英语听书《白鲸记》第132期

 And if the idea of peril¹ so much enhances the popular conceit² of the soldier's profession; let me assure ye that many a veteran who has freely marched up to a battery,  和那些尸臭冲天的战场比起来，捕鲸船上滑溜溜的甲板不知要干净多少倍呢！那些操纵杀人武器的士兵们回到后方时，会受到人们的热烈欢迎，肉林酒池的招待会让他们昏昏然。 

would quickly recoil³ at the apparition⁴ of the sperm⁵ whale's vast tail, fanning into eddies⁶ the air over his head.  不过，如果让他们去面对抹香鲸的尾巴，大概没有几个还能站住脚而不瘫在地上。

For what are the comprehensible terrors of man compared with the interlinked terrors and wonders of God!  人类头脑中的恐怖观念，无论如何也是不能与神秘的上帝奇观相比较的。 

But, though the world scouts⁷ at us whale hunters, yet does it unwittingly pay us the profoundest homage⁸;  当然，人们在意识到那些照耀我们这个星球的灯烛都是由鲸鱼油制成的时候，还是对我们这样的人心怀敬意的，因为我们的劳动为大家带来了光明。 

yea, an all-abounding adoration⁹! for almost all the tapers¹⁰, lamps, and candles that burn round the globe, burn, as before so many shrines¹¹, to our glory!  那么就让我们来看看捕鲸者都是些什么人，他们的所作所为究竟如何吧。 

But look at this matter in other lights; weigh it in all sorts of scales; see what we whalemen are, and have been.  不过，以下几个史实也许需要重申一下：

Why did the Dutch in De Witt's time have admirals of their whaling fleets? Why did Louis XVI. of France, at his own personal expense,  在荷兰的德·威特时代，捕鲸船上设有大将军衔的军官；

fit out whaling ships from Dunkirk, and politely invite to that town some score or two of families from our own island of Nantucket?  路易十六自己掏钱雇了许多南塔开特人到敦刻尔克购置了捕鲸船；

1 peril   

n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物

参考例句：

• The refugees were in peril of death from hunger.难民有饿死的危险。
• The embankment is in great peril.河堤岌岌可危。

2 conceit   

n.自负，自高自大

参考例句：

• As conceit makes one lag behind,so modesty helps one make progress.骄傲使人落后，谦虚使人进步。
• She seems to be eaten up with her own conceit.她仿佛已经被骄傲冲昏了头脑。

3 recoil   

vi.退却，退缩，畏缩

参考例句：

• Most people would recoil at the sight of the snake.许多人看见蛇都会向后退缩。
• Revenge may recoil upon the person who takes it.报复者常会受到报应。

4 apparition   

n.幽灵，神奇的现象

参考例句：

• He saw the apparition of his dead wife.他看见了他亡妻的幽灵。
• But the terror of this new apparition brought me to a stand.这新出现的幽灵吓得我站在那里一动也不敢动。

5 sperm   

n.精子，精液

参考例句：

• Only one sperm fertilises an egg.只有一个精子使卵子受精。
• In human reproduction,one female egg is usually fertilized by one sperm.在人体生殖过程中，一个精子使一个卵子受精。

6 eddies   

（水、烟等的）漩涡，涡流( eddy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Viscosity overwhelms the smallest eddies and converts their energy into heat. 粘性制服了最小的旋涡而将其能量转换为热。
• But their work appears to merge in the study of large eddies. 但在大旋涡的研究上，他们的工作看来却殊途同归。

7 scouts   

侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员

参考例句：

• to join the Scouts 参加童子军
• The scouts paired off and began to patrol the area. 巡逻人员两个一组，然后开始巡逻这个地区。

8 homage   

n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬

参考例句：

• We pay homage to the genius of Shakespeare.我们对莎士比亚的天才表示敬仰。
• The soldiers swore to pay their homage to the Queen.士兵们宣誓效忠于女王陛下。

9 adoration   

n.爱慕，崇拜

参考例句：

• He gazed at her with pure adoration.他一往情深地注视着她。
• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。

10 tapers   

（长形物体的）逐渐变窄( taper的名词复数 )； 微弱的光； 极细的蜡烛

参考例句：

• The pencil tapers to a sharp point. 铅笔的一段细成笔尖。
• She put five tapers on the cake. 她在蛋糕上放了五只小蜡烛。

11 shrines   

圣地，圣坛，神圣场所( shrine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• All three structures dated to the third century and were tentatively identified as shrines. 这3座建筑都建于3 世纪，并且初步鉴定为神庙。
• Their palaces and their shrines are tombs. 它们的宫殿和神殿成了墓穴。