英语听书《白鲸记》第286期

 Seated on the transom was what seemed to me a most uncommon¹ and surprising figure.  据我看来,坐在船尾横木上的是一个极其非凡而奇异的人物。

It turned out to be Captain Bildad who along with Captain Peleg was one of the largest owners of the vessel²;  原来他就是跟法勒船长同属这只船的最大股东老板之一的比勒达船长。

the other shares, as is sometimes the case in these ports, being held by a crowd of old annuitants;  至于其余的股份,按照这些商港的情形,往往是属于一群领年金的老年人的;

widows, fatherless children, and chancery wards³; each owning about the value of a timber head, or a foot of plank⁴, or a nail or two in the ship.  其中也有一些寡妇。孤儿和受保护的未成年人;每个人大概是拥有一根船骨,一英尺船板或者是船里一两枚钉子的价值。

People in Nantucket invest their money in whaling vessels⁵, the same way that you do yours in approved state stocks bringing in good interest. 南塔开特人都把他们的钱投资到捕鲸船中,就跟人们把钱投资到有好出息的。信用良好的股票生意上一样。

Now, Bildad, like Peleg, and indeed many other Nantucketers, was a Quaker, the island having been originally settled by that sect⁶;  且说比勒达,象法勒,实在也象许多南塔开特人一样,也是一个桂克,这海岛本来就是这种教派的人定居的地方;

and to this day its inhabitants in general retain in an uncommon measure the peculiarities⁷ of the Quaker,  直到如今,这里的居民一般都还多多少少保存有桂克的特征,

only variously and anomalously⁸ modified by things altogether alien and heterogeneous⁹.  只不过受了许多化外与异类的事物所冲淡而有所悬殊罢了。

For some of these same Quakers are the most sanguinary of all sailors and whale-hunters.  在这些桂克中,有一些就是残忍无比的水手和捕鲸手。

They are fighting Quakers; they are Quakers with a vengeance¹⁰. 他们都是好战的桂克;他们都是复仇心切的桂克。

1 uncommon   

adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的

参考例句：

• Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
• Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。

2 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

3 wards   

区( ward的名词复数 )； 病房； 受监护的未成年者； 被人照顾或控制的状态

参考例句：

• This hospital has 20 medical [surgical] wards. 这所医院有 20 个内科[外科]病房。
• It was a big constituency divided into three wards. 这是一个大选区，下设三个分区。

4 plank   

n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目

参考例句：

• The plank was set against the wall.木板靠着墙壁。
• They intend to win the next election on the plank of developing trade.他们想以发展贸易的纲领来赢得下次选举。

5 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 sect   

n.派别，宗教，学派，派系

参考例句：

• When he was sixteen he joined a religious sect.他16岁的时候加入了一个宗教教派。
• Each religious sect in the town had its own church.该城每一个宗教教派都有自己的教堂。

7 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。

8 anomalously   

参考例句：

• In this case an anomalously high oxidation rate is observed with respect to the model. 在这种情况下发现有比这模型要高得多的氧化速率。 来自辞典例句
• This man behaves anomalously. 这个人行事不正常。 来自互联网

9 heterogeneous   

adj.庞杂的；异类的

参考例句：

• There is a heterogeneous mass of papers in the teacher's office.老师的办公室里堆满了大批不同的论文。
• America has a very heterogeneous population.美国人口是由不同种族组成的。

10 vengeance   

n.报复，报仇，复仇

参考例句：

• He swore vengeance against the men who murdered his father.他发誓要向那些杀害他父亲的人报仇。
• For years he brooded vengeance.多年来他一直在盘算报仇。