英语听书《白鲸记》第541期

 　　Like Mark Antony, for days and days along his green-turfed, flowery Nile, 他象玛克·安东尼一样，天天循着他那铺满草皮，饰遍香花似的尼罗河，

　　he indolently floats, openly toying with his red-cheeked Cleopatra, ripening¹ his apricot thigh² upon the sunny deck. 懒散地驾着一叶扁舟，公开地跟他那双颊赤红的克莉奥佩屈拉（克莉奥佩屈拉——埃及女皇，恺撒的情妇，恺撒死后又与罗马另一执政安东尼相爱。这里的“双颊赤红”指她有印第安血统和太阳所晒的缘故。）调情，在阳光洋溢的甲板上把他的大腿晒成杏色。

　　But ashore³, all this effeminacy is dashed. 可是，一上了岸，所有这种柔弱气质就全告消失。

　　The brigandish guise⁴ which the Canaller so proudly sports; his slouched and gaily-ribboned hat betoken⁵ his grand features.  运河船的水手那么洋洋得意地夸示出来的强盗风度，他那花哨地镶了边的垂边帽子就显示出了他的堂皇的相貌。

　　A terror to the smiling innocence⁶ of the villages through which he floats; 当他划船泛过村庄的时候，可教那些嬉笑无邪的村人大吃一惊，

　　his swart visage and bold swagger are not unshunned in cities. 他那副黑黝黝的相貌和冒冒失失、昂首阔步的姿态，也不是不会使城里人望而生畏的。

　　Once a vagabond on his own canal, I have received good turns from one of these Canallers; 有一回，我流浪在他们的运河上，我领承了其中一个运河船的水手的好意；

　　I thank him heartily⁷; would fain be not ungrateful; but it is often one of the prime redeeming⁸ qualities of your man of violence,  我真衷心感激；可真是并不是不领情的；不过你们这些好使暴力的人，却往往有一种最为可取的特质，

　　that at times he has as stiff an arm to back a poor stranger in a strait, as to plunder⁹ a wealthy one.  那就是，济危扶弱和劫富济贫，往往都得使用铁腕。

　　In sum, gentlemen, what the wildness of this canal life is, is emphatically evinced by this; 总的说起来，诸位先生，这种运河生活究竟是狂暴到什么程度，从这一点就可获得有力的证明了；

　　that our wild whale-fishery contains so many of its most finished graduates, and that scarce any race of mankind, 在我们的野蛮的捕鲸业中，就有这么许多运河人的最优秀的毕业生，

　　except Sydney men, are so much distrusted by our whaling captains. 但是，除了悉特尼人以外，从来没有任何一个人种，曾受到我们的捕鲸船船长们那么不信任。

　　Nor does it at all diminish the curiousness of this matter, that to many thousands of our rural boys and young men born along its line,  不过，这并不完全会减少这事情的稀奇性，因为在我们成千上万的、在这一带生长的农村男女看来，

　　the probationary¹⁰ life of the Grand Canal furnishes the sole transition between quietly reaping in a Christian¹¹ corn-field, 大运河的见习性的生活，就是在基督徒的麦田里太太平平地收割，

　　and recklessly ploughing the waters of the most barbaric seas. 和在最蛮荒的海里不顾一切地耕耘这两件事情间起了唯一的桥梁作用。

1 ripening   

v.成熟，使熟( ripen的现在分词 )；熟化；熟成

参考例句：

• The corn is blossoming [ripening]. 玉米正在开花[成熟]。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• When the summer crop is ripening, the autumn crop has to be sowed. 夏季作物成熟时，就得播种秋季作物。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 thigh   

n.大腿；股骨

参考例句：

• He is suffering from a strained thigh muscle.他的大腿肌肉拉伤了，疼得很。
• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。

3 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

4 guise   

n.外表，伪装的姿态

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors.他们假装成视察员进了学校。
• The thief came into the house under the guise of a repairman.那小偷扮成个修理匠进了屋子。

5 betoken   

v.预示

参考例句：

• He gave her a gift to betoken his gratitude.他送她一件礼物表示感谢。
• Dark clouds betoken a storm.乌云予示着暴风雨的来临。

6 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

7 heartily   

adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很

参考例句：

• He ate heartily and went out to look for his horse.他痛快地吃了一顿，就出去找他的马。
• The host seized my hand and shook it heartily.主人抓住我的手，热情地和我握手。

8 redeeming   

补偿的，弥补的

参考例句：

• I found him thoroughly unpleasant, with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. 我觉得他一点也不讨人喜欢，没有任何可取之处。
• The sole redeeming feature of this job is the salary. 这份工作唯其薪水尚可弥补一切之不足。

9 plunder   

vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠

参考例句：

• The thieves hid their plunder in the cave.贼把赃物藏在山洞里。
• Trade should not serve as a means of economic plunder.贸易不应当成为经济掠夺的手段。

10 probationary   

试用的，缓刑的

参考例句：

• After a six-month probationary period, she was confirmed in her post. 经过六个月的试用期之后，她获准正式任该职。
• After a three-month probationary period, she was confirmed in her post. 经过三个月的试用期后，她获准正式任职。

11 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。