英語聽書《白鯨記》第403期
Admiral Nelson, also, on a capstan of gun-metal, stands his mast-head in Trafalgar Square; and even when most obscured by that London smoke, token is yet given that a hidden hero is there;
納爾遜海軍大將,也是在一只炮銅色的絞盤上,高高地站在特拉法加廣場(特拉法加廣場...在倫敦,因?yàn)榧{爾遜在西班牙的特拉法加角海戰(zhàn)中獲勝并戰(zhàn)死,故在這里立像紀(jì)念的桅頂上,雖說大多被倫敦的煙霧弄得模模糊糊,總還顯出那邊藏有一個英雄人物;
for where there is smoke, must be fire. But neither great Washington, nor Napoleon, nor Nelson, will answer a single hail from below, however madly invoked to befriend by their counsels the distracted decks upon which they gaze;
因?yàn)橛袩煴赜谢?。但?不管是偉大的華盛頓,還是拿破侖,或者是納爾遜,都回答不了下邊的歡呼聲,不管他們所俯視的紛紜騷嚷的甲板怎么瘋狂地請求援助,要得到他們的忠告;
however it may be surmised, that their spirits penetrate through the thick haze of the future, and descry what shoals and what rocks must be shunned.
不管人們怎么揣測,認(rèn)為他們的精神已穿過未來的濃霧,遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)地看到那些非得避開不可的淺灘和暗礁。
It may seem unwarrantable to couple in any respect the mast-head standers of the land with those of the sea; but that in truth it is not so, is plainly evinced by an item for which Obed Macy, the sole historian of Nantucket, stands accountable.
把陸上的跟海里的桅頂?望人拿來聯(lián)在一起,無論從哪一方面說來,都似乎有點(diǎn)不倫不類;但是,實(shí)際上卻又不然,南塔開特的唯一的歷史家奧貝德。
The worthy Obed tells us, that in the early times of the whale fishery, ere ships were regularly launched in pursuit of the game, the people of that island erected lofty spars along the seacoast, to which the look-outs ascended by means of nailed cleats, something as fowls go upstairs in a hen-house.
麥西已經(jīng)明白表示,這是一件說得通的事。這位可敬的奧貝德對我們說,在捕鯨業(yè)初期,在船只還沒有經(jīng)常駛?cè)プ分鸫篥L之前,該島居民都在海邊豎起高高的圓木,望者就攀著釘牢了的楔子爬上去,有點(diǎn)象雞只走上雞塒那樣。
A few years ago this same plan was adopted by the Bay whalemen of New Zealand, who, upon descrying the game, gave notice to the ready-manned boats nigh the beach.
幾年前,新西蘭的海峽捕鯨者也采用了這種設(shè)計(jì),他們在發(fā)現(xiàn)獵物的時候,便對那些靠在沙灘附近。裝備停當(dāng)?shù)男〈l(fā)出信號。
But this custom has now become obsolete; turn we then to the one proper mast-head, that of a whale-ship at sea.
不過,這種風(fēng)俗現(xiàn)在已過時了:我們還是言歸正傳,回到海上捕鯨船的桅頂吧。
The three mast-heads are kept manned from sun-rise to sun-set; the seamen taking their regular turns (as at the helm), and relieving each other every two hours.
那三只桅頂從早到晚都配置專人看守;水手們按時值班(跟掌舵一樣),每隔兩小時換班一次。
