“Yes, my dear Jules, very terrible. I shall never forget those great moving ridges1, capped with foam2, that toss a heavy ship like a nutshell, carry it one moment on their monstrous3 backs, then let it plunge4 into the liquid valley that intervenes. Oh! how small and weak one feels on those four planks5, mounting and plunging6 at the will of the waves! If the nutshell springs a leak under the furious blows of the billows, may the good God have pity on us! The shattered boat would disappear in fathomless7 depths.”
“In the chasm8 you told us about?” Claire asked.
“In those chasms9 from which no one returns. The shattered boat would be swallowed up in the sea, and nothing of you would be left but a remembrance, if there were people left on the earth who loved you.”
“So the sea ought always to be calm,” said Jules.
“It would be a pity, my child, if the sea were always at rest. This calm would be incompatible10 with the salubrity of the seas, which must be violently stirred up to keep them free from taint11 and to dissolve the air necessary to their animal and vegetable population. For the ocean of waters, as for the atmosphere or ocean of air, there is need of a salutary agitation—of tempests that churn up, renew, and vivify the waters.
“The wind disturbs the surface of the ocean. If it comes in gusts12, it creates waves that leap with foaming13 crest14 and break against one another. If it is strong and continuous, it chases the waters in long swells15, in waves or surges that advance from the open in parallel lines, succeed one another with a majestic16 uniformity, and one after another rush booming on to the shore. These movements, however tumultuous they may be, affect only the surface of the sea; thirty meters down the water is calm, even in the most violent storms.
“In our seas the height of the biggest waves is not more than two or three meters; but in some parts of the South Sea the waves, in exceptional weather, rise to ten or twelve meters. They are veritable chains of moving hills with broad and deep valleys between. Whipped by the wind, their summits throw up clouds of foam and roll up in formidable volume with a force sufficient to shatter the largest vessels17 under their weight.
“The power of the waves borders on the prodigious18. There, where the shore, rising vertically20 from the water, presents itself fully21 to the assaults of the sea, the shock is so violent that the earth trembles under one’s feet. The most solid dikes are demolished22 and swept away; enormous blocks are torn off, dragged along the ground, sometimes thrown over jetties, where they roll like mere23 pebbles24.
“It is to the continual action of waves that cliffs are due, that is to say the vertical19 escarpments serving in some places as shore for the sea. Such escarpments are seen on the coasts of the English Channel, both in France and in England. Unceasingly the ocean undermines them, causes pieces to fall down which it triturates into pebbles, and makes its way so much farther inland. History has preserved the memory of towers, dwellings25, even villages, that have had to be abandoned little by little on account of similar landslides26, and that to-day have entirely27 disappeared beneath the waves.”
“Stirred up like that, the waters of the sea are not likely to become putrid,” remarked Jules.
“The movement of the waves alone would not suffice to insure the incorruptibility of sea-water. Another cause of salubrity comes in here. The waters of the sea hold in solution numerous substances that give it an extremely disagreeable taste, but prevent its corruption28.”
“Then you cannot drink sea-water?” Emile asked.
“No, not even if you were pressed with the greatest thirst.”
“And what taste has sea-water?”
“A taste at once bitter and salt, offensive to the palate and causing nausea29. That taste comes from the dissolved substances. The most abundant is ordinary salt, the salt we use for seasoning30 our food.”
“Salt, however,” objected Jules, “has no disagreeable taste, although one cannot drink a glass of salt water.”
“Doubtless; but in the waters of the sea it is accompanied by many other dissolved substances whose taste is very disagreeable. The degree of salt varies in different seas. A liter of water in the Mediterranean31 contains 44 grams of saline substances; a liter of water in the Atlantic Ocean contains only 32.
“An attempt has been made to estimate, approximately, the total quantity of salt contained in the ocean. Were the ocean dried up and all its saline ingredients left at the bottom, they would suffice to cover the whole surface of the earth with a uniform layer ten meters thick.”
“Oh, what a lot of salt!” cried Emile. “We should never see the end of it, however much we salted our food. Then salt is obtained from the sea?”
“Certainly. A low, level stretch of seashore is selected, basins are dug, shallow but of considerable extent; these are called salt marshes32. Then the sea-water is admitted to these basins. When they are full, the communication with the sea is closed. The work on salt marshes is done in the summer. The heat of the sun causes the water to evaporate little by little, and the salt remains33 in a crystalline crust that is removed with rakes. The accumulated salt is piled up in a big heap to let it drain.”
“If we should put a plate of salt water in the sun, would that be doing in a small way what is done in the salt marshes?” asked Jules.
“Exactly: the water would disappear, evaporated by the sun, and the salt would remain in the plate.”
“There are lots of fish in the sea, I know,” said Claire, “small, large, and monstrous. The sardine34, cod35, anchovy36, tunny-fish, and ever so many more come to us from the sea. There are also mollusks, as you call them, also animals that cover themselves with a shell; then enormous crabs37 with claws bigger than a man’s fist; and a lot of other creatures that I don’t know. What do they all live on?”
“First, they eat one another a good deal. The weakest becomes the prey38 of a stronger one, which in its turn finds its master and becomes food for it. But it is plain that if the inhabitants of the sea had no other resource than devouring40 one another, sooner or later nourishment41 would fail them and they would perish.
Seaweed
“Therefore, in this matter of nutrition, things are ordered in the sea much as they are on land. Plants furnish alimentary42 matter. Certain species feed on the plant, others devour39 those that eat the plant; so that, directly or indirectly43, vegetation really nourishes them all.”
“I understand,” said Jules. “A sheep browses44 the grass, a wolf eats the sheep, and so it is the grass that nourishes the wolf. There are, then, plants in the sea?”
“In great abundance. Our prairies are not more grassy45 than the bottom of the sea. Only, marine46 plants differ much from land ones. They never have blossoms, never anything that can be likened to leaves, never any roots. They attach themselves to rocks by a stickiness at their base, without being able to draw nourishment from them. They feed on water and not on the soil. Some resemble sticky thongs47, folded ribbons, long manes; others take the form of little tufted buds, soft top-knots, wavy48 plumes49; still others are slashed50 in strips, rolled in spirals, or shaped like coarse, slimy threads. Some are olive-green, or pale rose-color; others are honey-yellow, or bright red. These odd plants are called seaweeds.”
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1
ridges
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| n.脊( ridge的名词复数 )；山脊；脊状突起；大气层的)高压脊 | |
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2
foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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planks
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| （厚）木板( plank的名词复数 )； 政纲条目，政策要点 | |
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plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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fathomless
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| a.深不可测的 | |
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chasm
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| n.深坑，断层，裂口，大分岐，利害冲突 | |
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chasms
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| 裂缝( chasm的名词复数 )； 裂口； 分歧； 差别 | |
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incompatible
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| adj.不相容的，不协调的，不相配的 | |
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taint
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| n.污点；感染；腐坏；v.使感染；污染 | |
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12
gusts
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| 一阵强风( gust的名词复数 )； （怒、笑等的）爆发； （感情的）迸发； 发作 | |
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foaming
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| adj.布满泡沫的；发泡 | |
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crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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15
swells
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| 增强( swell的第三人称单数 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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majestic
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| adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的 | |
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vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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vertical
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| adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置 | |
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vertically
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| adv.垂直地 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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demolished
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| v.摧毁( demolish的过去式和过去分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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pebbles
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| [复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 ) | |
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25
dwellings
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| n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
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landslides
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| 山崩( landslide的名词复数 )； （山坡、悬崖等的）崩塌； 滑坡； （竞选中）一方选票占压倒性多数 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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corruption
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| n.腐败，堕落，贪污 | |
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29
nausea
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| n.作呕，恶心；极端的憎恶(或厌恶) | |
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30
seasoning
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| n.调味；调味料；增添趣味之物 | |
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Mediterranean
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| adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的 | |
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32
marshes
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| n.沼泽，湿地( marsh的名词复数 ) | |
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33
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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sardine
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| n.[C]沙丁鱼 | |
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cod
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| n.鳕鱼；v.愚弄；哄骗 | |
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36
anchovy
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| n.凤尾鱼 | |
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37
crabs
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| n.蟹( crab的名词复数 )；阴虱寄生病；蟹肉v.捕蟹( crab的第三人称单数 ) | |
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38
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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39
devour
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| v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷 | |
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40
devouring
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| 吞没( devour的现在分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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41
nourishment
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| n.食物，营养品；营养情况 | |
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42
alimentary
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| adj.饮食的，营养的 | |
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43
indirectly
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| adv.间接地，不直接了当地 | |
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44
browses
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| n.吃草( browse的名词复数 )；随意翻阅；（在商店里）随便看看；（在计算机上）浏览信息v.吃草( browse的第三人称单数 )；随意翻阅；（在商店里）随便看看；（在计算机上）浏览信息 | |
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45
grassy
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| adj.盖满草的；长满草的 | |
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46
marine
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| adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵 | |
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47
thongs
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| 的东西 | |
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48
wavy
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| adj.有波浪的，多浪的，波浪状的，波动的，不稳定的 | |
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49
plumes
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| 羽毛( plume的名词复数 )； 羽毛饰； 羽毛状物； 升上空中的羽状物 | |
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50
slashed
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| v.挥砍( slash的过去式和过去分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减 | |
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