Chapter 72 The Monkey-Rope
第七十二章 猴索
In the tumultuous business of cutting-in and attending to a whale, there is much running backwards and forwards among the crew. Now hands are wanted here, and then again hands are wanted there. There is no staying in any one place; for at one and the same time everything has to be done everywhere. It is much the same with him who endeavors the description of the scene. We must now retrace our way a little. It was mentioned that upon first breaking ground in the whale's back, the blubber-hook was inserted into the original hole there cut by the spades of the mates. But how did so clumsy and weighty a mass as that same hook get fixed in that hole? It was inserted there by my particular friend Queequeg, whose duty it was, as harpooneer, to descend upon the monster's back for the special purpose referred to. But in very many cases, circumstances require that the harpooneer shall remain on the whale till the whole tensing or stripping operation is concluded. The whale, be it observed, lies almost entirely submerged, excepting the immediate parts operated upon. So down there, some ten feet below the level of the deck, the poor harpooneer flounders about, half on the whale and half in the water, as the vast mass revolves like a tread-mill beneath him.
在剖割和处理一条大鲸的乱糟糟的工作中，水手们总是奔前赶后地忙个不停。一会儿这里要人帮忙，一会儿那里又要人去帮忙。到处都在忙着，因为在同一个时间里，各处都得把各种事情赶完。那个企图描述这个场面的人也是如此。现在我们必须略为倒叙一番。前面已经说过，在剖鲸背之先，得把那只鲸脂大钩钩在原来大二三副用铲子割开来的洞孔里。可是，一只这样笨重的钩子怎样把那个洞孔钩住呢？那是由我的密友魁魁格挂上去的，他身为标枪手，就得爬到那怪物的背上，去完成上述这项特殊任务。但是，往往在许多场合上，还需要这个标枪手留在鲸背上，直待到整个剥皮工作完毕才下来。请注意，那条鲸，除了正在让人家剥皮的部分，差不多全都浸在水里。因此，这个可怜的标枪手就得在低于甲板约十英尺左右的下边挣扎着，身子一半在鲸背上，一半浸在水里，而那条巨物则象架踏车似的，在他脚下旋来转去。
