英語聽書《白鯨記》第823期

所屬教程:英語聽書《白鯨記》

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2019年04月12日

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Chapter 98 Stowing Down and Clearing Up

第九十八章裝艙和打掃

Already has it been related how the great leviathan is afar off descried from the mast-head; how he is chased over the watery moors, and slaughtered in the valleys of the deep; how he is then towed alongside and beheaded; and how (on the principle which entitled the headsman of old to the garments in which the beheaded was killed) his great padded surtout becomes the property of his executioner; how, in due time, he is condemned to the pots, and, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, his spermaceti, oil, and bone pass unscathed through the fire;—but now it remains to conclude the last chapter of this part of the description by rehearsing—singing, if I may—the romantic proceeding of decanting off his oil into the casks and striking them down into the hold, where once again leviathan returns to his native profundities, sliding along beneath the surface as before; but, alas! never more to rise and blow.

前面已經(jīng)講過了：大鯨是怎樣老遠(yuǎn)就被桅頂上的人發(fā)現(xiàn)；人們怎樣在茫茫的汪洋上追擊它，在大海的幽谷里把它給宰殺了；接著又怎樣把它拖在船側(cè)，被砍了頭；它那件大禮服也似的外皮怎樣（根據(jù)這件大衣應(yīng)歸那個殺了它的頭的指揮員的老原則）成為這個劊子手的所有物；又怎樣把它及時判進(jìn)了鍋里，結(jié)果象沙得拉、米煞、亞伯尼歌（三人都是被巴比倫王尼布甲尼撒擲進(jìn)火里而一無損傷的，見《舊約·但以理書》第三章十三節(jié)至二十三節(jié)。）那樣，它的鯨腦、鯨油和骨頭都經(jīng)過火燒而一無損傷；——可是，現(xiàn)在還得把那富有傳奇意味的過程（怎樣把鯨油倒進(jìn)了大桶，把它們滾進(jìn)艙里去），加以朗誦（我也不妨稱之為歌唱）一番，以結(jié)束這方面的描述的最后一章，因?yàn)檫M(jìn)了艙里，大鯨又再度回到它原來的深淵去了，象以前那樣在海里滾來滾去；不過，可惜它再也不能冒上來噴水了！

While still warm, the oil, like hot punch, is received into the six-barrel casks; and while, perhaps, the ship is pitching and rolling this way and that in the midnight sea, the enormous casks are slewed round and headed over, end for end, and sometimes perilously scoot across the slippery deck, like so many land slides, till at last man-handled and stayed in their course; and all round the hoops, rap, rap, go as many hammers as can play upon them, for now, ex officio, every sailor is a cooper.

當(dāng)鯨油還熱的時候，它象熱五味酒一般，被灌進(jìn)了六桶裝的大桶里；當(dāng)時船只也許是在午夜中顛來簸去地往前駛?cè)?，這些大桶便都旋來轉(zhuǎn)去，顛顛倒倒，有時還會危險地在滑溜溜的甲板上疾滾著，好象天崩地裂，直到最后，人們把它們抓住了，放正過來；加上鐵箍，砰砰敲個不停，有多少榔頭就使多少榔頭。按照職務(wù)說來，現(xiàn)在每個水手都是箍桶匠了。