評論
打印
But suddenly reined back by some counter thought, he hurried towards the helm, huskily demanding how the ship was heading.
可是，他突然象是起了什么相反的念頭，在腦子里勒馬收韁了。他匆匆奔到舵邊，嘎聲嘎氣地問船是朝哪里駛的。
East-sou-east, sir, said the frightened steersman.
東南東，先生，那個吃了一驚的舵手說。
Thou liest! smiting him with his clenched fist. "Heading East at this hour in the morning, and the sun astern?"
你在說謊！他用緊握著的拳頭打了他。"大清老早這個時辰，往東駛，可太陽卻在后邊？"
Upon this every soul was confounded; for the phenomenon just then observed by Ahab had unaccountably escaped every one else; but its very blinding palpableness must have been the cause.
大家聽到這番話，都驚慌失措；因為亞哈這時所覺察到的這種現(xiàn)象，誰都沒有注意到；毛病一定出在那股弄得人們眼花繚亂的陽光上。
Thrusting his head half-way into the binnacle, Ahab caught one glimpse of the compasses; his uplifted arm slowly fell; for a moment he almost seemed to stagger. Standing behind him Starbuck looked, and lo! the two compasses pointed East, and the Pequod was as infallibly going West.
亞哈半路里把頭探進羅盤針里，看一看那羅盤針后，他那只高舉的胳膊慢慢地落下來；一時間他簡直是立不穩(wěn)了。站在他后邊的斯達巴克一看，哎喲！兩只羅盤針都指著東方，而事實上，"裴廓德號"卻在朝西駛去。
But ere the first wild alarm could get out abroad among the crew, the old man with a rigid laugh exclaimed, "I have it! It has happened before. Mr. Starbuck, last night's thunder turned our compasses — that's all. Thou hast before now heard of such a thing, I take it."
但在這一剛發(fā)現(xiàn)的離奇的秘密讓水手們知道之前，這老頭子卻一聲生硬的大笑，高叫了起來，"我明白啦！這事情從前也碰到過。斯達巴克先生，昨兒晚上的雷電把我們這只羅盤針給轉了向啦——就是這么回事。我相信，你從前也聽到過這種事情。"
Aye; but never before has it happened to me, sir, said the pale mate, gloomily.
唔，我自己可從來沒有碰到過，先生。面色灰白的大副陰郁郁地說。
Here, it must needs be said, that accidents like this have in more than one case occurred to ships in violent storms.
這里，必須說明一下，象這樣的事故，在強暴風雨里，船只是不止一次發(fā)生過的。
