英语听书《白鲸记》第290期

 So that there are instances among them of men, who, named with Scripture¹ names-a singularly common fashion on the island 所以,在男人中间便有许多以《圣经》上的名字来做名字的情形...这是这个海岛特别普遍的风尚...

and in childhood naturally imbibing² the stately dramatic thee and thou of the Quaker idiom;  他们在少年时代,自然而然地吸收了桂克那种庄严而格外动人的你和您的习语;

still, from the audacious, daring, and boundless³ adventure of their subsequent lives,  而且他们以后那种大胆悍和充满无穷冒险的生活,

strangely blend with these unoutgrown peculiarities⁵, a thousand bold dashes of character, not unworthy a Scandinavian sea-king, or a poetical⁶ Pagan Roman.  同这些不因年龄增长而丧失的特点奇妙地混合起来,就形成一种横冲直撞的性格,足以成为一个斯堪的纳维亚的海王,或是一个富有诗人气质的异教的罗马教徒。

And when these things unite in a man of greatly superior natural force, with a globular brain and a ponderous⁷ heart;  当这些东西同一个圆颅和沉思而具有巨大的超自然力的人物结合起来的时候,

who has also by the stillness and seclusion⁸ of many long night-watches in the remotest waters,  这个人,一方面曾在最遥远的海洋担任过多次漫长的值夜,

and beneath constellations⁹ never seen here at the north, been led to think untraditionally and independently;  过着静止而隐遁的生活,又曾在北方的星空下过着同这里截然不同的生活,而能不按传统地独立思考;

receiving all nature's sweet or savage¹⁰ impressions fresh from her own virgin¹¹ voluntary and confiding¹² breast, and thereby¹³ chiefly,  一方面又得到刚由大自然的纯洁.自由和诚挚的胸怀所产生出来的一切天然的温和或者彪悍的印象,

but with some help from accidental advantages, to learn a bold and nervous lofty language-that man makes one in a whole nation's census¹⁴ 因而主要由此学得了一种豪壮而简劲的语言...这样的人便成为整个民族人口的唯一的人物...

a mighty¹⁵ pageant¹⁶ creature, formed for noble tragedies.  也是一个为崇高的悲剧而形成的伟大壮丽的人物。

Nor will it at all detract from him, dramatically regarded, if either by birth or other circumstances,  如果从戏剧观点上说来,不论是天生的或者是其它环境,都丝毫损伤不了他,

he have what seems a half wilful¹⁷ overruling morbidness¹⁸ at the bottom of his nature.  他的天性的深处似乎有一种近似故意要支配别人的病态心理。

For all men tragically¹⁹ great are made so through a certain morbidness.  因为在悲剧意义上说来,凡是伟大的人物,都是由一种病态心理所形成的。

Be sure of this, O young ambition, all mortal greatness is but disease.  千万要记住,年青有为的人们,人类的伟大性,其实不过是疾病。

But, as yet we have not to do with such an one, but with quite another;  不过,我们迄今还没有碰到这样的人物,碰到的是跟这完全不同的人物;

and still a man, who, if indeed peculiar⁴, it only results again from another phase of the Quaker, modified by individual circumstances. 然而,如果有一个果真是特殊的.从独特的环境脱胎出来的人,那也不过又是另一种桂克型的人物。

1 scripture   

n.经文，圣书，手稿；Scripture:(常用复数)《圣经》，《圣经》中的一段

参考例句：

• The scripture states that God did not want us to be alone.圣经指出上帝并不是想让我们独身一人生活。
• They invoked Hindu scripture to justify their position.他们援引印度教的经文为他们的立场辩护。

2 imbibing   

v.吸收( imbibe的现在分词 )；喝；吸取；吸气

参考例句：

• It was not long before the imbibing began to tell. 很快，喝酒喝得有效果了。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• The soil expands upon imbibing water. 土壤会由于吸水而膨胀。 来自辞典例句

3 boundless   

adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的

参考例句：

• The boundless woods were sleeping in the deep repose of nature.无边无际的森林在大自然静寂的怀抱中酣睡着。
• His gratitude and devotion to the Party was boundless.他对党无限感激、无限忠诚。

4 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

5 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。

6 poetical   

adj.似诗人的；诗一般的；韵文的；富有诗意的

参考例句：

• This is a poetical picture of the landscape. 这是一幅富有诗意的风景画。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• John is making a periphrastic study in a worn-out poetical fashion. 约翰正在对陈腐的诗风做迂回冗长的研究。 来自辞典例句

7 ponderous   

adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的

参考例句：

• His steps were heavy and ponderous.他的步伐沉重缓慢。
• It was easy to underestimate him because of his occasionally ponderous manner.由于他偶尔现出的沉闷的姿态，很容易使人小看了他。

8 seclusion   

n.隐遁，隔离

参考例句：

• She liked to sunbathe in the seclusion of her own garden.她喜欢在自己僻静的花园里晒日光浴。
• I live very much in seclusion these days.这些天我过着几乎与世隔绝的生活。

9 constellations   

n.星座( constellation的名词复数 )；一群杰出人物；一系列（相关的想法、事物）；一群（相关的人）

参考例句：

• The map of the heavens showed all the northern constellations. 这份天体图标明了北半部所有的星座。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His time was coming, he would move in the constellations of power. 他时来运转，要进入权力中心了。 来自教父部分

10 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

11 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

12 confiding   

adj.相信人的，易于相信的v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的现在分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等）

参考例句：

• The girl is of a confiding nature. 这女孩具有轻信别人的性格。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Celia, though confiding her opinion only to Andrew, disagreed. 西莉亚却不这么看，尽管她只向安德鲁吐露过。 来自辞典例句

13 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。

14 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

15 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

16 pageant   

n.壮观的游行；露天历史剧

参考例句：

• Our pageant represented scenes from history.我们的露天历史剧上演一幕幕的历史事件。
• The inauguration ceremony of the new President was a splendid pageant.新主席的就职典礼的开始是极其壮观的。

17 wilful   

adj.任性的，故意的

参考例句：

• A wilful fault has no excuse and deserves no pardon.不能宽恕故意犯下的错误。
• He later accused reporters of wilful distortion and bias.他后来指责记者有意歪曲事实并带有偏见。

18 morbidness   

（精神的）病态

参考例句：

• Too much self-inspection leads to morbidness; too little conducts to careless and hasty action. 不过过度的自我检讨会成为病态，检讨不足则又导致行事粗心草率。 来自互联网

19 tragically   

adv. 悲剧地，悲惨地

参考例句：

• Their daughter was tragically killed in a road accident. 他们的女儿不幸死于车祸。
• Her father died tragically in a car crash. 她父亲在一场车祸中惨死。