🔊 Call me Ishmael. Some years ago-never mind how long precisely-having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen, and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people’s hats off-then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship. There is nothing surprising in this. If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me.

管我叫以实玛利吧。几年前--具体多久不必细说--那时我囊中羞涩,岸上也无甚趣事可寻,便想出海漂泊一番,见识见识这大千世界的水域。这便是我的排遣之道,用以驱散心头的郁结,调和周身气血。每当我发觉自己嘴唇紧抿,神色变得阴郁；每当我的灵魂深处笼罩着一个潮湿、阴郁的十一月；每当我不由自主地在棺材铺前停下脚步,并且尾随我所遇到的每一支送葬队伍；尤其是每当我的‘疑病症’如此强烈地控制了我,以至于我需要凭借坚定的道德准则,才能阻止自己蓄意走到街上,有条不紊地把人们的帽子打掉--这时,我便认为非尽快出海不可了。这就是我用来代替手枪和子弹的法子。加图以哲人的姿态挥剑自刎；我则悄然登船。这并无稀奇。倘若人们知晓,几乎所有人在某种程度上,都或多或少对海洋怀有与我相似的情愫。

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spleen /spliːn/

n. 脾脏；坏脾气,怒气,忧郁➕

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regulating /ˈreɡjuleɪtɪŋ/

v. 调节,控制,管理（regulate 的现在分词）➕

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circulation /ˌsɜːkjəˈleɪʃn/

n. 循环,流通；发行量➕

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deliberately /dɪˈlɪbərətli/

adv. 故意地,蓄意地➕

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methodically /məˈθɒdɪkli/

adv. 有条不紊地,有系统地➕

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hypos /ˈhaɪpəʊz/

n. （Hypochondria的缩写）忧郁症,疑病症➕

🔊 There now is your insular city of the Manhattoes, belted round by wharves as Indian isles by coral reefs-commerce surrounds it with her surf. Right and left, the streets take you waterward. Its extreme down-town is the battery, where that noble mole is washed by waves, and cooled by breezes, which a few hours previous were out of sight of land. Look at the crowds of water-gazers there.

如今,你们那座岛屿般的曼哈顿城,环城皆码头,犹如印度群岛之绕以珊瑚礁--商业以她的浪涛环绕着它。左右街道皆引你向水边去。城中最南端是炮台公园,那里雄伟的防波堤承受着海浪的轻抚,沐浴着几小时前尚在远海之上的清风。瞧瞧那些凝望水面的芸芸众生吧。

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insular /ˈɪnsjələ(r)/

adj. 岛屿的；孤立的,与世隔绝的；思想狭隘的➕

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wharves /wɔːvz/

n. 码头,停泊处（wharf 的复数）➕

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battery /ˈbætri/

n. （此处指）炮台,炮台区；电池；一组,一系列➕

🔊 Circumambulate the city of a dreamy Sabbath afternoon. Go from Corlears Hook to Coenties Slip, and from thence, by Whitehall northward. What do you see?-Posted like silent sentinels all around the town, stand thousands upon thousands of mortal men fixed in ocean reveries. Some leaning against the spiles; some seated upon the pier-heads; some looking over the bulwarks of ships from China; some high aloft in the rigging, as if striving to get a still better seaward peep. But these are all landsmen; of week days pent up in lath and plaster-tied to counters, nailed to benches, clinched to desks. How then is this? Are the green fields gone? What do they here?

在一个闲适的安息日下午,绕城漫步。从科利尔斯角走到科恩蒂斯码头,再从那儿经由白厅向北行。你瞧见了什么？--成千上万的人如沉默的哨兵般伫立城中,个个沉浸于海洋的遐思。有的斜倚在桩柱上；有的坐在码头尽头；有的从中国来的船舷边眺望；有的高悬在桅索上,仿佛想更清楚地窥探海面。但这些全是陆上人；平日里被困于板条灰泥的屋墙之内--拴在柜台旁,钉在板凳上,铆在书桌前。这究竟是何故？难道绿野已逝？他们在此何为？

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Circumambulate /ˌsɜːkəmˈæmbjuleɪt/

v. 绕行,绕…而行➕

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sentinels /ˈsentɪnlz/

n. 哨兵,卫兵（sentinel 的复数）➕

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reveries /ˈrevəriz/

n. 幻想,白日梦；沉思（revery 的复数,同 reverie）➕

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spiles /spaɪlz/

n. 木桩,小塞子（spile 的复数）➕

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bulwarks /ˈbʊlwəks/

n. （船侧的）舷墙；堡垒,防御物（bulwark 的复数）➕

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rigging /ˈrɪɡɪŋ/

n. （船舶的）索具,帆缆；操纵,舞弊➕

🔊 But look! here come more crowds, pacing straight for the water, and seemingly bound for a dive. Strange! Nothing will content them but the extremest limit of the land; loitering under the shady lee of yonder warehouses will not suffice. No. They must get just as nigh the water as they possibly can without falling in. And there they stand-miles of them-leagues. Inlanders all, they come from lanes and alleys, streets and avenues,-north, east, south, and west. Yet here they all unite. Tell me, does the magnetic virtue of the needles of the compasses of all those ships attract them thither?

且看！又来了一群人,径直朝水边走去,似乎要一跃而入。奇怪！唯有陆地的极边缘才能令他们满足；在那边仓库的阴凉处徘徊尚且不够。不。他们非得挨到水边,近得几乎要跌进去才罢休。他们就这样站着--绵延数英里,望不到头。全是内陆人,来自四面八方的小巷、街衢--北、东、南、西。然而在此地,他们汇聚一堂。告诉我,莫非是那些船上罗盘针的磁力将他们吸引至此？

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content /kənˈtent/

v. 使满意,使满足➕

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extremest /ɪkˈstriːmɪst/

adj. 极端的,极度的（extreme 的最高级形式,旧式或强调用法）➕

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loitering /ˈlɔɪtərɪŋ/

v. 闲逛,徘徊；游荡（loiter 的现在分词）➕

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lee /liː/

n. 背风处,庇护所；庇护➕

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nigh /naɪ/

adv./adj. 接近,靠近（古语或书面语）➕

🔊 Once more. Say, you are in the country; in some high land of lakes. Take almost any path you please, and ten to one it carries you down in a dale, and leaves you there by a pool in the stream. There is magic in it. Let the most absent-minded of men be plunged in his deepest reveries-stand that man on his legs, set his feet a-going, and he will infallibly lead you to water, if water there be in all that region. Should you ever be athirst in the great American desert, try this experiment, if your caravan happen to be supplied with a metaphysical professor. Yes, as every one knows, meditation and water are wedded for ever.

再举一例。假设你在乡间；在某个湖泊遍布的高地。任选一条小径,十有八九它会将你引至谷底,留你在溪畔水潭边。其中自有魔力。即便最心不在焉的人深陷冥思--只要让他站起,迈开双脚,他必定会带你找到水,只要那地方有水。你若在广袤的美洲荒漠中口渴难耐,不妨一试此实验,假如与你同行的恰好有一位玄学教授。是的,众所周知,冥想与水永远相伴。

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dale /deɪl/

n. 山谷,溪谷➕

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infallibly /ɪnˈfæləbli/

adv. 绝对可靠地,万无一失地➕

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athirst /əˈθɜːst/

adj. 口渴的；渴望的（古语或文学用语）➕

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caravan /ˈkærəvæn/

n. （沙漠地带的）旅行队,商队；大篷车➕

🔊 But here is an artist. He desires to paint you the dreamiest, shadiest, quietest, most enchanting bit of romantic landscape in all the valley of the Saco. What is the chief element he employs? There stand his trees, each with a hollow trunk, as if a hermit and a crucifix were within; and here sleeps his meadow, and there sleep his cattle; and up from yonder cottage goes a sleepy smoke. Deep into distant woodlands winds a mazy way, reaching to overlapping spurs of mountains bathed in their hill-side blue. But though the picture lies thus tranced, and though this pine-tree shakes down its sighs like leaves upon this shepherd’s head, yet all were vain, unless the shepherd’s eye were fixed upon the magic stream before him. Go visit the Prairies in June, when for scores on scores of miles you wade knee-deep among Tiger-lilies-what is the one charm wanting?-Water-there is not a drop of water there! Were Niagara but a cataract of sand, would you travel your thousand miles to see it? Why did the poor poet of Tennessee, upon suddenly receiving two handfuls of silver, deliberate whether to buy him a coat, which he sadly needed, or invest his money in a pedestrian trip to Rockaway Beach? Why is almost every robust healthy boy with a robust healthy soul in him, at some time or other crazy to go to sea? Why upon your first voyage as a passenger, did you yourself feel such a mystical vibration, when first told that you and your ship were now out of sight of land? Why did the old Persians hold the sea holy? Why did the Greeks give it a separate deity, and own brother of Jove? Surely all this is not without meaning. And still deeper the meaning of that story of Narcissus, who because he could not grasp the tormenting, mild image he saw in the fountain, plunged into it and was drowned. But that same image, we ourselves see in all rivers and oceans. It is the image of the ungraspable phantom of life; and this is the key to it all.

但这里有一位艺术家。他想为你描绘萨科山谷中最梦幻、最幽静、最迷人的浪漫景致。他运用的首要元素是什么？那儿立着他的树,每棵树干都是空心的,仿佛内藏隐士与十字架；这儿躺着他的草地,那儿卧着他的牛群；远处农舍升起袅袅炊烟。一条蜿蜒小径深入远方林地,延伸至层层叠叠的山麓,沐浴在山侧的蓝霭中。然而,尽管这幅画如此出神,尽管松树将叹息如落叶般摇落在牧羊人头上,但若牧羊人的目光未凝望面前那条魔幻溪流,一切皆属徒劳。六月去访大草原吧,当你在绵延数十英里的卷丹花丛中涉水及膝--那唯一缺失的魅力是什么？--是水--那里竟没有一滴水！倘若尼亚加拉只是沙瀑,你会跋涉千里去观赏吗？为何那位田纳西的穷诗人,突然收到两把银币后,会犹豫该买件急需的外套,还是投资一次徒步前往洛克威海滩的旅程？为何几乎每个身心健壮的男孩,总在某时某刻疯狂地渴望出海？为何你初次乘船旅行时,一听说自己和船已不见陆地,便感到一阵神秘的悸动？为何古波斯人视海洋为神圣？为何希腊人赋予它独立的神格,并认作朱庇特的亲兄弟？这一切绝非毫无意义。而那喀索斯的故事寓意更深,他因无法攫取泉中那折磨人又温柔的身影,便投身其中溺亡。但我们自己在所有江河湖海中看到的,也正是这同一个倒影。那正是生命本身那不可捉摸的幻影；此即万事万物的关键所在。

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enchanting /ɪnˈtʃɑːntɪŋ/

adj. 迷人的,令人陶醉的➕

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crucifix /ˈkruːsɪfɪks/

n. 耶稣受难像；十字架➕

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mazy /ˈmeɪzi/

adj. 迷宫似的,错综复杂的➕

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overlapping /ˌəʊvəˈlæpɪŋ/

adj. 重叠的,交叉的➕

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tranced /trɑːnst/

adj. 出神的,发呆的；昏睡状态的➕

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cataract /ˈkætərækt/

n. 大瀑布；白内障➕

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deliberate /dɪˈlɪbəreɪt/

v. 仔细考虑,深思熟虑➕

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pedestrian /pəˈdestriən/

adj. 步行的；平淡的,缺乏想象的➕

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robust /rəʊˈbʌst/

adj. 强健的,强壮的；坚定的；耐用的➕

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mystical /ˈmɪstɪkl/

adj. 神秘的；神秘主义的➕

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vibration /vaɪˈbreɪʃn/

n. 震动,振动；感应,共鸣➕

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deity /ˈdeɪəti/

n. 神,女神➕

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tormenting /tɔːˈmentɪŋ/

adj. 折磨人的,令人痛苦的➕

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ungraspable /ʌnˈɡrɑːspəbl/

adj. 无法掌握的,难以理解的➕

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phantom /ˈfæntəm/

n. 幽灵,幻影；幻觉➕

🔊 Now, when I say that I am in the habit of going to sea whenever I begin to grow hazy about the eyes, and begin to be over conscious of my lungs, I do not mean to have it inferred that I ever go to sea as a passenger. For to go as a passenger you must needs have a purse, and a purse is but a rag unless you have something in it. Besides, passengers get sea-sick-grow quarrelsome-don’t sleep of nights-do not enjoy themselves much, as a general thing;-no, I never go as a passenger; nor, though I am something of a salt, do I ever go to sea as a Commodore, or a Captain, or a Cook. I abandon the glory and distinction of such offices to those who like them. For my part, I abominate all honorable respectable toils, trials, and tribulations of every kind whatsoever. It is quite as much as I can do to take care of myself, without taking care of ships, barques, brigs, schooners, and what not. And as for going as cook,-though I confess there is considerable glory in that, a cook being a sort of officer on ship-board-yet, somehow, I never fancied broiling fowls;-though once broiled, judiciously buttered, and judgmatically salted and peppered, there is no one who will speak more respectfully, not to say reverentially, of a broiled fowl than I will. It is out of the idolatrous dotings of the old Egyptians upon broiled ibis and roasted river horse, that you see the mummies of those creatures in their huge bake-houses the pyramids.

现在,我说每当眼睛开始模糊、肺部过于敏感时,便有出海的习惯,但这并非指我以乘客身份出海。因为作为乘客,你须得有个钱袋,而空钱袋不过是一块破布。何况,乘客会晕船--变得爱争吵--夜间失眠--总之不太享受；--不,我从不以乘客身份出海；尽管我算是个老水手,也从不以准将、船长或库克的身份出海。我将这些职位的荣耀与显赫留给那些喜好之人。至于我,我憎恶一切体面可敬的辛劳、考验与磨难。光是照顾好自己已够我忙的,无暇再去照料什么船舰、三桅帆船、双桅船、纵帆船等等。至于去做厨子--我承认那也有相当荣耀,厨子在船上算是个官儿--但不知怎的,我向来不喜烤鸡；--不过一旦烤好,考究地抹上黄油,审慎地撒上盐和胡椒,那么说起烤鸡的敬意,乃至崇敬,没人比我更甚。你瞧,正因为古埃及人痴迷偶像,溺爱烤朱鹭和烤河马,你才能在那些巨大的烤炉--金字塔里,见到这些动物的木乃伊。

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hazy /ˈheɪzi/

adj. 模糊的,朦胧的；雾蒙蒙的；不确定的➕

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abominate /əˈbɒmɪneɪt/

v. 憎恶,厌恶➕

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tribulations /ˌtrɪbjuˈleɪʃnz/

n. 苦难,磨难,忧患（tribulation 的复数）➕

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barques /bɑːks/

n. 三桅帆船（barque 的复数）➕

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brigs /brɪɡz/

n. 双桅横帆船；禁闭室（brig 的复数）➕

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schooners /ˈskuːnəz/

n. 纵帆船（schooner 的复数）➕

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judiciously /dʒuˈdɪʃəsli/

adv. 明智地,审慎地➕

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judgmatically /dʒʌdʒˈmætɪkli/

adv. （作者自造词,可能由 judgement + -matically 构成）判断力强地,有见地地➕

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idolatrous /aɪˈdɒlətrəs/

adj. 崇拜偶像的,盲目崇拜的➕

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dotings /ˈdəʊtɪŋz/

n. 溺爱,宠爱（doting 的名词化复数形式,不常见）➕

🔊 No, when I go to sea, I go as a simple sailor, right before the mast, plumb down into the forecastle, aloft there to the royal mast-head. True, they rather order me about some, and make me jump from spar to spar, like a grasshopper in a May meadow. And at first, this sort of thing is unpleasant enough. It touches one’s sense of honor, particularly if you come of an old established family in the land, the Van Rensselaers, or Randolphs, or Hardicanutes. And more than all, if just previous to putting your hand into the tar-pot, you have been lording it as a country schoolmaster, making the tallest boys stand in awe of you. The transition is a keen one, I assure you, from the schoolmaster to a sailor, and requires a strong decoction of Seneca and the Stoics to enable you to grin and bear it. But even this wears off in time.

不,我出海时,是做个普通水手,直挺挺站在桅前,一头扎进前甲板,高高爬到主桅顶。诚然,他们多少会差遣我,让我在帆桁间跳来跳去,活像五月草地上的蚱蜢。起初,这种事儿着实令人不快。它触动了人的尊严感,尤其如果你出身于陆地世族,比如范伦塞勒家族、伦道夫家族或哈迪克努特家族。更重要的是,倘若在将手伸进焦油桶之前,你还曾趾高气扬地当过乡村校长,让最高大的男孩都对你敬畏有加。我向你保证,从校长到水手的转变颇为尖锐,需要灌下一剂浓浓的塞内加和斯多葛派哲学煎成的汤药才能让你咧嘴忍受。但久而久之,这也渐渐淡去。

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plumb /plʌm/

adv. 垂直地；恰恰,正；完全地➕

🔊

forecastle /ˈfəʊksl/

n. （船首的）前甲板；水手舱➕

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spar /spɑː(r)/

n. （船上的）帆桁,圆材➕

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grasshopper /ˈɡrɑːshɒpə(r)/

n. 蚱蜢,蝗虫➕

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tar-pot /ˈtɑː pɒt/

n. 沥青罐➕

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decoction /dɪˈkɒkʃn/

n. 煎剂,熬出的汁➕

🔊 What of it, if some old hunks of a sea-captain orders me to get a broom and sweep down the decks? What does that indignity amount to, weighed, I mean, in the scales of the New Testament? Do you think the archangel Gabriel thinks anything the less of me, because I promptly and respectfully obey that old hunks in that particular instance? Who aint a slave? Tell me that. Well, then, however the old sea-captains may order me about-however they may thump and punch me about, I have the satisfaction of knowing that it is all right; that everybody else is one way or other served in much the same way-either in a physical or metaphysical point of view, that is; and so the universal thump is passed round, and all hands should rub each other’s shoulder-blades, and be content.

就算某个老顽固船长命令我拿扫帚打扫甲板,那又怎样？这点侮辱又算得了什么？我是说,倘若用《新约》的天平来称量的话？难道大天使加百列会因此看轻我吗,只因我在那个特定场合迅速恭敬地服从了那老顽固？谁不是奴隶？告诉我吧。那么,无论老船长们如何差遣我--无论他们如何捶打我,我至少心知肚明这一切都理所当然；其他每个人也多多少少以类似方式被使唤--无论从肉体还是形而上的角度来看；于是普世的捶打轮转传递,所有人都该互相拍拍肩胛骨,心满意足。

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hunks /hʌŋks/

n. （俚语）脾气坏的老家伙,吝啬鬼➕

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indignity /ɪnˈdɪɡnəti/

n. 侮辱,轻蔑➕

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archangel /ˌɑːkˈeɪndʒl/

n. 大天使,天使长➕

🔊 Again, I always go to sea as a sailor, because they make a point of paying me for my trouble, whereas they never pay passengers a single penny that I ever heard of. On the contrary, passengers themselves must pay. And there is all the difference in the world between paying and being paid. The act of paying is perhaps the most uncomfortable infliction that the two orchard thieves entailed upon us. But being paid,-what will compare with it? The urbane activity with which a man receives money is really marvellous, considering that we so earnestly believe money to be the root of all earthly ills, and that on no account can a monied man enter heaven. Ah! how cheerfully we consign ourselves to perdition!

再者,我总以水手身份出海,因为他们坚持付我酬劳,而据我所知,他们从没付过乘客一分钱。相反,乘客自己还得付钱。付钱与收款,其间有天壤之别。付钱这档事,大概是那两位偷食禁果的祖先留给我们最难受的惩罚了。但收款--世上还有什么能与之相比？一个人收钱时那份从容自若的神气,实在令人叹为观止,考虑到我们如此坚信金钱是人间万恶之源,且有钱人绝无可能进入天堂。啊！我们是多么欢欣地将自己送向毁灭！

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urbane /ɜːˈbeɪn/

adj. 温文尔雅的,彬彬有礼的➕

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marvellous /ˈmɑːvələs/

adj. 惊人的,不可思议的；极好的➕

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earnestly /ˈɜːnɪstli/

adv. 认真地,诚挚地➕

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perdition /pəˈdɪʃn/

n. 毁灭,沉沦；地狱➕

🔊 Finally, I always go to sea as a sailor, because of the wholesome exercise and pure air of the forecastle deck. For as in this world, head winds are far more prevalent than winds from astern (that is, if you never violate the Pythagorean maxim), so for the most part the Commodore on the quarter-deck gets his atmosphere at second hand from the sailors on the forecastle. He thinks he breathes it first; but not so. In much the same way do the commonalty lead their leaders in many other things, at the same time that the leaders little suspect it. But wherefore it was that after having repeatedly smelt the sea as a merchant sailor, I should now take it into my head to go on a whaling voyage; this the invisible police officer of the Fates, who has the constant surveillance of me, and secretly dogs me, and influences me in some unaccountable way-he can better answer than any one else. And, doubtless, my going on this whaling voyage, formed part of the grand programme of Providence that was drawn up a long time ago. It came in as a sort of brief interlude and solo between more extensive performances. I take it that this part of the bill must have run something like this:

最后,我总以水手身份出海,因为前甲板有益身心的锻炼和纯净空气。正如在这个世界上,顶头风远比顺风来得普遍,倘若你始终恪守毕达哥拉斯学派的箴言,谨言慎行的话,所以在大多数情况下,后甲板上的准将呼吸的是从前甲板水手那儿二手传来的空气。他以为自己是头一个呼吸的；实则不然。在许多其他事情上,平民也如此引领着领袖,而领袖们却毫不知情。但为何在我作为商船水手屡次闻惯海腥之后,此刻竟会心血来潮,决意要去捕鲸航行；这得问那位命运三女神麾下的隐形警官,他时刻监视着我,秘密尾随,并以某种无从探究的方式影响着我--他比任何人都更能解答。毫无疑问,我这次捕鲸之旅,是很久以前拟定的天意宏伟计划的一部分。它犹如一场盛大演出间短暂的插曲与独奏。我猜想节目单的这一部分大致如下:

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wholesome /ˈhəʊlsəm/

adj. 有益健康的；有益身心的➕

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prevalent /ˈprevələnt/

adj. 普遍的,流行的➕

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astern /əˈstɜːn/

adv. 在船尾；向船尾；在后➕

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maxim /ˈmæksɪm/

n. 格言,座右铭➕

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commonalty /ˈkɒmənəlti/

n. 平民,老百姓➕

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surveillance /sɜːˈveɪləns/

n. 监视,监督➕

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unaccountable /ˌʌnəˈkaʊntəbl/

adj. 难以解释的,莫名其妙的；不负责任的➕

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interlude /ˈɪntəluːd/

n. 间歇,插曲；幕间休息➕

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solo /ˈsəʊləʊ/

n. 独奏,独唱；单独表演➕

🔊 "Grand Contested Election for the Presidency of the United States."

“美国总统大选激烈角逐。”

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Contested /kənˈtestɪd/

adj. 有争议的,有竞争的➕

🔊 "WHALING VOYAGE BY ONE ISHMAEL."

“以实玛利的捕鲸之旅。”

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WHALING /ˈweɪlɪŋ/

n. 捕鲸（业）➕

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VOYAGE /ˈvɔɪɪdʒ/

n. 航行,航海；（尤指长途的）旅行➕

🔊 "BLOODY BATTLE IN AFFGHANISTAN."

“阿富汗血腥战役。”

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BLOODY /ˈblʌdi/

adj. 血淋淋的,流血的；暴力的➕

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AFFGHANISTAN /æfˈɡænɪstæn/

n. 阿富汗（国家名）➕

🔊 Though I cannot tell why it was exactly that those stage managers, the Fates, put me down for this shabby part of a whaling voyage, when others were set down for magnificent parts in high tragedies, and short and easy parts in genteel comedies, and jolly parts in farces-though I cannot tell why this was exactly; yet, now that I recall all the circumstances, I think I can see a little into the springs and motives which being cunningly presented to me under various disguises, induced me to set about performing the part I did, besides cajoling me into the delusion that it was a choice resulting from my own unbiased freewill and discriminating judgment.

尽管我说不清为何那些舞台监督,即命运三女神,偏偏给我安排了捕鲸航行这等寒酸角色,而别人却分到崇高悲剧里的华彩部分,或优雅喜剧中的轻松短角,乃至闹剧里的欢乐角色--尽管我说不清这究竟是为何；但如今回想所有情形,我自觉能略微窥见那些巧妙伪装后呈现在我面前的动机与缘由,诱使我着手扮演我的角色,还哄骗我相信那是出于自己公正无偏的自由意志与明辨判断所做的选择。

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genteel /dʒenˈtiːl/

adj. 文雅的,有教养的；上流社会的➕

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farces /ˈfɑːsɪz/

n. 闹剧,滑稽戏（farce 的复数）➕

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cunningly /ˈkʌnɪŋli/

adv. 狡猾地,巧妙地➕

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disguises /dɪsˈɡaɪzɪz/

n. 伪装,掩饰；伪装物（disguise 的复数）➕

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cajoling /kəˈdʒəʊlɪŋ/

v. 哄骗,劝诱（cajole 的现在分词）➕

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delusion /dɪˈluːʒn/

n. 错觉,妄想；欺骗➕

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unbiased /ʌnˈbaɪəst/

adj. 无偏见的,公正的➕

🔊 Chief among these motives was the overwhelming idea of the great whale himself. Such a portentous and mysterious monster roused all my curiosity. Then the wild and distant seas where he rolled his island bulk; the undeliverable, nameless perils of the whale; these, with all the attending marvels of a thousand Patagonian sights and sounds, helped to sway me to my wish. With other men, perhaps, such things would not have been inducements; but as for me, I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts. Not ignoring what is good, I am quick to perceive a horror, and could still be social with it-would they let me-since it is but well to be on friendly terms with all the inmates of the place one lodges in.

这些动机中,首要的是那巨鲸本身的压倒性形象。如此骇人而神秘的怪物激起了我全部的好奇心。还有它翻滚其岛屿般身躯的狂野远海；捕鲸中那些无法言喻、无以名状的危险；这些,连同万千巴塔哥尼亚的景象与声响的附属奇迹,共同推动了我心愿的实现。对他人而言,或许这些不足为诱；但于我,我总是心痒难耐地向往着遥远的事物。我热爱驶向禁海,登陆蛮荒海岸。我并非不识美好,却总能敏于觉察恐怖；并且仍愿与之相处--只要他们允许--毕竟与寄居之地的所有住户和睦相处总是好的。

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overwhelming /ˌəʊvərˈwelmɪŋ/

adj. 压倒性的,难以抗拒的➕

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portentous /pɔːrˈtentəs/

adj. 不祥的,预示未来的；装腔作势的➕

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mysterious /mɪˈstɪəriəs/

adj. 神秘的,难以理解的➕

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undeliverable /ˌʌndɪˈlɪvərəbl/

adj. 无法传递的,无法送达的；无法实现的➕

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attending /əˈtendɪŋ/

adj. 伴随的,随之而来的➕

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marvels /ˈmɑːrv(ə)lz/

n. 奇迹,令人惊奇的事物（复数）➕

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sway /sweɪ/

v. 影响,使动摇；摇晃➕

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tormented /tɔːrˈmentɪd/

adj. 备受折磨的,痛苦的➕

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everlasting /ˌevərˈlɑːstɪŋ/

adj. 永恒的,持久的➕

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itch /ɪtʃ/

n. 痒；渴望➕

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forbidden /fərˈbɪd(ə)n/

adj. 被禁止的,严禁的➕

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barbarous /ˈbɑːrbərəs/

adj. 野蛮的,残暴的；粗野的➕

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perceive /pərˈsiːv/

v. 察觉,意识到；理解,认为➕

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inmates /ˈɪnmeɪts/

n. 同住者；（监狱、精神病院等的）被收容者（复数）➕

🔊 By reason of these things, then, the whaling voyage was welcome; the great flood-gates of the wonder-world swung open, and in the wild conceits that swayed me to my purpose, two and two there floated into my inmost soul, endless processions of the whale, and, mid most of them all, one grand hooded phantom, like a snow hill in the air.

正因如此,捕鲸之旅受到欢迎；奇幻世界的巨大闸门豁然洞开,在那些驱使我奔向目的的狂野念头中,成群结队的鲸鱼双双对对浮入我灵魂深处,而在它们中间,一个宏伟的戴兜帽的幻影,犹如空中的雪山。

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conceits /kənˈsiːts/

n. 幻想；自负➕

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inmost /ˈɪnməʊst/

adj. 最内的；深处的➕

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processions /prəˈseʃənz/

n. 队伍；游行➕

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hooded /ˈhʊdɪd/

adj. 戴头巾的；有罩的➕

Chapter one: Loomings (第一章:阴云渐起)