英语听书《白鲸记》第688期

 These last now hoist¹ the bucket within grasp of the Indian, to whom another person has reached up a very long pole. 这时桶子便被吊到那印第安人伸手可及的地方，另外一个人又从下面递给他一根很长的棍子。

Inserting this pole into the bucket, Tashtego downward guides the bucket into the Tun, till it entirely² disappears; 塔斯蒂哥把这根棍子插在桶里后，就把桶子往下引进那只海德堡大桶里去，直放得那只桶子完全看不见了。

then giving the word to the seamen³ at the whip, up comes the bucket again, all bubbling like a dairy-maid's pail of new milk. 于是，他对那些拉着小滑车的才手发声号令，那只桶子就又朝上出来，泡沫沸腾，赛似挤奶妇挤出来的一桶鲜牛乳。

Carefully lowered from its height, the full-freighted vessel⁴ is caught by an appointed hand, and quickly emptied into a large tub. 大家把它小心地卸下来，这只装得满满的容器就由事先指定的一个人抓住，迅速倒进一只大木桶里。

Then remounting aloft, it again goes through the same round until the deep cistern⁵ will yield no more. 接着，又再把桶子吊上去，又再经过同样的往复动作，直到那只大水槽再也榨不出什么来为止。

Towards the end, Tashtego has to ram⁶ his long pole harder and harder, 在快要完毕的时候，塔斯蒂哥还得把那支长棍拼命地塞，

and deeper and deeper into the Tun, until some twenty feet of the pole have gone down. 越塞越深，直往那只海德堡大桶塞去，塞得这根二十来英尺长的棍子都完全看不到了。

Now, the people of the Pequod had been baling some time in this way; 且说"裴廓德号"的人们已经这样地汲了一阵；

several tubs had been filled with the fragrant⁷ sperm⁸; when all at once a queer accident happened. 芬香的鲸脑也已经装满了好几桶，不料，这时，猝然发生了一件古怪的事故。

Whether it was that Tashtego, that wild Indian, 究竟是那个塔斯蒂哥，那个印第安野人，

was so heedless and reckless as to let go for a moment his one-handed hold on the great cabled tackles suspending the head; 非常粗心大意，一时间竟把原来抓着吊在他头顶的复滑车大缆的手放松了呢；

or whether the place where he stood was so treacherous and oozy; 还是他站的地方实在是十分不牢靠，滑溜溜；

or whether the Evil One himself would have it to fall out so, without stating his particular reasons; 还是魔鬼本身故意要无端弄出这等事来，

how it was exactly, there is no telling now; but, on a sudden, as the eightieth or ninetieth bucket came suckingly up, 可就弄不清楚了；总之，突然间，就在汲上了第十八九桶后的时候，

1 hoist   

n.升高，起重机，推动；v.升起，升高，举起

参考例句：

• By using a hoist the movers were able to sling the piano to the third floor.搬运工人用吊车才把钢琴吊到3楼。
• Hoist the Chinese flag on the flagpole,please!请在旗杆上升起中国国旗！

2 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

3 seamen   

n.海员

参考例句：

• Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather. 有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
• In the storm, many seamen wished they were on shore. 在暴风雨中，许多海员想，要是他们在陆地上就好了。

4 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

5 cistern   

n.贮水池

参考例句：

• The cistern is empty but soon fills again.蓄水池里现在没水，但不久就会储满水的。
• The lavatory cistern overflowed.厕所水箱的水溢出来了

6 ram   

(random access memory)随机存取存储器

参考例句：

• 512k RAM is recommended and 640k RAM is preferred.推荐配置为512K内存，640K内存则更佳。

7 fragrant   

adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的

参考例句：

• The Fragrant Hills are exceptionally beautiful in late autumn.深秋的香山格外美丽。
• The air was fragrant with lavender.空气中弥漫薰衣草香。

8 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。