英语听书《白鲸记》第89期

 He hain't been a sittin' so all day, has he? said the landlady¹.  你这么坐了一天了？ 老板娘问。 

But all we said, not a word could we drag out of him; I almost felt like pushing him over, so as to change his position,  魁魁格不回答任何人的问题。我真想一下子把他推倒，

for it was almost intolerable, it seemed so painfully and unnaturally² constrained³; especially, as in all probability he had been sitting so for upwards⁴ of eight or ten hours,  他这么坐了八九个小时了，滴水未进，

going too without his regular meals.  肯定已经精疲力竭了。

Mrs. Hussey, said I, he's ALIVE at all events; so leave us, if you please, and I will see to this strange affair myself.  噢，胡赛太太，无论如何他还活着，让我来处理吧，您请自便。 

Closing the door upon the landlady, I endeavored to prevail upon Queequeg to take a chair; but in vain.  老板娘听我这么说，就走了。我关上门，想说服魁魁格休息一下，可他还是一动不动，

There he sat; and all he could do—for all my polite arts and blandishments, 唉，也许他这种每年一次的斋戒就应该一丝不动地呆上一天呢！

he would not move a peg⁵, nor say a single word, nor even look at me, nor notice my presence in the slightest way.  眼皮抬也不抬，好像我根本不存在。 

I wonder, thought I, if this can possibly be a part of his Ramadan; do they fast on their hams that way in his native island.  我不应该打扰他，他迟早会起来的，他不会永远这么呆下去的。 

1 landlady   

n.女房东，女地主

参考例句：

• I heard my landlady creeping stealthily up to my door.我听到我的女房东偷偷地来到我的门前。
• The landlady came over to serve me.女店主过来接待我。

2 unnaturally   

adv.违反习俗地；不自然地；勉强地；不近人情地

参考例句：

• Her voice sounded unnaturally loud. 她的嗓音很响亮，但是有点反常。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Her eyes were unnaturally bright. 她的眼睛亮得不自然。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 constrained   

adj.束缚的,节制的

参考例句：

• The evidence was so compelling that he felt constrained to accept it. 证据是那样的令人折服，他觉得不得不接受。
• I feel constrained to write and ask for your forgiveness. 我不得不写信请你原谅。

4 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

5 peg   

n.木栓，木钉；vt.用木钉钉，用短桩固定

参考例句：

• Hang your overcoat on the peg in the hall.把你的大衣挂在门厅的挂衣钩上。
• He hit the peg mightily on the top with a mallet.他用木槌猛敲木栓顶。