The monkey-rope is found in all whalers; but it was only in the Pequod that the monkey and his holder were ever tied together. This improvement upon the original usage was introduced by no less a man than Stubb, in order to afford to the imperilled harpooneer the strongest possible guarantee for the faithfulness and vigilance of his monkey-rope holder.
(原注:所有的捕鲸船都有猴索;不过只有在"裴廓德号"上才始终是把猴索跟拉绳人缚在一起。这种一反通例的改良方法,提倡的可不只是斯塔布一人而已,为的是要使得那个危在旦夕的标枪手,有最大的可能获得那个牵索人的忠实和警惕的保证。)
I have hinted that I would often jerk poor Queequeg from between the whale and the ship—where he would occasionally fall, from the incessant rolling and swaying of both. But this was not the only jamming jeopardy he was exposed to. Unappalled by the massacre made upon them during the night, the sharks now freshly and more keenly allured by the before pent blood which began to flow from the carcass—the rabid creatures swarmed round it like bees in a beehive.
我已经隐约说过,我要经常在船只和大鲸间拉拉可怜的魁魁格——因为怕他会偶然从那不断翻腾、摇晃的船只和鲸身上跌下去。可是,他得遭遇的危险,并不是仅此而已。那些鲨鱼,虽然经过了昨晚的大屠杀,不仅没有把它们吓住,这时反而更其精神勃勃,更其活跃,因为那只尸体上郁积着的。如今已在开始流出的血,把它们吸引住了——这些发狂似的畜生都象出窠的蜜蜂一般,把它团团围起。
And right in among those sharks was Queequeg; who often pushed them aside with his floundering feet. A thing altogether incredible were it not that attracted by such prey as a dead whale, the otherwise miscellaneously carnivorous shark will seldom touch a man.
直接置身在这些鲨鱼群中的就是魁魁格;他经常用他那双浸在水里的脚把它们踢开。这是一件简直无法叫人相信的事,要不是被象死鲸这样的猎物所吸引,这些虽说是无所不食的鲨鱼,倒是难得会碰到人身的。
Nevertheless, it may well be believed that since they have such a ravenous finger in the pie, it is deemed but wise to look sharp to them. Accordingly, besides the monkey-rope, with which I now and then jerked the poor fellow from too close a vicinity to the maw of what seemed a peculiarly ferocious shark—he was provided with still another protection.
可是,宁可信其有而不可信其无,它们既然是这样一种贪得无厌的害人共谋犯,那倒是宁可对它们小心点儿为妙。因此,除了我用这根猴索不时地拉拉这个可怜的家伙,使他不至于太靠拢那看似格外凶狠的鲨鱼嘴巴之外——他还有另一种保障: