He seems a whale-hater, as some men are man-haters. Very shy; always going solitary; unexpectedly rising to the surface in the remotest and most sullen waters; his straight and single lofty jet rising like a tall misanthropic spear upon a barren plain; gifted with such wondrous power and velocity in swimming, as to defy all present pursuit from man; this leviathan seems the banished and unconquerable Cain of his race, bearing for his mark that style upon his back. From having the baleen in his mouth, the Fin-Back is sometimes included with the right whale, among a theoretic species denominated Whalebone whales, that is, whales with baleen. Of these so-called Whalebone whales, there would seem to be several varieties, most of which, however, are little known. Broad-nosed whales and beaked whales; pike-headed whales; bunched whales; under-jawed whales and rostrated whales, are the fisherman's names for a few sorts.
它似乎是個仇恨鯨者,猶如有些人是仇恨人類者一樣。它很怕羞,始終獨來獨往;出人不意地在最遠(yuǎn)僻最陰沉的海洋上冒出海面;它那又直又高的單股噴水,一射起來,就象是插在荒原上一把憤世嫉俗的長矛;游起水來,天生有那么驚人的力氣和速度,好象是不把人類會隨時隨刻對它追捕放在眼里似的;這種大海獸就象它族類中的被放逐而不可征服的該隱,背負(fù)著那標(biāo)志在它的背上的記號。由于它嘴上有須,因此,脊鰭鯨有時就被算做露脊鯨,在理論上被列入須鯨類,就是說,是有須的鯨。關(guān)于這些所謂須鯨,看來倒有好幾種,不過,其中大多是默默無聞的。闊鼻鯨;鉤鼻鯨;矛頭鯨;拳頭鯨;低顎鯨和突嘴鯨,都是捕鯨者的幾種叫法。
In connexion with this appellative of "Whalebone whales," it is of great importance to mention, that however such a nomenclature may be convenient in facilitating allusions to some kind of whales, yet it is in vain to attempt a clear classification of the Leviathan, founded upon either his baleen, or hump, or fin, or teeth; notwithstanding that those marked parts or features very obviously seem better adapted to afford the basis for a regular system of Cetology than any other detached bodily distinctions, which the whale, in his kinds, presents.
關(guān)于"須鯨"這名稱,極其值得提出的是,不管這樣一個專門名稱對于某幾種鯨的提法上可以有多大的方便,然而,對于這種大海獸,要想根據(jù)它的鯨須。背峰,或者是根據(jù)大鰭。牙齒來獲得一種明確的分類卻是徒勞的;雖然這種特點或者特征,看似比之它的同類所具有的其它任何個別的體軀上的特點更為明顯,更易于得出正規(guī)的鯨類學(xué)體系的根據(jù)。
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