英语听书《白鲸记》第508期

 　　But be all this as it may, certain it is that while the subordinate phantoms¹ soon found their place among the crew, 总之，可以肯定的是，这些鬼怪似的属下以后在跟水手们相处的时候，

　　though still as it were somehow distinct from them, yet that hair-turbaned Fedallah remained a muffled² mystery to the last. 虽然好象总跟他们有所不同，然而那个扎着包头布的费达拉，却从头到底就是一个不可解的谜，

　　Whence he came in a mannerly world like this, 他是从什么地方跑到这样一个有礼貌的世界来的，

　　by what sort of unaccountable tie he soon evinced himself to be linked with Ahab's peculiar³ fortunes; 他凭什么不解之缘使他一下子就跟亚哈的特殊的命运连系起来，

　　nay⁴, so far as to have some sort of a half-hinted influence, Heaven knows, 而且，他竟然还有一种隐隐约约的力量，都只有天晓得，

　　but it might have been even authority over him, all this none knew. 不过，说不定这种力量甚至已经把亚哈给控制住了，所有这一切，谁都弄不明白。

　　But one cannot sustain an indifferent air concerning Fedallah. 但是，我们却不能小看费达拉。

　　He was such a creature as civilized⁵, domestic people in the temperate⁶ zone only see in their dreams, and that but dimly; 象他这样一个人物，那些住在温带的文明驯良的人，只有在梦里才碰得到，而且印象也很模糊。

　　but the like of whom now and then glide⁷ among the unchanging Asiatic communities, 象他这样的人，时常流动在不变的亚洲社会中，

　　especially the Oriental isles⁸ to the east of the continent-- those insulated, immemorial, unalterable countries,  尤其是在欧洲大陆以东的那些东方岛屿——那些与世隔绝的、不知起于何时的、停滞的国家中，

　　which even in these modern days still preserve much of the ghostly aboriginalness of earth's primal⁹ generations, 这些国家，甚至时至今日，也还保留有许多混沌初开时那种可怕的原始性，

　　when the memory of the first man was a distinct recollection,  当时，他们对于始祖的记忆就是一个特殊的忆念，

　　and all men his descendants,unknowing whence he came, eyed each other as real phantoms, 他所有的后裔，也不知道他是来自何方，都把彼此看成真正的鬼怪，

　　and asked of the sun and the moon why they were created and to what end; 于是乎仰问苍天，为什么要造他们出来，造出来干什么；

　　when though, according to Genesis, the angels indeed consorted¹⁰ with the daughters of men, 不过当时根据《创世记》的记载(见《旧约·创世记》第六章二至四节。)，天使确是已跟人类的女儿结了伴，

　　the devils also, add the uncanonical Robbins, indulged in mundane¹¹ amours. 而那些恶魔跟非宗规的犹太法师们，也都耽迷于世俗的桃色事件中。

1 phantoms   

n.鬼怪，幽灵( phantom的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They vanished down the stairs like two phantoms. 他们像两个幽灵似的消失在了楼下。 来自辞典例句
• The horrible night that he had passed had left phantoms behind it. 他刚才度过的恐布之夜留下了种种错觉。 来自辞典例句

2 muffled   

adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己）

参考例句：

• muffled voices from the next room 从隔壁房间里传来的沉闷声音
• There was a muffled explosion somewhere on their right. 在他们的右面什么地方有一声沉闷的爆炸声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

4 nay   

adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者

参考例句：

• He was grateful for and proud of his son's remarkable,nay,unique performance.他为儿子出色的，不，应该是独一无二的表演心怀感激和骄傲。
• Long essays,nay,whole books have been written on this.许多长篇大论的文章，不，应该说是整部整部的书都是关于这件事的。

5 civilized   

a.有教养的，文雅的

参考例句：

• Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
• rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为

6 temperate   

adj.温和的，温带的，自我克制的，不过分的

参考例句：

• Asia extends across the frigid,temperate and tropical zones.亚洲地跨寒、温、热三带。
• Great Britain has a temperate climate.英国气候温和。

7 glide   

n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝

参考例句：

• We stood in silence watching the snake glide effortlessly.我们噤若寒蝉地站着，眼看那条蛇逍遥自在地游来游去。
• So graceful was the ballerina that she just seemed to glide.那芭蕾舞女演员翩跹起舞，宛如滑翔。

8 isles   

岛( isle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the geology of the British Isles 不列颠群岛的地质
• The boat left for the isles. 小船驶向那些小岛。

9 primal   

adj.原始的；最重要的

参考例句：

• Jealousy is a primal emotion.嫉妒是最原始的情感。
• Money was a primal necessity to them.对于他们，钱是主要的需要。

10 consorted   

v.结伴( consort的过去式和过去分词 )；交往；相称；调和

参考例句：

• So Rhett consorted with that vile Watling creature and gave her money. 这样看来，瑞德在同沃特琳那个贱货来往并给她钱了。 来自飘（部分）
• One of those creatures Rhett consorted with, probably that Watling woman. 同瑞德 - 巴特勒厮混的一个贱货，很可能就是那个叫沃特琳的女人。 来自飘（部分）

11 mundane   

adj.平凡的；尘世的；宇宙的

参考例句：

• I hope I can get an interesting job and not something mundane.我希望我可以得到的是一份有趣的工作，而不是一份平凡无奇的。
• I find it humorous sometimes that even the most mundane occurrences can have an impact on our awareness.我发现生活有时挺诙谐的，即使是最平凡的事情也能影响我们的感知。