英语听书《白鲸记》第564期

 　　Nor does Hogarth, in painting the same scene in his own "Perseus Descending¹," make out one whit² better. 不过，霍加思（威廉·霍加思（1697—1764）——英国画家和雕刻家。）在他自己那幅画着同一个场面的"珀修斯降世"中，也并不见得高明些。

　　The huge corpulence of that Hogarthian monster undulates on the surface, scarcely drawing one inch of water. 霍加思画的那只巨兽，在水面上起伏的硕大形体，露出水面还不及一英寸。

　　It has a sort of howdah on its back, and its distended³ tusked⁴ mouth into which the billows are rolling, 它背上有一种象背椅的东西，而那只波涛滚滚流入的张得大大的嘴巴，

　　might be taken for the Traitors⁵' Gate leading from the Thames by water into the Tower. 也许会被当做是从泰晤士河通向伦敦塔的"叛徒之门"（叛徒之门——从前送政治犯进伦敦塔朝泰晤士河那一面的门。）呢。

　　Then, there are the Prodromus whales of the old Scotch⁶ Sibbald, and Jonah's whale, as depicted⁷ in the prints of old Bibles and the cuts of old primers.  接着便是从前苏格兰的西鲍尔德发现的那条先驱鲸和描刻在旧版《圣经》上跟从前的小祷告书（小祷告书——宗教改革前所用的小祷告书。）上的那种所谓约拿鲸的插图了。

　　What shall be said of these? 对这些画又该怎么看呢？

　　As for the book-binder's whale winding⁸ like a vine-stalk round the stock of a descending anchor, 至于那种钉书工人所装饰的鲸，盘绕得象葡萄藤盘着一个下垂的锚叉一般，

　　as stamped and gilded⁹ on the backs and titlepages of many books both old and new, 印镶在古今那许多书本的书脊和里封上，

　　that is a very picturesque¹⁰ but purely¹¹ fabulous¹² creature, imitated, I take it, from the like figures on antique vases. 那倒是一种十分富有诗情画意，而又纯是神话式的动物，我认为，那是模仿古代许多瓶饰上的形象的。

　　Though universally denominated a dolphin, I nevertheless call this book-binder's fish an attempt at a whale; 虽则一般都把它称为海豚，然而，我却认为这种钉书工人的鱼是企图画鲸的一种尝试，

　　because it was so intended when the device was first introduced. 因为初次采用这种图样的时候，就有这样的意图。

　　It was introduced by an old Italian publisher somewhere about the 15th century, during the Revival¹³ of Learning; 那是在十五世纪左右，在文艺复兴时代，由意大利一个老出版商初次采用的，

　　and in those days, and even down to a comparatively late period, dolphins were popularly supposed to be a species of the Leviathan. 而且在当时，甚至直至以后相当长的期间内，大家都认为海豚就是这种大海兽的一种。

1 descending   

n. 下行 adj. 下降的

参考例句：

• The results are expressed in descending numerical order . 结果按数字降序列出。
• The climbers stopped to orient themselves before descending the mountain. 登山者先停下来确定所在的位置，然后再下山。

2 whit   

n.一点，丝毫

参考例句：

• There's not a whit of truth in the statement.这声明里没有丝毫的真实性。
• He did not seem a whit concerned.他看来毫不在乎。

3 distended   

v.（使）膨胀，肿胀( distend的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• starving children with huge distended bellies 鼓着浮肿肚子的挨饿儿童
• The balloon was distended. 气球已膨胀。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 tusked   

adj.有獠牙的，有长牙的

参考例句：

• Bogy,brown eyes regarding me,panted happily,pink tongue peeking from tusked20 jaws. 博吉那双棕色眼睛看着我，高兴地喘着粗气，张开长着獠牙的嘴，吐出粉红的舌头。 来自互联网

5 traitors   

卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 )； 叛徒； 背叛者； 背信弃义的人

参考例句：

• Traitors are held in infamy. 叛徒为人所不齿。
• Traitors have always been treated with contempt. 叛徒永被人们唾弃。

6 scotch   

n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的

参考例句：

• Facts will eventually scotch these rumours.这种谣言在事实面前将不攻自破。
• Italy was full of fine views and virtually empty of Scotch whiskey.意大利多的是美景，真正缺的是苏格兰威士忌。

7 depicted   

描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• Other animals were depicted on the periphery of the group. 其他动物在群像的外围加以修饰。
• They depicted the thrilling situation to us in great detail. 他们向我们详细地描述了那激动人心的场面。

8 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

9 gilded   

a.镀金的，富有的

参考例句：

• The golden light gilded the sea. 金色的阳光使大海如金子般闪闪发光。
• "Friends, they are only gilded disks of lead!" "朋友们，这只不过是些镀金的铅饼！ 来自英汉文学 - 败坏赫德莱堡

10 picturesque   

adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的

参考例句：

• You can see the picturesque shores beside the river.在河边你可以看到景色如画的两岸。
• That was a picturesque phrase.那是一个形象化的说法。

11 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。

12 fabulous   

adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的

参考例句：

• We had a fabulous time at the party.我们在晚会上玩得很痛快。
• This is a fabulous sum of money.这是一笔巨款。

13 revival   

n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振

参考例句：

• The period saw a great revival in the wine trade.这一时期葡萄酒业出现了很大的复苏。
• He claimed the housing market was showing signs of a revival.他指出房地产市场正出现复苏的迹象。