英语听书《白鲸记》第450期

 What the white whale was to Ahab, has been hinted; what, at times, he was to me, as yet remains¹ unsaid. 亚哈对白鲸怎样看法,已经略有交代;至于我时常对白鲸怎样看法,却还没有说过。

Aside from those more obvious considerations touching² Moby Dick, which could not but occasionally awaken³ in any man's soul some alarm,  关于莫比－迪克,除了难免偶尔教任何人都要惊心动魄的那些较为明显的理由而外,

there was another thought, or rather vague, nameless horror concerning him, which at times by its intensity⁴ completely overpowered all the rest;  对它还有另外一种看法,或者不如说怀有一种难以言宣的。

and yet so mystical and well nigh ineffable⁵ was it, that I almost despair of putting it in a comprehensible form.  模糊的恐怖,那种恐怖,往往由于它非常强烈地压倒一切,而且又那么神秘。近乎形容不出,以致我几乎无法以一种容易使人了解的形式把它表达出来。

It was the whiteness of the whale that above all things appalled⁶ me.  最使我害怕的就是这条大鲸的白色。我怎能在这里说得明白呢;

But how can I hope to explain myself here; and yet, in some dim, random⁷ way, explain myself I must, else all these chapters might be naught⁸. 然而,我总得胡乱含混地把它说出来,否则,所有这些章节都不免要等于零了。

Though in many natural objects, whiteness refiningly enhances beauty, as if imparting some special virtue⁹ of its own,  虽则在自然界的许多东西中,白色会优雅地显得更美,仿佛会使它本身增加一种特殊的价值,

as in marbles, japonicas, and pearls; and though various nations have in some way recognised a certain royal preeminence¹⁰ in this hue¹¹;  比如大理石。山茶花和珍珠就是这样:虽则有许多国家还认为这种颜色是一种无上的重要颜色;

even the barbaric, grand old kings of Pegu placing the title Lord of the White Elephants above all their other magniloquent ascriptions of dominion¹²;  甚至古代的野蛮而伟大的庇古帝王们,还把"白象之王"的称号置于他们其它种种夸张的统治称号之上;

and the modern kings of Siam unfurling the same snow-white quadruped in the royal standard.  现代的暹罗国王们还在王旗上扯出这种雪白的四足兽来。

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

3 awaken   

vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起

参考例句：

• Old people awaken early in the morning.老年人早晨醒得早。
• Please awaken me at six.请于六点叫醒我。

4 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

5 ineffable   

adj.无法表达的，不可言喻的

参考例句：

• The beauty of a sunset is ineffable.日落的美是难以形容的。
• She sighed a sigh of ineffable satisfaction,as if her cup of happiness were now full.她发出了一声说不出多么满意的叹息，仿佛她的幸福之杯已经斟满了。

6 appalled   

v.使惊骇，使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的；丧胆的

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• They were appalled by the reports of the nuclear war. 他们被核战争的报道吓坏了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

8 naught   

n.无，零 [=nought]

参考例句：

• He sets at naught every convention of society.他轻视所有的社会习俗。
• I hope that all your efforts won't go for naught.我希望你的努力不会毫无结果。

9 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

10 preeminence   

n.卓越,杰出

参考例句：

• No one doubted the preeminence of my father in financial matters.我父亲在财务方面的杰出才能是不容置疑的。
• Japan had no such confidence in its cultural preeminence or diplomatic skill.日本对本国文化的卓越程度和自己的外交手腕都缺乏这种信心。

11 hue   

n.色度；色调；样子

参考例句：

• The diamond shone with every hue under the sun.金刚石在阳光下放出五颜六色的光芒。
• The same hue will look different in different light.同一颜色在不同的光线下看起来会有所不同。

12 dominion   

n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图

参考例句：

• Alexander held dominion over a vast area.亚历山大曾统治过辽阔的地域。
• In the affluent society,the authorities are hardly forced to justify their dominion.在富裕社会里，当局几乎无需证明其统治之合理。