英语听书《白鲸记》第897期
第一百零九章 亚哈和斯达巴克在船长室里
According to usage they were pumping the ship next morning; and lo! no inconsiderable oil came up with the water; the casks below must have sprung a bad leak. Much concern was shown; and Starbuck went down into the cabin to report this unfavorable affair. In Sperm-whalemen with any considerable quantity of oil on board, it is a regular semiweekly duty to conduct a hose into the hold, and drench the casks with sea-water; which afterwards, at varying intervals, is removed by the ship's pumps. Hereby the casks are sought to be kept damply tight; while by the changed character of the withdrawn water, the mariners readily detect any serious leakage in the precious cargo.
隔天早晨，按照习惯，他们正在抽干船里的水；嗳哟！跟水一起抽出来的，可有不少的油呀；舱里那些油桶一定豁裂得很厉害了。大家都很关心，于是，斯达巴克跑到下边船长室里，向亚哈报告这件不吉利的事（原注：装载有大量鲸油的捕抹香鲸船，每半个星期就得用水龙带引水灌进舱里，让海水浸湿那些油桶；之后，又在不同的时间里，再用帮浦给抽出来，使油桶始终保持潮湿。然而，由于水一抽掉，不免又要发生变化，因此，水手们得随时检查这些贵重货物，以防严重漏损。）。
Now, from the South and West the Pequod was drawing nigh to Formosa and the Bashee Isles, between which lies one of the tropical outlets from the China waters into the Pacific. And so Starbuck found Ahab with a general chart of the oriental archipelagoes spread before him; and another separate one representing the long eastern coasts of the Japanese islands—Niphon, Matsmai, and Sikoke. With his snow-white new ivory leg braced against the screwed leg of his table, and with a long pruning-hook of a jack-knife in his hand, the wondrous old man, with his back to the gangway door, was wrinkling his brow, and tracing his old courses again.
这时，"裴廓德号"正由西南方逐渐驶近台湾和巴士群岛，在这两个群岛之间，横着从中国海通向太平洋的热带的出口。因此，斯达巴克看到亚哈的时候，亚哈的面前正摊着一张东方群岛全图；旁边还另外摆着一张有一串日本群岛——日本本土，松前，四国的东方沿海图。他那条雪白的新牙腿抵着他那只用螺丝旋牢了的桌腿，手里拿着一把张开修甲刃的小刀子，这个古怪的老头，背着门口，皱起眉头，又在探索他从前的航程了。
