英語聽書《白鯨記》第646期
A strange, apostolic whim having seized him, he had left Neskyeuna for Nantucket, where, with that cunning peculiar to craziness, he assumed a steady, common sense exterior, and offered himself as a green-hand candidate for the Jeroboam's whaling voyage. They engaged him; but straightway upon the ship's getting out of sight of land, his insanity broke out in a freshet. He announced himself as the archangel Gabriel, and commanded the captain to jump overboard. He published his manifesto, whereby he set himself forth as the deliverer of the isles of the sea and vicar-general of all Oceanica. The unflinching earnestness with which he declared these things;—the dark, daring play of his sleepless, excited imagination, and all the preternatural terrors of real delirium, united to invest this Gabriel in the minds of the majority of the ignorant crew, with an atmosphere of sacredness. Moreover, they were afraid of him. As such a man, however, was not of much practical use in the ship, especially as he refused to work except when he pleased, the incredulous captain would fain have been rid of him; but apprised that that individual's intention was to land him in the first convenient port, the archangel forthwith opened all his seals and vials—devoting the ship and all hands to unconditional perdition, in case this intention was carried out.
他突然發(fā)了一陣使徒式的奇興，離開了奈斯古威那到南塔開特來，在南塔開特，靠了他那固有的狂妄的技巧，他外表上裝成一個穩(wěn)重的普通人物，自愿參加"耶羅波安號"的捕鯨航行，作一個生手的后備船員。船上雇用了他。但是，等到船只一離開陸地，他的神經(jīng)癥就突然發(fā)作起來。他宣稱他自己就是迦百列天使長，命令船長跳到海里去。他發(fā)表了宣言，自稱是海洋上的拯救者，五大洋的代理監(jiān)督（代理監(jiān)督——英國國教在宗教訴訟上的代理監(jiān)督。）。他這樣毫無畏縮。煞有介事地宣告了這些事情；加上他那莫名其妙的、大膽耍弄他不睡覺、狂亂的幻想以及一切真正精神錯亂的不可思議的恐怖行動，使得大多數(shù)無知的水手的心里都把這個迦百列當(dāng)成個神圣不可侵犯的人物。而且，大家都很怕他。不過，象這樣的人，在船上卻是派不了多大真用場的，尤其是他干活得趁他自己高興，否則就不肯干，那個深表懷疑的船長真想把他辭掉；而且通知他說，他個人的意圖是，想等船只一駛到第一個便利的港口，就讓他上岸，可是，這個天使長卻說他立刻就打開他一切的印信和大碗，無條件地把船只和全體水手都給送了終，——如果船長實(shí)行他這種意圖的話。
