英語聽書《白鯨記》第771期

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As ashore, the ladies often cause the most terrible duels among their rival admirers; just so with the whales, who sometimes come to deadly battle, and all for love. They fence with their long lower jaws, sometimes locking them together, and so striving for the supremacy like elks that warringly interweave their antlers. Not a few are captured having the deep scars of these encounters,— furrowed heads, broken teeth, scolloped fins; and in some instances, wrenched and dislocated mouths.

正如陸上那些太太小姐往往就是她們的情敵鬧起最可怕的決斗的禍因一般；大鯨也是如此，它們有時也不免慘斗一番，為來為去，為的就是愛情糾紛。它們都巧妙地用長下巴來招架，往往兩只下巴扭揪在一起，大家拼命想占上風(fēng)，如同兩只死對頭的大麋鹿角一般糾扯在一起。捕到這樣沖突過的大鯨，身上總發(fā)現(xiàn)有許多深疤——腦袋長犁溝，牙齒打掉了，鰭象扇子；有的時候，連嘴巴也扭傷打歪了。

But supposing the invader of domestic bliss to betake himself away at the first rush of the harem's lord, then is it very diverting to watch that lord. Gently he insinuates his vast bulk among them again and revels there awhile, still in tantalizing vicinity to young Lothario, like pious Solomon devoutly worshipping among his thousand concubines. Granting other whales to be in sight, the fisherman will seldom give chase to one of these Grand Turks; for these Grand Turks are too lavish of their strength, and hence their unctuousness is small. As for the sons and the daughters they beget, why, those sons and daughters must take care of themselves; at least, with only the maternal help. For like certain other omnivorous roving lovers that might be named, my Lord Whale has no taste for the nursery, however much for the bower; and so, being a great traveller, he leaves his anonymous babies all over the world; every baby an exotic.

不過，假定這個家庭幸福的侵犯者受到這群妻妾的王爺?shù)某醮螞_擊而抵擋不住，連忙溜之大吉的時候，那么瞧瞧這個王爺?shù)淖藨B(tài)，真是叫人開胃。它又溫情脈脈地?fù)u擺起它那碩大的軀干，去奉承它的妻妾，在它們那里流連片刻，還故意對那個就在附近的青年浪子挑逗一番，就象虔敬的所羅門在他無數(shù)的妃妾間虔誠地膜拜一樣。如果左近找得到其它鯨的話，捕鯨人是不很愿意追擊這樣一個尊貴的土耳其人的，因為這些顯貴的土耳其人精力消耗太甚，油水很少。至于它們所生下來的兒女，那不消說，都得由這些兒女自己照顧自己，充其量也不過讓做母親的去料理而已。因為這種王爺鯨，可以說是跟那種一見女人就想要的薄情郎一樣，盡管妻妾眾多，卻沒有培育子女的雅興；于是，因為它是一個大游客，它在世界各處就撒下了許多不知名字的小孩；每個小孩都是外來種。