英语听书《白鲸记》第474期

 Often, when forced from his hammock by exhausting and intolerably vivid dreams of the night, 他往往被非常逼真而消耗精力的夜梦弄得不得不从吊铺上爬起来，

which, resuming his own intense thoughts through the day, 这些日有所思。

carried them on amid a clashing of phrensies, 夜有所梦的紧张梦景，又把思潮继续带到如癫如狂的战阵里，

and whirled them round and round and round in his blazing brain，till the very throbbing¹ of his life-spot became insufferable anguish²; 在他那熊熊烈火的脑壳里不停地打旋，旋得他那唯一的生命之火激成难抑的苦楚；

and when, as was sometimes the case, 而且有时候，往往是这般情况，

these spiritual throes in him heaved his being up from its base, 即在他这种精神的苦楚把他弄得魂灵出窍时，

and a chasm³ seemed opening in him, 他体内就似乎豁成一个大坑，

from which forked flames and lightnings shot up, 交叉的火光都打坑里直射出来，

and accursed fiends beckoned⁴ him to leap down among them; 那些该死的恶魔都在招呼他跳下去跟它们在一起；

when this hell in himself yawned beneath him, 等到他体内这个地狱大张其口的时候，

a wild cry would be heard through the ship; 通船便会听到一阵狂叫声；

and with glaring eyes Ahab would burst from his state room, 接着，亚哈就瞪着双眼，打他的舱室里冲了出来，

as though escaping from a bed that was on fire.  仿佛是从一只着了火的床铺里逃出来。

Yet these, perhaps, instead of being the unsuppressable symptoms of some latent weakness, 然而这一切，也许不能说是他暴露了他的压制不住的弱点，

or fright at his own resolve, 也不能说是他对自己的决心有所动摇，

were but the plainest tokens of its intensity⁵. 而只能说是它那剧烈的程度的最明白的表现。

For, at such times, crazy Ahab, the scheming, unappeasedly steadfast⁶ hunter of the white whale;  因为，在这种时候，疯疯癫癫的亚哈，这个深谋远虑。决不妥协。信心坚决的白鲸猎手；

this Ahab that had gone to his hammock, 这个已经上了他那只吊铺的亚哈，

was not the agent that so caused him to burst from it in horror again. 使他那么一吓又打吊铺冲了出来的，

The latter was the eternal, living principle or soul in him; 并不是什么动力，动力本来就是他的永恒长存的本原，或者是他的灵魂；

and in sleep, 睡觉的时候，

being for the time dissociated from the characterizing mind, 因为是暂时跟那具有特性的精神失去了联系

which at other times employed it for its outer vehicle or agent, (这种精神，平时是用来做它的外界的传达手段和动力的)，

it spontaneously sought escape from the scorching⁷ contiguity⁸ of the frantic⁹ thing, 精神就自然而然地想摆脱那种狂乱的事物的热烈的接触，

of which, for the time, it was no longer an integral. 精神也就暂时不是一个整体了。

But as the mind does not exist unless leagued with the soul, 但是，因为精神如不与灵魂相结合，精神就不可能存在，

therefore it must have been that, 因此，就亚哈的情况说来，

in Ahab's case, yielding up all his thoughts and fancies to his one supreme¹⁰ purpose;  精神一定已经是把他种种思想和想象都化成他那唯一的最高的目的了；

that purpose, by its own sheer inveteracy¹¹ of will, 这种目的，全然由于它本身的宿愿所驱使，

forced itself against gods and devils into a kind of self-assumed, independent being of its own. 不得不由反抗鬼神而成为目的本身的一种独断独行。独来独往的东西。

Nay¹², could grimly live and burn, while the common vitality¹³ to which it was conjoined, 而且，当它一跟通常的活力相结合时，就会凶猛地表现出来，燃烧起来，

fled horror-stricken from the unbidden and unfathered birth. 逃避得了一切无缘无由的恐吓。

Therefore, the tormented¹⁴ spirit that glared out of bodily eyes, when what seemed Ahab rushed from his room, 因此，当亚哈从他房间里奔出来的时候，他肉眼所闪出来的那种苦恼的神色，

was for the time but a vacated thing, a formless somnambulistic being, 好象暂时就是一种空泛泛的东西，是一个不具形体的梦游病者，

a ray of living light, to be sure, but without an object to color, 是一线天然的光，而且确实没有什么色彩，因此，就其本身说来，

and therefore a blankness in itself. 只是一片空白而已。

God help thee, old man, thy thoughts have created a creature in thee; 愿上帝扶助你啊，老人，你的思潮已在你身上创造出了一个生物。

and he whose intense thinking thus makes him a Prometheus; 他的紧张的思潮已经使他成为一个普罗米修斯了。

a vulture feeds upon that heart for ever; 鹰隼永远在啄食着那个心胸，

that vulture the very creature he creates. 那只鹰隼就正是他所创造的生物。

1 throbbing   

a. 跳动的,悸动的

参考例句：

• My heart is throbbing and I'm shaking. 我的心在猛烈跳动，身子在不住颤抖。
• There was a throbbing in her temples. 她的太阳穴直跳。

2 anguish   

n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼

参考例句：

• She cried out for anguish at parting.分手时，她由于痛苦而失声大哭。
• The unspeakable anguish wrung his heart.难言的痛苦折磨着他的心。

3 chasm   

n.深坑，断层，裂口，大分岐，利害冲突

参考例句：

• There's a chasm between rich and poor in that society.那社会中存在着贫富差距。
• A huge chasm gaped before them.他们面前有个巨大的裂痕。

4 beckoned   

v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He beckoned to the waiter to bring the bill. 他招手示意服务生把账单送过来。
• The seated figure in the corner beckoned me over. 那个坐在角落里的人向我招手让我过去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 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。

6 steadfast   

adj.固定的，不变的，不动摇的；忠实的；坚贞不移的

参考例句：

• Her steadfast belief never left her for one moment.她坚定的信仰从未动摇过。
• He succeeded in his studies by dint of steadfast application.由于坚持不懈的努力他获得了学业上的成功。

7 scorching   

adj. 灼热的

参考例句：

• a scorching, pitiless sun 灼热的骄阳
• a scorching critique of the government's economic policy 对政府经济政策的严厉批评

8 contiguity   

n.邻近，接壤

参考例句：

• The contiguity of the house and the garage was a convenience in bad weather.住宅和车库毗邻，这在天气不好的时候是很方便的。
• Scientists want to investigate the relation between xerophthalmia occurrence and smut contiguity.科学家们打算探讨干眼症与煤尘接触之间的关系。

9 frantic   

adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的

参考例句：

• I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。
• He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。

10 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。

11 inveteracy   

n.根深蒂固，积习

参考例句：

• The inveteracy of people's prejudices is out of your imagination. 人们偏见的根深蒂固远远超出了你的想象。 来自辞典例句
• Chinese traditional political ideas were of long standing and inveteracy. 中国传统政治观念源远流长、根深蒂固。 来自互联网

12 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。

13 vitality   

n.活力，生命力，效力

参考例句：

• He came back from his holiday bursting with vitality and good health.他度假归来之后，身强体壮，充满活力。
• He is an ambitious young man full of enthusiasm and vitality.他是个充满热情与活力的有远大抱负的青年。

14 tormented   

饱受折磨的

参考例句：

• The knowledge of his guilt tormented him. 知道了自己的罪责使他非常痛苦。
• He had lain awake all night, tormented by jealousy. 他彻夜未眠，深受嫉妒的折磨。