英语听书《白鲸记》第233期

 I had not been seated very long ere a man of a certain venerable robustness¹ entered; immediately as the storm-pelted door flew back upon admitting him, a quick regardful eyeing of him by all the congregation, sufficiently² attested³ that this fine old man was the chaplain.  我坐不多久,就进来了一个年高德劭.身体壮健的人;当那扇被狂风猛撞的门让他进来后又弹回去的时候,会众全都立刻对他投出迅捷注意的眼色,充分表明这位高尚的老者就是牧师。

Yes, it was the famous Father Mapple, so called by the whalemen, among whom he was a very great favorite.  不错,他就要著名的梅普尔神甫,他在捕鲸者中真是一个深获爱戴的人。

He had been a sailor and a harpooneer in his youth, but for many years past had dedicated⁴ his life to the ministry⁵.  他自己年青的时候曾经做过水手和标枪手,但是,他献身于教会事业已经多年了。

At the time I now write of, Father Mapple was in the hardy⁶ winter of a healthy old age; that sort of old age which seems merging⁷ into a second flowering youth, for among all the fissures⁸ of his wrinkles, there shone certain mild gleams of a newly developing bloom-the spring verdure peeping forth⁹ even beneath February's snow.  当我这会儿写他的时候,梅普尔神甫正是处于岁寒不雕。老当益壮的时期;那种老当益壮仿佛正跨进了返老还童的阶段,因为在他所有的皱折的纹路里,都闪出一种鲜花乍开的柔光...甚至象是从二月的覆雪里突然冒出来的早春新绿。

No one having previously¹⁰ heard his history, could for the first time behold¹¹ Father Mapple without the utmost interest, because there were certain engrafted clerical peculiarities¹² about him, imputable¹³ to that adventurous¹⁴ maritime¹⁵ life he had led.  事先不知梅普尔神甫生平的人,初次看到了他,都不免要发生极大的兴趣,因为他的举止所表现出来的牧师的某些特点,都可以说跟他所经历过的出生入死的水上生活有关。

When he entered I observed that he carried no umbrella, and certainly had not come in his carriage, for his tarpaulin¹⁶ hat ran down with melting sleet¹⁷, and his great pilot cloth jacket seemed almost to drag him to the floor with the weight of the water it had absorbed.  他一进来,我就看出他不曾带雨伞,也一定不是坐车来的,因为融化的雪雨直从他的雨帽上淌下来,而他那件宽大的舵工装的布外衣,由于吸足了水分,差不多要把他拖到地上。

However, hat and coat and overshoes were one by one removed, and hung up in a little space in an adjacent corner; when, arrayed in a decent suit, he quietly approached the pulpit. 不过,当他把帽子，上衣，套鞋一一脱下来,挂在附近的角落里一个小地方,穿上象样的服装后,他就平静地走到讲坛边。

1 robustness   

坚固性，健壮性；鲁棒性

参考例句：

• There were other reasons for concern about the robustness of an economic recovery. 人们还有其他一些原因对经济恢复的健全程度表示关心。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• Robustness analysis attracts more and more attention in these years. 鲁棒性分析是近几年学术界较为关注的问题。 来自互联网

2 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

3 attested   

adj.经检验证明无病的，经检验证明无菌的v.证明( attest的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；声称…属实；使宣誓

参考例句：

• The handwriting expert attested to the genuineness of the signature. 笔迹专家作证该签名无讹。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Witnesses attested his account. 几名证人都证实了他的陈述是真实的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

5 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

6 hardy   

adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的

参考例句：

• The kind of plant is a hardy annual.这种植物是耐寒的一年生植物。
• He is a hardy person.他是一个能吃苦耐劳的人。

7 merging   

合并（分类）

参考例句：

• Many companies continued to grow by merging with or buying competing firms. 许多公司通过合并或收买竞争对手的公司而不断扩大。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• To sequence by repeated splitting and merging. 用反复分开和合并的方法进行的排序。

8 fissures   

n.狭长裂缝或裂隙( fissure的名词复数 )；裂伤；分歧；分裂v.裂开( fissure的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Rising molten rock flows out on the ocean floor and caps the fissures, trapping the water. 上升熔岩流到海底并堵住了裂隙，结果把海水封在里面。 来自辞典例句
• The French have held two colloquia and an international symposium on rock fissures. 法国已经开了两次岩石裂缝方面的报告会和一个国际会议。 来自辞典例句

9 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

10 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。

11 behold   

v.看，注视，看到

参考例句：

• The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。
• The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。

12 peculiarities   

n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪

参考例句：

• the cultural peculiarities of the English 英国人的文化特点
• He used to mimic speech peculiarities of another. 他过去总是模仿别人讲话的特点。

13 imputable   

adj.可归罪的，可归咎的，可归因的

参考例句：

• No blame is imputable to him. 他无任何责任。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The oversight is not imputable to him. 这一疏忽不能怪他。 来自辞典例句

14 adventurous   

adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的　

参考例句：

• I was filled with envy at their adventurous lifestyle.我很羨慕他们敢于冒险的生活方式。
• He was predestined to lead an adventurous life.他注定要过冒险的生活。

15 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

16 tarpaulin   

n.涂油防水布，防水衣，防水帽

参考例句：

• The pool furniture was folded,stacked,and covered with a tarpaulin.游泳池的设备都已经折叠起来，堆在那里，还盖上了防水布。
• The pool furniture was folded,stacked,and covered with a tarpaulin.游泳池的设备都已经折叠起来，堆在那里，还盖上了防水布。

17 sleet   

n.雨雪；v.下雨雪，下冰雹

参考例句：

• There was a great deal of sleet last night.昨夜雨夹雪下得真大。
• When winter comes,we get sleet and frost.冬天来到时我们这儿会有雨夹雪和霜冻。