝中取出来的。

　　Some of these pearls were bigger than a pigeon egg; they more than equaled the one that the explorer Tavernier sold the Shah of Persia for 3,000,000 francs,

　　其中有的比鸽蛋大，它们的价值要超过旅行家达成尼埃卖给波斯国王得价三百万的那颗珍珠，

　　and they surpassed that other pearl owned by the Imam of Muscat, which I had believed to be unrivaled in the entire world.

　　就是和我认为世界上独一无二的、马斯加提教长的另一颗珍珠比较起来，它们还是贵重得多。

　　Consequently, to calculate the value of this collection was, I should say, impossible.

　　所以，要估计出这全部物品的价值，可以说是不可能的。

　　Captain Nemo must have spent millions in acquiring these different specimens,

　　尼摩船长一定花了数百万金钱来购买这些珍宝，

　　and I was wondering what financial resources he tapped to satisfy his collector's fancies, when these words interrupted me:

　　我心里想，他从哪里弄来这笔款子，来满足他收藏家的欲望呢，我正想的时候，被下面的诺打断了：