英语听书《白鲸记》第879期

 And there seems no reason to doubt that if these elephants, which have now been hunted for thousands of years, by Semiramis, by Porus, by Hannibal, 因此，如果这些大象，几千年来已经遭到了塞密拉密斯，波拉斯，汉尼拔

and by all the successive monarchs¹ of the East— if they still survive there in great numbers, much more may the great whale outlast² all hunting, 以及东方一连串君主的猎捕后，而它们还能继续大量存在的话，那么，对于大鲸的远能经受得了一切猎击，就更没有可以怀疑的理由了，

since he has a pasture to expatiate³ in, which is precisely⁴ twice as large as all Asia, both Americas, Europe and Africa, New Holland, and all the Isles⁵ of the sea combined. 因为大鲸有一个足资漫游的大草原，而这个大草原正是比亚洲，加上美洲，欧洲和非洲，新荷兰，以及全世界各岛各屿的总面积还要大上一倍。

Moreover: we are to consider, that from the presumed great longevity⁶ of whales, their probably attaining⁷ the age of a century and more, 而且，根据一般认为大鲸是长寿的看法，我们还得考虑一下它们可能会活到一百多岁，

therefore at any one period of time, several distinct adult generations must be contemporary. 因此，在任何一段期间里，若干特殊的长辈一定就是同时代人了。

And what this is, we may soon gain some idea of, 由是，我们只消这么想一想，

by imagining all the grave-yards, cemeteries⁸, and family vaults⁹ of creation yielding up the live bodies of all the men, women, and children who were alive seventy-five years ago; 人间的一切墓地、坟场和家冢里所藏着的那些在七十五年前还活着的男女老幼的尸体，

and adding this countless¹⁰ host to the present human population of the globe. 再把这一无数的队伍加上现今地球上的人口，那么，这究竟是怎么一种情况，我们立刻就可以得到一些概念了。

Wherefore, for all these things, we account the whale immortal¹¹ in his species, however perishable¹² in his individuality. 因此，尽管有这些情况，不论这种鲸会有个别的死亡，我们还是应该把鲸类看做是一种不朽的动物。

He swam the seas before the continents broke water; he once swam over the site of the Tuileries, and Windsor Castle, and the Kremlin. 它在大陆还未突破洪水而出现之前就在海洋中游来游去，它还曾经游过杜依勒利宫，温莎宫，克里姆林宫从前的地基。

In Noah's flood he despised Noah's Ark; 在挪亚的洪水中，它根本就不把挪亚的方舟放在眼里；

and if ever the world is to be again flooded, like the Netherlands, to kill off its rats, 如果世界还会再发洪水，象荷兰那样，连老鼠都给淹得干干净净，

then the eternal whale will still survive, and rearing upon the topmost crest¹³ of the equatorial flood, spout¹⁴ his frothed defiance¹⁵ to the skies. 那么，这种永存的鲸也还是会活下去，而且会高矗在赤道的洪水似的浪峰上，朝天喷出它的唾沫，表示蔑视呢。

1 monarchs   

君主，帝王( monarch的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Monarchs ruled England for centuries. 世袭君主统治英格兰有许多世纪。
• Serving six monarchs of his native Great Britain, he has served all men's freedom and dignity. 他在大不列颠本国为六位君王服务，也为全人类的自由和尊严服务。 来自演讲部分

2 outlast   

v.较…耐久

参考例句：

• The great use of life is to spend it doing something that will outlast it.人生的充分利用就是为争取比人生更长久的东西而度过一生。
• These naturally dried flowers will outlast a bouquet of fresh blooms.这些自然风干的花会比一束鲜花更加持久。

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 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

5 isles   

岛( isle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the geology of the British Isles 不列颠群岛的地质
• The boat left for the isles. 小船驶向那些小岛。

6 longevity   

n.长命；长寿

参考例句：

• Good habits promote longevity.良好的习惯能增长寿命。
• Human longevity runs in families.人类的长寿具有家族遗传性。

7 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。

8 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

9 vaults   

n.拱顶( vault的名词复数 )；地下室；撑物跳高；墓穴

参考例句：

• It was deposited in the vaults of a bank. 它存在一家银行的保险库里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They think of viruses that infect an organization from the outside.They envision hackers breaking into their information vaults. 他们考虑来自外部的感染公司的病毒，他们设想黑客侵入到信息宝库中。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

11 immortal   

adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的

参考例句：

• The wild cocoa tree is effectively immortal.野生可可树实际上是不会死的。
• The heroes of the people are immortal!人民英雄永垂不朽！

12 perishable   

adj.（尤指食物）易腐的，易坏的

参考例句：

• Many fresh foods are highly perishable.许多新鲜食物都极易腐败。
• Fruits are perishable in transit.水果在运送时容易腐烂。

13 crest   

n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖

参考例句：

• The rooster bristled his crest.公鸡竖起了鸡冠。
• He reached the crest of the hill before dawn.他于黎明前到达山顶。

14 spout   

v.喷出，涌出；滔滔不绝地讲；n.喷管；水柱

参考例句：

• Implication in folk wealth creativity and undertaking vigor spout.蕴藏于民间的财富创造力和创业活力喷涌而出。
• This acts as a spout to drain off water during a rainstorm.在暴风雨季，这东西被用作喷管来排水。

15 defiance   

n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗

参考例句：

• He climbed the ladder in defiance of the warning.他无视警告爬上了那架梯子。
• He slammed the door in a spirit of defiance.他以挑衅性的态度把门砰地一下关上。