英语听书《白鲸记》第638期

 　　Oh, horrible vulturism of earth! from which not the mightiest¹ whale is free. 多么贪得无厌的世界呵！哪怕威力无比的大鲸也逃不了这个劫数！

　　Nor is this the end. 然而，这并不算完结。

　　Desecrated² as the body is, a vengeful ghost survives and hovers³ over it to scare. 尽管它的身躯遭到亵渎，它那报仇的怨魂并未消散，仍在尸体上翱翔，好生吓人。

　　Espied⁴ by some timid man-of-war or blundering discovery-vessel from afar,  如果偶然被一只胆怯的兵舰或者冒失的探险船从远处看到，

　　when the distance obscuring the swarming⁵ fowls⁶, nevertheless still shows the white mass floating in the sun, 它虽是被群群的禽鸟弄得模糊不清，却还在光天化日之下现出雪白一团，

　　and the white spray heaving high against it; 滔天白浪尽在对它冲击，

　　straightway the whale's unharming corpse⁷, with trembling fingers is set down in the log—shoals, rocks, and breakers hereabouts: beware! 于是人们马上就会颤抖着手，把这条鲸的不再会伤害人的尸体，记在航海日志上——附近发现鱼群，暗礁和危险物：得小心！

　　And for years afterwards, perhaps, ships shun⁸ the place; 这样，说不定过了许多年后，船只还要避开那地方；

　　leaping over it as silly sheep leap over a vacuum, because their leader originally leaped there when a stick was held. 象只傻山羊一跃跳过空隙一般，因为那只领头羊原来也是看到插有一根竹枝就跳将过去的。

　　There's your law of precedents⁹; there's your utility of traditions; 这就是你们的祖先立下来的规矩，这就是你们的传统观念的实用价值；

　　there's the story of your obstinate¹⁰ survival of old beliefs never bottomed on the earth, and now not even hovering¹¹ in the air! There's orthodoxy! 这就是你们那上不着天，下不着地的古老的信念的顽固的残余！这就是正统！

　　Thus, while in the life the great whale's body may have been a real terror to his foes¹², in his death his ghost becomes a powerless panic to a world. 因此，大鲸活着的时候，它的身体在它的敌人看来，也许本来就是一种真正的恐怖，到了它死后，它那怨魂又变成人间的无能为力的恐慌了。

　　Are you a believer in ghosts, my friend? 你是相信鬼神的么，我的朋友？

　　There are other ghosts than the Cock-Lane one, and far deeper men than Doctor Johnson who believe in them. 除了鸡巷鬼，还有各式各样的鬼，甚至比约翰逊博士更有涵养的人都还相信鬼神咧。

1 mightiest   

adj.趾高气扬( mighty的最高级 )；巨大的；强有力的；浩瀚的

参考例句：

• \"If thou fearest to leave me in our cottage, thou mightiest take me along with thee. “要是你害怕把我一个人留在咱们的小屋里，你可以带我一块儿去那儿嘛。 来自英汉文学 - 红字
• Silent though is, after all, the mightiest agent in human affairs. 确实，沉默毕竟是人类事件中最强大的代理人。 来自互联网

2 desecrated   

毁坏或亵渎( desecrate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The invading army desecrated this holy place when they camped here. 侵略军在这块圣地上扎营就是对这块圣地的亵渎。
• She shouldn't have desecrated the picture of a religious leader. 她不该亵渎宗教领袖的画像。

3 hovers   

鸟( hover的第三人称单数 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• A hawk hovers in the sky. 一只老鹰在天空盘旋。
• A hen hovers her chicks. 一只母鸡在孵小鸡。

4 espied   

v.看到( espy的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• One day a youth espied her as he was hunting.She saw him and recognized him as her own son, mow grown a young man. 一日，她被一个正在行猎的小伙子看见了，她认出来这个猎手原来是自己的儿子，现在已长成为一个翩翩的少年。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• In a little while he espied the two giants. 一会儿就看见了那两个巨人。 来自辞典例句

5 swarming   

密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去

参考例句：

• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。
• The beach is swarming with bathers. 海滩满是海水浴的人。

6 fowls   

鸟( fowl的名词复数 )； 禽肉； 既不是这； 非驴非马

参考例句：

• A great number of water fowls dwell on the island. 许多水鸟在岛上栖息。
• We keep a few fowls and some goats. 我们养了几只鸡和一些山羊。

7 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。

8 shun   

vt.避开，回避，避免

参考例句：

• Materialists face truth,whereas idealists shun it.唯物主义者面向真理，唯心主义者则逃避真理。
• This extremist organization has shunned conventional politics.这个极端主义组织有意避开了传统政治。

9 precedents   

引用单元； 范例( precedent的名词复数 )； 先前出现的事例； 前例； 先例

参考例句：

• There is no lack of precedents in this connection. 不乏先例。
• He copied after bad precedents. 他仿效恶例。

10 obstinate   

adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的

参考例句：

• She's too obstinate to let anyone help her.她太倔强了，不会让任何人帮她的。
• The trader was obstinate in the negotiation.这个商人在谈判中拗强固执。

11 hovering   

鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。
• I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。

12 foes   

敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They steadily pushed their foes before them. 他们不停地追击敌人。
• She had fought many battles, vanquished many foes. 她身经百战，挫败过很多对手。