英语听书《白鲸记》第612期

 　　Here be it known, that though these wild fishermen do not, as a general thing, and according to the great military maxim¹,  其实，一般说来，这些粗犷的捕鱼人虽然并不根据那个伟大的军事准则，

　　make the enemy defray the current expenses of the war (at least before realizing the proceeds of the voyage),  向他的敌人要求清偿战争杂费（至少在航程的结果还未清理前），

　　yet now and then you find some of these Nantucketers who have a genuine relish² for that particular part of the Sperm³ Whale designated by Stubb;  然而，人们却不时地会在这些南塔开特人中，看到有些人对于斯塔布所指定的抹香鲸那个特别部位颇具真正的兴趣；

　　comprising the tapering⁴ extremity⁵ of the body. 包括大鲸的细小的器官在内。

　　About midnight that steak was cut and cooked;  约莫午夜时分，鲸排已经割好煮出来了；

　　and lighted by two lanterns of sperm oil, Stubb stoutly⁶ stood up to his spermaceti supper at the capstan-head, as if that capstan were a sideboard.  于是，在两盏抹香鲸油的灯笼的映照下，斯塔布就挺胸叠肚地站在绞盘旁边吃起他那抹香鲸的晚餐，仿佛那只绞盘就是一只餐具架。

　　Nor was Stubb the only banqueter on whale's flesh that night.  那天晚上，大尝鲸肉筵席的，可不光是斯塔布一个人。

　　Mingling⁷ their mumblings with his own mastications, thousands on thousands of sharks, swarming⁸ round the dead leviathan, smackingly feasted on its fatness. 跟斯塔布自己的咀嚼声交混在一起的，还有成千上万的鲨鱼的嗫嚅声，它们都紧围着这条死鲸，在巴嗒巴嗒地饱尝它的肥肉。

　　The few sleepers⁹ below in their bunks¹⁰ were often startled by the sharp slapping of their tails against the hull¹¹, within a few inches of the sleepers' hearts.  几个睡在舱里床铺上的人，时常被它们的尾巴敲击着船身的刺耳的啪啪声惊醒，因为隔开睡觉的人们的心胸不过是几英寸之遥。

　　Peering over the side you could just see them (as before you heard them) wallowing in the sullen¹², black waters,  如果靠船舷瞧一瞧，就可以看到它们（在没有听到它们那声音之前）正在那阴森、漆黑的水里翻滚。

　　and turning over on their backs as they scooped¹³ out huge globular pieces of the whale of the bigness of a human head. 它们把身子仰天一翻，就剜出了一块跟人头一般大小的鲸肉。

　　This particular feat¹⁴ of the shark seems all but miraculous¹⁵.  鲨鱼这种特具的技巧，似乎很是不可思议。

1 maxim   

n.格言，箴言

参考例句：

• Please lay the maxim to your heart.请把此格言记在心里。
• "Waste not,want not" is her favourite maxim.“不浪费则不匮乏”是她喜爱的格言。

2 relish   

n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味

参考例句：

• I have no relish for pop music.我对流行音乐不感兴趣。
• I relish the challenge of doing jobs that others turn down.我喜欢挑战别人拒绝做的工作。

3 sperm   

n.精子，精液

参考例句：

• Only one sperm fertilises an egg.只有一个精子使卵子受精。
• In human reproduction,one female egg is usually fertilized by one sperm.在人体生殖过程中，一个精子使一个卵子受精。

4 tapering   

adj.尖端细的

参考例句：

• Interest in the scandal seems to be tapering off. 人们对那件丑闻的兴趣似乎越来越小了。
• Nonproductive expenditures keep tapering down. 非生产性开支一直在下降。

5 extremity   

n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度

参考例句：

• I hope you will help them in their extremity.我希望你能帮助在穷途末路的他们。
• What shall we do in this extremity?在这种极其困难的情况下我们该怎么办呢？

6 stoutly   

adv.牢固地，粗壮的

参考例句：

• He stoutly denied his guilt.他断然否认自己有罪。
• Burgess was taxed with this and stoutly denied it.伯杰斯为此受到了责难，但是他自己坚决否认有这回事。

7 mingling   

adj.混合的

参考例句：

• There was a spring of bitterness mingling with that fountain of sweets. 在这个甜蜜的源泉中间，已经掺和进苦涩的山水了。
• The mingling of inconsequence belongs to us all. 这场矛盾混和物是我们大家所共有的。

8 swarming   

密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去

参考例句：

• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。
• The beach is swarming with bathers. 海滩满是海水浴的人。

9 sleepers   

n.卧铺（通常以复数形式出现）；卧车( sleeper的名词复数 )；轨枕；睡觉（呈某种状态）的人；小耳环

参考例句：

• He trod quietly so as not to disturb the sleepers. 他轻移脚步，以免吵醒睡着的人。 来自辞典例句
• The nurse was out, and we two sleepers were alone. 保姆出去了，只剩下我们两个瞌睡虫。 来自辞典例句

10 bunks   

n.（车、船等倚壁而设的）铺位( bunk的名词复数 )；空话，废话v.（车、船等倚壁而设的）铺位( bunk的第三人称单数 )；空话，废话

参考例句：

• These bunks can tip up and fold back into the wall. 这些铺位可以翻起来并折叠收入墙内。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• At last they turned into their little bunks in the cart. 最后他们都钻进车内的小卧铺里。 来自辞典例句

11 hull   

n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳

参考例句：

• The outer surface of ship's hull is very hard.船体的外表面非常坚硬。
• The boat's hull has been staved in by the tremendous seas.小船壳让巨浪打穿了。

12 sullen   

adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的

参考例句：

• He looked up at the sullen sky.他抬头看了一眼阴沉的天空。
• Susan was sullen in the morning because she hadn't slept well.苏珊今天早上郁闷不乐，因为昨晚没睡好。

13 scooped   

v.抢先报道( scoop的过去式和过去分词 )；（敏捷地）抱起；抢先获得；用铲[勺]等挖（洞等）

参考例句：

• They scooped the other newspapers by revealing the matter. 他们抢先报道了这件事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The wheels scooped up stones which hammered ominously under the car. 车轮搅起的石块，在车身下发出不吉祥的锤击声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 feat   

n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的

参考例句：

• Man's first landing on the moon was a feat of great daring.人类首次登月是一个勇敢的壮举。
• He received a medal for his heroic feat.他因其英雄业绩而获得一枚勋章。

15 miraculous   

adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的

参考例句：

• The wounded man made a miraculous recovery.伤员奇迹般地痊愈了。
• They won a miraculous victory over much stronger enemy.他们战胜了远比自己强大的敌人，赢得了非凡的胜利。