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As in general shape the noble Sperm Whale's head may be compared to a Roman war-chariot (especially in front, where it is so broadly rounded); so, at a broad view, the Right Whale's head bears a rather inelegant resemblance to a gigantic galliot-toed shoe. Two hundred years ago an old Dutch voyager likened its shape to that of a shoemaker's last. And in this same last or shoe, that old woman of the nursery tale with the swarming brood, might very comfortably be lodged, she and all her progeny.
因为就总的形状说来，那只高贵的抹香鲸头也许可以跟古罗马的战车相媲美（尤其是它那只真是又大又圆的面孔）；所以，概括地看来，那只露脊鲸头，倒有几分粗具一只狭长的大鞋子的样子。两百年前，有个荷兰的老航海家把它的样子比拟作一只鞋匠的鞋型。就在这一只鞋型或者鞋子里，童话里那个有着丰隆的儿女的老妇和她所有的子孙也许可以住得十分舒服呢。
But as you come nearer to this great head it begins to assume different aspects, according to your point of view. If you stand on its summit and look at these two f-shaped spout-holes, you would take the whole head for an enormous bass viol, and these spiracles, the apertures in its soundingboard. Then, again, if you fix your eye upon this strange, crested, comblike incrustation on the top of the mass—this green, barnacled thing, which the Greenlanders call the "crown," and the Southern fishers the "bonnet" of the Right Whale; fixing your eyes solely on this, you would take the head for the trunk of some huge oak, with a bird's nest in its crotch. At any rate, when you watch those live crabs that nestle here on this bonnet, such an idea will be almost sure to occur to you;
但是，当你再朝这只大头走近一点，根据你的观点的不同，它就有各种不同的外形。如果你站在它的头顶上，对这两只f型的喷水孔望一望，你就会把整个头当成一只低音大提琴，而那些个喷孔，就是大提琴的声板上的壁孔。接着，如果你再定睛望着那大头顶上的奇特。隆起。鸡冠形的覆盖物——这种碧绿而缠来缠去的东西，格陵兰人管它叫"王冠"，南海的渔人却管它叫露脊鲸的"帽子"。你只要把眼睛紧瞪在这件东西上，你就会把这只大头当成一棵大橡树的树干，树桠上还筑有一只鸟窠。总之，当你看到蹲在这顶帽子上的那些活蟹的时候，包准你几乎就会有这样的想法；
