英语听书《白鲸记》第577期

 　　Some of them have little boxes of dentistical-looking implements¹, specially² intended for the skrimshandering business. 他们有一些人还有象牙科医生用的小工具箱，专门用来制作解闷手工。

　　But, in general, they toil³ with their jack-knives alone;  不过，一般说来，他们大都只用他们那种水手小刀来雕刻；

　　and, with that almost omnipotent⁴ tool of the sailor, they will turn you out anything you please, in the way of a mariner's fancy. 他们用了那只可以说是水手的万能工具，凭水手所能想象得出的技巧，就可以给你做出你所喜爱的一切东西来。

　　Long exile from Christendom and civilization inevitably⁵ restores a man to that condition in which God placed him, i.e. what is called savagery⁷. 长期离开基督教地区与文明社会而流亡在外的人，必然地会回复到上帝曾经给他安置在那里的那种状态里，也就是所谓野蛮状态。

　　Your true whale-hunter is as much a savage⁶ as an Iroquois. 你这个真正的捕鲸者就跟一个易洛魁人一样的野蛮。

　　I myself am a savage, owning no allegiance but to the King of the Cannibals; and ready at any moment to rebel against him. 我自己就是个野蛮人，不过坦白地说，我还没有效忠生番王，而是准备随时反抗他。

　　Now, one of the peculiar⁸ characteristics of the savage in his domestic hours, is his wonderful patience of industry. 且说野蛮人在不野蛮的时候的特点之一，就是他具有令人惊叹的刻苦耐劳的精神。

　　An ancient Hawaiian war-club or spear-paddle, in its full multiplicity and elaboration of carving⁹, is as great a trophy¹⁰ of human perseverance¹¹ as a Latin lexicon¹². 在那种花样繁多和精工细刻的雕刻品中，一件古代的夏威夷的战棒或者枪桡，就跟一部拉丁辞典一样，是人类的坚持不挠精神的伟大纪念品。

　　For, with but a bit of broken sea-shell or a shark's tooth, that miraculous¹³ intricacy of wooden net-work has been achieved; 因为只用那么一点破碎的贝壳或者一只鲨鱼齿，就做出了那种奇迹似的错综复杂的木刻网状细工，

　　and it has cost steady years of steady application. 这可花了多少认真勤勉的岁月呵！

　　As with the Hawaiian savage, so with the white sailor-savage. 夏威夷的野蛮人如此，白种的野蛮化水手也如此。

　　With the same marvellous patience, and with the same single shark's tooth, of his one poor jack-knife, he will carve you a bit of bone sculpture,   他们都以这种不可思议的耐心耐性，使用这样一片鲨鱼牙骨，一把可怜的水手小刀，就给你雕出一点骨雕物来，

　　not quite as workmanlike, but as close packed in its maziness of design, as the Greek savage, Achilles's shield;  虽然不算怎样精巧，可是，就它那错综复杂的结构说来，却跟希腊的野蛮人所做的阿基利斯（阿基利斯——希腊神话，也是荷马的史诗《伊利亚特》中的英雄，据传说，他除脚踵外，全身刀枪不入。）盾牌一样结实，

　　and full of barbaric spirit and suggestiveness, as the prints of that fine old Dutch savage, Albert Durer. 而就其富有野蛮人的神韵和创造性说来，却可跟那位高尚的德国老野蛮人艾柏特·丢勒（艾柏特·丢勒（1471—1528）——德国画家，雕刻家，有“艺术王子”和“绘画大师”之称。）的版画相媲美。

1 implements   

n.工具( implement的名词复数 )；家具；手段；[法律]履行（契约等）v.实现( implement的第三人称单数 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• Primitive man hunted wild animals with crude stone implements. 原始社会的人用粗糙的石器猎取野兽。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• They ordered quantities of farm implements. 他们订购了大量农具。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

3 toil   

vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事

参考例句：

• The wealth comes from the toil of the masses.财富来自大众的辛勤劳动。
• Every single grain is the result of toil.每一粒粮食都来之不易。

4 omnipotent   

adj.全能的，万能的

参考例句：

• When we are omnipotent we shall have no more need of science.我们达到万能以后就不需要科学了。
• Money is not omnipotent,but we can't survive without money.金钱不是万能的，但是没有金钱我们却无法生存。

5 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。

6 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

7 savagery   

n.野性

参考例句：

• The police were shocked by the savagery of the attacks.警察对这些惨无人道的袭击感到震惊。
• They threw away their advantage by their savagery to the black population.他们因为野蛮对待黑人居民而丧失了自己的有利地位。

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 carving   

n.雕刻品，雕花

参考例句：

• All the furniture in the room had much carving.房间里所有的家具上都有许多雕刻。
• He acquired the craft of wood carving in his native town.他在老家学会了木雕手艺。

10 trophy   

n.优胜旗，奖品，奖杯，战胜品，纪念品

参考例句：

• The cup is a cherished trophy of the company.那只奖杯是该公司很珍惜的奖品。
• He hung the lion's head as a trophy.他把那狮子头挂起来作为狩猎纪念品。

11 perseverance   

n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠

参考例句：

• It may take some perseverance to find the right people.要找到合适的人也许需要有点锲而不舍的精神。
• Perseverance leads to success.有恒心就能胜利。

12 lexicon   

n.字典，专门词汇

参考例句：

• Chocolate equals sin in most people's lexicon.巧克力在大多数人的字典里等同于罪恶。
• Silent earthquakes are only just beginning to enter the public lexicon.无声地震才刚开始要成为众所周知的语汇。

13 miraculous   

adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的

参考例句：

• The wounded man made a miraculous recovery.伤员奇迹般地痊愈了。
• They won a miraculous victory over much stronger enemy.他们战胜了远比自己强大的敌人，赢得了非凡的胜利。