I had not been seated very long ere a man of a certain venerable robustness entered; —
进来的这位严肃老练的男人在我还没坐多久之前就进了门； —

immediately as the storm-pelted door flew back upon admitting him, a quick regardful eyeing of him by all the congregation, sufficiently attested that this fine old man was the chaplain. —
他踏入大厅，暴风雨肆虐的门迎风猛地打开，所有的会众迅速审视他，足以证明这位风范十足的老人就是牧师； —

Yes, it was the famous Father Mapple, so called by the whalemen, among whom he was a very great favorite. —
是的，这就是那位著名的马普尔神父，捕鲸人中间对他十分喜爱； —

He had been a sailor and a harpooneer in his youth, but for many years past had dedicated his life to the ministry. —
他年轻时曾是一名水手和捕鲸者，但多年来致力于神职工作； —

At the time I now write of, Father Mapple was in the hardy winter of a healthy old age; —
在我写作时的这个时候，马普尔神父正值健康老年的严冬； —

that sort of old age which seems merging into a second flowering youth, for among all the fissures of his wrinkles, there shone certain mild gleams of a newly developing bloom– the spring verdure peeping forth even beneath February’s snow. —
那种老年，似乎正在融入第二春的青春，因为在他皱纹的任何缝隙中，都闪烁着某种新生的温和光辉–春季新芽就连在二月的雪下也在冒头； —

No one having previously heard his history, could for the first time behold Father Mapple without the utmost interest, because there were certain engrafted clerical peculiarities about him, imputable to that adventurous maritime life he had led. —
任何人第一次见到马普尔神父，就会在最大的兴趣中看着他，因为他身上有一些牧师固有的特点，可以追溯到他那个曾经冒险的海洋生涯； —

When he entered I observed that he carried no umbrella, and certainly had not come in his carriage, for his tarpaulin hat ran down with melting sleet, and his great pilot cloth jacket seemed almost to drag him to the floor with the weight of the water it had absorbed. —
他进来时我注意到他没有带伞，肯定也没有坐车来，因为他头顶上帆布帽雨水淋漓而下，他那件非常沉重因吸湿而几乎拖到地板上的油布夹克； —

However, hat and coat and overshoes were one by one removed, and hung up in a little space in an adjacent corner; —
然而，帽子、外套和防水套鞋依次被脱掉，挂在附近一个小角落； —

when, arrayed in a decent suit, he quietly approached the pulpit.
当他穿上一套体面的服装后，安静地走向讲坛；

Like most old fashioned pulpits, it was a very lofty one, and since a regular stairs to such a height would, by its long angle with the floor, seriously contract the already small area of the chapel, the architect, it seemed, had acted upon the hint of Father Mapple, and finished the pulpit without a stairs, substituting a perpendicular side ladder, like those used in mounting a ship from a boat at sea. —
像大多数老式的讲坛一样，这个讲坛也很高，而由于一种规则的楼梯到达这种高度，将使礼堂已经很小的面积大大收缩，建筑师似乎采纳了马普尔神父的建议，完成了这个讲坛，没有楼梯，而是用垂直的侧面梯，就像在海上从船上登船时使用的那种； —

The wife of a whaling captain had provided the chapel with a handsome pair of red worsted man-ropes for this ladder, which, being itself nicely headed, and stained with a mahogany color, the whole contrivance, considering what manner of chapel it was, seemed by no means in bad taste. —
一位捕鲸船长的妻子为这个梯子提供了一对漂亮的红色毛线梯绳，梯子本身看起来不错，精美的顶部涂有一层马哈梵色漆，考虑到这是一座教堂，整个设计似乎并不俗气； —

Halting for an instant at the foot of the ladder, and with both hands grasping the ornamental knobs of the man-ropes, Father Mapple cast a look upwards, and then with a truly sailor-like but still reverential dexterity, hand over hand, mounted the steps as if ascending the main-top of his vessel.
在梯子脚下稍作停顿，双手抓住梯绳上的装饰钮扣，马普尔神父向上看了一眼，然后以真正水手般但又充满虔诚的灵巧，一手接一手，如同登上船上的船顶；

The perpendicular parts of this side ladder, as is usually the case with swinging ones, were of cloth-covered rope, only the rounds were of wood, so that at every step there was a joint. —
这侧面梯的垂直部分通常采用覆盖织物的绳索，只有木制的横档，所以每一步都有一个连接处； —

At my first glimpse of the pulpit, it had not escaped me that however convenient for a ship, these joints in the present instance seemed unnecessary. —
在我第一眼看到这个讲坛时，我观察到这个梯子的连接处在这种情况下似乎是不必要的。 —

For I was not prepared to see Father Mapple after gaining the height, slowly turn round, and stooping over the pulpit, deliberately drag up the ladder step by step, till the whole was deposited within, leaving him impregnable in his little Quebec.
因此，我看到Mapple牧师在登上教堂的台阶后，缓慢转身，弯下腰，一步一步地把梯子拉起，直到整个梯子被放在里面，让他在那个小魁北克教堂里面安全无攻可破。

I pondered some time without fully comprehending the reason for this. —
我考虑了一段时间，但并没有完全理解这样做的原因。 —

Father Mapple enjoyed such a wide reputation for sincerity and sanctity, that I could not suspect him of courting notoriety by any mere tricks of the stage. —
Mapple牧师享有极高的声誉，以真诚和神圣著称，我不会怀疑他通过舞台上的花招来追求名声。 —

No, thought I, there must be some sober reason for this thing; —
不，我心想，这一定有些严肃的理由； —

furthermore, it must symbolize something unseen. —
而且，这必须暗示着某种无法看见的东西。 —

Can it be, then, that by that act of physical isolation, he signifies his spiritual withdrawal for the time, from all outward worldly ties and connexions? —
难道，通过这种身体上的隔离行为，他表明了自己在那一刻从一切外在世俗联系中撤退了吗？ —

Yes, for replenished with the meat and wine of the word, to the faithful man of God, this pulpit, I see, is a self-containing stronghold–a lofty Ehrenbreitstein, with a perennial well of water within the walls.
是的，因为充满了属灵的食物和圣酒，对于敬虔的上帝忠实之人来说，这个讲坛，我清楚地看到，是一个自给自足的要塞——一个高耸的埃伦布赖斯坦，内部还有一口永恒的井水。

But the side ladder was not the only strange feature of the place, borrowed from the chaplain’s former sea-farings. —
但旁边的梯子并不是教堂唯一从牧师以前的航海中借鉴来的奇怪特征。 —

Between the marble cenotaphs on either hand of the pulpit, the wall which formed its back was adorned with a large painting representing a gallant ship beating against a terrible storm off a lee coast of black rocks and snowy breakers. —
在讲坛两旁的大理石纪念碑之间，形成背景的墙壁上装饰着一幅大画，描绘一艘勇敢的船在黑色岩石和白色破浪的风暴中奋力前进。 —

But high above the flying scud and dark-rolling clouds, there floated a little isle of sunlight, from which beamed forth an angel’s face; —
但在飞速移动的云层和黑暗的滚滚乌云之上，漂浮着一片阳光明亮的小岛，岛上闪耀着一个天使的脸； —

and this bright face shed a distant spot of radiance upon the ship’s tossed deck, something like that silver plate now inserted into the Victory’s plank where Nelson fell. —
这张鲜亮的脸在船的摇晃甲板上投射出一点远处的光辉，有点像那块插在胜利号船板上纪念纳尔逊的银板。 —

“Ah, noble ship,” the angel seemed to say, “beat on, beat on, thou noble ship, and bear a hardy helm; —
“啊，高贵的船，” 天使似乎在说，“继续前进，继续前进吧，高贵的船，坚定舵手； —

for lo! the sun is breaking through; the clouds are rolling off– serenest azure is at hand.”
因为看哪！太阳正在冉冉升起；乌云正在散去——最纯净的蔚蓝已经在眼前。”

Nor was the pulpit itself without a trace of the same sea-taste that had achieved the ladder and the picture. —
讲坛本身也略带少许流露出海洋味道，这一味道同样体现在梯子和画中。 —

Its panelled front was in the likeness of a ship’s bluff bows, and the Holy Bible rested on a projecting piece of scroll work, fashioned after a ship’s fiddle-headed beak.
讲坛的镶板正面形似船的陡峭船艏，圣经则放在一块似船的琴头前座上的装饰工艺品上。

What could be more full of meaning?–for the pulpit is ever this earth’s foremost part; —
有什么东西能比这更具有意义呢？——因为讲坛永远是这个世界最重要的一部分； —

all the rest comes in its rear; the pulpit leads the world. —
其他一切都是在其后；讲坛引导着世界。 —

From thence it is the storm of God’s quick wrath is first descried, and the bow must bear the earliest brunt. —
就从那里，上帝的快速愤怒的风暴首先被揭示出来，彩虹必须最先承受猛烈的打击。 —

From thence it is the God of breezes fair or foul is first invoked for favorable winds. —
就从那里，和风或逆风的上帝首先被祈求给予有利的风。 —

Yes, the world’s a ship on its passage out, and not a voyage complete; —
是的，世界是一艘正在出航的船，并不是一次完全的航行； —

and the pulpit is its prow.
而讲坛就是它的船头。