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Hence, I conclude, that in boasting himself to be high lifted above a whaleman, in that assertion the pirate has no solid basis to stand on.
因此我敢断定，海盗在自夸高出于捕鲸人一筹这一点上，是没有任何立得住脚的牢靠的基础的。
But what is a Gam? You might wear out your index-finger running up and down the columns of dictionaries,and never find the word, Dr. Johnson never attained to that erudition；Noah Webster's ark does not hold it.Nevertheless, this same expressive word has now for many years been in constant use among some fifteen thousand true born Yankees. Certainly, it needs a definition, and should be incorporated into the Lexicon. With that view, letme learnedly define it.
那么，“联欢会”是什么呢？你也许弄酸了你的手指头，经复翻遍了各种辞典，也找不到这个词儿。约翰逊博士（塞缪尔·约翰逊（1709—1784）——英国的辞典编撰者，他所编撰的辞典出版于一七五五年。）从来没有做出过这个解释；挪亚。韦柏斯特（挪亚。韦柏斯特（１７５８—１８４３）——美国的辞典编撰者，他的《韦柏斯特大辞典》出版于一八二八年。由于韦柏斯特的名字叫挪亚，因而作者把他的辞典戏称为《圣经》上挪亚的方舟。）的方舟也没有装上过这个词。话虽如此，这个意味深长的词儿，却迄今已成为一万五千个道地的扬基多年来所经常应用的字眼了。它当然需要有个定义，而且还得给加进辞典里去。因此，让我来学究式地给它下个定义吧。
GAM. NOUN--A social meeting of two (or more) Whaleships, generally on a cruising-ground；when, after exchanging hails, they exchange visits by boats' crews, the two captains remaining, for the time, on board of one ship,and the two chief mates on the other.
联欢会（名词）——两艘（或两艘以上）捕鲸船在巡游场上相遇时通常举行的联谊会。两艘船在彼此打过招呼后，各船的水手们便互作访问；两位船长也暂时都呆在一艘船上，两个大副则在另一艘船上。
There is another little item about Gamming which must not be forgotten here. All professions have their own little peculiarities of detail；so has the whale fishery. In a pirate, man-of-war, or slave ship, when the captain is rowed anywhere in his boat,
关于联欢会，还有另外一个小项目，必须在这里提一提。各行各业都各有它们自己的一些小特点；捕鲸业当然也不例外。在海盗船上、兵舰上或者是在贩卖奴隶船上，船长坐小艇给划到任何地方去时，
