英语听书《白鲸记》第638期

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　　Nor is this the end. 然而，这并不算完结。

　　Desecrated² as the body is, a vengeful ghost survives and hovers³ over it to scare. 尽管它的身躯遭到亵渎，它那报仇的怨魂并未消散，仍在尸体上翱翔，好生吓人。

　　Espied⁴ by some timid man-of-war or blundering discovery-vessel from afar,  如果偶然被一只胆怯的兵舰或者冒失的探险船从远处看到，

　　when the distance obscuring the swarming⁵ fowls⁶, nevertheless still shows the white mass floating in the sun, 它虽是被群群的禽鸟弄得模糊不清，却还在光天化日之下现出雪白一团，

　　and the white spray heaving high against it; 滔天白浪尽在对它冲击，

　　straightway the whale's unharming corpse⁷, with trembling fingers is set down in the log—shoals, rocks, and breakers hereabouts: beware! 于是人们马上就会颤抖着手，把这条鲸的不再会伤害人的尸体，记在航海日志上——附近发现鱼群，暗礁和危险物：得小心！

　　And for years afterwards, perhaps, ships shun⁸ the place; 这样，说不定过了许多年后，船只还要避开那地方；

　　leaping over it as silly sheep leap over a vacuum, because their leader originally leaped there when a stick was held. 象只傻山羊一跃跳过空隙一般，因为那只领头羊原来也是看到插有一根竹枝就跳将过去的。

　　There's your law of precedents⁹; there's your utility of traditions; 这就是你们的祖先立下来的规矩，这就是你们的传统观念的实用价值；

　　there's the story of your obstinate¹⁰ survival of old beliefs never bottomed on the earth, and now not even hovering¹¹ in the air! There's orthodoxy! 这就是你们那上不着天，下不着地的古老的信念的顽固的残余！这就是正统！

　　Thus, while in the life the great whale's body may have been a real terror to his foes¹², in his death his ghost becomes a powerless panic to a world. 因此，大鲸活着的时候，它的身体在它的敌人看来，也许本来就是一种真正的恐怖，到了它死后，它那怨魂又变成人间的无能为力的恐慌了。

　　Are you a believer in ghosts, my friend? 你是相信鬼神的么，我的朋友？

　　There are other ghosts than the Cock-Lane one, and far deeper men than Doctor Johnson who believe in them. 除了鸡巷鬼，还有各式各样的鬼，甚至比约翰逊博士更有涵养的人都还相信鬼神咧。

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