英语听书《白鲸记》第8期

  rather weary for me,when I struck my foot against the flinty projections,because from hard, 

 remorseless service the soles of my boots were in a most miserable¹ plight².Too expensive and jolly, 

 again thought I,pausing one moment to watch the broad glare in the street,and hear the sounds of the tinkling³ glasses within. 

 But go on,Ishmael,said I at last;do not you hear?get away from before the door;your patched boots are stopping the way. 

 So on I went.I now by instinct followed the streets that took me waterward,for there,doubtless,were the cheapest,if not the cheeriest inns. 

 Such dreary⁴ streets!blocks of blackness,not houses,on either hand,and here and there a candle, 

 like a candle moving about in a tomb. 

 At this hour of the night,of the last day of the week,that quarter of the town proved all but deserted⁵. 

 But presently I came to a smoky light proceeding⁶ from a low,wide building,the door of which stood invitingly⁷ open. 

 It had a careless look,as if it were meant for the uses of the public;so,entering,the first thing I did was to stumble over an ash box in the porch.Ha! 

 thought I,ha,as the flying particles almost choked me,are these ashes from that destroyed city, 

 Gomorrah?But The Crossed Harpoons,and The Sword Fish?this,then must needs be the sign of The Trap. 

 However,I picked myself up and hearing a loud voice within, 

 pushed on and opened a second,interior door. 

 It seemed the great Black Parliament sitting in Tophet.A hundred black faces turned round in their rows to peer; 

 and beyond,a black Angel of Doom⁸ was beating a book in a pulpit.It was a negro church;and the preacher's text was about the blackness of darkness, 

 and the weeping and wailing⁹ and teeth gnashing there.Ha,Ishmael,muttered I,backing out,Wretched entertainment at the sign of ' The Trap!' 

 Moving on,I at last came to a dim sort of light not far from the docks, 

 and heard a forlorn creaking in the air;and looking up,saw a swinging sign over the door with a white painting upon it, 

 faintly representing a tall straight jet of misty¹⁰ spray, 

 and these words underneathThe Spouter¹¹ Inn:Peter Coffin¹². 

 Coffin?Spouter?Rather ominous¹³ in that particular connexion, 

 thought I. But it is a common name in Nantucket,they say, 

 and I suppose this Peter here is an emigrant¹⁴ from there. 

 As the light looked so dim,and the place,for the time,looked quiet enough, 

 and the dilapidated little wooden house itself looked as if it might have been carted here from the ruins of some burnt district, 

 and as the swinging sign had a poverty stricken sort of creak to it,I thought that here was the very spot for cheap lodgings,and the best of pea coffee. 

 It was a queer sort of place a gable ended old house,one side palsied as it were,and leaning over sadly. 

1 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

2 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

3 tinkling   

n.丁当作响声

参考例句：

• I could hear bells tinkling in the distance. 我能听到远处叮当铃响。
• To talk to him was like listening to the tinkling of a worn-out musical-box. 跟他说话，犹如听一架老掉牙的八音盒子丁冬响。 来自英汉文学

4 dreary   

adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的

参考例句：

• They live such dreary lives.他们的生活如此乏味。
• She was tired of hearing the same dreary tale of drunkenness and violence.她听够了那些关于酗酒和暴力的乏味故事。

5 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

6 proceeding   

n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报

参考例句：

• This train is now proceeding from Paris to London.这次列车从巴黎开往伦敦。
• The work is proceeding briskly.工作很有生气地进展着。

7 invitingly   

adv. 动人地

参考例句：

• Her lips pouted invitingly. 她挑逗地撮起双唇。
• The smooth road sloped invitingly before her. 平展的山路诱人地倾斜在她面前。

8 doom   

n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定

参考例句：

• The report on our economic situation is full of doom and gloom.这份关于我们经济状况的报告充满了令人绝望和沮丧的调子。
• The dictator met his doom after ten years of rule.独裁者统治了十年终于完蛋了。

9 wailing   

v.哭叫，哀号( wail的现在分词 )；沱

参考例句：

• A police car raced past with its siren wailing. 一辆警车鸣着警报器飞驰而过。
• The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。

10 misty   

adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的

参考例句：

• He crossed over to the window to see if it was still misty.他走到窗户那儿，看看是不是还有雾霭。
• The misty scene had a dreamy quality about it.雾景给人以梦幻般的感觉。

11 spouter   

喷油井；捕鲸船；说话滔滔不绝的人；照管流出槽的工人

参考例句：

12 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。

13 ominous   

adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的

参考例句：

• Those black clouds look ominous for our picnic.那些乌云对我们的野餐来说是个不祥之兆。
• There was an ominous silence at the other end of the phone.电话那头出现了不祥的沉默。

14 emigrant   

adj.移居的，移民的；n.移居外国的人，移民

参考例句：

• He is a British emigrant to Australia.他是个移居澳大利亚的英国人。
• I always think area like this is unsuited for human beings,but it is also unpractical to emigrant in a large scale.我一直觉得，像这样的地方是不适宜人类居住的，可大规模的移民又是不现实的。