第一章 飞走的暗礁

　　THE YEAR 1866 was marked by a bizarre development, an unexplained and downright inexplicable phenomenon that surely no one has forgotten.

　　人们一定还记得1866年海上发生的一件离奇的、神秘的、无法解释的怪事。

　　Without getting into those rumors that upset civilians in the seaports and deranged the public mind even far inland,

　　且不说当时哄动沿海居民和世界舆论的各种传闻，

　　it must be said that professional seamen were especially alarmed.

　　这里只说一般航海人员特别激动的心情。

　　Traders, shipowners, captains of vessels, skippers, and master mariners from Europe and America, naval officers from every country, and at their heels the various national governments on these two continents, were all extremely disturbed by the business.

　　欧美的进出口商人、船长和船主、各国的海军官佐以及这两大洲的各国政府都非常注意这件事。

　　In essence, over a period of time several ships had encountered "an enormous thing" at sea, a long spindle-shaped object, sometimes giving off a phosphorescent glow, infinitely bigger and faster than any whale.

　　这事大体是这样：不久以前，好些大船在海上碰见了一一个“庞然大物”，一个很长的物体，形状很像纺锤，有时发出磷光，它的体积比鲸鱼大得多，行动起来也比鲸鱼快得多。

　　The relevant data on this apparition, as recorded in various logbooks, agreed pretty closely as to the structure of the object or creature in question, its unprecedented speed of movement, its startling locomotive power, and the unique vitality with which it seemed to be gifted.

　　关于这个东西的出现，许多航海日志所记下的事实，大致是相同的。如果这东西是鲸鱼类动物，那么它的体积：是大大超过了生物学家曾经加以分类的鲸鱼。