英語聽書《白鯨記》第369期

Thus speak of the whale, the great Cuvier, and John Hunter, and Lesson, those lights of zoology and anatomy.

那些動物學家和解剖學的權(quán)威,如偉大的居維埃,約翰。亨特和萊松,對于大鯨就是這樣說法。

Nevertheless, though of real knowledge there be little, yet of books there are a plenty; and so in some small degree, with cetology, or the science of whales. Many are the men, small and great, old and new, landsmen and seamen, who have at large or in little, written of the whale. Run over a few:-- The Authors of the Bible; Aristotle; Pliny; Aldrovandi; Sir Thomas Browne; Gesner; Ray; Linnaeus; Rondeletius; Willoughby; Green; Artedi; Sibbald; Brisson; Marten; Lacepede; Bonneterre; Desmarest; Baron Cuvier; Frederick Cuvier; John Hunter; Owen; Scoresby; Beale; Bennett; J. Ross Browne; the Author of Miriam Coffin; Olmstead; and the Rev. T. Cheever. But to what ultimate generalizing purpose all these have written, the above cited extracts will show.

不過,雖則真正的知識不多,然而有關(guān)的書本卻不少;因此,鯨類學或者是鯨科學也差不多是這樣。雖然有很多人,小人物大人物,老人物新人物,陸上人和水手,他們都或多或少的,寫到有關(guān)大鯨的事情。這里不妨概略地提出一些來...《圣經(jīng)》的那些作者;亞里斯多德;普利尼;艾特羅萬第;托馬斯。布朗男爵;格斯納;雷約翰。雷;林尼厄斯;隆德列修斯;威洛比;格林;阿蒂第;西鮑爾德;布里松(瑪蘇林。杰克。布里松;馬登;拉塞佩德拉塞佩德;博納太埃爾;德馬雷斯;居維埃男爵;弗列達里克。居維埃;約翰。亨特;歐文;斯哥斯比;比爾;貝內(nèi)特;羅斯。布朗;《米里亞姆。科芬》的作者;奧耳姆斯特德和契弗牧師。但是,上述諸人的著作究竟具有什么根本的概括意義,那從上面所引的若干摘錄就可以表明。

Of the names in this list of whale authors only those following Owen ever saw living whales; and but one of them was a real professional harpooneer and whaleman. I mean Captain Scoresby. On the separate subject of the Greenland or right-whale, he is the best existing authority. But Scoresby knew nothing and says nothing of the great sperm whale,compared with which the Greenland whale is almost unworthy mentioning.

在上列這些大鯨作者的名單中,只有歐文以下諸人曾經(jīng)看到過活鯨;而且,其中也只有一個人是真正的職業(yè)標槍手和捕鯨人。我指的是斯哥斯比船長。在論格陵蘭大鯨,又稱露脊鯨的各別的科目中,他是現(xiàn)存的最優(yōu)秀的權(quán)威。但是,對于那種抹香鯨(與之相比,格陵蘭鯨幾乎是不值一提的),斯哥斯比還是毫無所知,一無記載。