英语听书《白鲸记》第203期

 No, he answered, generally he's an early bird--airley to bed and airley to rise--yea, he's the bird what catches the worm.  不,他答道,他平常是只早更鸟...早睡早起...对啦,他就是那种捉得到虫儿的早更鸟...

But to-night he went out a peddling¹, you see, and I don't see what on airth keeps him so late, unless, may be, he can't sell his head. 不过今天晚上,你知道,他出去兜卖东西,我也不知道究竟有什么了不起的事儿弄得他这么晚,要么是,他的头卖不掉了。

Can't sell his head?--What sort of a bamboozingly story is this you are telling me? getting into a towering rage.  他的头卖不掉了?你这是在对我耍什么大花招?我不禁火冒三丈。

Do you pretend to say, landlord, that this harpooneer is actually engaged this blessed Saturday night, or rather Sunday morning, in peddling his head around this town? 老板,你是不是当真说,这个标枪手确实是老在这个吉利的礼拜六晚上,或者不如说在礼拜日早晨,在这城里到处兜卖他的头吗?

That's precisely² it, said the landlord, and I told him he couldn't sell it here, the market's overstocked. 正是这样,店老板说,我还对他说,在这里是销不掉的,市面上存货太多了。

With what? shouted I. 是什么太多?我嚷道。

With heads to be sure; ain't there too many heads in the world? 当然是头喽;世界上的头不是太多了吗?

I tell you what it is, landlord, said I quite calmly, you'd better stop spinning that yarn³ to me-I'm not green. 我老实告诉你,老板,我相当镇静地说,你还是别同我胡扯的好...我可不是那种绿滴滴的嫩枝。

1 peddling   

忙于琐事的，无关紧要的

参考例句：

• He worked as a door-to-door salesman peddling cloths and brushes. 他的工作是上门推销抹布和刷子。
• "If he doesn't like peddling, why doesn't he practice law? "要是他不高兴卖柴火，干吗不当律师呢？

2 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

3 yarn   

n.纱，纱线，纺线；奇闻漫谈，旅行轶事

参考例句：

• I stopped to have a yarn with him.我停下来跟他聊天。
• The basic structural unit of yarn is the fiber.纤维是纱的基本结构单元。