海底两万里(含盘) 节选

bsp; CHAPTER FOUR
A Walk Under Water
We did not speak or move. Suddenly we heard a noise as if something
was being pulled back and lights appeared on both sides of the saloon.
We could see water all around us.
"Only two plates of glass separate us from death!" I gasped.
We leaned against the windows, filled with amazement.
"How strange!" Ned muttered. And for a moment, he forgot his
anger and his need to escape.
For two hours, we watched the sea creatures around us. They leapt
and splashed, each one faster and more graceful than the last. I had
never seen them before in their natural setting. Then, suddenly, the
panels closed again and all that beauty vanished.
We did not see Captain Nemo for a week. Then, on the eighth
day, this note appeared in my cabin:
Professor Aronnax
The Nautilus
16th November, 1867
Captain Nemo invites you and your friends to visit the forests of
the Island of Crespo tomorrow morning.
Captain Nemo
"So we must be near land," I said.
"Good!" Ned cried. "I can hunt fresh meat at last."
But Ned was disappointed when we went to meet Captain Nemo.
"My island is under the sea," he explained to us.
"Then I shall not come with you," Ned replied.
"The captain must be mad!" I thought. "Divers have to stay close
to their ships so that air can be pumped into their helmets."
Captain Nemo noticed the look of surprise on my face. "1 have
found a way to carry air on our backs," he explained. "It will last for
ten hours. And I have special suits and helmets to protect us. Now it is
time to put them on."
"We are thirty feet under water," I said. "How do we get
outside ?"
When we were ready, Captain Nemo led us into a small room. A
door closed behind us and I felt the water rising over me. As soon as the
room was full, a second door opened and, minutes later, our feet were
touching the bottom of the ocean.
Words are not enough to describe our walk that day. The light that
filtered down to us was amazingly strong and it was reflected in the
flowers, rocks and shells. It was a beautiful sight and a feast of colour.
The Forest of Crespo was full of large plants like trees, all growing
straight towards the surface. They did not have any roots, but took their
food from the water. They had brightly coloured blades instead of
leaves.
We were very tired as we made our way back to the Nautilus. I was
on the point of collapse when we saw its lights gleaming ahead.
Suddenly, Captain Nemo turned round and pushed me to the ground. I
raised my head to look and my blood froze in my veins. I was staring at
the terrible jaws of two sharks. Fortunately, they had not seen us. We
escaped death by a miracle. Half an hour later, guided by the beam of
light, we were safely on board the Nautilus.
During the days and weeks that followed, I hardly saw Captain
Nemo, but one of the crew marked the ship's course on the charts, so
that I alwaysknew where we were. The glass panels of the room were
kept open and we never tired of seeing the beauty of the underwater
world.
By the beginning of January, I calculated that we had travelled
11,340 miles, or 5,250 leagues, since we had left Japan. Now we were
cruising through the dangerous waters of the Coral Sea, northeast of
Australia. To reach the Indian Ocean, we had to travel through one of
the most dangerous stretches of water in the world — the Torres Strait.
We entered the narrow passage where the water foamed and seethed
around us, but we seemed to slip through as if by magic —until we came
to a part known as the Evil Channel. There the Nautilus struck a coral
reef off the coast of an island.