英语听书《白鲸记》第626期

 　　Chapter 66 The Shark Massacre¹ 第六十六章 屠杀鲨鱼事件

　　When in the Southern Fishery a captured Sperm² Whale, after long and weary toil³, is brought alongside late at night, 在南海的捕鲸业中，经过了好久的疲累的拖曳后，在深更半夜里，把一条打倒的抹香鲸拖到船边来的时候，

　　it is not, as a general thing at least, customary to proceed at once to the business of cutting him in. 一般说来，至少是不会立刻就对它进行割油的。

　　For that business is an exceedingly laborious⁴ one; is not very soon completed; and requires all hands to set about it. 因为割油真是桩非常繁重的活儿；并不是一下子就完得了工，而是需要大家一齐来动手的。

　　Therefore, the common usage is to take in all sail; lash⁵ the helm a'lee; 因此，习惯上总是减帆落篷，在避风处缚起舵来；

　　and then send every one below to his hammock till daylight, with the reservation that, until that time, anchor-watches shall be kept; 然后叫大家到舱里去睡觉，不过，在到天亮前这段期间里，总是派人在船尾值夜；

　　that is, two and two for an hour, each couple, the crew in rotation⁶ shall mount the deck to see that all goes well. 就是说，每一个钟头由四个人值班，两人一双地轮流跑到甲板上，留心一下情况。

　　But sometimes, especially upon the Line in the Pacific, this plan will not answer at all; 但是，有的时候，尤其是在太平洋的赤道上，这种打算就不很反完全适用了；

　　because such incalculable hosts of sharks gather round the moored⁷ carcase,  因为围在这条拴在船边的死鲸四周的鲨鱼，多得无可计数，

　　that were he left so for six hours, say, on a stretch, little more than the skeleton would be visible by morning. 如果听它这样一气搁上六个小时，那么，到了天亮一看，就只剩下一架骷髅了。

　　In most other parts of the ocean, however,  不过，在其它大部分海洋上，

　　where these fish do not so largely abound⁸, their wondrous⁹ voracity¹⁰ can be at times considerably¹¹ diminished, 因为鲨鱼并不是这么多，它们那种贪得无厌的狂欲，只消用一些锐利的捕鲸铲，

　　by vigorously stirring them up with sharp whaling-spades, a procedure notwithstanding, which,  对它们狠狠地搅拌一顿，是能够随时使它们大大地减小的，

　　in some instances, only seems to tickle¹² them into still greater activity. 虽说这种做法有时似乎只会把它们逗弄得更活跃起来。

1 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

2 sperm   

n.精子，精液

参考例句：

• Only one sperm fertilises an egg.只有一个精子使卵子受精。
• In human reproduction,one female egg is usually fertilized by one sperm.在人体生殖过程中，一个精子使一个卵子受精。

3 toil   

vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事

参考例句：

• The wealth comes from the toil of the masses.财富来自大众的辛勤劳动。
• Every single grain is the result of toil.每一粒粮食都来之不易。

4 laborious   

adj.吃力的，努力的，不流畅

参考例句：

• They had the laborious task of cutting down the huge tree.他们接受了伐大树的艰苦工作。
• Ants and bees are laborious insects.蚂蚁与蜜蜂是勤劳的昆虫。

5 lash   

v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛

参考例句：

• He received a lash of her hand on his cheek.他突然被她打了一记耳光。
• With a lash of its tail the tiger leaped at her.老虎把尾巴一甩朝她扑过来。

6 rotation   

n.旋转；循环，轮流

参考例句：

• Crop rotation helps prevent soil erosion.农作物轮作有助于防止水土流失。
• The workers in this workshop do day and night shifts in weekly rotation.这个车间的工人上白班和上夜班每周轮换一次。

7 moored   

adj. 系泊的 动词moor的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London. 该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。
• We shipped (the) oars and moored alongside the bank. 我们收起桨，把船泊在岸边。

8 abound   

vi.大量存在；(in，with)充满，富于

参考例句：

• Oranges abound here all the year round.这里一年到头都有很多橙子。
• But problems abound in the management of State-owned companies.但是在国有企业的管理中仍然存在不少问题。

9 wondrous   

adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地

参考例句：

• The internal structure of the Department is wondrous to behold.看一下国务院的内部结构是很有意思的。
• We were driven across this wondrous vast land of lakes and forests.我们乘车穿越这片有着湖泊及森林的广袤而神奇的土地。

10 voracity   

n.贪食，贪婪

参考例句：

• Their voracity is legendary and even the most hardened warriors cannot repress a shiver if one speaks about them. 他们的贪食是传奇性的，甚至强壮的战士也会因为提起他们而无法抑制的颤抖。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He ate with the voracity of a starving man. 他饿鬼似的贪婪地吃着。 来自互联网

11 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

12 tickle   

v.搔痒，胳肢；使高兴；发痒；n.搔痒，发痒

参考例句：

• Wilson was feeling restless. There was a tickle in his throat.威尔逊只觉得心神不定。嗓子眼里有些发痒。
• I am tickle pink at the news.听到这消息我高兴得要命。