Just then a huge cave opened up in our path, hollowed from a picturesque pile of rocks whose smooth heights were completely hung with underwater flora.

这时候，我们面前现出一个宽大的石洞，洞在满铺各种海底花草的岩石堆中。

At first this cave looked pitch-black to me. Inside, the sun's rays seemed to diminish by degrees. Their hazy transparency was nothing more than drowned light.

起初，我看这洞中很黑暗。照到这里的太阳光好像渐渐微弱，以至熄灭了。剩下的模糊的亮光只不过是浸在水里的光线罢了。

Captain Nemo went in. We followed him. My eyes soon grew accustomed to this comparative gloom.

尼摩船长进入洞中。我们跟他进去。我的眼睛不久就习惯了这种并非漆黑的黑暗。

I distinguished the unpredictably contoured springings of a vault, supported by natural pillars firmly based on a granite foundation, like the weighty columns of Tuscan architecture.

我分辨出那些由天然石柱支架起来的、穹窿很宽大的形成轮廓的起拱石，这些石柱的宽大底座安在花岗岩的石基上，像托斯甘式建筑的笨重石柱那样。

Why had our incomprehensible guide taken us into the depths of this underwater crypt? I would soon find out.

我们的神秘带路人为什么拉我们到这海底下的地窖中来呢？我不久就明白了。

After going down a fairly steep slope, our feet trod the floor of a sort of circular pit. There Captain Nemo stopped, and his hand indicated an object that I hadn't yet noticed.

我们走下相当陡的斜坡，我们的脚踩踏了一种圆形的井底地面。到这里，尼摩船长停住了，他手指一件东西，但我还不能看清楚。

It was an oyster of extraordinary dimensions, a titanic giant clam,

那是一只身量巨大的珍珠贝，一只庞大无比的车渠，

a holy-water font that could have held a whole lake, a basin more than two meters wide, hence even bigger than the one adorning the Nautilus's lounge.

一个盛一池水的圣水盘，一个超过两米宽的大钵，所以这只贝比诺第留斯号客厅中放着的还大。

I approached this phenomenal mollusk. Its mass of filaments attached it to a table of granite, and there it grew by itself in the midst of the cave's calm waters.

我走近这出奇少有的软体动物面前。它的纤维带把它钉在花岗岩的石板上，附着这石板，它就在这石洞的平静海水中单独成长起来。

I estimated the weight of this giant clam at 300 kilograms. Hence such an oyster held fifteen kilos of meat, and you'd need the stomach of King Gargantua to eat a couple dozen.

我估计这只贝的重量有三百公斤。而这样一只贝可以有十五公斤的净肉，那就必须有一位卡冈都亚②的肚子才能眷食几打这样巨大的贝了。

Captain Nemo was obviously familiar with this bivalve's existence. This wasn't the first time he'd paid it a visit, and I thought his sole reason for leading us to this locality was to show us a natural curiosity.

尼摩船长分明是知道这只双壳动物的存在。他到这个地方来不止一次了，我想他带我们到这里来只是要给我们看一件天然的奇物。

I was mistaken. Captain Nemo had an explicit personal interest in checking on the current condition of this giant clam.

我搞错了。尼摩船长有特别目的，是为了解这车渠的情况而来的。