英语听书《白鲸记》第261期

 But, alas¹! the practices of whalemen soon convinced him that even Christians² could be both miserable³ and wicked;  但是,天呀!这些捕鲸者的行动立刻就教他看出了文明人的卑鄙与邪恶;

infinitely⁴ more so, than all his father's heathens.  甚至比他父亲治下的那些异教徒还要来得厉害。

Arrived at last in old Sag⁵ Harbor;  他后来到了萨格港,

and seeing what the sailors did there; and then going on to Nantucket, and seeing how they spent their wages in that place also, poor Queequeg gave it up for lost.  看到了许多水手在那边的行为;接着又到了南塔开特,看到他们怎样在那地方花掉他们的薪水,可怜的魁魁格认为一切完全绝望了。

Thought he, it's a wicked world in all meridians⁶; I'll die a pagan. 他想,这世界到处都是邪恶的;我还是做一辈子的异教徒吧。

And thus an old idolator at heart, he yet lived among these Christians, wore their clothes, and tried to talk their gibberish.  于是,他虽然生活在这些文明人中间,穿着他们的服装,学说他们那种结结巴巴的话,内心里却依然是个偶像崇拜者。

Hence the queer ways about him, though now some time from home. 因此,虽然他已离开故乡好久,却仍有着那种古怪的生活习惯。

By hints I asked him whether he did not propose going back, and having a coronation;  因为他在最后说,他父亲年纪很大,身体衰弱,我便以暗示的方法问他,

since he might now consider his father dead and gone, he being very old and feeble at the last accounts.  既然他现在可能认为他父亲已经死了,他是否打算回家,去继承他父亲的王位。

He answered no, not yet; and added that he was fearful Christianity,  他回答说不,还没有这个打算;

or rather Christians, had unfitted him for ascending⁷ the pure and undefiled throne of thirty pagan Kings before him.  不过他补充说,他深怕文明,或者不如说是文明人的影响,已经使他不配登上那相承三十代的纯净无疵的异教王座了。

But by and by, he said, he would return,as soon as he felt himself baptized again. For the nonce, however, he proposed to sail about, and sow his wild oats in all four oceans.  但是,他又说,他不久还是要回去的,一到他认为自己已经又受了一次洗礼的时候,他就立刻回去。不过,目前他打算到各处航游,到四大洋去放荡一番。

They had made a harpooneer of him, and that barbed iron was in lieu of a sceptre now. 他们已经使他成为一个标枪手,现在,这支有着倒钩的武器就是他的王笏的代替物了。

1 alas   

int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等)

参考例句：

• Alas!The window is broken!哎呀！窗子破了！
• Alas,the truth is less romantic.然而，真理很少带有浪漫色彩。

2 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

3 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。

4 infinitely   

adv.无限地，无穷地

参考例句：

• There is an infinitely bright future ahead of us.我们有无限光明的前途。
• The universe is infinitely large.宇宙是无限大的。

5 sag   

v.下垂，下跌，消沉；n.下垂，下跌，凹陷，[航海]随风漂流

参考例句：

• The shelf was beginning to sag beneath the weight of the books upon it.书架在书的重压下渐渐下弯。
• We need to do something about the sag.我们须把下沉的地方修整一下。

6 meridians   

n.子午圈( meridian的名词复数 )；子午线；顶点；（权力，成就等的）全盛时期

参考例句：

• Meridians are great circles passing through both poles. 经线均为通过两极。 来自辞典例句
• The Cutaneous Regions are within the domains of the Twelve Regular Meridians. 十二皮部是十二经脉功能活动反映于体表的部位，也是络脉之气散布之所在。 来自互联网

7 ascending   

adj.上升的，向上的

参考例句：

• Now draw or trace ten dinosaurs in ascending order of size.现在按照体型由小到大的顺序画出或是临摹出10只恐龙。