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Then they passed into a cave so wide and dark that they could see nothing of it except that right in front of them a strip of the pale sand ran down into still water.
然后，他们又走进一个山洞，这里很宽阔，但漆黑无比，你什么都看不见，只能看到正前方一条暗白色的沙滩一直延伸至水面。
And there, beside a little jetty, lay a ship without mast or sail but with many oars.
码头边停靠着一艘小船，上面既没桅杆也没帆，但却装着好多橹。
They were made to go on board her and led forward to the bows where there was a clear space in front of the rowers' benches and a seat running round inside the bulwarks.
洞穴人让他们上了船，坐到靠近橹的地方。在摇船专用座的前面有一块很大的地方，那里围着一圈座位，像堡垒似的。
"One thing I'd like to know," said Puddleglum, "is whether anyone from our world—from up-a-top, I mean—has ever done this trip before?"
“我想知道一件事。”帕德格莱姆说，“在我们那个世界里，就是这上面，有没有别人来这坐过这船？”
"Many have taken ship at the pale beaches," replied the Warden, "and——"
“许多人都在白滩乘过船。”总督回答，“但是……”
"Yes, I know," interrupted Puddleglum. "And few return to the sunlit lands. You needn't say it again. You are a chap of one idea, aren't you?"
“我知道啦。”帕德格莱姆打断他，“没几个人能回到上面。你不用再叨叨了。你还真是个认死理的家伙，对吧？”
The children huddled close together on each side of Puddleglum. They had thought him a wet blanket while they were still above ground, but down here he seemed the only comforting thing they had.
孩子们坐在帕德格莱姆的两边，挤成一团。在陆地上，沼泽人也许是讨厌鬼，但如今，在幽深地府中，却成了他俩唯一的依靠。
Then the pale lantern was hung up amidships, the Earthmen sat to the oars, and the ship began to move. The lantern cast its light only a very short way.
发出冷光的灯笼挂在船中，洞穴人坐在橹边，船开始移动。灯笼的光很微弱，只能照到前面很近的地方。
Looking ahead, they could see nothing but smooth, dark water, fading into absolute blackness. "Oh, whatever will become of us?" said Jill despairingly.
前方漆黑一片，可以隐约看到光滑暗黑色的水面渐渐隐匿到未知的黑幕中。“哦，我们接下来会怎么样？”吉尔绝望地问。
"Now don't you let your spirits down, Pole," said the Marsh-wiggle. "There's one thing you've got to remember. We're back on the right lines. We were to go under the Ruined City, and we are under it. We're following the instructions again."
“别让自己的精神垮下去，吉尔。”沼泽人说，“你必须记住一件事，我们又回到正途上了。按照废城的指示，我们已经来到了废城之下。这是阿斯兰的意思。”
Presently they were given food—flat, flabby cakes of some sort which had hardly any taste. And after that, they gradually fell asleep.
现在是分发食物时间。这种形状扁平、松松垮垮的蛋糕一点味道都没有。吃过饭后，他们慢慢睡着了。
But when they woke, everything was just the same; the gnomes still rowing, the ship still gliding on, still dead blackness ahead.
然而当他们再次醒来时，周遭的一切仍旧如此：地精还在划船，小船仍在水面上航行，前面仍被黑暗笼罩。
How often they woke and slept and ate and slept again, none of them could ever remember.
醒来吃，吃完睡，醒来再吃，吃完再睡，如此往复循环，没人知道究竟过了多久。
And the worst thing about it was that you began to feel as if you had always lived on that ship, in that darkness, and to wonder whether sun and blue skies and wind and birds had not been only a dream.
最糟糕的是，三人开始觉得自己自出生以来就生活在这条船上，生活在黑暗中，什么太阳、蓝天、微风、鸟儿，全都是脑海中的一个梦而已。
They had almost given up hoping or being afraid about anything when at last they saw lights ahead: dreary lights, like that of their own lantern.
他们几乎已经放弃了希望，也不再感到害怕，这时前方终于出现了光亮：非常昏暗，就像船上的灯笼一样。
Then, quite suddenly, one of these lights came close and they saw that they were passing another ship. After that they met several ships.
突然，一束光亮靠近他们，原来是他们超过了另一艘船。接着，他们又超过了其他几艘。
Then, staring till their eyes hurt, they saw that some of the lights ahead were shining on what looked like wharfs, walls, towers, and moving crowds. But still there was hardly any noise.
三个人瞪大眼睛使劲儿朝两边看，灯光貌似是从前面发出来的，那里好像是一个码头，还有墙壁、塔楼和移动的人群。但还是一点声音都没有。
"By Jove," said Scrubb. "A city!" and soon they all saw that he was right. But it was a queer city.
“上帝！”斯库波说，“一座城市！”很快，他发现自己的猜测是正确的。然而，这城市很怪异。
The lights were so few and far apart that they would hardly have done for scattered cottages in our world.
由于灯光过于昏暗，彼此之间离得又太远，所以发出的光还不如人类世界中几个分散的茅草屋发出的光明亮。
But the little bits of the place which you could see by the lights were like glimpses of a great sea-port.
但即便如此，看一眼比较明亮的地方，你也能发现这是个巨大的港口城市。
You could make out in one place a whole crowd of ships loading or unloading; in another, bales of stuff and warehouses; in a third, walls and pillars that suggested great palaces or temples;
这里的几艘货船正在卸货或装货；那边堆积着好几捆货物，旁边还有几间仓库；另一方面，耸立的围墙和巨柱表明那里是宏伟的宫殿或庙宇；
and always, wherever the light fell, endless crowds—hundreds of Earthmen, jostling one another as they padded softly about their business in narrow streets, broad squares, or up great flights of steps.
灯光照到的地方都是拥挤的人群——成百上千的洞穴人挤成一团，他们在狭窄的街道上轻轻走着，跨过宽阔的广场，爬上高大的台阶，各自忙着各自的事。
Their continued movement made a sort of soft, murmuring noise as the ship drew nearer and nearer; but there was not a song or a shout or a bell or the rattle of a wheel anywhere.
随着船逐渐靠岸，他们听到城市里弥漫着细碎的嘈杂声；但那里既没歌声、喊声和铃声，也没有车轮滚滚发出的轰隆声。
The City was as quiet, and nearly as dark, as the inside of an ant-hill. At last their ship was brought alongside a quay and made fast.
整个城市出奇地安静，几乎和蚂蚁山内部一样黑暗。最后，他们乘坐的船开始沿着码头行驶，速度也加快了些。
