英语听书《白鲸记》第460期

 Or what is there apart from the traditions of dungeoned warriors¹ and kings (which will not wholly account for it) that makes the White Tower of London tell so much more strongly on the imagination of an untravelled American, than those other storied structures, its neighbors-the Byward Tower, or even the Bloody²?  再说,除却那些关于帝王武士被囚的传说(这个不完全足以说明问题),是什么东西使一个孤陋寡闻的美国人,会对伦敦的白塔,甚至是血塔?

And those sublimer³ towers, the White Mountains of New Hampshire, whence, in peculiar⁴ moods, comes that gigantic ghostliness over the soul at the bare mention of that name, while the thought of Virginia's Blue Ridge⁵ is full of a soft, dewy, distant dreaminess? 更加激起强烈的想象呢?而对于那些更雄伟的塔,例如纽罕布什尔的白山脉,只消一提到那些名称,就会情绪奇特,心头掠上一种巨大的鬼影,而一想到弗吉尼亚的蓝岭,却就令人好象进入一种柔和的迷蒙蒙而若即若离的梦境呢?

Or why, irrespective of all latitudes⁶ and longitudes⁷, does the name of the White Sea exert such a spectralness over the fancy,  为什么不拘在任何地方,一提到白海这名称,想象里就会出现一种鬼怪,

while that of the Yellow Sea lulls⁸ us with mortal thoughts of long lacquered mild afternoons on the waves, followed by the gaudiest⁹ and yet sleepiest of sunsets?  反之,一提到黄海,就会使人身心舒展地想到海上那一派柔和得象中国漆的悠悠的午景,和日暮时分的最炫丽而最使人睡意蒙的景象呢?

Or, to choose a wholly unsubstantial instance, purely¹⁰ addressed to the fancy, why, in reading the old fairy tales of Central Europe,  或者再挑一个完全不大现实的例子吧,为什么我们在念中欧的古代神话的时候,

does the tall pale man of the Hartz forests, whose changeless pallor unrestingly glides¹¹ through the green of the groves-why is this phantom¹² more terrible than all the whooping¹³ imps¹⁴ of the Blocksburg? 就会想到哈茨森林里那个"高大而灰白的人物"(指哈茨森林的恶魔王。仿佛看到他那不变的苍白色在绿树丛里悄悄地闪来闪去。为什么这个鬼影会比之布洛克斯堡的所有的骚闹小鬼更使人感到恐怖呢?

1 warriors   

武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I like reading the stories ofancient warriors. 我喜欢读有关古代武士的故事。
• The warriors speared the man to death. 武士们把那个男子戳死了。

2 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

3 sublimer   

使高尚者，纯化器

参考例句：

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 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

6 latitudes   

纬度

参考例句：

• Latitudes are the lines that go from east to west. 纬线是从东到西的线。
• It was the brief Indian Summer of the high latitudes. 这是高纬度地方的那种短暂的晚秋。

7 longitudes   

经度

参考例句：

• Nothing makes earth seem so to have friends at a distance; they make latitudes and longitudes. 没有什么比得上有朋在远方更使地球显得如此巨大，他们构成了纬度和经度。

8 lulls   

n.间歇期（lull的复数形式）vt.使镇静，使安静（lull的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• It puts our children to sleep and lulls us into a calm, dreamlike state. 摇晃能让孩子进入梦乡，也能将我们引人一种平静的、梦幻般的心境。 来自互联网
• There were also comedy acts, impromptu skits, and DJ music to fill the lulls between acts. 也有充满在行为之间的间歇的喜剧行为，即兴之作若干，和DJ音乐。 来自互联网

9 gaudiest   

adj.花哨的，俗气的( gaudy的最高级 )

参考例句：

• The witch doctors were bedizened in all their gaudiest costumes. 女巫医穿上她们最绚丽的衣服，打扮得俗不可耐。 来自辞典例句

10 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

11 glides   

n.滑行( glide的名词复数 )；滑音；音渡；过渡音v.滑动( glide的第三人称单数 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔

参考例句：

• The new dance consists of a series of glides. 这种新舞蹈中有一连串的滑步。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The stately swan glides gracefully on the pond. 天鹅在池面上优美地游动。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 phantom   

n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的

参考例句：

• I found myself staring at her as if she were a phantom.我发现自己瞪大眼睛看着她，好像她是一个幽灵。
• He is only a phantom of a king.他只是有名无实的国王。

13 whooping   

发嗬嗬声的，发咳声的

参考例句：

• Whooping cough is very prevalent just now. 百日咳正在广泛流行。
• Have you had your child vaccinated against whooping cough? 你给你的孩子打过百日咳疫苗了吗？

14 imps   

n.（故事中的）小恶魔( imp的名词复数 )；小魔鬼；小淘气；顽童

参考例句：

• Those imps are brewing mischief. 那些小淘气们正在打坏主意。 来自辞典例句
• No marvel if the imps follow when the devil goes before. 魔鬼带头，难怪小鬼纷纷跟随。 来自互联网