and even when most obscured by that London smoke, token is yet given that a hidden hero is there; 虽说大多被伦敦的烟雾弄得模模糊糊,总还显出那边藏有一个英雄人物;

for where there is smoke, must be fire. But neither great Washington, nor Napoleon, nor Nelson, will answer a single hail from below, however madly invoked to befriend by their counsels the distracted decks upon which they gaze; 因为有烟必有火。但是,不管是伟大的华盛顿,还是拿破仑,或者是纳尔逊,都回答不了下边的欢呼声,不管他们所俯视的纷纭骚嚷的甲板怎么疯狂地请求援助,要得到他们的忠告;

however it may be surmised, that their spirits penetrate through the thick haze of the future, and descry what shoals and what rocks must be shunned. 不管人们怎么揣测,认为他们的精神已穿过未来的浓雾,远远地看到那些非得避开不可的浅滩和暗礁。

It may seem unwarrantable to couple in any respect the mast-head standers of the land with those of the sea;  把陆上的跟海里的桅顶望人拿来联在一起,无论从哪一方面说来,都似乎有点不伦不类;

but that in truth it is not so, is plainly evinced by an item for which Obed Macy, the sole historian of Nantucket, stands accountable. 但是,实际上却又不然,南塔开特的唯一的历史家奥贝德。

The worthy Obed tells us, that in the early times of the whale fishery, ere ships were regularly launched in pursuit of the game, the people of that island erected lofty spars along the seacoast, to which the look-outs ascended by means of nailed cleats, something as fowls go upstairs in a hen-house. 麦西已经明白表示,这是一件说得通的事。这位可敬的奥贝德对我们说,在捕鲸业初期,在船只还没有经常驶去追逐大鲸之前,该岛居民都在海边竖起高高的圆木,望者就攀着钉牢了的楔子爬上去,有点象鸡只走上鸡埘那样。

A few years ago this same plan was adopted by the Bay whalemen of New Zealand, who, upon descrying the game, gave notice to the ready-manned boats nigh the beach. 几年前,新西兰的海峡捕鲸者也采用了这种设计,他们在发现猎物的时候,便对那些靠在沙滩附近。装备停当的小船发出信号。

But this custom has now become obsolete; turn we then to the one proper mast-head, that of a whale-ship at sea. 不过,这种风俗现在已过时了:我们还是言归正传,回到海上捕鲸船的桅顶吧。

The three mast-heads are kept manned from sun-rise to sun-set,the seamen taking their regular turns, and relieving each other every two hours. 那三只桅顶从早到晚都配置专人看守;水手们按时值班,每隔两小时换班一次。