Now comes the Baling of the Case. But to comprehend it aright, you must know something of the curious internal structure of the thing operated upon.
现在是对箱子进行打包的时候了。但要正确理解它，你必须了解所操作的东西的奇特内部结构。

Regarding the Sperm Whale’s head as a solid oblong, you may, on an inclined plane, sideways divide it into two quoins,* whereof the lower is the bony structure, forming the cranium and jaws, and the upper an unctuous mass wholly free from bones; —
将把鲸鱼头视为一个实心的长方体，你可以在一个倾斜的平面上将其侧面分成两块楔形体，其中下部是骨头结构，形成头骨和下颚，上部是一块完全没有骨头的油脂质地； —

its broad forward end forming the expanded vertical apparent forehead of the whale. —
它的宽阔向前端形成了鲸鱼垂直显而易见的前额。 —

At the middle of the forehead horizontally subdivide this upper quoin, and then you have two almost equal parts, which before were naturally divided by an internal wall of a thick tendinous substance.
在前额的中间水平地将这个上部楔形体再分成两个几乎相等的部分，以前通过一块厚厚的腱质物质内壁相自然分开。

*Quoin is not a Euclidean term. It belongs to the pure nautical mathematics. —
楔形体不是一个欧式术语。它属于纯粹的航海数学。 —

I know not that it has been defined before. —
我不知道这以前有没有被定义过。 —

A quoin is a solid which differs from a wedge in having its sharp end formed by the steep inclination of one side, instead of the mutual tapering of both sides.
楔形体是一种固体，与楔子不同之处在于其尖端是由一侧的陡峭倾斜形成的，而不是双侧的相互变尖。

The lower subdivided part, called the junk, is one immense honeycomb of oil, formed by the crossing and recrossing, into ten thousand infiltrated cells, of tough elastic white fibres throughout its whole extent. —
下面被细分的部分被称为垃圾，是一整块由坚韧弹性的白色纤维交叉渗透形成的巨大的蜂窝状油脂； —

The upper part, known as the Case, may be regarded as the great Heidelburgh Tun of the Sperm Whale. And as that famous great tierce is mystically carved in front, so the whale’s vast plaited forehead forms innumerable strange devices for the emblematical adornment of his wondrous tun. —
上部被称为箱子，可以被视为抹香鲸的海德堡大桶。正如那个著名的大Tierce在前方雕刻着神秘的图案一样，鲸鱼巨大的褶皱的前额形成无数奇妙的装饰图案，象征着他的奇妙的大桶。 —

Moreover, as that of Heidelburgh was always replenished with the most excellent of the wines of the Rhenish valleys, so the tun of the whale contains by far the most precious of all his oily vintages; —
此外，正如海德堡的那个桶总是装满莱茵河谷最优质的葡萄酒一样，鲸鱼的桶中包含着迄今为止他的所有油质酒中最珍贵的； —

namely, the highly-prized spermaceti, in its absolutely pure, limpid, and odoriferous state. —
也就是说，高度珍贵的头油，其纯净，清澈和芬芳的状态。 —

Nor is this precious substance found unalloyed in any other part of the creature. —
这种宝贵的物质在任何其他部位都不是单纯的。 —

Though in life it remains perfectly fluid, yet, upon exposure to the air, after death, it soon begins to concrete; —
虽然在生命中它保持完全流动，但在死后暴露在空气中后，很快开始凝固； —

sending forth beautiful crystalline shoots, as when the first thin delicate ice is just forming in water. —
像是当第一块薄薄的冰在水中形成时那样，发出美丽的晶莹射线。 —

A large whale’s case generally yields about five hundred gallons of sperm, though from unavoidable circumstances, considerable of it is spilled, leaks, and dribbles away, or is otherwise irrevocably lost in the ticklish business of securing what you can.
一头大鲸鱼的箱子通常可以产出约五百加仑的精子，尽管由于不可避免的情况，相当多的精子会被泼洒、渗漏并滴落，或者在保护的棘手工作中以无法挽回的方式被丢失。

I know not with what fine and costly material the Heidelburgh Tun was coated within, but in superlative richness that coating could not possibly have compared with the silken pearl-colored membrane, like the lining of a fine pelisse, forming the inner surface of the Sperm Whale’s case.
我不知道海德堡大桶内部涂覆了什么昂贵精美的材料，但在极致的丰富度方面，那种涂层绝对无法与鲸鱼案内部形成的丝绸珍珠色膜相比。

It will have been seen that the Heidelburgh Tun of the Sperm Whale embraces the entire length of the entire top of the head; —
可以看到，把鲸鱼案视为海德堡大桶，覆盖整个头部的整个顶部; —

and since–as has been elsewhere set forth–the head embraces one third of the whole length of the creature, then setting that length down at eighty feet for a good sized whale, you have more than twenty-six feet for the depth of the tun, when it is lengthwise hoisted up and down against a ship’s side.
由于头部占据了整个生物的长度的三分之一–正如其他地方已经说明的那样–因此，如果假定一头体型较大的鲸鱼长度为八十英尺，那么在竖直提升并靠船舷上下移动时，你将有超过二十六英尺的高度。

As in decapitating the whale, the operator’s instrument is brought close to the spot where an entrance is subsequently forced into the spermaceti magazine; —
正如在斩首鲸鱼的过程中，操作工具被带近稍后将进入抽脂舱的地方; —

he has, therefore, to be uncommonly heedful, lest a careless, untimely stroke should invade the sanctuary and wastingly let out its invaluable contents. —
他因此必须异常地谨慎，以免一次粗心、不及时的一击侵犯圣地并浪费其宝贵的内容。 —

It is this decapitated end of the head, also, which is at last elevated out of the water, and retained in that position by the enormous cutting tackles, whose hempen combinations, on one side, make quite a wilderness of ropes in that quarter.
也就是这个被斩断的头部末端，最终在水面上升起，并被那些巨大的割缆绳索固定在那个位置，这些绳索的编织方式，在一侧弄得那样麻烦。

Thus much being said, attend now, I pray you, to that marvellous and– in this particular instance–almost fatal operation whereby the Sperm Whale’s great Heidelburgh Tun is tapped.
说了这么多，现在请留意，我请求你留意这个奇迹般的、在这种特殊情况下几乎致命的操作，即抽取抽脂鲸巨大的海德堡大桶。