“Are we rising again?” “No. On the contrary.” “Are we descending?” “Worse than that, captain! —
“我们再次上升了吗？” “不是。相反。” “我们在下降吗？” “比那更糟，船长！ —

we are falling!” “For Heaven’s sake heave out the ballast!” “There! the last sack is empty!” —
我们在下降！” “天哪，把压舱物都抛出去！” “好！最后一个口袋已经空了！” —

“Does the balloon rise?” “No!” “I hear a noise like the dashing of waves. The sea is below the car! —
“气球在上升吗？” “不！” “我听到了一种像浪潮般的声音。海水在车下面！ —

It cannot be more than 500 feet from us!” —
离我们不能超过500英尺！” —

“Overboard with every weight! … everything!”
“所有的重物都扔出去！…所有的东西！”

Such were the loud and startling words which resounded through the air, above the vast watery desert of the Pacific, about four o’clock in the evening of the 23rd of March, 1865.
这些大声而震撀人心的话语在1865年3月23日下午四点左右，响彻太平洋广阔的水域上空。

Few can possibly have forgotten the terrible storm from the northeast, in the middle of the equinox of that year. —
很少有人能忘记那年春风平息的3月18日至3月26日间东北方向的可怕风暴。 —

The tempest raged without intermission from the 18th to the 26th of March. Its ravages were terrible in America, Europe, and Asia, covering a distance of eighteen hundred miles, and extending obliquely to the equator from the thirty-fifth north parallel to the fortieth south parallel. —
这场暴风雨从北纬35度延伸到南纬40度的纬度，横贯了美洲、欧洲和亚洲，持续了六天，全程长达1800英里。 —

Towns were overthrown, forests uprooted, coasts devastated by the mountains of water which were precipitated on them, vessels cast on the shore, which the published accounts numbered by hundreds, whole districts leveled by waterspouts which destroyed everything they passed over, several thousand people crushed on land or drowned at sea; —
城镇被摧毁，森林被连根拔起，海岸被从天而降的巨浪掀翻，船只被冲上岸，据报道数以百计，整个地区被水龙卷摧毁，几千人被压在陆地上或淹死在海中； —

such were the traces of its fury, left by this devastating tempest. —
这场毁灭性暴风雨留下了其狂暴之证。 —

It surpassed in disasters those which so frightfully ravaged Havana and Guadalupe, one on the 25th of October, 1810, the other on the 26th of July, 1825.
它在灾难性程度上超过了1810年10月25日和1825年7月26日在哈瓦那和瓜德罗普岛可怕的风灾。

But while so many catastrophes were taking place on land and at sea, a drama not less exciting was being enacted in the agitated air.
但在陆地和海上发生如此多灾难的同时，同样扣人心弦的一幕发生在狂风肆虐的空中。

In fact, a balloon, as a ball might be carried on the summit of a waterspout, had been taken into the circling movement of a column of air and had traversed space at the rate of ninety miles an hour, turning round and round as if seized by some aerial maelstrom.
事实上，一只气球如同球玩具被一股旋转的空气柱带起，以每小时90英里的速度穿越空间，像被某种空中漩涡所困扰一样不停地旋转。

Beneath the lower point of the balloon swung a car, containing five passengers, scarcely visible in the midst of the thick vapor mingled with spray which hung over the surface of the ocean.
在气球的下端摆动着一个车厢，里面坐着五名乘客，他们几乎隐身在混杂着水雾的厚重雾气中，悬浮在海洋表面上方。

Whence, it may be asked, had come that plaything of the tempest? —
可以问，这个风暴的玩物是从哪里来的？ —

From what part of the world did it rise? It surely could not have started during the storm. —
它从世界的哪个地方涌现出来？它肯定不是在暴风雨中产生的。 —

But the storm had raged five days already, and the first symptoms were manifested on the 18th. —
但风暴已经持续了五天，第一次症状出现在18日。 —

It cannot be doubted that the balloon came from a great distance, for it could not have traveled less than two thousand miles in twenty-four hours.
毫无疑问，这个气球是从很远的地方飞来的，因为它在24小时内不可能行程少于两千英里。

At any rate the passengers, destitute of all marks for their guidance, could not have possessed the means of reckoning the route traversed since their departure. —
无论如何，乘客们没有任何标志可以指导他们，也不可能有计算自己出发后行程的手段。 —

It was a remarkable fact that, although in the very midst of the furious tempest, they did not suffer from it. —
一个引人注目的事实是，尽管正处于猛烈的暴风雨中，他们并没有受到影响。 —

They were thrown about and whirled round and round without feeling the rotation in the slightest degree, or being sensible that they were removed from a horizontal position.
他们被甩来甩去，但丝毫没有感觉到旋转，也没有意识到他们被从水平位置移开。

Their eyes could not pierce through the thick mist which had gathered beneath the car. —
他们的眼睛无法穿透下方聚集的浓雾。 —

Dark vapor was all around them. Such was the density of the atmosphere that they could not be certain whether it was day or night. —
黑暗的蒸汽围绕着他们。大气的稠密使他们无法确定是白天还是黑夜。 —

No reflection of light, no sound from inhabited land, no roaring of the ocean could have reached them, through the obscurity, while suspended in those elevated zones. —
没有任何光线的反射，没有来自有人居住的陆地的声音，没有海洋的咆哮声能够穿透他们所处的那片黑暗，悬在那些高空中。 —

Their rapid descent alone had informed them of the dangers which they ran from the waves. —
仅仅他们的快速下降就告诉了他们汹涌的海浪带来的危险。 —

However, the balloon, lightened of heavy articles, such as ammunition, arms, and provisions, had risen into the higher layers of the atmosphere, to a height of 4,500 feet. —
然而，气球卸下了重的物品，如军火、武器和食物，升到了大气层的更高层，高达4500英尺。 —

The voyagers, after having discovered that the sea extended beneath them, and thinking the dangers above less dreadful than those below, did not hesitate to throw overboard even their most useful articles, while they endeavored to lose no more of that fluid, the life of their enterprise, which sustained them above the abyss.
航行者们在发现海水在他们下方的时候，认为上方的危险比下方的更少可怕，毫不犹豫地丢弃了甚至是最有用的物品，同时努力不再失去支撑他们在深渊上方的那种液体，他们事业的生命。

The night passed in the midst of alarms which would have been death to less energetic souls. —
夜晚在一连串的警报中度过，若不是更富活力的灵魂，这可能会是致命的。 —

Again the day appeared and with it the tempest began to moderate. —
又是一天出现了，暴风雨开始减弱。 —

From the beginning of that day, the 24th of March, it showed symptoms of abating. —
从那一天的开始，3月24日，它显示出减弱的迹象。 —

At dawn, some of the lighter clouds had risen into the more lofty regions of the air. —
天亮时，一些较轻的云彩已经升入了更高的空中。 —

In a few hours the wind had changed from a hurricane to a fresh breeze, that is to say, the rate of the transit of the atmospheric layers was diminished by half. —
几个小时后，风已经从飓风变成了清新的微风，也就是说，大气层的传输速度减少了一半。 —

It was still what sailors call “a close-reefed topsail breeze,” but the commotion in the elements had none the less considerably diminished.
仍然是海员所称的“全帆风”，但大气元素中的骚动明显减少了。

Towards eleven o’clock, the lower region of the air was sensibly clearer. —
午前十一点，空气下层明显更清晰了。 —

The atmosphere threw off that chilly dampness which is felt after the passage of a great meteor. —
大气中传来一阵冷湿，正如一颗大气凌过后所感觉到的。 —

The storm did not seem to have gone farther to the west. It appeared to have exhausted itself. —
暴风似乎没有继续向西方前进。它似乎已经消耗殆尽。 —

Could it have passed away in electric sheets, as is sometimes the case with regard to the typhoons of the Indian Ocean?
它会像印度洋飑风一样，消失在电磁场中吗？

But at the same time, it was also evident that the balloon was again slowly descending with a regular movement. —
但同时，气球又开始缓慢下降，保持着规则的运动。 —

It appeared as if it were, little by little, collapsing, and that its case was lengthening and extending, passing from a spherical to an oval form. —
看上去气球正在缓缓地瘪陷，它的外壳变长变宽，由球形变为椭圆形。 —

Towards midday the balloon was hovering above the sea at a height of only 2,000 feet. —
正午时分，气球悬浮在离海面只有2,000英尺的高度。 —

It contained 50,000 cubic feet of gas, and, thanks to its capacity, it could maintain itself a long time in the air, although it should reach a great altitude or might be thrown into a horizontal position.
它装载着50,000立方英尺的气体，由于其容量，它可以在空中飘浮很长时间，尽管可能到达很高的高度或被扔到水平位置。

Perceiving their danger, the passengers cast away the last articles which still weighed down the car, the few provisions they had kept, everything, even to their pocket-knives, and one of them, having hoisted himself on to the circles which united the cords of the net, tried to secure more firmly the lower point of the balloon.
发现了危险，乘客们扔掉了仍然压在篮子中的最后一些物品，保留的少量食物，一切，甚至他们的随身刀具，其中一人，爬到连接网绳的环上，试图更牢固地固定气球的下部。

It was, however, evident to the voyagers that the gas was failing, and that the balloon could no longer be sustained in the higher regions. —
显然旅客们已经发现气体正在减少，气球已经无法在更高的地区中维持。 —

They must infallibly perish!
他们必将被毁灭！

There was not a continent, nor even an island, visible beneath them. —
在他们的下方再没有一个大陆，甚至一个岛屿可见。 —

The watery expanse did not present a single speck of land, not a solid surface upon which their anchor could hold.
水波浩渺，看不到一丝陆地，没有坚实的表面可以停放他们的锚。

It was the open sea, whose waves were still dashing with tremendous violence! —
这是一片汹涌澎湃的开阔海域！ —

It was the ocean, without any visible limits, even for those whose gaze, from their commanding position, extended over a radius of forty miles. —
这是一片无边无际的海洋，即便是站在他们支配的位置上的人，视线可以延伸到四十英里的半径范围内，也看不到边界。 —

The vast liquid plain, lashed without mercy by the storm, appeared as if covered with herds of furious chargers, whose white and disheveled crests were streaming in the wind. —
这片被风暴无情地抽打的巨大水平面，看起来像被无数匹狂奔的战马覆盖，它们的白色凌乱的浪尖在风中飘荡。 —

No land was in sight, not a solitary ship could be seen. —
眼前没有陆地，看不到一只孤立的船只。 —

It was necessary at any cost to arrest their downward course, and to prevent the balloon from being engulfed in the waves. —
他们必须不惜一切代价阻止气球下坠，防止气球被海浪吞没。 —

The voyagers directed all their energies to this urgent work. —
飞行者们全力以赴进行这项紧急的工作。 —

But, notwithstanding their efforts, the balloon still fell, and at the same time shifted with the greatest rapidity, following the direction of the wind, that is to say, from the northeast to the southwest.
但是，尽管他们的努力，气球依然下坠，并且以最快的速度变换位置，顺着风向前进，也就是从东北到西南。

Frightful indeed was the situation of these unfortunate men. —
这些不幸的人真是在恐怖的境地。 —

They were evidently no longer masters of the machine. All their attempts were useless. —
很明显，他们不再掌控这个机器。他们的所有尝试都是徒劳无功。 —

The case of the balloon collapsed more and more. —
气球的情况越来越糟。 —

The gas escaped without any possibility of retaining it. —
气体无法被挽留，不断泄漏。 —

Their descent was visibly accelerated, and soon after midday the car hung within 600 feet of the ocean.
他们的下坠显然加快了，正午过后不久，热气球悬停在离海面仅600英尺的地方。

It was impossible to prevent the escape of gas, which rushed through a large rent in the silk. —
无法阻止气体泄漏，气体冲过丝绸上的大洞口。 —

By lightening the car of all the articles which it contained, the passengers had been able to prolong their suspension in the air for a few hours. —
通过将车厢清空，乘客们设法延长了在空中的悬停时间几个小时。 —

But the inevitable catastrophe could only be retarded, and if land did not appear before night, voyagers, car, and balloon must to a certainty vanish beneath the waves.
但不可避免的灾难只能被延缓，如果夜幕降临前陆地没有出现，航行者、车和气球必定会在海浪下面消失。

They now resorted to the only remaining expedient. —
他们现在转而采取唯一剩下的应急措施。 —

They were truly dauntless men, who knew how to look death in the face. —
他们是真正不畏惧的人，懂得直面死亡。 —

Not a single murmur escaped from their lips. —
他们的嘴唇中没有一丝怨言。 —

They were determined to struggle to the last minute, to do anything to retard their fall. —
他们决心坚持到最后一刻，尽一切努力拖延下降速度。 —

The car was only a sort of willow basket, unable to float, and there was not the slightest possibility of maintaining it on the surface of the sea.
车只是一种柳条编织的篮子，无法漂浮，根本不可能维持在海面上。

Two more hours passed and the balloon was scarcely 400 feet above the water.
此刻气球离水面仅有不到400英尺高。

At that moment a loud voice, the voice of a man whose heart was inaccessible to fear, was heard. —
在那一刻，一个声音响起，这是一个心灵坚定无畏的人的声音。 —

To this voice responded others not less determined. “Is everything thrown out?” —
其他人也同样坚决地回应着这个声音。“一切都扔出去了吗？” —

“No, here are still 2,000 dollars in gold.” A heavy bag immediately plunged into the sea. —
“没有，这里还有2000美元的黄金。” 一个沉重的袋子立刻掉进了海里。 —

“Does the balloon rise?” “A little, but it will not be long before it falls again.” —
“气球是否在上升？” “稍微上升了一点，但不久就会再次下降。” —

“What still remains to be thrown out?” “Nothing.” “Yes! the car!” —
“还有什么东西需要扔出去？” “没有。” “有！车！” —

“Let us catch hold of the net, and into the sea with the car.”
“让我们抓住网，把车扔进海里。”

This was, in fact, the last and only mode of lightening the balloon. —
这其实是轻装气球的最后唯一方法。 —

The ropes which held the car were cut, and the balloon, after its fall, mounted 2,000 feet. —
绳索被切断了，车被放下后，气球上升了2000英尺。 —

The five voyagers had hoisted themselves into the net, and clung to the meshes, gazing at the abyss.
五位航行者已经把自己挂在了网上，并紧抓着网眼，凝视着深渊。

The delicate sensibility of balloons is well known. —
气球的精密灵敏度众所周知。 —

It is sufficient to throw out the lightest article to produce a difference in its vertical position. The apparatus in the air is like a balance of mathematical precision. —
只需扔出最轻的物品就能产生其垂直位置的变化。空中的设备就像是数学精准的天平。 —

It can be thus easily understood that when it is lightened of any considerable weight its movement will be impetuous and sudden. —
因此可以很容易理解，当它减轻了重量时，它的运动将是急骤而突然的。 —

So it happened on this occasion. But after being suspended for an instant aloft, the balloon began to redescend, the gas escaping by the rent which it was impossible to repair.
这一次就发生了这种情况。但在悬停了一会儿后，气球开始下降，气体透过无法修复的裂口而逸出。

The men had done all that men could do. No human efforts could save them now.
男人们已经尽了一切人力所能尽的努力。现在没有任何人力可以拯救他们。

They must trust to the mercy of Him who rules the elements.
他们必须依赖那位主宰元素的怜悯。

At four o’clock the balloon was only 500 feet above the surface of the water.
四点整，气球离水平面仅有500英尺。

A loud barking was heard. A dog accompanied the voyagers, and was held pressed close to his master in the meshes of the net.
传来一阵狂吠声。有一只狗伴随着航行者们，被紧紧地捆在网眼中，靠近主人。

“Top has seen something,” cried one of the men. Then immediately a loud voice shouted,–
“Top看到了什么,“有个男子大声喊道。紧接着一个声音大叫着，–

“Land! land!” The balloon, which the wind still drove towards the southwest, had since daybreak gone a considerable distance, which might be reckoned by hundreds of miles, and a tolerably high land had, in fact, appeared in that direction. —
“陆地！陆地！”气球仍被风吹向西南方向，自天亮以来已经走了相当远的路程，可数以数百英里，事实上，那个方向确实出现了一片相对较高的陆地。 —

But this land was still thirty miles off. —
但那片陆地仍然有30英里远。 —

It would not take less than an hour to get to it, and then there was the chance of falling to leeward.
要到达那里不会少于一个小时，而且还有向下飘的可能性。

An hour! Might not the balloon before that be emptied of all the fluid it yet retained?
一个小时！在那之前气球是不是已经完全放空了留存的液体？

Such was the terrible question! The voyagers could distinctly see that solid spot which they must reach at any cost. —
这就是可怕的问题！航行者们清晰地看到了他们必须不惜一切代价到达的坚实地点。 —

They were ignorant of what it was, whether an island or a continent, for they did not know to what part of the world the hurricane had driven them. —
他们对于这是什么地方完全不知晓，无论是一个岛屿还是一个大陆，因为他们不知道飓风将他们带到世界的哪个部分。 —

But they must reach this land, whether inhabited or desolate, whether hospitable or not.
但是他们必须到达这片陆地，无论这里是有人居住还是荒凉，是否宜居无所谓。

It was evident that the balloon could no longer support itself! —
显而易见，气球已经无法支撑自身了！ —

Several times already had the crests of the enormous billows licked the bottom of the net, making it still heavier, and the balloon only half rose, like a bird with a wounded wing. —
巨浪的浪峰已经数次舔到了网底，使得气球变得更加沉重，气球仅仅像一只受伤的翼的鸟半空飞行。 —

Half an hour later the land was not more than a mile off, but the balloon, exhausted, flabby, hanging in great folds, had gas in its upper part alone. —
半小时后，陆地离他们不到一英里，但气球已经精疲力竭，变得吊儿郎当，只有上部还有气体。 —

The voyagers, clinging to the net, were still too heavy for it, and soon, half plunged into the sea, they were beaten by the furious waves. —
乘客们紧紧抓住网，但他们的重量仍然过重，很快，一半沉入海中，被狂暴的海浪拍打。 —

The balloon-case bulged out again, and the wind, taking it, drove it along like a vessel. —
气球外壳再次鼓起，被风带着，像一只船一样向前驶去。 —

Might it not possibly thus reach the land?
难道它可能就这样抵达陆地吗？

But, when only two fathoms off, terrible cries resounded from four pairs of lungs at once. —
但是，当离海面仅两个单位深度时，四对肺组织的可怕呼喊声同时响起。 —

The balloon, which had appeared as if it would never again rise, suddenly made an unexpected bound, after having been struck by a tremendous sea. —
气球，看起来似乎再也无法升空，突然因为被一股巨大的海浪袭击，产生了意外的弹跳。 —

As if it had been at that instant relieved of a new part of its weight, it mounted to a height of 1,500 feet, and here it met a current of wind, which instead of taking it directly to the coast, carried it in a nearly parallel direction.
就像它在那一刻减轻了新的一部分重量一样，它升到了1500英尺的高度，此时遇到了一股风，将其带向了几乎平行的方向。

At last, two minutes later, it reproached obliquely, and finally fell on a sandy beach, out of the reach of the waves.
最后，两分钟后，它发生偏离，最终坠落在了一个沙滩上，远离海浪的触及范围。

The voyagers, aiding each other, managed to disengage themselves from the meshes of the net. —
乘客们互相帮助，设法从网的网孔中解脱出来。 —

The balloon, relieved of their weight, was taken by the wind, and like a wounded bird which revives for an instant, disappeared into space.
气球，摆脱了他们的重量之后，被风带走，就像一个稍纵即逝的苏醒的受伤鸟儿一样消失在空中。

But the car had contained five passengers, with a dog, and the balloon only left four on the shore.
但是这个篮子曾经搭载过五名乘客，还有一只狗，而气球只剩下四人在岸上。

The missing person had evidently been swept off by the sea, which had just struck the net, and it was owing to this circumstance that the lightened balloon rose the last time, and then soon after reached the land. —
失踪的人显然被海浪冲走了，虽然刚才海浪撞击了渔网，正是因为这个原因，气球轻了最后一次，然后很快就到了陆地。 —

Scarcely had the four castaways set foot on firm ground, than they all, thinking of the absent one, simultaneously exclaimed, “Perhaps he will try to swim to land! —
四位荒岛遇难者刚踏上坚地，他们都想着那个不在的人，同时惊叫道：”也许他会试着游到岸边！ —

Let us save him! let us save him!”
让我们救他！让我们救他！”