英语听书《白鲸记》第204期

 May be not, taking out a stick and whittling¹ a toothpick, but I rayther guess you'll be done brown if that ere harpooneer hears you a slanderin' his head. 你也许不是,他掏出一根火柴棒,把它削成一支牙签,不过,我却认为,如果那个标枪手听到你在讲他的头的坏话,那你可要变得焦黄了。

I'll break it for him, said I, now flying into a passion again at this unaccountable farrago of the landlord's. 那我就要打烂他的头,我说,店老板这番莫名其妙的混帐话,引得我又冒起火来。

It's broke a'ready, said he. 已经给打烂了,他说。

Broke, said I-broke, do you mean? 打烂了,我说...打烂了...是你说的吗?

Sartain, and that's the very reason he can't sell it, I guess. 当然啦,我想,这就是他卖不出去的道理。

Landlord, said I, going up to him as cool as Mt. Hecla in a snowstorm-landlord, stop whittling.  老板,我说,就象风雪交加的赫克拉山一样冰冷,走到他跟前去...老板,别再削火柴棒吧。

You and I must understand one another, and that too without delay.  我跟你应该把话说清楚,而且也是刻不容缓的事。

I come to your house and want a bed; you tell me you can only give me half a one; that the other half belongs to a certain harpooneer.  我来到你店里,要个铺位;你对我说,只能给我半个铺;说是还有一半是个什么标枪手睡的。

And about this harpooneer, whom I have not yet seen,  至于说到这个标枪手,我还没有看到他,

you persist in telling me the most mystifying and exasperating² stories tending to beget³ in me an uncomfortable feeling towards the man whom you design for my bedfellow-a sort of connexion, landlord, which is an intimate and confidential⁴ one in the highest degree.  你就唠唠叨叨地给我编排了这些希奇古怪.最惹人冒火的故事.存心要惹我对那个你指定要做我的睡伴...一种就关系说来,可以说是极端重要而非常亲密的人产生恶感。

1 whittling   

v.切，削（木头），使逐渐变小( whittle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Inflation has been whittling away their savings. 通货膨胀使他们的积蓄不断减少。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is whittling down the branch with a knife to make a handle for his hoe. 他在用刀削树枝做一把锄头柄。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 exasperating   

adj. 激怒的 动词exasperate的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• Our team's failure is very exasperating. 我们队失败了，真是气死人。
• It is really exasperating that he has not turned up when the train is about to leave. 火车快开了， 他还不来，实在急人。

3 beget   

v.引起；产生

参考例句：

• Dragons beget dragons,phoenixes beget phoenixes.龙生龙，凤生凤。
• Economic tensions beget political ones.经济紧张导致政治紧张。

4 confidential   

adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的

参考例句：

• He refused to allow his secretary to handle confidential letters.他不让秘书处理机密文件。
• We have a confidential exchange of views.我们推心置腹地交换意见。