he captain understood and gave me a signal to follow him. We returned on board. My diving suit removed, I went with him to the lounge."Professor Aronnax," he told me, "this calls for heroic measures, or we'll be sealed up in this solidified water as if it were cement.""Yes!" I said. "But what can we do?""Oh," he exclaimed, "if only my Nautilus were strong enough to stand that much pressure without being crushed!""Well?" I asked, not catching the captain's meaning.

船长明白我的意思，做个手势，要我跟着他走。我们回到船上。我的潜水衣脱下后，我随他到客厅中。“阿龙纳斯先生，”他对我说，“我们要使用些特殊奇妙的方法，不然的话，我们就要被封在这凝固的冰中，像被封在洋灰中那样。”“对！”我说，“但怎么办呢？”“啊！”他喊道，“我的诺第留斯号是不是有足够力量，可以支持这种压力，不至被压扁呢？”“那么将怎样呢？”我问。我不明白船长的意思。

Don't you understand, he went on, "that the congealing of this water could come to our rescue? Don't you see that by solidifying, it could burst these tracts of ice imprisoning us, just as its freezing can burst the hardest stones? Aren't you aware that this force could be the instrument of our salvation rather than our destruction?""Yes, captain, maybe so. But whatever resistance to crushing the Nautilus may have, it still couldn't stand such dreadful pressures, and it would be squashed as flat as a piece of sheet iron."

“您不明白这水的冻结作用可以帮助我们！您没有看见因为水的凝固，它可以炸开那困住我们的冰场，就像它在冰冻的时候，它可以炸开最坚硬的石头那样！您没有觉得它并不是毁灭人的力量，而是拯救人的力量！”“对，船长，或者是这样。但是，不管诺第留斯号有怎样的抵抗力，它不可能支持那种大得怕人的压力，”它要被压扁，像一片钢叶了。”

I know it, sir. So we can't rely on nature to rescue us, only our own efforts. We must counteract this solidification. We must hold it in check. Not only are the side walls closing in, but there aren't ten feet of water ahead or astern of the Nautilus. All around us, this freeze is gaining fast.

“先生，我知道这点。那么，我们不能指望大自然的帮助，要完全依靠我们自己了。那就得反抗这种凝固作用，就得消除它。不单是两侧的冰壁愈来愈紧了，而且诺第留斯号的前头或后面也没有剩下十英尺水了。凝固作用是从各方面向我们进攻了。”

How long, I asked, "will the oxygen in the air tanks enable us to breathe on board?"The captain looked me straight in the eye."After tomorrow," he said, "the air tanks will be empty!"I broke out in a cold sweat. But why should I have been startled by this reply? On March 22 the Nautilus had dived under the open waters at the pole. It was now the 26th. We had lived off the ship's stores for five days! And all remaining breathableair had to be saved for the workmen. Even today as I write these lines, my sensations are so intense that aninvoluntary terror sweeps over me, and my lungs still seem short of air!

储藏库中的空气，可以我们在船上呼吸多少时候？"我问船长跟我面面相觑地说“后天，储藏库就空了！”我出了一身冷汗。不过，对他的回答我还用得着诧异吗？3月22日，诺第留斯号潜入南极流畅的水底下。今天是26，五天以来，我们生活的空气就完全依靠船上的储藏了！而这留下可以呼吸的空气又要保留给工作人员。就是我现在写这些事件的时候，我的印象还是十分深刻，我全身发生一种自然而然的恐怖，好像我的肺叶中是没有空气了！

Meanwhile, motionless and silent, Captain Nemo stood lost in thought. An idea visibly crossed his mind. But he seemed to brush it aside. He told himself no. At last these words escaped his lips:"Boiling water!" he muttered."Boiling water?" I exclaimed."Yes, sir. We're shut up in a relatively confined area. If the Nautilus's pumps continually injected streams of boiling water into this space, wouldn't that raise its temperature and delay its freezing?""It's worth trying!" I said resolutely."So let's try it, professor."

可是，尼摩船长在那里思考，一言不发，站着不动。显然是他心中有了一个主意。但他好像又不接受。他自己给了否定的答复。后来，他嘴里说出这话来，他低声说：“开水？”我问。“是的，先生。我们是被关在一个相当窄的空间里面。开水喷射，不断从诺第留斯号的抽水机放出来，不是可以提高这空间的温度，延缓水的冻结吗？”“这要试一试。”我坚定他说。“我们要试一试，教授。”