With matted beard, and swathed in a bristling shark-skin apron, about mid-day, Perth was standing between his forge and anvil, the latter placed upon an iron-wood log, with one hand holding a pike-head in the coals, and with the other at his forge’s lungs, when Captain Ahab came along, carrying in his hand a small rusty-looking leathern bag. —
帕斯是个胡须蓬乱、身穿一件刺人的鲨鱼皮围裙的铁匠，大约在正午，站在他的锻炉和铁砧之间，后者放在一根铁木头上，一手拿着一个鱼叉头在煤火里，另一手在锻炉的风箱上，在这时阿哈布船长经过，手里拿着一个看上去锈迹斑斑的小皮袋。 —

While yet a little distance from the forge, moody Ahab paused; —
在还离火炉有点距离时，愁闷的阿哈布停了下来； —

till at last, Perth, withdrawing his iron from the fire, began hammering it upon the anvil–the red mass sending off the sparks in thick hovering flights, some of which flew close to Ahab.
终于，帕斯把铁从火中取出，开始在铁砧上锤打–火红的块状物发出密集的火花，一些飞得离阿哈布很近。

“Are these thy Mother Carey’s chickens, Perth? they are always flying in thy wake; —
“这些是你的女卡瑞母鸡，帕斯？它们总是跟着你飞； —

birds of good omen, too, but not to all;–look here, they burn; —
也是好兆头的鸟，但不是对所有人都是；–看，它们着火了； —

but thou–thou liv’st among them without a scorch.”
但你–你却住在它们中间毫发无损。”

“Because I am scorched all over, Captain Ahab,” answered Perth, resting for a moment on his hammer; —
“因为我全身都被灼伤了，阿哈布船长，”帕斯停下锤子，休息了一会儿； —

“I am past scorching-, not easily can’st thou scorch a scar.”
“我已经被灼伤，难以再将我灼伤。”

“Well, well; no more. Thy shrunk voice sounds too calmly, sanely woeful to me. —
“好了，好了；别说了。你那萎缩的声音听上去太平静，太理智的悲伤了。 —

In no Paradise myself, I am impatient of all misery in others that is not mad. —
作为一个不在天堂的人，我对别人的一切不至疯狂的痛苦都感到不耐烦。 —

Thou should’st go mad, blacksmith; say, why dost thou not go mad? —
你应该发疯，铁匠；说，为什么你不发疯？ —

How can’st thou endure without being mad? —
你怎么能忍受而不发疯？ —

Do the heavens yet hate thee, that thou can’st not go mad? —
难道天堂还恨你吗，难道你不能发疯？ —

– What wert thou making there?”
– 你在做什么？”

“Welding an old pike-head, sir; there were seams and dents in it.”
“锻煅一个旧鱼叉头，先生；上面有缝隙和凹痕。”

“And can’st thou make it all smooth again, blacksmith, after such hard usage as it had?”
“黑匠，经过这么严酷的使用后，你能让它再变得光滑吗？”

“I think so, sir.”
“我想可以，先生。”

“And I suppose thou can’st smoothe almost any seams and dents; —
“我猜你几乎能够把任何接缝和凹痕弄平，不管金属有多坚硬，黑匠？” —

never mind how hard the metal, blacksmith?”
“是的，先生，我想我可以；除了一个例外。”

“Aye, sir, I think I can; all seams and dents but one.”
“看这里，”亚哈布激动地走了过来，双手搭在珀斯的肩上；

“Look ye here then,” cried Ahab, passionately advancing, and leaning with both hands on Perth’s shoulders; —
“看这里–看这里–你能把像这样的接缝弄平吗，黑匠？”他一手横扫过崎岖的额头； —

“look ye here–here–can ye smoothe out a seam like this, blacksmith,” sweeping one hand across his ribbed brow; —
“如果你能，黑匠，我会愿意把头放在你的铁砧上，感受你最重的锤子在我双眼之间。 —

“if thou could’st, blacksmith, glad enough would I lay my head upon thy anvil, and feel thy heaviest hammer between my eyes. —
回答！你能让这个接缝变光滑吗？” —

Answer! Can’st thou smoothe this seam?”
“哦！那就是唯一的例外，先生！难道我不是说除了一个例外所有接缝和凹痕吗？”

“Oh! that is the one, sir! Said I not all seams and dents but one?”
“是的，黑匠，就是这个；是的，男人，它是无法弄平的；

“Aye, blacksmith, it is the one; aye, man, it is unsmoothable; —
因为即使你只看到它在我皮肤上，它已经加工到我头骨里–所有皱纹！ —

for though thou only see’st it here in my flesh, it has worked down into the bone of my skull–that is all wrinkles! —
但是，离开这种玩闹；今天不再是鱼叉和矛。看这里！” —

But, away with child’s play; no more gaffs and pikes to-day. Look ye here!” —
摇晃着皮袋，仿佛里面装满了金币。“我也想要一支鱼叉； —

jingling the leathern bag, as if it were full of gold coins. “I, too, want a harpoon made; —
一支千夫所难挣扎的鱼叉，珀斯； —

one that a thousand yoke of fiends could not part, Perth; —
“那就是一个例外，黑匠；那就是唯一的例外。” —

something that will stick in a whale like his own fin-bone. —
有什么东西会像鲸鱼的鳍骨一样粘在他身上。 —

There’s the stuff,” flinging the pouch upon the anvil. —
“这就是东西，”他把袋子扔在铁砧上。 —

“Look ye, blacksmith, these are the gathered nail-stubbs of the steel shoes of racing horses.”
“看啊，铁匠，这些是赛马的马蹄钉头的残余。”

“Horse-shoe stubbs, sir? Why, Captain Ahab, thou hast here, then, the best and stubbornest stuff we blacksmiths ever work.”
“马蹄铁钉头，先生？为什么，亚哈船长，你这里有我们铁匠们工作过的最好的，最顽固的材料。”

“I know it, old man; these stubbs will weld together like glue from the melted bones of murderers. —
“我知道了，老人；这些铁钉会像凶手的骨头熔化成的胶水一样粘在一起。” —

Quick! forge me the harpoon. And forge me first, twelve rods for its shank; —
快！给我打造鱼叉。首先为它打造十二根柄木； —

then wind, and twist, and hammer these twelve together like the yarns and strands of a tow-line. —
然后缠绕、扭曲、将这十二根像拖缆的纱线和绳索一样锤打在一起。 —

Quick! I’ll blow the fire.”
快！我要把火吹起来。”

When at last the twelve rods were made, Ahab tried them, one by one, by spiralling them, with his own hand, round a long, heavy iron bolt. —
最终，亚哈试了一下那十二根，用他自己的手，一个接着一个，绕着一根长长的、沉重的铁螺栓。 —

“A flaw!” rejecting the last one. “Work that over again, Perth.”
“一个瑕疵！” 拒绝了最后一根。“把那个重新做一遍，波斯。”

This done, Perth was about to begin welding the twelve into one, when Ahab stayed his hand, and said he would weld his own iron. —
这样做完之后，波斯正要将这十二根焊接成一根，但亚哈拦住了他，说他要把自己的铁焊接好。 —

As, then, with regular, gasping hems, he hammered on the anvil, Perth passing to him the glowing rods, one after the other, and the hard pressed forge shooting up its intense straight flame, the Parsee passed silently, and bowing over his head towards the fire, seemed invoking some curse or some blessing on the toil. —
此时，伴随着规律的、急促的粗气声，他在铁砧上锤打着，波斯一个接着一个地将发光的棒递给他，锻造炉发出强烈的直射火焰，而信徒却默默地绕着他的头鞠躬，仿佛在向火神祈祷一些诅咒或祝福。 —

But, as Ahab looked up, he slid aside.
但是，当亚哈抬头看的时候，他侧身让了一下。

“What’s that bunch of lucifers dodging about there for?” —
“那群火柴头在那里到处躲来躲去是怎么回事？” 斯塔布从船头的甲板上看着自言自语。 —

muttered Stubb, looking on from the forecastle. —
米尔森看着他们依偎在火炉边默默念叨背着魔咒或祝福。 —

“That Parsee smells fire like a fusee; and smells of it himself, like a hot musket’s powder-pan.”
那位巴尔西闻起来像一支燧发管一样烧火，并且自己也闻起来像一支热枪的火药盒。

At last the shank, in one complete rod, received its final heat; —
最后，那根脚杆获得了它最终的热度； —

and as Perth, to temper it, plunged it all hissing into the cask of water near by, the scalding steam shot up into Ahab’s bent face.
当珀斯把它插进旁边的水桶里发出嘶嘶声时，热气腾腾地冒起，直冲向阿哈布弯曲的脸。

“Would’st thou brand me, Perth?” wincing for a moment with the pain; —
“你想给我烙印，珀斯？”他因疼痛而略微皱起了眉头； —

“have I been but forging my own branding-iron, then?”
“我会只是在打造我自己的烙铁吗，对吗？”

“Pray God, not that; yet I fear something, Captain Ahab. Is not this harpoon for the White Whale?”
“但愿不是那样；但我害怕，阿哈布船长。这不是为了白鲸的鱼叉吗？”

“For the white fiend! But now for the barbs; thou must make them thyself, man. —
“为了那个白色的恶魔！但现在该做鱼叉尖了；你必须自己来做，伙计。 —

Here are my razors–the best of steel; here, and make the barbs sharp as the needle-sleet of the Icy Sea.”
这是我的剃刀——最好的钢铁；拿着，让鱼叉尖像冰海的针尖那样锋利。”

For a moment, the old blacksmith eyed the razors as though he would fain not use them.
老铁匠眼睛看着刀刃，似乎不愿使用。

“Take them, man, I have no need for them; —
“拿去吧，伙计，我用不着它们； —

for I now neither shave, sup, nor pray till–but here–to work!”
因为我现在既不刮胡子，也不吃饭，也不祈祷，直到——不过，这里——开始工作吧！”

Fashioned at last into an arrowy shape, and welded by Perth to the shank, the steel soon pointed the end of the iron; —
最后被珀斯锻造成箭状，并焊接到脚杆上，钢铁很快就尖端了； —

and as the blacksmith was about giving the barbs their final heat, prior to tempering them, he cried to Ahab to place the water-cask near.
就在黑铁匠要给鱼叉尖最后加热之前，淬火之前，他对阿哈布喊道要把水桶放在附近。

“No, no–no water for that; I want it of the true death-temper. Ahoy, there! —
“不，不——用不着那个水；我需要真正的死亡温度。喂，那里！ —

Tashtego, Queequeg, Daggoo! What say ye, pagans! —
塔什特戈，奎库格，达古！你们说呢，异教徒！ —

Will ye give me as much blood as will cover this barb?” holding it high up. —
他高举着鱼叉说：“你们会给我足够的血覆盖住这个鱼叉吗？” —

A cluster of dark nods replied, Yes. Three punctures were made in the heathen flesh, and the White Whale’s barbs were then tempered.
一群黑暗的点头回答说：“是的。”然后在异教徒的肉体上刺了三个洞，然后将白鲸的鱼叉锻炼好。

“Ego non baptizo te in nomine patris, sed in nomine diaboli!” —
“我不以父子圣灵之名给你施洗，而是以魔鬼之名！” —

deliriously howled Ahab, as the malignant iron scorchingly devoured the baptismal blood.
恣意狂吼着，阿哈布说，那邪恶的铁不停地吞噬着涂上洗礼血的真正原意。

Now, mustering the spare poles from below, and selecting one of hickory, with the bark still investing it, Ahab fitted the end to the socket of the iron. —
现在，从下面调集了备用的竿子，选择了一个还带着树皮的山椴木作为插座，阿哈布将其套在铁头上。 —

A coil of new tow-line was then unwound, and some fathoms of it taken to the windlass, and stretched to a great tension. —
接着，解开了一捆新的粗麻线，取了几个角度放到绞盘上，伸直到很大的张力。 —

Pressing his foot upon it, till the rope hummed like a harp-string, then eagerly bending over it, and seeing no strandings, Ahab exclaimed, “Good! —
按着绞盘，绳子像竖琴弦一样发出嗡鸣，然后热切地弯下腰去看，没有任何缠结，阿哈布喊道：“好了！ —

and now for the seizings.”
接下来是拧结。”

At one extremity the rope was unstranded, and the separate spread yarns were all braided and woven round the socket of the harpoon; —
在一端，把绳子解开，然后把单独的劈开的线编织起来，围绕鱼叉头。 —

the pole was then driven hard up into the socket; —
然后将竿子插紧到插座内； —

from the lower end the rope was traced halfway along the pole’s length, and firmly secured so, with inter-twistings of twine. —
从下端将绳子追溯到竿子一半的长度，用麻线交织紧固。 —

This done, pole, iron, and rope–like the Three Fates– remained inseparable, and Ahab moodily stalked away with the weapon; —
完成后，竿子、铁和绳子就像三位命运女神一样紧密联系在一起，阿哈布郁闷地携带着这件武器走开； —

the sound of his ivory leg, and the sound of the hickory pole, both hollowly ringing along every plank. —
他的象牙假腿的声音和山椴木竿的声音，都在每根甲板上空洞地响起。 —

But ere he entered his cabin, a light, unnatural, half-bantering, yet most piteous sound was heard. —
但在他进入舱室之前，听到了一个轻微的、不自然的、半开玩笑但又极其可怜的声音。 —

Oh! Pip, thy wretched laugh, thy idle but unresting eye; —
啊！皮普，你那可怜的笑声，你那轻浮但不停的眼睛； —

all thy strange mummeries not unmeaningly blended with the black tragedy of the melancholy ship, and mocked it!
一切奇怪的胡闹并非毫无意义地与忧郁船只的悲剧交织在一起，并加以嘲弄！