英语听书《白鲸记》第338期

 The whale no famous author, and whaling no famous chronicler? Who wrote the first account of our Leviathan? Who but mighty¹ Job?  写鲸的并没有产生什么著名的作家,捕鲸业也没有出过什么著名的编史家么?那么,是谁首先记载我们的大海兽呢?

And who composed the first narrative² of a whaling-voyage?  除了伟大的约伯而外还有谁呢?谁编出第一个捕鲸航程的故事呢?

Who, but no less a prince than Alfred the Great, who, with his own royal pen, took down the words from Other, the Norwegian whale-hunter of those times!  他就正是当时的王子艾尔弗雷德大帝,他提起他的御笔,把鄂大,即当时的挪威捕鲸者的故事记了下来!

And who pronounced our glowing eulogy³ in Parliament? Who, but Edmund Burke! 谁在议会上宣读我们那篇热烈的颂词呢?还不是埃德蒙。伯克!

True enough, but then whalemen themselves are poor devils; they have no good blood in their veins⁴. 这都说得不错,不过,捕鲸者本身可都是些可怜虫呀;他们的血管里没有好血。

No good blood in their veins? They have something better than royal blood there. The grandmother of Benjamin Franklin was Mary Morrel;  他们的血管里没有好血么?他们可有比皇族的血更好的东西咧。本杰明富兰克林的祖母就是玛丽莫雷耳;

afterwards, by marriage, Mary Folger, one of the old settlers of Nantucket, and the ancestress to a long line of Folgers and harpooneers- 后来嫁给南塔开特一个老殖民者,成为玛丽。福尔杰,也是一长串福尔杰族和标枪手们的女祖宗,

all kith and kin⁵ to noble Benjamin-this day darting⁶ the barbed iron from one side of the world to the other. 这些标枪手全都是高贵的本杰明的亲戚,在今天,他们那装上倒钩的标枪正在世界各方掷来掷去呢。

Good again; but then all confess that somehow whaling is not respectable. 这也说得不错;不过,大家总认为捕鲸业是并不体面的。

Whaling not respectable? Whaling is imperial! By old English statutory law, the whale is declared a royal fish. 捕鲸业是并不体面的么?捕鲸业是极体面的!英国的古代法规,就把鲸称为钦定鱼呢。

Oh, that's only nominal⁷! The whale himself has never figured in any grand imposing⁸ way. 那只是空有其名的啊!大鲸本身从来就没有被当做什么大了不起的。

1 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。

2 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

3 eulogy   

n.颂词；颂扬

参考例句：

• He needs no eulogy from me or from any other man. 他不需要我或者任何一个人来称颂。
• Mr.Garth gave a long eulogy about their achievements in the research.加思先生对他们的研究成果大大地颂扬了一番。

4 veins   

n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理

参考例句：

• The blood flows from the capillaries back into the veins. 血从毛细血管流回静脉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I felt a pleasant glow in all my veins from the wine. 喝过酒后我浑身的血都热烘烘的，感到很舒服。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 kin   

n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的

参考例句：

• He comes of good kin.他出身好。
• She has gone to live with her husband's kin.她住到丈夫的亲戚家里去了。

6 darting   

v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• Swallows were darting through the clouds. 燕子穿云急飞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Swallows were darting through the air. 燕子在空中掠过。 来自辞典例句

7 nominal   

adj.名义上的；(金额、租金)微不足道的

参考例句：

• The king was only the nominal head of the state. 国王只是这个国家名义上的元首。
• The charge of the box lunch was nominal.午餐盒饭收费很少。

8 imposing   

adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的

参考例句：

• The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
• He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。