英语听书《白鲸记》第388期

 Concerning the officers of the whale-craft, this seems as good a place as any to set down a little domestic peculiarity¹ on ship-board, arising from the existence of the harpooneer class of officers, a class unknown of course in any other marine² than the whale-fleet. 说到捕鲸船的船上头目,这里倒还可以顺便把船上特有的内政情况加以一记,说一说船上头目中的标枪手阶级的来源,因为这一阶级除了捕鲸船队以外,自然是其它任何船舶所不知道的。

The large importance attached to the harpooneer's vocation³ is evinced by the fact, that originally in the old Dutch Fishery, two centuries and more ago, the command of a whale-ship was not wholly lodged⁴ in the person now called the captain, but was divided between him and an officer called the Specksynder.  标枪手这一职业的重大意义是有事实根据的。在二百多年前的古荷兰捕鲸业中,捕鲸船的指挥权本来并不是完全交给那个现今叫做船长的人,而是由他跟一个叫做斯培克辛德的头目分而治之的。

Literally⁵ this word means Fat-Cutter; usage, however, in time made it equivalent to Chief Harpooneer.  这个名词...斯培克辛德...按照字义解释,就是割油者;不过,在待遇上恰好是相当于一等标枪手。

In those days, the captain's authority was restricted to the navigation and general management of the vessel⁶;  当时,船长的职权仅限于船只的航行和一般的管理工作;

while over the whale-hunting department and all its concerns, the Specksynder or Chief Harpooneer reigned⁷ supreme⁸.  至于捕鲸以及一切跟捕鲸方面有关的事情,都由斯培克辛德也即一等标枪手大权独揽。

In the British Greenland Fishery, under the corrupted⁹ title of Specksioneer, this old Dutch official is still retained, but his former dignity is sadly abridged¹⁰.  在英国的格陵兰捕鱼业中,却仍沿用这个语言讹误的"斯培克西昂尼尔"的头衔,保留了这个古荷兰的船上头目的职位,可是,他以前的权尊则已给大大地缩小了。

At present he ranks simply as senior Harpooneer; and as such, is but one of the captain's more inferior subalterns.  现在他只算是个高级标枪手;这样一来,这种职司不过是船长的一个比较下级的部属而已。

Nevertheless, as upon the good conduct of the harpooneers the success of a whaling voyage largely depends, and since in the American Fishery he is not only an important officer in the boat, but under certain circumstances (night watches on a whaling ground) the command of the ship's deck is also his;  然而,由于一次捕鲸航行的成功,大多有赖于这些标枪手的掌握得宜,同时,因为在美国捕鱼业中,他不只是小艇上的一个重要头目,而且在某种情况之下(在捕鲸场上的值夜),整个船面指挥权,也是属于他的;

therefore the grand political maxim¹¹ of the sea demands, that he should nominally¹² live apart from the men before the mast, and be in some way distinguished¹³ as their professional superior; though always, by them, familiarly regarded as their social equal. 因此,根据海上的主要政治准则,就要求他必须在形式上与那些桅杆前的水手分开生活,必须在职务上多少显得比一般水手优越些;虽然大家往往是熟不拘礼地把他们看成地位同等的人物。

1 peculiarity   

n.独特性，特色；特殊的东西；怪癖

参考例句：

• Each country has its own peculiarity.每个国家都有自己的独特之处。
• The peculiarity of this shop is its day and nigth service.这家商店的特点是昼夜服务。

2 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

3 vocation   

n.职业，行业

参考例句：

• She struggled for years to find her true vocation.她多年来苦苦寻找真正适合自己的职业。
• She felt it was her vocation to minister to the sick.她觉得照料病人是她的天职。

4 lodged   

v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属

参考例句：

• The certificate will have to be lodged at the registry. 证书必须存放在登记处。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Our neighbours lodged a complaint against us with the police. 我们的邻居向警方控告我们。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

6 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

7 reigned   

vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式）

参考例句：

• Silence reigned in the hall. 全场肃静。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Night was deep and dead silence reigned everywhere. 夜深人静，一片死寂。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

9 corrupted   

（使）败坏( corrupt的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏

参考例句：

• The body corrupted quite quickly. 尸体很快腐烂了。
• The text was corrupted by careless copyists. 原文因抄写员粗心而有讹误。

10 abridged   

削减的，删节的

参考例句：

• The rights of citizens must not be abridged without proper cause. 没有正当理由，不能擅自剥夺公民的权利。
• The play was abridged for TV. 剧本经过节略，以拍摄电视片。

11 maxim   

n.格言，箴言

参考例句：

• Please lay the maxim to your heart.请把此格言记在心里。
• "Waste not,want not" is her favourite maxim.“不浪费则不匮乏”是她喜爱的格言。

12 nominally   

在名义上，表面地； 应名儿

参考例句：

• Dad, nominally a Methodist, entered Churches only for weddings and funerals. 爸名义上是卫理公会教徒，可只去教堂参加婚礼和葬礼。
• The company could not indicate a person even nominally responsible for staff training. 该公司甚至不能指出一个名义上负责职员培训的人。

13 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。