英语听书《白鲸记》第797期

Now that the incorruption of this most fragrant ambergris should be found in the heart of such decay; is this nothing? Bethink thee of that saying of St. Paul in Corinthians, about corruption and incorruption; how that we are sown in dishonor, but raised in glory. And likewise call to mind that saying of Paracelsus about what it is that maketh the best musk. Also forget not the strange fact that of all things of ill-savor, Cologne-water, in its rudimental manufacturing stages, is the worst.

既然这种极其芬芳扑鼻而不朽的龙诞香，竟是从这样腐朽的东西的里边找出来的；难道这是微不足道的事情吗？请你想一想《哥林多书》中圣保罗对于朽坏和不朽坏的那种说法吧；所种的是羞辱的，复活的是荣耀的。（见《新约·哥林多前书》第十五章四十三节。）同样的，也请想一想巴拉赛尔斯（菲·欧·巴拉赛尔斯（1493—1541）——原名蒂·波·汤·荷亨海姆，瑞士的炼金家和医生。据说，他说最臭的东西能做出最香的东西，粪便可以提炼出麝香来。）那句关于最好的麝香是什么东西做成的话吧。同时，也请别忘记这一奇怪的事实：一切有异味的东西，如科隆香水，在它们开始制造的阶段，是极其难闻的。

I should like to conclude the chapter with the above appeal, but cannot, owing to my anxiety to repel a charge often made against whalemen, and which, in the estimation of some already biased minds, might be considered as indirectly substantiated by what has been said of the Frenchman's two whales. Elsewhere in this volume the slanderous aspersion has been disproved, that the vocation of whaling is throughout a slatternly, untidy business. But there is another thing to rebut. They hint that all whales always smell bad. Now how did this odious stigma originate?

我本来想用上述的颇有兴趣的说法来结束本章，但是我欲罢不能，因为我急于要驳倒世人经常对捕鲸人所作的攻击，这种攻击，按照一种本来就是偏见的看法说来，应该可以说已经被上述那艘法国船的两条大鲸所间接地证实了。虽然在本书的其它章节中，已驳斥过那种把捕鲸这个职业完全看做是一种邋里邋遢、不干不净的污蔑性的诽谤。但是，还有值得反击的事情。人们都说，所有的鲸往往都是气味不佳的。那么，这种可恨的污名又是打哪里来的呢？

I opine, that it is plainly traceable to the first arrival of the Greenland whaling ships in London, more than two centuries ago.

我的意见是，关于这，一追溯到二百多年前，第一艘到达伦敦的格陵兰捕鲸船，就了如指掌了。

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