英语听书《白鲸记》第389期

 Now, the grand distinction drawn¹ between officer and man at sea, is this-the first lives aft, the last forward.  海上的船上头目和一般水手的主要区别既然是这样...头目住船尾,水手住船头。

Hence, in whale-ships and merchantmen alike, the mates have their quarters with the captain; and so, too, in most of the American whalers the harpooneers are lodged² in the after part of the ship. 那么,捕鲸船也跟一般商船一样,大二三副都跟船长住在一起;因此,在大多数的美国捕鲸船上,标枪手们也是住在船尾。

That is to say, they take their meals in the captain's cabin, and sleep in a place indirectly³ communicating with it. 这就是说,他们在船长室里吃饭,睡在船长室相近的地方。

Though the long period of a Southern whaling voyage (by far the longest of all voyages now or ever made by man),  虽说南方的捕鲸航行时间很长(可以说是古往今来人类最长最远的航程),

the peculiar⁴ perils⁵ of it, and the community of interest prevailing⁶ among a company, all of whom, high or low, depend for their profits, not upon fixed⁷ wages,  又特别富有危险性,大家又有共同的利害关系,全体人员,不论地位高低,收入都不是靠固定工资,

but upon their common luck, together with their common vigilance, intrepidity⁸, and hard work;  而是靠他们共同的运气,以及大家一起值夜,勇猛而辛劳的工作得来的;

though all these things do in some cases tend to beget⁹ a less rigorous discipline than in merchantmen generally;  虽说这一切有时会弄得纪律不及一般商船严峻;

yet, never mind how much like an old Mesopotamian family these whalemen may, in some primitive¹⁰ instances, live together;  然而,尽管这些捕鲸者是多么类似于米索不达米亚家族,富有古风地住在一起;

for all that, the punctilious¹¹ externals, at least, of the quarter-deck are seldom materially relaxed, and in no instance done away.  至少后甲板那种刻板的形式,实际上是一点也不松弛的,一点也不会有所简免的。

Indeed, many are the Nantucket ships in which you will see the skipper parading his quarter-deck with an elated grandeur¹² not surpassed in any military navy;  事实上,在许多南塔开特的船只中,人们就可以看到船长是以一种不下于任何海军的昂然自得的气势在检阅他的后甲板的;

nay¹³, extorting¹⁴ almost as much outward homage¹⁵ as if he wore the imperial purple, and not the shabbiest of pilot-cloth. 而且外表上简直是装得十分使人肃然起敬,仿佛他穿的并不是那种最蹩脚的蓝色粗呢,而是帝王的紫袍。

1 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

2 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》

3 indirectly   

adv.间接地，不直接了当地

参考例句：

• I heard the news indirectly.这消息我是间接听来的。
• They were approached indirectly through an intermediary.通过一位中间人，他们进行了间接接触。

4 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

5 perils   

极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境）

参考例句：

• The commander bade his men be undaunted in the face of perils. 指挥员命令他的战士要临危不惧。
• With how many more perils and disasters would he load himself? 他还要再冒多少风险和遭受多少灾难？

6 prevailing   

adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的

参考例句：

• She wears a fashionable hair style prevailing in the city.她的发型是这个城市流行的款式。
• This reflects attitudes and values prevailing in society.这反映了社会上盛行的态度和价值观。

7 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

8 intrepidity   

n.大胆，刚勇；大胆的行为

参考例句：

• I threw myself into class discussions, attempting to dazzle him with my intelligence and intrepidity. 我全身心投入班级讨论，试图用我的智慧和冒险精神去赢得他的钦佩。 来自互联网
• Wolf totem is a novel about wolves intrepidity, initiation, strong sense of kindred and group spirit. 《狼图腾》是一部描写蒙古草原狼无畏、积极进取、强烈家族意识和团队精神的小说。 来自互联网

9 beget   

v.引起；产生

参考例句：

• Dragons beget dragons,phoenixes beget phoenixes.龙生龙，凤生凤。
• Economic tensions beget political ones.经济紧张导致政治紧张。

10 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

11 punctilious   

adj.谨慎的，谨小慎微的

参考例句：

• He was a punctilious young man.他是个非常拘礼的年轻人。
• Billy is punctilious in the performance of his duties.毕利执行任务总是一丝不苟的。

12 grandeur   

n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华

参考例句：

• The grandeur of the Great Wall is unmatched.长城的壮观是独一无二的。
• These ruins sufficiently attest the former grandeur of the place.这些遗迹充分证明此处昔日的宏伟。

13 nay   

adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者

参考例句：

• He was grateful for and proud of his son's remarkable,nay,unique performance.他为儿子出色的，不，应该是独一无二的表演心怀感激和骄傲。
• Long essays,nay,whole books have been written on this.许多长篇大论的文章，不，应该说是整部整部的书都是关于这件事的。

14 extorting   

v.敲诈( extort的现在分词 )；曲解

参考例句：

• Corrupt government officials were extorting money from him. 腐败的政府官员向他敲诈钱财。 来自辞典例句
• He's been charged with extorting protection money from the shopkeepers. 他被指控对店主敲诈勒索保护费。 来自互联网

15 homage   

n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬

参考例句：

• We pay homage to the genius of Shakespeare.我们对莎士比亚的天才表示敬仰。
• The soldiers swore to pay their homage to the Queen.士兵们宣誓效忠于女王陛下。