And besides other reasons, to this conclusion I am impelled,
撇开其它一切理由,
by considerations touching the great inherent dignity and sublimity of the Sperm Whale;
我是由于考虑到抹香鲸本身具有无限威严与雄壮的气概,而不得不下这个结论的;
I account him no common, shallow being,
我认为它不是普通浅薄的东西,
inasmuch as it is an undisputed fact that he is never found on soundings, or near shores; all other whales sometimes are.
因为,无可争辩的,它决不象其它一般鲸那样,可以在水深的地方或者在岸边让人们发现到。
He is both ponderous and profound.
它是既稳重又具有深谋远虑的动物。
And I am convinced that from the heads of all ponderous profound beings, such as Plato, Pyrrho, the Devil, Jupiter, Dante, and so on,
我认为,在一切既稳重而又有深谋远虑的人们的脑袋里,象柏拉图,皮洛(怀疑主义的始创者),阎王,天神,但丁(意大利诗人)等等,
there always goes up a certain semi-visible steam, while in the act of thinking deep thoughts.
当他们正在思索奥妙的问题时,总会冒起一股隐约可见的雾气来。
While composing a little treatise on Eternity, I had the curiosity to place a mirror before me;
我在构思一篇《论灵魂不灭》的小文章的时候,就曾经好奇地在我面前摆着一面镜子;
and ere long saw reflected there, a curious involved worming and undulation in the atmosphere over my head.
于是,不久就看到那里面反映出:一阵古怪的烟气在我头顶四周缭绕起伏。
The invariable moisture of my hair, while plunged in deep thought, after six cups of hot tea in my thin shingled attic, of an August noon;
我在八月的正午,在我那间简陋的阁楼里,喝了六大杯热茶后沉思苦想时,头发里就一定是湿漉漉的;
this seems an additional argument for the above supposition.
这似乎又为上边的假设增添一个论据了。
And how nobly it raises our conceit of the mighty, misty monster, to behold him solemnly sailing through a calm tropical sea;
看到大鲸威风十足地游过热带那种风平浪静的海洋时,这只魁梧而迷蒙蒙的巨兽,可一下子教我们激起了多么壮丽的幻想。
his vast, mild head overhung by a canopy of vapor, engendered by his incommunicable contemplations,
在它那硕大、柔和的头顶,由于它那无法言传的沉思默想而挂着一顶雾气重重的华盖,
and that vapor— as you will sometimes see it—glorified by a rainbow, as if Heaven itself had put its seal upon his thoughts.
而那种雾气——你有时看得到——又被虹彩照耀得光辉灿烂,仿佛上天已经批准它的思想似的。