英语听书《白鲸记》第571期

 　　In the previous chapter Colnett and Cuvier have been referred to.  科尔内特和居维埃已经在上章提到了。

　　Huggins's is far better than theirs; but, by great odds¹, Beale's is the best. 虽然哈金斯远比他们都高强；但就全体而论，还应该算比尔的书最好。

　　All Beale's drawings of this whale are good, excepting the middle figure in the picture of three whales in various attitudes, capping his second chapter. 比尔对这种鲸的许多图画都画得很不错，不过，他那第二章的头饰，在画有各种形态的三条鲸中，居中的那一条画得较差。

　　His frontispiece, boats attacking Sperm² Whales, though no doubt calculated to excite the civil scepticism of some parlor³ men, 他那幅画着许多小艇在攻击抹香鲸的卷首插图，虽然无疑地是故意画来激起一些空谈家对于文明的怀疑，

　　is admirably correct and life-like in its general effect.  然而，就其总的效果说来，却正确和活龙活现得令人叹绝。

　　Some of the Sperm Whale drawings in J. Ross Browne are pretty correct in contour; but they are wretchedly engraved⁴. 在罗斯·布朗的若干抹香鲸的画中，有几幅画得轮廓相当正确；可惜给雕刻得很不象样。

　　That is not his fault though. 不过，这并不是他的过失。

　　Of the Right Whale, the best outline pictures are in Scoresby; but they are drawn⁵ on too small a scale to convey a desirable impression. 露脊鲸之画得最好的，是斯哥斯比的略图；可惜画得太小，传达不出令人满意的印象。

　　He has but one picture of whaling scenes, and this is a sad deficiency, because it is by such pictures only, when at all well done,  他只有一幅捕鲸写生图，不幸这幅图画得很差，如果画得尽善尽美的话，光靠这么一幅画，

　　that you can derive⁶ anything like a truthful⁷ idea of the living whale as seen by his living hunters. 就可以象个活生生的捕鲸人所看到的那样，对这条活生生的大鲸获得一种如实的概念了。

　　But, taken for all in all, by far the finest, though in some details not the most correct, presentations of whales and whaling scenes to be anywhere found,  不过，总的说来，在表现大鲸和捕鲸场面的画图中，迄今算得上最好的（虽然在若干细节上并不是挺正确），

　　are two large French engravings, well executed, and taken from paintings by one Garnery. 应该说是法兰西的两幅大版画，它制作得很完美，是仿照一个叫做卡纳里（据百周年纪念版注，作者把画家的名字搞错了，应该是路易·加内雷，此人系南海老旅行家，擅长制绘海景的画手。）的油画制成的。

　　Respectively, they represent attacks on the Sperm and Right Whale. 那两幅版画分别表现了攻击抹香鲸和露脊鲸的场面。

1 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

2 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。

3 parlor   

n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅

参考例句：

• She was lying on a small settee in the parlor.她躺在客厅的一张小长椅上。
• Is there a pizza parlor in the neighborhood?附近有没有比萨店？

4 engraved   

v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的过去式和过去分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中）

参考例句：

• The silver cup was engraved with his name. 银杯上刻有他的名字。
• It was prettily engraved with flowers on the back. 此件雕刻精美，背面有花饰图案。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

6 derive   

v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自

参考例句：

• We derive our sustenance from the land.我们从土地获取食物。
• We shall derive much benefit from reading good novels.我们将从优秀小说中获得很大好处。

7 truthful   

adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的

参考例句：

• You can count on him for a truthful report of the accident.你放心，他会对事故作出如实的报告的。
• I don't think you are being entirely truthful.我认为你并没全讲真话。