英语听书《白鲸记》第260期

 In vain the captain threatened to throw him overboard; suspended a cutlass over his naked wrists; Queequeg was the son of a King, and Queequeg budged¹ not.  船长徒劳地吓唬着要把他抛进海里;还在他那赤裸裸的肘腕上架了一柄弯刀;可是,魁魁格是国王的儿子,魁魁格一点也不为所动。

Struck by his desperate dauntlessness, and his wild desire to visit Christendom, the captain at last relented, and told him he might make himself at home.  那个船长被他这种奋不顾身的骁勇,被他那份要到文明人的国度去的热望感动了,终于发了慈悲心,对他说,他可以安心留下来。

But this fine young savage-this sea Prince of Wales, never saw the Captain's cabin.  但是,这个漂亮的青年野人...这个海上的威尔斯王子却从来没有见到船长的舱室。

They put him down among the sailors, and made a whaleman of him.  他们把他安置在水手中,使他成为一个捕鲸者。

But like Czar Peter content to toil² in the shipyards of foreign cities, Queequeg disdained³ no seeming ignominy,  不过,魁魁格象沙皇彼得情愿到国外的造船厂去做苦工一样,他毫不蔑视这种不体面的事情,

if thereby⁴ he might happily gain the power of enlightening his untutored countrymen.  他只希望能够愉快地获得启发他那些未受教育的同胞的力量。

For at bottom-so he told me-he was actuated by a profound desire to learn among the Christians⁵, the arts whereby to make his people still happier than they were;  因为在他内心里...他这样跟我说...他为一个深切的愿望所驱使,想在文明人中间学得一些技艺,借此使他的同胞过得比原来更幸福,

and more than that, still better than they were.  不仅如此,要过得比原来更好.

1 budged   

v.（使）稍微移动( budge的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）改变主意，（使）让步

参考例句：

• Old Bosc had never budged an inch--he was totally indifferent. 老包斯克一直连动也没有动，他全然无所谓。 来自辞典例句
• Nobody budged you an inch. 别人一丁点儿都算计不了你。 来自辞典例句

2 toil   

vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事

参考例句：

• The wealth comes from the toil of the masses.财富来自大众的辛勤劳动。
• Every single grain is the result of toil.每一粒粮食都来之不易。

3 disdained   

鄙视( disdain的过去式和过去分词 )； 不屑于做，不愿意做

参考例句：

• I disdained to answer his rude remarks. 我不屑回答他的粗话。
• Jackie disdained the servants that her millions could buy. 杰姬鄙视那些她用钱就可以收买的奴仆。

4 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

5 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。