英语听书《白鲸记》第687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。

Nimble as a cat, Tashtego mounts aloft; and without altering his erect² posture³, 塔斯蒂哥轻捷如猫地往上爬去，身体仍然非常笔挺，

runs straight out upon the overhanging mainyard-arm, to the part where it exactly projects over the hoisted⁴ Tun. 直爬上那向外撑出的大桅桁臂，到了桁臂吊着大桶的突出的地方。

He has carried with him a light tackle called a whip, consisting of only two parts, travelling through a single-sheaved block. 他随身带有一只只有两样零件，靠一种小辘轳转动的小滑车。

Securing this block, so that it hangs down from the yard-arm, 他把这只小滑车缚在桁臂下面，

he swings one end of the rope, till it is caught and firmly held by a hand on the deck. 于是把绳子的一头一甩，由甲板上一个水手把它抓牢。

Then, hand-over-hand, down the other part, the Indian drops through the air, till dexterously⁵ he lands on the summit of the head. 接着，这个印第安人就双手互换地、顺着桁臂的另一端从空中落下来，熟练地降落在那只鲸头的头顶。

There—still high elevated above the rest of the company, to whom he vivaciously⁶ cries, 他在那地方——高高在上地耸立在众人头顶，对大家兴高采烈地叫喊，

he seems some Turkish Muezzin calling the good people to prayers from the top of a tower. 有如土耳其寺院里的报时者，在塔顶上通知善男信女去做祷告。

A short-handled sharp spade being sent up to him, he diligently⁷ searches for the proper place to begin breaking into the Tun. 下边的人递给他一支锐利的短柄铲子，他就谨慎地找个适当的位置，着手打开那只大桶。

In this business he proceeds very heedfully, like a treasure-hunter in some old house, sounding the walls to find where the gold is masoned in. 他在做这事情的时候，十分小心在意，有如一个在什么古屋探宝的人，细心察看墙壁，看看黄金究竟埋在哪儿。

By the time this cautious search is over, a stout⁸ ironbound bucket, precisely⁹ like a well-bucket, has been attached to one end of the whip; 等到这番小心的探索工作告个段落，人们便把一只跟吊水桶一模一样的、箍着铁圈的结实的桶子缚在小滑车的一端，

while the other end, being stretched across the deck, is there held by two or three alert hands. 两三个机警的水手则拉住小滑车另一端那根伸到甲板上的绳索。

分享到：