英语听书《白鲸记》第142期

 The chief mate of the Pequod was Starbuck, a native of Nantucket, and a Quaker by descent.  斯达巴克是“裴廓德号”上的大副。 他是地道的南塔开特土著，一个桂克的后代 

He was a long, earnest man, and though born on an icy coast, seemed well adapted to endure hot latitudes¹, his flesh being hard as twice-baked biscuit.  斯达巴克身颀体长，肌肉发达，一块块的硬得像回炉的面包。

Transported to the Indies, his live blood would not spoil like bottled ale.  然而他身上却透着一种先天的瘦削，

He must have been born in some time of general drought and famine, or upon one of those fast days for which his state is famous.Only some thirty arid² summers had he seen; those summers had dried up all his physical superfluousness³.   好像他出生在饥荒年份，或许是禁食的日子里。 

But this, his thinness, so to speak, seemed no more the token of wasting anxieties and cares, than it seemed the indication of any bodily blight⁴. It was merely the condensation⁵ of the man.  他的这种瘦削，既不是体力不支的羸弱，也不是精力衰退的疲惫，而是一种成年男人所特有的精力与体力的浓缩。 

1 latitudes   

纬度

参考例句：

• Latitudes are the lines that go from east to west. 纬线是从东到西的线。
• It was the brief Indian Summer of the high latitudes. 这是高纬度地方的那种短暂的晚秋。

2 arid   

adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的

参考例句：

• These trees will shield off arid winds and protect the fields.这些树能挡住旱风,保护农田。
• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。

3 superfluousness   

过剩，多余

参考例句：

4 blight   

n.枯萎病；造成破坏的因素；vt.破坏，摧残

参考例句：

• The apple crop was wiped out by blight.枯萎病使苹果全无收成。
• There is a blight on all his efforts.他的一切努力都遭到挫折。

5 condensation   

n.压缩，浓缩；凝结的水珠

参考例句：

• A cloud is a condensation of water vapour in the atmosphere.云是由大气中的水蒸气凝结成的。
• He used his sleeve to wipe the condensation off the glass.他用袖子擦掉玻璃上凝结的水珠。