英语听书《白鲸记》第388期

Concerning the officers of the whale-craft, this seems as good a place as any to set down a little domestic peculiarity on ship-board, arising from the existence of the harpooneer class of officers, a class unknown of course in any other marine than the whale-fleet.

说到捕鲸船的船上头目,这里倒还可以顺便把船上特有的内政情况加以一记,说一说船上头目中的标枪手阶级的来源,因为这一阶级除了捕鲸船队以外,自然是其它任何船舶所不知道的。

The large importance attached to the harpooneer's vocation is evinced by the fact, that originally in the old Dutch Fishery, two centuries and more ago, the command of a whale-ship was not wholly lodged in the person now called the captain, but was divided between him and an officer called the Specksynder. Literally this word means Fat-Cutter; usage, however, in time made it equivalent to Chief Harpooneer. In those days, the captain's authority was restricted to the navigation and general management of the vessel; while over the whale-hunting department and all its concerns, the Specksynder or Chief Harpooneer reigned supreme. In the British Greenland Fishery, under the corrupted title of Specksioneer, this old Dutch official is still retained, but his former dignity is sadly abridged. At present he ranks simply as senior Harpooneer; and as such, is but one of the captain's more inferior subalterns. Nevertheless, as upon the good conduct of the harpooneers the success of a whaling voyage largely depends, and since in the American Fishery he is not only an important officer in the boat, but under certain circumstances (night watches on a whaling ground) the command of the ship's deck is also his; therefore the grand political maxim of the sea demands, that he should nominally live apart from the men before the mast, and be in some way distinguished as their professional superior; though always, by them, familiarly regarded as their social equal.

标枪手这一职业的重大意义是有事实根据的。在二百多年前的古荷兰捕鲸业中,捕鲸船的指挥权本来并不是完全交给那个现今叫做船长的人,而是由他跟一个叫做斯培克辛德的头目分而治之的。这个名词...斯培克辛德...按照字义解释,就是割油者;不过,在待遇上恰好是相当于一等标枪手。当时,船长的职权仅限于船只的航行和一般的管理工作;至于捕鲸以及一切跟捕鲸方面有关的事情,都由斯培克辛德也即一等标枪手大权独揽。在英国的格陵兰捕鱼业中,却仍沿用这个语言讹误的"斯培克西昂尼尔"的头衔,保留了这个古荷兰的船上头目的职位,可是,他以前的权尊则已给大大地缩小了。现在他只算是个高级标枪手;这样一来,这种职司不过是船长的一个比较下级的部属而已。然而,由于一次捕鲸航行的成功,大多有赖于这些标枪手的掌握得宜,同时,因为在美国捕鱼业中,他不只是小艇上的一个重要头目,而且在某种情况之下(在捕鲸场上的值夜),整个船面指挥权,也是属于他的;因此,根据海上的主要政治准则,就要求他必须在形式上与那些桅杆前的水手分开生活,必须在职务上多少显得比一般水手优越些;虽然大家往往是熟不拘礼地把他们看成地位同等的人物。