英語(yǔ)聽(tīng)書《白鯨記》第773期

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The same secludedness and isolation to which the schoolmaster whale betakes himself in his advancing years, is true of all aged Sperm Whales. Almost universally, a lone whale— as a solitary Leviathan is called—proves an ancient one. Like venerable moss-bearded Daniel Boone, he will have no one near him but Nature herself; and her he takes to wife in the wilderness of waters, and the best of wives she is, though she keeps so many moody secrets.

這個(gè)校長(zhǎng)在晚年的這種隱退。孤獨(dú)的生活，倒確是一切上了年紀(jì)的抹香鯨的生活。差不多人人都知道，一條孤鯨——這是人們對(duì)一只孤寂的大海獸的叫法——總是上了年紀(jì)的老鯨。它象那個(gè)頗有來(lái)歷、滿臉胡須的丹尼爾·布恩（丹尼爾·布恩（1734-1820）——美國(guó)的所謂拓荒者，專門捕殺印第安人，深入蠻荒腹地，掠奪土人，數(shù)度被殺未死，后死于密蘇里河中。）一樣，除了大自然而外，誰(shuí)都不能接近它；它就在茫茫的大海中，以大自然為妻，而大自然是最賢良的妻室，雖然她擁有許多喜怒無(wú)常的秘密。

The schools composing none but young and vigorous males, previously mentioned, offer a strong contrast to the harem schools. For while those female whales are characteristically timid, the young males, or forty-barrel-bulls, as they call them, are by far the most pugnacious of all Leviathans, and proverbially the most dangerous to encounter; excepting those wondrous grey-headed, grizzled whales, sometimes met, and these will fight you like grim fiends exasperated by a penal gout.

上文所提到的。那種光是一些年富力強(qiáng)、氣概昂昂的雄鯨所組成的鯨隊(duì)，卻是跟那種閨秀鯨隊(duì)截然不同的。因?yàn)榇砌L是以膽小害臊為特點(diǎn)，而這些青年雄鯨，或者一般所謂四十大桶的雄鯨，其英勇好斗卻是一切鯨類之冠；而且也是盡人皆知，一碰上它是最危險(xiǎn)的；不過(guò)，有時(shí)碰上那種滿頭斑白得出奇的老鯨，這種老鯨也會(huì)象那被該死的痛風(fēng)癥惹得怒不可遏的惡魔一般跟你決斗一番的。

The Forty-barrel-bull schools are larger than the harem schools. Like a mob of young collegians, they are full of fight, fun, and wickedness, tumbling round the world at such a reckless, rollicking rate, that no prudent underwriter would insure them any more than he would a riotous lad at Yale or Harvard. They soon relinquish this turbulence though, and when about three-fourths grown, break up, and separately go about in quest of settlements, that is, harems.

四十大桶雄鯨的鯨隊(duì)也遠(yuǎn)較那些閨秀鯨隊(duì)氣勢(shì)浩大。它們象一群年青的大學(xué)生那樣，愛(ài)好打架，興致勃勃，頑皮淘氣，滿不在乎而嘻嘻哈哈地東沖西撞，因此，謹(jǐn)慎的保險(xiǎn)掮客都寧可去找那些耶魯或者哈佛的放蕩吵鬧的小伙子，而不高興去找它們兜保險(xiǎn)生意。不過(guò)，它們不久也要放棄這種吵吵鬧鬧的生活，而且，等到它們成長(zhǎng)到四分之三時(shí)，大家也就散伙，各奔前程，去找各人的落腳地，也就是說(shuō)，去找閨秀們?nèi)チ恕?/p>