英语听书《白鲸记》第952期

 Chapter 123 The Musket¹ 第一百二十三章 滑膛枪

During the most violent shocks of the Typhoon, 在台风刮得顶顶厉害的时分，

the man at the Pequod's jaw-bone tiller had several times been reelingly hurled² to the deck by its spasmodic motions  尽管舵柄上缚有大索，但是，因为舵柄阵阵震动，那个掌着"裴廓德号"的牙骨舵的舵手，

even though preventer tackles had been attached to it — for they were slack — because some play to the tiller was indispensable. 还是好几次被撞得蹒蹒跚跚地摔在甲板上，这是因为大索松了，舵柄势必会摇动不定。

In a severe gale³ like this, while the ship is but a tossed shuttlecock to the blast, 在这样厉害的狂风中，船只好比一只在疾风里翻簸着的毽子，

it is by no means uncommon⁴ to see the needles in the compasses, at intervals⁵, go round and round. 所以，看到罗盘里的针不时地兜来兜去，也就决不是件稀奇的事了。

It was thus with the Pequod's; 此时的"裴廓德号"就是这般情况。

at almost every shock the helmsman had not failed to notice the whirling velocity⁶ with which they revolved⁷ upon the cards; 几乎每一震动，舵手就要望一望罗盘针在盘面上的旋力；

it is a sight that hardly anyone can behold⁸ without some sort of unwonted emotion. 这种情景，任何人看了，心情都不免非常激动。

Some hours after midnight, the Typhoon abated⁹ so much, 大约午夜过后几小时，台风已经减弱了很多，

that through the strenuous¹⁰ exertions¹¹ of Starbuck and Stubb — one engaged forward and the other aft, 靠了斯达巴克和斯塔布的紧张努力——一个管船头，一个管船梢，

the shivered remnants of the jib and fore¹² and main-top-sails were cut adrift from the spars, 前桅和主中桅上那些飘零零的三角桅都从桅桁上给拉了下来，

and went eddying¹³ away to leeward¹⁴, like the feathers of an albatross, 打旋地朝下风卷去，活象一只正想起飞的信天翁，

which sometimes are cast to the winds when that storm-tossed bird is on the wing. 被风吹刮得连羽毛都掉下来了。

The three corresponding new sails were now bent and reefed,  那三幅相当新的篷帆现在都被收拢来了，

and a storm-trysail was set further aft; so that the ship soon went through the water with some precision again; 船梢后边，扯起一幅风暴斜桁纵帆；所以，这艘船不一会又比较准确地破浪前进了；

 

1 musket   

n.滑膛枪

参考例句：

• I hunted with a musket two years ago.两年前我用滑膛枪打猎。
• So some seconds passed,till suddenly Joyce whipped up his musket and fired.又过了几秒钟，突然，乔伊斯端起枪来开了火。

2 hurled   

v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂

参考例句：

• He hurled a brick through the window. 他往窗户里扔了块砖。
• The strong wind hurled down bits of the roof. 大风把屋顶的瓦片刮了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 gale   

n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等）

参考例句：

• We got our roof blown off in the gale last night.昨夜的大风把我们的房顶给掀掉了。
• According to the weather forecast,there will be a gale tomorrow.据气象台预报，明天有大风。

4 uncommon   

adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的

参考例句：

• Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
• Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。

5 intervals   

n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息

参考例句：

• The forecast said there would be sunny intervals and showers. 预报间晴，有阵雨。
• Meetings take place at fortnightly intervals. 每两周开一次会。

6 velocity   

n.速度，速率

参考例句：

• Einstein's theory links energy with mass and velocity of light.爱因斯坦的理论把能量同质量和光速联系起来。
• The velocity of light is about 300000 kilometres per second.光速约为每秒300000公里。

7 revolved   

v.（使）旋转( revolve的过去式和过去分词 )；细想

参考例句：

• The fan revolved slowly. 电扇缓慢地转动着。
• The wheel revolved on its centre. 轮子绕中心转动。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 behold   

v.看，注视，看到

参考例句：

• The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。
• The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。

9 abated   

减少( abate的过去式和过去分词 )； 减去； 降价； 撤消（诉讼）

参考例句：

• The worker's concern about cuts in the welfare funding has not abated. 工人们对削减福利基金的关心并没有减少。
• The heat has abated. 温度降低了。

10 strenuous   

adj.奋发的，使劲的；紧张的；热烈的，狂热的

参考例句：

• He made strenuous efforts to improve his reading. 他奋发努力提高阅读能力。
• You may run yourself down in this strenuous week.你可能会在这紧张的一周透支掉自己。

11 exertions   

n.努力( exertion的名词复数 )；费力；（能力、权力等的）运用；行使

参考例句：

• As long as they lived, exertions would not be necessary to her. 只要他们活着，是不需要她吃苦的。 来自辞典例句
• She failed to unlock the safe in spite of all her exertions. 她虽然费尽力气，仍未能将那保险箱的锁打开。 来自辞典例句

12 fore   

adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部

参考例句：

• Your seat is in the fore part of the aircraft.你的座位在飞机的前部。
• I have the gift of fore knowledge.我能够未卜先知。

13 eddying   

涡流，涡流的形成

参考例句：

• The Rhine flowed on, swirling and eddying, at six or seven miles an hour. 莱茵河不断以每小时六、七哩的速度，滔滔滚流，波涛起伏。

14 leeward   

adj.背风的；下风的

参考例句：

• The trees all listed to leeward.树木统统向下风方向倾。
• We steered a course to leeward.我们向下风航驶。