評論
打印
I stared at Ned Land, whose motives were easy to guess.
我眼光盯著尼德·蘭，他的意圖很容易了解。
Because, I said, if I can trust my hunches, if I truly understand the captain's way of life, his Nautilus isn't simply a ship.
因為，我說，據我所有的推想，據我所了解的船長的生活，諾第留斯號不僅僅是一只船。
It's meant to be a refuge for people like its commander, people who have severed all ties with the shore.
跟它的船長一樣，它對于與陸地斷絕了所有關系的人們來說，又是一個躲藏處。
Perhaps, Conseil said, but in a nutshell, the Nautilus can hold only a certain number of men, so couldn't master estimate their maximum?
可能是這樣，康塞爾說，不過諾第留斯號只能收容一定數目的人，先生可以估計一下它的最大數目嗎？
How, Conseil?
康塞爾，你這話怎么說？
By calculating it. Master is familiar with the ship's capacity, hence the amount of air it contains;
就是用算法來估計。根據先生所知道的這船的容積。可以知道它含有多少空氣，
on the other hand, master knows how much air each man consumes in the act of breathing, and he can compare this data with the fact that the Nautilus must rise to the surface every twenty-four hours . . .
另一方面又知道每個人的呼吸作用所消費的空氣，將這些結果跟諾第留斯號每二十四小時必須浮上水面來調換空氣相比較。
Conseil didn't finish his sentence, but I could easily see what he was driving at.
康塞爾沒有把話說完，但我很明白他指的是什么。
I follow you, I said. But while they're simple to do, such calculations can give only a very uncertain figure.
我了解你的意思，我說，并且這種計算也很容易做到，然而那只是一個很不確實的數字。
No problem, the Canadian went on insistently.
那沒關系。尼德蘭堅持著又說。
Then here's how to calculate it, I replied. In one hour each man consumes the oxygen contained in 100 liters of air, hence during twenty-four hours the oxygen contained in 2,400 liters.
下面就是對于這問題的算法，我回答，每個人每小時消費一百升·空氣中含有的氧，二十四小時就消費二千四百升含有的氧。
Therefore, we must look for the multiple of 2,400 liters of air that gives us the amount found in the Nautilus.
這樣就可以求出諾第留斯號含有多少倍的二千四百升空氣來。
Precisely, Conseil said.
正是。康塞爾說。
Now then, I went on, the Nautilus's capacity is 1,500 metric tons, and that of a ton is 1,000 liters, so the Nautilus holds 1,500,000 liters of air, which, divided by 2,400 . . .
可是，我又說，諾第留斯號的容積是一千五百噸，一噸的容積是一千升，諾第留斯號含有一百五十萬升的空氣，拿二千四百來除…
I did a quick pencil calculation.
我用鉛筆很快地計算。
