英语听书《白鲸记》第867期

 Chapter 104 The Fossil Whale 第一百零四章 化石鲸

From his mighty¹ bulk the whale affords a most congenial theme whereon to enlarge, amplify², and generally expatiate³. 大鲸那非凡的身躯，就是一个最适宜于详尽发挥的题材。

Would you, you could not compress him. 你就是想把它加以压缩也是压缩不了的。

By good rights he should only be treated of in imperial folio. 当然只有把它当成一种极上等的对开本才行。

Not to tell over again his furlongs from spiracle to tail, and the yards he measures about the waist;  用不着再提它那从头到尾的长度，也不必量它那腰围的尺寸，

only think of the gigantic involutions of his intestines⁴, 只消想一想盘卷在它腹内的那些巨大的肠子就够了，

where they lie in him like great cables and hawsers⁵ coiled away in the subterranean⁶ orlop-deck of a line-of-battle-ship. 它腹内的那些肠子就跟盘在军舰最底层甲板里那些粗大缆索锚链一模一样。

Since I have undertaken to manhandle this Leviathan, it behoves me to approve myself omnisciently⁷ exhaustive in the enterprise; 我既然已经答应来处理这种大鲸，我就该在这件工作上竭尽智能地显一显我的身手；

not overlooking the minutest seminal⁸ germs of his blood, and spinning him out to the uttermost coil of his bowels⁹. 既不忽略它血液里的最细小的病原菌，还要竭尽全力把它肚腹内所盘结着的东西都给拉出来。

Having already described him in most of his present habitatory and anatomical peculiarities¹⁰, 关于它的体质上和组织上的特点，我已经谈了许多，

it now remains¹¹ to magnify him in an archaeological, fossiliferous, and antediluvian¹² point of view. 现在剩下来的就是要以一种考古学的、化石的和上古的观点来把它加以放大、象这样堂而皇之的名词，

Applied¹³ to any other creature than the Leviathan—to an ant or a flea— such portly terms might justly be deemed unwarrantably grandiloquent¹⁴. 如果用之于大鲸以外的任何一种生物——蚂蚁或者跳蚤——也许应该认为是夸张得太不切实际了。

But when Leviathan is the text, the case is altered. 可是，一碰上大鲸这个题目，那可又当别论。

1 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

2 amplify   

vt.放大，增强；详述，详加解说

参考例句：

• The new manager wants to amplify the company.新经理想要扩大公司。
• Please amplify your remarks by giving us some examples.请举例详述你的话。

3 expatiate   

v.细说，详述

参考例句：

• The tendency to expatiate and make much of local advantages was Western.喜欢唠唠叨叨、夸张本地优点的脾气是西部特有的。
• My present purpose is not to expatiate upon my walks.现在我并不打算絮絮不休地描述我的散步。

4 intestines   

n.肠( intestine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Perhaps the most serious problems occur in the stomach and intestines. 最严重的问题或许出现在胃和肠里。 来自辞典例句
• The traps of carnivorous plants function a little like the stomachs and small intestines of animals. 食肉植物的捕蝇器起着动物的胃和小肠的作用。 来自辞典例句

5 hawsers   

n.（供系船或下锚用的）缆索，锚链( hawser的名词复数 )

参考例句：

6 subterranean   

adj.地下的，地表下的

参考例句：

• London has 9 miles of such subterranean passages.伦敦像这样的地下通道有9英里长。
• We wandered through subterranean passages.我们漫游地下通道。

7 omnisciently   

无所不知的

参考例句：

• The novel has an omniscient narrator. 这部小说有一个全知全能的叙述者。
• He's nervous when trying to potray himself as omniscient. 当他试图把自己描绘得无所不知时，内心其实很紧张。

8 seminal   

adj.影响深远的；种子的

参考例句：

• The reforms have been a seminal event in the history of the NHS.这些改革已成为英国国民保健制度史上影响深远的一件大事。
• The emperor's importance as a seminal figure of history won't be diminished.做为一个开创性历史人物的重要性是不会减弱的。

9 bowels   

n.肠，内脏，内部；肠( bowel的名词复数 )；内部，最深处

参考例句：

• Salts is a medicine that causes movements of the bowels. 泻盐是一种促使肠子运动的药物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cabins are in the bowels of the ship. 舱房设在船腹内。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 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。

11 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

12 antediluvian   

adj.史前的，陈旧的

参考例句：

• His ideas are positively antediluvian!他的思想是纯粹的老古董。
• This antediluvian monetary system has now been replaced by the up-to-date monetary system of Japan.这种旧式的金融体系也已经被现代化的日本系统所取代。

13 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

14 grandiloquent   

adj.夸张的

参考例句：

• He preferred,in his grandiloquent way,to call a spade a spade.他喜欢夸夸其谈地谈出事实的真相来。
• He was a performer who loved making grandiloquent gesture.他是一个喜欢打夸张手势的演员。