That for six thousand years—and no one knows how many millions of ages before, 六千年来——谁也不知道在以前还有几百万年，

the great whales should have been spouting all over the sea, and sprinkling and mistifying the gardens of the deep, as with so many sprinkling or mistifying pots; 那些大鲸都一直象是用许多浇水壶和喷雾罐似的喷遍了海洋，把那些海洋乐园都浇喷得雾气腾腾；

and that for some centuries back, thousands of hunters should have been close by the fountain of the whale, watching these sprinklings and spoutings, 过去几百年来，成千上万的猎人都一直紧挨在大鲸的喷泉旁边，瞅着这些浇浇喷喷的动作，

that all this should be, and yet, that down to this blessed minute 虽然有过所有这一切，然而，直到此时此刻

(fifteen and a quarter minutes past one o'clock P.M. of this sixteenth day of December, A.D. 1851), （公元一八五一年十二月十六日，午后一时十五分十五秒），

it should still remain a problem, whether these spoutings are, after all, really water, or nothing but vapor—this is surely a noteworthy thing. 这些喷水究竟是真的水，还是不过是些气，却依然是个问题——这肯定是件值得注意的事情。

Let us, then, look at this matter, along with some interesting items contingent. 那么，我们就把这问题连同一些附带的有趣的细目研究一下吧。

Every one knows that by the peculiar cunning of their gills, 人人都知道，一般鳍类动物因为有特别灵活的鳃，

the finny tribes in general breathe the air which at all times is combined with the element in which they swim; 所以在呼吸空气时，总是把空气跟它们所游的水一起吸了进去，

hence, a herring or a cod might live a century, and never once raise its head above the surface. 因此，青鱼或者鳘鱼可能活上一百年，而从来不曾把头冒出海面过。

But owing to his marked internal structure which gives him regular lungs, 可是，大鲸却由于它那特殊的内部构造，

like a human being's, the whale can only live by inhaling the disengaged air in the open atmosphere. 使它象人类一般，长有正常的肺，它只有靠吸进太空那些不混有水的空气才能活下来。

Wherefore the necessity for his periodical visits to the upper world. 因此，它必须定期出来看望一下上边的世界。