英语听书《白鲸记》第344期

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But we shall ere long see what that word careful precisely¹ means when used by a man like Stubb, or almost any other whale hunter. 但是,我们不久就可以看到象斯塔布这样的人,或者几乎任何其他一个捕鲸者所谓的细心这个词儿的确切意义了。

Starbuck was no crusader after perils²; in him courage was not a sentiment; but a thing simply useful to him, and always at hand upon all mortally practical occasions.  斯达巴克并不是追求危险的十字军武士;在他看来,勇敢并不是一种感情;而不过是一种对他有用,在碰到迫不得已的情形时,总能呼之即至的东西。

Besides,he thought, perhaps, that in this business of whaling, courage was one of the great staple³ outfits⁴ of the ship, like her beef and her bread, and not to be foolishly wasted.  此外,也许他还认为在捕鲸这种行业中,勇敢就是船只的最主要的装备品之一,如同船上的牛肉和面包一样,不是可以傻里傻气地随便浪费的。

Wherefore he had no fancy for lowering for whales after sun-down; nor for persisting in fighting a fish that too much persisted in fighting him.  因此,每当夕阳西下后,他就没有放下小艇去打鲸的雅兴;也不会坚持去打鱼,尽管鱼会坚持要打斯达巴克。

For, thought Starbuck, I am here in this critical ocean to kill whales for my living, and not to be killed by them for theirs;  因为,斯达巴克认为,我在这个危险的大洋上,是为我的生活而打鲸的,并不是为鲸的生活而反让它们杀了的;

and that hundreds of men had been so killed Starbuck well knew. What doom⁵ was his own father's? Where, in the bottomless deeps, could he find the torn limbs of his brother? 成千上万的人就这样让鲸弄死,也是斯达巴克所清楚的。他自己的父亲是怎样一种命运?在无底的深渊里,他能够到什么地方去找他兄弟的残肢呢?

With memories like these in him, and, moreover, given to a certain superstitiousness⁶, as has been said;  这位斯达巴克既然怀有这些往事前尘,而且,天生又有上述那些迷信;

the courage of this Starbuck, which could, nevertheless, still flourish, must indeed have been extreme.  因而他的勇气虽然还是颇为蓬勃,可是确实也已到顶了。

But it was not in reasonable nature that a man so organized, and with such terrible experiences and remembrances as he had;  但是,象这样形成的人,又有着象他这样可怖的经验和记忆的人而会弄到这地步,却未免有点反乎常情;

it was not in nature that these things should fail in latently engendering⁷ an element in him, which, under suitable circumstances, would break out from its confinement⁸, and burn all his courage up.  而且这些东西竟至于不能在他身上酝酿成为一种要素,成为一种在适当的情况下,会突破它的限制,而激发起他全部的勇敢来的要素,这也是不合乎常情的。

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