英语听书《白鲸记》第272期

 For the sea is his; he owns it, as Emperors own empires; other seamen¹ having but a right of way through it.  因为海洋是属于他们的;他们拥有海洋,犹如皇帝之拥有他自己的皇土;别国的水手不过有一种通行权而已。

Merchant ships are but extension bridges; armed ones but floating forts;  商船不过是桥梁的延伸;兵舰不过是浮动炮台;

even pirates and privateers, though following the sea as highwaymen the road.  甚至在海上游弋的海盗船和私掠船,虽然象拦路大盗在大道上打劫一样,

they but plunder² other ships, other fragments of the land like themselves, without seeking to draw their living from the bottomless deep itself.  在海上打劫,它们只劫掠别的船只,拦路大盗也象海盗船和私掠船那样只在别的地段上劫掠,决不妄图到这无底的深渊里来谋生计。

The Nantucketer, he alone resides and riots on the sea; he alone, in Bible language, goes down to it in ships;  于是,单独住在海上,在海上骚扰的便只有南塔开特人了;按照《圣经》上的说法,他们是单独坐船下海的;

to and fro ploughing it as his own special plantation³.  把海洋当作他们的特有的农场往复地耕耘着。

There is his home;  那里是他们的家;

there lies his business which a Noah's flood would not interrupt, though it overwhelmed all the millions in China.  他们的事业就在那里,这种事业不是挪亚的大洪水所妨碍得了的,虽然大水会淹没中国的无数生。

He lives on the sea, as prairie cocks in the prairie;  他们住在海上,犹如野雉之生活于大草原中;

he hides among the waves, he climbs them as chamois hunters climb the Alps.  他们隐伏在惊涛骇浪中,他们攀登巨浪,一如羚羊猎户之攀登阿尔卑斯山。

For years he knows not the land; so that when he comes to it at last,  多少年来,他们不知道有陆地;因此,等到他们终于来到陆地,

it smells like another world, more strangely than the moon would to an Earthsman.  它就象是另一个世界的味道,比穴居人看到月亮还要觉得希奇。

With the landless gull⁴, that at sunset folds her wings and is rocked to sleep between billows;  象无地可容的海鸥,每当夕阳西下就卷起两翼,躺在浪涛中晃来晃去地睡着了;

so at nightfall, the Nantucketer, out of sight of land, furls his sails,  南塔开特人也是这样地在薄暮时分,远离陆地,卷起风帆,

and lays him to his rest, while under his very pillow rush herds⁵ of walruses⁶ and whales. 躺下来休息了,而在他们的枕头底下,却正是川流不息的海象群和鲸群。

1 seamen   

n.海员

参考例句：

• Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather. 有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
• In the storm, many seamen wished they were on shore. 在暴风雨中，许多海员想，要是他们在陆地上就好了。

2 plunder   

vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠

参考例句：

• The thieves hid their plunder in the cave.贼把赃物藏在山洞里。
• Trade should not serve as a means of economic plunder.贸易不应当成为经济掠夺的手段。

3 plantation   

n.种植园，大农场

参考例句：

• His father-in-law is a plantation manager.他岳父是个种植园经营者。
• The plantation owner has possessed himself of a vast piece of land.这个种植园主把大片土地占为己有。

4 gull   

n.鸥；受骗的人；v.欺诈

参考例句：

• The ivory gull often follows polar bears to feed on the remains of seal kills.象牙海鸥经常跟在北极熊的后面吃剩下的海豹尸体。
• You are not supposed to gull your friends.你不应该欺骗你的朋友。

5 herds   

兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众

参考例句：

• Regularly at daybreak they drive their herds to the pasture. 每天天一亮他们就把牲畜赶到草场上去。
• There we saw herds of cows grazing on the pasture. 我们在那里看到一群群的牛在草地上吃草。

6 walruses   

n.海象( walrus的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Walruses have enormous appetites and hunt for food almost constantly. 海象食欲极大，几乎一直在猎取食物。 来自互联网
• Two Atlantic walruses snuggle on an ice floe near Igloolik, Nunavut, Canada. 加拿大努勒维特伊格卢利克附近，两头大西洋海象在浮冰上相互偎依。 来自互联网