and while yet drawing mortal nourishment, be still spiritually feasting upon some unearthly reminiscence;—even so did the young of these whales seem looking up towards us, but not at us, as if we were but a bit of Gulfweed in their new-born sight. Floating on their sides, the mothers also seemed quietly eyeing us. One of these little infants, that from certain queer tokens seemed hardly a day old, might have measured some fourteen feet in length, and some six feet in girth. He was a little frisky; though as yet his body seemed scarce yet recovered from that irksome position it had so lately occupied in the maternal reticule; where, tail to head, and all ready for the final spring, the unborn whale lies bent like a Tartar's bow. The delicate side-fins, and the palms of his flukes, still freshly retained the plaited crumpled appearance of a baby's ears newly arrived from foreign parts.
一边在吸取肉体的滋养，一边又在精神上饱享一些神秘的追怀——这些小鲸就正是这般模样，它们似乎在往上望着我们，但又不象在望着我们，因为在它们那新生的眼光中，我们这些人似乎只是一些马尾藻而已。那些游在它们旁边的母亲，似乎也在悠闲地望着我们。在这些婴孩中，其中有一条，就它那奇怪的样子看来，似乎还不过是刚生下来不上一天的小鲸，可它的身长却有十四英尺模样，腰围也有六英尺左右。这是一条活泼的小鲸；不过因为它的身体刚离母腹不久，似乎还摆脱不掉那种令人讨厌的姿势，因为它在母体里，本来就从尾到头，曲得象鞑靼人的一把随时待发的弓。它那细巧的边鳍和那裂尾片，都还有一种婴孩耳朵的皱皱折折的外形，象是刚从什么陌生地方来的。
Line! line! cried Queequeg, looking over the gunwale; "him fast! him fast!—Who line him! Who struck?—Two whale; one big, one little!"
绳子！绳子！魁魁格打舷边望了一下，叫道，"它拴住啦！它拴住啦！——是谁拴的！是谁打的？——两条鲸；一大一小！"
What ails ye, man? cried Starbuck.
你怎么啦，伙计？斯达巴克嚷道。
Look-e here, said Queequeg, pointing down.
你瞧，魁魁格指着水底里，说道。
As when the stricken whale, that from the tub has reeled out hundreds of fathoms of rope; as, after deep sounding, he floats up again, and shows the slackened curling line buoyantly rising and spiralling towards the air;
仿佛是一条被戳伤了的鲸，索桶里已经拉出了好几百英尺长的绳索把它拴住了；仿佛它在深潜到海底后，又浮了起来，弄得那根又松又卷的绳索，成螺旋形地直向空中浮冒起来；