英語聽書《白鯨記》第734期

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So that for an hour or more, a thousand fathoms in the sea, he carries a surplus stock of vitality in him, just as the camel crossing the waterless desert carries a surplus supply of drink for future use in its four supplementary stomachs. The anatomical fact of this labyrinth is indisputable; and that the supposition founded upon it is reasonable and true, seems the more cogent to me, when I consider the otherwise inexplicable obstinacy of that leviathan in having his spoutings out, as the fishermen phrase it. This is what I mean. If unmolested, upon rising to the surface, the Sperm Whale will continue there for a period of time exactly uniform with all his other unmolested risings. Say he stays eleven minutes, and jets seventy times, that is, respires seventy breaths; then whenever he rises again, he will be sure to have his seventy breaths over again, to a minute. Now, if after he fetches a few breaths you alarm him, so that he sounds, he will be always dodging up again to make good his regular allowance of air. And not till those seventy breaths are told, will he finally go down to stay out his full term below. Remark, however, that in different individuals these rates are different; but in any one they are alike. Now, why should the whale thus insist upon having his spoutings out, unless it be to replenish his reservoir of air, ere descending for good?

所以在一個多鐘頭中，在幾千英尺的海底里，它身上就另外背著一只生命的儲藏器，有如駱駝越過干燥的沙漠，背著另外一只儲水器以供它四只額外的胃未來之用。這種迷宮似的事實是無可置辯的；而且當(dāng)我想到這種大鯨在"瀉出它的噴水"（捕鯨人這樣說法），具有另外一種費解的頑強(qiáng)性時，我就覺得，這種假設(shè)的根據(jù)，不僅又合理又正確，而且還更中肯了。這就是我所要說的。如果不受干擾的話，抹香鯨冒出水面后，它在水面上停留的時間跟它在任何不受干擾時冒出水面的時間完全一樣。比如說它停留了十一分鐘，噴了七十次水，那就是說，它呼吸了七十次；那么，等它在隨便什么時候重新冒出來的時候，它就一定準(zhǔn)確地再呼吸七十次。如果它剛呼吸了幾下子就被你驚動了，不得不潛到水里去的話，它往往又會偷偷地再沖上來，補(bǔ)足它所要吸進(jìn)去的氣。它不做完這七十次呼吸，是不會安心地沉到海底里去的。不過，得注意，雖然不同的鯨，各有不同的呼吸次數(shù)，但作法上卻是一樣的。那么，鯨為什么老要這樣噴出水來，難道它非得把那空氣的儲藏庫加足了后，這才肯安定地沉下去嗎？