英语听书《白鲸记》第18期

  I am no coward,but what to make of this head peddling¹ purple rascal² altogether passed my comprehension. 

 Ignorance is the parent of fear,and being completely nonplussed³ and confounded about the stranger, 

 I confess I was now as much afraid of him as if it was the devil himself who had thus broken into my room at the dead of night. 

 In fact,I was so afraid of him that I was not game enough just then to address him, 

 and demand a satisfactory answer concerning what seemed inexplicable⁴ in him. 

 Meanwhile,he continued the business of undressing,and at last showed his chest and arms. 

 As I live,these covered parts of him were checkered⁵ with the same squares as his face; 

 his back,too,was all over the same dark squares;he seemed to have been in a Thirty Years ' War,and just escaped from it with a sticking plaster shirt. 

 Still more,his very legs were marked,as if a parcel of dark green frogs were running up the trunks of young palms. 

 It was now quite plain that he must be some abominable⁶ savage⁷ or other shipped aboard of a whaleman in the South Seas, 

 and so landed in this Christian⁸ country.I quaked to think of it.A peddler of heads too perhaps the heads of his own brothers. 

 He might take a fancy to mine heavens!look at that tomahawk! 

 But there was no time for shuddering,or now the savage went about something that completely fascinated my attention, 

 and convinced me that he must indeed be a heathen.Going to his heavy grego,or wrapall, 

 or dreadnaught,which he had previously⁹ hung on a chair,he fumbled¹⁰ in the pockets, 

 and produced at length a curious little deformed¹¹ image with a hunch¹² on its back, 

 and exactly the colour of a three days ' old Congo baby.Remembering the embalmed¹³ head, 

 at first I almost thought that this black manikin was a real baby preserved in some similar manner. 

 But seeing that it was not at all limber,and that it glistened¹⁴ a good deal like polished ebony, 

 I concluded that it must be nothing but a wooden idol¹⁵,which indeed it proved to be. 

 For now the savage goes up to the empty fire place,and removing the papered fire board, 

 sets up this little hunch backed image,like a tenpin,between the andirons. 

 The chimney jambs and all the bricks inside were very sooty, 

 so that I thought this fire place made a very appropriate little shrine¹⁶ or chapel¹⁷ for his Congo idol. 

 I now screwed my eyes hard towards the half hidden image,feeling but ill at ease meantime to see what was next to follow. 

 First he takes about a double handful of shavings out of his grego pocket,and places them carefully before the idol; 

 then laying a bit of ship biscuit on top and applying the flame from the lamp,he kindled¹⁸ the shavings into a sacrificial blaze. 

 Presently,after many hasty snatches into the fire,and still hastier withdrawals¹⁹ of his fingers, 

 he at last succeeded in drawing out the biscuit;then blowing off the heat and ashes a little,he made a polite offer of it to the little negro. 

 But the little devil did not seem to fancy such dry sort of fare at all. 

1 peddling   

忙于琐事的，无关紧要的

参考例句：

• He worked as a door-to-door salesman peddling cloths and brushes. 他的工作是上门推销抹布和刷子。
• "If he doesn't like peddling, why doesn't he practice law? "要是他不高兴卖柴火，干吗不当律师呢？

2 rascal   

n.流氓；不诚实的人

参考例句：

• If he had done otherwise,I should have thought him a rascal.如果他不这样做，我就认为他是个恶棍。
• The rascal was frightened into holding his tongue.这坏蛋吓得不敢往下说了。

3 nonplussed   

adj.不知所措的，陷于窘境的v.使迷惑( nonplus的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The speaker was completely nonplussed by the question. 演讲者被这个问题完全难倒了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I was completely nonplussed by his sudden appearance. 他突然出现使我大吃一惊。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 inexplicable   

adj.无法解释的，难理解的

参考例句：

• It is now inexplicable how that development was misinterpreted.当时对这一事态发展的错误理解究竟是怎么产生的，现在已经无法说清楚了。
• There are many things which are inexplicable by science.有很多事科学还无法解释。

5 checkered   

adj.有方格图案的

参考例句：

• The ground under the trees was checkered with sunlight and shade.林地光影交错。
• He’d had a checkered past in the government.他过去在政界浮沉。

6 abominable   

adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的

参考例句：

• Their cruel treatment of prisoners was abominable.他们虐待犯人的做法令人厌恶。
• The sanitary conditions in this restaurant are abominable.这家饭馆的卫生状况糟透了。

7 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

8 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

9 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

10 fumbled   

（笨拙地）摸索或处理（某事物）( fumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 乱摸，笨拙地弄； 使落下

参考例句：

• She fumbled in her pocket for a handkerchief. 她在她口袋里胡乱摸找手帕。
• He fumbled about in his pockets for the ticket. 他（瞎）摸着衣兜找票。

11 deformed   

adj.畸形的；变形的；丑的，破相了的

参考例句：

• He was born with a deformed right leg.他出生时右腿畸形。
• His body was deformed by leprosy.他的身体因为麻风病变形了。

12 hunch   

n.预感，直觉

参考例句：

• I have a hunch that he didn't really want to go.我有这么一种感觉，他并不真正想去。
• I had a hunch that Susan and I would work well together.我有预感和苏珊共事会很融洽。

13 embalmed   

adj.用防腐药物保存（尸体）的v.保存（尸体）不腐( embalm的过去式和过去分词 )；使不被遗忘；使充满香气

参考例句：

• Many fine sentiments are embalmed in poetry. 许多微妙的情感保存于诗歌中。 来自辞典例句
• In books, are embalmed the greatest thoughts of all ages. 伟大思想古今有，载入书中成不朽。 来自互联网

14 glistened   

v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Pearls of dew glistened on the grass. 草地上珠露晶莹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Her eyes glistened with tears. 她的眼里闪着泪花。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

15 idol   

n.偶像，红人，宠儿

参考例句：

• As an only child he was the idol of his parents.作为独子，他是父母的宠儿。
• Blind worship of this idol must be ended.对这个偶像的盲目崇拜应该结束了。

16 shrine   

n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣

参考例句：

• The shrine was an object of pilgrimage.这处圣地是人们朝圣的目的地。
• They bowed down before the shrine.他们在神龛前鞠躬示敬。

17 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

18 kindled   

（使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光

参考例句：

• We watched as the fire slowly kindled. 我们看着火慢慢地燃烧起来。
• The teacher's praise kindled a spark of hope inside her. 老师的赞扬激起了她内心的希望。

19 withdrawals   

n.收回，取回，撤回( withdrawal的名词复数 )；撤退，撤走；收回[取回，撤回，撤退，撤走]的实例；推出（组织），提走（存款），戒除毒瘾，对说过的话收回，孤僻

参考例句：

• He has made several withdrawals from his bank account. 他从银行账户上提了几次款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It is not the bank's policy to deduct interest on withdrawals. 提款需扣除利息这并非是本银行的政策。 来自辞典例句