第二册第15篇：到太平洋底的旅行

15 Journey To The Bottoms Of The Pacific Ocean 到太平洋底的旅行

L.G. Alexander L．G．亚历山大



The journey two naval 1 officers made some time ago to the very deepest point on the earth makes us realize how much of the world still remains 2 to be explored. The two men went down seven miles to the bottoms of the Pacific Ocean inside a small steel ball called a 'bathyscaphe'(1) to find out if there are any ocean currents(2) or signs of life. Above the ball there was a special tank full of petrol which was slowly emptied(3) into the water to make the bathyscaphe heavy enough to complete its journey.

不久前，两位海军军官到地球表面上最深处所作的旅行，使我们意识到世界上还有多么多的地方依然有待于探索。这两个人在一只叫做"深海潜水器"的小钢球内，下沉七英里到达太平洋底部，为了探明那里是否有洋流和生命迹象。球的上端有一只特制的装满汽油的箱子。汽油被慢慢地注入水中，使深海潜水器能够有足够的重量下沉以完成它的海底旅行。



It was necessary to set out early, so that the bathyscaphe would come to the surface in daylight, and so be easily found by the mother ship(4) which would be waiting for it. The divers 3 began preparations at dawn and soon afterwards, when all was ready, the steel ball disappeared under the surface of the water.

出发必须很早，以便潜水器在天还亮着时能回到海面，这样就容易为等候在水面的母舰发现。天刚破晓，潜水员们就开始准备，不久，一切准备就绪，钢球就在水面上消失了。



The divers felt as if they were going down steps as they passed through warm and cold layers of water(5). In time(6), the temperature dropped to freezing-point and the men shivered 4 inside the ball. They kept in touch with the mother ship by telephone describing how they felt. Then, at a depth of 3,000 feet, the telephone stopped working and they were quite cut off from the outside world. All went well until some four hours later at 30,000 feet, the men were startled 5 by a loud, cracking noise: even the smallest hole in the ball would have meant instant death. Luckily, though, it was only one of the outer windows that had broken. Soon afterwards, the bathyscaphe touched the soft ocean floor raising a big cloud of 'dust' made up of small, dead sea-creatures. Here, powerful lights lit up the dark water and the men were surprised to see fish swimming just above them quite untroubled by the enormous 6 water-pressure. But they did not dare to leave the lights on for long, as the heat from them made the water boil. Quite unexpectedly 7, the telephone began working again and the faint but clear voices of the officers were heard on the mother ship seven miles away. After a stay of thirty minutes the men began their journey up, arriving three hours later, cold and wet through, but none the worse(7) for theirexperience.

潜水员们在穿过暖水层和冷水层的时候，感到仿佛是在下梯级。后来水温降到了冰点，这两人在球内冷得发抖。他们通过电话与母舰保持联系，随时详细报告他们的感觉。接着，在三千英尺深处，电话突然中断，他们与外界完全失去了联系。一切都很顺利，直到四个钟头以后，在三万英尺水下，潜水员们被一声很响的爆裂声吓了一跳：球上那怕出现极小的洞都意味着立即死亡。不过还算幸运，只是外层的一扇窗碎了。不久，深海潜水器触到松软的海底，顿时扬起了一大团由小小的海生动物遗骸组成的"尘埃"。这时，强烈的灯光把黑沉沉的海水照亮了，他们惊讶地看到鱼儿在他们上面游动，完全不受巨大的水压的干扰。可是他们不敢把灯开得太久，因为灯光的热量使海水沸腾。完全出乎意料地电话又通了，七英里外的母舰上又能听到这两个军官的轻微然而清晰的声音了。在海底逗留三十分钟以后，他们开始返回，三小时后到达水面，冷得要命，浑身湿透，可是这次经历并没有使他们受到丝毫损伤。

 

英文注释：

(1) bathyscaphe: 深海潜水器。

(2) ocean currents: 洋流，海流。

(3)was slowly emptied：慢慢地倒光。

(4)the mother ship：(海军)母舰。

(5)warm and cold layers of water；暖冷水层。

(6)in time：终于，最后。               

(7)none the worse；并不因此而稍差。