the horizontal piece in the boat's bow for bracing the knee against in darting or stabbing at the whale; 是一种安在船头的横式平板，在对大鲸投射鱼枪或者标枪时用来撑牢膝头的)的式样，

　　when it was observed how often he stood up in that boat with his solitary knee fixed in the semi-circular depression in the cleat, 也看到他老是站在那只艇里，曲起仅有的一只膝头，跪在系缆板的半圆形的凹凹里，

　　and with the carpenter's chisel gouged out a little here and straightened it a little there; 手里拿着一支木匠的凿子，这边凿掉一点，那边凿平一些，

　　all these things,I say, had awakened much interest and curiosity at the time. 我说，所有这些事情，在当时都是教大家很感兴趣，又感到奇怪的。

　　But almost everybody supposed that this particular preparative heedfulness in Ahab must only be with a view to the ultimate chase of Moby Dick;  不过，几乎每一个人都认为，亚哈之所以准备得如此小心道地，一定只是为了指望最后追击到莫比－迪克而已，

　　for he had already revealed his intention to hunt that mortal monster in person. 因为他早已透露出他要亲自猎击那巨兽的意图。

　　But such a supposition did by no means involve the remotest suspicion as to any boat's crew being assigned to that boat. 但是，这样的推测，可一点也没有联系到已经派定水手在那小艇上的这种不着边际的疑惑上去。

　　Now, with the subordinate phantoms, what wonder remained soon waned away; for in a whaler wonders soon wane. 现在，随着那几个鬼怪似的部下的出现，什么怪事都一下子消散了；因为在捕鲸船上，怪事总是一下子就消散的。

　　Besides, now and then such unaccountable odds and ends of strange nations come up from the unknown nooks and ash-holes of the earth to man these floating outlaws of whalers; 再说，时时就有这么一些不知是从什么角落里和垃圾坑里爬出来的、来路不明的异邦的残渣余滓来做这种漂泊的歹徒似的捕鲸船的水手，

　　and the ships themselves often pick up such queer castaway creatures found tossing about the open sea on planks, bits of wreck, oars, whaleboats, canoes, blown-off Japanese junks, and what not; 而捕鲸船本身也经常把那些漂泛在大海里的船板上，攀在一片破船上，桨子上，小艇上，独木舟上，攀在被刮散了的日本舢舨上的这种希奇古怪的遭难者收罗了下来；

　　that Beelzebub himself might climb up the side and step down into the cabin to chat with the captain, 因此，如果魔王本人也会亲自爬上船舷，走到船长室里去跟船长聊天，

　　and it would not create any unsubduable excitement in the forecastle. 也决不会引起船头楼里什么压制不住的激动。