Aside from those more obvious considerations touching Moby Dick, which could not but occasionally awaken in any man's soul some alarm,  关于莫比－迪克,除了难免偶尔教任何人都要惊心动魄的那些较为明显的理由而外,

there was another thought, or rather vague, nameless horror concerning him, which at times by its intensity completely overpowered all the rest;  对它还有另外一种看法,或者不如说怀有一种难以言宣的。

and yet so mystical and well nigh ineffable was it, that I almost despair of putting it in a comprehensible form.  模糊的恐怖,那种恐怖,往往由于它非常强烈地压倒一切,而且又那么神秘。近乎形容不出,以致我几乎无法以一种容易使人了解的形式把它表达出来。

It was the whiteness of the whale that above all things appalled me.  最使我害怕的就是这条大鲸的白色。我怎能在这里说得明白呢;

But how can I hope to explain myself here; and yet, in some dim, random way, explain myself I must, else all these chapters might be naught. 然而,我总得胡乱含混地把它说出来,否则,所有这些章节都不免要等于零了。

Though in many natural objects, whiteness refiningly enhances beauty, as if imparting some special virtue of its own,  虽则在自然界的许多东西中,白色会优雅地显得更美,仿佛会使它本身增加一种特殊的价值,

as in marbles, japonicas, and pearls; and though various nations have in some way recognised a certain royal preeminence in this hue;  比如大理石。山茶花和珍珠就是这样:虽则有许多国家还认为这种颜色是一种无上的重要颜色;

even the barbaric, grand old kings of Pegu placing the title Lord of the White Elephants above all their other magniloquent ascriptions of dominion;  甚至古代的野蛮而伟大的庇古帝王们,还把"白象之王"的称号置于他们其它种种夸张的统治称号之上;

and the modern kings of Siam unfurling the same snow-white quadruped in the royal standard.  现代的暹罗国王们还在王旗上扯出这种雪白的四足兽来。