英语听书《白鲸记》第573期

 　　Sea fowls¹ are pecking at the small crabs², shell-fish, and other sea candies and maccaroni, 海鸟在啄一些小蟹、贝壳和海里的其它糖食和通心面，

　　which the Right Whale sometimes carries on his pestilent back. 这些东西有时都搭在露脊鲸那为害匪浅的背上。

　　And all the while the thick-lipped leviathan is rushing through the deep, leaving tons of tumultuous white curds³ in his wake,  那只厚嘴唇的大鲸始终在海里冲来冲去，撇下了无数汹涌的凝乳似的白浪，

　　and causing the slight boat to rock in the swells⁴ like a skiff caught nigh the paddle-wheels of an ocean steamer. 弄得那只纤弱的小艇在浪涛里晃来晃去，直象一叶轻舟快要被远洋大船的蹼轮绊住了似的。

　　Thus, the fore-ground is all raging commotion⁵; 这样，前景是一片沸腾的骚乱；

　　but behind, in admirable artistic⁶ contrast, is the glassy level of a sea becalmed, the drooping⁷ unstarched sails of the powerless ship,  而背景呢，在使用令人赞叹的艺术对比下，却是海面风平浪静。平稳如镜、欲动乏力的大船上几张垂头丧气的篷帆，

　　and the inert⁸ mass of a dead whale, a conquered fortress⁹, with the flag of capture lazily hanging from the whale-pole inserted into his spout-hole. 死鲸那个刚被攻下的要塞似的毫无生气的体躯，它的喷水口里，无精打采地挂着一面缚在鲸杆上的表示已被俘获的旗帜。

　　Who Garnery the painter is, or was, I know not.  这位叫做卡纳里的画家是谁，现在是否健在，我都不知道。

　　But my life for it he was either practically conversant¹⁰ with his subject, or else marvellously tutored by some experienced whaleman. 不过，我敢打赌，他不是实际上精通他所描绘的对象，就是受过富有经验的捕鲸者的出色的指导。

　　The French are the lads for painting action. 法国人真是画战斗场面的能手。

　　Go and gaze upon all the paintings in Europe,  你看遍欧洲各种名画，

　　and where will you find such a gallery of living and breathing commotion on canvas, as in that triumphal hall at Versailles; 哪里找得到象在凡尔赛宫的凯旋厅那样，有这么一个画廊，画布上尽是一派栩栩如生而充满骚动的气氛？

　　where the beholder¹¹ fights his way, pell-mell, through the consecutive¹² great battles of France; 在那里，观众们你挤我推，乱七八糟地争看法国的接二连三的大战场面；

　　where every sword seems a flash of the Northern Lights, and the successive armed kings and Emperors dash by, like a charge of crowned centaurs¹³? 在那里，每一支剑都似乎有着一阵北极光的光芒，而那些不断地冲过来的、全副武装的帝王，却象在攻击那些顶饰冠戴的半人半马的怪物（半人半马的怪物——希腊神话中帖撒利名骑手，有一次，帖撒利王邀他们吃喜酒，他们吃醉了酒，竟想夺新娘和其他女宾，另一帖撒利人拉彼利起而攻击他们，把他们驱逐出境。拉斐尔有一幅名图即以此为题材。）。

　　Not wholly unworthy of a place in that gallery, are these sea battle-pieces of Garnery. 卡纳里的这两件海战的作品，在那画廊中并不完全是占不了一席之地的。

1 fowls   

鸟( fowl的名词复数 )； 禽肉； 既不是这； 非驴非马

参考例句：

• A great number of water fowls dwell on the island. 许多水鸟在岛上栖息。
• We keep a few fowls and some goats. 我们养了几只鸡和一些山羊。

2 crabs   

n.蟹( crab的名词复数 )；阴虱寄生病；蟹肉v.捕蟹( crab的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• As we walked along the seashore we saw lots of tiny crabs. 我们在海岸上散步时看到很多小蟹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The fish and crabs scavenge for decaying tissue. 鱼和蟹搜寻腐烂的组织为食。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 curds   

n.凝乳( curd的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Little miss muffet sat on a tuffet eating some curds and whey. 小玛菲特小姐坐在垫子上，吃着凝乳和乳清。 来自互联网
• The curds contain casein, fat and minerals. 凝乳中有酪蛋白、脂肪、矿物质。 来自互联网

4 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。

5 commotion   

n.骚动，动乱

参考例句：

• They made a commotion by yelling at each other in the theatre.他们在剧院里相互争吵，引起了一阵骚乱。
• Suddenly the whole street was in commotion.突然间，整条街道变得一片混乱。

6 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

7 drooping   

adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词

参考例句：

• The drooping willows are waving gently in the morning breeze. 晨风中垂柳袅袅。
• The branches of the drooping willows were swaying lightly. 垂柳轻飘飘地摆动。

8 inert   

adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的

参考例句：

• Inert gas studies are providing valuable information about other planets,too.对惰性气体的研究，也提供了有关其它行星的有价值的资料。
• Elemental nitrogen is a very unreactive and inert material.元素氮是一个十分不活跃的惰性物质。

9 fortress   

n.堡垒，防御工事

参考例句：

• They made an attempt on a fortress.他们试图夺取这一要塞。
• The soldier scaled the wall of the fortress by turret.士兵通过塔车攀登上了要塞的城墙。

10 conversant   

adj.亲近的，有交情的，熟悉的

参考例句：

• Mr.Taylor is thoroughly conversant with modern music.泰勒先生对现代音乐很精通。
• We become the most conversant stranger in the world.我们变成了世界上最熟悉的陌生人。

11 beholder   

n.观看者，旁观者

参考例句：

• Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. 看起来觉得美就是美。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It has been said that art is a tryst, for in the joy of it maker and beholder meet. 有人说艺术是一种幽会，因为艺术家和欣赏者可在幽会的乐趣中相遇在一起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

13 centaurs   

n.（希腊神话中）半人半马怪物( centaur的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Centaurs – marauders does not have penalty when shooting into support. 半人马掠夺者在支援射击时不受惩罚。 来自互联网
• Centaurs burn this, observing the fumes and flames to refine the results of their stargazing (OP27). 人马用烧鼠尾草产生的火焰和烟雾来提炼他们观星的结果（凤凰社，第27章）。 来自互联网