英语听书《白鲸记》第919期

 When at last the twelve rods were made, Ahab tried them, one by one, by spiralling them, with his own hand, round a long, heavy iron bolt. 最后，十二根棒条终于打出来了，亚哈一根一根拿来试过，亲自把它们盘绕起来，卷成一根又长又粗的铁螺丝闩。

"A flaw!" rejecting the last one. "Work that over again, Perth." "这根是次货！"他不满意最后一根。"得再打一遍，柏斯。"

This done, Perth was about to begin welding the twelve into one, when Ahab stayed his hand, and said he would weld his own iron. 最后一根打好后，柏斯正想把这十二根东西煅成一根时，不料亚哈揿住了他的手，说他要亲自煅接自己的标枪。

As, then, with regular, gasping¹ hems², he hammered on the anvil³, Perth passing to him the glowing rods, 于是，亚哈就一哼一喘地在铁砧上锤打起来，柏斯在旁边把那些通红的东西一根一根递给他，

one after the other, and the hard pressed forge shooting up its intense straight flame, 那个给压得透不过气的熔炉直迸射出猛烈的火焰，

the Parsee passed silently, and bowing over his head towards the fire, seemed invoking⁴ some curse or some blessing⁵ on the toil⁶. 这时，那个祆教徒悄悄地从旁边走过来，俯首对着火，似乎不是在对这个活儿表示祝福便是诅咒。

But, as Ahab looked up, he slid aside. 可是，亚哈一抬起头来，那个祆教徒就闪开了。

What's that bunch of lucifers dodging⁷ about there for? muttered Stubb, looking on from the forecastle. 那边为什么有许多金星在闪烁呀？斯塔布在船头楼一边望着，一边嘟哝道。

"That Parsee smells fire like a fusee; and smells of it himself, like a hot musket's powder-pan." "那个祆教徒一闻到火就象是闻到了信号火？他自己一闻，就象闻到热烘烘的滑膛枪的火药池。"

At last the shank, in one complete rod, received its final heat; 最后，这根已打成一整根的东西，再回一次火；

and as Perth, to temper it, plunged⁸ it all hissing⁹ into the cask of water near by, the scalding steam shot up into Ahab's bent¹⁰ face. 柏斯为了淬硬它，把它咝的一声插进了旁边一桶冷水里，滚热的水气直冲到亚哈那俯视着的脸上。

Would'st thou brand me, Perth? wincing¹¹ for a moment with the pain; "have I been but forging my own branding-iron, then?" 你要给我打烙印嘛？柏斯？痛得眨了一阵眼；"这样说来，我是在铸打我自己的烙铁吗？"

Pray God, not that; yet I fear something, Captain Ahab. 天啊，不是，不过，我还是有点害怕，亚哈船长。

Is not this harpoon¹² for the White Whale? 这根标枪可不是拿去打白鲸吗？

 

1 gasping   

adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词

参考例句：

• He was gasping for breath. 他在喘气。
• "Did you need a drink?""Yes, I'm gasping!” “你要喝点什么吗？”“我巴不得能喝点！”

2 hems   

布的褶边，贴边( hem的名词复数 )； 短促的咳嗽

参考例句：

• I took the hems of my dresses up to make them shorter. 我把我的连衣裙都改短了。
• Hems must be level unless uneven design feature is requested. 袖口及裤脚卷边位置宽度必须一致（设计有特别要求的除外）。

3 anvil   

n.铁钻

参考例句：

• The blacksmith shaped a horseshoe on his anvil.铁匠在他的铁砧上打出一个马蹄形。
• The anvil onto which the staples are pressed was not assemble correctly.订书机上的铁砧安装错位。

4 invoking   

v.援引( invoke的现在分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求

参考例句：

• You can customise the behavior of the Asynchronous Server and hence re-brand it by defining your own command set for invoking services. 通过定义自己调用服务的命令集，您可以定制自定义异步服务器的行为，通过为调用服务定义自己的命令集从而对它重新标记。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• You can customize the behavior of the Asynchronous Server and hence re-brand it by defining your own command set for invoking services. 通过定义自己调用服务的命令集，您可以定制自定义异步服务器的行为，通过为调用服务定义自己的命令集从而对它重新标记。 来自辞典例句

5 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

6 toil   

vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事

参考例句：

• The wealth comes from the toil of the masses.财富来自大众的辛勤劳动。
• Every single grain is the result of toil.每一粒粮食都来之不易。

7 dodging   

n.避开，闪过，音调改变v.闪躲( dodge的现在分词 )；回避

参考例句：

• He ran across the road, dodging the traffic. 他躲开来往的车辆跑过马路。
• I crossed the highway, dodging the traffic. 我避开车流穿过了公路。 来自辞典例句

8 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

9 hissing   

n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The steam escaped with a loud hissing noise. 蒸汽大声地嘶嘶冒了出来。
• His ears were still hissing with the rustle of the leaves. 他耳朵里还听得萨萨萨的声音和屑索屑索的怪声。 来自汉英文学 - 春蚕

10 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

11 wincing   

赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She switched on the light, wincing at the sudden brightness. 她打开了灯，突如其来的强烈光线刺得她不敢睜眼。
• "I will take anything," he said, relieved, and wincing under reproof. “我什么事都愿意做，"他说，松了一口气，缩着头等着挨骂。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

12 harpoon   

n.鱼叉；vt.用鱼叉叉，用鱼叉捕获

参考例句：

• The harpoon drove deep into the body of the whale.渔叉深深地扎进鲸鱼体内。
• The fisherman transfixed the shark with a harpoon.渔夫用鱼叉刺住鲨鱼。