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Because the greatest necessity for so doing would seem to be, when in feeding he accidentally takes in water. But the Sperm Whale's food is far beneath the surface, and there he cannot spout even if he would. Besides, if you regard him very closely, and time him with your watch, you will find that when unmolested, there is an undeviating rhyme between the periods of his jets and the ordinary periods of respiration.
因为，它之所以要这样排水，最大的原因倒似乎是因为它在吃东西的时候，偶然吸进了水的缘故。可是抹香鲸的食物都远藏在海底里，即使它要喷水，也无从喷了。再说，如果你一边很仔细地注意它，一边用你的表来记数，那么，在正常情况下，你就可以发现，它的喷水期间和通常的呼吸期间都有一种毫无偏差的规律。
But why pester one with all this reasoning on the subject? Speak out! You have seen him spout; then declare what the spout is; can you not tell water from air? My dear sir, in this world it is not so easy to settle these plain things. I have ever found your plain things the knottiest of all. And as for this whale spout, you might almost stand in it, and yet be undecided as to what it is precisely.
但是，为什么要对这问题用这么滔滔不绝的大道理来烦人呢？你就老老实实地说出来吧！你曾经看到过它喷水，那么，就说喷水究竟是一种什么东西好啦；难道你连水跟气都分不清吗？我的亲爱的先生呀，在这个世界上，要弄清这些平凡的事情，可不是那么容易呀。我向来认为你们所提出的这些平凡的事情，就是最疙瘩的问题。至于说到鲸的喷水，你简直是花了九牛二虎之力，还是决定不了它究竟是什么东西。
The central body of it is hidden in the snowy sparkling mist enveloping it; and how can you certainly tell whether any water falls from it, when, always, when you are close enough to a whale to get a close view of his spout, he is in a prodigious commotion, the water cascading all around him. And if at such times you should think that you really perceived drops of moisture in the spout, how do you know that they are not merely condensed from its vapor; or how do you know that they are not those identical drops superficially lodged in the spout-hole fissure, which is countersunk into the summit of the whale's head?
喷水的中心本来就隐藏在那把它四周围住的雪白晃亮的雾气里；叫人怎能准确地辨别出是否有水喷出来呢，而且，往往当你尽量要靠拢一条鲸，想把它的喷水瞧个明白的时候，它却正是处于极端乱糟糟、四周的水有如奔泻的小瀑布之际。如果在这样的时分，你自以为真正看到了喷水里有几滴湿气，可你又焉知它不过是水气所凝结起来的呢；你焉知那几滴高挂在喷水孔的裂缝里的东西，就一定不是反落在鲸头顶上的水？
