英語聽書《白鯨記》第777期

And when those defendants were remonstrated with, their captain snapped his fingers in the plaintiffs' teeth, and assured them that by way of doxology to the deed he had done, he would now retain their line, harpoons, and boat, which had remained attached to the whale at the time of the seizure. Wherefore the plaintiffs now sued for the recovery of the value of their whale, line, harpoons, and boat.

而當(dāng)原告對被告提出指責(zé)時，被告的船長竟伸起指頭直戳到原告的嘴巴，而且還強詞奪理地對原告?zhèn)冋f，他所做的都是合情合理的，他現(xiàn)在應(yīng)該保有他們的繩索、標(biāo)槍和小艇（這些東西都是在大鯨被奪去時原封不動地附在鯨身上的）。因此，原告?zhèn)儸F(xiàn)在要控告對方賠償他們的鯨、繩索、標(biāo)槍和小艇的損失。

Mr. Erskine was counsel for the defendants; Lord Ellenborough was the judge. In the course of the defence, the witty Erskine went on to illustrate his position, by alluding to a recent crim. con. case, wherein a gentleman, after in vain trying to bridle his wife's viciousness, had at last abandoned her upon the seas of life; but in the course of years, repenting of that step, he instituted an action to recover possession of her. Erskine was on the other side; and he then supported it by saying, that though the gentleman had originally harpooned the lady, and had once had her fast, and only by reason of the great stress of her plunging viciousness, had at last abandoned her; yet abandon her he did, so that she became a loose-fish; and therefore when a subsequent gentleman re-harpooned her, the lady then became that subsequent gentleman's property, along with whatever harpoon might have been found sticking in her.

厄斯金（托馬斯·厄斯金（1750—1825）——英國律師。先生當(dāng)時是被告的辯護律師：法官是埃倫巴勒（愛德華·洛·埃倫巴勒（1750—1818）——英國律師。）勛爵。在辯護過程中，機智的厄斯金竟引證了從前一件通奸案來解釋他的見解，他說，當(dāng)時有一位仁兄，在徒勞地制止他妻子的不端行為后，終于把她拋棄了，聽她漂流去。但是，過了幾年，他又懊悔不該采取那種做法，想重新把她占為己有。厄斯金當(dāng)時是女方的辯護人，于是起來為女方辯護說，盡管這位仁兄原來也使用標(biāo)槍把她戳中了，并且一度把她拴住了，只不過因為她耽迷于不端行為，令人左右為難，才終于不得不將她拋棄；然而，既然他確是把她拋棄了，所以她就成為一條無主鯨了；因此，等到有第二個仁兄再用標(biāo)槍把她戳中了的時候，那么，這位太太當(dāng)然就該歸這第二個仁兄所有嘍，連同她身上還可以找得到的、前人所已戳在她身上的標(biāo)槍，都應(yīng)一起算作第二位仁兄的財產(chǎn)了。

Now in the present case Erskine contended that the examples of the whale and the lady were reciprocally illustrative of each other.

所以，在現(xiàn)在這個案件中，厄斯金極力主張，這條鯨和那個太太的兩個例子，都是足以彼此互作說明的。

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