英语听书《白鲸记》第404期

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There you stand, a hundred feet above the silent decks, striding along the deep, as if the masts were gigantic stilts⁵, while beneath you and between your legs, as it were, swim the hugest monsters of the sea, even as ships once sailed between the boots of the famous Colossus at old Rhodes.  你站在那里,距离寂静的甲板有一百英尺,叉开两腿站在正中间,仿佛船桅就是巨大的高跷,这时,在你的下面和双脚间,却正游着海里许多硕大无朋的巨兽,正和船只穿过古代罗兹岛的著名的巨的双脚驶去一样。

There you stand, lost in the infinite series of the sea, with nothing ruffled⁶ but the waves.  你站在那里,沉迷于一片连绵不绝的波涛中,除了巨浪号啸,一无杂音。

The tranced ship indolently rolls; the drowsy⁷ trade winds blow; everything resolves you into languor⁸.  那只出神了似的船,懒洋洋地颠簸前进;催眠似的贸易风徐徐吹来;一切都存心要弄得你昏昏乏力。

For the most part, in this tropic whaling life, a sublime⁹ uneventfulness invests you; you hear no news; read no gazettes; extras with startling accounts of commonplaces never delude¹⁰ you into unnecessary excitements;  在这种热带的捕鲸生活中,大多是会教你觉得非常平平稳稳的;你听不到消息,读不到刊物;决不会有什么额外惊人的日常琐事来使你引起不必要的激动;

you hear of no domestic afflictions; bankrupt securities; fall of stocks; are never troubled with the thought of what you shall have for dinner-for all your meals for three years and more are snugly¹² stowed in casks, and your bill of fare is immutable¹³. 你听不到国内的苦恼情况;证券破产:股票跌落;也决不会叫你因想到晚饭要吃什么而烦恼。。。。。。因为你三年多的饭食都已舒舒齐齐地储藏在桶里,而且你的菜单是不变的。

In one of those southern whalesmen, on a long three or four years' voyage, as often happens, the sum of the various hours you spend at the mast-head would amount to several entire months.  一个南海的捕鲸者,在长长三四年的航程里,花在桅顶上的钟点,加起来往往可以等于整整几个月。

And it is much to be deplored¹⁴ that the place to which you devote so considerable a portion of the whole term of your natural life, should be so sadly destitute¹⁵ of anything approaching to a cosy¹⁶ inhabitiveness,  叫人极感遗憾的是,在你献出了你整整一生的这么大部分时间的地方,竟是一点也没有任何接近于可以舒适居住。

or adapted to breed a comfortable localness of feeling, such as pertains¹⁷ to a bed, a hammock, a hearse, a sentry¹⁸ box, a pulpit, a coach, or any other of those small and snug¹¹ contrivances in which men temporarily isolate¹⁹ themselves.  或者教人产生一种安顿的感觉的地方,比如说有只床铺,一张吊床,一个棺架,一个哨亭,一个讲坛,一只榻子或者任何一种可以使人暂时独自休憩一下的细小而舒适的东西。

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