Captain? I said.

“船长？”我说。

He didn't reply. I left him and climbed onto the platform. Conseil and the Canadian were already there.

船长没有回答。我于是离开他，登上平台。康塞尔和加拿大人已经在我之前到了那里。

What caused that explosion? I asked.

“爆炸声是哪里来的？”我问。

A cannon going off, Ned Land replied.

“一声炮响。”尼德·兰回答说。

I stared in the direction of the ship I had spotted. It was heading toward the Nautilus, and you could tell it had put on steam. Six miles separated it from us.

我朝我先前看到的那艘船的方向望去。那艘船已经向“鹦鹉螺号”靠近，我们可以从它喷出的蒸汽看到它正加大马力。我们之间相隔只有6海里。

What sort of craft is it, Ned?

“那是什么船，尼德？”

From its rigging and its low masts, the Canadian replied, "I bet it's a warship. Here's hoping it pulls up and sinks this damned Nautilus!"

“从帆缆索具和桅杆高度看，”加拿大人回答说，“我敢打赌那是一艘战舰。它能追上我们，而且在必要时，将这该死的‘鹦鹉螺号’击沉！”

Ned my friend, Conseil replied, "what harm could it do the Nautilus? Will it attack us under the waves? Will it cannonade us at the bottom of the sea?"

“尼德朋友，”康塞尔回答说，“它能对‘鹦鹉螺号’造成什么损害？它能在水下攻击吗？它能在水下开炮吗？”

Tell me, Ned, I asked, "can you make out the nationality of that craft?"

“告诉我，尼德，”我问，“您能不能辨别出这艘船的国籍？”

Creasing his brow, lowering his lids, and puckering the corners of his eyes, the Canadian focused the full power of his gaze on the ship for a short while.

加拿大人紧蹙双眉，耷下眼睑，眼睛眯成一条线，全神贯注地盯了一会那艘船。

No, sir, he replied. "I can't make out what nation it's from. It's flying no flag. But I'll swear it's a warship, because there's a long pennant streaming from the peak of its mainmast."

“不，先生，”他回答，“我看不出它是属于哪个国家的。它的旗没有挂起来。但我能肯定那是一艘战舰，因为它的大桅杆顶端飘着一面长长的战旗。”

For a quarter of an hour, we continued to watch the craft bearing down on us.

我们继续观察了一刻钟这艘正朝着我们开过来的船只。