A word concerning an incident in the last chapter.
关于最后一章中的事件，需要提及一点。

According to the invariable usage of the fishery, the whale-boat pushes off from the ship, with the headsman or whale-killer as temporary steersman, and the harpooneer or whale-fastener pulling the foremost oar, the one known as the harpooneer-oar. —
根据捕鲸业务的惯例，捕鲸船会从船上推出，由头领或捕鲸者暂时担任掌舵手，而持鱼叉或固定鲸鱼的人划着最前面的桨，这个人被称为鱼叉手。 —

Now it needs a strong, nervous arm to strike the first iron into the fish; —
现在需要有一只有力的、神经紧张的手臂来将第一根铁枪插入鱼体； —

for often, in what is called a long dart, the heavy implement has to be flung to the distance of twenty or thirty feet. —
因为通常情况下，在所谓的长枪被抛向二三十英尺远的地方。 —

But however prolonged and exhausting the chase, the harpooneer is expected to pull his oar meanwhile to the uttermost; —
无论追逐多么漫长和耗费体力，鱼叉手都被期望在此期间极尽所能地划桨； —

indeed, he is expected to set an example of superhuman activity to the rest, not only by incredible rowing, but by repeated loud and intrepid exclamations; —
事实上，他被期望向其他人树立超人的活动范例，不仅通过难以置信的划桨，还通过反复大声、勇敢的呼喊； —

and what it is to keep shouting at the top of one’s compass, while all the other muscles are strained and half started– what that is none know but those who have tried it. —
此时，要不停地高声叫喊，而所有其他肌肉受紧张和疲劳使其鼓起，除了尝试过的人，没有人知道那是何种感受。 —

For one, I cannot bawl very heartily and work very recklessly at one and the same time. —
就我个人而言，我不能同时高声喊叫和鲁莽地工作。 —

In this straining, bawling state, then, with his back to the fish, all at once the exhausted harpooneer hears the exciting cry–“Stand up, and give it to him!” —
在这种紧张、大声叫喊的状态中，当他的背朝向鱼时，精疲力尽的鱼叉手突然听到激动人心的呼喊——”站起来，给它！” —

He now has to drop and secure his oar, turn round on his centre half way, seize his harpoon from the crotch, and with what little strength may remain, he essays to pitch it somehow into the whale. —
现在，他必须放下并固定他的桨，中途转身，从弯钩处抓住他的鱼叉，用可能剩余的少许力量，努力将其投向鲸鱼。 —

No wonder, taking the whole fleet of whalemen in a body, that out of fifty fair chances for a dart, not five are successful; —
难怪，把整个捕鲸船队看作一个整体，五十次投掷鱼叉的机会中，不到五次会成功； —

no wonder that so many hapless harpooneers are madly cursed and disrated; —
难怪如此多不幸的鱼叉手被狂怒地诅咒和降级； —

no wonder that some of them actually burst their blood-vessels in the boat; —
难怪有些人实际上在船上血管爆裂； —

no wonder that some sperm whalemen are absent four years with four barrels; —
难怪有些抽脂捕鲸者四桶油品，要离开四年； —

no wonder that to many ship owners, whaling is but a losing concern; —
难怪对许多船东来说，捕鲸只是一场亏本的事业； —

for it is the harpooneer that makes the voyage, and if you take the breath out of his body how can you expect to find it there when most wanted!
因为是鱼叉手让航行变得可能，如果你把他的气息夺走，当最需要的时候，又怎么能指望在那里找到呢！

Again, if the dart be successful, then at the second critical instant, that is, when the whale starts to run, the boatheader and harpooneer likewise start to running fore and aft, to the imminent jeopardy of themselves and every one else. —
再次，如果鱼鱼叉成功，那么在第二个关键时刻，也就是当鲸鱼开始奔跑时，船头和鱼叉手也开始前后奔跑，让自己和其他人面临极大危险。 —

It is then they change places; and the headsman, the chief officer of the little craft, takes his proper station in the bows of the boat.
然后他们换位；船上的首领——小船的首席官员——站到了船头应有的位置。

Now, I care not who maintains the contrary, but all this is both foolish and unnecessary. —
我不在乎有人持相反意见，但所有这一切既愚蠢又不必要。 —

The headsman should stay in the bows from first to last; —
首领应该从头至尾留在船头； —

he should both dart the harpoon and the lance, and no rowing whatever should be expected of him, except under circumstances obvious to any fisherman. —
他应该同时投掷鱼叉和长矛，而除了任何有针对性的情况下，不应期望他划船。 —

I know that this would sometimes involve a slight loss of speed in the chase; —
我知道这有时会导致追捕速度稍微降低； —

but long experience in various whalemen of more than one nation has convinced me that in the vast majority of failures in the fishery, it has not by any means been so much the speed of the whale as the before described exhaustion of the harpooneer that has caused them.
但对不同国家的多名捕鲸者进行了长期实践后，我相信在捕鲸过程中绝大多数的失败并非是由于鲸鱼的速度，而是前述的鱼叉手的疲惫所致。

To insure the greatest efficiency in the dart, the harpooneers of this world must start to their feet from out of idleness, and not from out of toil.
为了确保鱼叉的最大效率，在这个世界上的鱼叉手们必须从闲置状态中站起来，而不是从劳累中站起来。