英语听书《白鲸记》第292期

 I was also aware that being a green hand at whaling, my own lay would not be very large;  我也知道,我在捕鲸业是个新手,我的"拆账"不会很多;

but considering that I was used to the sea, could steer¹ a ship, splice² a rope,  但是,因为我已熟悉海上生活,能掌舵,会捻绳,以及其它等等,

and all that, I made no doubt that from all I had heard I should be offered at least the 275th lay 因此,我毫不怀疑地认为,根据我的见闻,至少该得二百七十五分之一的"拆账"。

that is, the 275th part of the clear net proceeds of the voyage, whatever that might eventually amount to.  就是说,不管最后的红利数目有多少,一次航程我可净得二百七十五分之一的红利。

And though the 275th lay was what they call a rather long lay, yet it was better than nothing;  虽然人们把二百七十五分之一叫做"大拆账"。这是因为只就表面上百分比的分母大小而论的,而实际上,分母越大,商数,然而,这倒也是聊胜于无的;

and if we had a lucky voyage, might pretty nearly pay for the clothing I would wear out on it, not to speak of my three years' beef and board,  如果我们碰上一次好运气的航程,那就差不多很可以补偿我所穿破的衣服,别说我还能白吃三年的牛肉,在船上白住三年,

for which I would not have to pay one stiver. 一个子儿都不用付。

It might be thought that this was a poor way to accumulate a princely fortune-and so it was, a very poor way indeed.  也许有人会认为,这是积攒大财的可怜方法吧。一点不假,这的确是一个十分可怜的方法。

But I am one of those that never take on about princely fortunes, and am quite content if the world is ready to board and lodge³ me,  不过,我是个从来没有打过要发大财的主意的人,正当我要在这个挂着"雷云"的冷酷的招牌的处所投宿时,

while I am putting up at this grim sign of the Thunder Cloud.  如果这世界有我容身之地也就够心满意足了。

Upon the whole, I thought that the 275th lay would be about the fair thing,  总之,我认为二百七十五分之一的拆账应该算是很公平的了,

but would not have been surprised had I been offered the 200th, considering I was of a broad-shouldered make. 不过,考虑到我生来就是一块挑得起重担的材料,如果出我二百分之一的话,我也不会感到惊奇。

But one thing, nevertheless, that made me a little distrustful about receiving a generous share of the profits was this:  话虽如此,但是,对于接受一笔慷慨的分红却有一桩使我稍觉狐疑的事情:

Ashore⁴, I had heard something of both Captain Peleg and his unaccountable old crony Bildad;  我在岸上已听到过法勒船长和他那个神秘莫测的老朋友比勒达两人的一些事情;

how that they being the principal proprietors⁵ of the Pequod, therefore the other and more inconsiderable and scattered⁶ owners,  说是因为他们俩都是"裴廓德号"的主要股东,因此,其他那些为数众多的零星小户的股东老板,

left nearly the whole management of the ship's affairs to these two. 差不多把整个船务都交给他们这两个人照管。

1 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

2 splice   

v.接合，衔接；n.胶接处，粘接处

参考例句：

• He taught me to edit and splice film.他教我剪辑和粘接胶片。
• The film will be spliced with footage of Cypress Hill to be filmed in America.这部电影要和将在美国拍摄的柏树山乐队的音乐片段粘接在一起。

3 lodge   

v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆

参考例句：

• Is there anywhere that I can lodge in the village tonight?村里有我今晚过夜的地方吗？
• I shall lodge at the inn for two nights.我要在这家小店住两个晚上。

4 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

5 proprietors   

n.所有人，业主( proprietor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These little proprietors of businesses are lords indeed on their own ground. 这些小业主们，在他们自己的行当中，就是真正的至高无上的统治者。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Many proprietors try to furnish their hotels with antiques. 许多经营者都想用古董装饰他们的酒店。 来自辞典例句

6 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。