裴廓德號遇上拉結號

Next day, a large ship, the Rachel, was descried, bearing directly down upon the Pequod, all her spars thickly clustering with men. At the time the Pequod was making good speed through the water; but as the broad-winged windward stranger shot nigh to her, the boastful sails all fell together as blank bladders that are burst, and all life fled from the smitten hull.

次日，望見一艘大船拉結號，正迎面直朝裴廓德號駛來，她的桅桁上密密麻麻爬滿了人。當時裴廓德號正破浪疾行；可當那艘張著寬大羽翼、佔著上風的陌生船疾射到她近旁時，那些原本神氣的帆突然一齊垮下，像被戳破的空癟膀胱，整艘被攔住的船彷彿一下子沒了生氣。

“Bad news; she brings bad news,” muttered the old Manxman. But ere her commander, who, with trumpet to mouth, stood up in his boat; ere he could hopefully hail, Ahab’s voice was heard. / “Hast seen the White Whale?” / “Aye, yesterday. Have ye seen a whale-boat adrift?”

「壞消息；她帶來的是壞消息，」老曼島人咕噥道。可不等對方那位船長——他正把喇叭筒湊到嘴邊、站在自己的小艇上——不等他滿懷期望地喊話，就先聽見了亞哈的聲音。/「見過那條白鯨嗎？」/「見過，昨天。你們可曾見過一艘漂流的捕鯨小艇？」

Throttling his joy, Ahab negatively answered this unexpected question; and would then have fain boarded the stranger... Immediately he was recognised by Ahab for a Nantucketer he knew. But no formal salutation was exchanged. “Where was he?—not killed!—not killed!” cried Ahab, closely advancing. “How was it?”

亞哈強壓住心頭的狂喜，對這意外的問題給了否定的回答；隨即便想登上那陌生船，這時對方船長已親自停住船、從船舷側邊攀了下來……亞哈立刻認出他是個相識的南塔克特人。可雙方並未交換任何正式的寒暄。「牠在哪兒？——沒被殺死吧！——沒被殺死吧！」亞哈逼近著喊道。「當時是怎麼回事？」

It seemed that somewhat late on the afternoon of the day previous, while three of the stranger’s boats were engaged with a shoal of whales... the white hump and head of Moby Dick had suddenly loomed up out of the water, not very far to leeward; whereupon, the fourth rigged boat—a reserved one—had been instantly lowered in chase. After a keen sail before the wind, this fourth boat... seemed to have succeeded in fastening... In the distance he saw the diminished dotted boat; and then a swift gleam of bubbling white water; and after that nothing more... darkness came on; and forced to pick up her three far to windward boats... the ship had not only been necessitated to leave that boat to its fate till near midnight, but, for the time, to increase her distance from it. But the rest of her crew being at last safe aboard, she crowded all sail—stunsail on stunsail—after the missing boat; kindling a fire in her try-pots for a beacon... yet not the least glimpse of the missing keel had been seen.

原來，前一天午後稍晚，那陌生船有三艘小艇正纏著一群鯨——那群鯨把牠們引離母船約莫四五哩；正當牠們順風急追時，莫比敵那白色的背峰與頭顱，突然從水裡冒了出來，就在不遠的下風處；於是，那艘備用的第四號小艇立刻被放下去追。順風疾駛一程後，這第四艘艇——龍骨最快的一艘——似乎已成功刺中了鯨——至少，桅頂上的人能看清的就這麼多。他遠遠望見那艘縮成小點的艇；接著是一道翻騰白水的疾閃；再之後，便什麼都沒有了……天黑了下來；母船不得不先去撈回遠在上風處的那三艘艇——再掉頭往正相反的方向去尋第四艘——這一來，不僅被迫把那艘艇丟給命運直到近午夜，當下還反倒拉開了與它的距離。可待其餘船員終於都安全上船後，她便扯滿了帆——副帆加副帆——朝那失蹤的小艇追去；在煉油鍋裡生起一堆火當作信標……卻連那失蹤龍骨的一絲影子都沒能瞧見。

The story told, the stranger Captain immediately went on to reveal his object in boarding the Pequod. He desired that ship to unite with his own in the search; by sailing over the sea some four or five miles apart, on parallel lines, and so sweeping a double horizon, as it were.

說完這段經過，那陌生船長立刻接著道出他登上裴廓德號的來意。他懇請這艘船與他自己的船聯手搜索；兩船相隔約四五哩、循平行的航線在海上行駛，這樣便能像掃過一道雙倍寬的水平線一般，把海面搜遍。

“I will wager something now,” whispered Stubb to Flask, “that some one in that missing boat wore off that Captain’s best coat; mayhap, his watch—he’s so cursed anxious to get it back. Who ever heard of two pious whale-ships cruising after one missing whale-boat in the height of the whaling season? See, Flask, only see how pale he looks—pale in the very buttons of his eyes—look—it wasn’t the coat—it must have been the—”

「我這就跟你打個賭，」斯塔布湊近弗拉斯克低聲道，「那失蹤艇上準有誰，穿走了那船長最好的一件外套；說不定，還有他的懷錶——他這麼火急火燎地想要回來。誰聽說過捕鯨旺季正盛時，兩艘虔誠的捕鯨船會去滿海找一艘失蹤的小艇？瞧，弗拉斯克，你瞧他臉色多蒼白——連他眼珠子那兩顆鈕釦似的，都白了——你瞧——不是為了外套——準是為了那——」

“My boy, my own boy is among them. For God’s sake—I beg, I conjure”—here exclaimed the stranger Captain to Ahab, who thus far had but icily received his petition. “For eight-and-forty hours let me charter your ship—I will gladly pay for it, and roundly pay for it—if there be no other way—for eight-and-forty hours only—only that—you must, oh, you must, and you shall do this thing.”

「我的孩子，我親生的兒子就在他們當中。看在上帝份上——我求你，我懇求你——」那陌生船長朝亞哈這樣喊出聲來，而亞哈至此仍只是冷冰冰地聽著他的請求。「就借我用你的船四十八個鐘頭——我願意付錢，而且付一大筆——若是再沒別的法子——只要四十八個鐘頭——只要這麼點——你一定得答應，哦，你一定得答應，你也一定會答應我這件事。」

“His son!” cried Stubb, “oh, it’s his son he’s lost! I take back the coat and watch—what says Ahab? We must save that boy.” / “He’s drowned with the rest on ’em, last night,” said the old Manx sailor standing behind them; “I heard; all of ye heard their spirits.”

「他的兒子！」斯塔布喊道，「哦，他丟的是他兒子啊！外套和懷錶的話我收回——亞哈怎麼說？我們得救那孩子。」/「他昨晚跟其他人一道淹死了，」站在他們身後的老曼島水手說；「我聽見了；你們所有人也都聽見了他們的魂。」

...not only was one of the Captain’s sons among the number of the missing boat’s crew; but among the number of the other boat’s crews... there had been still another son... only solved for him by his chief mate’s instinctively adopting the ordinary procedure of a whale-ship in such emergencies... always to pick up the majority first. But the captain... not till forced to it by Ahab’s iciness did he allude to his one yet missing boy; a little lad, but twelve years old, whose father with the earnest but unmisgiving hardihood of a Nantucketer’s paternal love, had thus early sought to initiate him in the perils and wonders of a vocation almost immemorially the destiny of all his race. Nor does it unfrequently occur, that Nantucket captains will send a son of such tender age away... for a protracted three or four years’ voyage in some other ship than their own.

……不僅這船長的一個兒子在那失蹤艇的船員之列；同時，在另一艘艇的船員當中——卻又在另一頭、於追獵的黑暗變故裡與母船走散了——還有他的另一個兒子……這難題之所以能解開，全靠他的大副本能地採取了捕鯨船在這類緊急關頭的慣常做法，也就是——當被夾在兩艘都遇險卻又分散兩處的艇之間時，永遠先去撈人多的那一艘。可這船長……直到被亞哈的冷漠逼得沒法，才提起他那個仍然失蹤的孩子；一個小男孩，才十二歲，他的父親本著南塔克特人父愛裡那份懇切卻毫不遲疑的剛硬，這麼早就要讓他見識這門營生的凶險與奇景——這營生，幾乎自亙古以來就是他們整個族裔的宿命。而南塔克特的船長把這般稚齡的兒子送走、讓他在別人的船上、而非自己的船上，去跑一趟長達三四年的航程，這種事也並不少見。

Meantime, now the stranger was still beseeching his poor boon of Ahab; and Ahab still stood like an anvil, receiving every shock, but without the least quivering of his own. “I will not go,” said the stranger, “till you say aye to me. Do to me as you would have me do to you in the like case. For you too have a boy, Captain Ahab—though but a child, and nestling safely at home now—a child of your old age too—Yes, yes, you relent; I see it—run, run, men, now, and stand by to square in the yards.”

與此同時，那陌生人仍在向亞哈苦苦哀求他這點可憐的恩典；而亞哈依舊像一塊鐵砧般立著，承受著每一記敲擊，自身卻沒有絲毫顫動。「我不走，」那陌生人說，「除非你對我說一聲『好』。將心比心，換作是你，你會希望我怎麼待你，你就怎麼待我。因為你也有個兒子啊，亞哈船長——雖說還只是個孩子，此刻正安穩地依偎在家裡——還是你晚年得的孩子——是了，是了，你心軟了；我看出來了——快，快，弟兄們，這就過去，準備把帆桁擺正！」

“Avast,” cried Ahab—“touch not a rope-yarn”; then in a voice that prolongingly moulded every word—“Captain Gardiner, I will not do it. Even now I lose time. Good-bye, good-bye. God bless ye, man, and may I forgive myself, but I must go. Mr. Starbuck, look at the binnacle watch, and in three minutes from this present instant warn off all strangers: then brace forward again, and let the ship sail as before.”

「住手，」亞哈喝道——「一根繩股都別碰」；接著用一種把每個字都拖長、慢慢塑出的嗓音說——「嘉迪納船長，我不會去做這件事。我連此刻都在損失時間。再會，再會。願上帝保佑你，老兄，也願我能原諒我自己，可我必須走。斯塔巴克先生，看一眼羅盤櫃上的錶，從此刻起三分鐘內，把所有外人請離本船：然後重新把帆桁朝前撐正，讓船照先前那樣航行。」

Hurriedly turning, with averted face, he descended into his cabin, leaving the strange captain transfixed at this unconditional and utter rejection of his so earnest suit. But starting from his enchantment, Gardiner silently hurried to the side; more fell than stepped into his boat, and returned to his ship.

他匆匆轉身、別過臉去，下到自己的艙裡，留下那陌生船長對著這毫無條件、徹底決絕的拒絕——對他如此懇切的請求的拒絕——呆若木雞。可嘉迪納終於從這恍惚中驚醒，默默地急步走到船舷邊；與其說是跨、不如說是跌進自己的小艇，回他的船去了。

Soon the two ships diverged their wakes; and long as the strange vessel was in view, she was seen to yaw hither and thither at every dark spot, however small, on the sea... while all the while, her masts and yards were thickly clustered with men, as three tall cherry trees, when the boys are cherrying among the boughs. But by her still halting course and winding, woeful way, you plainly saw that this ship that so wept with spray, still remained without comfort. She was Rachel, weeping for her children, because they were not.

不久，兩船的航跡便岔開了；而只要那陌生船還在視野之內，便見她朝海面上每一個黑點——無論多小——東偏西拐地搜尋著……始終地，她的桅桁上密密爬滿了人，活像三棵高高的櫻桃樹，孩子們正在枝椏間採著櫻桃。可從她那仍舊踟躕的航向、那蜿蜒迂迴、悲苦的去路，你分明看得出：這艘被浪花澆得彷彿在哭泣的船，依然得不到一絲慰藉。她是拉結，為她的兒女哭泣，因為他們都不在了。