Chapter 18 The Devilfish

第十八 章鱼

For some days the Nautilus kept veering away from the American coast. It obviously didn't want to frequent the waves of the Gulf of Mexico or the Caribbean Sea. Yet there was no shortage of water under its keel, since the average depth of these seas is 1,800 meters; but these waterways, strewn with islands and plowed by steamers, probably didn't agree with Captain Nemo.

几天来，“鹦鹉螺号”船只总是一直避开美洲海岸，它显然不愿意出没在墨西哥湾或安第列斯海海面的水波上。然而，既然这一带的海水的平均深度有1800米，那就并不是因为这一带的海水浅得淹不到它船的龙骨而使它却步；而可能是这一带海域布满岛屿，又有汽轮来往，这对尼摩船长不适合。

On April 16 we raised Martinique and Guadalupe from a distance of about thirty miles. For one instant I could see their lofty peaks.

4月16日，我们望到了在30海里远处的马提尼克岛和加得鲁岛。有一阵子我还望见了岛上的高峰。

The Canadian was quite disheartened, having counted on putting his plans into execution in the gulf, either by reaching shore or by pulling alongside one of the many boats plying a coastal trade from one island to another. An escape attempt would have been quite feasible, assuming Ned Land managed to seize the skiff without the captain's knowledge. But in midocean it was unthinkable.

加拿大人本来指意在墨西哥湾实施他的逃跑计划，他打算或是逃到一块陆地上，或是爬上众多在两个岛屿之间沿海航行的船只中的一艘，但此时他非常地沮丧。如果在墨西哥湾，尼德·兰能趁尼摩船长不备夺取那只小艇，那逃跑计划是可以实现的。但现在在海洋里，他就想都不用想了。

The Canadian, Conseil, and I had a pretty long conversation on this subject. For six months we had been prisoners aboard the Nautilus. We had fared 17,000 leagues, and as Ned Land put it, there was no end in sight. So he made me a proposition I hadn't anticipated. We were to ask Captain Nemo this question straight out: didthe captain mean to keep us on board his vessel permanently?

我、加拿大人和康塞尔对这个问题已经谈论了很久。六个月来，我们一直是“鹦鹉螺号”船上的囚徒。而且我们已经走了17000里，就像尼德·兰说的，没有任何理由不结束这一切。于是他向我提出一个我意料不到的请求。那就是明确地向尼摩船长挑明这个问题：船长他想把我们永远留在他的船上吗？