hěn duō nián yǐ qián， nà shí wǒ de qián bāo biě biě de， lù dì shàng kàn lái méi shénme hǎo hùn dé liǎo， gān cuì xià hǎi bā， qù zài wǒ men zhè gè shì jiè shàng zhàn jué duì miàn jī de dà hǎi lǐ guàng guàng bā！
zhè yǐ shì wǒ wéi yī de qù chù liǎo。
měi dāng wǒ xīn fán qì zào、 gān huǒ zhí shēng nǎo mén shí； měi dāng wǒ xīn yōu xù luàn、 yǎn qián yī piàn 11 yuè de chóu yún cǎn wù shí； měi dāng wǒ shēn bù yóu jǐ， gēn zhe bù xiāng gān de sòng zàng duì wǔ zǒu xiàng mù dì shí； měi dāng wǒ rěn wú kě rěn， mǎ shàng jiù yào zài jiē shàng xiàng tuō jiāng de yě mǎ yī yàng héng chōng zhí zhuàng shí， wǒ dū dé gǎn jǐn qù chū hǎi！
zhǐ yòu chū hǎi kě yǐ zǔ zhǐ wǒ duì zì jǐ jǔ qǐ qiāng！
wǒ méi yòu gā tú nà yī biān yín sòng shī gē yī biān bá jiàn zì wěn de yǒng qì， zhǐ néng qiāoqiāo dì zǒu shàng chuán qù。
zěn me yàng， péng yǒu， nǐ yòu lèi sì de gǎn qíng jīng lì má？ wǒ shǐ zhōng xiāng xìn， bù lùn shì shuí， zài mǒu yī gè tè dìng de shí kè， tādōu huì duì hǎi yáng chǎn shēng lèi shìde qíng xù de。
ō， wǒ de xìng míng！ qí shí zhè wú guān jǐn yào， hǎo liǎo， nǐ jiù jiào wǒ yǐ shí mǎ lì bā。
wǒ men xiàn zài kàn dào de jiù shì màn hā dùn dǎo， tā de sì zhōu bù mǎn liǎo shāng yè wèi 'ér shí zú de mǎ tóu， chéng lǐ de měi yī tiáo jiē dào jīhū dōunéng yǐn dǎo nǐ zǒu xiàng mǎ tóu、 zǒu xiàng hǎi biān。
pào tái qián de fáng làng dī yíng jī zhe hǎi làng， guān hǎi de rén men yuǎn yuǎn dì sàn zhe bù。
wǒ men bù fáng zhǎo yī gè 'ān xī rì de xià wǔ， zài nà zhǒng rú shī rú mèng de yáng guāng xià， qù chéng lǐ zhuǎn shàng yī juàn。 kě nǐ shǒu xiān kàn dào de hái shì hǎi biān shàng nà yī qún qún duì zhe dà hǎi zhù lì níng wàng de rén。
tā men huò zhàn huò zuò、 huò yǐ zhù huò kào qiáng， yáo wàng zhe zì zhōng guó 'ér lái de chuán zhǐ de chuán xián， rù mí dì xīn shǎng zhe kāi jìn kāi chū de dà xiǎo chuán bó。
zhè xiē píng cháng shēng huó zài guì tái、 dèng zǐ、 xiě zì tái hé qiáng bì zhī jiān de rén， tā men zěn me dū páo dào hǎi biān lái liǎo？ nán dào tián chóu yuán yě、 yī mǎ píng chuān de lù dì dū xiāo shī liǎo？
kàn， yòu lái liǎo yī dà qún rén， tā men zhíbèn hǎi biān， yào tiào hǎi má？
ō， zhēn yòu yì sī， tā men yào jìn kě néng dì kào jìn dà hǎi， tā men yào zǒu dào lù dì de biān yuán。 zhè xiē lái zì nèi lù de rén men， zhàn mǎn liǎo hǎi biān， mián yán shí jǐ hǎi lǐ。
wǒ shèn zhì huái yí， shì bù shì chuán shàng de zhǐ nán zhēn de cí lì bǎ tā men xī lái de 'ā！
kěn dìng yòu shénme lèi sì cí lì de shén qí lì liàng！ jiù shì zài lù dì shàng， wǒ men bù yě shì yòu zhè yàng de jīng yàn má！ yán zhe suí biàn yī tiáo lù zǒu xià qù， zǎo wǎn huì zǒu dào hé biān、 hú pàn、 xī liú zhī cè。
nǐ kě yǐ shí yàn yī xià， suí biàn zhǎo yī gè nǎ pà wán quán xīn bù zài yān de rén， ràng tā xìn mǎ yóu jiāng dì zǒu dòng qǐ lái， tā zhǔn huì zǒu dào yòu shuǐ de dì fāng。
rú guǒ zhè gè rén zài sī suǒ zhe shénme xíng 'ér shàng xué de dōng xī， nà jiēguǒ jiù gèng shì rú cǐ liǎo。 rú guǒ nǐ zài shā mò zhōng mí shī liǎo fāng xiàng， shēn biān yòu qià qiǎo yòu yī wèi zhé xué jiào shòu， nà nǐ jiù bù bì jīng huāng liǎo， yīn wéi sī suǒ shì yǔ shuǐ yòu zhe tiān rán de lián xì de。
yī wèi chū sè de fēng jǐng huà jiā wéi mù yáng rén huà liǎo yī fú huà 'ér， yòu bái yún yòu yuán yě、 yòu sēn lín yòu yáng qún、 yòu niǎo niǎo de chuī yān hé zài shān luán jiān qǐ fú de xiǎo lù， kě shì， rú guǒ zhè wèi mù yáng rén bù zhù shì zhe tā yǎn qián de yī tiáo hé， nà me zhè fú huà 'ér jiù huì shī qù rèn hé huó lì de。
rú guǒ liù yuè de cǎo yuán méi yòu yī dī shuǐ， rú guǒ ní yà jiā lā pù bù liú xià lái de zhǐ shì xiē méi yòu shēng mìng de huáng shā， nà me， nǐ hái huì qù nà hún qiān mèng rào de cǎo yuán、 pù bù má？
méi yòu liǎo shuǐ， jiù méi yòu liǎo yī qiē。
yòu wèi tú bù lǚ xíng de qióng shī rén， zài yì wài dì dé dào liǎo yī diǎn qián yǐ hòu， yóu yù liǎo， shì mǎi yī jiàn chèn yī？ hái shì qù hǎi biān yuǎn zú yī tàng？
měi yī wèi shēn qiáng lì zhuàng de xiǎo huǒ zǐ jīhū dū xiǎng chū hǎi qù chuǎng yī chuǎng； ér měi yī wèi shàng liǎo chuán de rén， zài zhī dào wàng bù jiàn lù dì liǎo de shí hòu， xīn lǐ dū huì gē dēng yī xià。
gǔ dài bō sī rén yǐ hǎi wéi shén， xī là rén gèng bǎ hǎi kàn zuò shén de qīn xiōng dì， ér nà wèi zài shuǐ biān gù yǐng zì lián de měi nán zǐ nà xī sà sī， zhōng yú tóu shēn shuǐ dǐ。
měi yī gè réndōu huì zài shuǐ zhōng liú xià yǒng yuǎn zhuā xún bù dào de yǐng zǐ， tā yù shì zhe wǒ men rén lèi de shénme 'ào miào má？
wǒ shēn shàng zhè zhǒng yǔ shuǐ de tiān rán lián xì， měi měi zài wǒ zǒu tóu wú lù、 chóu cháng bǎi jié shí tā dū huì jiě jiù wǒ， yǐn wǒ dào hǎi shàng qù。
wǒ dào hǎi shàng， bù shì zuò lǚ kè de， yīn wéi nà xū yào gǔ gǔ de qián bāo， wǒ shì zuò bù qǐ nà yòu yùn chuán yòu shī mián de lǚ kè de。
dāng rán， wǒ gèng dāng bù qǐ chuán fū、 dà fù shèn zhì chú shī liǎo， jìn guǎn lùn zī gé wǒ suàn dé shàng lǎo shuǐ shǒu liǎo。
zhè xiē fēng guāng de zhí wèi， hái shì ràng nà xiē xǐ huān fēng guāng de rén gān bā， wǒ néng bǎ zì jǐ kàn hǎo yǐ jīng bù cuò liǎo， guǎn bù liǎo shénme wéi 'ā fān 'ā de， dāng rán gèng guǎn bù liǎo nà xiē cāo zòng zhè jiā shí de rén liǎo。
bù dāng chú shī， nà dǎo chún cuì shì yīn wéi méi yòu xīng qù。 zhè bìng bù fáng 'ài wǒ duì chú shī de zuò pǐn gǎn xīng qù。 miàn duì yī zhǐ kǎo hǎo de jī， niú yóu tú dé jūn yún、 hú jiāo sǎ dé zhōu dào de jī， wǒ huì dì yī gè jiào hǎo de。
gǔ 'āi jí rén duì kǎo zhū lù、 shāo hé mǎ zhī lèi de dōng xī jiù hěn yòu hǎo gǎn， tā men de jīn zì tǎ lǐ， xiàn zài hái kě yǐ jiàn dào zhè xiē dōng xī de mù nǎi yī。
wǒ zài chuán shàng zhǐ shì yī gè pǔ pǔ tōng tōng de shuǐ shǒu。
wǒ xiàng zhǐ mǎ zhà yī yàng， yī huì 'ér bèng dào wéi gān dǐng shàng、 yī huì 'ér yòu tiào jìn shuǐ shǒu cāng lǐ， tā men hū lái huàn qù dì shǐ huàn wǒ， hěn shāng liǎo xiē wǒ de zì zūn xīn， yī kāi shǐ hěn ràng rén bù tòng kuài。
rú guǒ nǐ chū shēn míng mén wàng zú， xiàng shénme fàn · lún sī lè jiā zú、 lún dào fū jiā zú、 hā dí kǎ niǔ tè zú， rú guǒ nǐ nà bù dé bù shēn rù bǎi yóu tǒng lǐ de shǒu， bù jiǔ qián hái céng zài jiào shì lǐ wēi yán dì huī wǔ， nà nǐ jiù gèng jué dé bù tòng kuài liǎo。
zhè yàng de fǎn chā shí zài ràng rén yòu diǎn nán yǐ jiē shòu， dé yòu diǎn kǔ xíng xué pài de wán qiáng cái néng tǐng guò lái， yī dàn tǐng guò lái liǎo， suǒ yòu de bù shū fú、 bù tòng kuài yě jiù yān xiāo yún sàn liǎo。
xiǎng xiǎng bā， nà gè dà kuài tóu de chuán cháng yāo hē wǒ qù dǎ sǎo dì bǎn， wǒ dǎ sǎo jiù shì liǎo， suàn dé liǎo shénme xiū rǔ？ zài《 shèng jīng》 miàn qián， zhè bù suàn shénme。
rén men zǒng shì zài hù xiāng yōng jǐ， nǐ dǎ wǒ、 wǒ dǎ nǐ， shuí yě tuō bù liǎo bèi bié rén nú yì de mìng yùn héng héng cóng xíng 'ér xià hé xíng 'ér shàng liǎng gè jiǎo dù kàn jūn shì rú cǐ。
suǒ yǐ， rén men zài hù xiāng tuī jǐ zhī hòu， hái shì yào hù xiāng fǔ mō yī xià chuāngkǒu， ānfèn xià lái de。
kuàng qiě， wǒ zài chuán shàng bù shì lǚ kè， wǒ shì shuǐ shǒu， wǒ shì yào zhèng tā men de qián de 'ā！ nǐ méi tīng shuō guò gěi lǚ kè qián de shì bā， lǚ kè dé wǎng wài tāo qián。
wǎng wài tāo qián hé wǎng lǐ zhèng qián shì wán quán bù tóng de liǎng huí shì。 wǒ xiǎng， tāo qián shì nà liǎng gè tōu guǒ zǐ chī de zéi gěi wǒ men dài lái de zuì dà de bù xìng； ér zhèng qián， nà shì zhè shì shàng yòu shù de jǐ jiàn dà hǎo shì zhī yī liǎo。
xiǎng xiǎng wǒ men jiē shòu bié rén gěi nǐ de qián shí nǐ nà wēn wén 'ěr yǎ、 bīn bīn yòu lǐ de yōu yǎ zī tài bā， duì yú dà jiā gōng rèn de zhè zhǒng wàn 'è zhī yuán de dōng xī， wǒ men jiē shòu qǐ lái shì nà me xǐ bù zì shèng， gān xīn qíng yuàn dì ràng zì jǐ lún luò zài wàn jié bù fù de dì bù qù。
dà hǎi shàng de láo dòng hé dà hǎi shàng de kōng qì， yú wǒ men de shēn xīn shì jué duì yòu yì de。 hǎi shàng xíng chuán， dǐng fēng yǒng yuǎn bǐ shùn fēng duō， suǒ yǐ chuán tóu shàng de shuǐ shǒu yǒng yuǎn bǐ chuán wěi de chuán cháng、 dà fù men xiān hū xī dào xīn xiān kōng qì！
duì yú zhè yī diǎn， tā men yī diǎn yě bù zhī dào， hái yǐ wèishì zì jǐ xiān hū xī dào de ní！ zài hěn duō shì qíng shàng， dōushì rú cǐ， lǎo bǎi xìng jīng cháng lǐng dǎo tā men de lǐng xiù， ér nà xiē lǐng xiù men què hún rán bù zhī。
yǐ qián wǒdōu shì zài shāng chuán shàngdàng shuǐ shǒu de， zhè huí què guǐ shǐ shénchāi dì shàng liǎo bǔ jīng chuán。 mìng yùn zhī shén zài míng míng zhōng zuǒ yòu zhe wǒ， zhè shì tā lǎo rén jiā zài hěn zǎo hěn zǎo yǐ qián jiù 'ān pái hǎo liǎo de， tā shì xiàn zài zhèng shàng yǎn de liǎng chū dà xì zhī jiān de yī chū xiǎo xì， jié mù dān dà yuē kě yǐ zhè yàng xiě：
měi guó zǒng tǒng jìng xuǎn
yǐ shí mǎ lì chū hǎi bǔ jīng
ā fù hàn sī tǎn dà zhàn
mìng yùn zhī shén yě zhēn dòu， ràng bié rén qù bàn yǎn nà xiē yōng róng huá guì、 yí zhǐ qì shǐ、 qīng sōng yú kuài、 bēi zhuàng yīng yǒng de juésè， què ràng wǒ qù yǎn zhè me gè bǔ jīng de xiǎo rén wù。
méi bàn fǎ， huí xiǎng shàng chuán yǐ qián zhǒng zhǒng 'ǒu rán yǔ bì rán de dà shì xiǎo qíng， wǒ dāng shí hái yǐ wéi zì jǐ zuò chū shàng zhè tiáo chuán de jué dìng shì jīng guò zhěn mì sī kǎo de ní！
yǐn wǒ shàng chuán de zuì dà yuán yīn shì nà tiáo zhù míng de dà jīng yú。 tā rú shān de shēn tǐ zài bō tāo zhōng huá xíng de shén mì xíng xiàng jī qǐ liǎo wǒ qiáng liè de hàoqí xīn。 guān yú tā de zhǒng zhǒng jīng xiǎn guài qí de chuán shuō shēn shēn dì xī yǐn liǎo wǒ， ràng wǒ zhè gè yī xiàng duì bù kě zhī de dōng xī chōng mǎn liǎo tiān rán de xīng qù de rén xīn yǎng nán 'áo。
mào xiǎn hé tàn qí shì mái zài wǒ xīn lǐ de zhǒng zǐ， yī yòu tǔ rǎng yǔ shuǐfèn， tā men jiù huì xùn sù dì fā yá、 shēngzhǎng， ràng wǒ bù gù yī qiē dì xiàng nà wèi zhī zhī wù bēn chí 'ér qù。
wǒ tóu shēn dà hǎi， yíng miàn yù shàng chéng shuāng chéng duì de dà xiǎo jīng yú， yǔ wǒ xī xì wán shuǎ， xiān dòng wǒ líng hún shēn chù nà shén mì de yǐng zǐ， ràng tā huó qǐ lái。 dòng qǐ lái， chéng wéi yī zuò pū tiān gài dì dà de zhēng níng de jù shòu。
duì yú zhè xiē háng xíng， wǒ zhēn shì qiú zhī bù dé 'ā！
There now is your insular city of the Manhattoes, belted round by wharves as Indian isles by coral reefs--commerce surrounds it with her surf. Right and left, the streets take you waterward. Its extreme downtown is the battery, where that noble mole is washed by waves, and cooled by breezes, which a few hours previous were out of sight of land. Look at the crowds of water-gazers there.
Circumambulate the city of a dreamy Sabbath afternoon. Go from Corlears Hook to Coenties Slip, and from thence, by Whitehall, northward. What do you see?--Posted like silent sentinels all around the town, stand thousands upon thousands of mortal men fixed in ocean reveries. Some leaning against the spiles; some seated upon the pier-heads; some looking over the bulwarks glasses! of ships from China; some high aloft in the rigging, as if striving to get a still better seaward peep. But these are all landsmen; of week days pent up in lath and plaster-- tied to counters, nailed to benches, clinched to desks. How then is this? Are the green fields gone? What do they here?
But look! here come more crowds, pacing straight for the water, and seemingly bound for a dive. Strange! Nothing will content them but the extremest limit of the land; loitering under the shady lee of yonder warehouses will not suffice. No. They must get just as nigh the water as they possibly can without falling in. And there they stand--miles of them--leagues. Inlanders all, they come from lanes and alleys, streets and avenues,-- north, east, south, and west. Yet here they all unite. Tell me, does the magnetic virtue of the needles of the compasses of all those ships attract them thither?
Once more. Say you are in the country; in some high land of lakes. Take almost any path you please, and ten to one it carries you down in a dale, and leaves you there by a pool in the stream. There is magic in it. Let the most absent-minded of men be plunged in his deepest reveries--stand that man on his legs, set his feet a-going, and he will infallibly lead you to water, if water there be in all that region. Should you ever be athirst in the great American desert, try this experiment, if your caravan happen to be supplied with a metaphysical professor. Yes, as every one knows, meditation and water are wedded for ever.
But here is an artist. He desires to paint you the dreamiest, shadiest, quietest, most enchanting bit of romantic landscape in all the valley of the Saco. What is the chief element he employs? There stand his trees, each with a hollow trunk, as if a hermit and a crucifix were within; and here sleeps his meadow, and there sleep his cattle; and up from yonder cottage goes a sleepy smoke. Deep into distant woodlands winds a mazy way, reaching to overlapping spurs of mountains bathed in their hill-side blue. But though the picture lies thus tranced, and though this pine-tree shakes down its sighs like leaves upon this shepherd's head, yet all were vain, unless the shepherd's eye were fixed upon the magic stream before him. Go visit the Prairies in June, when for scores on scores of miles you wade knee-deep among Tiger-lilies--what is the one charm wanting?-- Water there is not a drop of water there! Were Niagara but a cataract of sand, would you travel your thousand miles to see it? Why did the poor poet of Tennessee, upon suddenly receiving two handfuls of silver, deliberate whether to buy him a coat, which he sadly needed, or invest his money in a pedestrian trip to Rockaway Beach? Why is almost every robust healthy boy with a robust healthy soul in him, at some time or other crazy to go to sea? Why upon your first voyage as a passenger, did you yourself feel such a mystical vibration, when first told that you and your ship were now out of sight of land? Why did the old Persians hold the sea holy? Why did the Greeks give it a separate deity, and own brother of Jove? Surely all this is not without meaning. And still deeper the meaning of that story of Narcissus, who because he could not grasp the tormenting, mild image he saw in the fountain, plunged into it and was drowned. But that same image, we ourselves see in all rivers and oceans. It is the image of the ungraspable phantom of life; and this is the key to it all.
Now, when I say that I am in the habit of going to sea whenever I begin to grow hazy about the eyes, and begin to be over conscious of my lungs, I do not mean to have it inferred that I ever go to sea as a passenger. For to go as a passenger you must needs have a purse, and a purse is but a rag unless you have something in it. Besides, passengers get sea-sick-- grow quarrelsome--don't sleep of nights--do not enjoy themselves much, as a general thing;--no, I never go as a passenger; nor, though I am something of a salt, do I ever go to sea as a Commodore, or a Captain, or a Cook. I abandon the glory and distinction of such offices to those who like them. For my part, I abominate all honorable respectable toils, trials, and tribulations of every kind whatsoever. It is quite as much as I can do to take care of myself, without taking care of ships, barques, brigs, schooners, and what not. And as for going as cook,--though I confess there is considerable glory in that, a cook being a sort of officer on ship-board--yet, somehow, I never fancied broiling fowls;--though once broiled, judiciously buttered, and judgmatically salted and peppered, there is no one who will speak more respectfully, not to say reverentially, of a broiled fowl than I will. It is out of the idolatrous dotings of the old Egyptians upon broiled ibis and roasted river horse, that you see the mummies of those creatures in their huge bakehouses the pyramids.
No, when I go to sea, I go as a simple sailor, right before the mast, plumb down into the fore-castle, aloft there to the royal mast-head. True, they rather order me about some, and make me jump from spar to spar, like a grasshopper in a May meadow. And at first, this sort of thing is unpleasant enough. It touches one's sense of honor, particularly if you come of an old established family in the land, the Van Rensselaers, or Randolphs, or Hardicanutes. And more than all, if just previous to putting your hand into the tar-pot, you have been lording it as a country schoolmaster, making the tallest boys stand in awe of you. The transition is a keen one, I assure you, from a schoolmaster to a sailor, and requires a strong decoction of Seneca and the Stoics to enable you to grin and bear it. But even this wears off in time.
What of it, if some old hunks of a sea-captain orders me to get a broom and sweep down the decks? What does that indignity amount to, weighed, I mean, in the scales of the New Testament? Do you think the archangel Gabriel thinks anything the less of me, because I promptly and respectfully obey that old hunks in that particular instance? Who ain't a slave? Tell me that. Well, then, however the old sea-captains may order me about--however they may thump and punch me about, I have the satisfaction of knowing that it is all right; that everybody else is one way or other served in much the same way-- either in a physical or metaphysical point of view, that is; and so the universal thump is passed round, and all hands should rub each other's shoulder-blades, and be content.
Again, I always go to sea as a sailor, because they make a point of paying me for my trouble, whereas they never pay passengers a single penny that I ever heard of. On the contrary, passengers themselves must pay. And there is all the difference in the world between paying and being paid. The act of paying is perhaps the most uncomfortable infliction that the two orchard thieves entailed upon us. But being paid,-- what will compare with it? The urbane activity with which a man receives money is really marvellous, considering that we so earnestly believe money to be the root of all earthly ills, and that on no account can a monied man enter heaven. Ah! how cheerfully we consign ourselves to perdition!
Finally, I always go to sea as a sailor, because of the wholesome exercise and pure air of the fore-castle deck. For as in this world, head winds are far more prevalent than winds from astern (that is, if you never violate the Pythagorean maxim), so for the most part the Commodore on the quarter-deck gets his atmosphere at second hand from the sailors on the forecastle. He thinks he breathes it first; but not so. In much the same way do the commonalty lead their leaders in many other things, at the same time that the leaders little suspect it. But wherefore it was that after having repeatedly smelt the sea as a merchant sailor, I should now take it into my head to go on a whaling voyage; this the invisible police officer of the Fates, who has the constant surveillance of me, and secretly dogs me, and influences me in some unaccountable way-- he can better answer than any one else. And, doubtless, my going on this whaling voyage, formed part of the grand programme of Providence that was drawn up a long time ago. It came in as a sort of brief interlude and solo between more extensive performances. I take it that this part of the bill must have run something like this:
"Grand Contested Election for the Presidency of the United States. "WHALING VOYAGE BY ONE ISHMAEL." "BLOODY BATTLE IN AFFGHANISTAN."
Though I cannot tell why it was exactly that those stage managers, the Fates, put me down for this shabby part of a whaling voyage, when others were set down for magnificent parts in high tragedies, and short and easy parts in genteel comedies, and jolly parts in farces-- though I cannot tell why this was exactly; yet, now that I recall all the circumstances, I think I can see a little into the springs and motives which being cunningly presented to me under various disguises, induced me to set about performing the part I did, besides cajoling me into the delusion that it was a choice resulting from my own unbiased freewill and discriminating judgment.
Chief among these motives was the overwhelming idea of the great whale himself. Such a portentous and mysterious monster roused all my curiosity. Then the wild and distant seas where he rolled his island bulk; the undeliverable, nameless perils of the whale; these, with all the attending marvels of a thousand Patagonian sights and sounds, helped to sway me to my wish. With other men, perhaps, such things would not have been inducements; but as for me, I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts. Not ignoring what is good, I am quick to perceive a horror, and could still be social with it--would they let me--since it is but well to be on friendly terms with all the inmates of the place one lodges in.
By reason of these things, then, the whaling voyage was welcome; the great flood-gates of the wonder-world swung open, and in the wild conceits that swayed me to my purpose, two and two there floated into my inmost soul, endless processions of the whale, and, mid most of them all, one grand hooded phantom, like a snow hill in the air.
zhè yǐ shì wǒ wéi yī de qù chù liǎo。
měi dāng wǒ xīn fán qì zào、 gān huǒ zhí shēng nǎo mén shí； měi dāng wǒ xīn yōu xù luàn、 yǎn qián yī piàn 11 yuè de chóu yún cǎn wù shí； měi dāng wǒ shēn bù yóu jǐ， gēn zhe bù xiāng gān de sòng zàng duì wǔ zǒu xiàng mù dì shí； měi dāng wǒ rěn wú kě rěn， mǎ shàng jiù yào zài jiē shàng xiàng tuō jiāng de yě mǎ yī yàng héng chōng zhí zhuàng shí， wǒ dū dé gǎn jǐn qù chū hǎi！
zhǐ yòu chū hǎi kě yǐ zǔ zhǐ wǒ duì zì jǐ jǔ qǐ qiāng！
wǒ méi yòu gā tú nà yī biān yín sòng shī gē yī biān bá jiàn zì wěn de yǒng qì， zhǐ néng qiāoqiāo dì zǒu shàng chuán qù。
zěn me yàng， péng yǒu， nǐ yòu lèi sì de gǎn qíng jīng lì má？ wǒ shǐ zhōng xiāng xìn， bù lùn shì shuí， zài mǒu yī gè tè dìng de shí kè， tādōu huì duì hǎi yáng chǎn shēng lèi shìde qíng xù de。
ō， wǒ de xìng míng！ qí shí zhè wú guān jǐn yào， hǎo liǎo， nǐ jiù jiào wǒ yǐ shí mǎ lì bā。
wǒ men xiàn zài kàn dào de jiù shì màn hā dùn dǎo， tā de sì zhōu bù mǎn liǎo shāng yè wèi 'ér shí zú de mǎ tóu， chéng lǐ de měi yī tiáo jiē dào jīhū dōunéng yǐn dǎo nǐ zǒu xiàng mǎ tóu、 zǒu xiàng hǎi biān。
pào tái qián de fáng làng dī yíng jī zhe hǎi làng， guān hǎi de rén men yuǎn yuǎn dì sàn zhe bù。
wǒ men bù fáng zhǎo yī gè 'ān xī rì de xià wǔ， zài nà zhǒng rú shī rú mèng de yáng guāng xià， qù chéng lǐ zhuǎn shàng yī juàn。 kě nǐ shǒu xiān kàn dào de hái shì hǎi biān shàng nà yī qún qún duì zhe dà hǎi zhù lì níng wàng de rén。
tā men huò zhàn huò zuò、 huò yǐ zhù huò kào qiáng， yáo wàng zhe zì zhōng guó 'ér lái de chuán zhǐ de chuán xián， rù mí dì xīn shǎng zhe kāi jìn kāi chū de dà xiǎo chuán bó。
zhè xiē píng cháng shēng huó zài guì tái、 dèng zǐ、 xiě zì tái hé qiáng bì zhī jiān de rén， tā men zěn me dū páo dào hǎi biān lái liǎo？ nán dào tián chóu yuán yě、 yī mǎ píng chuān de lù dì dū xiāo shī liǎo？
kàn， yòu lái liǎo yī dà qún rén， tā men zhíbèn hǎi biān， yào tiào hǎi má？
ō， zhēn yòu yì sī， tā men yào jìn kě néng dì kào jìn dà hǎi， tā men yào zǒu dào lù dì de biān yuán。 zhè xiē lái zì nèi lù de rén men， zhàn mǎn liǎo hǎi biān， mián yán shí jǐ hǎi lǐ。
wǒ shèn zhì huái yí， shì bù shì chuán shàng de zhǐ nán zhēn de cí lì bǎ tā men xī lái de 'ā！
kěn dìng yòu shénme lèi sì cí lì de shén qí lì liàng！ jiù shì zài lù dì shàng， wǒ men bù yě shì yòu zhè yàng de jīng yàn má！ yán zhe suí biàn yī tiáo lù zǒu xià qù， zǎo wǎn huì zǒu dào hé biān、 hú pàn、 xī liú zhī cè。
nǐ kě yǐ shí yàn yī xià， suí biàn zhǎo yī gè nǎ pà wán quán xīn bù zài yān de rén， ràng tā xìn mǎ yóu jiāng dì zǒu dòng qǐ lái， tā zhǔn huì zǒu dào yòu shuǐ de dì fāng。
rú guǒ zhè gè rén zài sī suǒ zhe shénme xíng 'ér shàng xué de dōng xī， nà jiēguǒ jiù gèng shì rú cǐ liǎo。 rú guǒ nǐ zài shā mò zhōng mí shī liǎo fāng xiàng， shēn biān yòu qià qiǎo yòu yī wèi zhé xué jiào shòu， nà nǐ jiù bù bì jīng huāng liǎo， yīn wéi sī suǒ shì yǔ shuǐ yòu zhe tiān rán de lián xì de。
yī wèi chū sè de fēng jǐng huà jiā wéi mù yáng rén huà liǎo yī fú huà 'ér， yòu bái yún yòu yuán yě、 yòu sēn lín yòu yáng qún、 yòu niǎo niǎo de chuī yān hé zài shān luán jiān qǐ fú de xiǎo lù， kě shì， rú guǒ zhè wèi mù yáng rén bù zhù shì zhe tā yǎn qián de yī tiáo hé， nà me zhè fú huà 'ér jiù huì shī qù rèn hé huó lì de。
rú guǒ liù yuè de cǎo yuán méi yòu yī dī shuǐ， rú guǒ ní yà jiā lā pù bù liú xià lái de zhǐ shì xiē méi yòu shēng mìng de huáng shā， nà me， nǐ hái huì qù nà hún qiān mèng rào de cǎo yuán、 pù bù má？
méi yòu liǎo shuǐ， jiù méi yòu liǎo yī qiē。
yòu wèi tú bù lǚ xíng de qióng shī rén， zài yì wài dì dé dào liǎo yī diǎn qián yǐ hòu， yóu yù liǎo， shì mǎi yī jiàn chèn yī？ hái shì qù hǎi biān yuǎn zú yī tàng？
měi yī wèi shēn qiáng lì zhuàng de xiǎo huǒ zǐ jīhū dū xiǎng chū hǎi qù chuǎng yī chuǎng； ér měi yī wèi shàng liǎo chuán de rén， zài zhī dào wàng bù jiàn lù dì liǎo de shí hòu， xīn lǐ dū huì gē dēng yī xià。
gǔ dài bō sī rén yǐ hǎi wéi shén， xī là rén gèng bǎ hǎi kàn zuò shén de qīn xiōng dì， ér nà wèi zài shuǐ biān gù yǐng zì lián de měi nán zǐ nà xī sà sī， zhōng yú tóu shēn shuǐ dǐ。
měi yī gè réndōu huì zài shuǐ zhōng liú xià yǒng yuǎn zhuā xún bù dào de yǐng zǐ， tā yù shì zhe wǒ men rén lèi de shénme 'ào miào má？
wǒ shēn shàng zhè zhǒng yǔ shuǐ de tiān rán lián xì， měi měi zài wǒ zǒu tóu wú lù、 chóu cháng bǎi jié shí tā dū huì jiě jiù wǒ， yǐn wǒ dào hǎi shàng qù。
wǒ dào hǎi shàng， bù shì zuò lǚ kè de， yīn wéi nà xū yào gǔ gǔ de qián bāo， wǒ shì zuò bù qǐ nà yòu yùn chuán yòu shī mián de lǚ kè de。
dāng rán， wǒ gèng dāng bù qǐ chuán fū、 dà fù shèn zhì chú shī liǎo， jìn guǎn lùn zī gé wǒ suàn dé shàng lǎo shuǐ shǒu liǎo。
zhè xiē fēng guāng de zhí wèi， hái shì ràng nà xiē xǐ huān fēng guāng de rén gān bā， wǒ néng bǎ zì jǐ kàn hǎo yǐ jīng bù cuò liǎo， guǎn bù liǎo shénme wéi 'ā fān 'ā de， dāng rán gèng guǎn bù liǎo nà xiē cāo zòng zhè jiā shí de rén liǎo。
bù dāng chú shī， nà dǎo chún cuì shì yīn wéi méi yòu xīng qù。 zhè bìng bù fáng 'ài wǒ duì chú shī de zuò pǐn gǎn xīng qù。 miàn duì yī zhǐ kǎo hǎo de jī， niú yóu tú dé jūn yún、 hú jiāo sǎ dé zhōu dào de jī， wǒ huì dì yī gè jiào hǎo de。
gǔ 'āi jí rén duì kǎo zhū lù、 shāo hé mǎ zhī lèi de dōng xī jiù hěn yòu hǎo gǎn， tā men de jīn zì tǎ lǐ， xiàn zài hái kě yǐ jiàn dào zhè xiē dōng xī de mù nǎi yī。
wǒ zài chuán shàng zhǐ shì yī gè pǔ pǔ tōng tōng de shuǐ shǒu。
wǒ xiàng zhǐ mǎ zhà yī yàng， yī huì 'ér bèng dào wéi gān dǐng shàng、 yī huì 'ér yòu tiào jìn shuǐ shǒu cāng lǐ， tā men hū lái huàn qù dì shǐ huàn wǒ， hěn shāng liǎo xiē wǒ de zì zūn xīn， yī kāi shǐ hěn ràng rén bù tòng kuài。
rú guǒ nǐ chū shēn míng mén wàng zú， xiàng shénme fàn · lún sī lè jiā zú、 lún dào fū jiā zú、 hā dí kǎ niǔ tè zú， rú guǒ nǐ nà bù dé bù shēn rù bǎi yóu tǒng lǐ de shǒu， bù jiǔ qián hái céng zài jiào shì lǐ wēi yán dì huī wǔ， nà nǐ jiù gèng jué dé bù tòng kuài liǎo。
zhè yàng de fǎn chā shí zài ràng rén yòu diǎn nán yǐ jiē shòu， dé yòu diǎn kǔ xíng xué pài de wán qiáng cái néng tǐng guò lái， yī dàn tǐng guò lái liǎo， suǒ yòu de bù shū fú、 bù tòng kuài yě jiù yān xiāo yún sàn liǎo。
xiǎng xiǎng bā， nà gè dà kuài tóu de chuán cháng yāo hē wǒ qù dǎ sǎo dì bǎn， wǒ dǎ sǎo jiù shì liǎo， suàn dé liǎo shénme xiū rǔ？ zài《 shèng jīng》 miàn qián， zhè bù suàn shénme。
rén men zǒng shì zài hù xiāng yōng jǐ， nǐ dǎ wǒ、 wǒ dǎ nǐ， shuí yě tuō bù liǎo bèi bié rén nú yì de mìng yùn héng héng cóng xíng 'ér xià hé xíng 'ér shàng liǎng gè jiǎo dù kàn jūn shì rú cǐ。
suǒ yǐ， rén men zài hù xiāng tuī jǐ zhī hòu， hái shì yào hù xiāng fǔ mō yī xià chuāngkǒu， ānfèn xià lái de。
kuàng qiě， wǒ zài chuán shàng bù shì lǚ kè， wǒ shì shuǐ shǒu， wǒ shì yào zhèng tā men de qián de 'ā！ nǐ méi tīng shuō guò gěi lǚ kè qián de shì bā， lǚ kè dé wǎng wài tāo qián。
wǎng wài tāo qián hé wǎng lǐ zhèng qián shì wán quán bù tóng de liǎng huí shì。 wǒ xiǎng， tāo qián shì nà liǎng gè tōu guǒ zǐ chī de zéi gěi wǒ men dài lái de zuì dà de bù xìng； ér zhèng qián， nà shì zhè shì shàng yòu shù de jǐ jiàn dà hǎo shì zhī yī liǎo。
xiǎng xiǎng wǒ men jiē shòu bié rén gěi nǐ de qián shí nǐ nà wēn wén 'ěr yǎ、 bīn bīn yòu lǐ de yōu yǎ zī tài bā， duì yú dà jiā gōng rèn de zhè zhǒng wàn 'è zhī yuán de dōng xī， wǒ men jiē shòu qǐ lái shì nà me xǐ bù zì shèng， gān xīn qíng yuàn dì ràng zì jǐ lún luò zài wàn jié bù fù de dì bù qù。
dà hǎi shàng de láo dòng hé dà hǎi shàng de kōng qì， yú wǒ men de shēn xīn shì jué duì yòu yì de。 hǎi shàng xíng chuán， dǐng fēng yǒng yuǎn bǐ shùn fēng duō， suǒ yǐ chuán tóu shàng de shuǐ shǒu yǒng yuǎn bǐ chuán wěi de chuán cháng、 dà fù men xiān hū xī dào xīn xiān kōng qì！
duì yú zhè yī diǎn， tā men yī diǎn yě bù zhī dào， hái yǐ wèishì zì jǐ xiān hū xī dào de ní！ zài hěn duō shì qíng shàng， dōushì rú cǐ， lǎo bǎi xìng jīng cháng lǐng dǎo tā men de lǐng xiù， ér nà xiē lǐng xiù men què hún rán bù zhī。
yǐ qián wǒdōu shì zài shāng chuán shàngdàng shuǐ shǒu de， zhè huí què guǐ shǐ shénchāi dì shàng liǎo bǔ jīng chuán。 mìng yùn zhī shén zài míng míng zhōng zuǒ yòu zhe wǒ， zhè shì tā lǎo rén jiā zài hěn zǎo hěn zǎo yǐ qián jiù 'ān pái hǎo liǎo de， tā shì xiàn zài zhèng shàng yǎn de liǎng chū dà xì zhī jiān de yī chū xiǎo xì， jié mù dān dà yuē kě yǐ zhè yàng xiě：
měi guó zǒng tǒng jìng xuǎn
yǐ shí mǎ lì chū hǎi bǔ jīng
ā fù hàn sī tǎn dà zhàn
mìng yùn zhī shén yě zhēn dòu， ràng bié rén qù bàn yǎn nà xiē yōng róng huá guì、 yí zhǐ qì shǐ、 qīng sōng yú kuài、 bēi zhuàng yīng yǒng de juésè， què ràng wǒ qù yǎn zhè me gè bǔ jīng de xiǎo rén wù。
méi bàn fǎ， huí xiǎng shàng chuán yǐ qián zhǒng zhǒng 'ǒu rán yǔ bì rán de dà shì xiǎo qíng， wǒ dāng shí hái yǐ wéi zì jǐ zuò chū shàng zhè tiáo chuán de jué dìng shì jīng guò zhěn mì sī kǎo de ní！
yǐn wǒ shàng chuán de zuì dà yuán yīn shì nà tiáo zhù míng de dà jīng yú。 tā rú shān de shēn tǐ zài bō tāo zhōng huá xíng de shén mì xíng xiàng jī qǐ liǎo wǒ qiáng liè de hàoqí xīn。 guān yú tā de zhǒng zhǒng jīng xiǎn guài qí de chuán shuō shēn shēn dì xī yǐn liǎo wǒ， ràng wǒ zhè gè yī xiàng duì bù kě zhī de dōng xī chōng mǎn liǎo tiān rán de xīng qù de rén xīn yǎng nán 'áo。
mào xiǎn hé tàn qí shì mái zài wǒ xīn lǐ de zhǒng zǐ， yī yòu tǔ rǎng yǔ shuǐfèn， tā men jiù huì xùn sù dì fā yá、 shēngzhǎng， ràng wǒ bù gù yī qiē dì xiàng nà wèi zhī zhī wù bēn chí 'ér qù。
wǒ tóu shēn dà hǎi， yíng miàn yù shàng chéng shuāng chéng duì de dà xiǎo jīng yú， yǔ wǒ xī xì wán shuǎ， xiān dòng wǒ líng hún shēn chù nà shén mì de yǐng zǐ， ràng tā huó qǐ lái。 dòng qǐ lái， chéng wéi yī zuò pū tiān gài dì dà de zhēng níng de jù shòu。
duì yú zhè xiē háng xíng， wǒ zhēn shì qiú zhī bù dé 'ā！
There now is your insular city of the Manhattoes, belted round by wharves as Indian isles by coral reefs--commerce surrounds it with her surf. Right and left, the streets take you waterward. Its extreme downtown is the battery, where that noble mole is washed by waves, and cooled by breezes, which a few hours previous were out of sight of land. Look at the crowds of water-gazers there.
Circumambulate the city of a dreamy Sabbath afternoon. Go from Corlears Hook to Coenties Slip, and from thence, by Whitehall, northward. What do you see?--Posted like silent sentinels all around the town, stand thousands upon thousands of mortal men fixed in ocean reveries. Some leaning against the spiles; some seated upon the pier-heads; some looking over the bulwarks glasses! of ships from China; some high aloft in the rigging, as if striving to get a still better seaward peep. But these are all landsmen; of week days pent up in lath and plaster-- tied to counters, nailed to benches, clinched to desks. How then is this? Are the green fields gone? What do they here?
But look! here come more crowds, pacing straight for the water, and seemingly bound for a dive. Strange! Nothing will content them but the extremest limit of the land; loitering under the shady lee of yonder warehouses will not suffice. No. They must get just as nigh the water as they possibly can without falling in. And there they stand--miles of them--leagues. Inlanders all, they come from lanes and alleys, streets and avenues,-- north, east, south, and west. Yet here they all unite. Tell me, does the magnetic virtue of the needles of the compasses of all those ships attract them thither?
Once more. Say you are in the country; in some high land of lakes. Take almost any path you please, and ten to one it carries you down in a dale, and leaves you there by a pool in the stream. There is magic in it. Let the most absent-minded of men be plunged in his deepest reveries--stand that man on his legs, set his feet a-going, and he will infallibly lead you to water, if water there be in all that region. Should you ever be athirst in the great American desert, try this experiment, if your caravan happen to be supplied with a metaphysical professor. Yes, as every one knows, meditation and water are wedded for ever.
But here is an artist. He desires to paint you the dreamiest, shadiest, quietest, most enchanting bit of romantic landscape in all the valley of the Saco. What is the chief element he employs? There stand his trees, each with a hollow trunk, as if a hermit and a crucifix were within; and here sleeps his meadow, and there sleep his cattle; and up from yonder cottage goes a sleepy smoke. Deep into distant woodlands winds a mazy way, reaching to overlapping spurs of mountains bathed in their hill-side blue. But though the picture lies thus tranced, and though this pine-tree shakes down its sighs like leaves upon this shepherd's head, yet all were vain, unless the shepherd's eye were fixed upon the magic stream before him. Go visit the Prairies in June, when for scores on scores of miles you wade knee-deep among Tiger-lilies--what is the one charm wanting?-- Water there is not a drop of water there! Were Niagara but a cataract of sand, would you travel your thousand miles to see it? Why did the poor poet of Tennessee, upon suddenly receiving two handfuls of silver, deliberate whether to buy him a coat, which he sadly needed, or invest his money in a pedestrian trip to Rockaway Beach? Why is almost every robust healthy boy with a robust healthy soul in him, at some time or other crazy to go to sea? Why upon your first voyage as a passenger, did you yourself feel such a mystical vibration, when first told that you and your ship were now out of sight of land? Why did the old Persians hold the sea holy? Why did the Greeks give it a separate deity, and own brother of Jove? Surely all this is not without meaning. And still deeper the meaning of that story of Narcissus, who because he could not grasp the tormenting, mild image he saw in the fountain, plunged into it and was drowned. But that same image, we ourselves see in all rivers and oceans. It is the image of the ungraspable phantom of life; and this is the key to it all.
Now, when I say that I am in the habit of going to sea whenever I begin to grow hazy about the eyes, and begin to be over conscious of my lungs, I do not mean to have it inferred that I ever go to sea as a passenger. For to go as a passenger you must needs have a purse, and a purse is but a rag unless you have something in it. Besides, passengers get sea-sick-- grow quarrelsome--don't sleep of nights--do not enjoy themselves much, as a general thing;--no, I never go as a passenger; nor, though I am something of a salt, do I ever go to sea as a Commodore, or a Captain, or a Cook. I abandon the glory and distinction of such offices to those who like them. For my part, I abominate all honorable respectable toils, trials, and tribulations of every kind whatsoever. It is quite as much as I can do to take care of myself, without taking care of ships, barques, brigs, schooners, and what not. And as for going as cook,--though I confess there is considerable glory in that, a cook being a sort of officer on ship-board--yet, somehow, I never fancied broiling fowls;--though once broiled, judiciously buttered, and judgmatically salted and peppered, there is no one who will speak more respectfully, not to say reverentially, of a broiled fowl than I will. It is out of the idolatrous dotings of the old Egyptians upon broiled ibis and roasted river horse, that you see the mummies of those creatures in their huge bakehouses the pyramids.
No, when I go to sea, I go as a simple sailor, right before the mast, plumb down into the fore-castle, aloft there to the royal mast-head. True, they rather order me about some, and make me jump from spar to spar, like a grasshopper in a May meadow. And at first, this sort of thing is unpleasant enough. It touches one's sense of honor, particularly if you come of an old established family in the land, the Van Rensselaers, or Randolphs, or Hardicanutes. And more than all, if just previous to putting your hand into the tar-pot, you have been lording it as a country schoolmaster, making the tallest boys stand in awe of you. The transition is a keen one, I assure you, from a schoolmaster to a sailor, and requires a strong decoction of Seneca and the Stoics to enable you to grin and bear it. But even this wears off in time.
What of it, if some old hunks of a sea-captain orders me to get a broom and sweep down the decks? What does that indignity amount to, weighed, I mean, in the scales of the New Testament? Do you think the archangel Gabriel thinks anything the less of me, because I promptly and respectfully obey that old hunks in that particular instance? Who ain't a slave? Tell me that. Well, then, however the old sea-captains may order me about--however they may thump and punch me about, I have the satisfaction of knowing that it is all right; that everybody else is one way or other served in much the same way-- either in a physical or metaphysical point of view, that is; and so the universal thump is passed round, and all hands should rub each other's shoulder-blades, and be content.
Again, I always go to sea as a sailor, because they make a point of paying me for my trouble, whereas they never pay passengers a single penny that I ever heard of. On the contrary, passengers themselves must pay. And there is all the difference in the world between paying and being paid. The act of paying is perhaps the most uncomfortable infliction that the two orchard thieves entailed upon us. But being paid,-- what will compare with it? The urbane activity with which a man receives money is really marvellous, considering that we so earnestly believe money to be the root of all earthly ills, and that on no account can a monied man enter heaven. Ah! how cheerfully we consign ourselves to perdition!
Finally, I always go to sea as a sailor, because of the wholesome exercise and pure air of the fore-castle deck. For as in this world, head winds are far more prevalent than winds from astern (that is, if you never violate the Pythagorean maxim), so for the most part the Commodore on the quarter-deck gets his atmosphere at second hand from the sailors on the forecastle. He thinks he breathes it first; but not so. In much the same way do the commonalty lead their leaders in many other things, at the same time that the leaders little suspect it. But wherefore it was that after having repeatedly smelt the sea as a merchant sailor, I should now take it into my head to go on a whaling voyage; this the invisible police officer of the Fates, who has the constant surveillance of me, and secretly dogs me, and influences me in some unaccountable way-- he can better answer than any one else. And, doubtless, my going on this whaling voyage, formed part of the grand programme of Providence that was drawn up a long time ago. It came in as a sort of brief interlude and solo between more extensive performances. I take it that this part of the bill must have run something like this:
"Grand Contested Election for the Presidency of the United States. "WHALING VOYAGE BY ONE ISHMAEL." "BLOODY BATTLE IN AFFGHANISTAN."
Though I cannot tell why it was exactly that those stage managers, the Fates, put me down for this shabby part of a whaling voyage, when others were set down for magnificent parts in high tragedies, and short and easy parts in genteel comedies, and jolly parts in farces-- though I cannot tell why this was exactly; yet, now that I recall all the circumstances, I think I can see a little into the springs and motives which being cunningly presented to me under various disguises, induced me to set about performing the part I did, besides cajoling me into the delusion that it was a choice resulting from my own unbiased freewill and discriminating judgment.
Chief among these motives was the overwhelming idea of the great whale himself. Such a portentous and mysterious monster roused all my curiosity. Then the wild and distant seas where he rolled his island bulk; the undeliverable, nameless perils of the whale; these, with all the attending marvels of a thousand Patagonian sights and sounds, helped to sway me to my wish. With other men, perhaps, such things would not have been inducements; but as for me, I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts. Not ignoring what is good, I am quick to perceive a horror, and could still be social with it--would they let me--since it is but well to be on friendly terms with all the inmates of the place one lodges in.
By reason of these things, then, the whaling voyage was welcome; the great flood-gates of the wonder-world swung open, and in the wild conceits that swayed me to my purpose, two and two there floated into my inmost soul, endless processions of the whale, and, mid most of them all, one grand hooded phantom, like a snow hill in the air.
jǐ jiàn yī fú chōng zuò xíng náng， wǒ biàn dòng liǎo shēn。
yuǎn lí màn hā dùn， bēn dào xīn bèi dé fú， méi gǎn shàng kāi wǎng nán tǎ kāi tè de yóu chuán， zhǐ dé děng xià xīng qī yī liǎo。
zhè shì yī gè xīng qī liù， 12 yuè de yī gè xīng qī liù， kàn lái zhù dìng yào wú liáo dì dù guò yī gè zhōu mò liǎo。
yī bān qù hé 'ēn jiǎo dū zhè yàng zǒu， cóng xīn bèi dé fú shàng chuán。 kě wǒ yī dìng yào cóng nà bǔ jīng chuán zuì zǎo de chū fā dì nán tǎ kāi tè chū fā， jìn guǎn xīn bèi dé fú yǐ jīng hěn fán huá， dàn tā bì jìng bù shì rén men bǎ dì yī zhǐ běi měi zhōu de sǐ jīng tuō shàng 'àn de dì fāng。 nà xiē hóng zhǒng rén shì zhe， dāng nián jiù shì cóng nán tǎ kāi tè chéng dú mù zhōu qù hǎi shàng bǔ jīng yú de； hái yòu nà zuì zǎo de bǔ jīng dān wéi fān chuán， chuán shàng zài zhe 'é luǎn shí héng héng zhè jiù shì tā men bǔ jīng de wǔ qì héng héng yě shì cóng nán tǎ kāi tè chū fā de。
kě rú jīn yào zài xīn bèi dé fú dāi shàng liǎng tiān， què qiē shuō shì yī tiān liǎng yè， cái néng qù nán tǎ kāi tè。 chī fàn shuì jué wèn tí zěn me jiě jué？
zài zhè hán fēng cì gǔ de yè wǎn， wǒ zhù lì zài lěng lěng qīng qīng de jiē tóu， jǔ mù wú qīn、 zǒu tóu wú lù de gǎn jué xí shàng xīn tóu。
mō mō dōu lǐ de nà jǐ gè xiǎo qián， wǒ xīn lǐ mò niàn zhe： yǐ shí mǎ lì 'ā， bù lùn mìng yùn bǎ nǐ yǐn xiàng nǎ lǐ， nǐ kě dōuyào xiān wèn wèn jià qián 'ā！
jiē dào shàng jié zhe hòu hòu de bīng， lěng yìng jiān huá， yìng zhe yī gè yòu yī gè diàn miàn lǐ shè chū lái de dēng guāng。 ō， zhè shì“ biāo qiāng kè diàn”， zhè shì“ jiàn yú kè diàn”， bēi zhǎn zhī shēng bàn zhe huān shēng xiào yǔ sǎ xiàng chuāng wài， wǒ háo bù yóu yù dì xiàng qián zǒu zhe， tā men tài kuài huó liǎo， yě tài néng huā qián liǎo。
yǐ shí mǎ lì 'ā， nǐ hái dé xiàng qián zǒu， nǐ de nà shuāng pò xié kě mài bù jìn nà gāo mén jiàn， xiàng nà xiē bù nà me huī huáng càn làn de dì fāng zǒu zǒu bā， nà dì fāng de lǚ diàn suī rán bù shì zuì hǎo， dàn kěn dìng shì zuì piányí。
jiē dào liǎng cè 'àn liǎo xià lái， ǒu huò yòu nà me yī liǎng diǎn zhú guāng， guǐ huǒ bān zài hēi 'àn zhōng shǎn shuò。 yuǎn yuǎn dì， wǒ kàn jiàn yī zuò 'ǎi fáng zǐ， fáng mén dà chǎng， yī sī wēi guāng xiè liǎo chū lái。 hǎo xiàng zài hěn suí yì dì huān yíng zhe kè rén de dào lái。
wǒ jīhū shì lǐ zhí qì zhuàng dì zǒu liǎo jìn qù， yī duī lā jī háo bù kè qì dì bàn liǎo wǒ yī gè gēn dǒu， fēn fēi de huī chén chàdiǎn biē sǐ wǒ！
hǎo 'ā， zhè lǐ bù shì“ biāo qiāng kè diàn”、 bù shì“ jiàn yú kè diàn”， què shì gè“ xiàn jǐng kè diàn”。
yī zhèn cì 'ěr de xuān huá yǐn dé wǒ pá qǐ lái yǐ hòu xùn sù tuī kāi liǎo dì 'èr dào mén， ā， yī pái hēi liǎn qí shuà shuà dì zhuànxiàng liǎo wǒ， lìng yī wèi hēi miàn kǒng de péng yǒu zhèng zài jiǎng tái shàng pāi dǎzháo yī běn shū， ràng tā de tīng zhòng men jí zhōng jīng lì。 zhè shì gè hēi rén jiào táng。 wǒ tuì liǎo chū lái， jì xù xiàng qián。
zài lí mǎ tóu hěn jìn de dì fāng， yī kuài bái huàng huàng de zhāo pái zài méng méng de wù qì lǐ shí yǐn shí xiàn， wǒ jǐn zǒu jǐ bù， zài tiān kōng zhōng yī shēng shénme guài niǎo 'ér de gā gā guài jiào zhōng， wǒ kàn qīng liǎo pái zǐ shàng de zì：“ jīng yú kè diàn héng héng bǐ dé · kē fēn。” kē fēn！（ guān cái de yīn yì） jīng yú！
jiāng zhè 'èr zhě xiāng lián， guān cái hé jīng yú， wǒ gǎn dào hòu jǐ liáng yī zhèn bīng liáng。
bù guò， jù shuō nán tǎ kāi tè xìng zhè gè xìng de rén bù shǎo， nà me zhè gè bǐ dé shì cóng nán tǎ kāi tè lái de lou！ dāng rán， gèng zhù yào de shì， cóng tā pò bài de wài guān kàn， zhè jiā kè diàn yī dìng shí fēn piányí， shuō bù dìng hái yòu wèi dào bù cuò de tǔ kā fēi ní！ wǒ mài bù zǒu liǎo jìn qù。
zhè shì zuò xiàng dé liǎo bàn shēn bùsuí bìng de pò fáng zǐ， běi fēng hū xiào zhī zhōng， yī fù yáo yáo yù zhuì de yàng zǐ。
bù guò， nǐ rú guǒ zài wū zǐ lǐ miàn 'ér bù shì zài wū zǐ wài miàn， liǎng jiǎo dā zài lú zǐ shàng， yōu xián dì hē zhe kā fēi， nà me zhè hū xiào de fēng shēng jiù chún cuì shì yī zhī cuī mián qū liǎo。
gǔ dài yī wèi zhù míng de zuò jiā céng jīng shuō guò：“ yào pàn dìng zhè kuáng fēng lěng yǔ de hǎo huài， nà yào kàn xià pàn duàn de rén de wèi zhì： shì gé zhe mǎn shì bīng huā 'ér de bō lí xiàng wài kàn， hái shì bù gé zhe shénme dōng xī， lǐ wài yī yàng lěng dì xiàng wài kàn。 wéi yī de bō lí 'ān zhuāng gōng jiù shì sǐ shén！”
zhè duàn huà qīng xī dì fú xiàn zài wǒ yǎn qián， wǒ jué dé wǒ zì jǐ jiù shì zhè zuò fáng zǐ， liǎng zhǐ yǎn jīng biàn shì liǎng shàn chuāng hù。
àn zhào nà wèi gǔ dài zuò jiā de huà jìn xíng gǎi liáng yǐ jīng lái bù jí liǎo， yǔ zhòu de jié gòu yǐ jīng wán gōng liǎo， yī qiēdōu wú yǐ gǎi biàn liǎo。 zěn me bàn？ kě lián de lā sǎ lù zhǐ hǎo zài lěng fēng zhōng sè suō chàn dǒu liǎo， chàn dǒu dé shēn shàng jǐn yòu de jǐ tiáo pò bù piàn yě diào zài liǎo dì shàng。 ér jiù zài cǐ shí， nà wèi shēn zhe zǐ páo de lǎo cái zhù zé zhì dé yì mǎn dì jiào dào：“ hā， bīng tiān xuě dì kuáng fēng nù hǒu de jǐng zhì duō me yí rén 'ā！ xīng kōng càn làn、 běi jí guāng bān lán， ràng nà xiē tán lùn yī nián dào tóu sì jì rú chūn de shénme guǐ qì hòu de jiā huǒ men jiàn guǐ qù bā， wǒ yào yòng tàn huǒ chuàng zào yī gè xià tiān！”
lā sǎ lù què wú fǎ duì zhe yī yàng bān lán de běi jí guāng jǔ qǐ tā dòng qīng liǎo de shuāng shǒu， tā yě xǔ zài yáo xiǎng zhe chì dào shàng de měi lì bā！
tā duō me xiǎng hé chì dào bìng pái tǎng zài yī qǐ 'ā！ yě xǔ tā méi xiǎng nà me yuǎn， zhǐ xiǎng jiù jìn zhǎo gè huǒ duī zuàn jìn qù ní！
lǎo cái zhù zài yóu bīng kuài wéi rào de wēn nuǎn rú chūn de gōng diàn zhōng duì wū wài de lā sǎ lù de kuài yào dòng sǐ， bìng wú rèn hé gǎn jué。 tā yōu xián dì duó zhe bù， kě bìng méi hē jiǔ。 yīn wéi tā shì jìn jiǔ xié huì de huì cháng， tā bù hē jiǔ， zhǐ hē gū 'ér men de yǎn lèi。
suàn liǎo， zhè me duō gǎn kǎi yòu shénme yòng ní？ fǎn zhèng yào qù bǔ jīng liǎo， zhè yàng de shì 'ér hái duō zhe ní， xiān jìn wū qù kàn kàn bā。
As most young candidates for the pains and penalties of whaling stop at this same New Bedford, thence to embark on their voyage, it may as well be related that I, for one, had no idea of so doing. For my mind was made up to sail in no other than a Nantucket craft, because there was a fine, boisterous something about everything connected with that famous old island, which amazingly pleased me. Besides though New Bedford has of late been gradually monopolizing the business of whaling, and though in this matter poor old Nantucket is now much behind her, yet Nantucket was her great original-- the Tyre of this Carthage;--the place where the first dead American whale was stranded. Where else but from Nantucket did those aboriginal whalemen, the Red-Men, first sally out in canoes to give chase to the Leviathan? And where but from Nantucket, too, did that first adventurous little sloop put forth, partly laden with imported cobblestones--so goes the story-- to throw at the whales, in order to discover when they were nigh enough to risk a harpoon from the bowsprit?
Now having a night, a day, and still another night following before me in New Bedford, ere I could embark for my destined port, it became a matter of concernment where I was to eat and sleep meanwhile. It was a very dubious-looking, nay, a very dark and dismal night, bitingly cold and cheerless. I knew no one in the place. With anxious grapnels I had sounded my pocket, and only brought up a few pieces of silver,--So, wherever you go, Ishmael, said I to myself, as I stood in the middle of a dreary street shouldering my bag, and comparing the gloom towards the north with the darkness towards the south--wherever in your wisdom you may conclude to lodge for the night, my dear Ishmael, be sure to inquire the price, and don't be too particular.
With halting steps I paced the streets, and passed the sign of "The Crossed Harpoons"--but it looked too expensive and jolly there. Further on, from the bright red windows of the "Sword-Fish Inn," there came such fervent rays, that it seemed to have melted the packed snow and ice from before the house, for everywhere else the congealed frost lay ten inches thick in a hard, asphaltic pavement,--rather weary for me, when I struck my foot against the flinty projections, because from hard, remorseless service the soles of my boots were in a most miserable plight. Too expensive and jolly, again thought I, pausing one moment to watch the broad glare in the street, and hear the sounds of the tinkling glasses within. But go on, Ishmael, said I at last; don't you hear? get away from before the door; your patched boots are stopping the way. So on I went. I now by instinct followed the streets that took me waterward, for there, doubtless, were the cheapest, if not the cheeriest inns.
Such dreary streets! Blocks of blackness, not houses, on either hand, and here and there a candle, like a candle moving about in a tomb. At this hour of the night, of the last day of the week, that quarter of the town proved all but deserted. But presently I came to a smoky light proceeding from a low, wide building, the door of which stood invitingly open. It had a careless look, as if it were meant for the uses of the public; so, entering, the first thing I did was to stumble over an ash-box in the porch. Ha! thought I, ha, as the flying particles almost choked me, are these ashes from that destroyed city, Gomorrah? But "The Crossed Harpoons," and the "The Sword-Fish?"--this, then must needs be the sign of "The Trap." However, I picked myself up and hearing a loud voice within, pushed on and opened a second, interior door.
It seemed the great Black Parliament sitting in Tophet. A hundred black faces turned round in their rows to peer; and beyond, a black Angel of Doom was beating a book in a pulpit. It was a negro church; and the preacher's text was about the blackness of darkness, and the weeping and wailing and teeth-gnashing there. Ha, Ishmael, muttered I, backing out, Wretched entertainment at the sign of 'The Trap!'
Moving on, I at last came to a dim sort of light not far from the docks, and heard a forlorn creaking in the air; and looking up, saw a swinging sign over the door with a white painting upon it, faintly representing a tall straight jet of misty spray, and these words underneath--"The Spouter Inn:--Peter Coffin."
Coffin?--Spouter?--Rather ominous in that particular connexion, thought I. But it is a common name in Nantucket, they say, and I suppose this Peter here is an emigrant from there. As the light looked so dim, and the place, for the time, looked quiet enough, and the dilapidated little wooden house itself looked as if it might have been carted here from the ruins of some burnt district, and as the swinging sign had a poverty-stricken sort of creak to it, I thought that here was the very spot for cheap lodgings, and the best of pea coffee.
It was a queer sort of place--a gable-ended old house, one side palsied as it were, and leaning over sadly. It stood on a sharp bleak corner, where that tempestuous wind Euroclydon kept up a worse howling than ever it did about poor Paul's tossed craft. Euroclydon, nevertheless, is a mighty pleasant zephyr to any one in-doors, with his feet on the hob quietly toasting for bed. In judging of that tempestuous wind called Euroclydon," says an old writer--of whose works I possess the only copy extant--"it maketh a marvellous difference, whether thou lookest out at it from a glass window where the frost is all on the outside, or whether thou observest it from that sashless window, where the frost is on both sides, and of which the wight Death is the only glazier." True enough, thought I, as this passage occurred to my mind--old black-letter, thou reasonest well. Yes, these eyes are windows, and this body of mine is the house. What a pity they didn't stop up the chinks and the crannies though, and thrust in a little lint here and there. But it's too late to make any improvements now. The universe is finished; the copestone is on, and the chips were carted off a million years ago. Poor Lazarus there, chattering his teeth against the curbstone for his pillow, and shaking off his tatters with his shiverings, he might plug up both ears with rags, and put a corn-cob into his mouth, and yet that would not keep out the tempestuous Euroclydon. Euroclydon! says old Dives, in his red silken wrapper--(he had a redder one afterwards) pooh, pooh! What a fine frosty night; how Orion glitters; what northern lights! Let them talk of their oriental summer climes of everlasting conservatories; give me the privilege of making my own summer with my own coals.
But what thinks Lazarus? Can he warm his blue hands by holding them up to the grand northern lights? Would not Lazarus rather be in Sumatra than here? Would he not far rather lay him down lengthwise along the line of the equator; yea, ye gods! go down to the fiery pit itself, in order to keep out this frost?
Now, that Lazarus should lie stranded there on the curbstone before the door of Dives, this is more wonderful than that an iceberg should be moored to one of the Moluccas. Yet Dives himself, he too lives like a Czar in an ice palace made of frozen sighs, and being a president of a temperance society, he only drinks the tepid tears of orphans.
But no more of this blubbering now, we are going a-whaling, and there is plenty of that yet to come. Let us scrape the ice from our frosted feet, and see what sort of a place this "Spouter" may be.
yuǎn lí màn hā dùn， bēn dào xīn bèi dé fú， méi gǎn shàng kāi wǎng nán tǎ kāi tè de yóu chuán， zhǐ dé děng xià xīng qī yī liǎo。
zhè shì yī gè xīng qī liù， 12 yuè de yī gè xīng qī liù， kàn lái zhù dìng yào wú liáo dì dù guò yī gè zhōu mò liǎo。
yī bān qù hé 'ēn jiǎo dū zhè yàng zǒu， cóng xīn bèi dé fú shàng chuán。 kě wǒ yī dìng yào cóng nà bǔ jīng chuán zuì zǎo de chū fā dì nán tǎ kāi tè chū fā， jìn guǎn xīn bèi dé fú yǐ jīng hěn fán huá， dàn tā bì jìng bù shì rén men bǎ dì yī zhǐ běi měi zhōu de sǐ jīng tuō shàng 'àn de dì fāng。 nà xiē hóng zhǒng rén shì zhe， dāng nián jiù shì cóng nán tǎ kāi tè chéng dú mù zhōu qù hǎi shàng bǔ jīng yú de； hái yòu nà zuì zǎo de bǔ jīng dān wéi fān chuán， chuán shàng zài zhe 'é luǎn shí héng héng zhè jiù shì tā men bǔ jīng de wǔ qì héng héng yě shì cóng nán tǎ kāi tè chū fā de。
kě rú jīn yào zài xīn bèi dé fú dāi shàng liǎng tiān， què qiē shuō shì yī tiān liǎng yè， cái néng qù nán tǎ kāi tè。 chī fàn shuì jué wèn tí zěn me jiě jué？
zài zhè hán fēng cì gǔ de yè wǎn， wǒ zhù lì zài lěng lěng qīng qīng de jiē tóu， jǔ mù wú qīn、 zǒu tóu wú lù de gǎn jué xí shàng xīn tóu。
mō mō dōu lǐ de nà jǐ gè xiǎo qián， wǒ xīn lǐ mò niàn zhe： yǐ shí mǎ lì 'ā， bù lùn mìng yùn bǎ nǐ yǐn xiàng nǎ lǐ， nǐ kě dōuyào xiān wèn wèn jià qián 'ā！
jiē dào shàng jié zhe hòu hòu de bīng， lěng yìng jiān huá， yìng zhe yī gè yòu yī gè diàn miàn lǐ shè chū lái de dēng guāng。 ō， zhè shì“ biāo qiāng kè diàn”， zhè shì“ jiàn yú kè diàn”， bēi zhǎn zhī shēng bàn zhe huān shēng xiào yǔ sǎ xiàng chuāng wài， wǒ háo bù yóu yù dì xiàng qián zǒu zhe， tā men tài kuài huó liǎo， yě tài néng huā qián liǎo。
yǐ shí mǎ lì 'ā， nǐ hái dé xiàng qián zǒu， nǐ de nà shuāng pò xié kě mài bù jìn nà gāo mén jiàn， xiàng nà xiē bù nà me huī huáng càn làn de dì fāng zǒu zǒu bā， nà dì fāng de lǚ diàn suī rán bù shì zuì hǎo， dàn kěn dìng shì zuì piányí。
jiē dào liǎng cè 'àn liǎo xià lái， ǒu huò yòu nà me yī liǎng diǎn zhú guāng， guǐ huǒ bān zài hēi 'àn zhōng shǎn shuò。 yuǎn yuǎn dì， wǒ kàn jiàn yī zuò 'ǎi fáng zǐ， fáng mén dà chǎng， yī sī wēi guāng xiè liǎo chū lái。 hǎo xiàng zài hěn suí yì dì huān yíng zhe kè rén de dào lái。
wǒ jīhū shì lǐ zhí qì zhuàng dì zǒu liǎo jìn qù， yī duī lā jī háo bù kè qì dì bàn liǎo wǒ yī gè gēn dǒu， fēn fēi de huī chén chàdiǎn biē sǐ wǒ！
hǎo 'ā， zhè lǐ bù shì“ biāo qiāng kè diàn”、 bù shì“ jiàn yú kè diàn”， què shì gè“ xiàn jǐng kè diàn”。
yī zhèn cì 'ěr de xuān huá yǐn dé wǒ pá qǐ lái yǐ hòu xùn sù tuī kāi liǎo dì 'èr dào mén， ā， yī pái hēi liǎn qí shuà shuà dì zhuànxiàng liǎo wǒ， lìng yī wèi hēi miàn kǒng de péng yǒu zhèng zài jiǎng tái shàng pāi dǎzháo yī běn shū， ràng tā de tīng zhòng men jí zhōng jīng lì。 zhè shì gè hēi rén jiào táng。 wǒ tuì liǎo chū lái， jì xù xiàng qián。
zài lí mǎ tóu hěn jìn de dì fāng， yī kuài bái huàng huàng de zhāo pái zài méng méng de wù qì lǐ shí yǐn shí xiàn， wǒ jǐn zǒu jǐ bù， zài tiān kōng zhōng yī shēng shénme guài niǎo 'ér de gā gā guài jiào zhōng， wǒ kàn qīng liǎo pái zǐ shàng de zì：“ jīng yú kè diàn héng héng bǐ dé · kē fēn。” kē fēn！（ guān cái de yīn yì） jīng yú！
jiāng zhè 'èr zhě xiāng lián， guān cái hé jīng yú， wǒ gǎn dào hòu jǐ liáng yī zhèn bīng liáng。
bù guò， jù shuō nán tǎ kāi tè xìng zhè gè xìng de rén bù shǎo， nà me zhè gè bǐ dé shì cóng nán tǎ kāi tè lái de lou！ dāng rán， gèng zhù yào de shì， cóng tā pò bài de wài guān kàn， zhè jiā kè diàn yī dìng shí fēn piányí， shuō bù dìng hái yòu wèi dào bù cuò de tǔ kā fēi ní！ wǒ mài bù zǒu liǎo jìn qù。
zhè shì zuò xiàng dé liǎo bàn shēn bùsuí bìng de pò fáng zǐ， běi fēng hū xiào zhī zhōng， yī fù yáo yáo yù zhuì de yàng zǐ。
bù guò， nǐ rú guǒ zài wū zǐ lǐ miàn 'ér bù shì zài wū zǐ wài miàn， liǎng jiǎo dā zài lú zǐ shàng， yōu xián dì hē zhe kā fēi， nà me zhè hū xiào de fēng shēng jiù chún cuì shì yī zhī cuī mián qū liǎo。
gǔ dài yī wèi zhù míng de zuò jiā céng jīng shuō guò：“ yào pàn dìng zhè kuáng fēng lěng yǔ de hǎo huài， nà yào kàn xià pàn duàn de rén de wèi zhì： shì gé zhe mǎn shì bīng huā 'ér de bō lí xiàng wài kàn， hái shì bù gé zhe shénme dōng xī， lǐ wài yī yàng lěng dì xiàng wài kàn。 wéi yī de bō lí 'ān zhuāng gōng jiù shì sǐ shén！”
zhè duàn huà qīng xī dì fú xiàn zài wǒ yǎn qián， wǒ jué dé wǒ zì jǐ jiù shì zhè zuò fáng zǐ， liǎng zhǐ yǎn jīng biàn shì liǎng shàn chuāng hù。
àn zhào nà wèi gǔ dài zuò jiā de huà jìn xíng gǎi liáng yǐ jīng lái bù jí liǎo， yǔ zhòu de jié gòu yǐ jīng wán gōng liǎo， yī qiēdōu wú yǐ gǎi biàn liǎo。 zěn me bàn？ kě lián de lā sǎ lù zhǐ hǎo zài lěng fēng zhōng sè suō chàn dǒu liǎo， chàn dǒu dé shēn shàng jǐn yòu de jǐ tiáo pò bù piàn yě diào zài liǎo dì shàng。 ér jiù zài cǐ shí， nà wèi shēn zhe zǐ páo de lǎo cái zhù zé zhì dé yì mǎn dì jiào dào：“ hā， bīng tiān xuě dì kuáng fēng nù hǒu de jǐng zhì duō me yí rén 'ā！ xīng kōng càn làn、 běi jí guāng bān lán， ràng nà xiē tán lùn yī nián dào tóu sì jì rú chūn de shénme guǐ qì hòu de jiā huǒ men jiàn guǐ qù bā， wǒ yào yòng tàn huǒ chuàng zào yī gè xià tiān！”
lā sǎ lù què wú fǎ duì zhe yī yàng bān lán de běi jí guāng jǔ qǐ tā dòng qīng liǎo de shuāng shǒu， tā yě xǔ zài yáo xiǎng zhe chì dào shàng de měi lì bā！
tā duō me xiǎng hé chì dào bìng pái tǎng zài yī qǐ 'ā！ yě xǔ tā méi xiǎng nà me yuǎn， zhǐ xiǎng jiù jìn zhǎo gè huǒ duī zuàn jìn qù ní！
lǎo cái zhù zài yóu bīng kuài wéi rào de wēn nuǎn rú chūn de gōng diàn zhōng duì wū wài de lā sǎ lù de kuài yào dòng sǐ， bìng wú rèn hé gǎn jué。 tā yōu xián dì duó zhe bù， kě bìng méi hē jiǔ。 yīn wéi tā shì jìn jiǔ xié huì de huì cháng， tā bù hē jiǔ， zhǐ hē gū 'ér men de yǎn lèi。
suàn liǎo， zhè me duō gǎn kǎi yòu shénme yòng ní？ fǎn zhèng yào qù bǔ jīng liǎo， zhè yàng de shì 'ér hái duō zhe ní， xiān jìn wū qù kàn kàn bā。
As most young candidates for the pains and penalties of whaling stop at this same New Bedford, thence to embark on their voyage, it may as well be related that I, for one, had no idea of so doing. For my mind was made up to sail in no other than a Nantucket craft, because there was a fine, boisterous something about everything connected with that famous old island, which amazingly pleased me. Besides though New Bedford has of late been gradually monopolizing the business of whaling, and though in this matter poor old Nantucket is now much behind her, yet Nantucket was her great original-- the Tyre of this Carthage;--the place where the first dead American whale was stranded. Where else but from Nantucket did those aboriginal whalemen, the Red-Men, first sally out in canoes to give chase to the Leviathan? And where but from Nantucket, too, did that first adventurous little sloop put forth, partly laden with imported cobblestones--so goes the story-- to throw at the whales, in order to discover when they were nigh enough to risk a harpoon from the bowsprit?
Now having a night, a day, and still another night following before me in New Bedford, ere I could embark for my destined port, it became a matter of concernment where I was to eat and sleep meanwhile. It was a very dubious-looking, nay, a very dark and dismal night, bitingly cold and cheerless. I knew no one in the place. With anxious grapnels I had sounded my pocket, and only brought up a few pieces of silver,--So, wherever you go, Ishmael, said I to myself, as I stood in the middle of a dreary street shouldering my bag, and comparing the gloom towards the north with the darkness towards the south--wherever in your wisdom you may conclude to lodge for the night, my dear Ishmael, be sure to inquire the price, and don't be too particular.
With halting steps I paced the streets, and passed the sign of "The Crossed Harpoons"--but it looked too expensive and jolly there. Further on, from the bright red windows of the "Sword-Fish Inn," there came such fervent rays, that it seemed to have melted the packed snow and ice from before the house, for everywhere else the congealed frost lay ten inches thick in a hard, asphaltic pavement,--rather weary for me, when I struck my foot against the flinty projections, because from hard, remorseless service the soles of my boots were in a most miserable plight. Too expensive and jolly, again thought I, pausing one moment to watch the broad glare in the street, and hear the sounds of the tinkling glasses within. But go on, Ishmael, said I at last; don't you hear? get away from before the door; your patched boots are stopping the way. So on I went. I now by instinct followed the streets that took me waterward, for there, doubtless, were the cheapest, if not the cheeriest inns.
Such dreary streets! Blocks of blackness, not houses, on either hand, and here and there a candle, like a candle moving about in a tomb. At this hour of the night, of the last day of the week, that quarter of the town proved all but deserted. But presently I came to a smoky light proceeding from a low, wide building, the door of which stood invitingly open. It had a careless look, as if it were meant for the uses of the public; so, entering, the first thing I did was to stumble over an ash-box in the porch. Ha! thought I, ha, as the flying particles almost choked me, are these ashes from that destroyed city, Gomorrah? But "The Crossed Harpoons," and the "The Sword-Fish?"--this, then must needs be the sign of "The Trap." However, I picked myself up and hearing a loud voice within, pushed on and opened a second, interior door.
It seemed the great Black Parliament sitting in Tophet. A hundred black faces turned round in their rows to peer; and beyond, a black Angel of Doom was beating a book in a pulpit. It was a negro church; and the preacher's text was about the blackness of darkness, and the weeping and wailing and teeth-gnashing there. Ha, Ishmael, muttered I, backing out, Wretched entertainment at the sign of 'The Trap!'
Moving on, I at last came to a dim sort of light not far from the docks, and heard a forlorn creaking in the air; and looking up, saw a swinging sign over the door with a white painting upon it, faintly representing a tall straight jet of misty spray, and these words underneath--"The Spouter Inn:--Peter Coffin."
Coffin?--Spouter?--Rather ominous in that particular connexion, thought I. But it is a common name in Nantucket, they say, and I suppose this Peter here is an emigrant from there. As the light looked so dim, and the place, for the time, looked quiet enough, and the dilapidated little wooden house itself looked as if it might have been carted here from the ruins of some burnt district, and as the swinging sign had a poverty-stricken sort of creak to it, I thought that here was the very spot for cheap lodgings, and the best of pea coffee.
It was a queer sort of place--a gable-ended old house, one side palsied as it were, and leaning over sadly. It stood on a sharp bleak corner, where that tempestuous wind Euroclydon kept up a worse howling than ever it did about poor Paul's tossed craft. Euroclydon, nevertheless, is a mighty pleasant zephyr to any one in-doors, with his feet on the hob quietly toasting for bed. In judging of that tempestuous wind called Euroclydon," says an old writer--of whose works I possess the only copy extant--"it maketh a marvellous difference, whether thou lookest out at it from a glass window where the frost is all on the outside, or whether thou observest it from that sashless window, where the frost is on both sides, and of which the wight Death is the only glazier." True enough, thought I, as this passage occurred to my mind--old black-letter, thou reasonest well. Yes, these eyes are windows, and this body of mine is the house. What a pity they didn't stop up the chinks and the crannies though, and thrust in a little lint here and there. But it's too late to make any improvements now. The universe is finished; the copestone is on, and the chips were carted off a million years ago. Poor Lazarus there, chattering his teeth against the curbstone for his pillow, and shaking off his tatters with his shiverings, he might plug up both ears with rags, and put a corn-cob into his mouth, and yet that would not keep out the tempestuous Euroclydon. Euroclydon! says old Dives, in his red silken wrapper--(he had a redder one afterwards) pooh, pooh! What a fine frosty night; how Orion glitters; what northern lights! Let them talk of their oriental summer climes of everlasting conservatories; give me the privilege of making my own summer with my own coals.
But what thinks Lazarus? Can he warm his blue hands by holding them up to the grand northern lights? Would not Lazarus rather be in Sumatra than here? Would he not far rather lay him down lengthwise along the line of the equator; yea, ye gods! go down to the fiery pit itself, in order to keep out this frost?
Now, that Lazarus should lie stranded there on the curbstone before the door of Dives, this is more wonderful than that an iceberg should be moored to one of the Moluccas. Yet Dives himself, he too lives like a Czar in an ice palace made of frozen sighs, and being a president of a temperance society, he only drinks the tepid tears of orphans.
But no more of this blubbering now, we are going a-whaling, and there is plenty of that yet to come. Let us scrape the ice from our frosted feet, and see what sort of a place this "Spouter" may be.