英语听书《白鲸记》第408期

 And let me in this place movingly admonish¹ you, ye ship-owners of Nantucket! Beware of enlisting² in your vigilant³ fisheries any lad with lean brow and hollow eye; given to unseasonable meditativeness⁴; and who offers to ship with the Phaedon instead of Bowditch in his head.  因此,让我在这里恳切地劝告你们这些南塔开特的船主吧!在你们这种始终需要留神的捕鱼业中,可千万不要招收那些浅眉凹眼,爱做不合时宜的遐思的小伙子;这些家伙,他们是带一个飞东的,而不是鲍狄契的脑袋到船上来的。

Beware of such an one, I say: your whales must be seen before they can be killed; and this sunken-eyed young Platonist will tow you ten wakes round the world, and never make you one pint⁵ of sperm⁶ the richer.  我说,应该提防这样一种人;你的鲸一定要看得真切才能动手捕杀;可是,这种窝孔眼的柏拉图派的小伙子,却会教你绕了世界十圈,而使你永远捞不到二十英两较好的鲸油。

Nor are these monitions at all unneeded.  这种忠告并不是完全多余的。

For nowadays, the whale-fishery furnishes an asylum⁷ for many romantic, melancholy⁸, and absent-minded young men, disgusted with the corking⁹ care of earth, and seeking sentiment in tar¹⁰ and blubber.  因为,在目前,捕鲸业就好象是为许多罗曼蒂克,有忧郁症的和心不在焉的年轻人而设的避难所一般,他们不屑做尘世琐事,却到柏油和鲸脂中来寻找情趣。

Childe Harold not unfrequently perches¹¹ himself upon the mast-head of some luckless disappointed whale-ship, and in moody¹² phrase ejaculates: 恰尔德哈罗尔德就经常栖息在一种倒运绝望的捕鲸船的桅顶上,用郁郁不乐的词句不由自主地叫喊:

"Roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean, roll! Ten thousand blubber-hunters sweep over thee in vain." 滚滚向前吧,你深不可测的靛青色的海洋!千万艘捕鲸船徒劳地在你身上驰驱。

Very often do the captains of such ships take those absent-minded young philosophers to task, upbraiding¹³ them with not feeling sufficient "interest" in the voyage;  但是,这些船只的船长却往往一边雇用这些心不在焉的年青哲学家,一边又在责备他们对航程没有充分的"兴趣";

half-hinting that they are so hopelessly lost to all honorable ambition, as that in their secret souls they would rather not see whales than otherwise.  隐隐约约地说他们是如此不堪救药,丧尽光荣大志,因为在他们那隐秘的灵魂中实在是很不愿意看到大鲸的。

But all in vain; those young Platonists have a notion that their vision is imperfect; they are short-sighted; what use, then, to strain the visual nerve? They have left their opera-glasses at home. 不过,这一切都是徒劳的;这些年轻的柏拉图派,总自认为自己的视觉有缺点;自己是近视眼;那么,过份使用这视神经又有什么用呢?他们已经把他们那只看戏用的望远镜给忘在家里了。

1 admonish   

v.训戒；警告；劝告

参考例句：

• I will tactfully admonish him not to behave like this again.我会婉转的规诫他不要再这样做。
• Admonish your friends privately,but praise them openly.要私下告戒朋友，但是要公开夸奖朋友。

2 enlisting   

v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的现在分词 )；获得（帮助或支持）

参考例句：

• He thought about enlisting-about the Spanish legion-about a profession. 他想去打仗，想参加西班牙军团，想找个职业。 来自辞典例句
• They are not enlisting men over thirty-five. 他们不召超过35岁的人入伍。 来自辞典例句

3 vigilant   

adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的

参考例句：

• He has to learn how to remain vigilant through these long nights.他得学会如何在这漫长的黑夜里保持警觉。
• The dog kept a vigilant guard over the house.这只狗警醒地守护着这所房屋。

4 meditativeness   

参考例句：

5 pint   

n.品脱

参考例句：

• I'll have a pint of beer and a packet of crisps, please.我要一品脱啤酒和一袋炸马铃薯片。
• In the old days you could get a pint of beer for a shilling.从前，花一先令就可以买到一品脱啤酒。

6 sperm   

n.精子，精液

参考例句：

• Only one sperm fertilises an egg.只有一个精子使卵子受精。
• In human reproduction,one female egg is usually fertilized by one sperm.在人体生殖过程中，一个精子使一个卵子受精。

7 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

8 melancholy   

n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的

参考例句：

• All at once he fell into a state of profound melancholy.他立即陷入无尽的忧思之中。
• He felt melancholy after he failed the exam.这次考试没通过，他感到很郁闷。

9 corking   

adj.很好的adv.非常地v.用瓶塞塞住( cork的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I've often thought you'd make a corking good actress." 我经常在想你会成为很了不起的女演员。” 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

10 tar   

n.柏油，焦油；vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于

参考例句：

• The roof was covered with tar.屋顶涂抹了一层沥青。
• We use tar to make roads.我们用沥青铺路。

11 perches   

栖息处( perch的名词复数 )； 栖枝； 高处； 鲈鱼

参考例句：

• Other protection can be obtained by providing wooden perches througout the orchards. 其它保护措施是可在种子园中到处设置木制的栖木。
• The birds were hopping about on their perches and twittering. 鸟儿在栖木上跳来跳去，吱吱地叫着。

12 moody   

adj.心情不稳的，易怒的，喜怒无常的

参考例句：

• He relapsed into a moody silence.他又重新陷于忧郁的沉默中。
• I'd never marry that girl.She's so moody.我决不会和那女孩结婚的。她太易怒了。

13 upbraiding   

adj.& n.谴责（的）v.责备，申斥，谴责( upbraid的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• His wife set about upbraiding him for neglecting the children. 他妻子开始指责他不照顾孩子。 来自辞典例句
• I eschewed upbraiding, I curtailed remonstrance. 我避免责备，少作规劝。 来自辞典例句