英语听书《白鲸记》第568期

 　　breakfasting on three or four sailor tarts¹, that is whaleboats full of mariners²: 一餐早饭要吃三四只硬果馅饼，也就是要吃整只整只的满载着水手的捕鲸小艇，

　　their deformities floundering in seas of blood and blue paint. 它们那些畸形的躯体就在红红绿绿的油漆的海洋里翻腾着。

　　But these manifold mistakes in depicting³ the whale are not so very surprising after all. 不过，描画鲸的这种错误百出的情形，毕竟还不算是顶惊人的。

　　Consider! Most of the scientific drawings have been taken from the stranded⁴ fish; 请想一想吧！大多数科学家的绘画都是以被打死了的鱼为蓝本的；

　　and these are about as correct as a drawing of a wrecked⁵ ship, with broken back, would correctly represent the noble animal itself in all its undashed pride of hull⁶ and spars. 其实，这种做法，虽想表现出这种未遭打击、浑身光滑的高贵的动物的原来的雄姿，但其正确性，充其量不过是跟画一只打烂了龙骨的失事船以代表船只一样而已。

　　Though elephants have stood for their full-lengths, the living Leviathan has never yet fairly floated himself for his portrait. 虽然人们可以给大象拍个全身照，然而，这种活生生的大海兽可从来还没有自己浮得端端正正、让人家来给他写生的。

　　The living whale, in his full majesty⁷ and significance, is only to be seen at sea in unfathomable waters; 这种活生生的鲸，人们只能在海洋的无底的深渊里，才看得到它那气象万千的威仪。

　　and afloat the vast bulk of him is out of sight, like a launched line-of-battle ship; 等到它那硕大的躯干一泛上来的时候，它已是在望不到的远方，象一种开动的战舰那样的游去了；

　　and out of that element it is a thing eternally impossible for mortal man to hoist⁸ him bodily into the air, so as to preserve all his mighty⁹ swells¹⁰ and undulations. 为了保存它那万千壮仪和波动起伏的雄姿，而想把它弄出水来，整个吊在空中，却是人类永远无能为力的事。

　　And, not to speak of the highly presumable difference of contour between a young suckling whale and a full-grown Platonian Leviathan;  至于一条小鲸跟一条身强力壮的柏拉图式的大鲸之间，具有很可以推想得到的不同的轮廓，更是不必说了，

　　yet, even in the case of one of those young sucking whales hoisted¹¹ to a ship's deck,  而且，就算万一有这样一条小鲸被吊上船甲板，

　　such is then the outlandish, eel-like, limbered, varying shape of him, that his precise expression the devil himself could not catch. 可是，象它那种奇异的、滑溜溜、软绵绵、千变万化的形态，怕连魔鬼本人也领悟不了它的真相。

1 tarts   

n.果馅饼( tart的名词复数 )；轻佻的女人；妓女；小妞

参考例句：

• I decided to make some tarts for tea. 我决定做些吃茶点时吃的果馅饼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They ate raspberry tarts and ice cream. 大家吃着木莓馅饼和冰淇淋。 来自辞典例句

2 mariners   

海员，水手（mariner的复数形式）

参考例句：

• Mariners were also able to fix their latitude by using an instrument called astrolabe. 海员们还可使用星盘这种仪器确定纬度。
• The ancient mariners traversed the sea. 古代的海员漂洋过海。

3 depicting   

描绘，描画( depict的现在分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• a painting depicting the Virgin and Child 一幅描绘童贞马利亚和圣子耶稣的画
• The movie depicting the battles and bloodshed is bound to strike home. 这部描写战斗和流血牺牲的影片一定会取得预期效果。

4 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

5 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞

6 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。

7 majesty   

n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权

参考例句：

• The king had unspeakable majesty.国王有无法形容的威严。
• Your Majesty must make up your mind quickly!尊贵的陛下，您必须赶快做出决定！

8 hoist   

n.升高，起重机，推动；v.升起，升高，举起

参考例句：

• By using a hoist the movers were able to sling the piano to the third floor.搬运工人用吊车才把钢琴吊到3楼。
• Hoist the Chinese flag on the flagpole,please!请在旗杆上升起中国国旗！

9 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

10 swells   

增强( swell的第三人称单数 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情）

参考例句：

• The waters were heaving up in great swells. 河水正在急剧上升。
• A barrel swells in the middle. 水桶中部隆起。

11 hoisted   

把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He hoisted himself onto a high stool. 他抬身坐上了一张高凳子。
• The sailors hoisted the cargo onto the deck. 水手们把货物吊到甲板上。