英语听书《白鲸记》第798期

 　　Because those whalemen did not then, and do not now, try out their oil at sea as the Southern ships have always done; 因为那些捕鲸人，不论在当时和现在，都不象南海渔船所经常做的那样，先在海上把油熬好；

　　but cutting up the fresh blubber in small bits, thrust it through the bung holes of large casks, and carry it home in that manner; 而是把那些生鲸脂砍成一小块一小块，朝大桶口掷下去后，就那样把它装回家来；

　　the shortness of the season in those Icy Seas, and the sudden and violent storms to which they are exposed, forbidding any other course. 由于在那种冰天雪地的海洋中，猎季短促，经常遭到突然而来的猛烈的风暴的打击，没能采取任何其它办法，

　　The consequence is, that upon breaking into the hold, and unloading one of these whale cemeteries¹, in the Greenland dock, 结果是，一打开船舱，把这些一块块的尸肉卸上格陵兰码头时，

　　a savor² is given forth³ somewhat similar to that arising from excavating⁴ an old city graveyard⁵, for the foundations of a Lying-in Hospital. 就发散出一种类似于为了构筑产科医院的地基，把城里的古坟挖掉后所发出来的味道。

　　I partly surmise⁶ also, that this wicked charge against whalers may be likewise imputed⁷ to the existence on the coast of Greenland, in former times, 我还不免要这样推测，这种对捕鲸船的恶意攻击，还可以同样地归之于昔时的格陵兰海岸上，

　　of a Dutch village called Schmerenburgh or Smeerenberg, 有一个叫做斯麦楞堡或者斯迈楞堡的荷兰村庄的缘故，

　　which latter name is the one used by the learned Fogo Von Slack, in his great work on Smells, a text-book on that subject. 斯迈楞堡这名称也就是曾经被那个博学的福戈、冯、斯拉克用在他那论嗅觉的巨著上（论嗅觉的一本教科书）的一个名称。

　　As its name imports (smeer, fat; berg, to put up), 就那名称的含义上说来（斯迈就是油脂；堡就是腌藏），

　　this village was founded in order to afford a place for the blubber of the Dutch whale fleet to be tried out, 因为这个村庄，乃是为了使荷兰捕鲸队有个炼油处所而设置的，

　　without being taken home to Holland for that purpose. 让他们可以不必把鲸脂拿回荷兰去炼制。

　　It was a collection of furnaces, fat-kettles, and oil sheds; and when the works were in full operation certainly gave forth no very pleasant savor. 在这个庄子上，有许多大灶。油锅和油库，当这种工作全面进行时，当然就发出一种不很好闻的味道了。

1 cemeteries   

n.（非教堂的）墓地，公墓( cemetery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It's morbid to dwell on cemeteries and such like. 不厌其烦地谈论墓地以及诸如此类的事是一种病态。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• In other districts the proximity of cemeteries seemed to aggravate the disease. 在其它地区里，邻近墓地的地方，时疫大概都要严重些。 来自辞典例句

2 savor   

vt.品尝，欣赏；n.味道，风味；情趣，趣味

参考例句：

• The soup has a savor of onion.这汤有洋葱味。
• His humorous remarks added a savor to our conversation.他幽默的话语给谈话增添了风趣。

3 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

4 excavating   

v.挖掘( excavate的现在分词 )；开凿；挖出；发掘

参考例句：

• A bulldozer was employed for excavating the foundations of the building. 推土机用来给楼房挖地基。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A new Danish expedition is again excavating the site in annual summer digs. 一支新的丹麦探险队又在那个遗址上进行一年一度的夏季挖掘。 来自辞典例句

5 graveyard   

n.坟场

参考例句：

• All the town was drifting toward the graveyard.全镇的人都象流水似地向那坟场涌过去。
• Living next to a graveyard would give me the creeps.居住在墓地旁边会使我毛骨悚然。

6 surmise   

v./n.猜想，推测

参考例句：

• It turned out that my surmise was correct.结果表明我的推测没有错。
• I surmise that he will take the job.我推测他会接受这份工作。

7 imputed   

v.把（错误等）归咎于( impute的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They imputed the accident to the driver's carelessness. 他们把这次车祸归咎于司机的疏忽。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He imputed the failure of his marriage to his wife's shortcomings. 他把婚姻的失败归咎于妻子的缺点。 来自辞典例句