英语听书《白鲸记》第383期

 Originally it was in itself accounted an object of great curiosity.  它本来还被当成一种富有玩赏价值的东西。

Black Letter tells me that Sir Martin Frobisher on his return from that voyage,  书本上还告诉我说,在马丁。弗罗比歇爵士从那次航程回来,

when Queen Bess did gallantly¹ wave her jewelled hand to him from a window of Greenwich Palace, as his bold ship sailed down the Thames;  他那条历尽千难万险的船驶进泰晤士河的时候,贝斯女王还在格林尼治宫的窗口对他殷勤挥起她那珠光宝气的手呢。

when Sir Martin returned from that voyage, saith Black Letter,  书上说,马丁爵士从那次航行回来,

on bended knees he presented to her highness a prodigious² long horn of the Narwhale, which for a long period after hung in the castle at Windsor.  屈着双膝把一只非常长的独角鲸的角献给女王,此后,这只角还在温沙宫里挂了很长一个时期。

An Irish author avers³ that the Earl of Leicester, on bended knees, did likewise present to her highness another horn, pertaining⁴ to a land beast of the unicorn⁵ nature. 某一个爱尔兰作家还证明出莱斯特伯爵也曾屈着双膝呈给女王一只角,不过,那是取自陆上的独角兽的。

The Narwhale has a very picturesque⁶, leopard-like look, being of a milk-white ground color, dotted with round and oblong spots of black.  独角鲸有一种十分美丽如画的,豹子似的样子,因为它身上呈乳白色,长椭圆的黑点子,星罗棋布。

His oil is very superior, clear and fine; but there is little of it, and he is seldom hunted. He is mostly found in the circumpolar seas. 它的油十分上乘而清纯;只是油量不多,并且难得捕到。大都要到极地附近的海洋上才找得到它。

BOOK II. (Octavo), CHAPTER IV. (Killer⁷). 第二篇(八开型)　第四章(海豚鲸)...

Of this whale little is precisely⁸ known to the Nantucketer, and nothing at all to the professed⁹ naturalists¹⁰.  关于这种鲸,南塔开特人也不很弄得清楚,至于职业的博物学家更是一无所知了。

From what I have seen of him at a distance, I should say that he was about the bigness of a grampus. He is very savage-a sort of Feegee fish.  根据我曾经在远处看到它的经验,我敢说它的身材大小跟逆戟鲸差不多。

He sometimes takes the great Folio whales by the lip, and hangs there like a leech¹¹, till the mighty¹² brute¹³ is worried to death.  它生性十分凶猛...可以说是一种菲济鱼。它往往抓着大对开鲸的嘴唇,象只水蛭般吊在那里,直弄得那大野物恼得要死。

The Killer is never hunted. I never heard what sort of oil he has. Exception might be taken to the name bestowed¹⁴ upon this whale, on the ground of its indistinctness.  人们从来没有捕到过海豚鲸,我也从来没有听到它有什么油。由于它的来路不明,我们必须反对给这种鲸取上这个名字。

For we are all killers¹⁵, on land and on sea; Bonapartes and Sharks included. 因为我们都是海上陆上的凶手,包括大鲨鱼和拿破仑在内。

1 gallantly   

adv. 漂亮地，勇敢地，献殷勤地

参考例句：

• He gallantly offered to carry her cases to the car. 他殷勤地要帮她把箱子拎到车子里去。
• The new fighters behave gallantly under fire. 新战士在炮火下表现得很勇敢。

2 prodigious   

adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的

参考例句：

• This business generates cash in prodigious amounts.这种业务收益丰厚。
• He impressed all who met him with his prodigious memory.他惊人的记忆力让所有见过他的人都印象深刻。

3 avers   

v.断言( aver的第三人称单数 )；证实；证明…属实；作为事实提出

参考例句：

• He avers that chaos will erupt if he loses. 他断言，如果他失败将会爆发动乱。 来自辞典例句
• He avers he will not attend the meeting. 他断言不会参加那个会议。 来自互联网

4 pertaining   

与…有关系的，附属…的，为…固有的(to)

参考例句：

• Living conditions are vastly different from those pertaining in their country of origin. 生活条件与他们祖国大不相同。
• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school. 视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。

5 unicorn   

n.(传说中的)独角兽

参考例句：

• The unicorn is an imaginary beast.独角兽是幻想出来的动物。
• I believe unicorn was once living in the world.我相信独角兽曾经生活在这个世界。

6 picturesque   

adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的

参考例句：

• You can see the picturesque shores beside the river.在河边你可以看到景色如画的两岸。
• That was a picturesque phrase.那是一个形象化的说法。

7 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

8 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

9 professed   

公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的

参考例句：

• These, at least, were their professed reasons for pulling out of the deal. 至少这些是他们自称退出这宗交易的理由。
• Her manner professed a gaiety that she did not feel. 她的神态显出一种她并未实际感受到的快乐。

10 naturalists   

n.博物学家( naturalist的名词复数 )；（文学艺术的）自然主义者

参考例句：

• Naturalists differ much in determining what characters are of generic value. 自然学者对于不同性状决定生物的属的含义上，各有各的见解。 来自辞典例句
• This fact has led naturalists to believe that the Isthmus was formerly open. 使许多自然学者相信这个地蛱在以前原是开通的。 来自辞典例句

11 leech   

n.水蛭，吸血鬼，榨取他人利益的人；vt.以水蛭吸血；vi.依附于别人

参考例句：

• A leech is a small blood-sucking worm and usually lives in water.水蛭是一种小型吸血虫，通常生活在水中。
• One-side love like a greedy leech absorbed my time and my mirth.单相思如同一只贪婪的水蛭，吸走了我的时间和欢笑。

12 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。

13 brute   

n.野兽，兽性

参考例句：

• The aggressor troops are not many degrees removed from the brute.侵略军简直象一群野兽。
• That dog is a dangerous brute.It bites people.那条狗是危险的畜牲，它咬人。

14 bestowed   

赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It was a title bestowed upon him by the king. 那是国王赐给他的头衔。
• He considered himself unworthy of the honour they had bestowed on him. 他认为自己不配得到大家赋予他的荣誉。

15 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。