會船

The ostensible reason why Ahab did not go on board of the whaler we had spoken was this: the wind and sea betokened storms. But even had this not been the case, he would not after all, perhaps, have boarded her... if so it had been that, by the process of hailing, he had obtained a negative answer to the question he put. For, as it eventually turned out, he cared not to consort, even for five minutes, with any stranger captain, except he could contribute some of that information he so absorbingly sought. ...

亞哈不登我們搭過話的那艘捕鯨船，表面的理由是：風與海預示著風暴。但即便不是這緣故，他到頭來大概也不會登船——從他後來在類似場合的舉動判斷——倘若在隔海招呼的過程中，他對所問的問題得到的是否定的答覆。因為，事實最終證明：他不屑與任何陌生船長相處，哪怕五分鐘，除非對方能提供他那苦苦求索的消息中的一些。但這一切，若不在此說說捕鯨船在外海、尤其在共同漁場相遇時那些特殊的習俗，便仍難以充分理解。

If two strangers crossing the Pine Barrens in New York State, or the equally desolate Salisbury Plain in England; if casually encountering each other in such inhospitable wilds, these twain, for the life of them, cannot well avoid a mutual salutation... how much more natural, I say, that under such circumstances these ships should not only interchange hails, but come into still closer, more friendly and sociable contact. And especially would this seem to be a matter of course, in the case of vessels owned in one seaport, and whose captains, officers, and not a few of the men are personally known to each other...

兩個陌生人若橫越紐約州的松林荒原、或同樣荒涼的英格蘭索爾茲伯里平原；若在這般荒僻不毛之地偶然相遇，這兩人無論如何也難免要互相招呼一聲、停下來交換消息、或許還同坐歇息一陣：那麼，我說，在大海那無垠的松林荒原與索爾茲伯里平原上，兩艘捕鯨船在天涯海角彼此望見——在孤寂的范寧島外、或遙遠的金斯米爾群島——在這般情況下，這兩船豈不更自然地不僅要隔海招呼、還要更親密、更友好而合群地接觸？尤其當兩船同屬一個海港、其船長、軍官、乃至不少船員彼此都相識時，這更顯得理所當然了；因此，他們有各式各樣親切的家常事可聊。

For the long absent ship, the outward-bounder, perhaps, has letters on board... And in return for that courtesy, the outward-bound ship would receive the latest whaling intelligence from the cruising-ground to which she may be destined... For not only would they meet with all the sympathies of sailors, but likewise with all the peculiar congenialities arising from a common pursuit and mutually shared privations and perils.

對那久離家鄉的船而言，那艘出航的船上或許帶著信件；無論如何，她準能拿到一些比自己那已模糊、被翻得起毛的檔案上最新一份還晚一兩年的報紙。而作為這份禮數的回報，那出航的船又能從對方那兒，得到牠可能要去的那片漁場最新的捕鯨情報——這對牠是至關重要的事。在某種程度上，這一切也適用於在漁場上彼此交會航跡的捕鯨船，即便牠們同樣久離家鄉。因為其中一艘，可能替某艘第三方的、如今已遠去的船捎著一批轉交的信；而那些信中，或許有些正是給牠此刻所遇這船上的人的。此外，他們還會交換捕鯨消息、愉快地閒聊一番。因為他們相遇時，不僅有水手間一切的同情，更有那由「共同的營生、共擔的匱乏與凶險」所生出的種種特殊的親和。

Nor would difference of country make any very essential difference; that is, so long as both parties speak one language... the English whalers sometimes affect a kind of metropolitan superiority over the American whalers; regarding the long, lean Nantucketer, with his nondescript provincialisms, as a sort of sea-peasant. ... seeing that the Yankees in one day, collectively, kill more whales than all the English, collectively, in ten years. But this is a harmless little foible in the English whale-hunters...

國籍的差異也不會造成什麼本質的不同；也就是說，只要雙方說同一種語言——如美國人與英國人。當然，由於英國捕鯨船數目少，這種相遇不常發生；真發生時，兩者間又往往帶著一種拘謹；因為英國人頗為矜持，而美國佬呢，除了自己，他可不喜歡別人擺那套架子。何況英國捕鯨船有時對美國捕鯨船擺出一種「都會人的優越感」，把那瘦長、一身說不清的土腔土調的南塔克特人，看作一種「海上的鄉巴佬」。可這英國捕鯨人的優越究竟何在，卻很難說——畢竟美國佬一天集體所殺的鯨，比全英國集體十年所殺的還多。但這不過是英國獵鯨人一個無傷大雅的小毛病，南塔克特人並不太放在心上；大概因為他知道，自己也有那麼幾個小毛病。

So, then, we see that of all ships separately sailing the sea, the whalers have most reason to be sociable—and they are so. ... As for Men-of-War, when they chance to meet at sea, they first go through such a string of silly bowings and scrapings, such a ducking of ensigns... And as for Pirates, when they chance to cross each other’s cross-bones, the first hail is—“How many skulls?”—the same way that whalers hail—“How many barrels?” ...

那麼，我們便看出：在一切各自航行於海上的船裡，捕鯨船最有理由親和——而牠們也確實如此。反觀有些商船在大西洋中交會彼此的航跡，往往一句招呼的話都沒有就擦肩而過，在公海上彼此「視而不見」，像百老匯街上一對花花公子；同時，或許還在暗暗對彼此的裝束（船的索具）作著挑剔的批評。至於軍艦，牠們碰巧在海上相遇時，先要來一串可笑的鞠躬作揖、降旗致意，看不出其中有多少真摯、發自肺腑的善意與兄弟之愛。說到奴隸船相遇，嘿，牠們急得不得了，巴不得盡快彼此逃開。而說到海盜船，當牠們碰巧交會彼此的「骷髏交叉旗」時，第一聲招呼是——「（你有）多少顆骷髏？」——正如捕鯨船招呼「多少桶（油）？」一樣；這問題一答完，海盜船便立刻各自分道，因為兩邊都是地獄般的惡棍，不愛多看彼此那副惡棍嘴臉。

But look at the godly, honest, unostentatious, hospitable, sociable, free-and-easy whaler! What does the whaler do when she meets another whaler in any sort of decent weather? She has a “Gam,” a thing so utterly unknown to all other ships that they never heard of the name even; and if by chance they should hear of it, they only grin at it, and repeat gamesome stuff about “spouters” and “blubber-boilers,” and such like pretty exclamations. ...

可瞧瞧那虔誠、誠實、不擺架子、好客、親和、隨和的捕鯨船吧！她遇上另一艘捕鯨船、天氣還算像樣時，做什麼？她「會船（Gam）」——這玩意兒別的船全然不知、連這名字都沒聽過；偶爾碰巧聽到，也只會對它咧嘴一笑、學舌些拿「噴水的」「煮鯨脂的」之類打趣的話。為什麼所有商船水手、海盜、軍艦水兵、奴隸船水手，都對捕鯨船懷著這般輕蔑之情；這問題很難回答。因為，就拿海盜來說吧，我倒想知道他們那行當有什麼特別的榮耀。它有時的確以一種不尋常的「高升」收場——可那只在絞架上。何況一個人以那古怪的方式被「抬高」時，他那高人一等的高度並沒有正當的根基。因此我斷定：海盜自誇高過捕鯨人時，他這斷言並沒有堅實的立足點。

But what is a Gam? You might wear out your index-finger running up and down the columns of dictionaries, and never find the word. Dr. Johnson never attained to that erudition; Noah Webster’s ark does not hold it. Nevertheless, this same expressive word has now for many years been in constant use among some fifteen thousand true born Yankees. Certainly, it needs a definition, and should be incorporated into the Lexicon. With that view, let me learnedly define it.

可「會船（Gam）」是什麼？你把食指在字典的欄目上來回劃到磨破，也找不到這詞。詹森博士不曾達到那份學問；諾亞·韋伯斯特的「方舟（字典）」裡也裝不下它。然而，這個富表現力的詞，多年來一直為大約一萬五千個土生土長的美國佬所通用。它當然需要一個定義、該被收進詞典。基於此，讓我來「博學地」為它下定義。

GAM. NOUN—A social meeting of two (or more) Whaleships, generally on a cruising-ground; when, after exchanging hails, they exchange visits by boats’ crews: the two captains remaining, for the time, on board of one ship, and the two chief mates on the other.

會船（GAM）。名詞——兩艘（或更多）捕鯨船的社交聚會，通常在漁場上；雙方隔海招呼之後，便以小艇的船員互相拜訪：兩位船長暫時一起留在其中一艘船上，兩位大副則留在另一艘船上。

There is another little item about Gamming which must not be forgotten here. ... But the whale-boat has no seat astern, no sofa of that sort whatever, and no tiller at all. High times indeed, if whaling captains were wheeled about the water on castors like gouty old aldermen in patent chairs. ... the captain, having no place to sit in, is pulled off to his visit all standing like a pine tree. ... Nevertheless there have occurred instances, well authenticated ones too, where the captain has been known for an uncommonly critical moment or two, in a sudden squall say—to seize hold of the nearest oarsman’s hair, and hold on there like grim death.

關於「會船」，還有一個小細節在此不可忘記。一切行業都有自己細節上的小特點；捕鯨業也如此。在海盜船、軍艦或奴隸船上，船長被划去某處時，總坐在艇尾那舒適、有時還鋪了墊子的座位上，常還用一根綴著鮮豔繩帶、女帽匠般的小舵柄自己掌舵。但捕鯨小艇沒有艇尾的座位、沒有那種沙發、根本沒有舵柄。要是捕鯨船長像患痛風的老市議員坐在特製輪椅上、被裝著腳輪在水上滾來滾去，那才真是「了不得」呢；至於舵柄，捕鯨艇絕不容許這種「女人氣」的東西。因此，會船時，既然整組艇員都必須離船、而掌舵手（標槍手）也在這組人之中，那這下屬便在此時當掌舵手；而沒地方可坐的船長，便「像棵松樹一樣」全程站著被划去作客。你常會注意到：這站著的船長，意識到全世界看得見的眼睛都從兩船舷邊盯著他，便極力靠站穩雙腿來維持他的尊嚴。這可不是什麼容易的事；因為在他身後，那根巨大、伸出的舵槳不時撞著他的後腰，前面的後槳又回敬地敲著他的膝蓋；他這樣前後都被夾死，只能靠叉開站著的腿、向兩側撐住自己；可艇一突然猛烈地顛簸，往往就足以把他掀倒，因為「底座再長，沒有相應的寬度也是白搭」。把兩根桿張成一個角，你是立不起它們來的。再者，在全世界釘住的眼前，這叉開腿的船長，絕不能被看見哪怕稍稍用手抓住什麼來穩身；事實上，作為他全然從容、泰然自制的標誌，他通常把雙手插在褲袋裡；不過他的手往往又大又重，插那兒或許是「當壓艙物（ballast）」。然而，確曾發生過——而且是有確切記載的實例——在突來的狂飆等極危急的一兩刻，船長曾抓住最近那名槳手的頭髮、死死攥住、像抓住救命稻草。