英语听书《白鲸记》第651期

 　　To which Ahab answered—"Aye." Straightway, then, Gabriel once more started to his feet, glaring upon the old man,  亚哈对此回答道，"当然喽。"于是，迦百列又再次跳了起来，直瞅着这老头，

　　and vehemently¹ exclaimed, with downward pointed² finger, 一边伸着指头，朝下指着，一边激烈地叫道，

　　"Think, think of the blasphemer— dead, and down there!—beware of the blasphemer's end!" "想一想，想一想那个亵渎神明的人——就正死在这下面！——当心那个亵渎神明者的结局！"

　　Ahab stolidly³ turned aside; then said to Mayhew, 亚哈迟钝地往旁边一望，然后对梅休说，

　　"Captain, I have just bethought me of my letter-bag; there is a letter for one of thy officers, if I mistake not. "船长，我刚正想起我的信袋；好象有给你的头目的一封信。

　　Starbuck, look over the bag." 斯达巴克，去瞧一瞧那袋子。"

　　Every whale-ship takes out a goodly number of letters for various ships, 每只捕鲸船都带有交给各种船只的不少信件，

　　whose delivery to the persons to whom they may be addressed, depends upon the mere⁴ chance of encountering them in the four oceans. 而信件是否能交给收信人，就全靠在四海中彼此能否有相遇的机会。

　　Thus, most letters never reach their mark; and many are only received after attaining⁵ an age of two or three years or more. 这样，大部分信件永远落不到收信人手里，有许多甚至要在两三年后才收到。

　　Soon Starbuck returned with a letter in his hand. 不一会，斯达巴克手里拿着一封信回来了，

　　It was sorely tumbled, damp, and covered with a dull, spotted⁶, green mould, in consequence of being kept in a dark locker⁷ of the cabin. 因为是藏在舱房里那只不见天日的柜子里的缘故，这封信显得又皱又潮，而且蒙着一层满布灰绿点子的霉土。

　　Of such a letter, Death himself might well have been the post-boy. 象这样一封信，最适当的信差也许就是死神本人。

　　Can'st not read it? cried Ahab. 看不出来么？亚哈叫道。

　　"Give it me, man. Aye, aye, aye it's but a dim scrawl;—what's this?" "给我，老朋友。是啊，是啊，字迹显得潦草模糊点；——怎么？

　　As he was studying it out, Starbuck took a long cutting-spade pole, and with his knife slightly split the end, to insert the letter there,  "他在细认的时候，斯达巴克拿起一支割鲸的铲子长柄，用小刀轻轻剖开柄端，把信夹了进去，

　　and in that way, hand it to the boat, without its coming any closer to the ship. 使小艇不必再靠拢大船，就可以把信递给小艇。

1 vehemently   

adv. 热烈地

参考例句：

• He argued with his wife so vehemently that he talked himself hoarse. 他和妻子争论得很激烈，以致讲话的声音都嘶哑了。
• Both women vehemently deny the charges against them. 两名妇女都激烈地否认了对她们的指控。

2 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

3 stolidly   

adv.迟钝地，神经麻木地

参考例句：

• Too often people sat stolidly watching the noisy little fiddler. 人们往往不动声色地坐在那里，瞧着这位瘦小的提琴手闹腾一番。 来自辞典例句
• He dropped into a chair and sat looking stolidly at the floor. 他坐在椅子上，两眼呆呆地望着地板。 来自辞典例句

4 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

5 attaining   

（通常经过努力）实现( attain的现在分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况）

参考例句：

• Jim is halfway to attaining his pilot's licence. 吉姆就快要拿到飞行员执照了。
• By that time she was attaining to fifty. 那时她已快到五十岁了。

6 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

7 locker   

n.更衣箱，储物柜，冷藏室，上锁的人

参考例句：

• At the swimming pool I put my clothes in a locker.在游泳池我把衣服锁在小柜里。
• He moved into the locker room and began to slip out of his scrub suit.他走进更衣室把手术服脱下来。