An isolated rock, thirty feet in length, twenty in breadth, scarcely ten from the water’s edge, such was the only solid point which the waves of the Pacific had not engulfed.
It was all that remained of the structure of Granite House! The wall had fallen headlong and been then shattered to fragments, and a few of the rocks of the large room were piled one above another to form this point. All around had disappeared in the abyss; the inferior cone of Mount Franklin, rent asunder by the explosion; the lava jaws of Shark Gulf, the plateau of Prospect Heights, Safety Islet, the granite rocks of Port Balloon, the basalts of Dakkar Grotto, the long Serpentine Peninsula, so distant nevertheless from the center of the eruption. All that could now be seen of Lincoln Island was the narrow rock which now served as a refuge to the six colonists and their dog Top.
The animals had also perished in the catastrophe; the birds, as well as those representing the fauna of the island--all either crushed or drowned, and the unfortunate Jup himself had, alas! found his death in some crevice of the soil.
If Cyrus Harding, Gideon Spilett, Herbert, Pencroft, Neb, and Ayrton had survived, it was because, assembled under their tent, they had been hurled into the sea at the instant when the fragments of the island rained down on every side.
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当他们浮到水面上来的时候,只看见半锚链以外有这么一堆石头,于是他们就游过来,在上面站住了脚。
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5
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When they reached the surface they could only perceive, at half a cable’s length, this mass of rocks, towards which they swam and on which they found footing.
On this barren rock they had now existed for nine days. A few provisions taken from the magazine of Granite House before the catastrophe, a little fresh water from the rain which had fallen in a hollow of the rock, was all that the unfortunate colonists possessed. Their last hope, the vessel, had been shattered to pieces. They had no means of quitting the reef; no fire, nor any means of obtaining it. It seemed that they must inevitably perish.
This day, the 18th of March, there remained only provisions for two days, although they limited their consumption to the bare necessaries of life. All their science and intelligence could avail them nothing in their present position. They were in the hand of God.
Cyrus Harding was calm, Gideon Spilett more nervous, and Pencroft, a prey to sullen anger, walked to and fro on the rock. Herbert did not for a moment quit the engineer’s side, as if demanding from him that assistance he had no power to give. Neb and Ayrton were resigned to their fate.
"Ah, what a misfortune! what a misfortune!" often repeated Pencroft. "If we had but a walnut-shell to take us to Tabor Island! But we have nothing, nothing!"
During the five ensuing days Cyrus Harding and his unfortunate companions husbanded their provisions with the most extreme care, eating only what would prevent them from dying of starvation. Their weakness was extreme. Herbert and Neb began to show symptoms of delirium.
Under these circumstances was it possible for them to retain even the shadow of a hope? No! What was their sole remaining chance? That a vessel should appear in sight of the rock? But they knew only too well from experience that no ships ever visited this part of the Pacific. Could they calculate that, by a truly providential coincidence, the Scotch yacht would arrive precisely at this time in search of Ayrton at Tabor Island? It was scarcely probable; and, besides, supposing she should come there, as the colonists had not been able to deposit a notice pointing out Ayrton’s change of abode, the commander of the yacht, after having explored Tabor Island without results, would again set sail and return to lower latitudes.
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13
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不!不可能有得救的希望了。他们只能在这堆岩石上等待着可怕的死亡,等待着饥渴来结束他们的生命。
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No! no hope of being saved could be retained, and a horrible death, death from hunger and thirst, awaited them upon this rock.
Already they were stretched on the rock, inanimate, and no longer conscious of what passed around them. Ayrton alone, by a supreme effort, from time to time raised his head, and cast a despairing glance over the desert ocean.
But on the morning of the 24th of March Ayrton’s arms were extended toward a point in the horizon; he raised himself, at first on his knees, then upright, and his hand seemed to make a signal.
A sail was in sight off the rock. She was evidently not without an object. The reef was the mark for which she was making in a direct line, under all steam, and the unfortunate colonists might have made her out some hours before if they had had the strength to watch the horizon.
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17
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“邓肯号!”艾尔通喃喃地说了一声,随后他就不省人事地倒在石头上了。
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"The ’Duncan’!" murmured Ayrton--and fell back without sign of life.
When Cyrus Harding and his companions recovered consciousness, thanks to the attention lavished upon them, they found themselves in the cabin of a steamer, without being able to comprehend how they had escaped death.
It was, in fact, the "Duncan," Lord Glenarvan’s yacht, now commanded by Robert, son of Captain Grant, who had been despatched to Tabor Island to find Ayrton, and bring him back to his native land alter twelve years of expiation.
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居民们不仅被救活了,而且正在回国的途中。
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The colonists were not only saved, but already on the way to their native country.
"Captain Grant," asked Cyrus Harding, "who can have suggested to you the idea, after having left Tabor Island, where you did not find Ayrton, of coming a hundred miles farther northeast?"
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“史密斯先生,”罗伯尔·格兰特回答说,“这不仅是为了来找艾尔通,而且还是为了找你和你的伙伴。”
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"Captain Harding," replied Robert Grant, "it was in order to find, not only Ayrton, but yourself and your companions."
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“我和我的伙伴?”
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"My companions and myself?"
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“毫无疑问,你们是在林肯岛的。”
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"Doubtless, at Lincoln Island."
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“在林肯岛?”吉丁·史佩莱、赫伯特、纳布和潘克洛夫十分诧异地一齐叫了起来。
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"At Lincoln Island!" exclaimed in a breath Gideon Spilett, Herbert, Neb, and Pencroft, in the highest degree astonished.
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“你怎么会知道有个林肯岛的呢?”赛勒斯·史密斯问道,“连航海地图上都没有它的位置。”
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"How could you be aware of the existence of Lincoln Island?" inquired Cyrus Harding, "it is not even named in the charts."
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30
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“我是看了你们留在达抱岛的那封信才知道的。”罗伯尔·格兰特说。
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"I knew of it from a document left by you on Tabor Island," answered Robert Grant.
"Without doubt, and here it is," answered Robert Grant, producing a paper which indicated the longitude and latitude of Lincoln Island, "the present residence of Ayrton and five American colonists."
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赛勒斯·史密斯看了以后,发现笔迹和畜栏里那张纸条上的一样,于是叫道:“是尼摩船长写的!”
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"It is Captain Nemo!" cried Cyrus Harding, after having read the notice, and recognized that the handwriting was similar to that of the paper found at the corral.
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“啊!”潘克洛夫说,“原来是他驾着我们的乘风破浪号,一个人冒险到达抱岛去的!”
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"Ah!" said Pencroft, "it was then he who took our ’Bonadventure’ and hazarded himself alone to go to Tabor Island!"
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“就为了去送这封信。”赫伯特补充道。
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"In order to leave this notice," added Herbert.
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“怎么样,我没有说错,”水手大声说,“船长死了以后,还给我们尽了最后的一次义务。”
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"I was then right in saying," exclaimed the sailor, "that even after his death the captain would render us a last service."
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“朋友们!”赛勒斯·史密斯非常激动地说,“但愿仁慈的上帝怜悯我们的恩人尼摩船长的灵魂!”
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"My friends," said Cyrus Harding, in a voice of the profoundest emotion, "may the God of mercy have had pity on the soul of Captain Nemo, our benefactor."
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赛勒斯·史密斯说到最后,居民们都摘下帽子来,喃喃地念着尼摩船长的名字。
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The colonists uncovered themselves at these last words of Cyrus Harding, and murmured the name of Captain Nemo.
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39
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然后艾尔通走到工程师身边,简单地说,“这只保险箱放到哪儿去呢?”
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Then Ayrton, approaching the engineer, said simply, "Where should this coffer be deposited?"
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在荒岛下沉的时候,艾尔通冒着生命危险把这只保险箱保全下来了。现在他忠实地把它交给了工程师。
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It was the coffer which Ayrton had saved at the risk of his life, at the very instant that the island had been engulfed, and which he now faithfully handed to the engineer.
Of the treasures contained in the coffer left by Captain Nemo to the colonists of Lincoln Island, the larger portion was employed in the purchase of a vast territory in the State of Iowa. One pearl alone, the finest, was reserved from the treasure and sent to Lady Glenarvan in the name of the castaways restored to their country by the "Duncan."
There, upon this domain, the colonists invited to labor, that is to say, to wealth and happiness, all those to whom they had hoped to offer the hospitality of Lincoln Island. There was founded a vast colony to which they gave the name of that island sunk beneath the waters of the Pacific. A river there was called the Mercy, a mountain took the name of Mount Franklin, a small lake was named Lake Grant, and the forests became the forests of the Far West. It might have been an island on terra firma.