英语听书《白鲸记》第713期

 The next moment, relieved in a great part from the downward strain at the bows, 隔了一会，由于船头往下牵引的力量大大地松了一松，

the boats gave a sudden bounce upwards¹, as a small icefield will, when a dense² herd³ of white bears are scared from it into the sea. 三只小艇都蓦地往上一蹦，象是冰天雪地里突然冒出一株小柳树，把一大群熊都给吓得往海里钻一样。

Haul in! Haul in! cried Starbuck again; "he's rising." 拉起来！拉起来！斯达巴克又叫道，"它在冒起来啦。"

The lines, of which, hardly an instant before, not one hand's breadth could have been gained, 那些刚刚还浮在水面上的、不满一托长的绳索，

were now in long quick coils flung back all dripping into the boats, and soon the whale broke water within two ship's length of the hunters. 现在都迅速被收成长长的一圈圈、水淋滴滴地甩进艇里，那条鲸立刻便在约两只船的长度间从水里冲出来。

His motions plainly denoted his extreme exhaustion⁴. 它的动作明白地表示出它已经精疲力竭了。

In most land animals there are certain valves or flood-gates in many of their veins⁵, 在陆上的大多数禽兽中，在它们那许多血管里，总有一些活瓣或者水闸这样的东西，

whereby when wounded, the blood is in some degree at least instantly shut off in certain directions. 所以当它们一旦受伤，至少都会立即在什么地方把血给煞住了。

Not so with the whale; one of whose peculiarities⁶ it is, to have an entire non-valvular structure of the blood-vessels, 可是，鲸就不是这样，它的特点之一就是，它整个血管中，没有一个活瓣的结构，

so that when pierced even by so small a point as a harpoon⁷, a deadly drain is at once begun upon his whole arterial system; 所以，甚至象标枪尖这样细小的东西一戳进它身体的时候，

and when this is heightened by the extraordinary pressure of water at a great distance below the surface, 它整个动脉系统就立刻狂奔直流了，再加上海底水势的超常压力，

his life may be said to pour from him in incessant⁸ streams. 它的生命可以说是象潺潺的溪流一般流个没完没了。

Yet so vast is the quantity of blood in him, and so distant and numerous its interior fountains, 然而因为它体内有这么许多血，体内那只喷水池又是这么长这么大，

that he will keep thus bleeding and bleeding for a considerable period; 它就这样流呀流的流下去

even as in a drought a river will flow, whose source is in the well-springs of far-off and indiscernible hills. ，如同一条流不干的河流，水源有如喷泉来自千山万岭、无法辨清方向的山冈。

1 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

2 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

3 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

4 exhaustion   

n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述

参考例句：

• She slept the sleep of exhaustion.她因疲劳而酣睡。
• His exhaustion was obvious when he fell asleep standing.他站着睡着了，显然是太累了。

5 veins   

n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理

参考例句：

• The blood flows from the capillaries back into the veins. 血从毛细血管流回静脉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I felt a pleasant glow in all my veins from the wine. 喝过酒后我浑身的血都热烘烘的，感到很舒服。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 peculiarities   

n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪

参考例句：

• the cultural peculiarities of the English 英国人的文化特点
• He used to mimic speech peculiarities of another. 他过去总是模仿别人讲话的特点。

7 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。

8 incessant   

adj.不停的，连续的

参考例句：

• We have had incessant snowfall since yesterday afternoon.从昨天下午开始就持续不断地下雪。
• She is tired of his incessant demands for affection.她厌倦了他对感情的不断索取。