英语听书《白鲸记》第147期

 But were the coming narrative¹ to reveal in any instance, the complete abasement² of poor Starbuck's fortitude³, scarce might I have the heart to write it;  但是，面对更大的、精神上的恐怖，他也感到是一种威胁了，因为精力过度集中。 

for it is a thing most sorrowful, nay⁴ shocking, to expose the fall of valor⁵ in the soul. Men may seem detestable as joint⁶ stock-companies and nations;  当然，写一个人丧失勇气，是一件于人于己都很难为情的事。

knaves⁷, fools, and murderers there may be; men may have mean and meagre faces; but, man, in the ideal, is so noble and so sparkling,  不过，我们人类虽然确是有些缺点，有恶棍，有凶犯，也有傻瓜，也还有像联合证券公司以及国家那样让人憎恶的面孔，但我们最终还是没有丧失那高贵的理想的。

such a grand and glowing creature, that over any ignominious⁸ blemish⁹ in him all his fellows should run to throw their costliest¹⁰ robes.  人类的理想是那么光辉灿烂，如果他们发现谁身上有了阴暗的缺失以后，就会立刻与其分道扬镳。 

That immaculate manliness¹¹ we feel within ourselves, so far within us, that it remains¹² intact though all the outer character seem gone;  人类的心中永远激荡着一种恢宏的大丈夫气概，这种气概也许已经与他们如今的外在形象有了些距离，但他们也还是不能容忍一个失魂落魄的可耻之徒的。 

bleeds with keenest anguish¹³ at the undraped spectacle of a valor-ruined man. Nor can piety¹⁴ itself, at such a shameful¹⁵ sight, completely stifle¹⁶ her upbraidings against the permitting stars.  丧失了尊严的人，连天上的神仙也会不齿的！ 

1 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

2 abasement   

n.滥用

参考例句：

• She despised herself when she remembered the utter self-abasement of the past. 当她回忆起过去的不折不扣的自卑时，她便瞧不起自己。
• In our world there will be no emotions except fear, rage, triumph, and self-abasement. 在我们的世界里，除了恐惧、狂怒、得意、自贬以外，没有别的感情。 来自英汉文学

3 fortitude   

n.坚忍不拔；刚毅

参考例句：

• His dauntless fortitude makes him absolutely fearless.他不屈不挠的坚韧让他绝无恐惧。
• He bore the pain with great fortitude.他以极大的毅力忍受了痛苦。

4 nay   

adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者

参考例句：

• He was grateful for and proud of his son's remarkable,nay,unique performance.他为儿子出色的，不，应该是独一无二的表演心怀感激和骄傲。
• Long essays,nay,whole books have been written on this.许多长篇大论的文章，不，应该说是整部整部的书都是关于这件事的。

5 valor   

n.勇气，英勇

参考例句：

• Fortitude is distinct from valor.坚韧不拔有别于勇猛。
• Frequently banality is the better parts of valor.老生常谈往往比大胆打破常规更为人称道。

6 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

7 knaves   

n.恶棍，无赖( knave的名词复数 )；（纸牌中的）杰克

参考例句：

• Give knaves an inch and they will take a yard. 我一日三餐都吃得很丰盛。 来自互联网
• Knaves and robbers can obtain only what was before possessed by others. 流氓、窃贼只能攫取原先由别人占有的财富。 来自互联网

8 ignominious   

adj.可鄙的，不光彩的，耻辱的

参考例句：

• The marriage was considered especially ignominious since she was of royal descent.由于她出身王族，这门婚事被认为是奇耻大辱。
• Many thought that he was doomed to ignominious failure.许多人认为他注定会极不光彩地失败。

9 blemish   

v.损害；玷污；瑕疵，缺点

参考例句：

• The slightest blemish can reduce market value.只要有一点最小的损害都会降低市场价值。
• He wasn't about to blemish that pristine record.他本不想去玷污那清白的过去。

10 costliest   

adj.昂贵的( costly的最高级 )；代价高的；引起困难的；造成损失的

参考例句：

• At 81 billion dollars, Katrina is the costliest natural disaster in American history. “卡特里娜”飓风造成了近810亿美圆的损失，是美国历史上最严重的自然灾难之一。 来自互联网
• Senator John Kerry has proposed a tax on the costliest health plans sold by insurance companies. 参议员约翰？克里(JohnKerry)已经提议对保险公司销售的高价值的保险计划征税。 来自互联网

11 manliness   

刚毅

参考例句：

• She was really fond of his strength, his wholesome looks, his manliness. 她真喜欢他的坚强，他那健康的容貌，他的男子气概。
• His confidence, his manliness and bravery, turn his wit into wisdom. 他的自信、男子气概和勇敢将他的风趣变为智慧。

12 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

13 anguish   

n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼

参考例句：

• She cried out for anguish at parting.分手时，她由于痛苦而失声大哭。
• The unspeakable anguish wrung his heart.难言的痛苦折磨着他的心。

14 piety   

n.虔诚，虔敬

参考例句：

• They were drawn to the church not by piety but by curiosity.他们去教堂不是出于虔诚而是出于好奇。
• Experience makes us see an enormous difference between piety and goodness.经验使我们看到虔诚与善意之间有着巨大的区别。

15 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

16 stifle   

vt.使窒息；闷死；扼杀；抑止，阻止

参考例句：

• She tried hard to stifle her laughter.她强忍住笑。
• It was an uninteresting conversation and I had to stifle a yawn.那是一次枯燥无味的交谈，我不得不强忍住自己的呵欠。