英语听书《白鲸记》第637期

 　　Chapter 69 The Funeral 第六十九章 葬礼

　　Haul in the chains! Let the carcase go astern! 把锚链拖进来！让尸体往后漂去！

　　The vast tackles have now done their duty. 这会儿，那两只大复滑车已经完成它们的职责了。

　　The peeled white body of the beheaded whale flashes like a marble sepulchre; 这条被砍了头。身体剥得雪白的鲸，象座大理石墓似的闪着光，

　　though changed in hue¹, it has not perceptibly lost anything in bulk. It is still colossal².  虽然变了颜色，可是，就大小说来，却一点也看不出有什么消缩。它还是硕大无朋。

　　Slowly it floats more and more away, the water round it torn and splashed by the insatiate sharks, 它慢慢地越漂越远了，它四周的海水，被那些贪得无厌的鲨鱼穿跃得浪花四溅，

　　and the air above vexed³ with rapacious⁴ flights of screaming fowls⁵, whose beaks⁶ are like so many insulting poniards in the whale. 上空又激荡着贪婪的鸟群的尖叫声，它们的嘴喙有如许多匕首，在无礼地戳这条鲸。

　　The vast white headless phantom⁷ floats further and further from the ship, 这条无头的白色大妖怪越漂越远离大船，

　　and every rod that it so floats, what seem square roods of sharks and cubic roods of fowls, augment⁸ the murderous din⁹. 而且好象它每漂一步，鲨鱼群便前进一尺，禽鸟群则前进一丈，四下尽是一片杀气腾腾的喧闹声。

　　For hours and hours from the almost stationary¹⁰ ship that hideous¹¹ sight is seen. 从那只差不多是静止着的船上看去，还时时可以望到这个可怕的场面。

　　Beneath the unclouded and mild azure¹² sky, upon the fair face of the pleasant sea,  在柔和明朗的苍空下，在平静鲜明的海洋上，

　　wafted¹³ by the joyous¹⁴ breezes, that great mass of death floats on and on, till lost in infinite perspectives. 快意的和风在飘拂着，吹得那只庞大的尸体不住向前漂去，最后，消失在眼力望不到的地方。

　　There's a most doleful and most mocking funeral! 这真是一个最悲哀而又最富有讽刺意味的葬礼！

　　The sea-vultures all in pious¹⁵ mourning, the air-sharks all punctiliously¹⁶ in black or speckled. 海上的贪心汉都在虔诚地祭吊着，空中的骗子也都拘泥形式地穿黑戴孝。

　　In life but few of them would have helped the whale, I ween, if peradventure he had needed it; 在鲸活着的时候，如果万一它真需要帮助的话，我相信，它们肯来帮助的，实在为数不多。

　　but upon the banquet of his funeral they most piously¹⁷ do pounce¹⁸. 但是，在吃它的出丧酒时，它们却都顶虔诚地穷扑猛抓了。

1 hue   

n.色度；色调；样子

参考例句：

• The diamond shone with every hue under the sun.金刚石在阳光下放出五颜六色的光芒。
• The same hue will look different in different light.同一颜色在不同的光线下看起来会有所不同。

2 colossal   

adj.异常的，庞大的

参考例句：

• There has been a colossal waste of public money.一直存在巨大的公款浪费。
• Some of the tall buildings in that city are colossal.那座城市里的一些高层建筑很庞大。

3 vexed   

adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论

参考例句：

• The conference spent days discussing the vexed question of border controls. 会议花了几天的时间讨论边境关卡这个难题。
• He was vexed at his failure. 他因失败而懊恼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 rapacious   

adj.贪婪的，强夺的

参考例句：

• He had a rapacious appetite for bird's nest soup.他吃燕窝汤吃个没够。
• Rapacious soldiers looted the houses in the defeated city.贪婪的士兵洗劫了被打败的城市。

5 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。

6 beaks   

n.鸟嘴( beak的名词复数 )；鹰钩嘴；尖鼻子；掌权者

参考例句：

• Baby cockatoos will have black eyes and soft, almost flexible beaks. 雏鸟凤头鹦鹉黑色的眼睛是柔和的，嘴几乎是灵活的。 来自互联网
• Squid beaks are often found in the stomachs of sperm whales. 经常能在抹香鲸的胃里发现鱿鱼的嘴。 来自互联网

7 phantom   

n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的

参考例句：

• I found myself staring at her as if she were a phantom.我发现自己瞪大眼睛看着她，好像她是一个幽灵。
• He is only a phantom of a king.他只是有名无实的国王。

8 augment   

vt.(使)增大，增加，增长，扩张

参考例句：

• They hit upon another idea to augment their income.他们又想出一个增加收入的办法。
• The government's first concern was to augment the army and auxiliary forces.政府首先关心的是增强军队和辅助的力量。

9 din   

n.喧闹声，嘈杂声

参考例句：

• The bustle and din gradually faded to silence as night advanced.随着夜越来越深，喧闹声逐渐沉寂。
• They tried to make themselves heard over the din of the crowd.他们力图让自己的声音盖过人群的喧闹声。

10 stationary   

adj.固定的，静止不动的

参考例句：

• A stationary object is easy to be aimed at.一个静止不动的物体是容易瞄准的。
• Wait until the bus is stationary before you get off.你要等公共汽车停稳了再下车。

11 hideous   

adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的

参考例句：

• The whole experience had been like some hideous nightmare.整个经历就像一场可怕的噩梦。
• They're not like dogs,they're hideous brutes.它们不像狗，是丑陋的畜牲。

12 azure   

adj.天蓝色的，蔚蓝色的

参考例句：

• His eyes are azure.他的眼睛是天蓝色的。
• The sun shone out of a clear azure sky.清朗蔚蓝的天空中阳光明媚。

13 wafted   

v.吹送，飘送，（使）浮动( waft的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The sound of their voices wafted across the lake. 他们的声音飘过湖面传到了另一边。
• A delicious smell of freshly baked bread wafted across the garden. 花园中飘过一股刚出炉面包的香味。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 joyous   

adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的

参考例句：

• The lively dance heightened the joyous atmosphere of the scene.轻快的舞蹈给这场戏渲染了欢乐气氛。
• They conveyed the joyous news to us soon.他们把这一佳音很快地传递给我们。

15 pious   

adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的

参考例句：

• Alexander is a pious follower of the faith.亚历山大是个虔诚的信徒。
• Her mother was a pious Christian.她母亲是一个虔诚的基督教徒。

16 punctiliously   

参考例句：

• Given the circumstances, his behaviour to Laura had been punctiliously correct. 考虑当时的情况，他对劳拉的举止非常得体。 来自柯林斯例句

17 piously   

adv.虔诚地

参考例句：

• Many pilgrims knelt piously at the shrine.许多朝圣者心虔意诚地在神殿跪拜。
• The priests piously consecrated the robbery with a hymn.教士们虔诚地唱了一首赞美诗，把这劫夺行为神圣化了。

18 pounce   

n.猛扑；v.猛扑，突然袭击，欣然同意

参考例句：

• Why do you pounce on every single thing I say?干吗我说的每句话你都要找麻烦？
• We saw the tiger about to pounce on the goat.我们看见老虎要向那只山羊扑过去。