Immediately, by Starbuck's orders, lines were secured to it at different points, so that ere long every boat was a buoy; the sunken whale being suspended a few inches beneath them by the cords. By very heedful management, when the ship drew nigh, the whale was transferred to her side, and was strongly secured there by the stiffest fluke-chains, for it was plain that unless artificially upheld, the body would at once sink to the bottom.
于是,斯達(dá)巴克立刻下令,四處拋下繩索把它縛住,因此,不一會(huì)兒,每只小艇都成為一只浮筒;那條下沉的鯨就被許多繩子吊在艇下幾英寸的地方。等到大船一駛攏來,人們小心翼翼地把這條鯨移到船側(cè),用最牢靠的錨爪把它緊拴在那里,因?yàn)槿绻贿@樣巧妙地把它吊起,尸體顯然就會(huì)立刻沉到海底。
It so chanced that almost upon first cutting into him with the spade, the entire length of a corroded harpoon was found imbedded in his flesh, on the lower part of the bunch before desCRIbed. But as the stumps of harpoons are frequently found in the dead bodies of captured whales, with the flesh perfectly healed around them, and no prominence of any kind to denote their place; therefore, there must needs have been some other unknown reason in the present case fully to account for the ulceration alluded to. But still more curious was the fact of a lance-head of stone being found in him, not far from the buried iron, the flesh perfectly firm about it. Who had darted that stone lance? And when? It might have been darted by some Nor' West Indian long before America was discovered.
后來,竟會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)這樣的奇跡:差不多鏟刀剛一把它剖開,就在它肉里發(fā)現(xiàn)了整只腐爛的標(biāo)槍頭,正好在上文所述的那只大疙瘩的下面。可是,因?yàn)橐幌蛟诓东@的鯨尸上所發(fā)現(xiàn)的標(biāo)槍斷頭,總是給肌肉包得密密無縫,一點(diǎn)也叫人看不出那突出的地位;因此,就這條鯨現(xiàn)在這種情況說來,這種弄不懂的理由是只有那潰瘍才能解釋得了。但是,更希奇的是,就在那藏著標(biāo)槍的近旁,又發(fā)現(xiàn)肉里緊蒙著一塊石槍頭。誰用過這種石槍打它呀?是在什么時(shí)候?那一定是早在美洲還未被發(fā)現(xiàn)以前,那些西北部的印第安人所干的了。
What other marvels might have been rummaged out of this monstrous cabinet there is no telling. But a sudden stop was put to further discoveries, by the ship's being uNPRecedentedly dragged over sideways to the sea, owing to the body's immensely increasing tendency to sink.
不消說,在搜索這只巨獸的內(nèi)部時(shí),一定還有其它不少奇跡??墒?,突然間,卻無法再繼續(xù)探索下去了,因?yàn)槟鞘w大有即將下沉之勢(shì),它曳得這只船也空前地側(cè)斜在海面上。