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Now, in calm weather, to swim in the open ocean is as easy to the practised swimmer as to ride in a spring-carriage ashore. But the awful lonesomeness is intolerable. The intense concentration of self in the middle of such a heartless immensity, my God! who can tell it? Mark, how when sailors in a dead calm bathe in the open sea— mark how closely they hug their ship and only coast along her sides.
且說，在寧靜無風的天氣里，在遼闊的海洋上游水，對一個老游水的人說來，正跟在岸上駕著一輛彈簧馬車一樣容易。但是，那種可怕的凄愴景致卻很教人難當。孑然一身給緊縮在這樣一片浩瀚無底的汪洋中心，我的天啊！誰能說出個中滋味呀？你看水手們在遼闊的海里不聲不響地洗澡時是怎樣的情景——你看，他們是怎樣緊扳住船只，只靠著船邊蕩來蕩去呀。
But had Stubb really abandoned the poor little negro to his fate? No; he did not mean to, at least. Because there were two boats in his wake, and he supposed, no doubt, that they would of course come up to Pip very quickly, and pick him up; though, indeed, such considerations towards oarsmen jeopardized through their own timidity, is not always manifested by the hunters in all similar instances; and such instances not unfrequently occur; almost invariably in the fishery, a coward, so called, is marked with the same ruthless detestation peculiar to military navies and armies.
但是，難道斯塔布真的要拋棄這個可憐的小黑人嗎？不，他至少并沒有這個意思。因為當時在他后面還有兩只小艇，他以為，那兩只小艇總一定會很快就趕上比普，把他給撈起來；然而，事實上，這種在槳手們看來必須不顧他們自己的膽怯而為之的體恤行為，并不是一般獵手能夠常常在類似的場合上表現出來的；而且這種事例也并不是不常碰到的；在捕魚業說來，一個所謂懦夫差不多總是象陸海軍中特有的那樣，要遭到同樣無情的鄙視。
But it so happened, that those boats, without seeing Pip, suddenly spying whales close to them on one side, turned, and gave chase; and Stubb's boat was now so far away, and he and all his crew so intent upon his fish, that Pip's ringed horizon began to expand around him miserably.
但是，這些小艇碰巧都沒有看到比普，而突然發現鯨群正緊靠在他們艇邊，于是，一轉身，都去追擊了；斯塔布的小艇這時已隔開得那樣遠，他跟他所有的水手們又都全神貫注在那條鯨上，因此，把比普箍住了的那片水面，開始在他四周亂七八糟地擴散了。
