英语听书《白鲸记》第722期

 Any man may kill a snake, but only a Perseus, a St. George, a Coffin¹, have the heart in them to march boldly up to a whale. 任何人都会打死一条蛇，可是，能够鼓起勇气、勇往直前地冲向大鲸的，却只有柏修斯、圣乔治和科芬。

Let not the modern paintings of this scene mislead us; 我们可别上那些描绘着这种场景的现代绘画的当；

for though the creature encountered by that valiant² whaleman of old is vaguely³ represented of a griffin-like shape, 因为尽管那个古代骁勇的捕鲸人所攻击的动物给含糊地画成一种半鹰半鹫似的怪兽，

and though the battle is depicted⁴ on land and the saint on horseback, 尽管战斗的场面给画在陆地上，那个圣者骑在马背上，

yet considering the great ignorance of those times, when the true form of the whale was unknown to artists; 然而，鉴于当时是个十分愚昧的时代，艺术家们对于大鲸的真实形象，一无所知；

and considering that as in Perseus' case, St. George's whale might have crawled up out of the sea on the beach; 鉴于柏修斯也是这种情况，圣乔治的那只大鲸，说不定就是从海里爬到海滩上来的；

and considering that the animal ridden by St. George might have been only a large seal, or sea-horse; 鉴于圣乔治所骑的那种野兽，也许不过是只大海豹，或者是只海马；

bearing all this in mind, it will not appear altogether incompatible⁵ with the sacred legend and the ancientest draughts⁶ of the scene, 总之，记住所有这些事实，就不见得完全会跟神话和这种场景的最古老的草图发生矛盾，

to hold this so-called dragon no other than the great Leviathan himself. 而且可以认为，这种所谓龙的东西，不外乎就是大鲸罢了。

In fact, placed before the strict and piercing truth, 事实上，把这整个传说放在千真万确而透彻的事实面前，

this whole story will fare like that fish, flesh, and fowl⁷ idol⁸ of the Philistines⁹, Dagon by name; 就会成为那种叫做半人半鱼的神，象非利士人的鱼、人、鸟的偶像那样的东西了，

who being planted before the ark of Israel, 这种神，一竖在以色列人的方舟前面，

his horse's head and both the palms of his hands fell off from him, and only the stump¹⁰ or fishy¹¹ part of him remained. 它那马头和两只手掌就会掉下来，只剩下一个残肢，或者是半个鱼身了。

1 coffin   

n.棺材，灵柩

参考例句：

• When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
• The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。

2 valiant   

adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人

参考例句：

• He had the fame of being very valiant.他的勇敢是出名的。
• Despite valiant efforts by the finance minister,inflation rose to 36%.尽管财政部部长采取了一系列果决措施，通货膨胀率还是涨到了36%。

3 vaguely   

adv.含糊地，暖昧地

参考例句：

• He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
• He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面，对一切都视而不见。

4 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。

5 incompatible   

adj.不相容的，不协调的，不相配的

参考例句：

• His plan is incompatible with my intent.他的计划与我的意图不相符。
• Speed and safety are not necessarily incompatible.速度和安全未必不相容。

6 draughts   

n. <英>国际跳棋

参考例句：

• Seal (up) the window to prevent draughts. 把窗户封起来以防风。
• I will play at draughts with him. 我跟他下一盘棋吧！

7 fowl   

n.家禽，鸡，禽肉

参考例句：

• Fowl is not part of a traditional brunch.禽肉不是传统的早午餐的一部分。
• Since my heart attack,I've eaten more fish and fowl and less red meat.自从我患了心脏病后，我就多吃鱼肉和禽肉，少吃红色肉类。

8 idol   

n.偶像，红人，宠儿

参考例句：

• As an only child he was the idol of his parents.作为独子，他是父母的宠儿。
• Blind worship of this idol must be ended.对这个偶像的盲目崇拜应该结束了。

9 philistines   

n.市侩，庸人( philistine的名词复数 )；庸夫俗子

参考例句：

• He accused those who criticized his work of being philistines. 他指责那些批评他的作品的人是对艺术一窍不通。 来自辞典例句
• As an intellectual Goebbels looked down on the crude philistines of the leading group in Munich. 戈培尔是个知识分子，看不起慕尼黑领导层不学无术的市侩庸人。 来自辞典例句

10 stump   

n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走

参考例句：

• He went on the stump in his home state.他到故乡所在的州去发表演说。
• He used the stump as a table.他把树桩用作桌子。

11 fishy   

adj. 值得怀疑的

参考例句：

• It all sounds very fishy to me.所有这些在我听起来都很可疑。
• There was definitely something fishy going on.肯定当时有可疑的事情在进行中。