Had you stepped on board the Pequod at a certain juncture of this post-mortemizing of the whale; —
如果你在这次解剖鲸鱼的过程中某个特定的时刻走上了白鲸号，我相信你会看到一个非常奇怪、神秘的物体，你会在风车边的地方看到它，沿着库泊沟里躺着。 —

and had you strolled forward nigh the windlass, pretty sure am I that you would have scanned with no small curiosity a very strange, enigmatical object, which you would have seen there, lying along lengthwise in the lee scuppers. —
它不是鲸鱼巨大头部的奇异水箱；也不是他异乎寻常的下颚； —

Not the wondrous cistern in the whale’s huge head; not the prodigy of his unhinged lower jaw; —
不是他对称尾巴的奇迹； —

not the miracle of his symmetrical tail; —
在那里，没有什么能让你如此惊讶，像半眼瞥见那个难以解释的锥体一样——比肯塔基人高，底部直径接近一英尺，漆黑如克威克的乌木偶。 —

none of these would so surprise you, as half a glimpse of that unaccountable cone,–longer than a Kentuckian is tall, nigh a foot in diameter at the base, and jet-black as Yojo, the ebony idol of Queequeg. —
而这确实是一个偶像；或者说，以前它的类似物是那样。 —

And an idol, indeed, it is; or rather, in old times, its likeness was. —
就像在犹太玛加女王神秘树林中发现的那尊偶像； —

Such an idol as that found in the secret groves of Queen Maachah in Judea; —
如果穿越者能够让假如，他们会发现这偶像。 —

and for worshipping which, King Asa, her son, did depose her, and destroyed the idol, and burnt it for an abomination at the brook Kedron, as darkly set forth in the 15th chapter of the First Book of Kings.
爱撒王的母亲曾为这位偶像而受到崇拜，因此被废黜，并摧毁了这尊偶像，在基顿谷烧毁，正如《列王纪上》第15章中所暗示的那样。

Look at the sailor, called the mincer, who now comes along, and assisted by two allies, heavily backs the grandissimus, as the mariners call it, and with bowed shoulders, staggers off with it as if he were a grenadier carrying a dead comrade from the field. —
看那水手，被称为剔鲸者，现在走过来，借助两位同伴的帮助，费力地支撑起那头顶的大鲸鲨，就像水手们称呼的那样，并且低着肩膀，摇摇晃晃地把它从场地上搬走，就像一个步枪手把战场上的阵亡同袍背到一边去。 —

Extending it upon the forecastle deck, he now proceeds cylindrically to remove its dark pelt, as an African hunter the pelt of a boa. —
他把它展开在前甲板上，现在开始圆柱状地去除它那深色的皮毛，就像非洲猎人剥夺蟒蛇的皮毛一样。 —

This done he turns the pelt inside out, like a pantaloon leg; —
完成后，他把皮毛颠倒过来，像裤腿一样； —

gives it a good stretching, so as almost to double its diameter; —
给它进行充分的拉伸，几乎将其直径翻倍； —

and at last hangs it, well spread, in the rigging, to dry. Ere long, it is taken down; —
最后，将它展开，挂在索具上晾干。不久，就把它取下； —

when removing some three feet of it, towards the pointed extremity, and then cutting two slits for arm-holes at the other end, he lengthwise slips himself bodily into it. —
然后向朝向尖端的那头移去大约三英尺，接着在另一端开两个缝隙作为手孔，他纵向整个身体滑进去。 —

The mincer now stands before you invested in the full canonicals of his calling. —
剔鲸者现在站在你面前，穿着他职业的标准服饰。 —

Immemorial to all his order, this investiture alone will adequately protect him, while employed in the peculiar functions of his office.
他们中所有人，唯有这件服饰能够充分地保护他，在他从事独特职责的过程中。

That office consists in mincing the horse-pieces of blubber for the pots; —
他的工作就是为锅中的肉片剔鲸； —

an operation which is conducted at a curious wooden horse, planted endwise against the bulwarks, and with a capacious tub beneath it, into which the minced pieces drop, fast as the sheets from a rapt orator’s desk. —
这一操作是在一个奇特的木质剔鲸架上进行的，它端立靠在围壁上，下面是一个宽敞的桶，剔鲸后的碎片就会掉落进去，就像从发狂演说者的讲台上飘落的稿纸。 —

Arrayed in decent black; occupying a conspicuous pulpit; intent on bible leaves; —
穿着得体的黑色服装；占据一个醒目的讲坛；专注于圣经的文字； —

what a candidate for an archbishopric, what a lad for a Pope were this mincer!*
这位剔鲸者是多么适合当一个大主教，一个教皇的候选人啊！*

• Bible leaves! Bible leaves! This is the invariable cry from the mates to the mincer. —
  * 圣经的文字！圣经的文字！这是剔鲸者从驾驶员那里听到的唯一叫喊声。 —
  

It enjoins him to be careful, and cut his work into as thin slices as possible, inasmuch as by so doing the business of boiling out the oil is much accelerated, and its quantity considerably increased, besides perhaps improving it in quality.
这要求他要小心，把工作切成尽可能薄的片，因为这样做可以加快煮油的工作，并且油的数量会大大增加，甚至可能提高油质量。