And now that at the proper time and place, after so long and wide a preliminary cruise, Ahab,–all other whaling waters swept– seemed to have chased his foe into an oceanfold, to slay him the more securely there; —
现在，在适当的时间和地点，经过长时间和广泛的预备航行，Ahab——横扫了所有其他捕鲸的海域——似乎已经追逐他的敌人进入了一个海洋的褶皱，为了更安全地杀死他； —

now, that he found himself hard by the very latitude and longitude where his tormenting wound had been inflicted; —
现在，他发现自己就在他受折磨的伤口被造成的纬度和经度附近； —

now that a vessel had been spoken which on the very day preceding had actually encountered Moby Dick; —
现在他与一艘船交谈，而这艘船在前一天确实遭遇了Moby Dick； —

– and now that all his successive meetings with various ships contrastingly concurred to show the demoniac indifference with which the white whale tore his hunters, whether sinning or sinned against; —
——现在，所有他与不同船只的接触都显示出白鲸无论犯罪还是被犯罪者，都对他的捕猎者野蛮无情； —

now it was that there lurked a something in the old man’s eyes, which it was hardly sufferable for feeble souls to see. —
现在，老人眼中似乎隐藏着一种东西，对于脆弱的灵魂来说，是几乎无法忍受的。 —

As the unsetting polar star, which through the livelong, arctic, six months’ night sustains its piercing, steady, central gaze; —
就像不落的极地星，穿过整整六个月的极地黑夜，保持着其锐利、稳定、中心的凝视； —

so Ahab’s purpose now fixedly gleamed down upon the constant midnight of the gloomy crew. —
因此Ahab的目的现在坚定地照耀在这支黑暗船员恒久的午夜之上。 —

It domineered above them so, that all their bodings, doubts, misgivings, fears, were fain to hide beneath their souls, and not sprout forth a single spear or leaf.
它如此支配着他们，以至于所有的感觉、疑虑、恐惧，都不得不隐藏在他们的灵魂之下，不发出一支或一片叶子。

In this foreshadowing interval, too, all humor, forced or natural, vanished. —
在这种预兆的间隔中，所有的幽默，无论是被迫还是自然，都消失了。 —

Stubb no more strove to raise a smile; Starbuck no more strove to check one. —
Stubb不再费力去挑逗笑声；Starbuck也不再努力去阻止笑声。 —

Alike, joy and sorrow, hope and fear, seemed ground to finest dust, and powdered, for the time, in the clamped mortar of Ahab’s iron soul. —
喜悦和忧伤，希望和恐惧一样，似乎被磨成最细小的尘土，在Ahab铁般的灵魂的夹持臼中加工。 —

Like machines, they dumbly moved about the deck, ever conscious that the old man’s despot eye was on them.
他们像机器一样，冷漠地在甲板上移动，永远知道老人的专横目光在注视着他们。

But did you deeply scan him in his more secret confidential hours when he thought no glance but one was on him; —
但是如果你在他更隐秘的私人时刻深入观察他，当他以为没有除了一个之外的目光在他身上时； —

then you would have seen that even as Ahab’s eyes so awed the crew’s, the inscrutable Parsee’s glance awed his; —
那么你会看到，就像Ahab的眼睛吓倒了船员一样，神秘的波斯人的眼神也吓倒了他的； —

or somehow, at least, in some wild way, at times affected it. —
或者以某种狂野的方式，至少在某些时候影响了他的眼神。 —

Such an added, gliding strangeness began to invest the thin Fedallah now; —
如此一种额外的、滑行的陌生感开始包围着瘦削的费达拉； —

such ceaseless shudderings shook him; that the men looked dubious at him; —
如此不停的颤栗使他们对他产生了怀疑； —

half uncertain, as it seemed, whether indeed he were a mortal substance, or else a tremulous shadow cast upon the deck by some unseen being’s body. —
看上去半信半疑，仿佛他是一个凡人，还是一种由某个看不见的存在的身体投射在甲板上的颤动的阴影。 —

And that shadow was always hovering there. —
而那个影子总是悬挂在那里。 —

For not by night, even, had Fedallah ever certainly been known to slumber, or go below. —
因为即使在夜晚，费达拉从未确切地知道他是否在休息或下到船舱下面。 —

He would stand still for hours: but never sat or leaned; —
他会站立数小时，但从不坐下或靠在一旁； —

his wan but wondrous eyes did plainly say– We two watchmen never rest.
他苍白而不可思议的眼睛明显地表明——我们这两个守夜人从不休息。

Nor, at any time, by night or day could the mariners now step upon the deck, unless Ahab was before them; —
在白天或黑夜，海员现在都无法踏上甲板，除非艾哈布在他们面前； —

either standing in his pivot-hole, or exactly pacing the planks between two undeviating limits,–the main-mast and the mizen; —
艾哈布要么站在他的转向孔中，要么就在两个固定的范围内来回踱步——主桅和斜桅之间； —

or else they saw him standing in the cabin-scuttle,–his living foot advanced upon the deck, as if to step; —
要么他们看到他站在舱口的阶梯上——他的活着的脚踩在甲板上，仿佛要迈一步； —

his hat slouched heavily over his eyes; so that however motionless he stood, however the days and nights were added on, that he had not swung in his hammock; —
他的帽子沉重地压在眼睛上；因此，无论他站得多么静止，无论过去了多少日夜他都没有躺在吊床里； —

yet hidden beneath that slouching hat, they could never tell unerringly whether, for all this, his eyes were really closed at times; —
然而，在那沉重的帽子下面，他们无法确定他的眼睛是否真的有时是闭着的； —

or whether he was still intently scanning them; —
还是他仍在专注地盯着他们； —

no matter, though he stood so in the scuttle for a whole hour on the stretch, and the unheeded night-damp gathered in beads of dew upon that stone-carved coat and hat. —
不管，即使他在舱口的梯子上连续站立一个小时，那被忽视的夜间湿气在那石雕外套和帽子上汇集成露珠。 —

The clothes that the night had wet, the next day’s sunshine dried upon him; —
夜晚淋湿的衣服，第二天的阳光在他身上晒干； —

and so, day after day, and night after night; he went no more beneath the planks; —
因此，日复一日，夜复一夜；他再也不走到甲板下面； —

whatever he wanted from the cabin that thing he sent for.
无论他想要舱室里的什么东西，他都派人取；

He ate in the same open air; that is, his two only meals,– breakfast and dinner: —
他在同样的露天下进餐；也就是说，他只吃两顿饭，– 早餐和晚餐； —

supper he never touched; nor reaped his beard; —
他从不吃晚餐；也不修剪胡须； —

which darkly grew all gnarled, as unearthed roots of trees blown over, which still grow idly on at naked base, though perished in the upper verdure. —
他的胡须长得暗淡而纠结，就像被风吹倒的树根在赤裸的地基上仍然懒散地生长，虽然在上部绿叶枯萎了。 —

But though his whole life was now become one watch on deck; —
但尽管他的整个生活现在变成了在甲板上的一次无休止的守望； —

and though the Parsee’s mystic watch was without intermission as his own; —
而Parsee的神秘守望与他自己的一样无间断； —

yet these two never seemed to speak–one man to the other–unless at long intervals some passing unmomentous matter made it necessary. —
但这两人似乎从未对彼此说话–一人对另一人–除非在长时间过去后某些无关紧要的事情使这成为必要。 —

Though such a potent spell seemed secretly to join the twain; —
尽管一种强大的咒语似乎秘密地将这两者联结在一起； —

openly, and to the awe-struck crew, they seemed pole-like asunder. —
明显地，对于敬畏的船员们来说，他们似乎相距如极杆一般。 —

If by day they chanced to speak one word; —
如果白天他们碰巧说一个字； —

by night, dumb men were both, so far as concerned the slightest verbal interchange. —
到了夜晚，他们都像哑巴一样，几乎不交换任何文字信息。 —

At times, for longest hours, without a single hail, they stood far parted in the starlight; —
有时，长时间内，没有一个招呼，他们在星光下分散站着； —

Ahab in his scuttle, the Parsee by the main-mast; but still fixedly gazing upon each other; —
Ahab在他的舷窗旁，Parsee在主桅旁；但仍定定地凝视着对方； —

as if in the Parsee Ahab saw his forethrown shadow, in Ahab the Parsee his abandoned substance.
就像在Parsee看到他被抛弃的影子，而在Ahab看到Parsee看到他被遗弃的实质。

And yet, somehow, did Ahab–in his own proper self, as daily, hourly, and every instant, commandingly revealed to his subordinates,– Ahab seemed an independent lord; —
然而,不知何故,在他自己的固有本性中，每天，每小时，每一刻，在他的下属面前明确展示，阿哈布似乎是一个独立的主宰; —

the Parsee but his slave. Still again both seemed yoked together, and an unseen tyrant driving them; the lean shade siding the solid rib. —
波斯人只是他的奴隶。再次，两者似乎是被套在一起的，一个看不见的暴君驱使着他们; 瘦削的影子与坚实的肋骨并肩。 —

For be this Parsee what he may, all rib and keel was solid Ahab.
因为无论这个波斯人是什么样的，所有的肋骨和龙骨都是坚实的阿哈布。

At the first faintest glimmering of the dawn, his iron voice was heard from aft,–“Man the mast-heads!” —
在黎明的最微弱的闪光中，他的铁声从船尾传来，“上桅樯！” —

–and all through the day, till after sunset and after twilight, the same voice every hour, at the striking of the helmsman’s bell, was heard–“What d’ye see? —
整天下来，直到日落和黄昏之后，每小时，当舵手的钟敲响时，都可以听到同样的声音——“你看到了什么？ —

– sharp! sharp! sharp!”
——快！快！快！”

But when three or four days had slided by, after meeting the children-seeking Rachel; —
但是当三四天过去了，与寻找儿童的雷切尔相遇之后； —

and no spout had yet been seen; the monomaniac old man seemed distrustful of his crew’s fidelity; —
还没有看到鲸鱼的喷水孔；这个疯狂的老人似乎不信任他的船员的忠诚； —

at least, of nearly all except the Pagan harpooneers; —
至少，除了异教徒的捕鲸者外，几乎所有人都被他怀疑； —

he seemed to doubt, even, whether Stubb and Flask might not willingly overlook the sight he sought. —
他甚至似乎怀疑史塔伯和佛拉斯克是否会故意忽视他寻找的景象。 —

But if these suspicions were really his, he sagaciously refrained from verbally expressing them, however his actions might seem to hint them.
但是如果这些怀疑真的是他的，他明智地避免了口头表达它们，无论他的行动似乎暗示了它们。

“I will have the first sight of the whale myself,”– he said. “Aye! Ahab must have the doubloon! —
“我要亲眼看到鲸鱼，”——他说。“是的！阿哈布必须得到那枚金币！ —

and with his own hands he rigged a nest of basketed bowlines; —
他亲自用手安装了一篮子绳滑轮的巢； —

and sending a hand aloft, with a single sheaved block, to secure to the mainmast head, he received the two ends of the downwardreeved rope; —
并派一名水手上去，用一个单轮滑轮固定在主桅樯上，接收下拉的绳子的两端； —

and attaching one to his basket prepared a pin for the other end, in order to fasten it at the rail. This done, with that end yet in his hand and standing beside the pin, he looked round upon his crew, sweeping from one to the other; —
然后将其中一端系在他的篮子上，准备好了一个别针来固定另一端，以便将其固定在船舷上。完成后，他手中仍持着那端，并站在别针旁边，环顾他的船员，从一个到另一个扫过； —

pausing his glance long upon Daggoo, Queequeg, Tashtego; but shunning Fedallah; —
当他的目光停留在达古、奎克、塔斯特格身上时很久，但避开了费达拉； —

and then settling his firm relying eye upon the chief mate, said,–“Take the rope, sir–I give it into thy hands, Starbuck.” —
然后他的坚定依赖的目光落在了大副身上，说道：“接住绳子，先生——我把它交到你手上，斯塔布克。” —

Then arranging his person in the basket, he gave the word for them to hoist him to his perch, Starbuck being the one who secured the rope at last; —
然后他整理好自己的身子坐进吊篮，吩咐他们将他吊到高处，最后是斯塔布克把绳子系牢； —

and afterwards stood near it. And thus, with one hand clinging round the royal mast, Ahab gazed abroad upon the sea for miles and miles,–ahead astern, this side, and that,–within the wide expanded circle commanded at so great a height.
然后站在旁边。这样，阿哈卜抓住皇家桅杆，以一只手环绕着，在海上眺望几英里远，无论前方后方，这边还是那边，都在他如此高处所能控制的广阔范围内。

When in working with his hands at some lofty almost isolated place in the rigging, which chances to afford no foothold, the sailor at sea is hoisted up to that spot, and sustained there by the rope; —
船员在作业的时候，如果他需要在某个高处且几乎孤立的位置用手工作，而该处又没有脚踏，这时他就会被吊到那个位置，并且由绳子支撑着； —

under these circumstances, its fastened end on deck is always given in strict charge to some one man who has the special watch of it. —
在这种情况下，系在甲板上的固定绳的末端总是交给一个特别负责的人看管。 —

Because in such a wilderness of running rigging, whose various different relations aloft cannot always be infallibly discerned by what is seen of them at the deck; —
因为在这样一个纷繁复杂的走索系统中，甲板上所能看见的各种不同关联的情况并不总是完全可靠的； —

and when the deck-ends of these ropes are being every few minutes cast down from the fastenings, it would be but a natural fatality, if, unprovided with a constant watchman, the hoisted sailor should by some carelessness of the crew be cast adrift and fall all swooping to the sea. —
当这些绳索的甲板端每隔几分钟就被从固定处扔下时，如果不提供一个专职看守，被吊到高处的船员可能会因船员的疏忽而被冲刷到海中，这将是一个自然而然的灾难。 —

So Ahab’s proceedings in this matter were not unusual; —
所以，阿哈卜在这方面的行动并不算不寻常； —

the only strange thing about them seemed to be, that Starbuck, almost the one only man who had ever ventured to oppose him with anything in the slightest degree approaching to decision– one of those too, whose faithfulness on the look-out he had seemed to doubt somewhat; —
唯一奇怪的是，斯塔布克，几乎是唯一一个曾经冒过稍微有些决定性反对他的人——而且甚至是那些被他怀疑过的值得信赖的守望者之一； —

it was strange, that this was the very man he should select for his watchman; —
令人感到奇怪的是，他竟然选择这个人来当他的值班人； —

freely giving his whole life into such an otherwise distrusted person’s hands.
在这种情况下，他把自己的整个生命毫不保留地交到了这个被其它人怀疑的人手里。

Now, the first time Ahab was perched aloft; ere he had been there ten minutes; —
现在，阿哈卜第一次高高在上；还没过十分钟； —

one of those red-billed savage sea-hawks which so often fly incommodiously close round the manned mast-heads of whalemen in these latitudes; —
这里常常有那种红喙狂野的海鹰，它们经常在这个纬度附近烦扰着捕鲸者人头顶上的桅顶； —

one of these birds came wheeling and screaming round his head in a maze of untrackably swift circlings. —
有一只这样的鸟绕着他的头飞来飞去，发出令人迷茫的高速盘旋的尖叫声。 —

Then it darted a thousand feet straight up into the air; —
然后它直直地向空中飞了一千英尺; —

then spiralized downwards, and went eddying again round his head.
然后螺旋般地向下旋转，再次围绕他的头部飘荡。

But with his gaze fixed upon the dim and distant horizon, Ahab seemed not to mark this wild bird; —
但 Ahab 却凝视着模糊而遥远的地平线，似乎没有注意到这只狂野的鸟； —

nor, indeed, would any one else have marked it much, it being no uncommon circumstance; —
实际上，即使是其他人也不会过多地注意到它，这并不是什么罕见的情况； —

only now almost the least heedful eye seemed to see some sort of cunning meaning in almost every sight.
只有现在几乎最不注意的眼睛似乎对几乎每一个景象看到某种狡猾的意义。

“Your hat, your hat, sir!” suddenly cried the Sicilian seaman, who being posted at the mizen-mast-head, stood directly behind Ahab, though somewhat lower than his level, and with a deep gulf of air dividing them.
“你的帽子，先生，您的帽子！”突然，站在主桅杆后方比 Ahab 位置稍低一些的西西里海员大喊道，并且他们之间隔着一条深深的空气大裂缝。

But already the sable wing was before the old man’s eyes; —
但黑鹰的翅膀已经在老人的眼前； —

the long hooked bill at his head: with a scream, the black hawk darted away with his prize.
长长的钩形喙扎向他的头部：黑色鹰发出一声尖叫，带着它的战利品飞走了。

An eagle flew thrice round Tarquin’s head, removing his cap to replace it, and thereupon Tanaquil, his wife, declared that Tarquin would be king of Rome. But only by the replacing of the cap was that omen accounted good. —
一只老鹰绕着塔尔奎尼的头飞了三次，一边取下他的帽子一边将其放回，塔那奎尔，他的妻子，随后宣布塔尔奎尼将成为罗马的国王。但只有通过恢复帽子，这个征兆才被认为是好的。 —

Ahab’s hat was never restored; the wild hawk flew on and on with it; far in advance of the prow: —
Ahab 的帽子从未被归还；这只狂野的鹰继续飞行；在船头的前方远远飞去： —

and at last disappeared; while from the point of that disappearance, a minute black spot was dimly discerned, falling from that vast height into the sea.
并最终消失；而从那消失的点，一个微小的黑点模糊地被看到，从那巨大高度跌入海中。