英语听书《白鲸记》第759期

 "Out of the way, Commodore!" cried one, to a great dromedary that of a sudden rose bodily to the surface, and for an instant threatened to swamp us. "闪开些，艇长！"这个叫道，因为他看到突然有一只象单峰大骆驼似的东西冒出了海面，眼看一下子就要把我们弄翻了。

"Hard down with your tail, there!" cried a second to another, "喂，转舵当风呀！"那一个叫道，

which, close to our gunwale, seemed calmly cooling himself with his own fan-like extremity¹. 因为他看到另一条鲸，靠着我们的舷壁，好象泰然地用它那只大扇子似的尾巴在给自己扇风。

All whale-boats carry certain curious contrivances, originally invented by the Nantucket Indians, called druggs. 所有的捕鲸小艇都带有一些精巧的小发明品，这种东西叫做"得拉格"，原来是南塔开特的印第安人始创的。

Two thick squares of wood of equal size are stoutly² clenched³ together, so that they cross each other's grain at right angles; 它是把两块四方的、大小一样的厚木头紧嵌在一起，使两块木头的纹路彼此相交成直角；

a line of considerable length is then attached to the middle of this block, 然后用一根相当长的绳子缚在这木块中间，

and the other end of the line being looped, it can in a moment be fastened to a harpoon⁴. 把绳子的另一端结成一个活圈，使它可以立刻缚住标枪。

It is chiefly among gallied whales that this drugg is used. 它主要是在碰到"吓怕了"的鲸群才拿出来用的。

For then, more whales are close round you than you can possibly chase at one time. 因为在这时，你周围的那些鲸已经密集得叫你无法一下子追击它们了。

But sperm⁵ whales are not every day encountered; while you may, then, you must kill all you can. 而抹香鲸又不是每天都可以碰到的；于是，既然有了机会，就得竭尽力之所及，把它们全都捕杀了。

And if you cannot kill them all at once, you must wing them, so that they can be afterwards killed at your leisure. 如果你不能一下子都把它们杀倒，那就得把它们弄伤，这样，可以等你以后有空的时候再慢慢地来捕杀。

Hence it is, that at times like these the drug, comes into requisition. 因此，凡是碰到这样的场合，就用得着这种"得拉格"了。

Our boat was furnished with three of them. 我们的小艇一共备有三只这样的东西。

The first and second were successfully darted⁶, 头二只都很顺利地戳住了，

and we saw the whales staggeringly running off, fettered⁷ by the enormous sidelong resistance of the towing drugg. 我们看到那两条鲸，被斜里拖着的大木头铐住着，蹒蹒跚跚地奔开去。

They were cramped⁸ like malefactors with the chain and ball.  它们被钳得象拖着铁链铁球的犯人。

1 extremity   

n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度

参考例句：

• I hope you will help them in their extremity.我希望你能帮助在穷途末路的他们。
• What shall we do in this extremity?在这种极其困难的情况下我们该怎么办呢？

2 stoutly   

adv.牢固地，粗壮的

参考例句：

• He stoutly denied his guilt.他断然否认自己有罪。
• Burgess was taxed with this and stoutly denied it.伯杰斯为此受到了责难，但是他自己坚决否认有这回事。

3 clenched   

v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He clenched his fists in anger. 他愤怒地攥紧了拳头。
• She clenched her hands in her lap to hide their trembling. 她攥紧双手放在腿上，以掩饰其颤抖。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 harpoon   

n.鱼叉；vt.用鱼叉叉，用鱼叉捕获

参考例句：

• The harpoon drove deep into the body of the whale.渔叉深深地扎进鲸鱼体内。
• The fisherman transfixed the shark with a harpoon.渔夫用鱼叉刺住鲨鱼。

5 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。

6 darted   

v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect. 蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了，瞪了我一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 fettered   

v.给…上脚镣，束缚( fetter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• We reverence tradition but will not be fettered by it. 我们尊重传统，但不被传统所束缚。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Many people are fettered by lack of self-confidence. 许多人都因缺乏自信心而缩手缩脚。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 cramped   

a.狭窄的

参考例句：

• The house was terribly small and cramped, but the agent described it as a bijou residence. 房子十分狭小拥挤，但经纪人却把它说成是小巧别致的住宅。
• working in cramped conditions 在拥挤的环境里工作