評論
打印
"Aye, aye," said Stubb, the second mate, "Starbuck, there, is as careful a man as you'll find anywhere in this fishery."
“啊，像斯達巴克這樣的細心人，在捕鯨業中可以說是屢見不鮮的。”這是二副斯塔布的評論。
But we shall ere long see what that word "careful" precisely means when used by a man like Stubb, or almost any other whale hunter.
很快，我們就可以看到發表這樣的評論的人和他所謂“細心”在捕鯨業中的真面目了。
Starbuck was no crusader after perils; in him courage was not a sentiment; but a thing simply useful to him, and always at hand upon all mortally practical occasions.
斯達巴克并非莽撞的十字軍騎士，他認為勇敢主要的不是一種感情色彩，而只是在迫不得已的情況下，他從自己的身上召喚而來的一種行動的力量。
Besides, he thought, perhaps, that in this business of whaling, courage was one of the great staple outfits of the ship, like her beef and her bread, and not to be foolishly wasted.
和船上的淡水、面包之類的東西一樣，勇敢也是一種必備品，不可隨意浪費。
Wherefore he had no fancy for lowering for whales after sun-down; nor for persisting in fighting a fish that too much persisted in fighting him.
落日西沉以后，他從不下海、打鯨魚和普通的魚他都不干，他認為沒有任何必要做無謂的犧牲。
For, thought Starbuck, I am here in this critical ocean to kill whales for my living, and not to be killed by them for theirs; and that hundreds of men had been so killed Starbuck well knew.
人們打鯨魚是為了自己的生活，如果讓鯨魚給“打”了，豈不是反而成了滿足鯨魚的生活要求的食物了嗎？
What doom was his own father's? Where, in the bottomless deeps, could he find the torn limbs of his brother?
他父親和他兄弟在冰冷黑暗的大洋中的命運是他永遠不能忘記的。
