英语听书《白鲸记》第609期

 　　Chapter 64 Stubb's Supper 第六十四章 斯塔布的晚餐

　　Stubb's whale had been killed some distance from the ship.  斯塔布是在离开大船相当远的海上杀死那条鲸的。

　　It was a calm; so, forming a tandem¹ of three boats, we commenced the slow business of towing the trophy² to the Pequod.  这一天，风平浪静；我们把三只小艇串联起来后，就开始慢慢地把这只战利品拉曳到“裴廓德号”旁边来。

　　And now, as we eighteen men with our thirty-six arms, and one hundred and eighty thumbs and fingers,  这时，我们十八个人，三十六条胳膊，一百八十只大小手指，

　　slowly toiled³ hour after hour upon that inert⁴, sluggish⁵ corpse⁶ in the sea;  就在海里慢慢地、一个钟头过一个钟头地张罗那具僵硬的死尸；

　　and it seemed hardly to budge⁷ at all, except at long intervals⁸; good evidence was hereby furnished of the enormousness of the mass we moved.  好象很难弄得动它，要隔好久才会使它动一动；这就足以证明：我们在拉曳的这团东西有多大了。

　　For, upon the great canal of Hang-Ho, or whatever they call it, in China,  因为，在那条叫做运河，或者在中国是怎样叫法的那条大运河上，

　　four or five laborers⁹ on the foot-path will draw a bulky freighted junk at the rate of a mile an hour;  四五个船夫在小径上曳着一只货物奇重的舢舨船，一小时的速度都还可拉个一英里路；

　　but this grand argosy we towed heavily forged along, as if laden¹⁰ with piglead in bulk. 可是，这只使我们拉得喘不过气来的徐徐前进的大船，却仿佛是载着生铅一般。

　　Darkness came on; but three lights up and down in the Pequod's main-rigging dimly guided our way;  暮色已经拢来，不过，"裴廓德号"的大桅索具上已高高低低地挂起了三盏灯，在朦胧地为我们照路；

　　till drawing nearer we saw Ahab dropping one of several more lanterns over the bulwarks¹¹.  等到快靠拢的时候，我们看到亚哈打另外几只灯笼中拿一只搁在舷墙上。

　　Vacantly eyeing the heaving whale for a moment, he issued the usual orders for securing it for the night,  他对那条往上拖的鲸，茫然地望了一会，发出例常的命令，吩咐要在当夜把它缚好后，

　　and then handing his lantern to a seaman¹², went his way into the cabin, and did not come forward again until morning. 就把他那只灯笼交给一个水手，径自回船长室去，直到隔天早晨，才重新出来。

1 tandem   

n.同时发生；配合；adv.一个跟着一个地；纵排地；adj.（两匹马）前后纵列的

参考例句：

• Malcolm's contract will run in tandem with his existing one.马尔科姆的合同将与他手头的合同同时生效。
• He is working in tandem with officials of the Serious Fraud Office.他正配合欺诈重案办公室的官员工作。

2 trophy   

n.优胜旗，奖品，奖杯，战胜品，纪念品

参考例句：

• The cup is a cherished trophy of the company.那只奖杯是该公司很珍惜的奖品。
• He hung the lion's head as a trophy.他把那狮子头挂起来作为狩猎纪念品。

3 toiled   

长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉

参考例句：

• They toiled up the hill in the blazing sun. 他们冒着炎炎烈日艰难地一步一步爬上山冈。
• He toiled all day long but earned very little. 他整天劳碌但挣得很少。

4 inert   

adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的

参考例句：

• Inert gas studies are providing valuable information about other planets,too.对惰性气体的研究，也提供了有关其它行星的有价值的资料。
• Elemental nitrogen is a very unreactive and inert material.元素氮是一个十分不活跃的惰性物质。

5 sluggish   

adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的

参考例句：

• This humid heat makes you feel rather sluggish.这种湿热的天气使人感到懒洋洋的。
• Circulation is much more sluggish in the feet than in the hands.脚部的循环比手部的循环缓慢得多。

6 corpse   

n.尸体，死尸

参考例句：

• What she saw was just an unfeeling corpse.她见到的只是一具全无感觉的尸体。
• The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming.尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。

7 budge   

v.移动一点儿；改变立场

参考例句：

• We tried to lift the rock but it wouldn't budge.我们试图把大石头抬起来，但它连动都没动一下。
• She wouldn't budge on the issue.她在这个问题上不肯让步。

8 intervals   

n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息

参考例句：

• The forecast said there would be sunny intervals and showers. 预报间晴，有阵雨。
• Meetings take place at fortnightly intervals. 每两周开一次会。

9 laborers   

n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工

参考例句：

• Laborers were trained to handle 50-ton compactors and giant cranes. 工人们接受操作五十吨压土机和巨型起重机的训练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the laborers. 雇佣劳动完全是建立在工人的自相竞争之上的。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

10 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

11 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

12 seaman   

n.海员，水手，水兵

参考例句：

• That young man is a experienced seaman.那个年轻人是一个经验丰富的水手。
• The Greek seaman went to the hospital five times.这位希腊海员到该医院去过五次。