評論
打印
For amber, though at times found on the sea-coast, is also dug up in some far inland soils, whereas ambergris is never found except upon the sea. Besides, amber is a hard, transparent, brittle, odorless substance, used for mouth-pieces to pipes, for beads and ornaments; but ambergris is soft, waxy, and so highly fragrant and spicy, that it is largely used in perfumery, in pastiles, precious candles, hair-powders, and pomatum. The Turks use it in cooking, and also carry it to Mecca, for the same purpose that frankincense is carried to St. Peter's in Rome. Some wine merchants drop a few grains into claret, to flavor it.
因?yàn)殓觌m則可以不時地在海邊找到，但也可以在遙遠(yuǎn)的內(nèi)陸的土壤里挖到；而龍涎香，則是除了在海上，隨便什么地方都找不到的。此外，琥珀是一種質(zhì)硬、透明、性脆、毫無味道，可以用來作煙斗上的煙嘴、念珠和裝飾品的東西；而龍誕香卻是質(zhì)軟，呈蠟黃色，非常馥郁，是被大量使用于香料品、香錠、名貴的蠟燭、發(fā)粉和香油的東西。土耳其人用它來煮東西，也把龍誕香帶到圣地去，如同人們?yōu)榱送瑯拥哪康陌讶橄銕У搅_馬的圣彼得教堂去一樣。有些釀酒商，還在紅葡萄酒里滴它幾滴，增加酒香。
Who would think, then, that such fine ladies and gentlemen should regale themselves with an essence found in the inglorious bowels of a sick whale! Yet so it is. By some, ambergris is supposed to be the cause, and by others the effect, of the dyspepsia in the whale. How to cure such a dyspepsia it were hard to say, unless by administering three or four boat loads of Brandreth's pills, and then running out of harm's way, as laborers do in blasting rocks.
那么，誰想得到那些高雅的太太老爺們往自己身上灑上的一滴香精，竟是從一只病鯨的不干不凈的肚皮里取出來的呢！然而，事實(shí)的確如此。有些人認(rèn)為龍涎香是大鯨患消化不良癥的原因，另一些人則認(rèn)為它是這種病癥的結(jié)果。究竟應(yīng)該怎樣治療這種消化不良癥，倒是很難說得上來，除非是裝上三四只小艇的布蘭德雷思丸藥（一種烈性瀉藥。），這才可以象工人炸巖石那樣，消除這一大患。
I have forgotten to say that there were found in this ambergris, certain hard, round, bony plates, which at first Stubb thought might be sailors' trousers buttons; but it afterwards turned out that they were nothing, more than pieces of small squid bones embalmed in that manner.
我還忘記說，在這種龍涎香中，還發(fā)現(xiàn)有一種質(zhì)硬、渾圓而象骨板樣的東西，起初斯塔布還當(dāng)它是水手的褲鈕，不過，后來又發(fā)現(xiàn)，它原來不過是象搽過香油的烏賊骨那樣的東西。
