英语听书《白鲸记》第595期

 　　Again: as the profound calm which only apparently¹ precedes and prophesies² of the storm, is perhaps more awful than the storm itself; 再说，因为一种深沉的静寂，虽然是暴风雨的明显的前奏和预兆，却也许比暴风雨本身更为令人可畏；

　　for, indeed, the calm is but the wrapper and envelope of the storm; and contains it in itself, 因为，事实上，静寂就正是暴风雨的外表和表皮，把暴风雨包藏在它本身中，

　　as the seemingly harmless rifle holds the fatal powder, and the ball, and the explosion; 正如那看似并无大害的来福枪，却装着致命的火药。弹丸和炸药一样；

　　so the graceful³ repose⁴ of the line, as it silently serpentines⁵ about the oarsmen before being brought into actual play, 因此，当捕鲸索在没有实际发生作用之前，悄悄地盘绕在桨手的身上时，它那种优雅自若的架势，

　　this is a thing which carries more of true terror than any other aspect of this dangerous affair. 就是远比这种危险事件的任何方面都更具有真正恐怖的东西。

　　But why say more?  但是，为什么还要多噜苏呢？

　　All men live enveloped⁶ in whale-lines.  人类都是生活在捕鲸索的包围里。

　　All are born with halters round their necks; but it is only when caught in the swift, sudden turn of death,  人类都是天生就在脖子上套着绞索的；只不过等到突然让死神倏地捉住了，

　　that mortals realize the silent, subtle, everpresent perils⁷ of life. 人类这才体会到了生命那种悄然而来的、难以索解的却又永远存在的危险。

　　And if you be a philosopher, though seated in the whale-boat, 如果你是个哲学家，那么，尽管你是坐在捕鲸小艇上，

　　you would not at heart feel one whit⁸ more of terror, than though seated before your evening fire with a poker⁹,  你还是会象晚上坐在炉前，旁边搁着一支火钳，

　　and not a harpoon¹⁰, by your side. 而不是一支标枪那样，心中毫无畏惧的。

　　Chapter 61 Stubb Kills a Whale 第六十一章 斯塔布杀死一条鲸

　　If to Starbuck the apparition¹¹ of the Squid was a thing of portents¹², to Queequeg it was quite a different object. 如果说，在斯达巴克看来，那只幽灵似的大乌贼是种不祥之物，那么，在魁魁格看来，它可完全是另外一种东西了。

1 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

2 prophesies   

v.预告，预言( prophesy的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The Frate neither rails nor prophesies against any man. 这里修士对任何人既不斥骂，也不预言。 来自辞典例句
• Whoever speaks in a tongue builds himself up, but whoever prophesies builds up the church. 那说语言的，是建立自己；那讲先知话的，却是建立教会。 来自互联网

3 graceful   

adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的

参考例句：

• His movements on the parallel bars were very graceful.他的双杠动作可帅了!
• The ballet dancer is so graceful.芭蕾舞演员的姿态是如此的优美。

4 repose   

v.(使)休息；n.安息

参考例句：

• Don't disturb her repose.不要打扰她休息。
• Her mouth seemed always to be smiling,even in repose.她的嘴角似乎总是挂着微笑，即使在睡眠时也是这样。

5 serpentines   

n.像蛇般蜷曲的，蜿蜒的( serpentine的名词复数 )v.像蛇般蜷曲的，蜿蜒的( serpentine的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• These fearsome beasts have small cannons, comparable to serpentines, mounted on their backs. 这些恐怖巨兽背负著类似蛇炮的小型加农炮。 来自互联网
• The Serpentine: Serpentines make excellent exercises for suppling the sides on the horse. 蛇形型路线，是很好的练习，帮助马匹柔软。 来自互联网

6 enveloped   

v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was enveloped in a huge white towel. 她裹在一条白色大毛巾里。
• Smoke from the burning house enveloped the whole street. 燃烧着的房子冒出的浓烟笼罩了整条街。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 perils   

极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境）

参考例句：

• The commander bade his men be undaunted in the face of perils. 指挥员命令他的战士要临危不惧。
• With how many more perils and disasters would he load himself? 他还要再冒多少风险和遭受多少灾难？

8 whit   

n.一点，丝毫

参考例句：

• There's not a whit of truth in the statement.这声明里没有丝毫的真实性。
• He did not seem a whit concerned.他看来毫不在乎。

9 poker   

n.扑克；vt.烙制

参考例句：

• He was cleared out in the poker game.他打扑克牌，把钱都输光了。
• I'm old enough to play poker and do something with it.我打扑克是老手了，可以玩些花样。

10 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。

11 apparition   

n.幽灵，神奇的现象

参考例句：

• He saw the apparition of his dead wife.他看见了他亡妻的幽灵。
• But the terror of this new apparition brought me to a stand.这新出现的幽灵吓得我站在那里一动也不敢动。

12 portents   

n.预兆( portent的名词复数 )；征兆；怪事；奇物

参考例句：

• But even with this extra support, labour-market portents still look grim. 但是即使采取了额外支持措施，劳动力市场依然阴霾密布。 来自互联网
• So the hiccups are worth noting as portents. 因此这些问题作为不好的征兆而值得关注。 来自互联网