🔊 To meditate upon a prairie, you must needs be in a prairie mood. The same with the ocean. For the ocean is a prairie, too, as any sailor will tell you. And as the prairie’s vastness is its chief feature, so the ocean’s vastness is its. But there is this difference: the prairie’s vastness is silent and serene; the ocean’s vastness is noisy and stormy. Yet both have their moods of calm.

若要冥想一片草原,你必先心怀草原之境。海洋亦然。因海洋亦是一片草原,此乃任何水手都会告诉你的。草原之浩瀚为其首要特征,海洋亦然。但区别在此:草原之浩瀚静默而宁谧；海洋之浩瀚喧嚣而暴烈。然二者皆有安详之时。

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meditate /ˈmɛdɪteɪt/

v. 冥想,沉思➕

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prairie /ˈprɛəri/

n. 大草原➕

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vastness /ˈvæstnəs/

n. 广阔,浩瀚➕

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serene /sɪˈriːn/

adj. 宁静的,安详的➕

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stormy /ˈstɔːrmi/

adj. 风暴的,激烈的➕

🔊 Now, with the whale, it is otherwise. His vastness is not of the prairie, nor of the ocean, but of himself. Consider his head. When you behold it lifted high above the water, what do you see? A great, black, mountainous mass, with a brow like a promontory. And that brow is the whale’s prairie. For it is broad and flat, and covered with a strange, moss-like substance, which in the old whalemen is called "the blanket," but which in truth is more like the sod of a prairie.

至于鲸,情形却迥然不同。它的浩瀚不属于草原,也不属于海洋,而全在于其自身。且观其头颅。当你目睹它高擎出水,所见何物？一座巨大、漆黑、山岳般的庞然大物,额若岬角。而那额头,便是鲸的大草原。因其宽广而平坦,覆满一种奇特的、苔藓般的物质,老捕鲸人称之为“鲸皮”,实则更似草原之草皮。

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behold /bɪˈhoʊld/

v. 看到,注视➕

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mountainous /ˈmaʊntənəs/

adj. 多山的,巨大的➕

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promontory /ˈprɒməntəri/

n. 海角,岬➕

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moss-like /ˈmɒs laɪk/

adj. 苔藓似的➕

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whalemen /ˈweɪlmən/

n. 捕鲸人➕

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sod /sɒd/

n. 草皮,草地➕

🔊 But enough of this. Let us turn to the chapter’s main point: the whale’s head as a whole, and particularly that part which, from its resemblance to a prairie, has given this chapter its name.

但此话且不多言。让我们转向本章主旨:鲸首之全貌,尤其是那因其酷似草原而赋予本章名称的部分。

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resemblance /rɪˈzɛmbləns/

n. 相似,类似➕

🔊 The front of the whale’s head is a vast, perpendicular, cliff-like wall, rising sheer from the water, and in the sperm whale, of a dull, parchment color. This wall is the whale’s forehead, and it is so broad and flat, that it has been likened to a prairie. And indeed, when you behold it in the calm of a tropical sea, with the sun shining upon it, and perhaps a few sea-birds resting on its surface, you might well fancy it a peaceful, grassy plain.

鲸首正面,乃一堵宽广、垂直、状若悬崖的峭壁,自水中巍然矗立,抹香鲸此处呈黯淡的羊皮纸色。这峭壁便是鲸的额头,其宽阔平坦,常被喻作草原。诚然,当你在热带海域的宁和中凝望它,阳光普照,或许还有几只海鸟歇息其上,你大可以将其幻想为一片安宁的、绿茵绵延的平原。

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perpendicular /ˌpɜːrpənˈdɪkjʊlər/

adj. 垂直的,直立的➕

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cliff-like /ˈklɪf laɪk/

adj. 悬崖似的➕

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sheer /ʃɪər/

adj. 陡峭的,纯粹的➕

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sperm whale /spɜːrm weɪl/

n. 抹香鲸➕

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parchment /ˈpɑːrtʃmənt/

n. 羊皮纸, parchment颜色（淡黄色）➕

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likened /ˈlaɪkənd/

v. 比作（like的过去分词）➕

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tropical /ˈtrɒpɪkəl/

adj. 热带的,热情的➕

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fancy /ˈfænsi/

v. 想象,喜欢➕

🔊 But let not this calm deceive you. For within that head lies the brain of the leviathan, and from that brain issue the commands that send him rushing through the sea, or plunging into the depths. And in that head, too, are the vast reservoirs of spermaceti, which the whalemen so highly prize.

然而,切莫让这表象的平静蒙骗了你。因为在那头颅之内,潜藏着这海中巨兽的大脑,号令由此发出,驱策它于海面疾驰,或向深渊俯冲。同样在这头颅之中,还贮藏着捕鲸人视若珍宝的鲸脑油之巨大宝藏。

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deceive /dɪˈsiːv/

v. 欺骗,误导➕

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leviathan /lɪˈvaɪəθən/

n. 巨兽,庞然大物➕

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issue /ˈɪʃuː/

v. 发出,发布➕

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reservoirs /ˈrɛzərvwɑːrz/

n. 水库,储藏库➕

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spermaceti /ˌspɜːrməˈsiːti/

n. 鲸蜡,抹香鲸头部的一种蜡质物质➕

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prize /praɪz/

v. 珍视,高度评价➕

🔊 Thus, the whale’s head is at once his prairie and his castle; a place of calm exterior, but of fierce interior life.

由此可见,鲸首既是它的草原,也是它的城堡；一处外表宁静之所,内里却激荡着狂野的生命。

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exterior /ɪkˈstɪəriər/

n. 外部,外表➕

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fierce /fɪərs/

adj. 猛烈的,激烈的➕

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interior /ɪnˈtɪəriər/

adj. 内部的,国内的➕

Chapter seventy-nine: The Prairie (第七十九章:大草原)

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