One way and another, it has begotten events so remarkable in themselves,

当然，南塔开特人一如既往，为了捕鲸，

and so continuously momentous in their sequential issues,

他们宁可面对如他们的祖先所面对的那些原始的恐怖和危险，而义无反顾。

that whaling may well be regarded as that Egyptian mother, who bore offspring themselves pregnant from her womb.

在捕鲸业发达以前，在欧洲与非洲的合恩角的关系中，殖民关系占绝对的主导地位，

It would be a hopeless, endless task to catalogue all these things.

与南美的秘鲁、智利和玻利维亚也是如此。

Let a handful suffice.

少数足矣。

For many years past the whale-ship has been the pioneer in ferreting out the remotest and least known parts of the earth.

地球另一端也是由捕鲸者带入文明世界的。

She has explored seas and archipelagoes which had no chart, where no Cook or Vancouver had ever sailed.

在一个荷兰人因为偶然而首先发现了澳洲以后，很长一段时间来往的船只都认为那是一片传播着瘟疫的大陆，所以都避而远之。

If American and European men-of-war now peacefully ride in once savage harbors,

可是捕鲸船却勇敢地靠了岸。捕鲸者才是澳洲大地真正的母亲！

let them fire salutes to the honour and glory of the whale-ship, which originally showed them the way, and first interpreted between them and the savages.

如今欧美的兵舰在那些地方纵横驰骋，他们大约应该为早期的开发者、探路人—捕鲸者—鸣炮致意吧！

They may celebrate as they will the heroes of Exploring Expeditions, your Cooks, your Krusensterns;

人们尽可以去歌颂那些探险家、旅行家，在我个人心目中，最伟大的却是早期捕鲸船上的那些船长们。

but I say that scores of anonymous Captains have sailed out of Nantucket, that were as great, and greater than your Cook and your Krusenstern.

他们几乎是赤手空拳地踏足于文明未至的蛮荒之地，荒礁野滩，危机四伏，他们勇敢地迎接了那一切。