英语听书《白鲸记》第874期

 Of all the pre-adamite whales yet exhumed¹, by far the largest is the Alabama one mentioned in the last chapter, 至于在迄今所已发掘的亚当以前的大鲸中，上一章所提到的那条亚拉巴马鲸应该算是最大的了，

and that was less than seventy feet in length in the skeleton. 可它那骷髅的长度还不满七十英尺。

Whereas, we have already seen, that the tape-measure gives seventy-two feet for the skeleton of a large sized modern whale. 反之，我们已经看到，一条现代最大的鲸，用卷尺量来，它的骷髅就有七十英尺。

And I have heard, on whalemen's authority, that Sperm² Whales have been captured near a hundred feet long at the time of capture. 而且，我根据捕鲸权威家的说法，还得知在人们所捕到的抹香鲸中，在它刚被捕到的时候，身长将近一百英尺咧。

But may it not be, that while the whales of the present hour are an advance in magnitude upon those of all previous geological periods; 但是，现代的大鲸，在身躯上，也许不可能超过所有先前的地质年代纪的那些鲸吧；

may it not be, that since Adam's time they have degenerated³? 自从亚当时代以来，它们也许不可能退化吧？

Assuredly, we must conclude so, if we are to credit the accounts of such gentlemen as Pliny, and the ancient naturalists⁵ generally. 如果我们信任象普利尼这些先生以及古代一般博物学家们的说法，那么，无疑地，我们就必须下这样的结论了。

For Pliny tells us of Whales that embraced acres of living bulk, 因为普利尼告诉我们说，鲸鱼的活身躯有好几英亩大，

and Aldrovandus of others which measured eight hundred feet in length— Rope Walks and Thames Tunnels of Whales! 而阿德罗凡提则说，有些鲸身长达八百英尺——真是象制索厂和泰晤士河隧道似的鲸！

And even in the days of Banks and Solander, Cooke's naturalists, 甚至在班克斯，梭兰德和库克这些博物学家的时代，

we find a Danish member of the Academy of Sciences setting down certain Iceland Whales (reydan-siskur, or Wrinkled Bellies) 我们还发现皇家科学院的一个丹麦籍院长宣称某一种冰岛鲸（列丹——西斯库或者叫做绉腹鲸）

at one hundred and twenty yards; that is, three hundred and sixty feet. 身长达一百二十码；这就要合到三百六十英尺了。

And Lacepede, the French naturalist⁴, in his elaborate history of whales, in the very beginning of his work (page 3), 而那位法国博物学家拉塞佩德，在他那部详尽阐述的大鲸史上的开头（第三页）

sets down the Right Whale at one hundred metres, three hundred and twenty-eight feet. 就宣称露脊鲸有一百公尺，即合三百二十八英尺的身长。

And this work was published so late as A.D. 1825. 这部作品还是迟至一八二五年才发表的呢。

1 exhumed   

v.挖出，发掘出( exhume的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Marie Curie's remains were exhumed and interred in the Pantheon. 玛丽·居里的遗体被移出葬在先贤祠中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His remains have been exhumed from a cemetery in Queens, New York City. 他的遗体被从纽约市皇后区的墓地里挖了出来。 来自辞典例句

2 sperm   

n.精子，精液

参考例句：

• Only one sperm fertilises an egg.只有一个精子使卵子受精。
• In human reproduction,one female egg is usually fertilized by one sperm.在人体生殖过程中，一个精子使一个卵子受精。

3 degenerated   

衰退，堕落，退化( degenerate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The march degenerated into a riot. 示威游行变成了暴动。
• The wide paved road degenerated into a narrow bumpy track. 铺好的宽阔道路渐渐变窄，成了一条崎岖不平的小径。

4 naturalist   

n.博物学家(尤指直接观察动植物者)

参考例句：

• He was a printer by trade and naturalist by avocation.他从事印刷业，同时是个博物学爱好者。
• The naturalist told us many stories about birds.博物学家给我们讲述了许多有关鸟儿的故事。

5 naturalists   

n.博物学家( naturalist的名词复数 )；（文学艺术的）自然主义者

参考例句：

• Naturalists differ much in determining what characters are of generic value. 自然学者对于不同性状决定生物的属的含义上，各有各的见解。 来自辞典例句
• This fact has led naturalists to believe that the Isthmus was formerly open. 使许多自然学者相信这个地蛱在以前原是开通的。 来自辞典例句