英語聽書《白鯨記》第634期

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In life, the visible surface of the Sperm Whale is not the least among the many marvels he presents. Almost invariably it is all over obliquely crossed and re-crossed with numberless straight marks in thick array, something like those in the finest Italian line engravings. But these marks do not seem to be impressed upon the isinglass substance above mentioned, but seem to be seen through it, as if they were engraved upon the body itself. Nor is this all. In some instances, to the quick, observant eye, those linear marks, as in a veritable engraving, but afford the ground for far other delineations. These are hieroglyphical; that is, if you call those mysterious cyphers on the walls of pyramids hieroglyphics, then that is the proper word to use in the present connexion. By my retentive memory of the hieroglyphics upon one Sperm Whale in particular, I was much struck with a plate representing the old Indian characters chiselled on the famous hieroglyphic palisades on the banks of the Upper Mississippi. Like those mystic rocks, too, the mystic-marked whale remains undecipherable. This allusion to the Indian rocks reminds me of another thing. Besides all the other phenomena which the exterior of the Sperm Whale presents, he not seldom displays the back, and more especially his flanks, effaced in great part of the regular linear appearance, by reason of numerous rude scratches, altogether of an irregular, random aspect.

這樣，我們對那只氣力旺盛的東西的碩大無朋就可獲得一點(diǎn)印象了。光是它的那層外皮的一部分，就可以出產(chǎn)量如大湖的液體。以十桶作一噸計算，那么只要四分之三的鯨皮，就可以獲得凈重十噸的油了。一條活的抹香鯨的外表，就有不少的奇觀。它的身上，簡直全都密布有無數(shù)叉來叉去的直線條，有點(diǎn)象似最精美的意大利線雕畫的線條。不過，這些線條好象并不是印在上述的那種云母片上，卻似乎是透過云母片現(xiàn)出來的，仿佛這些線條都是本來就鏤刻在它的身體上。不只如此，有時，在眼力迅捷機(jī)警的人看來，這些線條，不但象是真的雕刻，而且那底子看來還有更多的圖樣。這些都是一些象形文字，也就是說，如果你管金字塔的四壁上那些神秘的圖記都叫做象形文字的話，那么，這個字眼用在這里正是最適切不過的了。我由于想到抹香鯨身上的象形文字，而特別教我想到上密西西比河堤那個著名的象形文字的斷崖上，那塊刻有古印第安字體的石碑，它給我的印象真是深刻。這種有神秘線條的大鯨，也正如那些神秘的巖石一樣，至今仍是教人無法辨認(rèn)。從這種印第安的巖石，又教我想到了另外一件事情。抹香鯨除了顯露出它外表的其它各種現(xiàn)象以外，它倒也常常露出它的背脊，尤其更常常露出它的側(cè)腹來，可是，由于它有許多粗陋的搔痕，加上五官不端正，反而大大地?fù)p害了它那線條整齊的外表。