英語聽書《白鯨記》第815期

The timbers beneath are of a peculiar strength, fitted to sustain the weight of an almost solid mass of brick and mortar, some ten feet by eight square, and five in height. The foundation does not penetrate the deck, but the masonry is firmly secured to the surface by ponderous knees of iron bracing it on all sides, and screwing it down to the timbers. On the flanks it is cased with wood, and at top completely covered by a large, sloping, battened hatchway. Removing this hatch we expose the great try-pots, two in number, and each of several barrels' capacity. When not in use, they are kept remarkably clean. Sometimes they are polished with soapstone and sand, till they shine within like silver punchbowls. During the night-watches some cynical old sailors will crawl into them and coil themselves away there for a nap. While employed in polishing them—one man in each pot, side by side— many confidential communications are carried on, over the iron lips. It is a place also for profound mathematical meditation. It was in the left hand try-pot of the Pequod, with the soapstone diligently circling round me, that I was first indirectly struck by the remarkable fact, that in geometry all bodies gliding along the cycloid, my soapstone for example, will descend from any point in precisely the same time.

下邊用的是負荷力特別大的木頭，足以支撐那個簡直是用磚頭和灰泥造成的一團堅固體的重量，它約有十英尺寬八英寸長，五英尺高。它的腳基雖然不跟甲板相連，可是，它是用許多大曲鐵把四邊箍住，然后緊旋在那些木頭上，牢靠地裝在甲板上的。它兩旁都包有木頭，上邊由一塊傾斜的、釘有細板的艙蓋把大艙口緊密地蓋住。拉開這塊艙板，就看到一對大煉鍋，每只鍋有好幾大桶的容量。這兩只大鍋不用的時候，都洗刷得非常干凈。人們有時用滑石和黃沙擦它，把它的里面擦得锃亮，象只銀質(zhì)的五味酒缽。值夜的時候，有些調(diào)皮的老水手，會爬到里頭，盤起身子，蹲在那里打個盹兒。在擦這兩只大鍋的時候，——肩并肩地每人各擦一只——兩人就隔著鍋口，滔滔不絕地密談下去。這也是一個可以思考高深的數(shù)學問題的地方。我正是在"裴廓德號"左邊那只煉鍋里，手里拿著滑石不住地在四周擦來擦去的時候，初次間接地體會到這一值得注意的事實，那就是在幾何學上說來，一切循著圓形而運轉(zhuǎn)的物體（以我這塊滑石為例），都會從任何一點上在同一個時間中落下來。

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