The allusion to the waifs and waif-poles in the last chapter but one, necessitates some account of the laws and regulations of the whale fishery, of which the waif may be deemed the grand symbol and badge.
对在倒数第二章中提到的流浪儿和流浪竿的暗示，需要一些关于捕鲸业的法律与规定的描述，其中流浪儿可能被视为伟大的象征和标志。

It frequently happens that when several ships are cruising in company, a whale may be struck by one vessel, then escape, and be finally killed and captured by another vessel; —
经常发生的情况是，当几艘船一起巡航时，一只鲸可能被一艘船打中，然后逃脱，最终被另一艘船杀死和捕获； —

and herein are indirectly comprised many minor contingencies, all partaking of this one grand feature. —
并且间接包含了许多次要的偶然事件，都具有这一伟大特征。 —

For example,–after a weary and perilous chase and capture of a whale, the body may get loose from the ship by reason of a violent storm; —
例如，-在对一只鲸进行了漫长而危险的追逐和捕杀之后，由于狂暴的风暴，尸体可能从船上脱落； —

and drifting far away to leeward, be retaken by a second whaler, who, in a calm, snugly tows it alongside, without risk of life or line. —
并向下游漂流很远，然后被第二艘捕鲸船再次捕获，后者可以在风平浪静中将其安全地拖到船边，不用冒生命或渔线的风险。 —

Thus the most vexatious and violent disputes would often arise between the fishermen, were there not some written or unwritten, universal, undisputed law applicable to all cases.
于是，如果没有适用于所有情况的某种明文或不成文的普遍、无争议的法律，捕鱼者之间经常会爆发最令人厌烦和激烈的争端。

Perhaps the only formal whaling code authorized by legislative enactment, was that of Holland. —
也许唯一正式授权的捕鲸法典是荷兰的。 —

It was decreed by the States-General in A.D. 1695. —
它是在公元1695年由荷兰的议会颁布的。 —

But though no other nation has ever had any written whaling law, yet the American fishermen have been their own legislators and lawyers in this matter. —
虽然没有其他国家曾有过任何书面捕鲸法律，但美国的渔民在这方面一直是他们自己的立法者和律师。 —

They have provided a system which for terse comprehensiveness surpasses Justinian’s Pandects and the By-laws of the Chinese Society for the Suppression of Meddling with other People’s Business. —
他们制定了一个系统，其简练性超过了英特里安的《潘德客特》和中国压制干涉他人业务社会的章程。 —

Yes; these laws might be engraven on a Queen Anne’s farthing, or the barb of a harpoon, and worn round the neck, so small are they.
是的，这些法律可以刻在一枚安妮女王的铜币上，或者刻在鱼叉的鱼叉上，它们是如此之小。

I. A Fast-Fish belongs to the party fast to it.
一、被捕到的鱼属于捕鱼者。

II. A Loose-Fish is fair game for anybody who can soonest catch it.
二、任何人都有资格捕获可移动的鱼。

But what plays the mischief with this masterly code is the admirable brevity of it, which necessitates a vast volume of commentaries to expound it.
但是，这一份精妙法令的大忌是其优秀的简洁性，这迫使人们需要海量的评论才能解释它。

First: What is a Fast-Fish? Alive or dead a fish is technically fast, when it is connected with an occupied ship or boat, by any medium at all controllable by the occupant or occupants,–a mast, an oar, a nine-inch cable, a telegraph wire, or a strand of cobweb, it is all the same. —
首先：什么是被捕到的鱼？活着或死去的鱼在技术上是被捕到的，当它通过被占用船只或小船的任何可被占用者控制的媒介与之连接时-船桅，浆，九英寸的绳，电报线，或一根蜘蛛丝，都是一样的。 —

Likewise a fish is technically fast when it bears a waif, or any other recognized symbol of possession; —
同样，当一条鱼携带漂流物，或任何其他公认的拥有标志时，在技术上可以被视为快速； —

so long as the party wailing it plainly evince their ability at any time to take it alongside, as well as their intention so to do.
只要悲叹的一方能随时表现出他们把它拉到船边的能力，以及他们的意图如此做。

These are scientific commentaries; but the commentaries of the whalemen themselves sometimes consist in hard words and harder knocks– the Coke-upon-Littleton of the fist. —
这些是科学评论；但捕鲸人自己的评论有时是用严厉的话语和更严格的打击——拳头上的“科克-利特尔顿”。 —

True, among the more upright and honorable whalemen allowances are always made for peculiar cases, where it would be an outrageous moral injustice for one party to claim possession of a whale previously chased or killed by another party. —
诚然，在更正直和诚实的捕鲸人中，总是对特殊情况作出让步，其中一方要求之前被另一方追逐或杀死的鲸鱼的占有权将是一种令人义愤的道德不义。 —

But others are by no means so scrupulous.
但其他人则丝毫不那么谨慎。

Some fifty years ago there was a curious case of whale-trover litigated in England, wherein the plaintiffs set forth that after a hard chase of a whale in the Northern seas; —
大约五十年前，在英格兰曾发生一起有趣的捕鲸公益诉讼案，原告陈述说，他们在北部海域激烈追逐一条鲸鱼之后； —

and when indeed they (the plaintiffs) had succeeded in harpooning the fish; —
事实上，在他们（原告）成功 harpooning 鱼之后； —

they were at last, through peril of their lives, obliged to forsake not only their lines, but their boat itself. —
他们最终，为了性命安危，不得不放弃了他们的钓线，甚至是他们的船。 —

Ultimately the defendants (the crew of another ship) came up with the whale, struck, killed, seized, and finally appropriated it before the very eyes of the plaintiffs. —
最终被告（另一艘船的船员）从原告的眼前追上了这条鲸鱼，刺伤、杀死、捕获，最终据为己有。 —

And when those defendants were remonstrated with, their captain snapped his fingers in the plaintiffs’ teeth, and assured them that by way of doxology to the deed he had done, he would now retain their line, harpoons, and boat, which had remained attached to the whale at the time of the seizure. —
被告被斥责时，他们的船长掠过原告的怒气，向他们保证，为感谢他所做的行为，他现在将保留他们当时捕获鲸鱼时所留附的钓线、鱼叉和船。 —

Wherefore the plaintiffs now sued for the recovery of the value of their whale, line, harpoons, and boat.
因此，原告现在起诉要求追回他们的鲸鱼、钓线、鱼叉和船的价值。

Mr. Erskine was counsel for the defendants; Lord Ellenborough was the judge. —
Erskine 先生是被告的律师；埃伦伯勒勋爵是法官。 —

In the course of the defence, the witty Erskine went on to illustrate his position, by alluding to a recent crim. —
在辩护过程中，诙谐的 Erskine 继续举例阐明他的立场，提到最近一起犯罪案例，一个绅士，经过无效尝试约束妻子的恶行后，最终在人生的海洋上抛弃了她； —

con. case, wherein a gentleman, after in vain trying to bridle his wife’s viciousness, had at last abandoned her upon the seas of life; —
但在几年后，对那一步的后悔，他提起诉讼要求恢复对她的拥有。 —

but in the course of years, repenting of that step, he instituted an action to recover possession of her. —
但是，这位绅士提起民事诉讼要求恢复对他妻子的拥有权限。 —

Erskine was on the other side; and he then supported it by saying, that though the gentleman had originally harpooned the lady, and had once had her fast, and only by reason of the great stress of her plunging viciousness, had at last abandoned her; —
厄斯金则站在另一边支持这种看法，并说，尽管这位绅士起初是捕获了这位女士，曾经成功地将其抓住，但最终出于她剧烈的跳跃和邪恶的行为而放弃了她； —

yet abandon her he did, so that she became a loose-fish; —
所以他放弃了她，让她成为一只逃脱的鱼； —

and therefore when a subsequent gentleman re-harpooned her, the lady then became that subsequent gentleman’s property, along with whatever harpoon might have been found sticking in her.
因此，当后来的绅士重新捕获了她时，这位女士就成了那位后来绅士的财产，以及可能在她身上找到的任何鱼叉；

Now in the present case Erskine contended that the examples of the whale and the lady were reciprocally illustrative of each other.
现在，在这个案件中，厄斯金认为鲸鱼和女士的例子可以相互说明对方；

These pleadings, and the counter pleadings, being duly heard, the very learned Judge in set terms decided, to wit,– That as for the boat, he awarded it to the plaintiffs, because they had merely abandoned it to save their lives; —
听取了这些辩词以及反驳辩词后，非常有学问的法官做出了明确的决定，即，– 对于那艘船，他判给了原告，因为他们只是为了保全性命而放弃了它； —

but that with regard to the controverted whale, harpoons, and line, they belonged to the defendants; the whale, because it was a Loose-Fish at the time of the final capture; —
但是对于存在争议的鲸鱼、鱼叉和绳索，他们属于被告；因为鲸鱼在最终捕捞时是一只逃脱的鱼； —

and the harpoons and line because when the fish made off with them, it (the fish) acquired a property in those articles; —
而鱼叉和绳索之所以属于被告，是因为当鲸鱼带着它们逃走时，它（鲸鱼）就获得了这些物品的所有权； —

and hence anybody who afterwards took the fish had a right to them. —
因此，随后拿走这条鱼的任何人都有权拥有它们； —

Now the defendants afterwards took the fish; —
现在被告随后捕获了这条鱼； —

ergo, the aforesaid articles were theirs.
因此，上述物品就是他们的。

A common man looking at this decision of the very learned Judge, might possibly object to it. —
常人看到这位非常有学问法官的裁决可能会提出异议； —

But ploughed up to the primary rock of the matter, the two great principles laid down in the twin whaling laws previously quoted, and applied and elucidated by Lord Ellenborough in the above cited case; —
但是深入探究这个问题的核心，根据前面引用的双重捕鲸法则以及上述案例中由埃伦伯勒勋爵应用和阐释的这两个关于快速鱼和逃脱鱼的法则； —

these two laws touching Fast-Fish and Loose-Fish, I say, will on reflection, be found the fundamentals of all human jurisprudence; —
我要说，这两个有关快速鱼和逃脱鱼的法则在反思中将被发现是所有人类法律的基础； —

For notwithstanding its complicated tracery of sculpture, the Temple of the Law, like the Temple of the Philistines, has but two props to stand on.
因为尽管法律庙宇的雕刻图案复杂，但法律庙宇，就像非利士人的庙宇一样，只有两个支柱可以依靠；

Is it not a saying in every one’s mouth, Possession is half of the law: —
不是人人口中都说，占有是法律的一半吗： —

that is, regardless of how the thing came into possession? —
也就是说，无论这东西是如何得到的？ —

But often possession is the whole of the law. —
但通常拥有就是一切。 —

What are the sinews and souls of Russian serfs and Republican slaves but Fast-Fish, whereof possession is the whole of the law? —
俄罗斯农奴和共和国奴隶的灵魂和肌肉，究竟是什么？不就是Fast-Fish吗，拥有就是一切。 —

What to the rapacious landlord is the widow’s last mite but a Fast-Fish? —
对于贪婪的地主而言，寡妇的最后一点钱财又算得了什么，不也是Fast-Fish吗？ —

What is yonder undetected villain’s marble mansion with a doorplate for a waif; —
那名无良的恶棍的大理石府邸与门牌上的孤儿又算得了什么； —

what is that but a Fast-Fish? What is the ruinous discount which Mordecai, the broker, gets from the poor Woebegone, the bankrupt, on a loan to keep Woebegone’s family from starvation; —
那不也是Fast-Fish吗？那交易商莫迪凯从可怜的危破的倒闭者Woebegone手中得到的逼人利息贷款，是为了让Woebegone的家庭免于挨饿； —

what is that ruinous discount but a Fast-Fish? —
那毁灭性的利息贷款又算得了什么，不也是Fast-Fish吗？ —

What is the Archbishop of Savesoul’s income of 100,000 pounds seized from the scant bread and cheese of hundreds of thousands of broken-backed laborers (all sure of heaven without any of Savesoul’s help) what is that globular 100,000 but a Fast-Fish. What are the Duke of Dunder’s hereditary towns and hamlets but Fast-Fish? —
救灵大主教从数十万破背劳工手中掠夺来的10万英镑收入（这些人都确信能上天堂，根本不需要救灵的帮助），那圆润的10万英镑不也是Fast-Fish吗？那杜德公爵的世袭城镇和村庄又算得了什么，不也是Fast-Fish吗？ —

What to that redoubted harpooneer, John Bull, is poor Ireland, but a Fast-Fish? —
对于那位勇猛的捕鲸者约翰·布尔而言，可怜的爱尔兰又算得了什么，不也是Fast-Fish吗？ —

What to that apostolic lancer, Brother Jonathan, is Texas but a Fast-Fish? —
对于那位使徒般的枪骑兵乔纳森兄弟而言，德克萨斯又算得了什么，不也是Fast-Fish吗？ —

And concerning all these, is not Possession the whole of the law?
关于所有这些，难道拥有不就是一切吗？

But if the doctrine of Fast-Fish be pretty generally applicable, the kindred doctrine of Loose-Fish is still more widely so. —
但如果Fast-Fish的教义相当普适，那么类似的Loose-Fish的教义则更加普遍。 —

That is internationally and universally applicable.
它是国际上和普遍适用的。

What was America in 1492 but a Loose-Fish, in which Columbus struck the Spanish standard by way of wailing it for his royal master and mistress? —
1492年的美洲不就是一条Loose-Fish吗，哥伦布在上面竖起了西班牙的旗帜，以示为他的国王和王后而哀悼吗？ —

What was Poland to the Czar? What Greece to the Turk? What India to England? —
波兰对沙皇是什么？希腊对土耳其是什么？印度对英国是什么？ —

What at last will Mexico be to the United States? All Loose-Fish.
最终，墨西哥对美国来说会是什么？所有的散鱼。

What are the Rights of Man and the Liberties of the World but Loose-Fish? —
人的权利和世界的自由又何尝不是散鱼呢？ —

What all men’s minds and opinions but Loose-Fish? —
所有人的思想和观点又何尝不是散鱼呢？ —

What is the principle of religious belief in them but a Loose-Fish? —
宗教信仰的原则又何尝不是散鱼呢？ —

What to the ostentatious smuggling verbalists are the thoughts of thinkers but Loose-Fish? —
对于炫耀性的走私言辞者来说，思想家的思索又何尝不是散鱼呢？ —

What is the great globe itself but a Loose-Fish? —
这个巨大的地球本身又何尝不是一只散鱼呢？ —

And what are you, reader, but a Loose-Fish and a Fast-Fish, too?
那么你，读者，又何尝不是一条散鱼，也是一只快鱼呢？