英语听书《白鲸记》第184期

 It seemed the great Black Parliament sitting in Tophet.  这倒象是陀斐特的伟大的黑人议会在开会。

A hundred black faces turned round in their rows to peer; and beyond, a black Angel of Doom¹ was beating a book in a pulpit.  许多黑脸成排地转过来;另外还有一个执掌命运的黑天使正站在讲坛上拍击一本书。

It was a negro church; and the preacher's text was about the blackness of darkness, and the weeping and wailing² and teeth-gnashing there.  原来是个黑人教堂;那个传道者所讲的是地狱的阴森可怕.那边的悲泣。恸哭和咬牙切齿的情况哈!

Ha, Ishmael, muttered I, backing out, Wretched entertainment at the sign of 'The Trap!' 以实玛利,我嘟哝了一下,赶紧退出去,那块陷阱的招牌上还应该加上招待恶劣四个字!

Moving on, I at last came to a dim sort of light not far from the docks, and heard a forlorn creaking in the air;  我继续往前走,终于看到离码头不远的地方,有一股昏蒙蒙的灯光,又听到空中有一阵凄绝的嘎叫声;

and looking up, saw a swinging sign over the door with a white painting upon it, faintly representing a tall straight jet of misty³ spray, and these words underneath⁴ 我抬起头来,看到一块白漆的招牌在门顶上晃着,那招牌隐约显出一道高高迸射的蒙雾,

The Spouter⁵ Inn:--Peter Coffin⁶. 下边写着大鲸客店:彼得.科芬。

Coffin?--Spouter?--Rather ominous⁷ in that particular connexion, thought I.  科芬?大鲸?光就这方面说来,就有几分凶兆,我心里想。

But it is a common name in Nantucket, they say, and I suppose this Peter here is an emigrant⁸ from there.  但是,据说,这是南塔开特地方的普通姓氏,我推想这个彼得大概是从南塔开特来的移民。

As the light looked so dim, and the place, for the time, looked quiet enough,  因为灯光这样昏暗,当时那个地方又显得十分寂静,加上那间要坍似的小木屋本身的样子,

and the dilapidated little wooden house itself looked as if it might have been carted here from the ruins of some burnt district,  仿佛是从什么火烧场里装运来的,

and as the swinging sign had a poverty-stricken sort of creak to it,  更因为那块摇摇晃晃的招牌又在发出一阵苦恼的叫声,

I thought that here was the very spot for cheap lodgings⁹, and the best of pea coffee. 我估量这准是个价钱便宜的宿店,而且还一定可以喝到上好的土咖啡。

1 doom   

n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定

参考例句：

• The report on our economic situation is full of doom and gloom.这份关于我们经济状况的报告充满了令人绝望和沮丧的调子。
• The dictator met his doom after ten years of rule.独裁者统治了十年终于完蛋了。

2 wailing   

v.哭叫，哀号( wail的现在分词 )；沱

参考例句：

• A police car raced past with its siren wailing. 一辆警车鸣着警报器飞驰而过。
• The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。

3 misty   

adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的

参考例句：

• He crossed over to the window to see if it was still misty.他走到窗户那儿，看看是不是还有雾霭。
• The misty scene had a dreamy quality about it.雾景给人以梦幻般的感觉。

4 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

5 spouter   

喷油井；捕鲸船；说话滔滔不绝的人；照管流出槽的工人

参考例句：

6 coffin   

n.棺材，灵柩

参考例句：

• When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
• The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。

7 ominous   

adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的

参考例句：

• Those black clouds look ominous for our picnic.那些乌云对我们的野餐来说是个不祥之兆。
• There was an ominous silence at the other end of the phone.电话那头出现了不祥的沉默。

8 emigrant   

adj.移居的，移民的；n.移居外国的人，移民

参考例句：

• He is a British emigrant to Australia.他是个移居澳大利亚的英国人。
• I always think area like this is unsuited for human beings,but it is also unpractical to emigrant in a large scale.我一直觉得，像这样的地方是不适宜人类居住的，可大规模的移民又是不现实的。

9 lodgings   

n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍

参考例句：

• When he reached his lodgings the sun had set. 他到达公寓房间时，太阳已下山了。
• I'm on the hunt for lodgings. 我正在寻找住所。