英语听书《白鲸记》第343期

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Yet, for all his hardy² sobriety and fortitude³, there were certain qualities in him which at times affected⁴, and in some cases seemed well nigh to overbalance all the rest.  虽然他有吃苦耐劳的谨严态度和坚忍不拔的精神,可是在他身上也有一些特质,不时影响,而且在某些场合上,似乎还会超过其它一切的特质。

Uncommonly⁵ conscientious⁶ for a seaman⁷, and endued⁸ with a deep natural reverence⁹, the wild watery¹⁰ loneliness of his life did therefore strongly incline him to superstition¹¹;  他是个耿直非凡的水手,又有一种根深蒂固的虔诚的心,因此,他那种海上的狂暴而孤寂的生活非常容易使他趋向迷信;

but to that sort of superstition, which in some organizations seems rather to spring, somehow, from intelligence than from ignorance.  至于那种迷信,就它的构成说来,却似乎多少有点出之于智慧,而不是出之于愚昧。

Outward portents¹² and inward presentiments¹³ were his.  他就是一个外表非凡而内心敏感的人。

And if at times these things bent¹⁴ the welded iron of his soul, much more did his far-away domestic memories of his young Cape¹⁵ wife and child,  如果这些东西会时时使他那焊铁似的心肠屈服的话,主要是由于他想到了他那远在家乡的年轻的妻子和小孩,

tend to bend him still more from the original ruggedness¹⁶ of his nature, and open him still further to those latent influences which, in some honest-hearted men,  使他越发消失了他那粗犷的本性,使他更趋向于那种潜存的势力,这种势力,就心地忠实的人说来,

restrain the gush¹⁷ of dare-devil daring, so often evinced by others in the more perilous¹⁹ vicissitudes²⁰ of the fishery.  就鼓不起那种勇猛的冒险精神,因为人人都经常可以看到捕鱼业的更富危险的变迁情况。

I will have no man in my boat, said Starbuck, who is not afraid of a whale.  在我的小艇上,不怕大鲸的人是没有的。斯达巴克说。

By this, he seemed to mean, not only that the most reliable and useful courage was that which arises from the fair estimation of the encountered peril¹⁸,  他这句话,似乎不只是说:能对所面临的危险加以正确估计的,才称得上所谓切实可靠的勇敢,而且还含有这样的意思:

but that an utterly²¹ fearless man is a far more dangerous comrade than a coward. 跟一个大无畏的人做船伴,比跟一个懦夫做船伴还更危险。

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