英语听书《白鲸记》第253期

 No more my splintered heart and maddened hand were turned against the wolfish world. This soothing¹ savage² had redeemed³ it.  我的破碎的心和疯狂的手再也不想反抗这个虎狼的世界。这个镇定的野人已把众生给超度了。

There he sat, his very indifference⁴ speaking a nature in which there lurked⁵ no civilized⁶ hypocrisies⁷ and bland⁸ deceits.  他坐在那里,他那种十分冷漠的态度,证明他天生毫无文明人的虚伪和甜言蜜语的奸诈。

Wild he was; a very sight of sights to see; yet I began to feel myself mysteriously drawn⁹ towards him.  他虽然是个野人,虽然看来是个绝无仅有的人物,我却已开始觉得我自己是在神秘地向着他了。

And those same things that would have repelled¹⁰ most others, they were the very magnets that thus drew me.  而那些本来会排斥大部分别的事物的感情,却成为这样吸住了我的磁石。

I'll try a pagan friend, thought I, since Christian¹¹ kindness has proved but hollow courtesy.  我要结交一个异教徒的朋友,我心里想,因为文明人的仁慈原来只是一种虚伪的好意。

I drew my bench near him, and made some friendly signs and hints, doing my best to talk with him meanwhile.  我把我的坐凳拉到他旁边,友善地指手划脚,尽我所能地跟他谈话。

At first he little noticed these advances; but presently, upon my referring to his last night's hospitalities, he made out to ask me whether we were again to be bedfellows.  起先,他并不理会这种亲近的态度;但是,经过我指出他昨天晚上的殷勤态度后,不多久,他就领会了,问我们是否还要做睡伴。

I told him yes; whereat I thought he looked pleased, perhaps a little complimented. 我对他说要,我顿即看出他显得很高兴,或许还有点儿领情。

We then turned over the book together, and I endeavored to explain to him the purpose of the printing, and the meaning of the few pictures that were in it.  于是,我们一起翻书,我力图向他解释那本印刷物的用处和书上那几幅画的意义。

Thus I soon engaged his interest; and from that we went to jabbering¹² the best we could about the various outer sights to be seen in this famous town.  这样一来,我立刻激起他的兴趣,接着,我们便尽可能地从那事情拉扯到我们在这名城里所见到的形形色色。

Soon I proposed a social smoke; and, producing his pouch¹³ and tomahawk, he quietly offered me a puff¹⁴.  我一提起要抽烟,他就掏出他的烟袋和那支烟斗斧来,悄悄地递给我吸一口。

And then we sat exchanging puffs¹⁵ from that wild pipe of his, and keeping it regularly passing between us. 我们就这么坐在那里,轮番抽着他那支野里野气的烟斗,把它有规律地递来递去。

If there yet lurked any ice of indifference towards me in the Pagan's breast, this pleasant, genial¹⁶ smoke we had, soon thawed¹⁷ it out, and left us cronies.   如果说,这个异教徒的心里本来对我还隐存有任何的冷漠的态度的话,那么,经过我们这番愉快而亲切的抽烟后,这种态度已立刻冰消雪化,我们也做起老朋友了。

1 soothing   

adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的

参考例句：

• Put on some nice soothing music.播放一些柔和舒缓的音乐。
• His casual, relaxed manner was very soothing.他随意而放松的举动让人很快便平静下来。

2 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

3 redeemed   

adj. 可赎回的，可救赎的 动词redeem的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• She has redeemed her pawned jewellery. 她赎回了当掉的珠宝。
• He redeemed his watch from the pawnbroker's. 他从当铺赎回手表。

4 indifference   

n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎

参考例句：

• I was disappointed by his indifference more than somewhat.他的漠不关心使我很失望。
• He feigned indifference to criticism of his work.他假装毫不在意别人批评他的作品。

5 lurked   

vi.潜伏，埋伏（lurk的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The murderers lurked behind the trees. 谋杀者埋伏在树后。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Treachery lurked behind his smooth manners. 他圆滑姿态的后面潜伏着奸计。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 civilized   

a.有教养的，文雅的

参考例句：

• Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
• rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为

7 hypocrisies   

n.伪善，虚伪( hypocrisy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

8 bland   

adj.淡而无味的，温和的，无刺激性的

参考例句：

• He eats bland food because of his stomach trouble.他因胃病而吃清淡的食物。
• This soup is too bland for me.这汤我喝起来偏淡。

9 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

10 repelled   

v.击退( repel的过去式和过去分词 )；使厌恶；排斥；推开

参考例句：

• They repelled the enemy. 他们击退了敌军。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The minister tremulously, but decidedly, repelled the old man's arm. 而丁梅斯代尔牧师却哆里哆嗦地断然推开了那老人的胳臂。 来自英汉文学 - 红字

11 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

12 jabbering   

v.急切而含混不清地说( jabber的现在分词 )；急促兴奋地说话；结结巴巴

参考例句：

• What is he jabbering about now? 他在叽里咕噜地说什么呢？
• He was jabbering away in Russian. 他叽里咕噜地说着俄语。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 pouch   

n.小袋，小包，囊状袋；vt.装...入袋中，用袋运输；vi.用袋送信件

参考例句：

• He was going to make a tobacco pouch out of them. 他要用它们缝制一个烟草袋。
• The old man is always carrying a tobacco pouch with him.这老汉总是随身带着烟袋。

14 puff   

n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气

参考例句：

• He took a puff at his cigarette.他吸了一口香烟。
• They tried their best to puff the book they published.他们尽力吹捧他们出版的书。

15 puffs   

n.吸( puff的名词复数 )；（烟斗或香烟的）一吸；一缕（烟、蒸汽等）；（呼吸或风的）呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧

参考例句：

• We sat exchanging puffs from that wild pipe of his. 我们坐在那里，轮番抽着他那支野里野气的烟斗。 来自辞典例句
• Puffs of steam and smoke came from the engine. 一股股蒸汽和烟雾从那火车头里冒出来。 来自辞典例句

16 genial   

adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的

参考例句：

• Orlando is a genial man.奥兰多是一位和蔼可亲的人。
• He was a warm-hearted friend and genial host.他是个热心的朋友，也是友善待客的主人。

17 thawed   

解冻

参考例句：

• The little girl's smile thawed the angry old man. 小姑娘的微笑使发怒的老头缓和下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He thawed after sitting at a fire for a while. 在火堆旁坐了一会儿，他觉得暖和起来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》