英语听书《白鲸记》第593期

 　　From the chocks it hangs in a slight festoon over the bows, and is then passed inside the boat again; 接着，又从木楔那里，把它兜在艇头的小花饰上，然后又拉回艇里来；

　　and some ten or twenty fathoms¹ (called box-line) being coiled upon the box in the bows,  在艇头的索桶上绕它六十或者一百二十英尺，

　　it continues its way to the gunwale still a little further aft,  再把它继续绕过艇舷，直拉到艇尾后头，

　　and is then attached to the short-warp-- the rope which is immediately connected with the harpoon²;  这才接在那根短绞船索上——也就是同标枪的绳子紧接在一起；

　　but previous to that connexion, the short-warp goes through sundry³ mystifications too tedious to detail. 不过，把它接上去之先，还得在那根短绞船索上做完各式各样叫人看得眼花缭乱的动作，这些动作细叙起来，未免过于噜苏。

　　Thus the whale-line folds the whole boat in its complicated coils, twisting and writhing⁴ around it in almost every direction.  捕鲸索就这样错综复杂地把整只小艇都绕住了，几乎打四面八方把这只小艇给纠缠住。

　　All the oarsmen are involved in its perilous⁶ contortions⁷; so that to the timid eye of the landsman, 所有的桨手都被卷在它这种危险的迷阵里，所以，在胆怯的陆地人看来，

　　they seem as Indian jugglers, with the deadliest snakes sportively festooning their limbs. 这些桨手就象是一群印第安的耍戏法者，让那些最可怕的毒蛇巨蟒兴致勃勃地绕着他们的四肢。

　　Nor can any son of mortal woman, for the first time, seat himself amid those hempen⁸ intricacies,  任何一个是爹娘养出来的人，初次置身在这种大麻绳的天罗地网里，

　　and while straining his utmost at the oar⁵, bethink him that at any unknown instant the harpoon may be darted⁹, 总是一边在死劲扳桨，一边在担心那支不知何时就要抛出去的标枪，

　　and all these horrible contortions be put in play like ringed lightnings; 在担心所有这些可怖的罗网，不知什么时候会象雷霹一般发作起来。

　　he cannot be thus circumstanced without a shudder¹⁰ that makes the very marrow¹¹ in his bones to quiver in him like a shaken jelly.  他在这种情况下，当然免不了要抖得骨子里也象冻肉一般在打颤。

1 fathoms   

英寻( fathom的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The harbour is four fathoms deep. 港深为四英寻。
• One bait was down forty fathoms. 有个鱼饵下沉到四十英寻的深处。

2 harpoon   

n.鱼叉；vt.用鱼叉叉，用鱼叉捕获

参考例句：

• The harpoon drove deep into the body of the whale.渔叉深深地扎进鲸鱼体内。
• The fisherman transfixed the shark with a harpoon.渔夫用鱼叉刺住鲨鱼。

3 sundry   

adj.各式各样的，种种的

参考例句：

• This cream can be used to treat sundry minor injuries.这种药膏可用来治各种轻伤。
• We can see the rich man on sundry occasions.我们能在各种场合见到那个富豪。

4 writhing   

（因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She was writhing around on the floor in agony. 她痛得在地板上直打滚。
• He was writhing on the ground in agony. 他痛苦地在地上打滚。

5 oar   

n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行

参考例句：

• The sailors oar slowly across the river.水手们慢慢地划过河去。
• The blade of the oar was bitten off by a shark.浆叶被一条鲨鱼咬掉了。

6 perilous   

adj.危险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• The journey through the jungle was perilous.穿过丛林的旅行充满了危险。
• We have been carried in safety through a perilous crisis.历经一连串危机，我们如今已安然无恙。

7 contortions   

n.扭歪，弯曲；扭曲，弄歪，歪曲( contortion的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Trimeris' compound, called T-20, blocks the final structural contortions from taking place. T-20是特里米瑞斯公司生产的化合物。它能阻止分子最终结构折叠的发生。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 癌症与艾滋病
• The guard was laughing at his contortions. 那个警卫看到他那难受劲儿感到好笑。 来自英汉文学

8 hempen   

adj. 大麻制的, 大麻的

参考例句：

• The net destined to support the car was made of very solid hempen cord. 承受着吊篮的网子是用非常结实的麻绳编的。
• Plant the crop such as wheaten, corn, potato, horsebean, hempen, cole aptly, a year one ripe. 适宜种植小麦、玉米、马铃薯、蚕豆、大麻、油菜等作物，一年一熟。

9 darted   

v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect. 蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了，瞪了我一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 shudder   

v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动

参考例句：

• The sight of the coffin sent a shudder through him.看到那副棺材，他浑身一阵战栗。
• We all shudder at the thought of the dreadful dirty place.我们一想到那可怕的肮脏地方就浑身战惊。

11 marrow   

n.骨髓；精华；活力

参考例句：

• It was so cold that he felt frozen to the marrow. 天气太冷了，他感到寒冷刺骨。
• He was tired to the marrow of his bones.他真是累得筋疲力尽了。