英语听书《白鲸记》第573期

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　　which the Right Whale sometimes carries on his pestilent back. 这些东西有时都搭在露脊鲸那为害匪浅的背上。

　　And all the while the thick-lipped leviathan is rushing through the deep, leaving tons of tumultuous white curds³ in his wake,  那只厚嘴唇的大鲸始终在海里冲来冲去，撇下了无数汹涌的凝乳似的白浪，

　　and causing the slight boat to rock in the swells⁴ like a skiff caught nigh the paddle-wheels of an ocean steamer. 弄得那只纤弱的小艇在浪涛里晃来晃去，直象一叶轻舟快要被远洋大船的蹼轮绊住了似的。

　　Thus, the fore-ground is all raging commotion⁵; 这样，前景是一片沸腾的骚乱；

　　but behind, in admirable artistic⁶ contrast, is the glassy level of a sea becalmed, the drooping⁷ unstarched sails of the powerless ship,  而背景呢，在使用令人赞叹的艺术对比下，却是海面风平浪静。平稳如镜、欲动乏力的大船上几张垂头丧气的篷帆，

　　and the inert⁸ mass of a dead whale, a conquered fortress⁹, with the flag of capture lazily hanging from the whale-pole inserted into his spout-hole. 死鲸那个刚被攻下的要塞似的毫无生气的体躯，它的喷水口里，无精打采地挂着一面缚在鲸杆上的表示已被俘获的旗帜。

　　Who Garnery the painter is, or was, I know not.  这位叫做卡纳里的画家是谁，现在是否健在，我都不知道。

　　But my life for it he was either practically conversant¹⁰ with his subject, or else marvellously tutored by some experienced whaleman. 不过，我敢打赌，他不是实际上精通他所描绘的对象，就是受过富有经验的捕鲸者的出色的指导。

　　The French are the lads for painting action. 法国人真是画战斗场面的能手。

　　Go and gaze upon all the paintings in Europe,  你看遍欧洲各种名画，

　　and where will you find such a gallery of living and breathing commotion on canvas, as in that triumphal hall at Versailles; 哪里找得到象在凡尔赛宫的凯旋厅那样，有这么一个画廊，画布上尽是一派栩栩如生而充满骚动的气氛？

　　where the beholder¹¹ fights his way, pell-mell, through the consecutive¹² great battles of France; 在那里，观众们你挤我推，乱七八糟地争看法国的接二连三的大战场面；

　　where every sword seems a flash of the Northern Lights, and the successive armed kings and Emperors dash by, like a charge of crowned centaurs¹³? 在那里，每一支剑都似乎有着一阵北极光的光芒，而那些不断地冲过来的、全副武装的帝王，却象在攻击那些顶饰冠戴的半人半马的怪物（半人半马的怪物——希腊神话中帖撒利名骑手，有一次，帖撒利王邀他们吃喜酒，他们吃醉了酒，竟想夺新娘和其他女宾，另一帖撒利人拉彼利起而攻击他们，把他们驱逐出境。拉斐尔有一幅名图即以此为题材。）。

　　Not wholly unworthy of a place in that gallery, are these sea battle-pieces of Garnery. 卡纳里的这两件海战的作品，在那画廊中并不完全是占不了一席之地的。

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