英語聽書《白鯨記》第653期

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Chapter 72 The Monkey-Rope

第七十二章 猴索

In the tumultuous business of cutting-in and attending to a whale, there is much running backwards and forwards among the crew. Now hands are wanted here, and then again hands are wanted there. There is no staying in any one place; for at one and the same time everything has to be done everywhere. It is much the same with him who endeavors the desCRIption of the scene. We must now retrace our way a little. It was mentioned that upon first breaking ground in the whale's back, the blubber-hook was inserted into the original hole there cut by the spades of the mates. But how did so clumsy and weighty a mass as that same hook get fixed in that hole? It was inserted there by my particular friend Queequeg, whose duty it was, as harpooneer, to descend upon the monster's back for the special purpose referred to. But in very many cases, circumstances require that the harpooneer shall remain on the whale till the whole tensing or stripping operation is concluded. The whale, be it observed, lies almost entirely submerged, excepting the immediate parts operated upon. So down there, some ten feet below the level of the deck, the poor harpooneer flounders about, half on the whale and half in the water, as the vast mass revolves like a tread-mill beneath him.

在剖割和處理一條大鯨的亂糟糟的工作中，水手們總是奔前趕后地忙個不停。一會兒這里要人幫忙，一會兒那里又要人去幫忙。到處都在忙著，因為在同一個時間里，各處都得把各種事情趕完。那個企圖描述這個場面的人也是如此。現(xiàn)在我們必須略為倒敘一番。前面已經(jīng)說過，在剖鯨背之先，得把那只鯨脂大鉤鉤在原來大二三副用鏟子割開來的洞孔里?？墒牵恢贿@樣笨重的鉤子怎樣把那個洞孔鉤住呢？那是由我的密友魁魁格掛上去的，他身為標(biāo)槍手，就得爬到那怪物的背上，去完成上述這項特殊任務(wù)。但是，往往在許多場合上，還需要這個標(biāo)槍手留在鯨背上，直待到整個剝皮工作完畢才下來。請注意，那條鯨，除了正在讓人家剝皮的部分，差不多全都浸在水里。因此，這個可憐的標(biāo)槍手就得在低于甲板約十英尺左右的下邊掙扎著，身子一半在鯨背上，一半浸在水里，而那條巨物則象架踏車似的，在他腳下旋來轉(zhuǎn)去。