英语听书《白鲸记》第730期
Steel and wood included, the entire spear is some ten or twelve feet in length; the staff is much slighter than that of the harpoon, and also of a lighter material—pine. It is furnished with a small rope called a warp, of considerable length, by which it can be hauled back to the hand after darting.
这东西是用钢和木头做成的，整支枪约有十英尺或者十二英尺长，捏柄比标枪的柄子轻一点，也是用较轻的木料——松木做成的。它系有一根叫做纤的细绳子，相当长，有了这样的绳子，枪投出去后，又能收得回来。
But before going further, it is important to mention here, that though the harpoon may be pitchpoled in the same way with the lance, yet it is seldom done; and when done, is still less frequently successful, on account of the greater weight and inferior length of the harpoon as compared with the lance, which in effect become serious drawbacks. As a general thing, therefore, you must first get fast to a whale, before any pitchpoling comes into play.
在这里，得先说明一下后，再说下去，那就是，标枪虽然也可以象捕鲸枪一样投出去，然而，人们却不大使用它，即使偶尔使用了，也还是不大会一枪中的，因为跟捕鲸枪比起来，标枪很重，又不够长，实际上反而会成为严重的阻碍。因此，一般说来，一定要先拴住一条鲸，这才可以投出捕鲸枪。
Look now at Stubb; a man who from his humorous, deliberate coolness and equanimity in the direst emergencies, was specially qualified to excel in pitchpoling. Look at him; he stands upright in the tossed bow of the flying boat; wrapt in fleecy foam, the towing whale is forty feet ahead. Handling the long lance lightly, glancing twice or thrice along its length to see if it be exactly straight, Stubb whistlingly gathers up the coil of the warp in one hand, so as to secure its free end in his grasp, leaving the rest unobstructed.
现在请瞧斯塔布吧，象他这样在最危急关头而能诙谐百出、胸有成竹、泰然镇定的人，是特别适宜于投杆而胜人一筹的。瞧他！他站在那只如飞的小艇的摇摆不定的船头上，腰板笔直，四下尽是毛绒似的泡沫，那条拖着绳索的鲸就在前面四十英尺的地方。他轻轻地抓起那支长长的捕鲸枪，眼睛瞥了枪身两三下，看它是否笔直，飒飒地把一卷纤子收拢在手里，以便抓住纤头，不跟整条纤子缠在一起。
