I RUSHED UP onto the platform.

我飞跑到平台上去。

Yes, open sea!

是的！自由通行的海。

Barely a few sparse floes, some moving icebergs; a sea stretching into the distance; hosts of birds in the air and myriads of fish under the waters, which varied from intense blue to olive green depending on the depth.

近边只有一些散乱的冰块和浮为的冰层，远方一片大海，空中是群鸟世界；水底下有千亿万的鱼类，水的颜色随深浅的不同，现出从深浓的靛蓝至橄览的青绿。

The thermometer marked 3 degrees centigrade.

温度表指着摄氏三度。

It was as if a comparative springtime had been locked up behind that Ice Bank, whose distant masses were outlined on the northern horizon.

对被关在这冰山后的天气来说，这好像是相对的春天，远远的冰群在北方天际露出面影。

Are we at the pole? I asked the captain, my heart pounding.

我们是在南极吗？我问船长，同时心跳动不止。

I've no idea, he answered me. At noon we'll fix our position.

我不知道。他回答我。中午我没来测量方位。

But will the sun show through this mist?

可是，太陽能穿过这些云雾吗？

I said, staring at the grayish sky.

我眼看着灰色的天空说。

No matter how faintly it shines, it will be enough for me, the captain replied.

只要露出一点就够了。船长回答。

To the south, ten miles from the Nautilus, a solitary islet rose to a height of 200 meters.

距诺第留斯号南方二海里，有一座孤立的小岛浮出，高两百米。

We proceeded toward it, but cautiously, because this sea could have been strewn with reefs.

我们向小岛走去，但很小心，因为这海中可能各处都有暗礁。

In an hour we had reached the islet.

一小时后，我们到达小岛。

Two hours later we had completed a full circle around it.

又过两小时，我们就绕了小岛一周。

It measured four to five miles in circumference.

它周围四海里至五海里长。

A narrow channel separated it from a considerable shore, perhaps a continent whose limits we couldn't see.

一条狭窄水道把它跟一片广大陆地分开，或者这是一个大洲，我们还不能望见它的界限。