英語聽書《白鯨記》第481期

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Lionel, it seems, was on his way to "John Ferdinando," as he calls the modern Juan Fernandes. "In our way thither," he says, "about four o'clock in the morning, when we were about one hundred and fifty leagues from the Main of America, our ship felt a terrible shock, which put our men in such consternation that they could hardly tell where they were or what to think; but every one began to prepare for death. And, indeed, the shock was so sudden and violent, that we took it for granted the ship had struck against a rock; but when the amazement was a little over, we cast the lead, and sounded, but found no ground... The suddenness of the shock made the guns leap in their carriages, and several of the men were shaken out of their hammocks. Captain Davis, who lay with his head on a gun, was thrown out of his cabin!" Lionel then goes on to impute the shock to an earthquake, and seems to substantiate the imputation by stating that a great earthquake, somewhere about that time, did actually do great mischief along the Spanish land. But I should not much wonder if, in thedarkness of that early hour of the morning, the shock was after all caused by an unseen whale vertically bumping the hull from beneath.

當時，萊昂內爾好象正駛向約翰。費迪南多的途中——這是他管現代的胡安·費爾南德斯(胡安·費爾南德斯——在南太平洋，智利西面的一個群島。)的叫法。"在我們駛到那地方去的途中，"他說，"大約是早晨四點鐘的時候，當時，我們已經離開美國本土約四百五十英里，突然我們的船受了猛烈的一撞，把船上的人嚇得魂不附體，不知所措；大家都準備等死。老實說，那一撞可真來得又突然又猛烈，我們還當是船觸了礁；但是驚魂甫定，我們放下測錘，探一探水的深淺，卻弄不出個結果來——。這陣突然的震動，弄得槍枝都在槍架上跳動了起來，還有幾個人被甩出了吊鋪。頭枕著槍躺在那里的戴維斯船長，也給摔出了船長室!"萊昂內爾接著卻把這震動歸之于地震，而且象是為了要證實這種張冠李戴的事情，還聲稱大概當時什么地方確曾有過一次大地震，在西班牙地方釀下了大禍?？墒?，我卻毫不懷疑地認為，可能就在那漆黑的破曉時分，有一只大家都沒看到的大鯨，從船身底下直沖上來，這才有這么一震。

I might proceed with several more examples, one way or another known to me, of the great power and malice attimes of the sperm whale. In more than one instance, he has been known, not only to chase the assailing boats back to their ships, but to pursue the ship itself, and long withstand all the lances hurled at him from its decks. The English ship Pusie Hall can tell a story on that head; and, as for his strength, let me say, that there have been examples where the lines attached to a running sperm whale have, in a calm, been transferred to the ship, and secured there! the whale towing her great hull through the water, as a horse walks offwith a cart. Again, it is very often observed that, if the sperm whale, once struck, is allowed time to rally, he then acts, not so often with blind rage, as with wilful, deliberate designs of destruction to his pursuers; nor is it without conveying some eloquent indication of his character, that upon being attacked he will frequently open his mouth, and retain it in that dread expansion for several consecutive minutes. But I must be content with only one more and a concluding illustration; a remarkable and most significant one, by which you will not fail to see, that not only is the most marvellous event in this book corroborated by plain facts of the present day, but that these marvels (like all marvels) are mere repetitions of the ages; so that for the millionth time we say amen with Solomon--Verily there is nothing new under the sun.

關于抹香鯨常常顯出的威力和作惡情況，我倒想就我所知的，多少再提出幾個例證來。據說，有過許多次實例，它不但把攻擊它的小艇趕回大船上去，還要追趕大船，跟甲板上投下來的一切槍矛做長期抵抗。那艘叫做"普西·霍爾"的英國船，在這方面就可以講得頗為有聲有色；至于說到它的力氣，我不妨舉出這樣的譬喻：如果在風平浪靜的海里，把繩索縛在一只疾游的抹香鯨身上，然后再系牢在船身上，那么，那條鯨在拖曳大船沖過水面的時候，就跟駿馬拖著車子疾奔而去一樣。還有，人們常常這樣說：如果抹香鯨一經打中，而有時間讓它恢復精力的話，那么，它往往并不是那么瞎冒火，而是做得好象存心要盤算謀劃，摧毀它的追捕者；同時，這也不無帶點兒夸張它的性格的說法，那就是，每當它被打中的時候，它總要大張著口，而且那種可怕的張開狀態(tài)還要持續(xù)好幾分鐘。不過，我一定要再舉出一個結論性的說明，這才稱心滿意：從這個值得注意和最具有意義的例證中，你就一定可以看出來，本書所載的這些由明晰的事實所證實的驚奇事件，并不是現代才有的，這些奇跡(一如所有的奇跡一樣)，都不過是年代久遠的舊事重提而已；所以，我們才千千萬萬次對所羅門說阿門——的確，日光之下并無新事(見《舊約·傳道書》第一章九節(jié)。)。