In all this serenity of ocean it is seldom that we espy so much as another ship; the jolly dolphins and the scratchy little flying-fish have the vast circle all to themselves, “the Flying-Fish, who has a part with the birds,” and doubtless are glad to see the last of the monster which bears us into and out of sight. Our wake closes up and we might never have been. But it does happen from time to time that an island appears on the horizon, nameless to us and full of mystery, the peak of a submarine mountain range, lonely, unblemished, remote. Does one like islands because one unconsciously appropriates them, a small manageable domain in a large unmanageable world? I cannot tell why it should give me such a queer sensation to reflect that that island has always been there and will be there still, should I return to find it waiting for me.
在这一片无比宁静的大海上， 我们连一艘其他的船只也难得见到。 欢乐的海豚和那些吱吱叫的小飞鱼是这片广阔天地的主人。 当它们再也看不到那个载着我们驶入它们的视线而又很快消失的怪物时， “这些与鸟儿有点相似的小飞鱼” 肯定高兴得很。 船过水合， 毫无痕迹， 似乎我们从未经过那儿似的。 但是， 偶尔也会有一座不知名的岛屿出现在远处的地平线上， 充满神秘之感， 那是海底山脉之顶峰， 显得孤独、 无暇、 遥远。 人们喜爱岛屿，是不是因为在难以驾驭的广袤的世界之中有这些易于治理的小块领地， 就不知不觉地想要占为己有呢？ 不知为何，我总有一种奇怪的感觉， 认为那座岛屿会一直屹立在那里， 假若我们返回原地， 将会发现它还在那里等待着我们。