英语听书《白鲸记》第915期

 Why tell the whole? 还用再说下去吗？

The blows of the basement hammer every day grew more and more between; and each blow every day grew fainter than the last; 总之，地下室里的锤子一天紧似一天地敲下去，可是每一记都一天比一天轻；

the wife sat frozen at the window, with tearless eyes, glitteringly gazing into the weeping faces of her children; 妻子冻僵了似地坐在窗边，无泪的眼睛，光闪闪地直瞪着几个小孩的哭泣的脸；

the bellows¹ fell; the forge choked up with cinders²; the house was sold; the mother dived down into the long church-yard grass; her children twice followed her thither³; 风箱不动了，熔炉里塞满了炉灰，房子卖掉了，母亲钻进了教堂墓地里的长长的青草下面，两个孩子也都相继跟着她去了；

and the houseless, familyless old man staggered off a vagabond in crape; his every woe⁴ unreverenced; his grey head a scorn to flaxen curls! 于是这个无家无室的老头带着黑纱摇摇晃晃地离开了，做流浪汉去了；他的各种悲哀都是不值得同情的，他的白发成为少妇们的诅咒对象！

Death seems the only desirable sequel for a career like this; but Death is only a launching into the region of the strange Untried; 这样一种生涯，唯一值得想望的结果就是死；可是死只是走向那个"未经证实"的异域；

it is but the first salutation to the possibilities of the immense Remote, the Wild, the Watery⁵, the Unshored; 它不过招呼你到那辽阔的"远方"，"蛮荒"，"水乡"，"无涘无际的"一切可能的地方的第一声。

therefore, to the death-longing eyes of such men, who still have left in them some interior compunctions against suicide, 因此，那种求死而内心里还是不肯自杀的人，眼睛看到的是，

does the all-contributed and all-receptive ocean alluringly⁶ spread forth⁷ his whole plain of unimaginable, taking terrors, and wonderful, new-life adventures; 那个慷慨豪爽与虚怀若谷的海洋已在诱人地展开它整个不可想象的景致，

and from the hearts of infinite Pacifics, the thousand mermaids⁸ sing to them — "Come hither, broken-hearted; 加上从那无垠的太平洋的中间，无数的人鱼都在对他们叫喊——"到这里来，伤心的人们呀；

here is another life without the guilt⁹ of intermediate death; here are wonders supernatural, without dying for them. 这里是不会有犯死罪的另一种生活；这里是超自然的奇迹，是永生的。

 

1 bellows   

n.风箱；发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的名词复数 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的第三人称单数 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫

参考例句：

• His job is to blow the bellows for the blacksmith. 他的工作是给铁匠拉风箱。 来自辞典例句
• You could, I suppose, compare me to a blacksmith's bellows. 我想，你可能把我比作铁匠的风箱。 来自辞典例句

2 cinders   

n.煤渣( cinder的名词复数 )；炭渣；煤渣路；煤渣跑道

参考例句：

• This material is variously termed ash, clinker, cinders or slag. 这种材料有不同的名称，如灰、炉渣、煤渣或矿渣。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rake out the cinders before you start a new fire. 在重新点火前先把煤渣耙出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 thither   

adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的

参考例句：

• He wandered hither and thither looking for a playmate.他逛来逛去找玩伴。
• He tramped hither and thither.他到处流浪。

4 woe   

n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌

参考例句：

• Our two peoples are brothers sharing weal and woe.我们两国人民是患难与共的兄弟。
• A man is well or woe as he thinks himself so.自认祸是祸，自认福是福。

5 watery   

adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的

参考例句：

• In his watery eyes there is an expression of distrust.他那含泪的眼睛流露出惊惶失措的神情。
• Her eyes became watery because of the smoke.因为烟熏，她的双眼变得泪汪汪的。

6 alluringly   

诱人地，妩媚地

参考例句：

• She turned and smiled alluringly at Douglas. 她转过身对道格拉斯报以迷人的一笑。 来自柯林斯例句

7 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。

8 mermaids   

n.（传说中的）美人鱼( mermaid的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The high stern castle was a riot or carved gods, demons, knights, kings, warriors, mermaids, cherubs. 其尾部高耸的船楼上雕满了神仙、妖魔鬼怪、骑士、国王、勇士、美人鱼、天使。 来自辞典例句
• This is why mermaids should never come on land. 这就是为什么人鱼不应该上岸的原因。 来自电影对白

9 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。