IT WAS THE ship's commander who had just spoken.

说这诺的人正是这船的船长。

At these words Ned Land stood up quickly. Nearly strangled, the steward staggered out at a signal from his superior;

尼德·兰听到这些话，立刻站了起来。侍者被掐得半死不活，看见他的主人一招手，

but such was the commander's authority aboard his vessel,

便蹒跚地走出去了，

not one gesture gave away the resentment that this man must have felt toward the Canadian.

一点也没有流露他对加拿大人的愤恨，

In silence we waited for the outcome of this scene; Conseil, in spite of himself, seemed almost fascinated, I was stunned.

这说明了船长在船上有很高的威信。康塞尔不禁有点奇怪，我也吓得发愣，我们默默等待这事的结局。

Arms crossed, leaning against a corner of the table, the commander studied us with great care.

船长交叉着两手，靠着桌子的一角，注意地观察我们。

Was he reluctant to speak further? Did he regret those words he had just pronounced in French?

他不说话，是因为有顾虑吗?他后悔刚才不该用法语说那些话吗?

You would have thought so.

我们不妨这样设想。

After a few moments of silence, which none of us would have dreamed of interrupting:

我们谁也不想打破沉默，过了一会儿，他才用很镇定。很感动人的声调说：