英語聽書《白鯨記》第482期

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In the sixth Christian century lived Procopius, a Christian magistrate of Constantinople, in the days when Justinian was Emperor and Belisarius general.

公元六世紀，有一個君士坦丁堡的基督教的治安推事名叫普羅科匹阿(普羅科匹阿(４９０?—５６２?)——拜占庭的歷史家，曾做過培利塞留的秘書，他著有不少的史書，其中以《秘史》——專寫５４９—５６２年君士坦丁堡宮廷的丑聞為最著名。)的，當時也正是查士丁尼(查士丁尼一世(４８３—５６５)——拜占庭皇帝。)做皇帝，培利塞留(培利塞留(５０５?—５６５)——拜占庭的將軍。)做將軍的時候。

As many know, he wrote the history of his own times, a work every way of uncommon value. By the best authorities, he has always been considered a most trustworthy and unexaggerating historian, except in some one or two particulars, not at all affecting the matter presently to be mentioned.Now, in this history of his, Procopius mentions that, during the term of his prefecture at Constantinople, a great sea-monster was captured in the neighboring Propontis, or Sea of Marmora, after having destroyed vessels at intervals in those waters for a period of more than fifty years. A fact thus set down in substantial history cannot easily be gainsaid. Nor is there any reason it should be. Of what precise species this sea-monster was, is not mentioned. But as he destroyed ships, as well as for other reasons, he must have been a whale; and I am strongly inclined to think a sperm whale. And I will tell you why. For a long time I fancied that the sperm whale had been always unknown in the Mediterranean and the deep waters connecting with it. Even now I am certain that those seas are not, and perhaps never can be, in the present constitution of things, a place for his habitual gregarious resort. But further investigations have recently proved to me, that in modern times there have been isolated instances of the presence of the sperm whale in the Mediterranean. I am told, on good authority, that on the Barbary coast, a Commodore Davis of the British navy found the skeleton of a sperm whale. Now, as a vessel of war readily passes through the Dardanelles, hence a sperm whale could, by the same route, pass out of the Mediterranean into the Propontis.

如所周知，他著有一本記述他的時代的歷史，這是一部從各方面看來價值非凡的作品。他在許多最優(yōu)秀的權(quán)威家的眼中，始終被認為是一位最翔實可靠而不夸張的歷史家，雖則有個別一兩處稍有瑕疵，然而，對于我們現(xiàn)在所要提到的事情卻毫無影響。在他這本歷史中，普羅科匹阿指出，在他擔任君士坦丁堡長官期間，在普羅蓬提斯，或者叫做瑪摩拉海附近，曾經(jīng)捕到一只大海獸，這只東西在五十多年中，一再在那一帶的海里破壞了許多船只。象這樣寫在可靠的歷史上的事實是不能輕加否定的。而且也沒有否定它的理由，至于這只海獸究竟是屬于哪一類，他卻沒有說明。不過，就它破壞船只，以及其它各種情節(jié)看來，它必定是一條大鯨；我極有理由認為它就是一條抹香鯨。這里，請容我把理由說出來。我長期來總認為，在地中海和跟它相連的大海一帶，人們未必會知道抹香鯨，甚至直到如今，我還肯定地認為，按照實際情況說來，這種海并不是。也許永遠不會是一個適合于它那慣于群居生活的所在。可是，經(jīng)過進一步的調(diào)查研究后，最近才使我相信了，時至現(xiàn)代，地中海一定有出現(xiàn)抹香鯨的個別的事例。我從最權(quán)威方面知道，在巴巴利(巴巴利——自埃及到大西洋間的北非洲的地區(qū)。)沿海一帶，有一個叫做戴維斯的英國海軍艦長就發(fā)現(xiàn)過一條抹香鯨的骷髏。如今，既然一艘軍艦能夠悠閑地穿過達達尼爾海峽，一條抹香鯨當然也能夠循著同一的路線，出地中海而游到普羅蓬提斯去了。

In the Propontis, as far as I can learn, none of that peculiar substance called brit is to be found, the aliment of the right whale. But I have every reason to believe that the food of the sperm whale-- squid or cuttle-fish--lurks at the bottom of that sea, because large creatures, but by no means the largest of that sort, have been found at its surface. If, then, you properly put these statements together, and reason upon them a bit, you will clearly perceive that, according to all human reasoning, Procopius's sea-monster, that for half a century stove the ships of a Roman Emperor, must in all probability have been a sperm whale.

雖則就我所知，在普羅蓬提斯，還沒有發(fā)現(xiàn)過那種露脊鯨的食料，那種特稱為"小魚"(小魚——系指小鯡魚以及大鯨所吃的一般小魚。)的東西。不過，我有各種理由認為抹香鯨的食料——烏賊魚或者墨魚——是深藏在海底里的，因為在那一帶的海面上曾經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)過這種大生物(雖然絕不是最大的生物)。因此，如果你把這些材料給適當?shù)鼐C合起來，稍加推究一番，你就可以清楚地看出，根據(jù)人類的一切推證力，普羅科匹阿的所謂大海獸，就是那條五十年來擊破了不知多少羅馬皇帝的船只的生物，也一定有各種可能是條抹香鯨了。