英语听书《白鲸记》第739期

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by considerations touching² the great inherent dignity and sublimity³ of the Sperm⁴ Whale; 我是由于考虑到抹香鲸本身具有无限威严与雄壮的气概，而不得不下这个结论的；

I account him no common, shallow being, 我认为它不是普通浅薄的东西，

inasmuch as it is an undisputed fact that he is never found on soundings, or near shores; all other whales sometimes are. 因为，无可争辩的，它决不象其它一般鲸那样，可以在水深的地方或者在岸边让人们发现到。

He is both ponderous⁵ and profound. 它是既稳重又具有深谋远虑的动物。

And I am convinced that from the heads of all ponderous profound beings, such as Plato, Pyrrho, the Devil, Jupiter, Dante, and so on, 我认为，在一切既稳重而又有深谋远虑的人们的脑袋里，象柏拉图，皮洛（怀疑主义的始创者），阎王，天神，但丁（意大利诗人）等等，

there always goes up a certain semi-visible steam, while in the act of thinking deep thoughts. 当他们正在思索奥妙的问题时，总会冒起一股隐约可见的雾气来。

While composing a little treatise⁶ on Eternity⁷, I had the curiosity to place a mirror before me; 我在构思一篇《论灵魂不灭》的小文章的时候，就曾经好奇地在我面前摆着一面镜子；

and ere long saw reflected there, a curious involved worming and undulation in the atmosphere over my head. 于是，不久就看到那里面反映出：一阵古怪的烟气在我头顶四周缭绕起伏。

The invariable moisture of my hair, while plunged⁸ in deep thought, after six cups of hot tea in my thin shingled⁹ attic¹⁰, of an August noon; 我在八月的正午，在我那间简陋的阁楼里，喝了六大杯热茶后沉思苦想时，头发里就一定是湿漉漉的；

this seems an additional argument for the above supposition. 这似乎又为上边的假设增添一个论据了。

And how nobly it raises our conceit¹¹ of the mighty¹², misty¹³ monster, to behold¹⁴ him solemnly sailing through a calm tropical sea; 看到大鲸威风十足地游过热带那种风平浪静的海洋时，这只魁梧而迷蒙蒙的巨兽，可一下子教我们激起了多么壮丽的幻想。

his vast, mild head overhung by a canopy¹⁵ of vapor¹⁶, engendered¹⁷ by his incommunicable contemplations, 在它那硕大、柔和的头顶，由于它那无法言传的沉思默想而挂着一顶雾气重重的华盖，

and that vapor— as you will sometimes see it—glorified by a rainbow, as if Heaven itself had put its seal upon his thoughts.  而那种雾气——你有时看得到——又被虹彩照耀得光辉灿烂，仿佛上天已经批准它的思想似的。

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