然而,啊,偉大的太陽可不是始終屹立不動的;如果在午夜時分,我們真想從它那里獲取一點溫存的安慰的話,那就是望穿了眼,也是徒勞的!這塊金幣表現(xiàn)得真聰明、柔順、忠實,可是在我看來,還是有點憂傷。我得趕緊離開它,否則,真理倒要變成謊言了。"
There now's the old Mogul, soliloquized Stubb by the try-works, "he's been twigging it; and there goes Starbuck from the same, and both with faces which I should say might be somewhere within nine fathoms long. And all from looking at a piece of gold, which did I have it now on Negro Hill or in Corlaer's Hook, I'd not look at it very long ere spending it. Humph! in my poor, insignificant opinion, I regard this as queer. I have seen doubloons before now in my voyagings; your doubloons of old Spain, your doubloons of Peru, your doubloons of Chili, your doubloons of Bolivia, your doubloons of Popayan; with plenty of gold moidores and pistoles, and joes, and half joes, and quarter joes. What then should there be in this doubloon of the Equator that is so killing wonderful? By Golconda! let me read it once. Halloa! here's signs and wonders truly! That, now, is what old Bowditch in his Epitome calls the zodiac, and what my almanack below calls ditto.
瞧那老蒙兀兒,斯塔布在煉油間旁邊自言自語道,"他剛才已經(jīng)看明白了;斯達巴克也是為了這才去的,可是,他們兩個人的臉兒呀,我敢說,都大約拉得有三十六英尺長。這都是因為看了那塊金幣的緣故,如果我在黑人山或者在柯爾拉爾岬找到這塊東西的話,我準不會瞧它好久,馬上把它拿去花掉。哼!照我的微不足道的鄙見看來,這就是一種怪事。我在以前的多次航行中,早就看到過好些種杜柏侖;你們那些古西班牙的杜柏侖,秘魯?shù)亩虐貋?,智利的杜柏侖,玻利維亞的杜柏侖,波巴揚(波巴揚——南美哥倫比亞的一個城市。)的杜柏侖,還看到許多金蒙伊多爾(蒙伊多爾——葡萄牙舊金幣名。),比斯多(比斯多——西班牙的舊金幣名。),約伊(約伊——英國對于值四個便士的銀元的稱呼。),半個約伊,四分之一的約伊。那么,這種厄瓜多爾的杜柏侖居然有這么了不起?乖乖(原文為"By Golconda"按戈康第是印度海達拉巴特城,從前是著名的金剛鉆礦。這里似有類似英文的"By God"即驚奇。發(fā)誓之感嘆語。)!讓我也去看它一看吧。啊!這倒真是奇跡!那么,這大概就是波狄奇老頭在他那本《概論》(納·波狄奇(1773—1838)——美國數(shù)學家和天文學家。《概論》出版于一八零二年。)里管它叫黃道的東西,也就是我放在下面那本歷書上同樣管它叫黃道的東西吧。