他的記號

As we were walking down the end of the wharf towards the ship, Queequeg carrying his harpoon, Captain Peleg in his gruff voice loudly hailed us from his wigwam, saying he had not suspected my friend was a cannibal, and furthermore announcing that he let no cannibals on board that craft, unless they previously produced their papers.

我們沿著碼頭盡頭朝船走去，魁魁格扛著他的魚叉，法勒船長從他的棚屋裡粗聲粗氣地大聲招呼我們，說他沒料到我這朋友竟是個食人族，還宣布：他這船不准任何食人族上來，除非先出示他們的證件。

“What do you mean by that, Captain Peleg?” said I, now jumping on the bulwarks, and leaving my comrade standing on the wharf.

「您這話什麼意思，法勒船長？」我說著，跳上了舷牆，把我的夥伴留在碼頭上站著。

“I mean,” he replied, “he must show his papers.”

「我的意思是，」他答道，「他必須出示他的證件。」

“Yes,” said Captain Bildad in his hollow voice, sticking his head from behind Peleg’s, out of the wigwam. “He must show that he’s converted. Son of darkness,” he added, turning to Queequeg, “art thou at present in communion with any Christian church?”

「對，」比勒達船長用他那空洞的嗓音說，從法勒身後、棚屋裡探出頭來。「他必須證明他已皈依。黑暗之子，」他轉向魁魁格又道，「汝眼下與哪個基督教會有交通（同屬一信、共領聖餐）嗎？」

“Why,” said I, “he’s a member of the first Congregational Church.” Here be it said, that many tattooed savages sailing in Nantucket ships at last come to be converted into the churches.

「怎麼說呢，」我道，「他是第一公理會的成員。」這裡得交代一句：許多隨南塔克特船出海的刺青野人，最終都皈依進了教會。

“First Congregational Church,” cried Bildad, “what! that worships in Deacon Deuteronomy Coleman’s meeting-house?” and so saying, taking out his spectacles, he rubbed them with his great yellow bandana handkerchief, and putting them on very carefully, came out of the wigwam, and leaning stiffly over the bulwarks, took a good long look at Queequeg.

「第一公理會，」比勒達叫道，「什麼！就是在執事申命記·科爾曼的聚會堂裡敬拜的那個？」說著，他掏出眼鏡，拿他那條大黃花手帕擦了擦，又小心翼翼地戴上，走出棚屋，僵硬地探身在舷牆上，把魁魁格好好地、長長地打量了一番。

“How long hath he been a member?” he then said, turning to me; “not very long, I rather guess, young man.”

「他入會多久了？」他隨即轉向我說；「我猜啊，沒多久吧，年輕人。」

“No,” said Peleg, “and he hasn’t been baptized right either, or it would have washed some of that devil’s blue off his face.”

「沒多久，」法勒說，「而且他也沒好好受過洗，不然該把他臉上那股魔鬼的藍給洗掉一些了。」

“Do tell, now,” cried Bildad, “is this Philistine a regular member of Deacon Deuteronomy’s meeting? I never saw him going there, and I pass it every Lord’s day.”

「你倒說說看，」比勒達嚷道，「這非利士人當真是申命記執事聚會堂的正式成員？我從沒見他去過，可我每個主日都打那兒經過。」

“I don’t know anything about Deacon Deuteronomy or his meeting,” said I; “all I know is, that Queequeg here is a born member of the First Congregational Church. He is a deacon himself, Queequeg is.”

「申命記執事也好、他的聚會堂也好，我一概不知，」我說；「我只知道，這位魁魁格是第一公理會天生的成員。他自己就是個執事呢，魁魁格。」

“Young man,” said Bildad sternly, “thou art skylarking with me—explain thyself, thou young Hittite. What church dost thee mean? answer me.”

「年輕人，」比勒達嚴厲地說，「汝是在跟我胡鬧——把話說明白，你這年輕的赫人。汝指的是哪個教會？回答我。」

Finding myself thus hard pushed, I replied. “I mean, sir, the same ancient Catholic Church to which you and I, and Captain Peleg there, and Queequeg here, and all of us, and every mother’s son and soul of us belong; the great and everlasting First Congregation of this whole worshipping world; we all belong to that; only some of us cherish some queer crotchets no ways touching the grand belief; in that we all join hands.”

眼看被逼到這份上，我答道：「先生，我指的是那個古老的大公教會——您和我、那邊的法勒船長、這位魁魁格、我們所有人、我們每一個母親的兒子與靈魂，全都同屬於它；那是整個敬拜世界偉大而永恆的『第一公會眾』；我們全屬於它；只不過我們之中有些人懷著些古怪的偏執，無關乎那根本的信仰；在那根本信仰上，我們全都攜手相連。」

“Splice, thou mean’st splice hands,” cried Peleg, drawing nearer. “Young man, you’d better ship for a missionary, instead of a fore-mast hand; I never heard a better sermon. Deacon Deuteronomy—why Father Mapple himself couldn’t beat it, and he’s reckoned something. Come aboard, come aboard; never mind about the papers. I say, tell Quohog there—what’s that you call him? tell Quohog to step along. By the great anchor, what a harpoon he’s got there! looks like good stuff that; and he handles it about right. I say, Quohog, or whatever your name is, did you ever stand in the head of a whale-boat? did you ever strike a fish?”

「接繩，你是說把手接在一塊兒（攜手），」法勒湊近了喊道。「年輕人，你還不如受僱去當傳教士，別當什麼前桅水手；我從沒聽過更好的講道。申命記執事——嘿，連馬普爾神父本人都比不過，而他可是有點名望的呢。上船，上船吧；別管什麼證件了。我說，叫那邊那個 Quohog——你管他叫什麼來著？叫 Quohog 過來。憑那大錨起誓，瞧他那把魚叉！看著是好貨色；他使起來也挺地道。我說，Quohog，不管你叫什麼名字，你可曾站在捕鯨小艇的船頭過？可曾叉中過一條鯨？」

Without saying a word, Queequeg, in his wild sort of way, jumped upon the bulwarks, from thence into the bows of one of the whale-boats hanging to the side; and then bracing his left knee, and poising his harpoon, cried out in some such way as this:—

魁魁格一句話也沒說，以他那野性十足的派頭，跳上舷牆，又從那兒躍進掛在船舷邊的一艘捕鯨小艇的船頭；接著他撐穩左膝、把魚叉端平，大致這麼喊道：——

“Cap’ain, you see him small drop tar on water dere? You see him? well, spose him one whale eye, well, den!” and taking sharp aim at it, he darted the iron right over old Bildad’s broad brim, clean across the ship’s decks, and struck the glistening tar spot out of sight.

「船長，你看見那邊水上那一小滴瀝青沒有？你看見牠沒有？好，就當牠是一隻鯨的眼睛，好嘞，那麼！」說著他穩穩瞄準，把那柄鐵叉「咻」地擲出，正擦過老比勒達的寬邊帽頂，乾淨俐落地橫越整片甲板，把那閃亮的瀝青點打得無影無蹤。

“Now,” said Queequeg, quietly hauling in the line, “spos-ee him whale-e eye; why, dad whale dead.”

「這下，」魁魁格一邊靜靜地收回繩索，一邊說，「就當牠是鯨的眼睛嘛；那麼，那鯨就死啦。」

“Quick, Bildad,” said Peleg, his partner, who, aghast at the close vicinity of the flying harpoon, had retreated towards the cabin gangway. “Quick, I say, you Bildad, and get the ship’s papers. We must have Hedgehog there, I mean Quohog, in one of our boats. Look ye, Quohog, we’ll give ye the ninetieth lay, and that’s more than ever was given a harpooneer yet out of Nantucket.”

「快，比勒達，」他的搭檔法勒說——這人被那飛掠而過、近在咫尺的魚叉嚇得魂飛魄散，已退到了艙口的扶梯邊。「我說，快點，你比勒達，去把船上的契約文件拿來。我們非得讓那邊那位 Hedgehog（刺蝟）——我是說 Quohog——上我們的一條小艇不可。聽好，Quohog，我們給你『第九十股』，這可比南塔克特至今給過任何一個魚叉手的都還多。」

So down we went into the cabin, and to my great joy Queequeg was soon enrolled among the same ship’s company to which I myself belonged.

於是我們下到艙裡，令我大為高興的是，魁魁格很快就被編進了我自己所屬的同一批船員之中。

When all preliminaries were over and Peleg had got everything ready for signing, he turned to me and said, “I guess, Quohog there don’t know how to write, does he? I say, Quohog, blast ye! dost thou sign thy name or make thy mark?”

等一切前置手續辦妥、法勒把簽約的東西都備齊了，他轉向我說：「我猜那邊那位 Quohog 不會寫字吧，是吧？我說，Quohog，該死的！汝是簽名呢，還是畫個記號？」

But at this question, Queequeg, who had twice or thrice before taken part in similar ceremonies, looked no ways abashed; but taking the offered pen, copied upon the paper, in the proper place, an exact counterpart of a queer round figure which was tattooed upon his arm; so that through Captain Peleg’s obstinate mistake touching his appellative, it stood something like this:—

可面對這個問題，先前已參加過兩三回類似儀式的魁魁格，一點也不顯得忸怩；他接過遞來的筆，在紙上該簽的位置，一筆不差地臨摹下他手臂上刺著的一個古怪圓形圖案；於是，由於法勒船長在他的稱呼上犯的那個頑固錯誤，文件上看起來大致是這樣：——

Quohog. his X mark.

Quohog ﹒ 他的 ✗ 記號。

Meanwhile Captain Bildad sat earnestly and steadfastly eyeing Queequeg, and at last rising solemnly and fumbling in the huge pockets of his broad-skirted drab coat, took out a bundle of tracts, and selecting one entitled “The Latter Day Coming; or No Time to Lose,” placed it in Queequeg’s hands, and then grasping them and the book with both his, looked earnestly into his eyes, and said, “Son of darkness, I must do my duty by thee; I am part owner of this ship, and feel concerned for the souls of all its crew; if thou still clingest to thy Pagan ways, which I sadly fear, I beseech thee, remain not for aye a Belial bondsman. Spurn the idol Bell, and the hideous dragon; turn from the wrath to come; mind thine eye, I say; oh! goodness gracious! steer clear of the fiery pit!”

與此同時，比勒達船長一直懇切而堅定地盯著魁魁格看，最後他莊重地起身，在他那件寬擺土褐色外套的大口袋裡摸索，掏出一捆宗教小冊，挑了一本題為《末日將臨；或刻不容緩》的，放進魁魁格手裡，然後用雙手把魁魁格的手連同那本書一起握住，懇切地望進他眼裡，說：「黑暗之子，我必須對汝盡我的本分；我是這船的股東之一，掛念著全體船員的靈魂；倘若汝仍緊抓著汝那異教的舊習——我可悲地擔心正是如此——我懇求汝，莫要永遠做彼列的奴僕。棄絕那偶像彼勒、那可憎的巨龍；轉離那將臨的震怒；當心你的眼，我說；噢！我的老天爺啊！躲開那烈火之坑！」

Something of the salt sea yet lingered in old Bildad’s language, heterogeneously mixed with Scriptural and domestic phrases.

老比勒達的言談裡，仍殘留著幾分鹹澀的海味，雜七雜八地摻和著聖經辭句與家常用語。

“Avast there, avast there, Bildad, avast now spoiling our harpooneer,” cried Peleg. “Pious harpooneers never make good voyagers—it takes the shark out of ’em; no harpooneer is worth a straw who aint pretty sharkish. There was young Nat Swaine, once the bravest boat-header out of all Nantucket and the Vineyard; he joined the meeting, and never came to good. He got so frightened about his plaguy soul, that he shrinked and sheered away from whales, for fear of after-claps, in case he got stove and went to Davy Jones.”

「住口，住口，比勒達，別在那兒糟蹋我們的魚叉手了，」法勒嚷道。「虔誠的魚叉手永遠成不了好航海人——那會把他們身上的『鯊勁』抽光；一個魚叉手要是不夠『鯊』，就半文不值。從前有個年輕的納特·斯文，曾是全南塔克特和葡萄園島最勇猛的小艇指揮；他入了會，從此就沒成過器。他為他那條惹人厭的靈魂嚇得不行，竟畏畏縮縮、躲著鯨繞道走，就怕萬一小艇被撞破、自己沉進『戴維·瓊斯的箱底（海底）』後，會有什麼報應。」

“Peleg! Peleg!” said Bildad, lifting his eyes and hands, “thou thyself, as I myself, hast seen many a perilous time; thou knowest, Peleg, what it is to have the fear of death; how, then, can’st thou prate in this ungodly guise. Thou beliest thine own heart, Peleg. Tell me, when this same Pequod here had her three masts overboard in that typhoon on Japan, that same voyage when thou went mate with Captain Ahab, did’st thou not think of Death and the Judgment then?”

「法勒！法勒！」比勒達抬起眼、舉起雙手說，「汝自己，跟我一樣，經歷過多少凶險的時刻；汝知道，法勒，懷著對死亡的恐懼是什麼滋味；那麼，汝怎能擺出這副不敬神的樣子胡言亂語呢。汝這是違背汝自己的良心啊，法勒。告訴我，就是這艘裴廓德號，當年在日本外海那場颱風裡三根桅杆全折落了海——就是汝給亞哈船長當大副的那趟航程——那時汝難道沒想到死亡與審判嗎？」

“Hear him, hear him now,” cried Peleg, marching across the cabin, and thrusting his hands far down into his pockets,—“hear him, all of ye. Think of that! When every moment we thought the ship would sink! Death and the Judgment then? What? With all three masts making such an everlasting thundering against the side; and every sea breaking over us, fore and aft. Think of Death and the Judgment then? No! no time to think about Death then. Life was what Captain Ahab and I was thinking of; and how to save all hands—how to rig jury-masts—how to get into the nearest port; that was what I was thinking of.”

「聽聽他，聽聽他這話，」法勒嚷道，大步橫穿艙室，把兩手深深插進口袋裡，——「聽聽他，你們都聽聽。想想看那情形！我們每一刻都以為船要沉了！那時還想死亡與審判？什麼話？三根桅杆撞著船舷沒完沒了地轟響；每一道浪頭從船頭到船尾劈頭蓋臉砸下來。那時還想死亡與審判？沒有！那時沒空想死。我和亞哈船長想的是『活下去』；想的是怎麼救下全船人——怎麼架起應急桅——怎麼開進最近的港口；我那時想的就是這些。」

Bildad said no more, but buttoning up his coat, stalked on deck, where we followed him. There he stood, very quietly overlooking some sailmakers who were mending a top-sail in the waist. Now and then he stooped to pick up a patch, or save an end of tarred twine, which otherwise might have been wasted.

比勒達不再多言，只是扣好外套，昂首闊步上了甲板，我們也跟著上去。他站在那兒，靜靜地監看著幾個帆匠在船腰處修補一面上桅帆。他不時彎下腰去撿起一塊補丁、或攢起一截瀝青繩頭——那些東西若不撿，原是要白白浪費掉的。