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Now, to any one not fully acquainted with the ways of the leviathans, it might seem an absurdly hopeless task thus to seek out one solitary creature in the unhooped oceans of this planet.
任何一个不十分熟悉大海兽的情况的人也许会以为,要在这样茫茫的大海里发现一只孤零零的生物,是一种荒诞而无望的工作。
But not so did it seem to Ahab, who knew the sets of all tides and currents;
可是,亚哈却不是这样看法,他熟悉一切大小潮流的形势,
and thereby calculating the driftings of the sperm whale's food;
可以从中预测抹香鲸的食料的漂流情况;
and, also calling to mind the regular, ascertained seasons for hunting him in particular latitudes;
也想得出在特定的地方猎击它的正常而肯定的季节;
could arrive at reasonable surmises, almost approaching to certainties, concerning the timeliest day to be upon this or that ground in search of his prey.
因而对于该在这里还是那里去搜索他的猎物的最适当的日子,也就能够得到合理的。差不多是近乎正确的推算了。
So assured, indeed, is the fact concerning the periodicalness of the sperm whale's resorting to given waters, that many hunters believe that, could he be closely observed and studied throughout the world;
事实上,关于抹香鲸常常到特定的海洋去的定期性,倒是非常有事实根据的,因此许多捕鲸者都认为,如果全世界都能对大鲸加以仔细研究和观察;
were the logs for one voyage of the entire whale fleet carefully collated, then the migrations of the sperm whale would be found to correspond in invariability to those of the herring-shoals or the flights of swallows.
如果把整个捕鲸队的每个航次的航海日志都仔细的核对整理一番,那么,就可以发现抹香鲸的移栖,在不变性上说来,是跟青鱼群或者燕群之类的移栖相一致的。
On this hint, attempts have been made to construct elaborate migratory charts of the sperm whale.
基于这种提示,有许多人竭尽心力,企图制出抹香鲸的移栖图。
Since the above was written, the statement is happily borne out by an official circular, issued by Lieutenant Maury, of the National Observatory, Washington, April 16th, 1851.
一八五一年四月十六日,华盛顿国立测候所的莫里上尉马修芳登莫里所发表的一件官方通报,荣幸地证实我以上的陈述。
By that circular, it appears that precisely such a chart is in course of completion.
就那份通报看来,似乎表明类似的移栖图已将告成。
