英语听书《白鲸记》第506期

搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号：tingroom，领取免费英语资料大礼包。

　　Ahab well knew that although his friends at home would think little of his entering a boat in certain comparatively harmless vicissitudes¹ of the chase, 亚哈心里很清楚，在一种情况比较稳妥的追击中，

　　for the sake of being near the scene of action and giving his orders in person, 他为了接近现场，便于亲自指挥而下小艇，他家乡的亲友们是不会把它当做一回事的，

　　yet for Captain Ahab to have a boat actually apportioned² to him as a regular headsman in the hunt-- 不过，让亚哈船长有一只实际上为他作经常指挥猎击之用的小艇——

　　above all for Captain Ahab to be supplied with five extra men, 尤其是另外配备五个水手给亚哈船长，

　　as that same boat's crew, he well knew that such generous conceits³ never entered the heads of the owners of the Pequod. 象现在这只小艇的五个水手那样，那他心里也很清楚，这样慷慨的想法，却是“裴廓德号”的老板们从来想都没有想到的。

　　Therefore he had not solicited⁴ a boat's crew from them, nor had he in any way hinted his desires on that head. 因此，他并没有向他们要求过增加五个水手，也没有以任何方式在这方面暗示过他的要求。

　　Nevertheless he had taken private measures of his own touching⁵ all that matter. 然而，他却私自把这些事情都料理好了。

　　Until Cabaco's published discovery, the sailors had little foreseen it, 在卡巴科把他的发现公开出来之前，水手们事先简直没有人料到会有这一着，

　　though to be sure when, after being a little while out of port, 虽然事实上，在船只离开了港埠不久，

　　all hands had concluded the customary business of fitting the whaleboats for service; 大家都把装备小艇的例常工作弄停当后，

　　when some time after this Ahab was now and then found bestirring himself in the matter of making thole-pins with his own hands for what was thought to be one of the spare boats, 隔不多久，人们就不时看到这个亚哈忙着为那只被认为是备用艇的小艇做桨脚，

　　and even solicitously⁶ cutting the small wooden skewers⁷, which when the line is running out are pinned over the groove⁸ in the bow: 甚至还热心地砍着木头小扣针(这是在把捕鲸索撒出去后，用它来把捕鲸索扣在船头的槽沟里的)。

　　when all this was observed in him, and particularly his solicitude⁹ in having an extra coat of sheathing¹⁰ in the bottom of the boat, 大家都看到他在这样忙着，尤其是看到他急于要另搞一副放在艇肚的船底包板，

分享到：