but in superlative richness that coating could not possibly have compared with the silken pearl-colored membrane, like the lining of a fine pelisse, forming the inner surface of the Sperm Whale's case.
不過(guò),就最為豪貴方面說(shuō)來(lái),那層衣包,卻不是那種白珠色的網(wǎng)膜,象那構(gòu)成抹香鯨的腦窩內(nèi)層的精美大衣里子所可比擬的。
It will have been seen that the Heidelburgh Tun of the Sperm Whale embraces the entire length of the entire top of the head; and since—as has been elsewhere set forth—the head embraces one third of the whole length of the creature, then setting that length down at eighty feet for a good sized whale, you have more than twenty-six feet for the depth of the tun, when it is lengthwise hoisted up and down against a ship's side.
必須看到,抹香鯨這只海德堡大桶,它的長(zhǎng)度就等于它的頭部的整個(gè)頂端;而且因?yàn)?mdash;—在另外的地方已經(jīng)提到過(guò)——這只頭本來(lái)就等于鯨的身長(zhǎng)的三分之一,于是,假定一條中等鯨的身長(zhǎng)有八十英尺的話,那么,在把它從舷邊直吊起來(lái)的時(shí)候,這只大桶可就有二十六英尺以上的縱深了。
As in decapitating the whale, the operator's instrument is brought close to the spot where an entrance is subsequently forced into the spermaceti magazine; he has, therefore, to be uncommonly heedful, lest a careless, untimely stroke should invade the sanctuary and wastingly let out its invaluable contents. It is this decapitated end of the head, also, which is at last elevated out of the water, and retained in that position by the enormous cutting tackles, whose hempen combinations, on one side, make quite a wilderness of ropes in that quarter.
在砍鯨頭的時(shí)候,因?yàn)槟莻€(gè)操作者的工具跟那個(gè)緊接著鯨腦的寶庫(kù)的出入口極相貼近,因此,他就得非常謹(jǐn)慎小心,否則,稍一粗心大意,一刀砍得不準(zhǔn),就會(huì)侵犯到那內(nèi)殿,把那里邊的無(wú)價(jià)之寶白白地溢掉。于是這只砍下來(lái)后的頭,最后就被拉出了水面,由一只巨大的剖割復(fù)滑車(chē)吊在那里,船舷上便纏七纏八的盡是許多繩索。
Thus much being said, attend now, I pray you, to that marvellous and— in this particular instance—almost fatal operation whereby the Sperm Whale's great Heidelburgh Tun is tapped.
已經(jīng)說(shuō)了這許多,現(xiàn)在,我請(qǐng)你注意一下那種敲擊抹香鯨的海德堡大桶的不可思議的、而又——特別是這一回——簡(jiǎn)直是性命交關(guān)的工作吧。