英语听书《白鲸记》第462期

 First: The mariner¹, when drawing nigh the coasts of foreign lands, if by night he hear the roar of breakers, starts to vigilance, and feels just enough of trepidation² to sharpen all his faculties³;  第一,在船只逐渐驶近异乡口岸时,如果当时正是夜间,有个水手听到激浪的号啸而惊醒过来,他会觉得那种恐惧刚好把他的精神都激发起来;

but under precisely⁴ similar circumstances, let him be called from his hammock to view his ship sailing through a midnight sea of milky⁵ whiteness-as if from encircling headlands shoals of combed white bears were swimming round him, then he feels a silent, superstitious⁶ dread⁷;  不过,如果是在同样的情况下,人们把他从吊床上叫醒起来,让他去看看船只穿过午夜的乳白色的大海时仿佛正有一群白熊打从崎岬里冲了出来,在他四周起伏漫游,那他就会感到一阵悄然而来的。非常迷信的恐怖了;

the shrouded⁸ phantom⁹ of the whitened waters is horrible to him as a real ghost;  那种幽灵似的白浪滔滔的洋面,在他看来,可跟碰上一个真正的魔鬼一样可怖;

in vain the lead assures him he is still off soundings; heart and helm they both go down; he never rests till blue water is under him again.  任凭那个叫醒他的人怎样对他说,他还是不放心,他们既定不下心,又掌不来舵,要等到他又看到蔚蓝的海面,这才能安定下来。

Yet where is the mariner who will tell thee, Sir, it was not so much the fear of striking hidden rocks, as the fear of that hideous¹⁰ whiteness that so stirred me? 然而,有哪一个水手会对你说:老哥,触礁的可怕,比起那使我如此激动的讨厌的白色来简直算不上什么可怕。

Second: To the native Indian of Peru, the continual sight of the snowhowdahed Andes conveys naught¹¹ of dread, except, perhaps, in the mere¹² fancying of the eternal frosted desolateness¹³ reigning¹⁴ at such vast altitudes, and the natural conceit¹⁵ of what a fearfulness it would be to lose oneself in such inhuman¹⁶ solitudes¹⁷. 第二,在秘鲁的印第安土著看来,雪轿似的安第斯山那连绵不绝的景色,一点也看不出有什么恐怖,不过,当他稍微想到那种笼罩在这种高峰上的永恒的冰冻凄凉景象时,他也许会自然而然地想到,如果一旦迷失在这样渺无人烟的荒地里,该有多么可怖。

Much the same is it with the backwoodsman of the West, who with comparative indifference¹⁸ views an unbounded prairie sheeted with driven snow, no shadow of tree or twig¹⁹ to break the fixed²⁰ trance of whiteness.  同样的,如果有一个西部的偏远林区居民,看到一望无际的大草原,覆着纷飞的白雪,连打破这个入定了似的白色境界的一棵树。

Not so the sailor, beholding²¹ the scenery of the Antarctic seas;  一枝树影都看不见,他也是相当冷淡的。

where at times, by some infernal trick of legerdemain²² in the powers of frost and air, he, shivering and half shipwrecked, instead of rainbows speaking hope and solace²³ to his misery²⁴, views what seems a boundless²⁵ churchyard grinning upon him with its lean ice monuments and splintered crosses. 可是,水手在看到南极海的景色时,却就不是这样了;在那里,他好象时时感到霜雪和空中有鬼神在耍可怖的妖法,教他尽抖索着,有如船只已给撞破了,而看不到满露希望的虹彩,可以安慰他的惨境,看到的似乎就是一片辽阔的墓地,和它那冰封的细长墓碑以及破碎的十字架在对他狞笑。

But thou sayest, methinks this white-lead chapter about whiteness is but a white flag hung out from a craven soul; thou surrenderest to a hypo, Ishmael. 但是,你所说的这番关于白色的涂铅粉似的插话,我却认为就正是从懦夫心里扯出来的一面白旗;以实玛利呀,我看你就干脆向忧郁症投降吧。

1 mariner   

n.水手号不载人航天探测器，海员，航海者

参考例句：

• A smooth sea never made a skillful mariner.平静的大海决不能造就熟练的水手。
• A mariner must have his eye upon rocks and sands as well as upon the North Star.海员不仅要盯着北极星，还要注意暗礁和险滩。

2 trepidation   

n.惊恐，惶恐

参考例句：

• The men set off in fear and trepidation.这群人惊慌失措地出发了。
• The threat of an epidemic caused great alarm and trepidation.流行病猖獗因而人心惶惶。

3 faculties   

n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院

参考例句：

• Although he's ninety, his mental faculties remain unimpaired. 他虽年届九旬，但头脑仍然清晰。
• All your faculties have come into play in your work. 在你的工作中，你的全部才能已起到了作用。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

5 milky   

adj.牛奶的，多奶的；乳白色的

参考例句：

• Alexander always has milky coffee at lunchtime.亚历山大总是在午餐时喝掺奶的咖啡。
• I like a hot milky drink at bedtime.我喜欢睡前喝杯热奶饮料。

6 superstitious   

adj.迷信的

参考例句：

• They aim to deliver the people who are in bondage to superstitious belief.他们的目的在于解脱那些受迷信束缚的人。
• These superstitious practices should be abolished as soon as possible.这些迷信做法应尽早取消。

7 dread   

vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧

参考例句：

• We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。
• Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。

8 shrouded   

v.隐瞒( shroud的过去式和过去分词 )；保密

参考例句：

• The hills were shrouded in mist . 这些小山被笼罩在薄雾之中。
• The towers were shrouded in mist. 城楼被蒙上薄雾。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 phantom   

n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的

参考例句：

• I found myself staring at her as if she were a phantom.我发现自己瞪大眼睛看着她，好像她是一个幽灵。
• He is only a phantom of a king.他只是有名无实的国王。

10 hideous   

adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的

参考例句：

• The whole experience had been like some hideous nightmare.整个经历就像一场可怕的噩梦。
• They're not like dogs,they're hideous brutes.它们不像狗，是丑陋的畜牲。

11 naught   

n.无，零 [=nought]

参考例句：

• He sets at naught every convention of society.他轻视所有的社会习俗。
• I hope that all your efforts won't go for naught.我希望你的努力不会毫无结果。

12 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

13 desolateness   

孤独

参考例句：

• The desolateness overcame all his connubial fears-he called loudly for his wife and children. 这种荒凉的感觉压倒了他的一切惧内心理――他大声喊他的老婆和孩子。
• The skyey the several old tall trees are leafless and branch less, which enhances the desolateness. 此图绘雪峰突起，几棵参天的老树，枝疏叶稀同，使画面增添了萧瑟的气氛。

14 reigning   

adj.统治的，起支配作用的

参考例句：

• The sky was dark, stars were twinkling high above, night was reigning, and everything was sunk in silken silence. 天很黑，星很繁，夜阑人静。
• Led by Huang Chao, they brought down the reigning house after 300 years' rule. 在黄巢的带领下，他们推翻了统治了三百年的王朝。

15 conceit   

n.自负，自高自大

参考例句：

• As conceit makes one lag behind,so modesty helps one make progress.骄傲使人落后，谦虚使人进步。
• She seems to be eaten up with her own conceit.她仿佛已经被骄傲冲昏了头脑。

16 inhuman   

adj.残忍的，不人道的，无人性的

参考例句：

• We must unite the workers in fighting against inhuman conditions.我们必须使工人们团结起来反对那些难以忍受的工作条件。
• It was inhuman to refuse him permission to see his wife.不容许他去看自己的妻子是太不近人情了。

17 solitudes   

n.独居( solitude的名词复数 )；孤独；荒僻的地方；人迹罕至的地方

参考例句：

• Africa is going at last to give up the secret of its vast solitudes. 非洲无边无际的荒野的秘密就要被揭穿了。 来自辞典例句
• The scientist has spent six months in the solitudes of the Antarctic. 这位科学家已经在人迹罕至的南极待了六个月了。 来自互联网

18 indifference   

n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎

参考例句：

• I was disappointed by his indifference more than somewhat.他的漠不关心使我很失望。
• He feigned indifference to criticism of his work.他假装毫不在意别人批评他的作品。

19 twig   

n.小树枝，嫩枝；v.理解

参考例句：

• He heard the sharp crack of a twig.他听到树枝清脆的断裂声。
• The sharp sound of a twig snapping scared the badger away.细枝突然折断的刺耳声把獾惊跑了。

20 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

21 beholding   

v.看，注视( behold的现在分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟

参考例句：

• Beholding, besides love, the end of love,/Hearing oblivion beyond memory! 我看见了爱，还看到了爱的结局，／听到了记忆外层的哪一片寂寥！ 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学
• Hence people who began by beholding him ended by perusing him. 所以人们从随便看一看他开始的，都要以仔细捉摸他而终结。 来自辞典例句

22 legerdemain   

n.戏法，诈术

参考例句：

• The lawyer confused the jury with his legal legerdemain.那律师以他合法的把戏把陪审团搞糊涂了。
• Some accused the White House of legerdemain.有人谴责白宫在玩花招。

23 solace   

n.安慰；v.使快乐；vt.安慰(物)，缓和

参考例句：

• They sought solace in religion from the harshness of their everyday lives.他们日常生活很艰难，就在宗教中寻求安慰。
• His acting career took a nosedive and he turned to drink for solace.演艺事业突然一落千丈，他便借酒浇愁。

24 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

25 boundless   

adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的

参考例句：

• The boundless woods were sleeping in the deep repose of nature.无边无际的森林在大自然静寂的怀抱中酣睡着。
• His gratitude and devotion to the Party was boundless.他对党无限感激、无限忠诚。