It is noon; and Dough-Boy, the steward1, thrusting his pale loaf-of-bread face from the cabin-scuttle2, announces dinner to his lord and master who, sitting in the lee quarter-boat, has just been taking an observation of the sun; and is now mutely reckoning the latitude3 on the smooth, medallion-shaped tablet, reserved for that daily purpose on the upper part of his ivory leg. From his complete inattention to the tidings, you would think that moody4 Ahab had not heard his menial. But presently, catching5 hold of the mizen shrouds6, he swings himself to the deck, and in an even, unexhilarated voice, saying, "Dinner, Mr. Starbuck," disappears into the cabin.
When the last echo of his sultan's step has died away, and Starbuck, the first Emir, has every reason to suppose that he is seated, then Starbuck rouses from his quietude, takes a few turns along the planks7, and, after a grave peep into the binnacle, says, with some touch of pleasantness, "Dinner, Mr. Stubb," and descends8 the scuttle. The second Emir lounges about the rigging awhile, and then slightly shaking the main brace9, to see whether it will be all right with that important rope, he likewise takes up the old burden, and with a rapid "Dinner, Mr. Flask10," follows after his predecessors11.
But the third Emir, now seeing himself all alone on the quarter-deck, seems to feel relieved from some curious restraint; for, tipping all sorts of knowing winks12 in all sorts of directions, and kicking off his shoes, he strikes into a sharp but noiseless squall of a hornpipe right over the Grand Turk's head; and then, by a dexterous13 sleight14, pitching his cap up into the mizentop for a shelf, he goes down rollicking so far at least as he remains15 visible from the deck, reversing all other processions, by bringing up the rear with music. But ere stepping into the cabin doorway16 below, he pauses, ships a new face altogether, and, then, independent, hilarious17 little Flask enters King Ahab's presence, in the character of Abjectus, or the Slave.
It is not the least among the strange things bred by the intense artificialness of sea-usages, that while in the open air of the deck some officers will, upon provocation18, bear themselves boldly and defyingly enough towards their commander; yet, ten to one, let those very officers the next moment go down to their customary dinner in that same commander's cabin, and straightway their inoffensive, not to say deprecatory and humble19 air towards him, as he sits at the head of the table; this is marvellous, sometimes most comical. Wherefore this difference? A problem? Perhaps not. To have been Belshazzar, King of Babylon; and to have been Belshazzar, not haughtily20 but courteously21, therein certainly must have been some touch of mundane22 grandeur23. But he who in the rightly regal and intelligent spirit presides over his own private dinner-table of invited guests, that man's unchallenged power and dominion24 of individual influence for the time; that man's royalty25 of state transcends26 Belshazzar's, for Belshazzar was not the greatest. Who has but once dined his friends, has tasted what it is to be Caesar. It is a witchery of social czarship which there is no withstanding. Now, if to this consideration you super-add the official supremacy28 of a ship-master, then, by inference, you will derive29 the cause of that peculiarity30 of sea-life just mentioned.
Over his ivory-inlaid table, Ahab presided like a mute, maned sea-lion on the white coral beach, surrounded by his war-like but still deferential32 cubs33. In his own proper turn, each officer waited to be served. They were as little children before Ahab; and yet, in Ahab, there seemed not to lurk34 the smallest social arrogance35. With one mind, their intent eyes all fastened upon the old man's knife, as he carved the chief dish before him. I do not suppose that for the world they would have profaned36 that moment with the slightest observation, even upon so neutral a topic as the weather. No! And when reaching out his knife and fork, between which the slice of beef was locked, Ahab thereby37 motioned Starbuck's plate towards him, the mate received his meat as though receiving alms; and cut it tenderly; and a little started if, perchance, the knife grazed against the plate; and chewed it noiselessly; and swallowed it, not without circumspection38. For, like the Coronation banquet at Frankfort, where the German Emperor profoundly dines with the seven Imperial Electors, so these cabin meals were somehow solemn meals, eaten in awful silence; and yet at table old Ahab forbade not conversation; only he himself was dumb. What a relief it was to choking Stubb, when a rat made a sudden racket in the hold below. And poor little Flask, he was the youngest son, and little boy of this weary family party. His were the shin-bones of the saline beef; his would have been the drumsticks. For Flask to have presumed to help himself, this must have seemed to him tantamount to larceny39 in the first degree. Had he helped himself at that table, doubtless, never more would he have been able to hold his head up in this honest world; nevertheless, strange to say, Ahab never forbade him. And had Flask helped himself, the chances were Ahab had never so much as noticed it. Least of all, did Flask presume to help himself to butter. Whether he thought the owners of the ship denied it to him, on account of its clotting40 his clear, sunny complexion41; or whether he deemed that, on so long a voyage in such marketless waters, butter was at a premium42, and therefore was not for him, a subaltern; however it was, Flask, alas43! was a butterless man!
Another thing. Flask was the last person down at the dinner, and Flask is the first man up. Consider! For hereby Flask's dinner was badly jammed in point of time. Starbuck and Stubb both had the start of him; and yet they also have the privilege of lounging in the rear. If Stubb even, who is but a peg44 higher than Flask, happens to have but a small appetite, and soon shows symptoms of concluding his repast, then Flask must bestir himself, he will not get more than three mouthfuls that day; for it is against holy usage for Stubb to precede Flask to the deck. Therefore it was that Flask once admitted in private, that ever since he had arisen to the dignity of an officer, from that moment he had never known what it was to be otherwise than hungry, more or less. For what he ate did not so much relieve his hunger, as keep it immortal45 in him. Peace and satisfaction, thought Flask, have for ever departed from my stomach. I am an officer; but, how I wish I could fist a bit of old-fashioned beef in the fore-castle, as I used to when I was before the mast. There's the fruits of promotion46 now; there's the vanity of glory: there's the insanity47 of life! Besides, if it were so that any mere48 sailor of the Pequod had a grudge49 against Flask in Flask's official capacity, all that sailor had to do, in order to obtain ample vengeance50, was to go aft at dinnertime, and get a peep at Flask through the cabin sky-light, sitting silly and dumfoundered before awful Ahab.
Now, Ahab and his three mates formed what may be called the first table in the Pequod's cabin. After their departure, taking place in inverted51 order to their arrival, the canvas cloth was cleared, or rather was restored to some hurried order by the pallid52 steward. And then the three harpooneers were bidden to the feast, they being its residuary legatees. They made a sort of temporary servants' hall of the high and mighty53 cabin.
In strange contrast to the hardly tolerable constraint54 and nameless invisible domineerings of the captain's table, was the entire care-free license55 and ease, the almost frantic56 democracy of those inferior fellows the harpooneers. While their masters, the mates, seemed afraid of the sound of the hinges of their own jaws57, the harpooneers chewed their food with such a relish58 that there was a report to it. They dined like lords; they filled their bellies59 like Indian ships all day loading with spices. Such portentous60 appetites had Queequeg and Tashtego, that to fill out the vacancies61 made by the previous repast, often the pale Dough-Boy was fain to bring on a great baron62 of salt-junk, seemingly quarried63 out of the solid ox. And if he were not lively about it, if he did not go with a nimble hop-skip-and-jump, then Tashtego had an ungentlemanly way of accelerating him by darting64 a fork at his back, harpoon-wise. And once Daggoo, seized with a sudden humor, assisted Dough-Boy's memory by snatching him up bodily, and thrusting his head into a great empty wooden trencher, while Tashtego, knife in hand, began laying out the circle preliminary to scalping him. He was naturally a very nervous, shuddering65 sort of little fellow, this bread-faced steward; the progeny66 of a bankrupt baker67 and a hospital nurse. And what with the standing27 spectacle of the black terrific Ahab, and the periodical tumultuous visitations of these three savages69, Dough-Boy's whole life was one continual lip-quiver. Commonly, after seeing the harpooneers furnished with all things they demanded, he would escape from their clutches into his little pantry adjoining, and fearfully peep out at them through the blinds of its door, till all was over.
It was a sight to see Queequeg seated over against Tashtego, opposing his filed teeth to the Indian's; crosswise to them, Daggoo seated on the floor, for a bench would have brought his hearse-plumed head to the low carlines; at every motion of his colossal70 limbs, making the low cabin framework to shake, as when an African elephant goes passenger in a ship. But for all this, the great negro was wonderfully abstemious71, not to say dainty. It seemed hardly possible that by such comparatively small mouthfuls he could keep up the vitality72 diffused73 through so broad, baronial, and superb a person. But, doubtless, this noble savage68 fed strong and drank deep of the abounding74 element of air; and through his dilated75 nostrils76 snuffed in the sublime77 life of the worlds. Not by beef or by bread, are giants made or nourished. But Queequeg, he had a mortal, barbaric smack78 of the lip in eating-- an ugly sound enough--so much so, that the trembling Dough-Boy almost looked to see whether any marks of teeth lurked79 in his own lean arms. And when he would hear Tashtego singing out for him to produce himself, that his bones might be picked, the simple-witted Steward all but shattered the crockery hanging round him in the pantry, by his sudden fits of the palsy. Nor did the whetstone which the harpooneers carried in their pockets, for their lances and other weapons; and with which whetstones, at dinner, they would ostentatiously sharpen their knives; that grating sound did not at all tend to tranquillize poor Dough-Boy. How could he forget that in his Island days, Queequeg, for one, must certainly have been guilty of some murderous, convivial80 indiscretion. Alas! Dough-Boy! hard fares the white waiter who waits upon cannibals. Not a napkin should he carry on his arm, but a buckler. In good time, though, to his great delight, the three salt-sea warriors81 would rise and depart; to his credulous82, fable-mongering ears, all their martial83 bones jingling84 in them at every step, like Moorish85 scimetars in scabbards.
But, though these barbarians86 dined in the cabin, and nominally87 lived there; still, being anything but sedentary in their habits, they were scarcely ever in it except at mealtimes, and just before sleeping-time, when they passed through it to their own peculiar31 quarters.
In this one matter, Ahab seemed no exception to most American whale captains, who, as a set, rather incline to the opinion that by rights the ship's cabin belongs to them; and that it is by courtesy alone that anybody else is, at any time, permitted there. So that, in real truth, the mates and harpooneers of the Pequod might more properly be said to have lived out of the cabin than in it. For when they did enter it, it was something as a streetdoor enters a house; turning inwards for a moment, only to be turned out the next; and, as a permanent thing, residing in the open air. Nor did they lose much hereby; in the cabin was no companionship; socially, Ahab was inaccessible88. Though nominally included in the census89 of Christendom, he was still an alien to it. He lived in the world, as the last of the Grisly Bears lived in settled Missouri. And as when Spring and Summer had departed, that wild Logan of the woods, burying himself in the hollow of a tree, lived out the winter there, sucking his own paws; so, in his inclement90, howling old age, Ahab's soul, shut up in the caved trunk of his body, there fed upon the sullen91 paws of its gloom!
收听单词发音 |
1
steward
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| n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员 | |
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scuttle
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| v.急赶，疾走，逃避；n.天窗；舷窗 | |
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latitude
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| n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区 | |
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moody
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| adj.心情不稳的，易怒的，喜怒无常的 | |
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catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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shrouds
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| n.裹尸布( shroud的名词复数 )；寿衣；遮蔽物；覆盖物v.隐瞒( shroud的第三人称单数 )；保密 | |
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planks
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| （厚）木板( plank的名词复数 )； 政纲条目，政策要点 | |
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descends
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| v.下来( descend的第三人称单数 )；下去；下降；下斜 | |
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brace
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| n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
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flask
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| n.瓶，火药筒，砂箱 | |
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predecessors
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| n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身 | |
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winks
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| v.使眼色( wink的第三人称单数 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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dexterous
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| adj.灵敏的；灵巧的 | |
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sleight
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| n.技巧，花招 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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hilarious
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| adj.充满笑声的，欢闹的；[反]depressed | |
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provocation
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| n.激怒，刺激，挑拨，挑衅的事物，激怒的原因 | |
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humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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haughtily
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| adv. 傲慢地, 高傲地 | |
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courteously
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| adv.有礼貌地，亲切地 | |
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mundane
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| adj.平凡的；尘世的；宇宙的 | |
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grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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dominion
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| n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图 | |
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royalty
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| n.皇家，皇族 | |
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transcends
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| 超出或超越（经验、信念、描写能力等）的范围( transcend的第三人称单数 )； 优于或胜过… | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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supremacy
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| n.至上；至高权力 | |
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derive
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| v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自 | |
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peculiarity
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| n.独特性，特色；特殊的东西；怪癖 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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deferential
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| adj. 敬意的，恭敬的 | |
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cubs
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| n.幼小的兽，不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 ) | |
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lurk
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| n.潜伏，潜行；v.潜藏，潜伏，埋伏 | |
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arrogance
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| n.傲慢，自大 | |
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profaned
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| v.不敬( profane的过去式和过去分词 )；亵渎，玷污 | |
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thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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circumspection
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| n.细心，慎重 | |
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larceny
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| n.盗窃（罪） | |
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40
clotting
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| v.凝固( clot的现在分词 )；烧结 | |
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complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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premium
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| n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的 | |
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alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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peg
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| n.木栓，木钉；vt.用木钉钉，用短桩固定 | |
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immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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promotion
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| n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传 | |
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insanity
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| n.疯狂，精神错乱；极端的愚蠢，荒唐 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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grudge
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| n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做 | |
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vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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51
inverted
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| adj.反向的，倒转的v.使倒置，使反转( invert的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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52
pallid
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| adj.苍白的，呆板的 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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constraint
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| n.(on)约束，限制；限制(或约束)性的事物 | |
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license
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| n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许 | |
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frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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57
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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bellies
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| n.肚子( belly的名词复数 )；腹部；（物体的）圆形或凸起部份；腹部…形的 | |
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portentous
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| adj.不祥的，可怕的，装腔作势的 | |
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vacancies
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| n.空房间( vacancy的名词复数 )；空虚；空白；空缺 | |
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baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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quarried
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| v.从采石场采得( quarry的过去式和过去分词 )；从（书本等中）努力发掘（资料等）；在采石场采石 | |
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darting
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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shuddering
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| v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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progeny
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| n.后代，子孙；结果 | |
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baker
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| n.面包师 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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abstemious
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| adj.有节制的，节俭的 | |
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vitality
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| n.活力，生命力，效力 | |
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diffused
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| 散布的，普及的，扩散的 | |
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abounding
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| adj.丰富的，大量的v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的现在分词 ) | |
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dilated
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| adj.加宽的，扩大的v.（使某物）扩大，膨胀，张大( dilate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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smack
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| vt.拍，打，掴；咂嘴；vi.含有…意味；n.拍 | |
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79
lurked
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| vi.潜伏，埋伏（lurk的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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80
convivial
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| adj.狂欢的，欢乐的 | |
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81
warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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82
credulous
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| adj.轻信的，易信的 | |
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83
martial
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| adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的 | |
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84
jingling
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| 叮当声 | |
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85
moorish
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| adj.沼地的，荒野的，生[住]在沼地的 | |
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86
barbarians
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| n.野蛮人( barbarian的名词复数 )；外国人；粗野的人；无教养的人 | |
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87
nominally
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| 在名义上，表面地； 应名儿 | |
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88
inaccessible
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| adj.达不到的，难接近的 | |
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89
census
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| n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查 | |
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90
inclement
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| adj.严酷的，严厉的，恶劣的 | |
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91
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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