英语听书《白鲸记》第13期

  six feet in height,with noble shoulders,and a chest like a coffer dam. 

 I have seldom seen such brawn¹ in a man. His face was deeply brown and burnt, 

 making his white teeth dazzling by the contrast;while in the deep shadows of his eyes floated some reminiscences that did not seem to give him much joy. 

 His voice at once announced that he was a Southerner,and from his fine stature, 

 I thought he must be one of those tall mountaineers from the Alleghanian Ridge² in Virginia. 

 When the revelry of his companions had mounted to its height,this man slipped away unobserved, 

 and I saw no more of him till he became my comrade on the sea.In a few minutes,however, 

 he was missed by his shipmates,and being,it seems,for some reason a huge favourite with them, 

 they raised a cry of Bulkington!Bulkington!where's Bulkington?and darted³ out of the house in pursuit of him. 

 It was now about nine o'clock,and the room seeming almost supernaturally quiet after these orgies, 

 I began to congratulate myself upon a little plan that had occurred to me just previous to the entrance of the seamen⁴. 

 No man prefers to sleep two in a bed.In fact,you would a good deal rather not sleep with your own brother. 

 I do not know how it is,but people like to be private when they are sleeping. 

 And when it comes to sleeping with an unknown stranger,in a strange inn,in a strange town, 

 and that stranger a harpooneer,then your objections indefinitely multiply. 

 Nor was there any earthly reason why I as a sailor should sleep two in a bed,more than anybody else; 

 for sailors no more sleep two in a bed at sea,than bachelor Kings do ashore⁵. 

 To be sure they all sleep together in one apartment,but you have your own hammock,and cover yourself with your own blanket,and sleep in your own skin. 

 The more I pondered over this harpooneer,the more I abominated⁶ the thought of sleeping with him. 

 It was fair to presume that being a harpooneer,his linen⁷ or woollen,as the case might be, 

 would not be of the tidiest,certainly none of the finest.I began to twitch⁸ all over. 

 Besides,it was getting late,and my decent harpooneer ought to be home and going bedwards. 

 Suppose now,he should tumble in upon me at midnight how could I tell from what vile⁹ hole he had been coming? 

 Landlord!I've changed my mind about that harpooneer.I shall not sleep with him.I 'll try the bench here. 

 Just as you please;I'm sorry I cant¹⁰ spare ye a tablecloth¹¹ for a mattress, 

 and it's a plaguy rough board here feeling of the knots and notches¹². 

 But wait a bit,Skrimshander;I've got a carpenter's plane there in the bar wait, 

 I say,and I 'll make ye snug¹³ enough.So saying he procured¹⁴ the plane;and with his old silk handkerchief first dusting the bench, 

 vigorously set to planing away at my bed,the while grinning like an ape. 

 The shavings flew right and left;till at last the plane iron came bump against an indestructible knot. 

 The landlord was near spraining¹⁵ his wrist,and I told him for heaven's sake to quit the bed was soft enough to suit me, 

 and I did not know how all the planing in the world could make eider down of a pine plank¹⁶. 

 So gathering¹⁷ up the shavings with another grin,and throwing them into the great stove in the middle of the room, 

 he went about his business,and left me in a brown study. 

1 brawn   

n.体力

参考例句：

• In this job you need both brains and brawn.做这份工作既劳神又费力。
• They relied on brains rather than brawn.他们靠的是脑力，而不是体力。

2 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

3 darted   

v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect. 蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了，瞪了我一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 seamen   

n.海员

参考例句：

• Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather. 有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
• In the storm, many seamen wished they were on shore. 在暴风雨中，许多海员想，要是他们在陆地上就好了。

5 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

6 abominated   

v.憎恶，厌恶，不喜欢( abominate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He had always abominated the foreign devils' contraptions. 老通宝向来仇恨小轮船这一类洋鬼子的东西！ 来自汉英文学 - 春蚕

7 linen   

n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的

参考例句：

• The worker is starching the linen.这名工人正在给亚麻布上浆。
• Fine linen and cotton fabrics were known as well as wool.精细的亚麻织品和棉织品像羊毛一样闻名遐迩。

8 twitch   

v.急拉，抽动，痉挛，抽搐；n.扯，阵痛，痉挛

参考例句：

• The smell made my dog's nose twitch.那股气味使我的狗的鼻子抽动着。
• I felt a twitch at my sleeve.我觉得有人扯了一下我的袖子。

9 vile   

adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的

参考例句：

• Who could have carried out such a vile attack?会是谁发起这么卑鄙的攻击呢？
• Her talk was full of vile curses.她的话里充满着恶毒的咒骂。

10 cant   

n.斜穿，黑话，猛扔

参考例句：

• The ship took on a dangerous cant to port.船只出现向左舷危险倾斜。
• He knows thieves'cant.他懂盗贼的黑话。

11 tablecloth   

n.桌布，台布

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。
• She smoothed down a wrinkled tablecloth.她把起皱的桌布熨平了。

12 notches   

n.（边缘或表面上的）V型痕迹( notch的名词复数 )；刻痕；水平；等级

参考例句：

• The Indians cut notches on a stick to keep count of numbers. 印第安人在棒上刻V形凹痕用来计数。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• They cut notches in the handle of their pistol for each man they shot. 他们每杀一个人就在枪托上刻下一个V形记号。 来自辞典例句

13 snug   

adj.温暖舒适的，合身的，安全的；v.使整洁干净，舒适地依靠，紧贴；n.（英）酒吧里的私房

参考例句：

• He showed us into a snug little sitting room.他领我们走进了一间温暖而舒适的小客厅。
• She had a small but snug home.她有个小小的但很舒适的家。

14 procured   

v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条

参考例句：

• These cars are to be procured through open tender. 这些汽车要用公开招标的办法购买。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• A friend procured a position in the bank for my big brother. 一位朋友为我哥哥谋得了一个银行的职位。 来自《用法词典》

15 spraining   

扭伤（关节）( sprain的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• In regions with certain isolates of TRV, spraining is more prominent. 在具有TRV某些分离物的地区，坏死是比较显著的。
• Stir the switch on the left foot in ON end, push and press spraining. 把左脚上的开关拨动ON端，按下按扭。

16 plank   

n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目

参考例句：

• The plank was set against the wall.木板靠着墙壁。
• They intend to win the next election on the plank of developing trade.他们想以发展贸易的纲领来赢得下次选举。

17 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。