英语听书《白鲸记》第522期

 　　And as for Pirates, when they chance to cross each other's cross-bones,  再说到海盗船吧，当他们偶尔彼此相遇的时候，

　　the first hail is--"How many skulls¹?"-- the same way that whalers hail--"How many barrels?" 第一声招呼就是——“几个脑壳？”——象捕鲸船的招呼——“几桶啦？”一样。

　　And that question once answered, pirates straightway steer² apart,  而且那句话一经获得回答，那些海盗船也就径自撑开去了，

　　for they are infernal villains³ on both sides, and don't like to see overmuch of each other's villanous likenesses. 因为他们双方都是无法无天的家伙，对于彼此那副无法无天的相貌，实在不高兴多瞧一瞧。

　　But look at the godly, honest, unostentatious, hospitable⁴, sociable⁵, free-and-easy whaler! 可是，瞧一瞧这种规规矩矩、老老实实、不善虚伪、好意殷勤、爱好交际、不拘礼节的捕鲸船吧！

　　What does the whaler do when she meets another whaler in any sort of decent weather? 当它们在任何一种正常的天气里彼此相遇的时候，它们是怎么办的呢？

　　She has a "Gam," a thing so utterly⁶ unknown to all other ships that they never heard of the name even; 它们有一种叫做“联欢会”的玩意儿，这名称，是其它一切船只所全然不懂的，他们甚至连这名称听都没有听到过;

　　and if by chance they should hear of it, they only grin at it,  就算他们有机会听到这名称吧，他们也不过报以一阵冷笑，

　　and repeat gamesome stuff about "spouters" and "blubber-boilers," and such like pretty exclamations⁷. 反复背出一些“捕鲸佬”和“鲸油锅”的笑料，以及类似的好听的叫喊而已。

　　Why it is that all Merchant-seamen, and also all Pirates and Man-of-War's men, and Slave-ship sailors, cherish such a scornful feeling towards Whale-ships; 所有的商船水手，连同一切海盗船、兵舰的水手、贩卖奴隶船只的水手，为什么都对捕鲸船怀着这样一种蔑视的恶感;

　　this is a question it would be hard to answer.  这倒是个不容易置答的问题。

　　Because, in the case of pirates, say, I should like to know whether that profession of theirs has any peculiar⁸ glory about it. 因为拿海盗船来说吧，我倒要请问，他们那种职业究竟有些什么特殊的光荣。

　　It sometimes ends in uncommon⁹ elevation¹⁰, indeed; but only at the gallows¹¹. 它倒往往是在非凡的高度中完结的；错是不错，可惜是挂在绞架上罢了。

　　And besides, when a man is elevated in that odd fashion, he has no proper foundation for his superior altitude.  再说，当一个人被用那种罕见的形式高高挂起的时候，他那种超常的高度并没有什么适当的基础。

1 skulls   

颅骨( skull的名词复数 )； 脑袋； 脑子； 脑瓜

参考例句：

• One of the women's skulls found exceeds in capacity that of the average man of today. 现已发现的女性颅骨中，其中有一个的脑容量超过了今天的普通男子。
• We could make a whole plain white with skulls in the moonlight! 我们便能令月光下的平原变白，遍布白色的骷髅！

2 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

3 villains   

n.恶棍( villain的名词复数 )；罪犯；（小说、戏剧等中的）反面人物；淘气鬼

参考例句：

• The impression of villains was inescapable. 留下恶棍的印象是不可避免的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some villains robbed the widow of the savings. 有几个歹徒将寡妇的积蓄劫走了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 hospitable   

adj.好客的；宽容的；有利的，适宜的

参考例句：

• The man is very hospitable.He keeps open house for his friends and fellow-workers.那人十分好客，无论是他的朋友还是同事，他都盛情接待。
• The locals are hospitable and welcoming.当地人热情好客。

5 sociable   

adj.好交际的，友好的，合群的

参考例句：

• Roger is a very sociable person.罗杰是个非常好交际的人。
• Some children have more sociable personalities than others.有些孩子比其他孩子更善于交际。

6 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。

7 exclamations   

n.呼喊( exclamation的名词复数 )；感叹；感叹语；感叹词

参考例句：

• The visitors broke into exclamations of wonder when they saw the magnificent Great Wall. 看到雄伟的长城，游客们惊叹不已。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After the will has been read out, angry exclamations aroused. 遗嘱宣读完之后，激起一片愤怒的喊声。 来自辞典例句

8 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。

9 uncommon   

adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的

参考例句：

• Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
• Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。

10 elevation   

n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高

参考例句：

• The house is at an elevation of 2,000 metres.那幢房子位于海拔两千米的高处。
• His elevation to the position of General Manager was announced yesterday.昨天宣布他晋升总经理职位。

11 gallows   

n.绞刑架，绞台

参考例句：

• The murderer was sent to the gallows for his crimes.谋杀犯由于罪大恶极被处以绞刑。
• Now I was to expiate all my offences at the gallows.现在我将在绞刑架上赎我一切的罪过。