英语听书《白鲸记》第12期

  I sat down on an old wooden settle,carved all over like a bench on the Battery. 

 At one end a ruminating¹ tar² was still further adorning³ it with his jack⁴ knife, 

 stooping over and diligently⁵ working away at the space between his legs. 

 He was trying his hand at a ship under full sail,but he did not make much headway,I thought. 

 At last some four or five of us were summoned to our meal in an adjoining room. 

 It was cold as Iceland no fire at allthe landlord said he could not afford it. 

 Nothing but two dismal⁶ tallow candles,each in a winding⁷ sheet. 

 We were fain to button up our monkey jackets,and hold to our lips cups of scalding tea with our half frozen fingers. 

 But the fare was of the most substantial kindnot only meat and potatoes,but dumplings; 

 good heavens!dumplings for supper!One young fellow in a green box coat,addressed himself to these dumplings in a most direful manner. 

 My boy,said the landlord,you 'll have the nightmare to a dead sartainty. 

 Landlord,I whispered,that aint the harpooneer is it? 

 Oh,no,said he,looking a sort of diabolically⁸ funny,the harpooneer is a dark complexioned⁹ chap. 

 He never eats dumplings,he don'the eats nothing but steaks,and he likes ' em rare. 

 The devil he does,says I. Where is that harpooneer?Is he here? 

 He 'll be here afore long,was the answer. 

 I could not help it,but I began to feel suspicious of this dark complexioned harpooneer. 

 At any rate,I made up my mind that if it so turned out that we should sleep together,he must undress and get into bed before I did. 

 Supper over,the company went back to the bar room,when,knowing not what else to do with myself, 

 I resolved to spend the rest of the evening as a looker on. 

 Presently a rioting noise was heard without.Starting up,the landlord cried,That's the Grampus's crew. 

 I seed her reported in the offing this morning;a three years ' voyage,and a full ship. 

 Hurrah,boys;now we 'll have the latest news from the Feegees. 

 A tramping of sea boots was heard in the entry;the door was flung open,and in rolled a wild set of mariners¹⁰ enough. 

 Enveloped in their shaggy watch coats,and with their heads muffled¹¹ in woollen comforters,all bedarned and ragged,and their beards stiff with icicles, 

 they seemed an eruption¹² of bears from Labrador.They had just landed from their boat,and this was the first house they entered. 

 No wonder,then,that they made a straight wake for the whale's mouththe barwhen the wrinkled little old Jonah,there officiating, 

 soon poured them out brimmers all round.One complained of a bad cold in his head,upon which Jonah mixed him a pitch like potion of gin and molasses,which he swore was a sovereign cure for all colds and catarrhs whatsoever,never mind of how long standing, 

 or whether caught off the coast of Labrador,or on the weather side of an ice island. 

 The liquor soon mounted into their heads,as it generally does even with the arrantest topers newly landed from sea,and they began capering¹³ about most obstreperously¹⁴. 

 I observed,however,that one of them held somewhat aloof, 

 and though he seemed desirous not to spoil the hilarity¹⁵ of his shipmates by his own sober face,yet upon the whole he refrained from making as much noise as the rest. 

1 ruminating   

v.沉思( ruminate的现在分词 )；反复考虑；反刍；倒嚼

参考例句：

• He sat there ruminating and picking at the tablecloth. 他坐在那儿沉思，轻轻地抚弄着桌布。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is ruminating on what had happened the day before. 他在沉思前一天发生的事情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 tar   

n.柏油，焦油；vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于

参考例句：

• The roof was covered with tar.屋顶涂抹了一层沥青。
• We use tar to make roads.我们用沥青铺路。

3 adorning   

修饰，装饰物

参考例句：

• Many have gems adorning their foreheads, and gold bands on their arms. 许多人在前额上挂着宝石，手臂上戴着金饰。
• The commandments, or rules, are like pure white pearls adorning the wearer. （喻）戒律洁白，可以庄严人身，好像晶莹可爱的宝珠。

4 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

5 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。

6 dismal   

adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的

参考例句：

• That is a rather dismal melody.那是一支相当忧郁的歌曲。
• My prospects of returning to a suitable job are dismal.我重新找到一个合适的工作岗位的希望很渺茫。

7 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

8 diabolically   

参考例句：

• His writing could be diabolically satiric. 他的作品极具讽刺性。 来自互联网

9 complexioned   

脸色…的

参考例句：

• My aunt Ablewhite is a large, silent, fair-complexioned woman, with one noteworthy point in her character. 艾伯怀特表姨妈是个身材高大，生性沉默的人，为人有个突出的地方。
• Both were fair complexioned and slenderly made; both possessed faces full of distinction and intelligence. 两人都脸色白皙，身材苗条，两人都相貌非凡、一副聪明的样子。

10 mariners   

海员，水手（mariner的复数形式）

参考例句：

• Mariners were also able to fix their latitude by using an instrument called astrolabe. 海员们还可使用星盘这种仪器确定纬度。
• The ancient mariners traversed the sea. 古代的海员漂洋过海。

11 muffled   

adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己）

参考例句：

• muffled voices from the next room 从隔壁房间里传来的沉闷声音
• There was a muffled explosion somewhere on their right. 在他们的右面什么地方有一声沉闷的爆炸声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 eruption   

n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作

参考例句：

• The temple was destroyed in the violent eruption of 1470 BC.庙宇在公元前1470年猛烈的火山爆发中摧毁了。
• The eruption of a volcano is spontaneous.火山的爆发是自发的。

13 capering   

v.跳跃，雀跃( caper的现在分词 )；蹦蹦跳跳

参考例句：

• The lambs were capering in the fields. 羊羔在地里欢快地跳跃。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The boy was Capering dersively, with obscene unambiguous gestures, before a party of English tourists. 这个顽童在一群英国旅游客人面前用明显下流的动作可笑地蹦蹦跳跳着。 来自辞典例句

14 obstreperously   

参考例句：

• Edward came in like a country wind, obstreperously healthy, jovial, large and rather bald. 爱德华象一阵乡野的风刮了进来，带着顽强的健康，快活，奔放和相当的直率。 来自辞典例句
• Obstreperously, he demanded to get service. 他吵闹着要求别人为他服务。 来自互联网

15 hilarity   

n.欢乐；热闹

参考例句：

• The announcement was greeted with much hilarity and mirth.这一项宣布引起了热烈的欢呼声。
• Wine gives not light hilarity,but noisy merriment.酒不给人以轻松的欢乐，而给人以嚣嚷的狂欢。