英语听书《白鲸记》第805期

Now, in calm weather, to swim in the open ocean is as easy to the practised swimmer as to ride in a spring-carriage ashore. But the awful lonesomeness is intolerable. The intense concentration of self in the middle of such a heartless immensity, my God! who can tell it? Mark, how when sailors in a dead calm bathe in the open sea— mark how closely they hug their ship and only coast along her sides.

且说，在宁静无风的天气里，在辽阔的海洋上游水，对一个老游水的人说来，正跟在岸上驾着一辆弹簧马车一样容易。但是，那种可怕的凄怆景致却很教人难当。孑然一身给紧缩在这样一片浩瀚无底的汪洋中心，我的天啊！谁能说出个中滋味呀？你看水手们在辽阔的海里不声不响地洗澡时是怎样的情景——你看，他们是怎样紧扳住船只，只靠着船边荡来荡去呀。

But had Stubb really abandoned the poor little negro to his fate? No; he did not mean to, at least. Because there were two boats in his wake, and he supposed, no doubt, that they would of course come up to Pip very quickly, and pick him up; though, indeed, such considerations towards oarsmen jeopardized through their own timidity, is not always manifested by the hunters in all similar instances; and such instances not unfrequently occur; almost invariably in the fishery, a coward, so called, is marked with the same ruthless detestation peculiar to military navies and armies.

但是，难道斯塔布真的要抛弃这个可怜的小黑人吗？不，他至少并没有这个意思。因为当时在他后面还有两只小艇，他以为，那两只小艇总一定会很快就赶上比普，把他给捞起来；然而，事实上，这种在桨手们看来必须不顾他们自己的胆怯而为之的体恤行为，并不是一般猎手能够常常在类似的场合上表现出来的；而且这种事例也并不是不常碰到的；在捕鱼业说来，一个所谓懦夫差不多总是象陆海军中特有的那样，要遭到同样无情的鄙视。

But it so happened, that those boats, without seeing Pip, suddenly spying whales close to them on one side, turned, and gave chase; and Stubb's boat was now so far away, and he and all his crew so intent upon his fish, that Pip's ringed horizon began to expand around him miserably.

但是，这些小艇碰巧都没有看到比普，而突然发现鲸群正紧靠在他们艇边，于是，一转身，都去追击了；斯塔布的小艇这时已隔开得那样远，他跟他所有的水手们又都全神贯注在那条鲸上，因此，把比普箍住了的那片水面，开始在他四周乱七八糟地扩散了。

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