I was afraid to ask, I replied. 我不敢请求您，我正是求之不得呢！我回答说。

Come along, then. This way, you'll learn the full story about this combination underwater and underground navigating. 那么，请来吧。您这样就可以看见，这次同时是地下又是海底航行的一切情况。

Captain Nemo led me to the central companionway. In midstair he opened a door, went along the upper gangways, and arrived at the wheelhouse, which, as you know, stands at one end of the platform. 尼摩船长领我到中央楼梯，在楼梯栏杆的中腰，他打开一扇门，沿上层的长廊走去，到了领航人的笼间里，上面说过，这笼间在平台的前方尖端。

It was a cabin measuring six feet square and closely resembling those occupied by the helmsmen of steamboats on the Mississippi or Hudson rivers.  那是一门每面有六英尺宽的小舱房，跟密西西比…和哈得逊河汽船上领航人所占的笼问差不多一样。

In the center stood an upright wheel geared to rudder cables running to the Nautilus's stern.  舱房中间，有一架垂直放着的机轮转动，轮齿接在舵缆上，缆直通到比第留斯号的后面。

Set in the cabin's walls were four deadlights, windows of biconvex glass that enabled the man at the helm to see in every direction. 叼个装上两面凸镜片的船窗，缺在舱间的复壁上，使守舵人四面八方都可以看见。

The cabin was dark; but my eyes soon grew accustomed to its darkness and I saw the pilot, a muscular man whose hands rested on the pegs of the wheel.  这笼间是黑暗的，但我的眼睛不久就习惯了这种黑暗，我看见里面的领肮人。他很精壮，两手扶住机轮的车辆。

Outside, the sea was brightly lit by the beacon shining behind the cabin at the other end of the platform. 在外面，平台上另一端的探照灯在笼间后面照耀，光映海面，分外明亮。

Now, Captain Nemo said, let's look for our passageway. 现在，尼摩船长说，我们来找地道吧。

Electric wires linked the pilothouse with the engine room, and from this cabin the captain could simultaneously signal heading and speed to his Nautilus.  有好些电线把领肮人的笼间跟机器房接连，从笼间里面，船长同时可以对诺第留斯号发出航行方向和速度快慢的指示。

He pressed a metal button and at once the propeller slowed down significantly. 他按一下金属钮，机轮的速度就立即减低。

I stared in silence at the high, sheer wall we were skirting just then, the firm base of the sandy mountains on the coast.  我默默地注视我们此刻走过的十分陡峭险峻的高墙，

For an hour we went along it in this fashion, staying only a few meters away.  这是沿海高厚沙地的坚牢基矗我们在一个钟头内沿着这座高墙走，相距只不过几米，

Captain Nemo never took his eyes off the two concentric circles of the compass hanging in the cabin.  尼摩船长两眼不离那个挂在笼间，有两个大小同心圆的罗盘，

At a mere gesture from him, the helmsman would instantly change the Nautilus's heading. 看他做一个手势，领航人就每时每刻改变诺第留斯号行驶的方向。