英語聽書《白鯨記》第737期

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Because the greatest necessity for so doing would seem to be, when in feeding he accidentally takes in water. But the Sperm Whale's food is far beneath the surface, and there he cannot spout even if he would. Besides, if you regard him very closely, and time him with your watch, you will find that when unmolested, there is an undeviating rhyme between the periods of his jets and the ordinary periods of respiration.

因?yàn)?，它之所以要這樣排水，最大的原因倒似乎是因?yàn)樗诔詵|西的時(shí)候，偶然吸進(jìn)了水的緣故。可是抹香鯨的食物都遠(yuǎn)藏在海底里，即使它要噴水，也無從噴了。再說，如果你一邊很仔細(xì)地注意它，一邊用你的表來記數(shù)，那么，在正常情況下，你就可以發(fā)現(xiàn)，它的噴水期間和通常的呼吸期間都有一種毫無偏差的規(guī)律。

But why pester one with all this reasoning on the subject? Speak out! You have seen him spout; then declare what the spout is; can you not tell water from air? My dear sir, in this world it is not so easy to settle these plain things. I have ever found your plain things the knottiest of all. And as for this whale spout, you might almost stand in it, and yet be undecided as to what it is precisely.

但是，為什么要對(duì)這問題用這么滔滔不絕的大道理來煩人呢？你就老老實(shí)實(shí)地說出來吧！你曾經(jīng)看到過它噴水，那么，就說噴水究竟是一種什么東西好啦；難道你連水跟氣都分不清嗎？我的親愛的先生呀，在這個(gè)世界上，要弄清這些平凡的事情，可不是那么容易呀。我向來認(rèn)為你們所提出的這些平凡的事情，就是最疙瘩的問題。至于說到鯨的噴水，你簡(jiǎn)直是花了九牛二虎之力，還是決定不了它究竟是什么東西。

The central body of it is hidden in the snowy sparkling mist enveloping it; and how can you certainly tell whether any water falls from it, when, always, when you are close enough to a whale to get a close view of his spout, he is in a prodigious commotion, the water cascading all around him. And if at such times you should think that you really perceived drops of moisture in the spout, how do you know that they are not merely condensed from its vapor; or how do you know that they are not those identical drops superficially lodged in the spout-hole fissure, which is countersunk into the summit of the whale's head?

噴水的中心本來就隱藏在那把它四周圍住的雪白晃亮的霧氣里；叫人怎能準(zhǔn)確地辨別出是否有水噴出來呢，而且，往往當(dāng)你盡量要靠攏一條鯨，想把它的噴水瞧個(gè)明白的時(shí)候，它卻正是處于極端亂糟糟、四周的水有如奔瀉的小瀑布之際。如果在這樣的時(shí)分，你自以為真正看到了噴水里有幾滴濕氣，可你又焉知它不過是水氣所凝結(jié)起來的呢；你焉知那幾滴高掛在噴水孔的裂縫里的東西，就一定不是反落在鯨頭頂上的水？