英语听书《白鲸记》第37期

  CHAPTER 10.A Bosom¹ Friend. 

 Returning to the Spouter² Inn from the Chapel³,I found Queequeg there quite alone;he having left the Chapel before the benediction⁴ some time. 

 He was sitting on a bench before the fire,with his feet on the stove hearth,and in one hand was holding close up to his face that little negro idol⁵ of his; 

 peering hard into its face,and with a jack⁶ knife gently whittling⁷ away at its nose,meanwhile humming to himself in his heathenish way. 

 But being now interrupted,he put up the image;and pretty soon,going to the table,took up a large book there,and placing it on his lap began counting the pages with deliberate regularity; 

 at every fiftieth page as I fancied stopping a moment,looking vacantly around him,and giving utterance⁸ to a long drawn⁹ gurgling whistle of astonishment¹⁰. 

 He would then begin again at the next fifty;seeming to commence at number one each time,as though he could not count more than fifty, 

 and it was only by such a large number of fifties being found together,that his astonishment at the multitude of pages was excited. 

 With much interest I sat watching him.Savage¹¹ though he was,and hideously¹² marred¹³ about the face at least to my taste his countenance¹⁴ yet had a something in it which was by no means disagreeable. 

 You can not hide the soul.Through all his unearthly tattooings,I thought I saw the traces of a simple honest heart;and in his large,deep eyes,fiery black and bold, 

 there seemed tokens of a spirit that would dare a thousand devils.And besides all this,there was a certain lofty bearing about the Pagan,which even his uncouthness¹⁵ could not altogether maim¹⁶. 

 He looked like a man who had never cringed and never had had a creditor¹⁷.Whether it was,too,that his head being shaved,his forehead was drawn out in freer and brighter relief, 

 and looked more expansive than it otherwise would,this I will not venture to decide;but certain it was his head was phrenologically an excellent one.It may seem ridiculous, 

 but it reminded me of General Washington's head,as seen in the popular busts¹⁸ of him.It had the same long regularly graded retreating slope from above the brows, 

 which were likewise very projecting,like two long promontories¹⁹ thickly wooded on top.Queequeg was George Washington cannibalistically developed. 

 Whilst I was thus closely scanning him,half pretending meanwhile to be looking out at the storm from the casement,he never heeded²⁰ my presence,never troubled himself with so much as a single glance; 

 but appeared wholly occupied with counting the pages of the marvellous book.Considering how sociably²¹ we had been sleeping together the night previous, 

 and especially considering the affectionate arm I had found thrown over me upon waking in the morning,I thought this indifference²² of his very strange. 

1 bosom   

n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的

参考例句：

• She drew a little book from her bosom.她从怀里取出一本小册子。
• A dark jealousy stirred in his bosom.他内心生出一阵恶毒的嫉妒。

2 spouter   

喷油井；捕鲸船；说话滔滔不绝的人；照管流出槽的工人

参考例句：

3 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。

4 benediction   

n.祝福；恩赐

参考例句：

• The priest pronounced a benediction over the couple at the end of the marriage ceremony.牧师在婚礼结束时为新婚夫妇祈求上帝赐福。
• He went abroad with his parents' benediction.他带着父母的祝福出国去了。

5 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。

6 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。

7 whittling   

v.切，削（木头），使逐渐变小( whittle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Inflation has been whittling away their savings. 通货膨胀使他们的积蓄不断减少。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is whittling down the branch with a knife to make a handle for his hoe. 他在用刀削树枝做一把锄头柄。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 utterance   

n.用言语表达，话语，言语

参考例句：

• This utterance of his was greeted with bursts of uproarious laughter.他的讲话引起阵阵哄然大笑。
• My voice cleaves to my throat,and sob chokes my utterance.我的噪子哽咽，泣不成声。

9 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

10 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

11 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。

12 hideously   

adv.可怕地，非常讨厌地

参考例句：

• The witch was hideously ugly. 那个女巫丑得吓人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Pitt's smile returned, and it was hideously diabolic. 皮特的脸上重新浮现出笑容，但却狰狞可怕。 来自辞典例句

13 marred   

adj. 被损毁, 污损的

参考例句：

• The game was marred by the behaviour of drunken fans. 喝醉了的球迷行为不轨，把比赛给搅了。
• Bad diction marred the effectiveness of his speech. 措词不当影响了他演说的效果。

14 countenance   

n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同

参考例句：

• At the sight of this photograph he changed his countenance.他一看见这张照片脸色就变了。
• I made a fierce countenance as if I would eat him alive.我脸色恶狠狠地，仿佛要把他活生生地吞下去。

15 uncouthness   

参考例句：

• In Warrington's very uncouthness there was a refinement, which the other's finery lacked. 沃林顿的粗野中包念着一种高雅的气质，这是另一个人的华丽外表所缺少的。 来自辞典例句

16 maim   

v.使残废，使不能工作，使伤残

参考例句：

• Automobile accidents maim many people each year. 汽车车祸每年使许多人残废。
• These people kill and maim innocent civilians.这些人杀死和残害无辜平民。

17 creditor   

n.债仅人，债主，贷方

参考例句：

• The boss assigned his car to his creditor.那工头把自己的小汽车让与了债权人。
• I had to run away from my creditor whom I made a usurious loan.我借了高利贷不得不四处躲债。

18 busts   

半身雕塑像( bust的名词复数 )； 妇女的胸部； 胸围； 突击搜捕

参考例句：

• Dey bags swells up and busts. 那奶袋快胀破了。
• Marble busts all looked like a cemetery. 大理石的半身象，简直就象是坟山。

19 promontories   

n.岬，隆起，海角( promontory的名词复数 )

参考例句：

20 heeded   

v.听某人的劝告，听从( heed的过去式和过去分词 )；变平，使（某物）变平( flatten的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She countered that her advice had not been heeded. 她反驳说她的建议未被重视。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I heeded my doctor's advice and stopped smoking. 我听从医生的劝告，把烟戒了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 sociably   

adv.成群地

参考例句：

• Hall very sociably pulled up. 霍尔和气地勒住僵绳。
• Sociably, the new neighbors invited everyone on the block for coffee. 那个喜好交际的新邻居邀请街区的每个人去喝咖啡。

22 indifference   

n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎

参考例句：

• I was disappointed by his indifference more than somewhat.他的漠不关心使我很失望。
• He feigned indifference to criticism of his work.他假装毫不在意别人批评他的作品。