英语听书《白鲸记》第576期

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　　On Tower-hill, as you go down to the London docks, 你在下了塔山（塔山——在伦敦的伦敦塔西北面。）向着伦敦码头走去的时候，

　　you may have seen a crippled beggar (or kedger, as the sailors say) holding a painted board before him, representing the tragic¹ scene in which he lost his leg.  你也许会看到一个残废的乞丐（照水手们的称法，也叫“小锚”），他胸前挂着一块画板，画着他失掉了腿的悲惨的情景。

　　There are three whales and three boats;  那上面有三条鲸和三只小艇，

　　and one of the boats (presumed to contain the missing leg in all its original integrity) is being crunched² by the jaws³ of the foremost whale.  其中一只小艇（想来那个原来双腿完好的人就在这只小艇上失掉了腿），正被一条打头的鲸在咬在嚼。

　　Any time these ten years, they tell me, has that man held up that picture, and exhibited that stump⁴ to an incredulous world. 据说，这十年来，这个人都时刻挂着那幅图画，把那残肢公诸这个不轻信的人间。

　　But the time of his justification⁵ has now come. 但是，现在已到了辨明他的情况的时候了。

　　His three whales are as good whales as were ever published in Wapping, at any rate; 总之，他那幅画上的三条鲸实际上就是一直在瓦平（瓦平——伦敦的区名，在泰晤士河北岸。）公开着的那些鲸（鲸——这里系作者暗喻那些作恶横行的家伙。）；

　　and his stump as unquestionable a stump as any you will find in the western clearings.  而他的残肢就跟你可以无可置疑地在西部的开垦地上找到的树桩（树桩——"Stump"在英文中可解释为残肢，也可解释为树桩，这一句有双关意义，同时暗喻资产阶级在西部砍伐树林，开疆辟土遗留下来的树桩。）一样。

　　But, though for ever mounted on that stump, never a stump-speech does the poor whaleman make; 不过，可怜这个捕鲸人虽然始终站在那只树桩上，却从来没有做过竞选演说（从前英美政客在竞选或在其它场合上发表“政论”时，都站在树桩上，这里是双关意义的讽喻，也就是说，有权发表“政论”的人民不能开口，拼命要上“台”去统治人民的政客，却大发谬论。），

　　but, with downcast eyes, stands ruefully contemplating⁶ his own amputation⁷. 而是搭拉着眼睛，忧伤地站在那里，凝视着他自己的断腿。

　　Throughout the Pacific, and also in Nantucket, and New Bedford, and Sag⁸ Harbor,  在整个太平洋上，在南塔开特，新贝得福和萨格港（萨格港——纽约州的一个商港，在加丁纳湾。），

　　you will come across lively sketches⁹ of whales and whaling-scenes, graven by the fishermen themselves on Sperm¹⁰ Whale-teeth, 也随时可以碰到许多刻划大鲸和捕鲸的逼真的写生画，这些都是捕鱼人自己刻在抹香鲸的牙齿上，

　　or ladies' busks wrought¹¹ out of the Right Whale-bone,  或者刻在以露脊鲸骨做出来的女人的勒腰带上，

　　and other like skrimshander articles, as the whalemen call the numerous little ingenious contrivances they elaborately carve out of the rough material, in their hours of ocean leisure.  同时也可以看到象捕鲸人称为解闷手工品的其它许多东西，这是捕鲸者利用他们在海上的空闲时间，以粗骨头精雕细刻出来的各种精巧的小玩意儿。

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