英语听书《白鲸记》第478期

 But fortunately the special point I here seek can be established upon testimony¹ entirely² independent of my own. 不过，幸而我在这里找到的一个特别论点，倒能够证实完全与我本人无关的证据。

That point is this: The Sperm³ Whale is in some cases sufficiently⁴ powerful, knowing, and judiciously⁵ malicious⁶, 这个论点就是：在某些方面说来，抹香鲸是力大无比而狡猾的，善于及时使出恶毒的念头，

as with direct aforethought to stave in, utterly⁷ destroy, and sink a large ship; 又象怀有明白的预谋，充满杀性地要把一艘大船击沉；

and what is more, the Sperm Whale HAS done it. 而且，抹香鲸也已经这样做过了。

First: In the year 1820 the ship Essex, Captain Pollard, of Nantucket, was cruising in the Pacific Ocean. 第一，一八二0年，南塔开特的波拉德船长所率领的"埃塞克斯号"，正在太平洋上巡游。

One day she saw spouts⁸, lowered her boats, and gave chase to a shoal of sperm whales. 有一天，船上的人看到了喷水，就放下小艇，去追逐一群抹香鲸。

Ere long, several of the whales were wounded; 不久，其中有几条大鲸被打伤了；

when, suddenly, a very large whale escaping from the boats, issued from the shoal, and bore directly down upon the ship. 这时，突然有条十分大的鲸逃出了许多小艇的包围，离开鲸群，直向大船冲上来。

Dashing his forehead against her hull⁹, he so stove her in, that in less than "ten minutes" she settled down and fell over. 它用前额直撞船身，就这样把船冲破了，不上"十分钟"工夫，大船翻沉了。

Not a surviving plank¹⁰ of her has been seen since. 从此连一片船板都看不见。

After the severest exposure, part of the crew reached the land in their boats. 水手们经过最严酷的风浪打击后，有一部分人坐着他们的小艇上了岸。

Being returned home at last, Captain Pollard once more sailed for the Pacific in command of another ship, 最后波拉德船长回到家里后，又率领另一艘船再度到太平洋去，

but the gods shipwrecked him again upon unknown rocks and breakers; 神灵又让他那条船碰上了什么礁岩而遭了难，

for the second time his ship was utterly lost, and forthwith forswearing the sea, he has never tempted¹¹ it since. 这艘船又第二次遭到全损，所以他立刻对海发誓，从此不再干这海上营生。

At this day Captain Pollard is a resident of Nantucket. 现在波拉德船长还住在南塔开特。

I have seen Owen Chace, who was chief mate of the Essex at the time of the tragedy; 我曾经碰到一个叫做欧文.蔡斯的，他就是当时遭到惨祸的“埃塞克斯号”上的大副。

I have read his plain and faithful narrative¹²; 我仔细读了他那明晰信实的记载；

I have conversed¹³ with his son; 还跟他儿子谈过天；

and all this within a few miles of the scene of the catastrophe¹⁴. 所有这些都是在灾难的现场方圆几英里内所目击的。

The following are extracts from Chace's narrative: (原注：下面是蔡斯文章的摘录：

"Every fact seemed to warrant me in concluding that it was anything but chance which directed his operations; “各种事实都似乎迫得我不能不做出这样的结论：那条大鲸之采取行动，决不是偶然的，

he made two several attacks upon the ship, 它对船只攻击两次以上，

at a short interval¹⁵ between them, both of which, according to their direction, 间隔时间很短，根据那种攻击看来，

were calculated to do us the most injury, 那几次攻击都是存心要使我们遭受最重大的伤害，

by being made ahead, and thereby¹⁶ combining the speed of the two objects for the shock; 因为它冲向前头后，就两次并一次地死劲一冲；

to effect which, the exact manoeuvres which he made were necessary. 为了要奏奇效，它所采取的那种正确的策略倒也是必要的。

His aspect was most horrible, and such as indicated resentment¹⁷ and fury. 它那副相貌真吓人，就象是一个满脸憎恨和忿怒的人。

He came directly from the shoal which we had just before entered,  我们刚一驶进鲸群，它就离群直冲出来，

and in which we had struck three of his companions, 我们在鲸群里打中了它的三个同伴，

as if fired with revenge for their sufferings. 仿佛就激起它要为它们复仇的心意。

" Again: "At all events, the whole circumstances taken together, "接着，"总之，归纳整个情况说来，

all happening before my own eyes,  我所目击的一切，

and producing, at the time, impressions in my mind of decided¹⁸, 一下子就在我的脑海里产生出这样的印象：

calculating mischief¹⁹, on the part of the whale (many of which impressions I cannot now recall), 那条大鲸是怀有坚决的。有计划的恶意的(有许多印象我现在已记不起了)，

induce me to be satisfied that I am correct in my opinion." 因此，我自以为我的看法是正确的。”

1 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

2 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

3 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。

4 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

5 judiciously   

adv.明断地，明智而审慎地

参考例句：

• Let's use these intelligence tests judiciously. 让我们好好利用这些智力测试题吧。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His ideas were quaint and fantastic. She brought him judiciously to earth. 他的看法荒廖古怪，她颇有见识地劝他面对现实。 来自辞典例句

6 malicious   

adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的

参考例句：

• You ought to kick back at such malicious slander. 你应当反击这种恶毒的污蔑。
• Their talk was slightly malicious.他们的谈话有点儿心怀不轨。

7 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

8 spouts   

n.管口( spout的名词复数 )；（喷出的）水柱；（容器的）嘴；在困难中v.（指液体）喷出( spout的第三人称单数 )；滔滔不绝地讲；喋喋不休地说；喷水

参考例句：

• A volcano spouts flame and lava. 火山喷出火焰和岩浆。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The oil rushes up the tube and spouts up as a gusher. 石油会沿着钢管上涌，如同自喷井那样喷射出来。 来自辞典例句

9 hull   

n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳

参考例句：

• The outer surface of ship's hull is very hard.船体的外表面非常坚硬。
• The boat's hull has been staved in by the tremendous seas.小船壳让巨浪打穿了。

10 plank   

n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目

参考例句：

• The plank was set against the wall.木板靠着墙壁。
• They intend to win the next election on the plank of developing trade.他们想以发展贸易的纲领来赢得下次选举。

11 tempted   

v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词）

参考例句：

• I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚，但还是没开口。
• I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。

12 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

13 conversed   

v.交谈，谈话( converse的过去式 )

参考例句：

• I conversed with her on a certain problem. 我与她讨论某一问题。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She was cheerful and polite, and conversed with me pleasantly. 她十分高兴，也很客气，而且愉快地同我交谈。 来自辞典例句

14 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

15 interval   

n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息

参考例句：

• The interval between the two trees measures 40 feet.这两棵树的间隔是40英尺。
• There was a long interval before he anwsered the telephone.隔了好久他才回了电话。

16 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

17 resentment   

n.怨愤，忿恨

参考例句：

• All her feelings of resentment just came pouring out.她一股脑儿倾吐出所有的怨恨。
• She cherished a deep resentment under the rose towards her employer.她暗中对她的雇主怀恨在心。

18 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

19 mischief   

n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹

参考例句：

• Nobody took notice of the mischief of the matter. 没有人注意到这件事情所带来的危害。
• He seems to intend mischief.看来他想捣蛋。