英语听书《白鲸记》 第3期

  CHAPTER 1 Loomings. 

 Call me Ishmael.Some years ago never mind how long precisely¹ having little or no money in my purse, 

 and nothing particular to interest me on shore, 

 I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery² part of the world. 

 It is a way I have of driving off the spleen and regulating the circulation. 

 Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth;whenever it is a damp, 

 drizzly November in my soul;whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin³ warehouses⁴, 

 and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet;and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, 

 that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately⁵ stepping into the street, 

 and methodically knocking people's hats off then,I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. 

 This is my substitute for pistol and ball.With a philosophical⁶ flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; 

 I quietly take to the ship.There is nothing surprising in this. 

 If they but knew it,almost all men in their degree, 

 some time or other,cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me. 

 There now is your insular⁷ city of the Manhattoes,belted round by wharves⁸ as Indian isles⁹ by coral reefs commerce surrounds it with her surf. 

 Right and left,the streets take you waterward.Its extreme downtown is the battery, 

 where that noble mole¹⁰ is washed by waves,and cooled by breezes, 

 which a few hours previous were out of sight of land. 

 Look at the crowds of water gazers there. 

 Circumambulate the city of a dreamy Sabbath afternoon. 

 Go from Corlears Hook to Coenties Slip,and from thence, 

 by Whitehall,northward.What do you see?Posted like silent sentinels all around the town, 

 stand thousands upon thousands of mortal men fixed¹¹ in ocean reveries. 

 Some leaning against the spiles;some seated upon the pier¹² heads;some looking over the bulwarks¹³ of ships from China; 

 some high aloft in the rigging,as if striving to get a still better seaward peep.But these are all landsmen; 

 of week days pent up in lath and plaster tied to counters,nailed to benches,clinched to desks. 

 How then is this?Are the green fields gone?What do they here? 

 But look!here come more crowds,pacing straight for the water,and seemingly bound for a dive. 

 Strange!Nothing will content them but the extremest limit of the land;loitering under the shady lee of yonder warehouses will not suffice. 

 No. They must get just as nigh the water as they possibly can without falling in.And there they stand files of them leagues. 

 Inlanders all,they come from lanes and alleys,streets and avenues forth,east,south,and west. 

 Yet here they all unite.Tell me,does the magnetic virtue¹⁴ of the needles of the compasses of all those ships attract them thither¹⁵? 

 Once more.Say you are in the country;in some high land of lakes. 

 Take almost any path you please,and ten to one it carries you down in a dale, 

 and leaves you there by a pool in the stream. 

 There is magic in it.Let the most absent minded of men be plunged¹⁶ in his deepest reveries stand that man on his legs, 

 set his feet a going,and he will infallibly lead you to water,if water there be in all that region. undefined

1 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

2 watery   

adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的

参考例句：

• In his watery eyes there is an expression of distrust.他那含泪的眼睛流露出惊惶失措的神情。
• Her eyes became watery because of the smoke.因为烟熏，她的双眼变得泪汪汪的。

3 coffin   

n.棺材，灵柩

参考例句：

• When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
• The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。

4 warehouses   

仓库，货栈( warehouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The whisky was taken to bonded warehouses at Port Dundee. 威士忌酒已送到邓迪港的保稅仓库。
• Row upon row of newly built warehouses line the waterfront. 江岸新建的仓库鳞次栉比。

5 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

6 philosophical   

adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的

参考例句：

• The teacher couldn't answer the philosophical problem.老师不能解答这个哲学问题。
• She is very philosophical about her bad luck.她对自己的不幸看得很开。

7 insular   

adj.岛屿的，心胸狭窄的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• Having lived in one place all his life,his views are insular.他一辈子住在一个地方，所以思想狭隘。

8 wharves   

n.码头，停泊处( wharf的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They are seaworthy and can stand rough handling on the wharves? 适用于海运并能经受在码头上的粗暴装卸。 来自外贸英语口语25天快训
• Widely used in factories and mines, warehouses, wharves, and other industries. 广泛用于厂矿、仓库、码头、等各种行业。 来自互联网

9 isles   

岛( isle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the geology of the British Isles 不列颠群岛的地质
• The boat left for the isles. 小船驶向那些小岛。

10 mole   

n.胎块；痣；克分子

参考例句：

• She had a tiny mole on her cheek.她的面颊上有一颗小黑痣。
• The young girl felt very self- conscious about the large mole on her chin.那位年轻姑娘对自己下巴上的一颗大痣感到很不自在。

11 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

12 pier   

n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱

参考例句：

• The pier of the bridge has been so badly damaged that experts worry it is unable to bear weight.这座桥的桥桩破损厉害，专家担心它已不能负重。
• The ship was making towards the pier.船正驶向码头。

13 bulwarks   

n.堡垒( bulwark的名词复数 )；保障；支柱；舷墙

参考例句：

• The freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks of liberty. 新闻自由是自由最大的保障之一。 来自辞典例句
• Surgery and X-irradiation nevertheless remain the bulwarks of cancer treatment throughout the world. 外科手术和X射线疗法依然是全世界治疗癌症的主要方法。 来自辞典例句

14 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

15 thither   

adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的

参考例句：

• He wandered hither and thither looking for a playmate.他逛来逛去找玩伴。
• He tramped hither and thither.他到处流浪。

16 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。