Here be it known, that though these wild fishermen do not, as a general thing, and according to the great military maxim, make the enemy defray the current expenses of the war (at least before realizing the proceeds of the voyage), yet now and then you find some of these Nantucketers who have a genuine relish for that particular part of the Sperm Whale designated by Stubb; comprising the tapering extremity of the body.
其实,一般说来,这些粗犷的捕鱼人虽然并不根据那个伟大的军事准则,向他的敌人要求清偿战争杂费(至少在航程的结果还未清理前),然而,人们却不时地会在这些南塔开特人中,看到有些人对于斯塔布所指定的抹香鲸那个特别部位颇具真正的兴趣;包括大鲸的细小的器官在内。
About midnight that steak was cut and cooked; and lighted by two lanterns of sperm oil, Stubb stoutly stood up to his spermaceti supper at the capstan-head, as if that capstan were a sideboard. Nor was Stubb the only banqueter on whale's flesh that night. Mingling their mumblings with his own mastications, thousands on thousands of sharks, swarming round the dead leviathan, smackingly feasted on its fatness. The few sleepers below in their bunks were often startled by the sharp slapping of their tails against the hull, within a few inches of the sleepers' hearts. Peering over the side you could just see them (as before you heard them) wallowing in the sullen, black waters, and turning over on their backs as they scooped out huge globular pieces of the whale of the bigness of a human head. This particular feat of the shark seems all but miraculous.
约莫午夜时分,鲸排已经割好煮出来了;于是,在两盏抹香鲸油的灯笼的映照下,斯塔布就挺胸叠肚地站在绞盘旁边吃起他那抹香鲸的晚餐,仿佛那只绞盘就是一只餐具架。那天晚上,大尝鲸肉筵席的,可不光是斯塔布一个人。跟斯塔布自己的咀嚼声交混在一起的,还有成千上万的鲨鱼的嗫嚅声,它们都紧围着这条死鲸,在巴嗒巴嗒地饱尝它的肥肉。几个睡在舱里床铺上的人,时常被它们的尾巴敲击着船身的刺耳的啪啪声惊醒,因为隔开睡觉的人们的心胸不过是几英寸之遥。如果靠船舷瞧一瞧,就可以看到它们(在没有听到它们那声音之前)正在那阴森、漆黑的水里翻滚。它们把身子仰天一翻,就剜出了一块跟人头一般大小的鲸肉。鲨鱼这种特具的技巧,似乎很是不可思议。
来源:可可英语 http://www.kekenet.com/menu/201701/488216.shtml