Hitherto, in descriptively treating of the Sperm Whale, I have chiefly dwelt upon the marvels of his outer aspect; —
迄今为止，在描述抹香鲸时，我主要讲述了他外表的奇迹； —

or separately and in detail upon some few interior structural features. —
或是单独详细介绍一些内部结构特征； —

But to a large and thorough sweeping comprehension of him, it behoves me now to unbutton him still further, and untagging the points of his hose, unbuckling his garters, and casting loose the hooks and the eyes of the joints of his innermost bones, set him before you in his ultimatum; —
但为了对他有更全面和深入的理解，现在我有必要再解开更多，解开他裤子的位置，解开他的袜带，松开他内部骨头的接头的钩子和眼圈，让他以他的最终形态呈现在你面前； —

that is to say, in his unconditional skeleton.
也就是说，用他无条件的骨架。

But how now, Ishmael? How is it, that you, a mere oarsman in the fishery, pretend to know aught about the subterranean parts of the whale? —
但现在，以实玛利呢？你怎么知道鲸鱼的地下部分呢，你只是一个捕鱼的桨手？ —

Did erudite Stubb, mounted upon your capstan, deliver lectures on the anatomy of the Cetacea; —
是多学识的斯塔布站在你的炮塔上，讲述鲸类动物的解剖学呢； —

and by help of the windlass, hold up a specimen rib for exhibition? Explain thyself, Ishmael. —
并借助绞盘，拿起一根肋骨来展示吗？自圆其说，以实玛利。 —

Can you land a full-grown whale on your deck for examination, as a cook dishes a roast-pig? —
你能像厨师上菜烧一只全成年的鲸鱼放在甲板上进行检查吗？ —

Surely not. A veritable witness have you hitherto been, Ishmael; —
你迄今为止确实曾经是一个真正的见证人，以实玛利； —

but have a care how you seize the privilege of Jonah alone; —
但小心你如何占有约拿的特权； —

the privilege of discoursing upon the joists and beams; —
关于椽子和梁； —

the rafters, ridge-pole, sleepers, and under-pinnings, making up the frame-work of leviathan; —
屋脊杆，卧铺，睡木，和构成大白鲸结构的地基； —

and belike of the tallow-vats, dairy-rooms, butteries, and cheeseries in his bowels.
可能还有他肠子里的脂肪桶，奶房，奶油房和奶酪房。

I confess, that since Jonah, few whalemen have penetrated very far beneath the skin of the adult whale; —
我承认，自从约拿以来，很少有捕鲸人深入到成年鲸鱼的皮下； —

nevertheless, I have been blessed with an opportunity to dissect him in miniature. —
不过，我有幸有机会对他进行微小的解剖。 —

In a ship I belonged to, a small cub Sperm Whale was once bodily hoisted to the deck for his poke or bag, to make sheaths for the barbs of the harpoons, and for the heads of the lances. —
我曾隶属的一艘船上，一只小幼年抹香鲸曾被人们全身提升到甲板上，为了它的鼻子袋，用来制作鱼叉的矛尖和长矛的头部的套子。 —

Think you I let that chance go, without using my boat-hatchet and jack-knife, and breaking the seal and reading all the contents of that young cub?
你以为我会放过这个机会，不使用我的小船斧和剃须刀，打开那只幼年抹香鲸的肚子，读取里面所有的内容吗？

And as for my exact knowledge of the bones of the leviathan in their gigantic, full grown development, for that rare knowledge I am indebted to my late royal friend Tranquo, king of Tranque, one of the Arsacides. —
至于我对大白鲸的骨骼，成熟发育的巨大骨架，我所了解的准确知识，那是我归功于我已故的皇家朋友特朗库，特朗库国王，是阿撒西德中的一员。 —

For being at Tranque, years ago, when attached to the trading-ship Dey of Algiers, I was invited to spend part of the Arsacidean holidays with the lord of Tranque, at his retired palm villa at Pupella; —
多年之前，当我在阿尔及尔的Dey商船服役时，我曾在特朗库度过一段时间，因为他邀请我参加他在Pupella的退休棕榈别墅举办的阿撒西德假期的部分庆祝活动。 —

a sea-side glen not very far distant from what our sailors called Bamboo-Town, his capital.
一片海湾，离我们的水手们称之为竹城，他的首都，不太远的地方。

Among many other fine qualities, my royal friend Tranquo, being gifted with a devout love for all matters of barbaric vertu, had brought together in Pupella whatever rare things the more ingenious of his people could invent; —
在我皇家朋友特朗库的许多优秀品质之中，他热爱所有野蛮工艺品的虔诚之情最为突出，他在Pupella聚集了他的人民中更有智慧的部分发明的一切罕见之物。 —

chiefly carved woods of wonderful devices, chiselled shells, inlaid spears, costly paddles, aromatic canoes; —
主要是精美的木雕器具，雕花贝壳，嵌宝器具，昂贵的桨，香味浓郁的独木舟等。 —

and all these distributed among whatever natural wonders, the wonder-freighted, tribute-rendering waves had cast upon his shores.
所有这些都散布在海浪所带来的一切自然奇观之间，这些奇观丰满地向他的海滨涌怀着敬意。

Chief among these latter was a great Sperm Whale, which, after an unusually long raging gale, had been found dead and stranded, with his head against a cocoa-nut tree, whose plumage-like, tufted droopings seemed his verdant jet. —
这些奇像中，主要就有一头巨大的抹香鲸，它在一场异常猛烈的风暴后被发现搁浅死去，头部靠在一颗椰子树上，那树的羽毛般的鞭挞似的椰子簇似乎就是其翠绿的墨黑。 —

When the vast body had at last been stripped of its fathomdeep enfoldings, and the bones become dust dry in the sun, then the skeleton was carefully transported up the Pupella glen, where a grand temple of lordly palms now sheltered it.
当这具巨大的身体最终被剥去深不可测的衣物，骨头在阳光下变得灰尘般干燥时，骨架被小心地搬运到Pupella峡谷，一个拥有壮丽棕榈庙宇的地方。

The ribs were hung with trophies; the vertebrae were carved with Arsacidean annals, in strange hieroglyphics; —
肋骨被挂满了战利品；椎骨上被雕刻了阿撒西德年表，用奇异的象形文字书写； —

in the skull, the priests kept up an unextinguished aromatic flame, so that the mystic head again sent forth its vapory spout; —
在头骨内，祭司们保持着一团永不熄灭的香气火焰，以便神秘的头再次喷发出其雾状喷射； —

while, suspended from a bough, the terrific lower jaw vibrated over all the devotees, like the hair-hung sword that so affrighted Damocles.
同时，悬挂在枝干上，恐怖的下颚在所有信徒头顶上振动，宛如吊挂的剑发出吓人的音响，就像惊吓达摩克力斯一样。

It was a wondrous sight. The wood was green as mosses of the Icy Glen; —
这是一个奇妙的景象。这片树木绿得像冰冷峡谷的苔藓； —

the trees stood high and haughty, feeling their living sap; —
这些树站得高高傲傲，感受着它们的生机细胞。 —

the industrious earth beneath was as a weaver’s loom, with a gorgeous carpet on it, whereof the ground-vine tendrils formed the warp and woof, and the living flowers the figures. —
勤劳的大地就像织布机一样，上面铺着一幅华丽的地毯，其中地藤条构成了经纬，鲜花则是花纹。 —

All the trees, with all their laden branches; all the shrubs, and ferns, and grasses; —
所有的树木，带着所有沉甸甸的枝叶；所有的灌木和蕨类植物，还有草本植物； —

the message-carrying air; all these unceasingly were active. —
传递信息的空气；所有这些都在不停地活动。 —

Through the lacings of the leaves, the great sun seemed a flying shuttle weaving the unwearied verdure. —
透过树叶的缝隙，巨大的太阳好像一只飞舞的梭，不停地编织绿荫。 —

Oh, busy weaver! unseen weaver!–pause!–one word!– whither flows the fabric? —
哦，勤劳的织工！看不见的织工！–暂停！–一句话！–这一织物将流向何处？ —

what palace may it deck? wherefore all these ceaseless toilings? Speak, weaver!–stay thy hand! —
它可能装饰哪座宫殿呢？为何这些不停的劳作？说话，织工！停下你的手！ —

– but one single word with thee! Nay–the shuttle flies– the figures float from forth the loom; —
–只要和你说一句话！不–梭飞行–花纹从织机上飘出； —

the fresher-rushing carpet for ever slides away. The weaver-god, he weaves; —
新鲜的地毯永远流逝。织工之神，他编织； —

and by that weaving is he deafened, that he hears no mortal voice; —
他被编织声弄聋了，听不见凡人之声； —

and by that humming, we, too, who look on the loom are deafened; —
而我们也被编织声震聋了，凝视织机的我们也是如此； —

and only when we escape it shall we hear the thousand voices that speak through it. —
只有当我们逃离它时，才能听见那通过它说话的千种声音。 —

For even so it is in all material factories. —
因为所有实体工厂都是如此。 —

The spoken words that are inaudible among the flying spindles; —
在飞速旋转的纺锤之间听不到的话语； —

those same words are plainly heard without the walls, bursting from the opened casements. —
这些话语在墙外被明显听见，从敞开的窗户中爆发出来。 —

Thereby have villainies been detected. Ah, mortal! then, be heedful; —
因此，罪行被发现。啊，凡人！因此，请小心； —

for so, in all this din of the great world’s loom, thy subtlest thinkings may be overheard afar.
为了让你最微妙的思虑在这繁忙的世界之轰鸣中被远远听见。

Now, amid the green, life-restless loom of that Arsacidean wood, the great, white, worshipped skeleton lay lounging–a gigantic idler! —
现在，在那个亚萨西德树林中绿色涌动的织机间，巨大的被崇拜的白色骷髅懒洋洋地躺着–一个巨大的懒汉！ —

Yet, as the ever-woven verdant warp and woof intermixed and hummed around him, the mighty idler seemed the cunning weaver; —
然而，在周围永远交织着青翠的织机声和嗡嗡声中，这位强大的懒汉似乎是个狡猾的织工； —

himself all woven over with the vines; every month assuming greener, fresher verdure; —
他全身被藤蔓缠绕；每个月都呈现更翠更新的绿色； —

but himself a skeleton. Life folded Death; Death trellised Life; —
但自己却是个骷髅。生命包裹着死亡；死亡藤蔓缠绕着生命； —

the grim god wived with youthful Life, and begat him curly-headed glories.
那位严峻的神与年轻的生命结合，生下了头发卷曲的荣耀。

Now, when with royal Tranquo I visited this wondrous whale, and saw the skull an altar, and the artificial smoke ascending from where the real jet had issued, I marvelled that the king should regard a chapel as an object of vertu. —
当我与皇家那个特兰柯一同参观这只奇异的鲸鱼时，看到骷髅像一座祭坛，从那里冒出的人造烟让我惊奇，国王竟然把教堂当作一种物品收藏。 —

He laughed. But more I marvelled that the priests should swear that smoky jet of his was genuine. —
他笑了。但更让我惊讶的是祭司们竟然发誓说他身上那冒烟的黑石是真的。 —

To and fro I paced before this skeleton– brushed the vines aside–broke through the ribs–and with a ball of Arsacidean twine, wandered, eddied long amid its many winding, shaded colonnades and arbors. —
我在这具骷髅面前来回踱步–推开藤蔓–穿过肋骨–带着一团亚萨西德编织的绳子，漫游，漩涡般地探索着它众多曲折、荫凉的柱廊和凉亭。 —

But soon my line was out; and following it back, I emerged from the opening where I entered. —
但很快我的线就用完了；顺着它返回，我走出了最初进入的洞口。 —

I saw no living thing within; naught was there but bones.
在里面我没看到任何生物；那里只有骨头。

Cutting me a green measuring-rod, I once more dived within the skeleton. —
我削了一根绿色的计量棒，再次潜入骷髅内部。 —

From their arrow-slit in the skull, the priests perceived me taking the altitude of the final rib, “How now!” —
从头骨的箭孔中，祭司们看见我在测最后一根肋骨的高度，“现在怎么样！” —

they shouted; “Dar’st thou measure this our god! That’s for us.” —
他们喊道：“你敢测量我们的神！这是我们的事。” —

“Aye, priests–well, how long do ye make him, then?” —
“是的，祭司们–那么你们究竟把他估测成多长？” —

But hereupon a fierce contest rose among them, concerning feet and inches; —
但随之又在他们之间爆发了一场关于尺寸的激烈争论； —

they cracked each other’s sconces with their yard-sticks– the great skull echoed–and seizing that lucky chance, I quickly concluded my own admeasurements.
他们用尺子互相击打头骨–巨大的头颅回响–我立即抓住这个机会，快速完成了自己的测量。

These admeasurements I now propose to set before you. —
我现在打算向你们展示这些测量结果。 —

But first, be it recorded, that, in this matter, I am not free to utter any fancied measurements I please. —
但首先，应该记录下来的是，在这件事情上，我并不自由地说出我随意想要的尺寸。 —

Because there are skeleton authorities you can refer to, to test my accuracy. —
因为你们可以参考一些标准来检验我的准确性。 —

There is a Leviathanic Museum, they tell me, in Hull, England, one of the whaling ports of that country, where they have some fine specimens of fin-backs and other whales. —
他们告诉我，在英格兰的赫尔，一个捕鲸港口，有一个利维坦博物馆，那儿有一些优秀的须鲸和其他鲸鱼的标本。 —

Likewise, I have heard that in the museum of Manchester, in New Hampshire, they have what the proprietors call “the only perfect specimen of a Greenland or River Whale in the United States.” —
此外，我听说在新罕布什尔州的曼彻斯特博物馆，他们有所谓的“美国唯一完整的格陵兰鲸或河鲸标本”。 —

Moreover, at a place in Yorkshire, England, Burton Constable by name, a certain Sir Clifford Constable has in his possession the skeleton of a Sperm Whale, but of moderate size, by no means of the full-grown magnitude of my friend King Tranquo’s.
而且，在英格兰的约克郡的某个地方，名为伯顿·康斯特布尔的地方，某位叫克利福德·康斯特布尔的男爵拥有一只大型抹香鲸的骨架，但绝不是我朋友特朗克王的那种成年级别的大小。

In both cases, the stranded whales to which these two skeletons belonged, were originally claimed by their proprietors upon similar grounds. —
在这两种情况下，这两具骨架所属的搁浅鲸鱼最初被其所有者据此为由所要求。 —

King Tranquo seizing his because he wanted it; —
特朗克王抓住它是因为他想要； —

and Sir Clifford, because he was lord of the seignories of those parts. —
而克利福德爵士是因为他是那些地方的领主。 —

Sir Clifford’s whale has been articulated throughout; —
克利福德爵士的鲸鱼已经整骨； —

so that, like a great chest of drawers, you can open and shut him, in all his bony cavities–spread out his ribs like a gigantic fan– and swing all day upon his lower jaw. —
使得他可以像一个巨大的抽屉一样，打开和关闭他，在他所有的骨腔里打开他的肋骨像一个巨大的扇子–并且在他的下颌上摇摆整天。 —

Locks are to be put upon some of his trap-doors and shutters; —
有些他的陷阱门和百叶窗上要加锁； —

and a footman will show round future visitors with a bunch of keys at his side. —
以及一个侍者会拿着一串钥匙向未来的游客们展示四处。 —

Sir Clifford thinks of charging twopence for a peep at the whispering gallery in the spinal column; —
Clifford先生想要收取两便士的费用，让人们可以偷窥脊柱中的耳语回廊； —

threepence to hear the echo in the hollow of his cerebellum; —
三便士可以听到他颅内空腔中的回音； —

and sixpence for the unrivalled view from his forehead.
而从他的额头眺望卓绝景色则要花费六便士。

The skeleton dimensions I shall now proceed to set down are copied verbatim from my right arm, where I had them tattooed; —
我现在要列出的骨架尺寸，是从我的右臂上刺青所得，完全一样； —

as in my wild wanderings at that period, there was no other secure way of preserving such valuable statistics. —
因为那时我长时间在外流浪，没有其他安全保存这些宝贵数据的方法。 —

But as I was crowded for space, and wished the other parts of my body to remain a blank page for a poem I was then composing– at least, what untattooed parts might remain–I did not trouble myself with the odd inches; —
但由于空间有限，我希望身体的其他部位能保留白皙皮肤留作我当时正在创作的诗的空白页—至少，可能的话未被刺青的部分； —

nor, indeed, should inches at all enter into a congenial admeasurement of the whale.
也没必要理会奇特的英寸数；实际上，英寸数在测量鲸鱼时根本不应涉及到共同的度量。