the first hail is--"How many skulls?"-- the same way that whalers hail--"How many barrels?" 第一声招呼就是——“几个脑壳？”——象捕鲸船的招呼——“几桶啦？”一样。

　　And that question once answered, pirates straightway steer apart,  而且那句话一经获得回答，那些海盗船也就径自撑开去了，

　　for they are infernal villains on both sides, and don't like to see overmuch of each other's villanous likenesses. 因为他们双方都是无法无天的家伙，对于彼此那副无法无天的相貌，实在不高兴多瞧一瞧。

　　But look at the godly, honest, unostentatious, hospitable, sociable, free-and-easy whaler! 可是，瞧一瞧这种规规矩矩、老老实实、不善虚伪、好意殷勤、爱好交际、不拘礼节的捕鲸船吧！

　　What does the whaler do when she meets another whaler in any sort of decent weather? 当它们在任何一种正常的天气里彼此相遇的时候，它们是怎么办的呢？

　　She has a "Gam," a thing so utterly unknown to all other ships that they never heard of the name even; 它们有一种叫做“联欢会”的玩意儿，这名称，是其它一切船只所全然不懂的，他们甚至连这名称听都没有听到过;

　　and if by chance they should hear of it, they only grin at it,  就算他们有机会听到这名称吧，他们也不过报以一阵冷笑，

　　and repeat gamesome stuff about "spouters" and "blubber-boilers," and such like pretty exclamations. 反复背出一些“捕鲸佬”和“鲸油锅”的笑料，以及类似的好听的叫喊而已。

　　Why it is that all Merchant-seamen, and also all Pirates and Man-of-War's men, and Slave-ship sailors, cherish such a scornful feeling towards Whale-ships; 所有的商船水手，连同一切海盗船、兵舰的水手、贩卖奴隶船只的水手，为什么都对捕鲸船怀着这样一种蔑视的恶感;

　　this is a question it would be hard to answer.  这倒是个不容易置答的问题。

　　Because, in the case of pirates, say, I should like to know whether that profession of theirs has any peculiar glory about it. 因为拿海盗船来说吧，我倒要请问，他们那种职业究竟有些什么特殊的光荣。

　　It sometimes ends in uncommon elevation, indeed; but only at the gallows. 它倒往往是在非凡的高度中完结的；错是不错，可惜是挂在绞架上罢了。

　　And besides, when a man is elevated in that odd fashion, he has no proper foundation for his superior altitude.  再说，当一个人被用那种罕见的形式高高挂起的时候，他那种超常的高度并没有什么适当的基础。