《The Mysterious Island 神秘岛》Book 3 Chapter 20（在线收听）

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.

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!"

"Captain Nemo did right to die," said Neb.

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.

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.

"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.

A word from Ayrton explained everything.

"The 'Duncan'!" he murmured.

"The 'Duncan'!" exclaimed Cyrus Harding. And raising his hand to Heaven, he said, "Oh! Almighty God! mercifully hast Thou preserved us!"

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.

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?"

"Captain Harding," replied Robert Grant, "it was in order to find, not only Ayrton, but yourself and your companions."

"My companions and myself?"

"Doubtless, at Lincoln Island."

"At Lincoln Island!" exclaimed in a breath Gideon Spilett, Herbert, Neb, and Pencroft, in the highest degree astonished.

"How could you be aware of the existence of Lincoln Island?" inquired Cyrus Harding, "it is not even named in the charts."

"I knew of it from a document left by you on Tabor Island," answered Robert Grant.

"A document!" cried Gideon Spilett.

"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."

"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.

"Ah!" said Pencroft, "it was then he who took our 'Bonadventure' and hazarded himself alone to go to Tabor Island!"

"In order to leave this notice," added Herbert.

"I was then right in saying," exclaimed the sailor, "that even after his death the captain would render us a last service."

"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."

The colonists uncovered themselves at these last words of Cyrus Harding, and murmured the name of Captain Nemo.

Then Ayrton, approaching the engineer, said simply, "Where should this coffer be deposited?"

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.

"Ayrton! Ayrton!" said Cyrus Harding, deeply touched. Then, addressing Robert Grant, "Sir," he added, "you left behind you a criminal; you find in his place a man who has become honest by penitence, and whose hand I am proud to clasp in mine."

Robert Grant was now made acquainted with the strange history of Captain Nemo and the colonists of Lincoln Island. Then, observation being taken of what remained of this shoal, which must henceforward figure on the charts of the Pacific, the order was given to make all sail.

A few weeks afterwards the colonists landed in America, and found their country once more at peace alter the terrible conflict in which right and justice had triumphed.

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.

There, under the intelligent hands of the engineer and his companions, everything prospered. Not one of the former colonists of Lincoln Island was absent, for they had sworn to live always together. Neb was with his master; Ayrton was there ready to sacrifice himself for all; Pencroft was more a farmer than he had ever been a sailor; Herbert, who completed his studies under the superintendence of Cyrus Harding, and Gideon Spilett, who founded the New Lincoln Herald, the best-informed journal in the world.

There Cyrus Harding and his companions received at intervals visits from Lord and Lady Glenarvan, Captain John Mangles and his wife, the sister of Robert Grant, Robert Grant himself, Major McNab, and all those who had taken part in the history both of Captain Grant and Captain Nemo.

There, to conclude, all were happy, united in the present as they had been in the past; but never could they forget that island upon which they had arrived poor and friendless, that island which, during four years had supplied all their wants, and of which there remained but a fragment of granite washed by the waves of the Pacific, the tomb of him who had borne the name of Captain Nemo.

The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne 1874

一块孤立的岩石，三十英尺长，二十英尺宽，高出水面几乎还不到十英尺——这是唯一没被太平洋海水淹没的土地。

“花岗石宫”的废墟全在这里了！高大的石壁崩塌下来，砸成碎块，几块较大的岩石堆砌起来，形成这块陆地。被炸成两爿的富兰克林山的较低火山锥、鲨鱼湾的熔岩峡口、眺望岗的高地、安全岛、气球港的花岗石块、达卡洞的玄武岩，甚至连远离爆炸中心的又狭又长的盘蛇半岛也包括在内；所有周围的一切都消失在海洋深处了。林肯岛只剩下这条长方形的岩石，它现在成了六个居民加上托普的避难所。

牲畜都在这场灾难里死去了。鸟类和岛上的几种典型动物有的压死，有的淹死；令人叹息的是，不幸的杰普也被活活压死在地底下了！

赛勒斯·史密斯、吉丁·史佩莱、赫伯特、潘克洛夫、纳布和艾尔通这几个人并没有死，原来当时他们聚集在帐篷底下，在荒岛被炸得粉碎，然后象雨点般向四面八方落下来的时候，他们被抛到海里去了。

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。

他们在这堆光石头上巳经活了九天了。不幸的居民们只剩下在遭难以前从“花岗石宫”的仓库里带出来的一些粮食，再有就是岩石低洼处的一些雨水。他们最后的希望——新船——也已被砸得粉碎。他们没法离开这堆礁石：既没有火，也没有取火的方法。看样子他们是非死不可了。

虽然他们尽量节省粮食，每天所吃的只够勉强对付着活下来，但是到3月18日，到底只剩了两天的余粮。在这种情况下，他们全部的科学知识和智慧都没有用处了，只有上帝在掌握着他们的命运。

赛勒斯·史密斯还是那么沉着，吉丁·史佩莱就比较急躁不安了，潘克洛夫则憋着一肚子气，在礁石上走来走去。赫伯特一刻也不离开工程师，望着他，好象在向他求援（但是他也没有办法！）；纳布和艾尔通更是只好听天由命。

“唉，真倒楣！真倒楣！”潘克洛夫不住嘴地说。“要是能有一个核桃壳把我们载到达抱岛去也就好了！但是我们什么也没有，什么也没有！”

“尼摩船长死得倒是时候。”纳布说。

在这以后的五天里，赛勒斯·史密斯和他的伙伴们非常小心地节约他们的粮食，他们吃些东西只能使他们不至于饿死。他们的身体都十分软弱。赫伯特和纳布已经显出精神错乱的症状来了。

在这种情况下，他们还能保持一线希望吗？不能！他们还有什么机会呢？盼望有船进到礁石的视线范围里来吗？根据已往的经验，他们了解得很清楚，船只是从来不到太平洋的这一部分来的。要是恰好在这时候，苏格兰游船到达抱岛去找艾尔通，那可真是天意；他们能指望这一点吗？这简直是不可能的。再说，居民们并没把通知送到达抱岛说明艾尔通换了地址；因此，即使邓肯号真的到过那里，船长搜遍全岛也找不到，那时候他们准会回到纬度较低的地区去的。

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。

他们躺在礁石上只剩一口气了。周围发生什么事，他们也不知道。只有艾尔通有时候还用尽全身的力量抬起头来，绝望地看看寂寞无人的海洋。

3月24日清晨，艾尔通突然向水平线上的一个黑点伸出手来。他撑起身子，先跪在地上，然后站起来，好象在用手发信号。

礁石附近来了一只船。它显然不是漫无目标的。在蒸汽的推动下，它开足马力，直对着礁石驶来。其实，要是移民们有足够的精力视察水平线的话，几个钟头以前他们就可以看见它了。

“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。

赛勒斯·史密斯和他的伙伴们经过细心的照料，苏醒过来了。他们醒来以后，发现自己在一只游船的船仓里，也不知道是怎会从死里逃生的。

艾尔通的一句话把一切都说明了。

“邓肯号！”他喃喃地说。

“邓肯号！”赛勒斯·史密斯喊了起来。他举起手来说，“啊！全能的上帝！您发了慈悲，把我们保全下来了！”

不错，这正是邓肯号，格里那凡爵士的游船。艾尔通在达抱岛赎罪已经满十二年了，现在格兰特船长的儿子罗伯尔指挥着邓肯号，奉命来接他回国。

居民们不仅被救活了，而且正在回国的途中。

“格兰特船长，”赛勒斯·史密斯问道，“你在达抱岛上没有找到艾尔通，离开那里以后，怎么会想起要到东北一百英里以外的地方来的呢？”

“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。”

“我和我的伙伴？”

“毫无疑问，你们是在林肯岛的。”

“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。

“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。”

“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。

“一封信？”吉丁·史佩莱大声问道。

“一点也不错，信就在这儿，”罗伯尔·格兰特说，一面拿出一张标明林肯岛经纬度的纸条来，“这上面写着艾尔通和五个美国移民所在地。”

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！”

“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！”

“就为了去送这封信。”赫伯特补充道。

“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。”

“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！”

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。

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？”

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。

“艾尔通！艾尔通！”赛勒斯·史密斯深深地受到了感动，于是他对罗伯尔·格兰特说，“先生，你们抛弃的是一个罪犯，但是他经过忏悔，现在已经成了一个诚实的人。当我和他握手的时候，我感到骄傲。”

这时候，罗伯尔·格兰特才知道尼摩船长的奇异历史和林肯岛上的移民们的情况。船上的人观测了这片剩下来的浅滩；从今以后，就要把它标志在太平洋的地图上了。观测完毕，船长立刻下令启航。

半个月以后，移民们回到了美国大陆，他们发现，经过一场残酷的斗争，真理和正义获得了胜利，祖国又恢复了和平的环境。

林肯岛的移民们利用了尼摩船长留下的一箱财宝，把其中大部分用来在衣阿华州购买了一大片土地。在这些财宝里他们留下一颗最好的珍珠，用被邓肯号救回祖国的遇难者的名义送给了格里那凡夫人。

移民们在这块土地上从事劳动，也就是说，追求着富裕和幸福，创造一切他们曾经打算使林肯岛具备的良好条件。他们建立了一块广阔的聚居地，并且用沉没在太平洋里的荒岛的名字来给它命名。这里的一条河就叫做慈悲河，一座山就叫做富兰克林山，一个小湖就叫做格兰特湖，森林就成了远西森林。这里成了一个陆上的海岛。

在工程师和他的伙伴们智慧的双手下，一切都欣欣向荣起来。过去林肯岛的老居民一个也不缺，他们发誓要永远生活在一起。纳布和他的主人在一起，艾尔通随时准备为集体效劳，潘克洛夫当庄稼汉比过去当水手更加干得起劲，赫伯特在赛勒斯·史密斯的教养下，完成了他的学业，吉丁·史佩莱创办了《林肯岛先驱新报》，它成了世界上消息最灵通的报纸之一。

赛勒斯·史密斯和他的伙伴们那里，每隔一段时间就有客人来访问，其中有格里那凡爵士和他的夫人，约翰·盖格尔船长和他的夫人玛丽·格兰特，罗伯尔·格兰特和麦克那布斯少校，以及一切和格兰特船长、尼摩船长的一生有关的人。

总的来说，大家都很幸福，他们和过去一样紧密地团结在一起。但是，他们并没有忘记那个岛，他们一无所有地落在那里生活了四年，什么也不缺，现在那里只是一堆被太平洋波涛冲击着的花岗石；只是尼摩船长的坟墓。

(全书完)