英语听书《白鲸记》第913期

 Silent, slow, and solemn; bowing over still further his chronically¹ broken back, he toiled³ away, 他不声不响，慢条斯理而一本正经；弓着他那长期佝偻的背，不停地干下去，

as if toil² were life itself, and the heavy beating of his hammer the heavy beating of his heart. 好象劳作就是生命，他的锤子的沉重的敲击，就是他的心的沉重的跳动。

And so it was.—Most miserable⁴! 这真是极其可怜！

A peculiar⁵ walk in this old man, a certain slight but painful appearing yawing in his gait,  这个老头儿走起路来有一种特殊的步法，一种稍微有点显得很苦痛的偏斜的走相，

had at an early period of the voyage excited the curiosity of the mariners⁶. 在这次航程开始的时候，就引起了水手们的好奇心。

And to the importunity⁷ of their persisted questionings he had finally given in; 由于大家再三再四的追根究底，他终于不得不说了出来；

and so it came to pass that every one now knew the shameful⁸ story of his wretched fate. 因此，现在大家都知道他那可怜的命运有过一段丢脸的经过。

Belated, and not innocently, one bitter winter's midnight, on the road running between two country towns, 一个严冬的午夜，这个赶晚了路而并不是不知情的铁匠，走在一条左右各有一个乡镇的路上，

the blacksmith half-stupidly felt the deadly numbness⁹ stealing over him, and sought refuge in a leaning, dilapidated barn. 他有点迟钝地觉得身上突然非常麻痹，于是摸到一个倾斜的破谷仓里去歇一歇。

The issue was, the loss of the extremities¹⁰ of both feet. 原因是双脚再也撑不住了。

Out of this revelation, part by part,  终于，打从这个意外中，

at last came out the four acts of the gladness, and the one long, and as yet uncatastrophied fifth act of the grief of his life's drama. 逐渐产生了四幕喜剧，和一个长长而尚未收场的、表现他一生的悲剧的第五幕。

He was an old man, who, at the age of nearly sixty, had postponedly encountered that thing in sorrow's technicals called ruin. 他是个老头儿，年纪将近六十岁，还迟迟没有遭遇到那种叫做家破人亡的悲伤的专门名词的事儿。

He had been an artisan of famed excellence¹¹, and with plenty to do;  他本来是一个以技艺高强著称的手艺人，活儿做不完；

owned a house and garden; embraced a youthful, daughter-like, loving wife, and three blithe¹², ruddy children; every Sunday went to a cheerful-looking church, planted in a grove¹³.  自己有一座带园子的房子；还有一个年轻的象女儿一般的爱妻，三个活泼壮健的小孩；每个礼拜日都上那个四周布满丛林。外表舒适的教堂去做礼拜。

 

1 chronically   

ad.长期地

参考例句：

• Similarly, any pigment nevus that is chronically irritated should be excised. 同样，凡是经常受慢性刺激的各种色素痣切勿予以切除。
• People chronically exposed to chlorine develop some degree of tolerance. 人长期接触氯气可以产生某种程度的耐受性。

2 toil   

vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事

参考例句：

• The wealth comes from the toil of the masses.财富来自大众的辛勤劳动。
• Every single grain is the result of toil.每一粒粮食都来之不易。

3 toiled   

长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉

参考例句：

• They toiled up the hill in the blazing sun. 他们冒着炎炎烈日艰难地一步一步爬上山冈。
• He toiled all day long but earned very little. 他整天劳碌但挣得很少。

4 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

5 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

6 mariners   

海员，水手（mariner的复数形式）

参考例句：

• Mariners were also able to fix their latitude by using an instrument called astrolabe. 海员们还可使用星盘这种仪器确定纬度。
• The ancient mariners traversed the sea. 古代的海员漂洋过海。

7 importunity   

n.硬要，强求

参考例句：

• They got only blushes, ejaculations, tremors, and titters, in return for their importunity. 她们只是用脸红、惊叫、颤抖和傻笑来回答他们的要求。 来自辞典例句
• His importunity left me no alternative but to agree. 他的强硬要求让我只能答应而没有别的选择。 来自互联网

8 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

9 numbness   

n.无感觉，麻木，惊呆

参考例句：

• She was fighting off the numbness of frostbite. 她在竭力摆脱冻僵的感觉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Sometimes they stay dead, causing' only numbness. 有时，它们没有任何反应，只会造成麻木。 来自时文部分

10 extremities   

n.端点( extremity的名词复数 )；尽头；手和足；极窘迫的境地

参考例句：

• She was most noticeable, I thought, in respect of her extremities. 我觉得她那副穷极可怜的样子实在太惹人注目。 来自辞典例句
• Winters may be quite cool at the northwestern extremities. 西北边区的冬天也可能会相当凉。 来自辞典例句

11 excellence   

n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德

参考例句：

• His art has reached a high degree of excellence.他的艺术已达到炉火纯青的地步。
• My performance is far below excellence.我的表演离优秀还差得远呢。

12 blithe   

adj.快乐的，无忧无虑的

参考例句：

• Tonight,however,she was even in a blithe mood than usual.但是，今天晚上她比往常还要高兴。
• He showed a blithe indifference to her feelings.他显得毫不顾及她的感情。

13 grove   

n.林子，小树林，园林

参考例句：

• On top of the hill was a grove of tall trees.山顶上一片高大的树林。
• The scent of lemons filled the grove.柠檬香味充满了小树林。