Here, now, are two great whales, laying their heads together; —
在这里，现在，是两只伟大的鲸鱼，它们把头靠在一起； —

let us join them, and lay together our own.
让我们加入它们，一起放下我们自己的头。

Of the grand order of folio leviathans, the Sperm Whale and the Right Whale are by far the most noteworthy. —
在庞大的 folio 鲸类中，抹香鲸和右鲸无疑是最值得注意的。 —

They are the only whales regularly hunted by man. —
它们是人类经常捕猎的唯一鲸鱼。 —

To the Nantucketer, they present the two extremes of all the known varieties of the whale. —
对于南塔克特人来说，它们展示了所有已知鲸类的两个极端。 —

As the external difference between them is mainly observable in their heads; —
由于外观上它们主要在头部有区别； —

and as a head of each is this moment hanging from the Pequod’s side; —
此刻舒特克号船舷边有每只鲸头悬挂； —

and as we may freely go from one to the other, by merely stepping across the deck: —
我们只需在甲板上迈一步就可以自由地在两者之间移动： —

–where, I should like to know, will you obtain a better chance to study practical cetology than here?
–我倒要知道，除此之外你在哪里能获得比这更好的机会来研究实际的鲸类学？

In the first place, you are struck by the general contrast between these heads. —
首先，你会被这两只头部之间的总体对比所震撼。 —

Both are massive enough in all conscience; —
两者在造型上都足够厚实； —

but, there is a certain mathematical symmetry in the Sperm Whale’s which the Right Whale’s sadly lacks. —
但抹香鲸头部中存在着一定的数学对称性，而右鲸则明显缺乏这一点。 —

There is more character in the Sperm Whale’s head. —
抹香鲸的头部更有特色。 —

As you behold it, you involuntarily yield the immense superiority to him, in point of pervading dignity. —
当你看到它时，你会不自觉地承认他的巨大优势，尤其是在普遍尊严方面。 —

In the present instance, too, this dignity is heightened by the pepper and salt color of his head at the summit, giving token of advanced age and large experience. —
在这个例子中，这种尊严还因他头部顶部的胡椒盐色而增强，显示了高龄和丰富经验的迹象。 —

In short, he is what the fishermen technically call a “grey-headed whale.”
简而言之，渔民们技术上称之为“灰头鲸”。

Let us now note what is least dissimilar in these heads– namely, the two most important organs, the eye and the ear. —
现在让我们注意这些头部中最不相似的部分–即两个最重要的器官，眼睛和耳朵。 —

Far back on the side of the head, and low down, near the angle of either whale’s jaw, if you narrowly search, you will at last see a lashless eye, which you would fancy to be a young colt’s eye; —
在头部的后面，靠近任何一只鲸鱼下颌的角度，如果你仔细搜索，最终你会看到一只无睫毛的眼睛，你可能会觉得它像一只幼马的眼睛; —

so out of all proportion is it to the magnitude of the head.
因为眼睛尺寸与头部的大小完全不成比例。

Now, from this peculiar sideway position of the whale’s eyes, it is plain that he can never see an object which is exactly ahead, no more than he can one exactly astern. —
从鲸鱼眼睛的这种特殊侧向位置来看，很明显他永远看不到正前方的物体，就像他看不到正后方的物体一样。 —

In a word, the position of the whale’s eyes corresponds to that of a man’s ears; —
总之，鲸鱼的眼睛位置对应于人的耳朵的位置; —

and you may fancy, for yourself, how it would fare with you, did you sideways survey objects through your ears. —
你也可以自己设想，如果你通过耳朵侧面观察物体，那会怎样。 —

You would find that you could only command some thirty degrees of vision in advance of the straight side-line of sight; —
你会发现，你只能在直视线前方大约有三十度的视野; —

and about thirty more behind it. If your bitterest foe were walking straight towards you, with dagger uplifted in broad day, you would not be able to see him, any more than if he were stealing upon you from behind. —
而在它后面大约还有三十度。如果你最狠毒的敌人白天手持匕首直行向你走来，你将无法看到他，就像他从背后悄悄接近你一样。 —

In a word, you would have two backs, so to speak; —
总之，你可以说你有两个后背; —

but, at the same time, also, two fronts (side fronts): —
但同时也有两个正面（侧前面）： —

for what is it that makes the front of a man– what, indeed, but his eyes?
人的正面是什么–其实就是他的眼睛？

Moreover, while in most other animals that I can now think of, the eyes are so planted as imperceptibly to blend their visual power, so as to produce one picture and not two to the brain; —
此外，我现在所想到的大多数其他动物，它们的眼睛被植入在一起，以至于它们的视力完全融合，产生一个而不是两个图像进入大脑。 —

the peculiar position of the whale’s eyes, effectually divided as they are by many cubic feet of solid head, which towers between them like a great mountain separating two lakes in valleys; —
鲸鱼眼睛的独特位置，实际上被许多立方英尺的坚实头部所分开，就像一座大山将它们分隔开来，犹如山谷中分隔两个湖泊一样; —

this, of course, must wholly separate the impressions which each independent organ imparts. —
当然，这完全必须分开每个独立器官传递的印象。 —

The whale, therefore, must see one distinct picture on this side, and another distinct picture on that side; —
因此，鲸鱼必须在这一侧看到一个清晰的图片，在那一侧看到另一个清晰的图片； —

while all between must be profound darkness and nothingness to him. —
而两者之间必须对他是深邃的黑暗和虚无。 —

Man may, in effect, be said to look out on the world from a sentry-box with two joined sashes for his window. —
可以说，人就像从岗哨箱里望向世界，他的窗户有两扇相连的窗扇。 —

But with the whale, these two sashes are separately inserted, making two distinct windows, but sadly impairing the view. —
但是对于鲸鱼来说，这两扇窗户是分开的，形成两个独立的窗户，但却严重损害了视野。 —

This peculiarity of the whale’s eyes is a thing always to be borne in mind in the fishery; —
鲸鱼眼睛的这种特殊性质在捕鱼业务中要时刻记在心里； —

and to be remembered by the reader in some subsequent scenes.
读者在以后的一些场景中也要记住这一点。

A curious and most puzzling question might be started concerning this visual matter as touching the Leviathan. —
有关利维坦的这种视觉问题引起了一个奇怪而令人困惑的问题。 —

But I must be content with a hint. So long as a man’s eyes are open in the light, the act of seeing is involuntary; —
但我必须满足于一点提示。只要一个人的眼睛在光线中睁开，看东西就是不自觉的； —

that is, he cannot then help mechanically seeing whatever objects are before him. —
也就是说，他在当时不能机械地看到眼前的任何物体。 —

Nevertheless, any one’s experience will teach him, that though he can take in an undiscriminating sweep of things at one glance, it is quite impossible for him, attentively, and completely, to examine any two things–however large or however small– at one and the same instant of time; —
然而，任何人的经验都会告诉他，虽然他可以一瞥看到一大片东西，但是瞬间仔细完整地观察两样东西——无论大小——是完全不可能的； —

never mind if they lie side by side and touch each other. —
不管它们是否并排或者互相接触。 —

But if you now come to separate these two objects, and surround each by a circle of profound darkness; —
但是如果你现在把这两个对象分开，并用深邃的黑暗将其包围起来； —

then, in order to see one of them, in such a manner as to bring your mind to bear on it, the other will be utterly excluded from your contemporary consciousness. —
那么，为了看清楚其中一个，以便让你的思维集中在它上面，另一个在你的当代意识中将会完全被排除。 —

How is it, then, with the whale? True, both his eyes, in themselves, must simultaneously act; —
那么，鲸鱼又是怎么样的？的确，他的两只眼睛本身必须同时起作用； —

but is his brain so much more comprehensive, combining, and subtle than man’s, that he can at the same moment of time attentively examine two distinct prospects, one on one side of him, and the other in an exactly opposite direction? —
但他的大脑是否比人类更加综合、结合、细微，以至于他能同一时刻仔细研究两个完全不同的前景，一个在他的一侧，另一个在完全相反的方向上？ —

If he can, then is it as marvellous a thing in him, as if a man were able simultaneously to go through the demonstrations of two distinct problems in Euclid. —
如果他能做到，那么这对他来说是否像一个人能同时完成欧几里得的两个不同问题的证明一样了不起。 —

Nor, strictly investigated, is there any incongruity in this comparison.
严格来说，这种比较并没有任何不和谐之处。

It may be but an idle whim, but it has always seemed to me, that the extraordinary vacillations of movement displayed by some whales when beset by three or four boats; —
这可能只是一个无聊的奇想，但我一直觉得，有些鲸鱼在被三四艘船围困时所显示出的特殊摇摆动作； —

the timidity and liability to queer frights, so common to such whales; —
以及这种对奇怪恐惧的胆怯，这对这些鲸鱼来说是非常普遍的； —

I think that all this indirectly proceeds from the helpless perplexity of volition, in which their divided and diametrically opposite powers of vision must involve them.
我认为所有这些都间接地来源于他们分裂和截然相反的视力所带来的无助困惑。

But the ear of the whale is full as curious as the eye. —
但鲸鱼的耳朵与眼睛一样耐人寻味。 —

If you are an entire stranger to their race, you might hunt over these two heads for hours, and never discover that organ. —
如果你对它们这个种族完全陌生，你可能能搜索这两个头部数小时，也不会发现那个器官。 —

The ear has no external leaf whatever; and into the hole itself you can hardly insert a quill, so wondrously minute is it. —
耳朵根本没有任何外耳廓；而你几乎无法将一根羽毛笔插入到洞里，因为洞是如此奇妙的微小。 —

It is lodged a little behind the eye. With respect to their ears, this important difference is to be observed between the sperm whale and the right. —
它位于眼睛的稍后位置。至于他们的耳朵，关于抹香鲸和顶部鲸之间重要的区别可以观察到。 —

While the ears of the former has an external opening, that of the latter is entirely and evenly covered over with a membrane, so as to be quite imperceptible from without.
前者的耳朵有一个外部开口，而后者的耳朵完全覆盖着一层膜，以至于从外部根本看不到。

Is it not curious, that so vast a being as the whale should see the world through so small an eye, and hear the thunder through an ear which is smaller than a hare’s? —
如此巨大的鲸鱼通过如此小的眼睛看世界，通过比兔子的耳朵还要小的耳朵听到雷声，这不奇怪吗？ —

But if his eyes were broad as the lens of Herschel’s great telescope; —
但如果他的眼睛像赫歇尔大望远镜的透镜一样宽广； —

and his ears capacious as the porches of cathedrals; —
和他的耳朵像大教堂门廊那样宽敞； —

would that make him any longer of sight, or sharper of hearing? Not at all. —
那会使他的视力更长远，或听觉更敏锐吗？一点也不。 —

–Why then do you try to “enlarge” your mind? Subtilize it.
–那么为什么你要尝试“扩大”你的思维呢？使它精妙。

Let us now with whatever levers and steam-engines we have at hand, cant over the sperm whale’s head, so, that it may lie bottom up; —
现在让我们用手中的任何杠杆和蒸汽机，将抹香鲸的头推倒，让它躺在底部； —

then, ascending by a ladder to the summit, have a peep down the mouth; —
然后，通过梯子登上山巅，往嘴里看一眼； —

and were it not that the body is now completely separated from it, with a lantern we might descend into the great Kentucky Mammoth Cave of his stomach. —
如果它的身体没有完全与头部分离，我们可以用灯笼进入他巨大的肚子，就像是肯塔基州的大猛犸洞穴。 —

But let us hold on here by this tooth, and look about us where we are. —
但是让我们现在靠在这颗牙齿旁，看看我们周围的情况。 —

What a really beautiful and chaste-looking mouth! —
真是一个非常美丽而朴素的嘴！ —

from floor to ceiling, lined, or rather papered with a glistening white membrane, glossy as bridal satins.
从地板到天花板，都被一层闪闪发光的白色膜所衬托，看起来像新娘子的缎子一样光亮。

But come out now, and look at this portentous lower jaw, which seems like the long narrow lid of an immense snuff-box, with the hinge at one end, instead of one side. —
现在出来，看看这个巨大而可怕的下颚，看起来像一个巨大鼻烟盒的长窄盖子，带有一个端口，而不是一侧。 —

If you pry it up, so as to get it overhead, and expose its rows of teeth, it seems a terrific portcullis; —
如果你把它翘起，露出一排排牙齿，看起来就像一个可怕的铁栅门； —

and such, alas! it proves to many a poor wight in the fishery, upon whom these spikes fall with impaling force. —
而许多可怜的渔民在捕鱼时，这些尖刺以穿刺的力量落下，对他们来说更加可怕。 —

But far more terrible is it to behold, when fathoms down in the sea, you see some sulky whale, floating there suspended, with his prodigious jaw, some fifteen feet long, hanging straight down at right-angles with his body; —
但更加可怕的是，在海底几英寻处，你看到一些躁郁的鲸鱼，悬浮在那里，他的巨大下颚，约长15英尺，直挂在身体的直角下； —

for all the world like a ship’s jibboom. This whale is not dead; he is only dispirited; —
就像一只船的樯桅。这只鲸鱼还没死；他只是心情低落； —

out of sorts, perhaps; hypochondriac; and so supine, that the hinges of his jaw have relaxed, leaving him there in that ungainly sort of plight, a reproach to all his tribe, who must, no doubt, imprecate lock-jaws upon him.
或许情绪差；忧郁；所以懒洋洋的，他的下颚关节松弛了，让他在那个难看的姿势中留在那里，成为他整个族群的耻辱，毫无疑问，他们一定对他大声咒骂锁颌症。

In most cases this lower jaw–being easily unhinged by a practised artist– is disengaged and hoisted on deck for the purpose of extracting the ivory teeth, and furnishing a supply of that hard white whalebone with which the fishermen fashion all sorts of curious articles including canes, umbrella-stocks, and handles to riding-whips.
在大多数情况下，这个易于被熟练的艺术家解开的下颚–被卸下并在甲板上吊起，目的是提炼象牙牙齿，并提供渔民用来制作各种奇特的物品，包括手杖、伞杆和骑鞭把手的坚硬白色鲸骨。

With a long, weary hoist the jaw is dragged on board, as if it were an anchor; —
用长长的、疲惫的提升，将下巴拖上船，就像拖锚一样； —

and when the proper time comes– some few days after the other work–Queequeg, Daggoo, and Tashtego, being all accomplished dentists, are set to drawing teeth. —
当适当的时间到来时–在其他工作的几天后–Queequeg、Daggoo和Tashtego，作为高超的牙医，开始拔牙。 —

With a keen cutting-spade, Queequeg lances the gums; —
哈利拿着一把锋利的铲子，刺破了鲸鱼的牙龈； —

then the jaw is lashed down to ringbolts, and a tackle being rigged from aloft, they drag out these teeth, as Michigan oxen drag stumps of old oaks out of wild woodlands. —
然后将下颌捆绑到环环铁环上，从上面吊起一根绳索，他们像密歇根州的牛一样，从野生林地中拖出这些牙齿。 —

There are generally forty-two teeth in all; in old whales, much worn down, but undecayed; —
通常总共有四十二颗牙齿；老鲸鱼的牙齿已经磨损，但仍未腐烂； —

nor filled after our artificial fashion. —
也不会像我们人工的方式一样进行充填。 —

The jaw is afterwards sawn into slabs, and piled away like joists for building houses.
下颌随后被锯成板材，像是木梁一样被堆放起来，用于建房子。