艙房

“Lad, lad, I tell thee thou must not follow Ahab now. The hour is coming when Ahab would not scare thee from him, yet would not have thee by him. There is that in thee, poor lad, which I feel too curing to my malady. Like cures like; and for this hunt, my malady becomes my most desired health. Do thou abide below here, where they shall serve thee, as if thou wert the captain. Aye, lad, thou shalt sit here in my own screwed chair; another screw to it, thou must be.”

「孩子，孩子，我告訴你，你現在不能再跟著亞哈了。有一刻就要到來——那時亞哈不會把你嚇得遠離他，卻也不願讓你待在他身邊。你身上有種東西，可憐的孩子，我覺得它太能醫治我的病了。以同治同；可為了這場追獵，我的病反倒成了我最渴望的健康。你就留在這下頭吧，他們會伺候你，就當你是船長一樣。是的，孩子，你就坐在這兒，坐我自己這把釘死的椅子上；你也得做釘住它的另一顆螺絲。」

“No, no, no! ye have not a whole body, sir; do ye but use poor me for your one lost leg; only tread upon me, sir; I ask no more, so I remain a part of ye.”

「不，不，不！您的身子不齊全，先生；您就拿我這可憐人，當您失去的那一條腿吧；只管踩在我身上就是，先生；我別無所求，只要我還是您的一部分。」

“Oh! spite of million villains, this makes me a bigot in the fadeless fidelity of man!—and a black! and crazy!—but methinks like-cures-like applies to him too; he grows so sane again.”

「哦！任憑世上有千千萬萬的惡棍，這一刻卻讓我成了個偏執的信徒——深信人類那永不褪色的忠誠！——而且還是個黑人！還是個瘋子！——可我看『以同治同』對他也一樣管用；他這會兒又變得這麼清醒了。」

“They tell me, sir, that Stubb did once desert poor little Pip, whose drowned bones now show white, for all the blackness of his living skin. But I will never desert ye, sir, as Stubb did him. Sir, I must go with ye.”

「他們告訴我，先生，斯塔布有一回遺棄了可憐的小皮普，如今他那淹死的骨頭都泛白了，儘管他活著時皮膚那麼黑。可我絕不會像斯塔布遺棄他那樣遺棄您，先生。先生，我一定要跟您去。」

“If thou speakest thus to me much more, Ahab’s purpose keels up in him. I tell thee no; it cannot be.” / “Oh good master, master, master!”

「你要是再這樣對我說下去，亞哈的決心就要在他心裡整個翻覆了。我跟你說不行；這事不能。」/「哦，好主人，主人，主人哪！」

“Weep so, and I will murder thee! have a care, for Ahab too is mad. Listen, and thou wilt often hear my ivory foot upon the deck, and still know that I am there. And now I quit thee. Thy hand!—Met! True art thou, lad, as the circumference to its centre. So: God for ever bless thee; and if it come to that,—God for ever save thee, let what will befall.”

「你再這麼哭，我可要殺了你！當心點，因為亞哈他自己也是瘋的。聽著，你會時常聽見我那象牙腳踩在甲板上的聲音，便知道我還在那兒。如今我要離開你了。把你的手給我！——握上了！你忠誠啊，孩子，就像圓周之於它的圓心。那麼：願上帝永遠祝福你；倘若真到了那一步——願上帝永遠拯救你，無論將要發生什麼。」

“Here he this instant stood; I stand in his air,—but I’m alone. Now were even poor Pip here I could endure it, but he’s missing. Pip! Pip! Ding, dong, ding! Who’s seen Pip?... It must be the spell; he told me to stay here... Here, then, I’ll seat me, against the transom, in the ship’s full middle, all her keel and her three masts before me. Here, our old sailors say, in their black seventy-fours great admirals sometimes sit at table, and lord it over rows of captains and lieutenants. Ha! what’s this? epaulets! epaulets! the epaulets all come crowding! Pass round the decanters; glad to see ye; fill up, monsieurs! What an odd feeling, now, when a black boy’s host to white men with gold lace upon their coats!—Monsieurs, have ye seen one Pip?—a little negro lad, five feet high, hang-dog look, and cowardly!... let’s drink shame upon all cowards! ... Hist! above there, I hear ivory—Oh, master! master! I am indeed down-hearted when you walk over me. But here I’ll stay, though this stern strikes rocks; and they bulge through; and oysters come to join me.”

（亞哈離去；皮普向前邁了一步。）「方才他就站在這兒；我站在他留下的氣息裡，——可我是孤零零的。這會兒哪怕連可憐的皮普在這兒，我都還受得住，可他不見了。皮普！皮普！叮，噹，叮！誰見過皮普？……一定是中了那道符咒；他叫我留在這兒……那麼，我就坐在這兒吧，背靠著艙尾橫板，坐在這船正中央，她那整條龍骨、那三根桅杆全在我面前。在這兒，我們的老水手說，在他們那些黑漆漆的七十四炮戰艦上，了不起的大將有時就這樣坐在桌前，對著一排排上尉、中尉發號施令。哈！這是什麼？肩章！肩章！那些金穗肩章全擠擁過來了！把醒酒瓶傳一圈；見到各位真高興；斟滿吧，先生們！這感覺可真稀奇——一個黑人小子，竟成了這些外套上鑲著金線的白人老爺們的東道主！——先生們，你們可曾見過一個叫皮普的？——一個小黑奴，五呎高，一臉喪氣相，膽小得很！……來，咱們為天下所有懦夫蒙羞乾一杯！……噓！上頭那兒，我聽見象牙的聲音了——哦，主人！主人！您從我頭頂走過時，我當真心都沉了。可我要守在這兒，哪怕這船尾撞上礁石、海水從裂縫灌進來、連牡蠣都來和我作伴。」