英語聽書《白鯨記》第862期

In both cases, the stranded whales to which these two skeletons belonged, were originally claimed by their proprietors upon similar grounds. King Tranquo seizing his because he wanted it; and Sir Clifford, because he was lord of the seignories of those parts. Sir Clifford's whale has been articulated throughout; so that, like a great chest of drawers, you can open and shut him, in all his bony cavities—spread out his ribs like a gigantic fan— and swing all day upon his lower jaw. Locks are to be put upon some of his trap-doors and shutters; and a footman will show round future visitors with a bunch of keys at his side. Sir Clifford thinks of charging twopence for a peep at the whispering gallery in the spinal column; threepence to hear the echo in the hollow of his cerebellum; and sixpence for the unrivalled view from his forehead.

這兩只擱淺了的鯨骷髏，本來就是出自同一個理由而成它們的物主的所有物的。托朗魁王是因為他要這東西才把它占為己有；而克利福德爵士則是因為他是當?shù)氐念I(lǐng)主。克利福德爵士那條鯨（據(jù)百周年紀念版注：這條鯨是在一八二五年四月二十八日擱淺在約克郡海邊的。），它的關(guān)節(jié)完全可以由人們給接攏來；因此，活象一只大櫥的抽屜，既可以關(guān)，又可以開，在它所有的骨洞里（那些肋骨象一把張開的大扇），一天到晚都在下顎上面晃來晃去。有些活門和百葉窗還加上鎖；一個手里拿著一串鑰匙的仆役，經(jīng)常站在它身邊，隨時把它打開，讓參觀者看個周遍。克利福德爵士還想收取費用：在這個骨柱的低語高響廊里瞧一瞧的，收費兩個便士；聽一聽它那小腦洞里的回聲的，收費三個便士；對它的額頭作一次絕無僅有的觀察的，收費六個便士。

The skeleton dimensions I shall now proceed to set down are copied verbatim from my right arm, where I had them tattooed; as in my wild wanderings at that period, there was no other secure way of preserving such valuable statistics. But as I was crowded for space, and wished the other parts of my body to remain a blank page for a poem I was then composing— at least, what untattooed parts might remain—I did not trouble myself with the odd inches; nor, indeed, should inches at all enter into a congenial admeasurement of the whale.

且說我現(xiàn)在所要記下來的這個骷髏的大小，是從我的右臂上一筆一劃地仔細抄下來的，我把所見的都文在這只右臂上；因為在我當時的浪蕩日子里，實在沒有更妥當?shù)姆椒▉肀４孢@么貴重的統(tǒng)計材料。而且，由于我身上的地位不多，同時還想留下一些空白地方，來寫我當時所構(gòu)思的一首詩——至少還得留著一塊未曾文身的地方——因此，我就不去計較那些零頭的尺寸了；而且，老實說，根本也用不著尺碼分明地把它弄得象一般鯨的尺寸那樣。

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