英语听书《白鲸记》第553期

 　　"During the night, Radney had an unseaman-like way of sitting on the bulwarks¹ of the quarterdeck, “拉德尼在晚间有一种非水手的习惯，就是爱坐在后甲板的舷壁上，

　　and leaning his arm upon the gunwale of the boat which was hoisted² up there, a little above the ship's side. 胳膊靠在那只吊在那里。比船舷稍微高些的小艇舷边上。

　　In this attitude, it was well known, he sometimes dozed³. 大家都知道，他时常就这样打起盹来。

　　There was a considerable vacancy⁴ between the boat and the ship, and down between this was the sea. 小艇跟船有一大段距离，这段距离的下边就是海洋。

　　Steelkilt calculated his time,  斯蒂尔基尔特盘算了一下时间，

　　and found that his next trick at the helm would come round at two o'clock, in the morning of the third day from that in which he had been betrayed. 知道到了他被出卖的第三天早晨两点钟的时候，就轮到他值掌舵的班。

　　At his leisure, he employed the interval⁵ in braiding something very carefully in his watches below. 这时，他闲着无事做，就趁空跑到下边，十分小心地编起些什么来。

　　What are you making there? said a shipmate." “你在那儿干什么？一个伙伴说。

　　"What do you think? what does it look like? “你想在干什么呀？这像什么东西？

　　Like a lanyard for your bag; but it's an odd one, seems to me." “好像是给你那只旅行袋编的索带；不过，我看又像是一根很古怪的索子。

　　Yes, rather oddish, said the Lakeman, holding it at arm's length before him; but I think it will answer. “不错，古怪了些，，湖上人说，手里捏得紧紧，不让他细看；不过我想它会管用的。

　　Shipmate, I haven't enough twine⁶,--have you any? 伙计，我的麻线不够啦——你可有吗？

　　"But there was none in the forecastle. “船头楼里也一点都没有了。

　　Then I must get some from old Rad; and he rose to go aft." “那么，我得去跟拉德尼老头要一点啦；，于是他站了起来，到船尾去。

　　"You don't mean to go a begging to him! said a sailor. “你不打算去向他乞讨吧！一个水手说。

　　Why not? Do you think he won't do me a turn, when it's to help himself in the end, shipmate? “干吗不！你想他不会对我做回好事么？这个到底对他也有好处呢，是么？老朋友？

　　and going to the mate, he looked at him quietly, and asked him for some twine to mend his hammock." 于是他便走到大副那里去，悄悄地望着他，问他要点麻线补补他的吊铺。

1 bulwarks   

n.堡垒( bulwark的名词复数 )；保障；支柱；舷墙

参考例句：

• The freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks of liberty. 新闻自由是自由最大的保障之一。 来自辞典例句
• Surgery and X-irradiation nevertheless remain the bulwarks of cancer treatment throughout the world. 外科手术和X射线疗法依然是全世界治疗癌症的主要方法。 来自辞典例句

2 hoisted   

把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He hoisted himself onto a high stool. 他抬身坐上了一张高凳子。
• The sailors hoisted the cargo onto the deck. 水手们把货物吊到甲板上。

3 dozed   

v.打盹儿，打瞌睡( doze的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He boozed till daylight and dozed into the afternoon. 他喝了个通霄，昏沉沉地一直睡到下午。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• I dozed off during the soporific music. 我听到这催人入睡的音乐，便不知不觉打起盹儿来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 vacancy   

n.（旅馆的）空位，空房，（职务的）空缺

参考例句：

• Her going on maternity leave will create a temporary vacancy.她休产假时将会有一个临时空缺。
• The vacancy of her expression made me doubt if she was listening.她茫然的神情让我怀疑她是否在听。

5 interval   

n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息

参考例句：

• The interval between the two trees measures 40 feet.这两棵树的间隔是40英尺。
• There was a long interval before he anwsered the telephone.隔了好久他才回了电话。

6 twine   

v.搓，织，编饰；（使）缠绕

参考例句：

• He tied the parcel with twine.他用细绳捆包裹。
• Their cardboard boxes were wrapped and tied neatly with waxed twine.他们的纸板盒用蜡线扎得整整齐齐。