英语听书《白鲸记》第896期

 　　I'm a sort of strange-thoughted sometimes, they say; but that's only haphazard-like. 他们都说，我有时候是个奇思怪想的人；可是这倒有点象偶然的事。

　　Then, a short, little old body like me, should never undertake to wade¹ out into deep waters with tall, heron-built captains; 那么，象我这样一个又矮又小的老头儿，决不应该跟那些个苍鹭一般身材高大的船长一起蹚到深水的地方去；

　　the water chucks you under the chin pretty quick, and there's a great cry for life-boats. 海水很快就会卡住你的头颈，那就得大叫救命啦。

　　And here's the heron's leg! long and slim, sure enough! 嗯，这就是一只苍鹭腿！又长又细，果真不错！

　　Now, for most folks one pair of legs lasts a lifetime, 大多数的人，一双腿可以用上一生一世，

　　and that must be because they use them mercifully, as a tender-hearted old lady uses her roly-poly old coach-horses. 那一定是因为用得仔仔细细的缘故，就象一个慈心善肠的老太太用着她那些圆胖胖的老马一般。

　　But Ahab; oh he's a hard driver. 可是，亚哈呀，他是个硬心肠的赶车人。

　　Look, driven one leg to death, and spavined the other for life, and now wears out bone legs by the cord. 你瞧，把一条腿也赶死了，还要不惜牺牲另一条腿去求生，现在却把两条骨腿的筋都蹩断了。

　　Halloa, there, you Smut! bear a hand there with those screws, and let's finish it before the resurrection fellow comes a-calling with his horn for all legs, true or false,  喂，喂，你老人家！帮帮忙。把那些螺丝递给我吧，让我们把它完工算啦！免得那个使人复活的家伙（指迦百列天使长。）又拿着号角来催唤了，是真是假，

　　as brewery² men go round collecting old beer barrels, to fill 'em up again. 就象酿酒人走遍各地去收回旧酒桶，拿来再装酒那样。

　　What a leg this is! 这可是多漂亮的一条腿呀！

　　It looks like a real live leg, filed down to nothing but the core; he'll be standing³ on this to-morrow; he'll be taking altitudes on it. 样子很象条真的活腿，全是用榫头敲起的；他明天就要靠它来撑住啦；他就可以站在这上面量高度了。

　　Halloa! I almost forgot the little oval slate⁴, smoothed ivory, where he figures up the latitude⁵. 嗳哟！我简直把那小块卵石板给忘掉了，得把这块牙骨磨磨光，他要靠它来计算宽度呢。

　　So, so; chisel⁶, file, and sand-paper, now! 唔，唔；凿子，锉子，砂纸，来吧！

1 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

2 brewery   

n.啤酒厂

参考例句：

• The brewery had 25 heavy horses delivering beer in London.啤酒厂有25匹高头大马在伦敦城中运送啤酒。
• When business was good,the brewery employed 20 people.在生意好的时候，这家酿造厂曾经雇佣过20人。

3 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

4 slate   

n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订

参考例句：

• The nominating committee laid its slate before the board.提名委员会把候选人名单提交全体委员会讨论。
• What kind of job uses stained wood and slate? 什么工作会接触木头污浊和石板呢？

5 latitude   

n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区

参考例句：

• The latitude of the island is 20 degrees south.该岛的纬度是南纬20度。
• The two cities are at approximately the same latitude.这两个城市差不多位于同一纬度上。

6 chisel   

n.凿子；v.用凿子刻，雕，凿

参考例句：

• This chisel is useful for getting into awkward spaces.这凿子在要伸入到犄角儿里时十分有用。
• Camille used a hammer and chisel to carve out a figure from the marble.卡米尔用锤子和凿子将大理石雕刻出一个人像。