海底两万里 第218期 第16章 在海底平原散步(9)

These algae are a genuine prodigy of creation, one of the wonders of world flora. This family produces both the biggest and smallest vegetables in the world. Because, just as 40,000 near-invisible buds have been counted in one five-square-millimeter space, so also have fucus plants been gathered that were over 500 meters long!

这些海藻类实在是造化的奇迹，宇宙植物界的一个奇迹。地球上最小和最大的植物都产生在海藻类中。因为五平方毫米的地方，可以有四万条这类肉眼不可见的微生植物，同时人们又采过长一直超过五百米的海带。

We had been gone from the Nautilus for about an hour and a half. It was almost noon. I spotted this fact in the perpendicularity of the sun's rays, which were no longer refracted. The magic of these solar colors disappeared little by little, with emerald and sapphire shades vanishing from our surroundings altogether. We walked with steady steps that rang on the seafloor with astonishing intensity. The tiniest sounds were transmitted with a speed to which the ear is unaccustomed on shore. In fact, water is a better conductor of sound than air, and under the waves noises carry four times as fast.

我们离开诺第留斯号有一小时半左右了。正是快到中午的时候，我看见太阳光垂直地照下来，再没有曲折作用了。颜色变幻的花样渐渐没有了，翠玉和青玉的各种色度也从我们的头顶上消失了。我们步伐很规律地走着，踩夜地上发出异常响亮的声音。很轻微的声晌也很快地传出去。这是在陆地上时的耳朵所不熟悉的。本来，对于声音，水比空气是更好的传音体，它传播声音比空气快四倍。

Just then the seafloor began to slope sharply downward. The light took on a uniform hue. We reached a depth of 100 meters, by which point we were undergoing a pressure of ten atmospheres. But my ping clothes were built along such lines that I never suffered from this pressure.

这时候，海底地面由于有明显的斜坡，渐渐低下去。光线的色泽是一致的。我们到了百米的深度，受到十大气医的压力。但我的潜水衣是为适应这些情况制成的，所以我没有感到这种压力的难受。