英语听书《白鲸记》第445期

 Even then, when he bore that firm, collected front, however pale, and issued his calm orders once again;  甚至在那个时候,尽管他脸色苍白,他依然显得神态坚定自若,又在镇定地发号施令了。

and his mates thanked God the direful madness was now gone; even then, Ahab, in his hidden self, raved¹ on. Human madness is oftentimes a cunning and most feline² thing.  他的大二三副都谢天谢地,以为他那可怕的疯狂症现在已经痊愈了。可是,即使在那个时候,亚哈的内心还是十分狂乱。

When you think it fled, it may have but become transfigured into some still subtler form.  人的疯狂往往就是一种诡诈而最阴险的东西。你以为它已经远走高飞了,它却也许不过是变成一种更为巧妙的形体而已。

Ahab's full lunacy subsided³ not, but deepeningly contracted; like the unabated Hudson, when that noble Northman flows narrowly, but unfathomably through the Highland⁴ gorge⁵.  亚哈的疯狂并没有完全消退,而是更其深沉地凝缩起来了,有如潮势不退的哈得逊河在高贵的北方人细水缓流地穿过时却莫测高深地穿过高原的峡谷而去。

But, as in his narrow-flowing monomania, not one jot⁶ of Ahab's broad madness had been left behind;  但是,因为亚哈在他那细水缓流的偏热症中,一点也没有留下明显的疯狂症的痕迹,

so in that broad madness, not one jot of his great natural intellect had perished.  因此,在他那明显的疯狂症中,他伟大的天生的理智,也一点没有消失。

That before living agent, now became the living instrument.  以前那种富有生气的力量,如今已变成富有生气的手段了。

If such a furious trope may stand, his special lunacy stormed his general sanity⁷, and carried it, and turned all its concentred cannon⁸ upon its own mad mark;  如果这样一种粗糙的比喻是妥当的,那么,他那特殊的疯狂症在猛攻了他整个清楚的神志后,又把它发展了,把它一切集中的炮火都瞄向它自己的疯狂的目标上;

so that far from having lost his strength, Ahab, to that one end, did now possess a thousand fold more potency⁹ than ever he had sanely¹⁰ brought to bear upon any one reasonable object. 因此,亚哈根本没有丧失他的魄力,他现在对于那个目的,远比他以前神志清楚时瞄准任何一个适当的目的都更拥有千倍的力量了。

1 raved   

v.胡言乱语( rave的过去式和过去分词 )；愤怒地说；咆哮；痴心地说

参考例句：

• Andrew raved all night in his fever. 安德鲁发烧时整夜地说胡话。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They raved about her beauty. 他们过分称赞她的美。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 feline   

adj.猫科的

参考例句：

• As a result,humans have learned to respect feline independence.结果是人们已经学会尊重猫的独立性。
• The awakening was almost feline in its stealthiness.这种醒觉，简直和猫的脚步一样地轻悄。

3 subsided   

v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上

参考例句：

• After the heavy rains part of the road subsided. 大雨过后，部分公路塌陷了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• By evening the storm had subsided and all was quiet again. 傍晚， 暴风雨已经过去，四周开始沉寂下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 highland   

n.(pl.)高地，山地

参考例句：

• The highland game is part of Scotland's cultural heritage.苏格兰高地游戏是苏格兰文化遗产的一部分。
• The highland forests where few hunters venture have long been the bear's sanctuary.这片只有少数猎人涉险的高山森林，一直都是黑熊的避难所。

5 gorge   

n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃

参考例句：

• East of the gorge leveled out.峡谷东面地势变得平坦起来。
• It made my gorge rise to hear the news.这消息令我作呕。

6 jot   

n.少量；vi.草草记下；vt.匆匆写下

参考例句：

• I'll jot down their address before I forget it.我得赶快把他们的地址写下来，免得忘了。
• There is not a jot of evidence to say it does them any good.没有丝毫的证据显示这对他们有任何好处。

7 sanity   

n.心智健全，神智正常，判断正确

参考例句：

• I doubt the sanity of such a plan.我怀疑这个计划是否明智。
• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。

8 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

9 potency   

n. 效力，潜能

参考例句：

• Alcohol increases the drug's potency.酒精能增加这种毒品的效力。
• Sunscreen can lose its potency if left over winter in the bathroom cabinet.如果把防晒霜在盥洗室的壁橱里放一个冬天，就有可能失效。

10 sanely   

ad.神志清楚地

参考例句：

• This homogenization simplifies and uncomplicated the world enough to model It'sanely. 这种均质化的处理方式，简化了世界，足以能够稳妥地为它建模。
• She is behaving rather sanely these days even though we know she is schizophrenic. 尽管我们知道她有精神分裂症，但那些天她的举止还算清醒。