英语听书《白鲸记》第16期

  Arter that,Sal said it would not do.Come along here, 

 I 'll give ye a glim in a jiffy;and so saying he lighted a candle and held it towards me,offering to lead the way. 

 But I stood irresolute;when looking at a clock in the corner, 

 he exclaimed I vum it's Sunday you will not see that harpooneer to night;he's come to anchor somewherecome along then;DO come;will not ye come? 

 I considered the matter a moment,and then up stairs we went,and I was ushered² into a small room,cold as a clam, 

 and furnished,sure enough,with a prodigious³ bed,almost big enough indeed for any four harpooneers to sleep abreast⁴. 

 There,said the landlord,placing the candle on a crazy old sea chest that did double duty as a wash stand and centre table; 

 there,make yourself comfortable now,and good night to ye.I turned round from eyeing the bed,but he had disappeared. 

 Folding back the counterpane,I stooped over the bed.Though none of the most elegant,it yet stood the scrutiny⁵ tolerably well. 

 I then glanced round the room;and besides the bedstead and centre table,could see no other furniture belonging to the place, 

 but a rude shelf,the four walls,and a papered fireboard representing a man striking a whale.Of things not properly belonging to the room, 

 there was a hammock lashed⁶ up,and thrown upon the floor in one corner;also a large seaman's bag, 

 containing the harpooneer's wardrobe,no doubt in lieu of a land trunk.Likewise, 

 there was a parcel of outlandish bone fish hooks on the shelf over the fire place,and a tall harpoon¹ standing⁷ at the head of the bed. 

 But what is this on the chest?I took it up,and held it close to the light,and felt it, 

 and smelt⁸ it,and tried every way possible to arrive at some satisfactory conclusion concerning it. 

 I can compare it to nothing but a large door mat, 

 ornamented at the edges with little tinkling⁹ tags something like the stained porcupine¹⁰ quills¹¹ round an Indian moccasin. 

 There was a hole or slit¹² in the middle of this mat,as you see the same in South American ponchos¹³. 

 But could it be possible that any sober harpooneer would get into a door mat, 

 and parade the streets of any Christian¹⁴ town in that sort of guise¹⁵?I put it on, 

 to try it,and it weighed me down like a hamper,being uncommonly¹⁶ shaggy and thick,and I thought a little damp, 

 as though this mysterious harpooneer had been wearing it of a rainy day. 

 I went up in it to a bit of glass stuck against the wall,and I never saw such a sight in my life. 

 I tore myself out of it in such a hurry that I gave myself a kink in the neck. 

 I sat down on the side of the bed,and commenced thinking about this head peddling¹⁷ harpooneer,and his door mat. 

 After thinking some time on the bed side,I got up and took off my monkey jacket,and then stood in the middle of the room thinking. 

 I then took off my coat,and thought a little more in my shirt sleeves. 

 But beginning to feel very cold now,half undressed as I was, 

 and remembering what the landlord said about the harpooneer's not coming home at all that night, 

 it being so very late,I made no more ado,but jumped out of my pantaloons and boots, 

 and then blowing out the light tumbled into bed,and commended myself to the care of heaven. 

1 harpoon   

n.鱼叉；vt.用鱼叉叉，用鱼叉捕获

参考例句：

• The harpoon drove deep into the body of the whale.渔叉深深地扎进鲸鱼体内。
• The fisherman transfixed the shark with a harpoon.渔夫用鱼叉刺住鲨鱼。

2 ushered   

v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The secretary ushered me into his office. 秘书把我领进他的办公室。
• A round of parties ushered in the New Year. 一系列的晚会迎来了新年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 prodigious   

adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的

参考例句：

• This business generates cash in prodigious amounts.这种业务收益丰厚。
• He impressed all who met him with his prodigious memory.他惊人的记忆力让所有见过他的人都印象深刻。

4 abreast   

adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地

参考例句：

• She kept abreast with the flood of communications that had poured in.她及时回复如雪片般飞来的大批信件。
• We can't keep abreast of the developing situation unless we study harder.我们如果不加强学习，就会跟不上形势。

5 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

6 lashed   

adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• The rain lashed at the windows. 雨点猛烈地打在窗户上。
• The cleverly designed speech lashed the audience into a frenzy. 这篇精心设计的演说煽动听众使他们发狂。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

8 smelt   

v.熔解，熔炼；n.银白鱼，胡瓜鱼

参考例句：

• Tin is a comparatively easy metal to smelt.锡是比较容易熔化的金属。
• Darby was looking for a way to improve iron when he hit upon the idea of smelting it with coke instead of charcoal.达比一直在寻找改善铁质的方法，他猛然想到可以不用木炭熔炼，而改用焦炭。

9 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

10 porcupine   

n.豪猪， 箭猪

参考例句：

• A porcupine is covered with prickles.箭猪身上长满了刺。
• There is a philosophy parable,call philosophy of porcupine.有一个哲学寓言，叫豪猪的哲学。

11 quills   

n.（刺猬或豪猪的）刺( quill的名词复数 )；羽毛管；翮；纡管

参考例句：

• Quills were the chief writing implement from the 6th century AD until the advent of steel pens in the mid 19th century. 从公元6世纪到19世纪中期钢笔出现以前，羽毛笔是主要的书写工具。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Defensive quills dot the backs of these troublesome creatures. 防御性的刺长在这些讨人厌的生物背上。 来自互联网

12 slit   

n.狭长的切口；裂缝；vt.切开，撕裂

参考例句：

• The coat has been slit in two places.这件外衣有两处裂开了。
• He began to slit open each envelope.他开始裁开每个信封。

13 ponchos   

n.斗篷( poncho的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The men cast off their packs, withdrew their ponchos and set up their pup tents again. 大家扔下了背包，取出了雨披，把小帐篷重又架了起来。 来自辞典例句

14 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

15 guise   

n.外表，伪装的姿态

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors.他们假装成视察员进了学校。
• The thief came into the house under the guise of a repairman.那小偷扮成个修理匠进了屋子。

16 uncommonly   

adv. 稀罕(极，非常)

参考例句：

• an uncommonly gifted child 一个天赋异禀的儿童
• My little Mary was feeling uncommonly empty. 我肚子当时正饿得厉害。

17 peddling   

忙于琐事的，无关紧要的

参考例句：

• He worked as a door-to-door salesman peddling cloths and brushes. 他的工作是上门推销抹布和刷子。
• "If he doesn't like peddling, why doesn't he practice law? "要是他不高兴卖柴火，干吗不当律师呢？