海底兩萬里 第224期 第17章 海底森林(5)

A few paces away, a monstrous, meter-high sea spider was staring at me with beady eyes, poised to spring at me. Although my ping suit was heavy enough to protect me from this animal's bites, I couldn't keep back a shudder of horror. Just then Conseil woke up, together with the Nautilus's sailor. Captain Nemo alerted his companion to this hideous crustacean, which a swing of the rifle butt quickly brought down, and I watched the monster's horrible legs writhing in dreadful convulsions.

離我們幾步遠的地方，有一只高一米的梅蜘蛛，斜著眼注視我，就要向我身上撲來。雖然我的潛水衣相當厚重，可以保護我不會被它咬傷，但我也不能不害怕，不能不顫抖?？等麪柡椭Z第留斯號的水手就在這個時候醒來。尼摩船長把這個怕人的甲殼類動物指給他的同伴看，他的同伴一槍托打死了它，我看見這個怪物的丑陋腳爪作怕人的抽搐，拼命掙扎。

This encounter reminded me that other, more daunting animals must be lurking in these dark reaches, and my ping suit might not be adequate protection against their attacks. Such thoughts hadn't previously crossed my mind, and I was determined to keep on my guard. Meanwhile I had assumed this rest period would be the turning point in our stroll, but I was mistaken; and instead of heading back to the Nautilus, Captain Nemo continued his daring excursion.

這次碰見這個怪物就使我想到一定還有其他更可怕的動物時常到這黑沉沉的海底下來，我的潛水衣可能無力保護我，無法抵抗它們的襲擊。我起先沒有想到這事，現在我決心要時刻警惕。此外，我又以為這次休息是我們這次旅行的結束，但我錯了，尼摩船長并不讓我們回到船上去，仍然繼續(xù)他的大膽的旅行。

The seafloor kept sinking, and its significantly steeper slope took us to greater depths. It must have been nearly three o'clock when we reached a narrow valley gouged between high, vertical walls and located 150 meters down. Thanks to the perfection of our equipment, we had thus gone ninety meters below the limit that nature had, until then, set on man's underwater excursions.

地面總是往下陷，斜度更是明顯，把我們拉到最深的海底。這時候，想是快要到三點了，我們到了一座狹小的山谷中，這山谷在峭壁間，在一百五十米深的海底下。由于我們使用的器械極完善，我們可以超越好像大自然拿來限制人的在海底旅行不得超過丸十米的深度。