評論
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And as for Pirates, when they chance to cross each other's cross-bones, the first hail is--"How many skulls?"-- the same way that whalers hail--"How many barrels?" And that question once answered, pirates straightway steer apart, for they are infernal villains on both sides, and don't like to see overmuch of each other's villanous likenesses.
再說到海盜船吧，當他們偶爾彼此相遇的時候，第一聲招呼就是——“幾個腦殼？”——象捕鯨船的招呼——“幾桶啦？”一樣。而且那句話一經獲得回答，那些海盜船也就徑自撐開去了，因為他們雙方都是無法無天的家伙，對于彼此那副無法無天的相貌，實在不高興多瞧一瞧。
But look at the godly, honest, unostentatious, hospitable, sociable, free-and-easy whaler! What does the whaler do when she meets another whaler in any sort of decent weather? She has a "Gam," a thing so utterly unknown to all other ships that they never heard of the name even; and if by chance they should hear of it, they only grin at it, and repeat gamesome stuff about "spouters" and "blubber-boilers," and such like pretty exclamations. Why it is that all Merchant-seamen, and also all Pirates and Man-of-War's men, and Slave-ship sailors, cherish such a scornful feeling towards Whale-ships; this is a question it would be hard to answer. Because, in the case of pirates, say, I should like to know whether that profession of theirs has any peculiar glory about it. It sometimes ends in uncommon elevation, indeed; but only at the gallows. And besides, when a man is elevated in that odd fashion, he has no proper foundation for his superior altitude.
可是，瞧一瞧這種規規矩矩、老老實實、不善虛偽、好意殷勤、愛好交際、不拘禮節的捕鯨船吧！當它們在任何一種正常的天氣里彼此相遇的時候，它們是怎么辦的呢？它們有一種叫做“聯歡會”的玩意兒，這名稱，是其它一切船只所全然不懂的，他們甚至連這名稱聽都沒有聽到過;就算他們有機會聽到這名稱吧，他們也不過報以一陣冷笑，反復背出一些“捕鯨佬”和“鯨油鍋”的笑料，以及類似的好聽的叫喊而已。所有的商船水手，連同一切海盜船。兵艦的水手，販賣奴隸船只的水手，為什么都對捕鯨船懷著這樣一種蔑視的惡感;這倒是個不容易置答的問題。因為拿海盜船來說吧，我倒要請問，他們那種職業究竟有些什么特殊的光榮。它倒往往是在非凡的高度中完結的；錯是不錯，可惜是掛在絞架上罷了。再說，當一個人被用那種罕見的形式高高掛起的時候，他那種超常的高度并沒有什么適當的基礎。
