評(píng)論
打印
Steel and wood included, the entire spear is some ten or twelve feet in length; the staff is much slighter than that of the harpoon, and also of a lighter material—pine. It is furnished with a small rope called a warp, of considerable length, by which it can be hauled back to the hand after darting.
這東西是用鋼和木頭做成的，整支槍約有十英尺或者十二英尺長(zhǎng)，捏柄比標(biāo)槍的柄子輕一點(diǎn)，也是用較輕的木料——松木做成的。它系有一根叫做纖的細(xì)繩子，相當(dāng)長(zhǎng)，有了這樣的繩子，槍投出去后，又能收得回來(lái)。
But before going further, it is important to mention here, that though the harpoon may be pitchpoled in the same way with the lance, yet it is seldom done; and when done, is still less frequently successful, on account of the greater weight and inferior length of the harpoon as compared with the lance, which in effect become serious drawbacks. As a general thing, therefore, you must first get fast to a whale, before any pitchpoling comes into play.
在這里，得先說(shuō)明一下后，再說(shuō)下去，那就是，標(biāo)槍雖然也可以象捕鯨槍一樣投出去，然而，人們卻不大使用它，即使偶爾使用了，也還是不大會(huì)一槍中的，因?yàn)楦饿L槍比起來(lái)，標(biāo)槍很重，又不夠長(zhǎng)，實(shí)際上反而會(huì)成為嚴(yán)重的阻礙。因此，一般說(shuō)來(lái)，一定要先拴住一條鯨，這才可以投出捕鯨槍。
Look now at Stubb; a man who from his humorous, deliberate coolness and equanimity in the direst emergencies, was specially qualified to excel in pitchpoling. Look at him; he stands upright in the tossed bow of the flying boat; wrapt in fleecy foam, the towing whale is forty feet ahead. Handling the long lance lightly, glancing twice or thrice along its length to see if it be exactly straight, Stubb whistlingly gathers up the coil of the warp in one hand, so as to secure its free end in his grasp, leaving the rest unobstructed.
現(xiàn)在請(qǐng)瞧斯塔布吧，象他這樣在最危急關(guān)頭而能詼諧百出、胸有成竹、泰然鎮(zhèn)定的人，是特別適宜于投桿而勝人一籌的。瞧他！他站在那只如飛的小艇的搖擺不定的船頭上，腰板筆直，四下盡是毛絨似的泡沫，那條拖著繩索的鯨就在前面四十英尺的地方。他輕輕地抓起那支長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的捕鯨槍?zhuān)劬ζ沉藰屔韮扇拢此欠窆P直，颯颯地把一卷纖子收攏在手里，以便抓住纖頭，不跟整條纖子纏在一起。
