英语听书《白鲸记》第333期

 With all her might she crowds all sail off shore; in so doing, fights 'gainst the very winds that fain would blow her homeward;  船只用尽全力,扯起所有的篷帆。离开海岸;为的是要坚决抗拒那股很想把它吹向家去的大风;再去寻找那波涛汹涌的一片汪洋;

seeks all the lashed¹ sea's landlessness again; for refuge's sake forlornly rushing into peril²; her only friend her bitterest foe³! 为了避难,却绝望地冲向危险;船只的唯一的朋友也是它的最残酷的敌人!

Know ye now, Bulkington? Glimpses do ye seem to see of that mortally intolerable truth;  现在,你可明白吗,布金敦?你好象是识破那非常难受的真理;

that all deep, earnest thinking is but the intrepid⁴ effort of the soul to keep the open independence of her sea;  所有深谋远虑而认真的念头无非是竭尽心力,使船只在海洋中保持自由自主;

while the wildest winds of heaven and earth conspire⁵ to cast her on the treacherous⁶, slavish shore? 可是,宇宙的最激烈的风暴却沆瀣一气地想把船只抛上那不可靠的。奴气十足的岸上去?

But as in landlessness alone resides the highest truth, shoreless, indefinite as God 不过,因为汪洋大海本身就寓有最高的真理无涯,象上帝一样高深莫测。

so better is it to perish in that howling infinite, than be ingloriously dashed upon the lee, even if that were safety! For worm-like, then, oh!  因此,与其可耻地冲向下风,不如灭亡在那呼啸的无垠中,哪怕下风是安全的!

who would craven crawl to land! Terrors of the terrible! is all this agony so vain? Take heart, take heart, O Bulkington!  因为只有那些虫豸似的东西,啊,才会畏缩地匍匐到陆地去!多可怕的人啊!难道所有这些苦楚都是徒劳无益的吗?布金敦啊!

Bear thee grimly, demigod! Up from the spray of thy ocean-perishing-straight up, leaps thy apotheosis⁷! 鼓起勇气来呀,鼓起勇气来!被崇拜的人呵,你勇敢地忍受吧!你这被崇拜的人呵,从危险的海洋的浪花里冲出来呵。振作起来!

1 lashed   

adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• The rain lashed at the windows. 雨点猛烈地打在窗户上。
• The cleverly designed speech lashed the audience into a frenzy. 这篇精心设计的演说煽动听众使他们发狂。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 peril   

n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物

参考例句：

• The refugees were in peril of death from hunger.难民有饿死的危险。
• The embankment is in great peril.河堤岌岌可危。

3 foe   

n.敌人，仇敌

参考例句：

• He knew that Karl could be an implacable foe.他明白卡尔可能会成为他的死敌。
• A friend is a friend;a foe is a foe;one must be clearly distinguished from the other.敌是敌，友是友，必须分清界限。

4 intrepid   

adj.无畏的，刚毅的

参考例句：

• He is not really satisfied with his intrepid action.他没有真正满意他的无畏行动。
• John's intrepid personality made him a good choice for team leader.约翰勇敢的个性适合作领导工作。

5 conspire   

v.密谋，（事件等）巧合，共同导致

参考例句：

• They'd conspired to overthrow the government.他们曾经密谋推翻政府。
• History and geography have conspired to bring Greece to a moment of decision.历史和地理因素共同将希腊推至作出抉择的紧要关头。

6 treacherous   

adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的

参考例句：

• The surface water made the road treacherous for drivers.路面的积水对驾车者构成危险。
• The frozen snow was treacherous to walk on.在冻雪上行走有潜在危险。

7 apotheosis   

n.神圣之理想；美化；颂扬

参考例句：

• The legend of king arthur represent the apotheosis of chivalry.亚瑟王的传说代表骑士精神的顶峰。
• The Oriental in Bangkok is the apotheosis of the grand hotel.曼谷的东方饭店是豪华饭店的典范。