英语听书《白鲸记》第909期

 He answered, certainly. 他回答道，当然啦。

In a word, it was Queequeg's conceit¹, that if a man made up his mind to live, mere² sickness could not kill him: 总之，这是魁魁格的妙论，就是说，一个人如果决心要活，区区疾病是死不了的；

nothing but a whale, or a gale³, or some violent, ungovernable, unintelligent destroyer of that sort. 除非是碰上一条大鲸，一阵狂风，或者是那种猛烈的、无法控制的、无法理解的破坏成性的东西。

Now, there is this noteworthy difference between savage⁴ and civilized⁵; 这就是野人和文明人的显著的分别；

that while a sick, civilized man may be six months convalescing⁶, generally speaking, a sick savage is almost half-well again in a day. 一般说来，如果一个生了病的文明人要六个月才能康复，那么，一个生了病的野人差不多一天工夫便可以好了一半。

So, in good time my Queequeg gained strength; 所以，我的魁魁格就准时恢复了健康；

and at length after sitting on the windlass for a few indolent days (but eating with a vigorous appetite) 最后，他在绞车上懒散地坐了几天后（不过胃口极佳），

he suddenly leaped to his feet, threw out his arms and legs, gave himself a good stretching, yawned a little bit, 他突然砰咚跳将起来，甩手甩足，痛痛快快伸个懒腰，打了一阵子呵欠，

and then springing into the head of his hoisted⁷ boat, and poising⁸ a harpoon⁹, pronounced himself fit for a fight. 就跳进他那只吊着的小艇里，立在艇首，抓起标枪，说是他完全可以战斗了。

With a wild whimsiness, he now used his coffin¹⁰ for a sea-chest; and emptying into it his canvas bag of clothes, set them in order there. 这会儿，他奇兴大发，把他的棺材拿来当箱子用，把他那只帆布包里的衣服全都倒在棺材里，又把衣服理得整整齐齐。

Many spare hours he spent, in carving¹¹ the lid with all manner of grotesque¹² figures and drawings; 他还花了许多空闲的工夫，在棺材盖上刻了各式各样奇形怪状的人像和图画；

and it seemed that hereby he was striving, in his rude way, to copy parts of the twisted tattooing¹³ on his body. 看来他正力图以他那拙劣的手法，把他身体上那些弯弯曲曲的刺花给复摹一些下去。

And this tattooing had been the work of a departed prophet and seer of his island, who, by those hieroglyphic marks, 这种刺花原来就是他故乡岛上的一个已故的预言家兼先知的杰作，这个先知用这些象形的记号，

had written out on his body a complete theory of the heavens and the earth, and a mystical treatise on the art of attaining truth; 在他身上刻出了关于天地的一套完整的见解，和一篇阐述如何获得真理的奥妙的论文；S

 

1 conceit   

n.自负，自高自大

参考例句：

• As conceit makes one lag behind,so modesty helps one make progress.骄傲使人落后，谦虚使人进步。
• She seems to be eaten up with her own conceit.她仿佛已经被骄傲冲昏了头脑。

2 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

3 gale   

n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等）

参考例句：

• We got our roof blown off in the gale last night.昨夜的大风把我们的房顶给掀掉了。
• According to the weather forecast,there will be a gale tomorrow.据气象台预报，明天有大风。

4 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。

5 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

6 convalescing   

v.康复( convalesce的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She is convalescing at home after her operation. 手术后她正在家休养康复。
• The patient is convalescing nicely. 病人正在顺利地康复。 来自辞典例句

7 hoisted   

把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He hoisted himself onto a high stool. 他抬身坐上了一张高凳子。
• The sailors hoisted the cargo onto the deck. 水手们把货物吊到甲板上。

8 poising   

使平衡( poise的现在分词 )； 保持（某种姿势）； 抓紧； 使稳定

参考例句：

• The dynamic poising of the watch-balance enhances the performance of each movement. 腕表平衡摆轮的动态性能决定了机芯的性能。
• Also has the poising action to the blood sugar. 对血糖还具有双向平衡作用。

9 harpoon   

n.鱼叉；vt.用鱼叉叉，用鱼叉捕获

参考例句：

• The harpoon drove deep into the body of the whale.渔叉深深地扎进鲸鱼体内。
• The fisherman transfixed the shark with a harpoon.渔夫用鱼叉刺住鲨鱼。

10 coffin   

n.棺材，灵柩

参考例句：

• When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
• The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。

11 carving   

n.雕刻品，雕花

参考例句：

• All the furniture in the room had much carving.房间里所有的家具上都有许多雕刻。
• He acquired the craft of wood carving in his native town.他在老家学会了木雕手艺。

12 grotesque   

adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物）

参考例句：

• His face has a grotesque appearance.他的面部表情十分怪。
• Her account of the incident was a grotesque distortion of the truth.她对这件事的陈述是荒诞地歪曲了事实。

13 tattooing   

n.刺字，文身v.刺青，文身( tattoo的现在分词 )；连续有节奏地敲击；作连续有节奏的敲击

参考例句：

• tattooing and body piercing 文身和穿体装饰
• On earth most work of the absolute shy cattle ^s skin-tattooing world! 地球上最牛的纹身绝对惊世之作！ 来自互联网