英语听书《白鲸记》第1011期

Ripplingly withdrawing from his prey¹, Moby Dick now lay at a little distance, vertically² thrusting his oblong white head up and down in the billows; and at the same time slowly revolving³ his whole spindled body; so that when his vast wrinkled forehead rose — some twenty or more feet out of the water — the now rising swells⁴, with all their confluent waves, dazzlingly broke against it; vindictively⁵ tossing their shivered spray still higher into the air. So, in a gale⁶, the but half baffled Channel billows only recoil⁷ from the base of the Eddystone, triumphantly⁸ to overleap its summit with their scud⁹.

莫比－迪克晃来晃去地离开了它的猎物后，就躺在不远的地方，它那长方形的白头笔直地矗立在波涛中，时隐时现；同时慢慢地转动着他那纺锤般的整个躯体。所以，等它那满是皱纹的巨额再次冒起时——高出水面约有二十多英尺——那正在往上直腾的浪潮，就象一大股洪流似的，炫眼地向它的额头冲去；它复仇似地把它那摇摇晃晃的喷水更高地朝空喷去。这就象在狂风里，那些阻塞了半个海峡的波涛之所以要从埃提斯同下面反冲过来，不过是想用它那些泡沫飞溅的浪花一举而穿过塔巅一样。

This motion is peculiar¹⁰ to the sperm¹¹ whale. It receives its designation (pitchpoling) from its being likened to that preliminary up-and-down poise¹² of the whale-lance, in the exercise called pitchpoling, previously¹³ described. By this motion the whale must best and most comprehensively view whatever objects may be encircling him.

（原注：这是抹香鲸的特有的动作。这种动作也叫做投枪，因为它象我们以前所说的在投捕鲸枪前的预备姿势——一起一伏一样。大鲸靠了这一动作，就能够把它周围的随便什么东西都一目了然地观察到了。）

But soon resuming his horizontal attitude, Moby Dick swam swiftly round and round the wrecked¹⁴ crew; sideways churning the water in his vengeful wake, as if lashing¹⁵ himself up to still another and more deadly assault. The sight of the splintered boat seemed to madden him, as the blood of grapes and mulberries cast before Antiochus's elephants in the book of Maccabees.

可是，不一会，莫比－迪克又恢复它那露出水面的平游姿态，在那些狼狈的水手四周迅疾地游来游去，用它那恶毒的尾巴斜搅着浪潮，仿佛想再进行一次更为厉害的攻击。这只粉碎的小艇，有如《马卡比父子书》中，那些抛在安泰奥卡斯的象群面前的血红的葡萄和桑莓子（伪经《马卡比父子书》第一卷第六章三十四节载：安泰奥卡斯跟马卡比和犹太人作战时，最后为了刺激象群出来，把血红的葡萄汁和桑葚汁撒在马前。），所以它一看到这般情景，顿时发起狂来。

1 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

2 vertically   

adv.垂直地

参考例句：

• Line the pages for the graph both horizontally and vertically.在这几页上同时画上横线和竖线，以便制作图表。
• The human brain is divided vertically down the middle into two hemispheres.人脑从中央垂直地分为两半球。

3 revolving   

adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想

参考例句：

• The theatre has a revolving stage. 剧院有一个旋转舞台。
• The company became a revolving-door workplace. 这家公司成了工作的中转站。

4 swells   

增强( swell的第三人称单数 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情）

参考例句：

• The waters were heaving up in great swells. 河水正在急剧上升。
• A barrel swells in the middle. 水桶中部隆起。

5 vindictively   

adv.恶毒地；报复地

参考例句：

• He plotted vindictively against his former superiors. 他策划着要对他原来的上司进行报复。 来自互联网
• His eyes snapped vindictively, while his ears joyed in the sniffles she emitted. 眼睛一闪一闪放出惩罚的光，他听见地抽泣，心里更高兴。 来自互联网

6 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。

7 recoil   

vi.退却，退缩，畏缩

参考例句：

• Most people would recoil at the sight of the snake.许多人看见蛇都会向后退缩。
• Revenge may recoil upon the person who takes it.报复者常会受到报应。

8 triumphantly   

ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地

参考例句：

• The lion was roaring triumphantly. 狮子正在发出胜利的吼叫。
• Robert was looking at me triumphantly. 罗伯特正得意扬扬地看着我。

9 scud   

n.疾行；v.疾行

参考例句：

• The helpers came in a scud.救援者飞奔而来。
• Rabbits scud across the turf.兔子飞快地穿过草地。

10 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

11 sperm   

n.精子，精液

参考例句：

• Only one sperm fertilises an egg.只有一个精子使卵子受精。
• In human reproduction,one female egg is usually fertilized by one sperm.在人体生殖过程中，一个精子使一个卵子受精。

12 poise   

vt./vi. 平衡，保持平衡；n.泰然自若，自信

参考例句：

• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise.她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。
• Ballet classes are important for poise and grace.芭蕾课对培养优雅的姿仪非常重要。

13 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

14 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞

15 lashing   

n.鞭打；痛斥；大量；许多v.鞭打( lash的现在分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• The speaker was lashing the crowd. 演讲人正在煽动人群。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The rain was lashing the windows. 雨急打着窗子。 来自《简明英汉词典》