英語聽書《白鯨記》第678期

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As every one knows, these same "hogs' bristles," "fins," "whiskers," "blinds," or whatever you please, furnish to the ladies their busks and other stiffening contrivances. But in this particular, the demand has long been on the decline. It was in Queen Anne's time that the bone was in its glory, the farthingale being then all the fashion. And as those ancient dames moved about gaily, though in the jaws of the whale, as you may say; even so, in a shower, with the like thoughtlessness, do we nowadays fly under the same jaws for protection; the umbrella being a tent spread over the same bone.

如所周知，這種叫做"豬鬃"，"鰭狀物"，"胡須"，"細長簾子"或者隨你高興怎樣稱呼的東西，就正是供太太們做勒腰帶和其它硬襯的小玩兒的材料。不過，在這方面說來，需求早已日趨消退。這種須骨的黃金時代，還是在安恩女王的時代，當時盛行著用鯨骨箍來張大女人的裙子。雖然當那些古代美人在快活自如地走來走去的時候，也許你會說，好象是在鯨嘴里走動那樣，正如我們在今天，遇上一場陣頭雨，會同樣毫不思索地飛快跑到那嘴里去躲躲雨一樣，雨傘本來就是蒙在這種須骨上的一個帳幕。

But now forget all about blinds and whiskers for a moment, and, standing in the Right Whale's mouth, look around you afresh. Seeing all these colonnades of bone so methodically ranged about, would you not think you were inside of the great Haarlem organ, and gazing upon its thousand pipes? For a carpet to the organ we have a rug of the softest Turkey—the tongue, which is glued, as it were, to the floor of the mouth. It is very fat and tender, and apt to tear in pieces in hoisting it on deck. This particular tongue now before us; at a passing glance I should say it was a six-barreler; that is, it will yield you about that amount of oil.

現(xiàn)在我們暫且把有關(guān)細長簾子和胡須這些東西擱在一邊，站到露脊鯨的嘴里去，重新來看一看四周的景致吧?？吹剿羞@些非常有條不紊地排列著的廊柱似的須骨頭，難道你不會以為置身在那種哈爾雷姆（哈爾雷姆——荷蘭的一個城市。據(jù)說在1735—1738年間，那里造出一種風琴，有五千個聲管，是世界上最大的一種風琴。）的大風琴里面，正在瞅著它那無數(shù)的聲管么？說到要有一條通向風琴的地毯，我們就有一條最柔軟的土耳其地毯——舌頭，它仿佛是粘著在嘴巴的地板上。這條舌頭，又肥又嫩，如果把它拉上甲板，很容易把它撕成片片?，F(xiàn)在擺在我們面前的這條舌頭，我眼睛一掠，就會說它是只六大桶（一種有六大桶（每桶三十六加侖）容量的桶子。）的東西；就是說，它大約可以為你出產(chǎn)如此數(shù)量的油來。