19 Air Supply

CHAPTER 19 Air Supply Around the Nautilus, above and below, was a thick wall of ice. We were prisoners to the iceberg. I watched the captain. His face showed some concern. "Gentlemen," he said calmly, "I fear you are worrying about things that need not be." The confused looks we gave him told him to continue. "First, we would never starve to death on this

在诺第留斯号的周围，上下都是一堵厚厚的冰墙。 我们成了冰山的囚徒。 我看着船长。他的脸上流露出忧虑。 “先生们，”他平静地说，“我担心你们在担心一些不必要的事情。” 我们困惑的眼神告诉他继续。 “首先，我们永远不会因为这个而饿死

ship. There are enough food supplies on this vessel to outlast any disaster." I had not thought about this, so it didn't make me feel any better to hear it. "Second, I know you have all thought about the possibility of running out of air. This should not be feared. We have a supply of air on board for forty-eight hours." "But, Captain, what happens after that time?" I asked. "I think, sir, we shall be through that wall of ice by then." "On which side?" I asked. "I will use my tools to find the thinnest side. My men will attack the iceberg there." I knew the third option that we should fear. Being crushed under a mound of ice was always on my mind. I didn't need him to remind me. Captain Nemo went out. I felt the ship sink slowly and rest on the ice at a depth of three hundred and fifty yards.

船。这艘船上有足够的食物供应，可以撑过任何灾难。” 我没有想过这些，所以听到这些话并没有让我感觉好一点。 “第二，我知道你们都想过空气耗尽的可能性。 这是不应该害怕的。 我们船上的空气可以供应四十八小时。” “但是，船长，在那之后会发生什么呢？”我问。 “我想，先生，到那时我们已经穿过那堵冰墙了。” “哪一边？”我问。“我会用我的工具找到最薄的一面。 我的人会攻击那里的冰山。” 我知道我们应该害怕的第三种选择。 被一堆冰压扁的感觉一直萦绕在我的脑海里。 我不需要他提醒我。 尼摩船长走了出去。我感到船慢慢下沉，停在350码深的冰面上。

"My friends," I said, "our situation is serious. But I know you will show me courage." Every person on board was ready to show that courage. We prepared ourselves in cork- jackets. A dozen of the crew at a time stepped out on the bank of ice with their pickaxes. After two hours' hard work, Ned and the others came in exhausted. He and that crew were replaced with new workers whom Conseil and I joined. The water seemed very cold, but I soon got warm from swinging the ax. When I went back into the Nautilus to get some food and rest, I found a big difference in the air. It was harder to breathe in the ship. The air had not been refreshed in two days. Already I could feel the difference. I shivered, thinking about the hours to come. After twelve hours of work, we had only broken through one yard of the ice! At this pace it would take five nights and four days to break through completely. But we only had air enough for two days on the ship! We would run out of

“我的朋友们，”我说，“我们的情况很严重。 但我知道你会给我勇气的。” 船上的每个人都准备表现出这种勇气。 我们穿上了软木夹克衫。 一次有十几个船员拿着鹤嘴锄走到冰面上。 经过两个小时的艰苦工作，奈德和其他人精疲力竭地回来了。 代替他和他的船员的，是康塞尔和我加入的新工人。 水似乎很冷，但我挥动斧头很快就暖和了起来。 当我回到诺第留斯号去吃点东西，休息一下的时候，我发现空气有很大的不同。 在船上很难呼吸。 空气已经两天没有变新鲜了。 我已经能感觉到不同了。 我颤抖着，想着未来的时光。 经过十二个小时的工作，我们只凿开了一码的冰！按照这样的速度，要彻底突破需要5夜4天。 但是我们在船上的空气只够用两天！我们会用完

air long before the Nautilus could ever get to the surface. We all kept up our work without complaining or thinking of the awful things that could lie ahead. At least when you were swinging the pickax, you felt as if you were helping. You also felt as if you were alive. This was where the breathable air was. These were the men who needed the pure air most. When one went for break inside the vessel, it was hard to believe the difference in the air. I could hardly catch my breath. The chemicals we breathed out had no place to go within the ship. We were simply breathing our own air back in. There should have been some pure air pumped into the Nautilus, but this was not possible. For days, we lived with the fact that the air was slowly being taken away from us. The men continued to dig in shifts to break through the ice wall. Of course we had slowed down. Our bodies were weak and our only thoughts were of air.

在诺第留斯号浮到水面以前，它就一直处于空气中。 我们都继续工作，没有抱怨，也没有想到前方可能发生的可怕的事情。 至少当你挥动鹤嘴锄的时候，你觉得你是在帮忙。 你还觉得自己好像还活着。 这里有可呼吸的空气。 这些人最需要纯净的空气。 当一个人在船内休息时，很难相信空气中的差异。 我几乎喘不过气来。 我们呼出的化学物质在船上无处可去。 我们只是吸回了自己的空气。 应该给诺第留斯号注入一些纯净的空气，但这是不可能的。 几天来，我们生活在空气正在慢慢被抽走的现实中。 工人们继续轮流挖破冰墙。 我们当然放慢了速度。 我们的身体很虚弱，脑子里只有空气。

Captain Nemo was forced to think beyond his original plan. Even in his sorry condition, the man thought quickly and came up with bright ideas. One of his tricks was to use jets of boiling water to raise the temperature in this part of the sea. Another action, which probably saved our lives in the end, was to lighten the ship. He then filled its storage area with water. The weight of the Nautilus was now eighteen hundred tons. The ice beneath us cracked and the ship sank. The pumps soon began to let the water out of the ship. As it got lighter, the Nautilus began to move at a very fast pace. It tore through the water, shooting forward like a bullet onto the icy field. We blasted through to the surface and tasted the salty sea air that we had been dreaming about for days. That was the closest I ever came to dying.

尼摩船长不得不改变他原来的计划。 即使在他可怜的情况下，这个人思维敏捷，想出了很多好主意。 他的诀窍之一是用沸腾的水柱来提高这片海域的温度。 另一个可能最后救了我们一命的行动是减轻船的重量。 然后他把它的储存区域装满了水。 现在诺第留斯号的重量是一千八百吨。 我们脚下的冰裂开了，船下沉了。 水泵很快开始把船上的水放出来。 随着太阳越来越轻，诺第留斯号开始飞快地移动。 它穿过水面，像一颗子弹一样射向冰冷的田野。 我们冲到海面上，呼吸着我们梦想了好几天的咸咸的海风。 那是我离死亡最近的一次。