英语听书《白鲸记》第276期

 We resumed business; and while plying¹ our spoons in the bowl, thinks I to myself, I wonder now if this here has any effect on the head?  我们又吃了起来;我们的匙子在碗里掏来掏去的时候,我暗自揣思着,不知道这东西究竟可会影响到头脑?

What's that stultifying² saying about chowder-headed people? But look, Queequeg, ain't that a live eel³ in your bowl?  那句说人傻头傻脑的前言不搭后语的话是怎么一回事呢?喂,魁魁格,你看,你碗里不是有一条活鳝鱼吗?

Where's your harpoon⁴? 你的标枪在哪儿呀?

Fishiest of all fishy⁵ places was the Try Pots, which well deserved its name; for the pots there were always boiling chowders.  炼锅真是一切渔区的最富有鱼气的地方,它真是名副其实;因为那些锅子总在煨着杂烩。

Chowder for breakfast, and chowder for dinner, and chowder for supper, till you began to look for fish-bones coming through your clothes.  早饭吃杂烩,午饭是杂烩,晚饭又是杂烩,直吃得教人会在衣服上找到打里面戳出的鱼骨头。

The area before the house was paved with clam-shells.  屋前的地方都铺满了蛤蜊壳。

Mrs.Hussey wore a polished necklace of codfish vertebra;  胡赛太太挂着的那条锃亮的项链,就是用鳘鱼脊骨做的;

and Hosea Hussey had his account books bound in superior old shark-skin.  荷西亚。胡赛的账册则是用顶好的旧鲨鱼皮装订的。

There was a fishy flavor to the milk, too, which I could not at all account for,  牛奶里也有股鱼味道,这味道本来很使我弄不明白,

till one morning happening to take a stroll along the beach among some fishermen's boats, I saw Hosea's brindled⁶ cow feeding on fish remnants,  直到有一天早晨,我偶然沿着那块泊有几条渔船的沙滩散步时才明白过来,我看到荷西亚那头花斑的母牛在吃鱼骨鱼杂,

and marching along the sand with each foot in a cod's decapitated head, looking very slipshod, I assure ye. 而且,老实告诉你,它沿着沙地走时,每一只脚都套着一只斩下来的鳘鱼头,那样子真象穿着拖鞋。

Supper concluded, we received a lamp, and directions from Mrs.Hussey concerning the nearest way to bed;  吃过晚饭,我们拿到一盏灯,胡赛太太还指点我们怎样走最近便的路到床上去。

but, as Queequeg was about to precede me up the stairs, the lady reached forth⁷ her arm, and demanded his harpoon;  但是,正当魁魁格想先我走上扶梯的时候,那女人伸出她的胳膊来,要他交出标枪;

she allowed no harpoon in her chambers⁸. Why not? said I; every true whaleman sleeps with his harpoon-but why not?  说她房间里不准搁标枪。为什么不能?

1 plying   

v.使用（工具）( ply的现在分词 )；经常供应（食物、饮料）；固定往来；经营生意

参考例句：

• All manner of hawkers and street sellers were plying their trade. 形形色色的沿街小贩都在做着自己的买卖。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was rather Mrs. Wang who led the conversation, plying Miss Liu with questions. 倒是汪太太谈锋甚健，向刘小姐问长问短。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

2 stultifying   

v.使成为徒劳，使变得无用( stultify的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• the stultifying effects of work that never varies 一成不变的工作造成的使人呆滞的后果
• At its worst it is corrosive and it is stultifying. 在最坏的情况下，时间具有腐蚀作用，而且使人更为愚钝。 来自互联网

3 eel   

n.鳗鲡

参考例句：

• He used an eel spear to catch an eel.他用一只捕鳗叉捕鳗鱼。
• In Suzhou,there was a restaurant that specialized in eel noodles.苏州有一家饭馆，他们那里的招牌菜是鳗鱼面。

4 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。

5 fishy   

adj. 值得怀疑的

参考例句：

• It all sounds very fishy to me.所有这些在我听起来都很可疑。
• There was definitely something fishy going on.肯定当时有可疑的事情在进行中。

6 brindled   

adj.有斑纹的

参考例句：

• I saw his brindled cow feeding on fish remnants.我看见他的用鱼杂碎喂养的斑纹奶牛。
• He had one brindled eye that sometimes made him look like a clown.他一只眼睛上有块花斑，这使得他有时看上去活象个小丑。

7 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

8 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网