英语听书《白鲸记》第220期

 Meanwhile, I lay quietly eyeing him, having no serious misgivings¹ now, and bent² upon narrowly observing so curious a creature.  这时,我一言不发,躺在那里直瞧着他,因为心里已经没有什么了不起的疑惧,便决心要对这个非常希奇的家伙好好地端相一番。

When, at last, his mind seemed made up touching³ the character of his bedfellow, and he became, as it were, reconciled to the fact;  最后,他似乎关于他有个睡伴这情况已经定下了心,好象安于这一无法变更的事实了;

he jumped out upon the floor, and by certain signs and sounds gave me to understand that, if it pleased me, he would dress first and then leave me to dress afterwards,  他骨碌跳在地板上,用一种手势和声音来让我了解:如果我愿意,他可以先穿衣服,

leaving the whole apartment to myself.  然后让我一个人在房间里慢慢穿衣打扮。

Thinks I, Queequeg, under the circumstances, this is a very civilized⁴ overture⁵;  我心里想,在这种情况下,魁魁格呀,这真是一个十分文明的倡议。

but, the truth is, these savages⁶ have an innate⁷ sense of delicacy⁸, say what you will; it is marvellous how essentially⁹ polite they are.  不过,事实上,随你怎样说,这些野人倒是天生就有一种体贴的敏感;这真令人惊异,他们实际上是多么有礼貌呀。

I pay this particular compliment to Queequeg, because he treated me with so much civility and consideration, while I was guilty of great rudeness;  我特别要对魁魁格表示这番敬意,因为他对我非常之和气体贴,我却自觉犯有粗野无礼的罪愆;

staring at him from the bed, and watching all his toilette motions; for the time my curiosity getting the better of my breeding.  我在床上凝望着他,看着他盥洗的种种动作;我的好奇心一时间竟胜过我的教养了。

Nevertheless, a man like Queequeg you don't see every day, he and his ways were well worth unusual regarding. 然而象魁魁格这样的人,并不是每天都可以见到的,他和他的生活方式是很值得另眼相待的。

He commenced dressing¹⁰ at top by donning his beaver¹¹ hat, a very tall one, by the by, and then-still minus his trowsers-he hunted up his boots.  他穿衣打扮是从头上开始的,他先戴起那顶獭皮帽,一顶高高的帽子,然后再慢慢地...还是不穿裤子...找起他的靴子来。

What under the heavens he did it for, I cannot tell, but his next movement was to crush himself-boots in hand, and hat on-under the bed;  他究竟为什么要这么做,我可说不上来,接着他就手里拿着一双靴子,头上戴着帽子爬到床底下去了。

when, from sundry¹² violent gaspings and strainings, I inferred he was hard at work booting himself;  这时,从一阵阵剧烈的喘气和很用劲的情形看来,我推断,他一定是在辛苦地穿靴子;

though by no law of propriety¹³ that I ever heard of, is any man required to be private when putting on his boots.  虽然我从来没有听到过什么礼仪法,说是穿靴子也得不让人家看见。

1 misgivings   

n.疑虑，担忧，害怕；疑虑，担心，恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 )；疑惧

参考例句：

• I had grave misgivings about making the trip. 对于这次旅行我有过极大的顾虑。
• Don't be overtaken by misgivings and fear. Just go full stream ahead! 不要瞻前顾后， 畏首畏尾。甩开膀子干吧！ 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

3 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

4 civilized   

a.有教养的，文雅的

参考例句：

• Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
• rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为

5 overture   

n.前奏曲、序曲，提议，提案，初步交涉

参考例句：

• The opera was preceded by a short overture.这部歌剧开始前有一段简短的序曲。
• His overture led to nothing.他的提议没有得到什么结果。

6 savages   

未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There're some savages living in the forest. 森林里居住着一些野人。
• That's an island inhabited by savages. 那是一个野蛮人居住的岛屿。

7 innate   

adj.天生的，固有的，天赋的

参考例句：

• You obviously have an innate talent for music.你显然有天生的音乐才能。
• Correct ideas are not innate in the mind.人的正确思想不是自己头脑中固有的。

8 delicacy   

n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴

参考例句：

• We admired the delicacy of the craftsmanship.我们佩服工艺师精巧的手艺。
• He sensed the delicacy of the situation.他感觉到了形势的微妙。

9 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

10 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

11 beaver   

n.海狸，河狸

参考例句：

• The hat is made of beaver.这顶帽子是海狸毛皮制的。
• A beaver is an animals with big front teeth.海狸是一种长着大门牙的动物。

12 sundry   

adj.各式各样的，种种的

参考例句：

• This cream can be used to treat sundry minor injuries.这种药膏可用来治各种轻伤。
• We can see the rich man on sundry occasions.我们能在各种场合见到那个富豪。

13 propriety   

n.正当行为；正当；适当

参考例句：

• We hesitated at the propriety of the method.我们对这种办法是否适用拿不定主意。
• The sensitive matter was handled with great propriety.这件机密的事处理得极为适当。