Steering now south-eastward by Ahab’s levelled steel, and her progress solely determined by Ahab’s level log and line; —
由亚哈布持平的利刃驾驶向东南方向，并且航程完全由亚哈布持平的日志和测线确定； —

the Pequod held on her path towards the Equator. —
佩克奇德号沿着通往赤道的航线继续前行； —

Making so long a passage through such unfrequented waters, descrying no ships, and ere long, sideways impelled by unvarying trade winds, over waves monotonously mild; —
在如此少有船只出没的水域中航行这么长时间，没发现任何船只，并且很快，被一成不变的贸易风横向推进，越过波浪一成不变地平缓； —

all these seemed the strange calm things preluding some riotous and desperate scene.
所有这一切似乎都是某场暴乱和绝望场面的奇怪、宁静的前奏；

At last, when the ship drew near to the outskirts, as it were, of the Equatorial fishing-ground, and in the deep darkness that goes before the dawn, was sailing by a cluster of rocky islets; —
最后，当船只靠近赤道捕鱼场的外围时，在黎明前的深沉黑暗中，正在经过一群岩石岛屿； —

the watch–then headed by Flask–was startled by a cry so plaintively wild and unearthly–like half-articulated wailings of the ghosts of all Herod’s murdered Innocents–that one and all, they started from their reveries, and for the space of some moments stood, or sat, or leaned all transfixed by listening, like the carved Roman slave, while that wild cry remained within hearing. —
值夜的人——当时由弗拉斯克带领——被一声如此哀怨、野性和非俗的呼喊惊呆了——这声哀声就像希律所杀婴儿的鬼魂半言半语的哀号——所有人一齐，他们从沉思中惊醒，接着的几个瞬间内都站着，坐着，靠着，像是听着被听力击穿，就像石刻的罗马奴隶一样； —

The Christian or civilized part of the crew said it was mermaids, and shuddered; —
基督教或文明的船员们说那是美人鱼，并且感到战栗； —

but the pagan harpooneers remained unappalled. —
但异教的鱼叉手们保持镇定； —

Yet the grey Manxman–the oldest mariner of all–declared that the wild thrilling sounds that were heard, were the voices of newly drowned men in the sea.
然而，年迈的马恩人——全船最老的水手——宣称，那些听到的充满戏剧性的声音是新近在海中溺亡的人们的声音；

Below in his hammock, Ahab did not hear of this till grey dawn, when he came to the deck; —
亚哈布在吊床中并没有听到这些，直到灰暗的黎明，当他走出甲板； —

it was then recounted to him by Flask, not unaccompanied with hinted dark meanings. —
然后由弗拉斯克向他讲述，不无隐晦的恐吓意味； —

He hollowly laughed, and thus explained the wonder.
他发出空洞的笑声，并解释这个奇迹；

Those rocky islands the ship had passed were the resort of great numbers of seals, and some young seals that had lost their dams, or some dams that had lost their cubs, must have risen nigh the ship and kept company with her, crying and sobbing with their human sort of wail. —
船只经过的那些岩石岛屿是大量海豹的栖息地，一些失去母亲的年幼海豹，或者一些失去幼崽的母海豹，必定靠近船只并夹带，痛苦地哭泣，用人类般的哀鸣； —

But this only the more affected some of them, because most mariners cherish a very superstitious feeling about seals, arising not only from their peculiar tones when in distress, but also from the human look of their round heads and semi-intelligent faces, seen peeringly uprising from the water alongside. —
但这只会更加影响他们中的某些人，因为大多数水手对海豹抱有非常迷信的感觉，不仅来自于它们在困境时特殊的音调，还来自于从水中朝上凝望的它们圆润的头部和半聪明的脸庞，看起来像人类； —

In the sea, under certain circumstances, seals have more than once been mistaken for men.
在某些情况下，海豹在海中曾经多次被误认为是人类。

But the bodings of the crew were destined to receive a most plausible confirmation in the fate of one of their number that morning. —
但船员的预感注定在那天早晨得到了最有力的证实。 —

At sun-rise this man went from his hammock to his mast-head at the fore; —
天一亮，这个人从吊床上走向前桅的桅杆； —

and whether it was that he was not yet half waked from his sleep (for sailors sometimes go aloft in a transition state), whether it was thus with the man, there is now no telling; —
无论是因为他还没有完全从睡梦中醒来（因为水手有时候会处于一种过渡状态而上到高空），也许这个人就是这样，现在无法确定； —

but, be that as it may, he had not been long at his perch, when a cry was heard–a cry and a rushing–and looking up, they saw a falling phantom in the air; —
但是，不管怎样，他刚刚站在他的位置上不久，就听到了一声尖叫声——一声尖叫声和一阵突如其来的喧哗声——往上看，他们看到了一道坠落的幻影在空中； —

and looking down, a little tossed heap of white bubbles in the blue of the sea.
往下看，是海中蓝色里一个被轻轻扔下的一小堆白色泡沫。

The life-buoy–a long slender cask–was dropped from the stern, where it always hung obedient to a cunning spring; —
救生圈——一只长长的细桶——被从船尾丢下，它总是顺从地悬挂在那里，听从弹簧的指挥； —

but no hand rose to seize it, and the sun having long beat upon this cask it had shrunken, so that it slowly filled, and the parched wood also filled at its every pore; —
但是没有手去抓住它，太阳照射在这个桶上已经很久了，导致它收缩，慢慢地装满水，而干燥的木头也在每一个孔隙中吸满了水； —

and the studded iron-bound cask followed the sailor to the bottom, as if to yield him his pillow, though in sooth but a hard one.
镶有铁边的桶跟着水手沉入水底，仿佛是要给他一个枕头，尽管事实上只能算是一个坚硬的枕头。

And thus the first man of the Pequod that mounted the mast to look out for the White Whale, on the White Whale’s own peculiar ground; —
因此，Pequod号上第一个爬到桅杆上寻找白鲸的人，站在白鲸自己的独有领地上； —

that man was swallowed up in the deep. But few, perhaps, thought of that at the time. —
这个人被深海吞噬了。然而，也许很少有人当时想到这一点。 —

Indeed, in some sort, they were not grieved at this event, at least as a portent; —
事实上，在某种程度上，他们并不为这一事件感到悲伤，至少不把它看作是一个不祥的预兆； —

for they regarded it, not as a fore-shadowing of evil in the future, but as the fulfilment of an evil already presaged. —
因为他们把它看作并不是未来的邪恶的预示，而是对已经预示的邪恶的实现。 —

They declared that now they knew the reason of those wild shrieks they had heard the night before. —
他们声称现在他们知道了前一晚所听到的那些狂野尖叫声的原因。 —

But again the old Manxman said nay.
但是曼岛老人再次说不。

The lost life-buoy was now to be replaced; Starbuck was directed to see to it; —
这艘失落的救生圈现在需要更换；指示斯塔布克去处理它； —

but as no cask of sufficient lightness could be found, and as in the feverish eagerness of what seemed the approaching crisis of the voyage, all hands were impatient of any toil but what was directly connected with its final end, whatever that might prove to be; —
但是由于找不到足够轻便的木桶，而且在似乎逼近的航程危机中所有船员都迫不及待地希望只从事与最终目标直接相关的工作，无论那终点到底是什么； —

therefore, they were going to leave the ship’s stern unprovided with a buoy, when by certain strange signs and inuendoes Queequeg hinted a hint concerning his coffin.
所以，当他们准备离开船尾时没有提供浮标，正当这时奇奇格通过一些奇怪的暗示提及他的棺材；

“A life-buoy of a coffin!” cried Starbuck, starting.
“一个棺材做的救生圈！”史塔巴克惊呼起来；

“Rather queer, that, I should say,” said Stubb.
“我得说，挺奇怪的。”史塔伯说；

“It will make a good enough one,” said Flask, “the carpenter here can arrange it easily.”
“做为一个不错的救生圈。”弗拉斯克说，“这里的木匠可以很容易地安排好的”；

“Bring it up; there’s nothing else for it,” said Starbuck, after a melancholy pause. —
“把它拿上来；除此之外别无选择。”悲伤的停顿之后，史塔巴克说； —

“Rig it, carpenter; do not look at me so– the coffin, I mean. —
“安排好它，木匠；别那样看着我–我是说棺材； —

Dost thou hear me? Rig it.”
你听到我说了什么吗？安排好它”；

“And shall I nail down the lid, sir?” moving his hand as with a hammer.
“那我该把盖子钉上吗，先生？”他的手仿佛拿着锤子般移动着；

“Aye.”
“是的”；

“And shall I caulk the seams, sir?” moving his hand as with a caulking-iron.
“然后我应该把缝隙用储漆料填满吗，先生？”他的手仿佛拿着填缝铁般移动着；

“Aye.”
“是的”；

“And shall I then pay over the same with pitch, sir?” moving his hand as with a pitch-pot.
“然后我应该把它用沥青涂抹过吗，先生？”他的手仿佛拿着沥青壶般移动着；

Away! What possesses thee to this? Make a life-buoy of the coffin, and no more. —
离开！你为什么要这样做呢？把棺材做成救生圈就行了，不要再做什么了； —

–Mr. Stubb, Mr. Flask, come forward with me.”
–史塔伯，弗拉斯克，跟我过来。

“He goes off in a huff. The whole he can endure; at the parts he baulks. Now I don’t like this. —
他生气地走开. 他可以忍受整体; 但在细节上却犹豫不决. 现在我不喜欢这样. —

I make a leg for Captain Ahab, and he wears it like a gentleman; —
我为亚哈船长做了一条腿，他却像绅士一样穿着; —

but I make a bandbox for Queequeg, and he won’t put his head into it. —
但为奎格做了一个礼帽盒，他却不愿把头伸进去. —

Are all my pains to go for nothing with that coffin? And now I’m ordered to make a life-buoy of it. —
我所有的辛苦难道都要白费了吗？现在我被要求把它做成一个救生圈. —

It’s like turning an old coat; going to bring the flesh on the other side now. —
这就像翻旧衣服; 现在要把肉翻到另一边去. —

I don’t like this cobbling sort of business– I don’t like it at all; it’s undignified; —
我不喜欢这种补鞋匠的工作–我一点也不喜欢; 这是不庄重的; —

it’s not my place. Let tinkers’ brats do tinkerings; we are their betters. —
这不是我的职责. 让补鞋匠的孩子去做他们的事; 我们是他们的上等人. —

I like to take in hand none but clean, virgin, fair-and-square mathematical jobs, something that regularly begins at the beginning, and is at the middle when midway, and comes to an end at the conclusion; —
我喜欢只做清洁、处女般正规的数学工作，一切都按部就班地开始，中间在中途，结束于结尾; —

not a cobbler’s job, that’s at an end in the middle, and at the beginning at the end. —
不是搭补鞋匠的工，中途就结束，结束时又重新开始. —

It’s the old woman’s tricks to be giving cobbling jobs. Lord! —
这是老太婆的把戏给鞋匠活干。天呐! —

what an affection all old women have for tinkers. —
老太婆们对补鞋匠都有一种感情. —

I know an old woman of sixty-five who ran away with a bald-headed young tinker once. —
我认识一位六十五岁的老太婆，她曾和一个秃头的年轻补鞋匠私奔过。 —

And that’s the reason I never would work for lonely widow old women ashore when I kept my job-shop in the Vineyard; —
这就是为什么在我在葡萄园里做工作时，我从不为孤寡的老寡妇工作； —

they might have taken it into their lonely old heads to run off with me. But heigh-ho! —
他们可能会灵机一动，决定和我私奔。但哎呀! —

there are no caps at sea but snow-caps. Let me see. Nail down the lid; caulk the seams; —
海上只有雪帽。让我看看. 钉上盖子; 填好缝隙; —

pay over the same with pitch; batten them down tight, and hang it with the snap-spring over the ship’s stern. —
用沥青覆盖好木板；把它们紧紧卷起，用弹簧挂在船尾上。 —

Were ever such things done before with a coffin? —
以前有人用棺材这样做过吗？ —

Some superstitious old carpenters, now, would be tied up in the rigging, ere they would do the job. —
有些迷信的老木匠在做这件事之前会被捆绑在索具上。 —

But I’m made of knotty Aroostook hemlock; I don’t budge. Cruppered with a coffin! —
但我是用坚固的阿鲁斯托克铁杉做的；我不动摇。和棺材一起！ —

Sailing about with a grave-yard tray! But never mind. —
带着一个坟墓的托盘在世界上航行！但没关系。 —

We workers in woods make bridal bedsteads and card-tables, as well as coffins and hearses. —
我们木匠制作新婚床和纸牌桌，同样也制作棺材和灵车。 —

We work by the month, or by the job, or by the profit; —
我们按月计薪，或按工作量计薪，或按利润计薪； —

not for us to ask the why and wherefore of our work, unless it be too confounded cobbling, and then we stash it if we can. —
不是我们去问我们工作的原因，除非它太讨厌了，那时我们尽力去解决。 —

Hem! I’ll do the job, now, tenderly. I’ll have me–let’s see–how many in the ship’s company, all told? —
嗯！我现在会温柔地完成这份工作。让我想想–船员一共有多少人？ —

But I’ve forgotten. Any way, I’ll have me thirty separate, Turk’s-headed life-lines, each three feet long hanging all round to the coffin. —
但我忘了。无论如何，我会给棺材周围悬挂三英尺长的三十根分开的土耳其结缆绳。 —

Then, if the hull go down, there’ll be thirty lively fellows all fighting for one coffin, a sight not seen very often beneath the sun! —
那么，如果船沉了，就会有三十个活泼的家伙争夺一个棺材，这可是很少见的光景！ —

Come hammer, caulking-iron, pitch-pot, and marling-spike! Let’s to it.”
来吧，锤子，填缝铁，沥青罐和绗紝！让我们开始吧。