I stared at Ned Land, whose motives were easy to guess.

我眼光盯着尼德·兰，他的意图很容易了解。

Because, I said, if I can trust my hunches, if I truly understand the captain's way of life, his Nautilus isn't simply a ship.

因为，我说，据我所有的推想，据我所了解的船长的生活，诺第留斯号不仅仅是一只船。

It's meant to be a refuge for people like its commander, people who have severed all ties with the shore.

跟它的船长一样，它对于与陆地断绝了所有关系的人们来说，又是一个躲藏处。

Perhaps, Conseil said, but in a nutshell, the Nautilus can hold only a certain number of men, so couldn't master estimate their maximum?

可能是这样，康塞尔说，不过诺第留斯号只能收容一定数目的人，先生可以估计一下它的最大数目吗？

How, Conseil?

康塞尔，你这话怎么说？

By calculating it. Master is familiar with the ship's capacity, hence the amount of air it contains;

就是用算法来估计。根据先生所知道的这船的容积。可以知道它含有多少空气，

on the other hand, master knows how much air each man consumes in the act of breathing, and he can compare this data with the fact that the Nautilus must rise to the surface every twenty-four hours . . .

另一方面又知道每个人的呼吸作用所消费的空气，将这些结果跟诺第留斯号每二十四小时必须浮上水面来调换空气相比较。

Conseil didn't finish his sentence, but I could easily see what he was driving at.

康塞尔没有把话说完，但我很明白他指的是什么。

I follow you, I said. But while they're simple to do, such calculations can give only a very uncertain figure.

我了解你的意思，我说，并且这种计算也很容易做到，然而那只是一个很不确实的数字。

No problem, the Canadian went on insistently.

那没关系。尼德兰坚持着又说。

Then here's how to calculate it, I replied. In one hour each man consumes the oxygen contained in 100 liters of air, hence during twenty-four hours the oxygen contained in 2,400 liters.

下面就是对于这问题的算法，我回答，每个人每小时消费一百升·空气中含有的氧，二十四小时就消费二千四百升含有的氧。

Therefore, we must look for the multiple of 2,400 liters of air that gives us the amount found in the Nautilus.

这样就可以求出诺第留斯号含有多少倍的二千四百升空气来。

Precisely, Conseil said.

正是。康塞尔说。

Now then, I went on, the Nautilus's capacity is 1,500 metric tons, and that of a ton is 1,000 liters, so the Nautilus holds 1,500,000 liters of air, which, divided by 2,400……

可是，我又说，诺第留斯号的容积是一千五百吨，一吨的容积是一千升，诺第留斯号含有一百五十万升的空气，拿二千四百来除…

I did a quick pencil calculation.

我用铅笔很快地计算。