So far as what there may be of a narrative in this book; —
就这本书中可能存在的故事情节而言； —

and, indeed, as indirectly touching one or two very interesting and curious particulars in the habits of sperm whales, the foregoing chapter, in its earlier part, is as important a one as will be found in this volume; —
实际上，间接涉及抹香鲸习性中一两个非常有趣和奇特的细节，在这一章的前半部分是本书中至关重要的一章； —

but the leading matter of it requires to be still further and more familiarly enlarged upon, in order to be adequately understood, and moreover to take away any incredulity which a profound ignorance of the entire subject may induce in some minds, as to the natural verity of the main points of this affair.
但它的主要内容需要进一步更加详尽和通俗地阐述，以便被充分理解，并且为了消除一些人对整个主题的深度无知所引起的怀疑，这包括对这一事件的关键要点的自然真实性；

I care not to perform this part of my task methodically; —
我并不打算按部就班地完成这部分任务； —

but shall be content to produce the desired impression by separate citations of items, practically or reliably known to me as a whaleman; —
但愿意通过对我作为一个捕鲸者实际或可靠知晓的项目的独立引用，产生期望的印象； —

and from these citations, I take it– the conclusion aimed at will naturally follow of itself.
我相信，通过这些引用，我所追求的结论自然会随之而来；

First: I have personally known three instances where a whale, after receiving a harpoon, has effected a complete escape; —
首先：我个人知道三个例子，其中一只鲸鱼在被鱼叉刺中后成功逃脱； —

and, after an interval (in one instance of three years), has been again struck by the same hand, and slain; —
然后，在一段时间之后（其中一次是三年），又被同一个人的鱼叉刺中，最终被杀死； —

when the two irons, both marked by the same private cypher, have been taken from the body. —
当时两根鱼叉都带有同样的私人密码，被从鲸体中取出； —

In the instance where three years intervened between the flinging of the two harpoons; —
在两次投掷鱼叉之间间隔三年的那个例子中； —

and I think it may have been something more than that; —
我认为可能间隔的时间更长； —

the man who darted them happening, in the interval, to go in a trading ship on a voyage to Africa, went ashore there, joined a discovery party, and penetrated far into the interior, where he travelled for a period of nearly two years, often endangered by serpents, savages, tigers, poisonous miasmas, with all the other common perils incident to wandering in the heart of unknown regions. —
投掷这两根鱼叉的人在间隔期间上了一艘贸易船前往非洲，登陆那里，加入了一个探险队，深入内陆，他在那里旅行了近两年的时间，经常受到蛇、野蛮人、老虎、有毒瘴气等其他在未知地区漫游时常见的危险所威胁； —

Meanwhile, the whale he had struck must also have been on its travels; —
与此同时，他所击中的鲸鱼也必然在旅途中； —

no doubt it had thrice circumnavigated the globe, brushing with its flanks all the coasts of Africa; but to no purpose. —
毫无疑问，它曾三次环球航行，用它的侧身刷过了非洲的所有海岸；但毫无结果； —

This man and this whale again came together, and the one vanquished the other. —
这个人和这只鲸再次相遇，其中一方战胜了另一方。 —

I say I, myself, have known three instances similar to this; —
我说，我自己知道三个类似的例子； —

that is in two of them I saw the whales struck; —
在其中两个实例中，我看到鲸鱼被攻击； —

and, upon the second attack, saw the two irons with the respective marks cut in them, afterwards taken from the dead fish. —
并且，在第二次攻击时，我看到从死鱼身上取下带有各自标记的两根鱼叉。 —

In the three-year instance, it so fell out that I was in the boat both times, first and last, and the last time distinctly recognized a peculiar sort of huge mole under the whale’s eye, which I had observed there three years previous. —
在这三年的实例中，情况是这样的，我分别两次在船上，第一次和最后一次，而在最后一次，我清楚地认出了鲸鱼眼睛下方一种特殊的巨大黑痣，那是我三年前注意到的。 —

I say three years, but I am pretty sure it was more than that. —
我说三年，但我相当确定那不止三年。 —

Here are three instances, then, which I personally know the truth of; —
这里有三个我亲身知道真相的实例； —

but I have heard of many other instances from persons whose veracity in the matter there is no good ground to impeach.
但我听说了许多其他实例，来自那些在这件事上没有被怀疑的人。

Secondly: It is well known in the Sperm Whale Fishery, however ignorant the world ashore may be of it, that there have been several memorable historical instances where a particular whale in the ocean has been at distant times and places popularly cognisable. —
其次：在抽脂鲸捕鲸业中众所周知，尽管陆地上的世界可能对此一无所知，但已有几个历史上的例子表明，大海中有过一只特定鲸鱼在遥远时空内广为人知。 —

Why such a whale became thus marked was not altogether and originally owing to his bodily peculiarities as distinguished from other whales; —
为什么这样一只鲸鱼会被如此标记，原因并非完全和最初源自他身体的特征而有别于其他鲸鱼； —

for however peculiar in that respect any chance whale may be, they soon put an end to his peculiarities by killing him, and boiling him down into a peculiarly valuable oil. —
因为无论任何偶然遇到的鲸鱼在这方面有多独特，他们很快就会结束他的特殊之处，将他击杀并将其熬制成一种特别有价值的油。 —

No: the reason was this: that from the fatal experiences of the fishery there hung a terrible prestige of perilousness about such a whale as there did about Rinaldo Rinaldini, insomuch that most fishermen were content to recognise him by merely touching their tarpaulins when he would be discovered lounging by them on the sea, without seeking to cultivate a more intimate acquaintance. —
不是的：原因在于：由于捕鱼业的致命经验，这样的鲸鱼身上笼罩着一种可怕的危险声望，就像环绕着Rinaldo Rinaldini一样，以至于大多数渔民只是看到他在海上悠闲地躺着就不谋求更亲密的关系了。 —

Like some poor devils ashore that happen to known an irascible great man, they make distant unobtrusive salutations to him in the street, lest if they pursued the acquaintance further, they might receive a summary thump for their presumption.
就像岸上一些不幸碰到暴躁大人的可怜鬼一样，他们在街上远远地向他致意，以免如果他们进一步发展关系，可能会因自以为是而遭到快速打击。

But not only did each of these famous whales enjoy great individual celebrity–nay, you may call it an oceanwide renown; —
但不仅这些著名的鲸鱼享有巨大的个人名声—是的，你可以称之为海洋范围的名声； —

not only was he famous in life and now is immortal in forecastle stories after death, but he was admitted into all the rights, privileges, and distinctions of a name; —
他不仅在生前就享有着名声，死后在船舱故事中也是不朽的，而且他被接受了所有的权利、特权和称号； —

had as much a name indeed as Cambyses or Caesar. Was it not so, O Timor Tom! —
他的名字确实和Cambyses或Caesar一样具有名字。是的，隆文汤姆啊！ —

thou famed leviathan, scarred like an iceberg, who so long did’st lurk in the Oriental straits of that name, whose spout was oft seen from the palmy beach of Ombay? —
伟大的利维坦啊，像冰山一样被划伤，你曾长时间潜伏在那名字相同的东方海峡，你的喷射常常被看到从奥姆贝的棕榈沙滩上？ —

Was it not so, O New Zealand Jack! thou terror of all cruisers that crossed their wakes in the vicinity of the Tattoo Land? —
难道不是吗，新西兰杰克！你是所有穿越纹身之地附近航线的巡洋舰的恐怖吗？ —

Was it not so, O Morquan! King of Japan, whose lofty jet they say at times assumed the semblance of a snow-white cross against the sky? —
难道不是吗，日本之王莫尔昆！有人说你高耸的喷射有时在天空中呈现出雪白的十字架的形状？ —

Was it not so, O Don Miguel! thou Chilian whale, marked like an old tortoise with mystic hieroglyphics upon the back! —
难道不是吗，智利的鲸鱼唐·米格尔！你的背上有着神秘象形文字，像一只老乌龟一样！ —

In plain prose, here are four whales as well known to the students of Cetacean History as Marius or Sylla to the classic scholar.
简而言之，这里有四只鲸鱼，对鲸鱼历史的学生像马里乌斯或西拉对古典学者一样熟悉。

But this is not all. New Zealand Tom and Don Miguel, after at various times creating great havoc among the boats of different vessels, were finally gone in quest of, systematically hunted out, chased and killed by valiant whaling captains, who heaved up their anchors with that express object as much in view, as in setting out through the Narragansett Woods, Captain Butler of old had it in his mind to capture that notorious murderous savage Annawon, the headmost warrior of the Indian King Philip.
但这还不是全部。新西兰汤姆和唐·米格尔，经过多次在不同船只的艇上造成巨大破坏后，最终被勇敢的捕鲸船长们追踪、剿灭、追捕并击杀，他们起锚活动的目标之一，就像从前的巴特勒船长心中想着捕获臭名昭著的凶残土著安纳瓦隆一样，他是印第安国王菲利普的首领战士。

I do not know where I can find a better place than just here, to make mention of one or two other things, which to me seem important, as in printed form establishing in all respects the reasonableness of the whole story of the White Whale, more especially the catastrophe. —
我不知道比这里更好的地方来提到关于整个白鲸故事的重要事项之一或两个，这对于我来说似乎很重要，尤其是关于灾难的部分。 —

For this is one of those disheartening instances where truth requires full as much bolstering as error. —
因为这些都是令人沮丧的例子，事实需要与错误一样充分支持。 —

So ignorant are most landsmen of some of the plainest and most palpable wonders of the world, that without some hints touching the plain facts, historical and otherwise, of the fishery, they might scout at Moby Dick as a monstrous fable, or still worse and more detestable, a hideous and intolerable allegory.
大多数乡下人对这个伟大的捕鱼行业的一些最明显、最显而易见的神奇事物一无所知，如果没有一些关于捕鱼行业的事实，无论是历史上还是其他方面的事实，他们可能会对梅比·迪克嗤之以鼻，视其为荒诞的寓言，或者更糟糕、更令人厌恶，将其视为丑恶不可容忍的寓言。

First: Though most men have some vague flitting ideas of the general perils of the grand fishery, yet they have nothing like a fixed, vivid conception of those perils, and the frequency with which they recur. —
第一：虽然大多数人对大型捕鱼业的一般危险有一些模糊的概念，但他们都没有类似明确、生动的概念来了解这些危险及其频繁发生的可能性。 —

One reason perhaps is, that not one in fifty of the actual disasters and deaths by casualties in the fishery, ever finds a public record at home, however transient and immediately forgotten that record. —
或许其中一个原因是，捕鱼业中实际灾难和因意外死亡的人，五十人中只有一个在国内得到公开记录，然而即使有这样的记录，也会很短暂并很快被遗忘。 —

Do you suppose that that poor fellow there, who this moment perhaps caught by the whale-line off the coast of New Guinea, is being carried down to the bottom of the sea by the sounding leviathan– do you suppose that that poor fellow’s name will appear in the newspaper obituary you will read to-morrow at your breakfast? —
你认为那位可怜的家伙，此刻也许在新几内亚海岸被鲸线勾住，被巨型鲸鱼拖到海底去了–你认为那位可怜家伙的名字会出现在你明天早餐时读到的报纸讣告中吗？ —

No: because the mails are very irregular between here and New Guinea. —
不会：因为这里与新几内亚之间的邮件非常不规律。 —

In fact, did you ever hear what might be called regular news direct or indirect from New Guinea? —
实际上，你听说过从新几内亚传来的类似正规的新闻吗？ —

Yet I will tell you that upon one particular voyage which I made to the Pacific, among many others we spoke thirty different ships, every one of which had had a death by a whale, some of them more than one, and three that had each lost a boat’s crew. —
然而，我要告诉你，在我曾经进行的一次航行到太平洋的旅程中，我们与许多其他船只进行了交流，其中每一艘船都曾遭遇过鲸鱼的袭击，其中一些甚至不止一次，还有三艘曾经失去一支划艇的船员。 —

For God’s sake, be economical with your lamps and candles! —
求你，对你的灯和蜡烛要节约使用！ —

not a gallon you burn, but at least one drop of man’s blood was spilled for it.
每燃烧一加仑的油，至少就会有一滴人的鲜血洒在上面。

Secondly: People ashore have indeed some indefinite idea that a whale is an enormous creature of enormous power; —
其次:岸上的人们确实对鲸鱼是一个极其强大的巨兽有着一些模糊的概念； —

but I have ever found that when narrating to them some specific example of this two-fold enormousness, they have significantly complimented me upon my facetiousness; —
但当我向他们讲述某个具体例子来展示这种巨大和强大时，他们却常常夸奖我幽默风趣； —

when, I declare upon my soul, I had no more idea of being facetious than Moses, when he wrote the history of the plagues of Egypt.
真心话，在我讲述埃及十灾的历史时，我的确没有想过要幽默。

But fortunately the special point I here seek can be established upon testimony entirely independent of my own. —
但幸运的是，我此处所要证明的特定观点完全可以通过其他证词来证实。 —

That point is this: The Sperm Whale is in some cases sufficiently powerful, knowing, and judiciously malicious, as with direct aforethought to stave in, utterly destroy, and sink a large ship; —
这一点就是:抹香鲸在某些情况下足够强大，足够聪明，且足够恶意，以直接有预谋地撞击、摧毁和沉没一艘大船； —

and what is more, the Sperm Whale has done it.
而更令人震惊的是，抹香鲸就做到了。

First: In the year 1820 the ship Essex, Captain Pollard, of Nantucket, was cruising in the Pacific Ocean. One day she saw spouts, lowered her boats, and gave chase to a shoal of sperm whales. —
首先:在1820年，纳克塔克渔船埃塞克斯号,由波拉德船长指挥在太平洋航行。一天，他们看到喷水，放下小艇，追逐一群抹香鲸。 —

Ere long, several of the whales were wounded; —
不久，几只鲸鱼受伤了； —

when, suddenly, a very large whale escaping from the boats, issued from the shoal, and bore directly down upon the ship. —
突然，一只非常大的鲸鱼从小艇中逃脱，冲出群体，直接向船只冲去。 —

Dashing his forehead against her hull, he so stove her in, that in less than “ten minutes” she settled down and fell over. —
他用额头撞击船体，如此撞击，以至于不到”十分钟”，船就沉没倒下。 —

Not a surviving plank of her has been seen since. —
此后再也没有看到她还存留的一块船板。 —

After the severest exposure, part of the crew reached the land in their boats. —
经历了最严酷的困苦后，部分船员乘小艇到达了陆地。 —

Being returned home at last, Captain Pollard once more sailed for the Pacific in command of another ship, but the gods shipwrecked him again upon unknown rocks and breakers; —
最后回到家里后，波拉德船长又一次指挥另一艘船航行太平洋，但神明又一次让他的船在未知的岩石和礁石上搁浅； —

for the second time his ship was utterly lost, and forthwith forswearing the sea, he has never attempted it since. —
第二次他的船完全失踪，于是他发誓再也不踏上海洋。 —

At this day Captain Pollard is a resident of Nantucket. —
如今，波拉德船长是南塔基特的居民。 —

I have seen Owen Chace, who was chief mate of the Essex at the time of the tragedy; —
我见过奥文·蔡斯，他是埃塞克斯号的副船长； —

I have read his plain and faithful narrative; I have conversed with his son; —
我读过他那份简单而忠实的叙述；我还与他的儿子交谈过； —

and all this within a few miles of the scene of the catastrophe.*
所有这些都发生在离这场灾难不远的地方。

*The following are extracts from Chace’s narrative: —
以下是蔡斯的叙述摘录： —

“Every fact seemed to warrant me in concluding that it was anything but chance which directed his operations; —
“每一个事实似乎都证实，指引他行动的不是巧合； —

he made two several attacks upon the ship, at a short interval between them, both of this catastrophe I have never chanced to their direction, were calculated to do us the whale hunters I have now and then heard casual allusions to it.
他两次对我们的船进行了短时间的攻击，由于这场灾难，我从未碰巧遇见过自己的朋友狱中。我现在时不时听到关于这件事的偶然提及。

Thirdly: Some eighteen or twenty years ago Commodore J—then commanding an American sloop-of-war of the first class, happened to be dining with a party of whaling captains, on board a Nantucket ship in the harbor of Oahu, Sandwich Islands. —
第三: 大约十八或二十年前，J船长正在指挥一艘美国一等级别的护卫舰，碰巧与几位捕鲸船长在夏威夷瓦胡岛奥哈瑞港的一艘南塔基特船上共进晚餐。 —

Conversation turning upon whales, the Commodore was pleased to be sceptical touching the amazing strength ascribed to them by the professional gentlemen present. —
谈到鲸鱼，这位舰长对在场的专业人士们认为鲸鱼力量惊人感到怀疑。 —

He peremptorily denied for example, that any whale could so smite his stout sloop-of-war as to cause her to leak so much as a thimbleful. —
例如，他断然否认任何鲸鱼会使他那艘坚固的护卫舰造成漏水的可以有一滴的程度。 —

Very good; but there is more coming. Some weeks later, the Commodore set sail in this impregnable craft for Valparaiso. —
很好，但故事还没有完。几个星期后，这位舰长乘坐这艘坚不可摧的船前往瓦尔帕莱索。 —

But he was stopped on the way by a portly sperm whale, that begged a few moments’ confidential business with him. —
但他在途中被一头肥大的抹香鲸拦住，请求几分钟私下交谈。 —

That business consisted in fetching the Commodore’s craft such a thwack, that with all his pumps going he made straight for the nearest port to heave down and repair. —
这个交谈的内容就是让舰长的船遭受重击，即使所有泵都在工作，他也会直奔最近的港口进行停泊和修理。 —

I am not superstitious, but I consider the Commodore’s interview with that whale as providential. —
我不迷信，但我认为舰队司令与那只鲸鱼的采访是命中注定的。 —

Was not Saul of Tarsus converted from unbelief by a similar fright? —
扫罗不也是因为一次类似的惊吓而转变信仰吗？ —

I tell you, the sperm whale will stand no nonsense.
我告诉你，抹香鲸可不吃一点苦头。

I will now refer you to Langsdorff’s Voyages for a little circumstance in point, peculiarly interesting to the writer hereof. —
我现在要向你提到朗斯多夫的航行笔记中一个特别让笔者感兴趣的细节。 —

Langsdorff, you must know by the way, was attached to the Russian Admiral Krusenstern’s famous Discovery Expedition in the beginning of the present century. —
你要知道，朗斯多夫曾在本世纪初附属于俄罗斯海军上将克鲁森斯特恩的著名发现探险队。 —

Captain Langsdorff thus begins his seventeenth chapter:
朗斯多夫船长这样开始他的第十七章：

“By the thirteenth of May our ship was ready to sail, and the next day we were out in the open sea, on our way to Ochotsh. —
“到了五月十三日，我们的船已经准备好启航了，第二天我们驶出海洋，前往奥霍奇。 —

The weather was very clear and fine, but so intolerably cold that we were obliged to keep on our fur clothing. —
天气非常晴朗，但非常寒冷以至于我们不得不穿上毛皮衣服。 —

For some days we had very little wind; it was not till the nineteenth that a brisk gale from the northwest sprang up. —
几天来风很小，直到十九日一股来自西北的猛风卷土重来。 —

An uncommonly large whale, the body of which was larger than the ship itself, lay almost at the surface of the water, but was not perceived by any one on board till the moment when the ship, which was in full sail, was almost upon him, so that it was impossible to prevent its striking against him. —
一头异常庞大的鲸鱼，其体积比船本身还要庞大，几乎浮在水面上，但没有人注意到，直到船，全帆张开，几乎撞到了它，因此无法避免与其撞击。 —

We were thus placed in the most imminent danger, as this gigantic creature, setting up its back, raised the ship three feet at least out of the water. —
我们因此陷入了极其危险的局面，因为这只巨兽竖起背脊，将船至少升高三英尺。 —

The masts reeled, and the sails fell altogether, while we who were below all sprang instantly upon the deck, concluding that we had struck upon some rock; —
桅杆摇晃，帆全部倒下，我们在甲板下的人立刻跃上甲板，以为是撞上了岩石； —

instead of this we saw the monster sailing off with the utmost gravity and solemnity. —
但事实并非如此，我们看到这只庞然大物以极其庄严肃穆的方式远航而去。 —

Captain D’Wolf applied immediately to the pumps to examine whether or not the vessel had received any damage from the shock, but we found that very happily it had escaped entirely uninjured.”
德沃夫船长立即用泵器检查船是否受到了碰撞造成的损坏，但幸运的是我们发现船完全没有受损。”

Now, the Captain D’Wolf here alluded to as commanding the ship in question, is a New Englander, who, after a long life of unusual adventures as a sea-captain, this day resides in the village of Dorchester near Boston. —
现在，所提到的指挥那艘船的德沃夫船长是一位新英格兰人，经历了一生不同寻常的海上冒险后，如今居住在波士顿附近的多切斯特村。 —

I have the honor of being a nephew of his. —
我很荣幸是他的侄子。 —

I have particularly questioned him concerning this passage in Langsdorff. —
我特别询问他有关朗斯多夫这一段的内容。 —

He substantiates every word. The ship, however, was by no means a large one: —
他对每个字都加以证实。然而，这艘船并不是一艘大船： —

a Russian craft built on the Siberian coast, and purchased by my uncle after bartering away the vessel in which he sailed from home.
一艘俄罗斯的船只，在西伯利亚海岸建造，由我叔叔购买，他在用来远航离家的船只后，用这艘船进行了交换。

In that up and down manly book of old-fashioned adventure, so full, too, of honest wonders–the voyage of Lionel Wafer, one of ancient Dampier’s old chums–I found a little matter set down so like that just quoted from Langsdorff, that I cannot forbear inserting it here for a corroborative example, if such be needed.
在那本古老的男性冒险书中，充满了诚实的奇迹，里昂·威弗的航行，是古老丹皮尔的老朋友之一，我发现了一段与兰斯多夫所引用的非常相似的内容，如果需要的话，我不能不在这里插入它作为一个印证的例子。

Lionel, it seems, was on his way to “John Ferdinando,” as he calls the modern Juan Fernandes. —
看起来，里昂正要去“约翰·费迪南多”，他称现代胡安·费尔南德斯。 —

“In our way thither,” he says, “about four o’clock in the morning, when we were about one hundred and fifty leagues from the Main of America, our ship felt a terrible shock, which put our men in such consternation that they could hardly tell where they were or what to think; —
“在我们前往那里的途中，”他说，“大约凌晨四点，当我们离美洲大陆约一百五十海里时，我们的船受到了一次可怕的冲击，使我们的人员感到恐慌，几乎不能分辨他们在哪里或该如何思考； —

but every one began to prepare for death. —
但每个人开始为死亡做准备。 —

And, indeed, the shock was so sudden and violent, that we took it for granted the ship had struck against a rock; —
事实上，冲击是如此突然和剧烈，以至于我们以为船已撞在岩石上； —

but when the amazement was a little over, we cast the lead, and sounded, but found no ground. . —
但当惊愕稍退后，我们投下铅锤并探测，却没有触底。 —

.. The suddenness of the shock made the guns leap in their carriages, and several of the men were shaken out of their hammocks. —
.. 突然的冲击使炮在其架上跳动，多名水手摇动脱离吊床。 —

Captain Davis, who lay with his head on a gun, was thrown out of his cabin!” —
头靠在炮上的戴维斯船长被抛出舱外！” —

Lionel then goes on to impute the shock to an earthquake, and seems to substantiate the imputation by stating that a great earthquake, somewhere about that time, did actually do great mischief along the Spanish land. —
里昂随后将这一冲击归因于地震，并似乎通过陈述约在同一时期，实际上发生了一场大地震，造成了西班牙土地上的巨大破坏。 —

But I should not much wonder if, in the darkness of that early hour of the morning, the shock was after all caused by an unseen whale vertically bumping the hull from beneath.
但我不会感到惊讶，如果在那个清晨早晨的黑暗中，这种冲击实际上是由一头看不见的鲸鱼从船下垂直撞击船体引起的。

I might proceed with several more examples, one way or another known to me, of the great power and malice at times of the sperm whale. —
我可能还可以举出我所知道的其他几个例子，或者以某种方式证实抹香鲸有时的巨大力量和恶意。 —

In more than one instance, he has been known, not only to chase the assailing boats back to their ships, but to pursue the ship itself, and long withstand all the lances hurled at him from its decks. —
在不止一次的情况中，有人知道他不仅追逐袭击的小船回到船上，而且还追逐船本身，长时间抵抗从船上向他投掷的所有长矛。 —

The English ship Pusie Hall can tell a story on that head; —
英国船“普西·霍尔”可以讲述一个相关故事； —

and, as for his strength, let me say, that there have been examples where the lines attached to a running sperm whale have, in a calm, been transferred to the ship, and secured there! —
至于他的力量，让我说，有例子表明，在风平浪静时，附在奔跑的抹香鲸身上的绳索已经转移到了船上，并在那里固定了！ —

the whale towing her great hull through the water, as a horse walks off with a cart. —
鲸鱼拖着她巨大的船体穿过水面，就像马拉着车子走。 —

Again, it is very often observed that, if the sperm whale, once struck, is allowed time to rally, he then acts, not so often with blind rage, as with wilful, deliberate designs of destruction to his pursuers; —
再次观察到，如果击中抹香鲸后给它时间休整，它的反应往往不是盲目的愤怒，而是有着故意、蓄意摧毁追击者的设计； —

nor is it without conveying some eloquent indication of his character, that upon being attacked he will frequently open his mouth, and retain it in that dread expansion for several consecutive minutes. —
当被攻击时他会打开嘴巴，保持在那种可怕的张开状态数分钟，这无疑也透露出他的性格特征。 —

But I must be content with only one more and a concluding illustration; —
但我必须满足于仅有一个更多且收尾的例证； —

a remarkable and most significant one, by which you will not fail to see, that not only is the most marvellous event in this book corroborated by plain facts of the present day, but that these marvels (like all marvels) are mere repetitions of the ages; —
一个显著且具有深层次意义的例证，您将不会忽视，即这本书里最奇妙的事件不仅得到了当今事实的支持，而且这些奇迹（像所有奇迹一样）只是历代重复； —

so that for the millionth time we say amen with Solomon–Verily there is nothing new under the sun.
因此我们第一百万次与所罗门一起说Amen —— 实在阳光下无新事物。

In the sixth Christian century lived Procopius, a Christian magistrate of Constantinople, in the days when Justinian was Emperor and Belisarius general. —
公元六世纪，君士坦丁堡有一位基督徒官员Procopius，当时的皇帝是Justinian，将军是Belisarius。 —

As many know, he wrote the history of his own times, a work every way of uncommon value. —
众所周知，他写下了自己时代的历史，这部作品无论从哪个方面都具有非凡的价值。 —

By the best authorities, he has always been considered a most trustworthy and unexaggerating historian, except in some one or two particulars, not at all affecting the matter presently to be mentioned.
据最权威的资料，他一直被认为是一个非常值得信赖且不夸大历史事件的历史学家，只有在某些方面稍微有夸张，而且完全不影响下面即将提到的事件的真实性。

Now, in this history of his, Procopius mentions that, during the term of his prefecture at Constantinople, a great sea-monster was captured in the neighboring Propontis, or Sea of Marmora, after having destroyed vessels at intervals in those waters for a period of more than fifty years. —
现在，在他的这部历史作品中，Procopius提到，在他担任君士坦丁堡官员的期间，附近的普罗邦提斯或马尔马拉海捕获了一只巨大的海怪，这只海怪在那些海域摧毁船只已经超过了五十年。 —

A fact thus set down in substantial history cannot easily be gainsaid. —
这样在实质上的历史事实不容易反驳。 —

Nor is there any reason it should be. Of what precise species this sea-monster was, is not mentioned. —
也没有理由反驳。这只海怪究竟是什么物种不被提及。 —

But as he destroyed ships, as well as for other reasons, he must have been a whale; —
但是由于他摧毁了船只，以及其他一些原因，他必须是一只鲸鱼； —

and I am strongly inclined to think a sperm whale. And I will tell you why. —
我坚信是抹香鲸。我会告诉你为什么。 —

For a long time I fancied that the sperm whale had been always unknown in the Mediterranean and the deep waters connecting with it. —
我很长一段时间认为抹香鲸在地中海及与之相连的深海中一直未知。 —

Even now I am certain that those seas are not, and perhaps never can be, in the present constitution of things, a place for his habitual gregarious resort. —
即使现在我仍然确信，按照现行事物的构造，这些海域不可能，也许永远都不会是它习惯的群居地。 —

But further investigations have recently proved to me, that in modern times there have been isolated instances of the presence of the sperm whale in the Mediterranean. —
但最近的进一步调查向我证明，近代在地中海发现过抹香鲸的个别例子。 —

I am told, on good authority, that on the Barbary coast, a Commodore Davis of the British navy found the skeleton of a sperm whale. —
据可靠消息告诉我，在巴巴里海岸，英国海军的戴维斯上将发现了一头抹香鲸的骨骼。 —

Now, as a vessel of war readily passes through the Dardanelles, hence a sperm whale could, by the same route, pass out of the Mediterranean into the Propontis.
如今，一艘军舰可以轻易通过达达尼尔海峡，因此一头抹香鲸也可以经由同一路线，从地中海进入普罗蓬提斯海峡。

In the Propontis, as far as I can learn, none of that peculiar substance called brit is to be found, the aliment of the right whale. —
据我所知，在普罗蓬提斯海峡并没有发现所谓的霭（右鲸的食物）。 —

But I have every reason to believe that the food of the sperm whale– squid or cuttle-fish–lurks at the bottom of that sea, because large creatures, but by no means the largest of that sort, have been found at its surface. —
但我有充分的理由相信，抹香鲸的食物-鱿鱼或乌贼-隐藏在那海底，因为有大型动物，尽管不是最大的那种，曾在海面上发现。 —

If, then, you properly put these statements together, and reason upon them a bit, you will clearly perceive that, according to all human reasoning, Procopius’s sea-monster, that for half a century stove the ships of a Roman Emperor, must in all probability have been a sperm whale.
因此，如果你把这些陈述适当地放在一起，稍作推理，你就会清楚地意识到，根据所有人类的推理，Procopius的海怪，那个半个世纪破坏了罗马皇帝的船只的生物，很可能是一头抹香鲸。