he always sits in the stern sheets on a comfortable, sometimes cushioned seat there, and often steers himself with a pretty little milliner's tiller decorated with gay cords and ribbons.
他总是坐在船尾，座位很舒适，有时还装有软垫子，而且往往是他自己掌舵，舵柄小巧玲珑，饰有花哨的丝带小绳。
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. And as for a tiller, the whale-boat never admits of any such effeminacy; and therefore as in gamming a complete boat'screw must leave the ship, and hence as the boat steerer or harpooneer is of the number, that subordinate is the steersman upon the occasion, and the captain, having no place to sit in, is pulled off to his visit all standing like a pine tree. And often you will notice that being conscious of the eyes of the whole visible world resting on him from the sides of the two ships, this standing captain is all alive to the importance of sustaining his dignity by maintaining his legs. Nor is this any very easy matter; for in his rear is the immense projecting steering oar hitting him now and then in the small of his back, the after-oar reciprocating by rapping his knees in front.
可是捕鲸小艇后面却没有座位，它既没有那样的沙发，也根本没有舵柄。因此，如果捕鲸船长是象那些害痛风症的老郡长坐在特别装置的椅子一般，坐在有脚轮的椅子里在海上转来转去的话，那才有趣呢。至于那舵柄，捕鲸小艇可从来就没有这种精巧玲珑的东西，因此，由于在举行联欢会时，总是整个小艇的水手都得去，因为小艇的舵手和标枪手也都包括在内，挨下来的就是适逢其会的掌舵人，于是那个无处可坐的船长，就得象株松树一样，一径立着被划去拜客。这样，你往往就可以看到这位立着的船长，由于觉察到两边的大船上都众目集中在他身上，他为了保持尊严，不得不拚命装得很神气，硬挺起双脚。这可不是容易做的事情；因为，他后边正是那支非常突出的舵桨，不时地撞击着他的后腰，前边则是那支后桨，往复地击着他的膝头。