and with his own hands he rigged a nest of basketed bowlines; and sending a hand aloft, with a single sheaved block, to secure to the mainmast head, he received the two ends of the downwardreeved rope; and attaching one to his basket prepared a pin for the other end, in order to fasten it at the rail. This done, with that end yet in his hand and standing beside the pin, he looked round upon his crew, sweeping from one to the other; pausing his glance long upon Daggoo, Queequeg, Tashtego; but shunning Fedallah; and then settling his firm relying eye upon the chief mate, said, — "Take the rope, sir — I give it into thy hands, Starbuck." Then arranging his person in the basket, he gave the word for them to hoist him to his perch, Starbuck being the one who secured the rope at last; and afterwards stood near it. And thus, with one hand clinging round the royal mast, Ahab gazed abroad upon the sea for miles and miles, — ahead astern, this side, and that, — within the wide expanded circle commanded at so great a height.
于是,他就親手用繩索盤(pán)起一只象籃子似的帆腳索窠,差一個(gè)人爬上去,帶著一只小滑車,縛到主桅頂上,他接住了那根從上面倒穿下來(lái)的兩只繩頭,把一端接在他那只籃子上,為另一端準(zhǔn)備一只栓子,以便把它釘在欄桿上。這樣弄好后,他手里就拿著那一端,站在栓子旁邊,朝四周的水手一望,眼光打他們身上一個(gè)個(gè)地掃過(guò)去;眼色久久地落在大個(gè)兒、魁魁格、塔斯蒂哥的身上;卻避而不看費(fèi)達(dá)拉;然后,他把他的堅(jiān)信的眼睛落在那個(gè)大副身上,說(shuō),——"先生,請(qǐng)拿住這根繩子——我親自交在你手里,斯達(dá)巴克。"于是,他自己坐進(jìn)那只籃子里,吩咐他們把他吊到他的瞭望崗位去,斯達(dá)巴克終于成了個(gè)縛繩子的。隨后又站在繩子旁邊的人。亞哈就這樣一只手鉤著那根最上桅桿,放眼瞭望廣袤的海面——望望前邊,望望后邊,望望左邊,又望望右邊——在這么高的地方,遼闊的四周盡收眼底。
When in working with his hands at some lofty almost isolated place in the rigging, which chances to afford no foothold, the sailor at sea is hoisted up to that spot, and sustained there by the rope; under these circumstances, its fastened end on deck is always given in strict charge to some one man who has the special watch of it. Because in such a wilderness of running rigging, whose various different relations aloft cannot always be infallibly discerned by what is seen of them at the deck;
海上一般水手雙手攀著又高又差不多是懸空的繩子,碰巧沒(méi)有立腳處時(shí),人們把他吊上去后,就用繩子把他掛在那個(gè)地方;碰到這種情況,那頭縛在甲板上的繩子總是交給一個(gè)特地安置在那里的人嚴(yán)密照管。因?yàn)橄筮@樣一根極其搖晃不定的繩子,上邊可能發(fā)生的各種情況,往往不象在甲板上那樣,可以時(shí)常弄得清楚;