英语听书《白鲸记》第1018期

Here be it said, that this pertinacious¹ pursuit of one particular whale, continued through day into night, and through night into day, is a thing by no means unprecedented² in the South sea fishery. For such is the wonderful skill, prescience of experience, and invincible³ confidence acquired by some great natural geniuses among the Nantucket commanders; that from the simple observation of a whale when last descried⁴, they will, under certain given circumstances, pretty accurately⁵ foretell⁶ both the direction in which he will continue to swim for a time, while out of sight, as well as his probable rate of progression during that period. And, in these cases, somewhat as a pilot, when about losing sight of a coast, whose general trending he well knows, and which he desires shortly to return to again, but at some further point; like as this pilot stands by his compass, and takes the precise bearing of the cape⁷ at present visible, in order the more certainly to hit aright the remote, unseen headland, eventually to be visited: so does the fisherman, at his compass, with the whale; for after being chased, and diligently⁸ marked, through several hours of daylight, then, when night obscures the fish, the creature's future wake through the darkness is almost as established to the sagacious mind of the hunter, as the pilot's coast is to him. So that to this hunter's wondrous⁹ skill, the proverbial evanescence of a thing writ¹⁰ in water, a wake, is to all desired purposes well nigh as reliable as the steadfast¹¹ land.

这里必须说明一下，象这样日以继夜，夜以继日，不住地追击一条大鲸，在南海的捕鱼业中，决不是件空前的事儿。因为这正是南塔开特船长中那些天生的大天才家，必须具有的绝技、先见之明和坚定的信心。他们从对最后一次所发见的鲸的简单的观察中，就能够在一种特定的情况下，相当精确地预言大鲸在看不到的时候，暂时继续往哪个方向游去，也能算出这段期间内大鲸的可能游速来。就这方面说来，倒有点象一个领港人，在他将要看不到海岸线的时候，他还是能够熟知总的航势，而且不久就可以重驶回来，不过稍为驶得比较远些而已；就象这个领港人是站在他的罗盘旁，就当时眼力所及地估计出海峡的准确角度，以便更能正确地直驶向那遥远的、一时虽还看不到、最后总会到达的岬崎，捕鱼人也是这般模样，守着他的罗盘，在搜索大鲸；因为经过了白天对它进行了几小时的追击，又勤奋地记录下来，那么，就是到了夜里，看不到那条鲸，可是，这东西在黑暗中的未来的动向，对那个敏锐的捕鱼人说来，简直就跟引港人对于海岸线一般，具有同样的把握。因此，凭这种猎人的绝技，这种俗语所谓瞬息万变的水情、航迹等情况的记录，其实际效用简直就同固定的陆地一样可靠。

1 pertinacious   

adj.顽固的

参考例句：

• I can affirm that he is tenacious and pertinacious as are few.我可以肯定，像他那样不屈不挠、百折不回的人是十分罕见的。
• Questions buzzed in his head like pertinacious bees.一连串问题在他脑子里盘旋着，就象纠缠不休的蜜蜂。

2 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

3 invincible   

adj.不可征服的，难以制服的

参考例句：

• This football team was once reputed to be invincible.这支足球队曾被誉为无敌的劲旅。
• The workers are invincible as long as they hold together.只要工人团结一致，他们就是不可战胜的。

4 descried   

adj.被注意到的，被发现的，被看到的

参考例句：

• He descried an island far away on the horizon. 他看到遥远的地平线上有个岛屿。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• At length we descried a light and a roof. 终于，我们远远看见了一点灯光，一所孤舍。 来自辞典例句

5 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。

6 foretell   

v.预言，预告，预示

参考例句：

• Willow trees breaking out into buds foretell the coming of spring.柳枝绽青报春来。
• The outcome of the war is hard to foretell.战争胜负难以预卜。

7 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

8 diligently   

ad.industriously;carefully

参考例句：

• He applied himself diligently to learning French. 他孜孜不倦地学法语。
• He had studied diligently at college. 他在大学里勤奋学习。

9 wondrous   

adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地

参考例句：

• The internal structure of the Department is wondrous to behold.看一下国务院的内部结构是很有意思的。
• We were driven across this wondrous vast land of lakes and forests.我们乘车穿越这片有着湖泊及森林的广袤而神奇的土地。

10 writ   

n.命令状，书面命令

参考例句：

• This is a copy of a writ I received this morning.这是今早我收到的书面命令副本。
• You shouldn't treat the newspapers as if they were Holy Writ. 你不应该把报上说的话奉若神明。

11 steadfast   

adj.固定的，不变的，不动摇的；忠实的；坚贞不移的

参考例句：

• Her steadfast belief never left her for one moment.她坚定的信仰从未动摇过。
• He succeeded in his studies by dint of steadfast application.由于坚持不懈的努力他获得了学业上的成功。