英语听书《白鲸记》第1009期

 

It was Moby Dick's open mouth and scrolled¹ jaw²; his vast, shadowed bulk still half blending with the blue of the sea. The glittering mouth yawned beneath the boat like an open-doored marble tomb; and giving one sidelong sweep with his steering³ oar⁴, Ahab whirled the craft aside from this tremendous apparition⁵. Then, calling upon Fedallah to change places with him, went forward to the bows, and seizing Perth's harpoon⁶, commanded his crew to grasp their oars⁷ and stand by to stern.

这就是莫比－迪克的张开着的嘴巴和那涡形的下颚；它那巨大的朦胧的身体有一半还跟蓝色的海水混在一起。那只闪亮的嘴巴，在小艇下面一张开来，直象一个墓门敞开的大理石墓穴；亚哈用他的舵桨打斜一划，把小艇一转，避开了这只可怕的幽灵。接着，他叫费达拉来跟他对调位置，向船头跑去，手里抓着柏斯那根标枪，命令他的船员抓紧他们的桨子，准备向后划去。

Now, by reason of this timely spinning round the boat upon its axis⁸, its bow, by anticipation⁹, was made to face the whale's head while yet under water. But as if perceiving this stratagem¹⁰, Moby Dick, with that malicious¹¹ intelligence ascribed to him, sidelingly transplanted himself, as it were, in an instant, shooting his pleated head lengthwise beneath the boat.

这时，由于这样及时地迅速一转，这只小艇就按照预定的意图，把艇头转得恰好跟那只还在水底里的鲸头面面相对。可是，莫比－迪克好象看出了这种计谋似的，它施出它那天赋的恶毒的灵性，立时打斜地那么一转身，就在艇底下笔直地镖出它那只打褶的脑袋来。

Through and through; through every plank¹³ and each rib¹², it thrilled for an instant, the whale obliquely¹⁴ lying on his back, in the manner of a biting shark slowly and feelingly taking its bows full within his mouth, so that the long, narrow, scrolled lower jaw curled high up into the open air, and one of the teeth caught in a row-lock. The bluish pearl-white of the inside of the jaw was within six inches of Ahab's head, and reached higher than that. In this attitude the White Whale now shook the slight cedar¹⁵ as a mildly cruel cat her mouse. With unastonished eyes Fedallah gazed, and crossed his arms; but the tiger-yellow crew were tumbling over each other's heads to gain the uttermost stern.

每块船板，每根肋材，整个艇身，都立即震颤起来，这条大鲸侧斜地仰天躺着，以一条鲨鱼要咬人的姿势，慢条斯理而依依不舍地把艇头全都吸进它的嘴里去，这样一来，那只狭长的。涡形的下颚就直对天空高高卷起，其中有一只牙齿还咬住了一只桨架。这只里面是带蓝色的珍珠白的嘴巴，跟亚哈的脑袋相距不到六英寸。现在，这条白鲸就这样摇起那块薄薄的杉木，象一只柔里藏凶的猫儿在逗弄老鼠。费达拉叉起双臂，眼睛毫无惧色地直望着，可是，那几个虎皮黄皮肤的水手却正彼此在头顶上踩来踩去，想走到船梢的边缘去。

1 scrolled   

adj.具有涡卷装饰的v.（电脑屏幕上）从上到下移动（资料等），卷页( scroll的过去式和过去分词 )；（似卷轴般）卷起；（像展开卷轴般地）将文字显示于屏幕

参考例句：

• Wherever the drop target can possibly be scrolled offscreen, the program needs to auto-scroll. 无论拖放的目标对象是否在屏幕之外，程序都需要自动滚动。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• If It'still is then you've not scrolled up enough lines. 如果还在说明你向上滚动的行数不够。 来自互联网

2 jaw   

n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训

参考例句：

• He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
• A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。

3 steering   

n.操舵装置

参考例句：

• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
• Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。

4 oar   

n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行

参考例句：

• The sailors oar slowly across the river.水手们慢慢地划过河去。
• The blade of the oar was bitten off by a shark.浆叶被一条鲨鱼咬掉了。

5 apparition   

n.幽灵，神奇的现象

参考例句：

• He saw the apparition of his dead wife.他看见了他亡妻的幽灵。
• But the terror of this new apparition brought me to a stand.这新出现的幽灵吓得我站在那里一动也不敢动。

6 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。

7 oars   

n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He pulled as hard as he could on the oars. 他拼命地划桨。
• The sailors are bending to the oars. 水手们在拼命地划桨。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 axis   

n.轴，轴线，中心线；坐标轴，基准线

参考例句：

• The earth's axis is the line between the North and South Poles.地轴是南北极之间的线。
• The axis of a circle is its diameter.圆的轴线是其直径。

9 anticipation   

n.预期，预料，期望

参考例句：

• We waited at the station in anticipation of her arrival.我们在车站等着，期待她的到来。
• The animals grew restless as if in anticipation of an earthquake.各种动物都变得焦躁不安，像是感到了地震即将发生。

10 stratagem   

n.诡计，计谋

参考例句：

• Knit the brows and a stratagem comes to mind.眉头一皱，计上心来。
• Trade discounts may be used as a competitive stratagem to secure customer loyalty.商业折扣可以用作维护顾客忠诚度的一种竞争策略。

11 malicious   

adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的

参考例句：

• You ought to kick back at such malicious slander. 你应当反击这种恶毒的污蔑。
• Their talk was slightly malicious.他们的谈话有点儿心怀不轨。

12 rib   

n.肋骨，肋状物

参考例句：

• He broke a rib when he fell off his horse.他从马上摔下来折断了一根肋骨。
• He has broken a rib and the doctor has strapped it up.他断了一根肋骨，医生已包扎好了。

13 plank   

n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目

参考例句：

• The plank was set against the wall.木板靠着墙壁。
• They intend to win the next election on the plank of developing trade.他们想以发展贸易的纲领来赢得下次选举。

14 obliquely   

adv.斜； 倾斜； 间接； 不光明正大

参考例句：

• From the gateway two paths led obliquely across the court. 从门口那儿，有两条小路斜越过院子。 来自辞典例句
• He was receding obliquely with a curious hurrying gait. 他歪着身子，古怪而急促地迈着步子，往后退去。 来自辞典例句

15 cedar   

n.雪松，香柏(木)

参考例句：

• The cedar was about five feet high and very shapely.那棵雪松约有五尺高,风姿优美。
• She struck the snow from the branches of an old cedar with gray lichen.她把长有灰色地衣的老雪松树枝上的雪打了下来。