As ashore, the ladies often cause the most terrible duels among their rival admirers; just so with the whales, who sometimes come to deadly battle, and all for love. They fence with their long lower jaws, sometimes locking them together, and so striving for the supremacy like elks that warringly interweave their antlers. Not a few are captured having the deep scars of these encounters,— furrowed heads, broken teeth, scolloped fins; and in some instances, wrenched and dislocated mouths.
正如陆上那些太太小姐往往就是她们的情敌闹起最可怕的决斗的祸因一般；大鲸也是如此，它们有时也不免惨斗一番，为来为去，为的就是爱情纠纷。它们都巧妙地用长下巴来招架，往往两只下巴扭揪在一起，大家拼命想占上风，如同两只死对头的大麋鹿角一般纠扯在一起。捕到这样冲突过的大鲸，身上总发现有许多深疤——脑袋长犁沟，牙齿打掉了，鳍象扇子；有的时候，连嘴巴也扭伤打歪了。
But supposing the invader of domestic bliss to betake himself away at the first rush of the harem's lord, then is it very diverting to watch that lord. Gently he insinuates his vast bulk among them again and revels there awhile, still in tantalizing vicinity to young Lothario, like pious Solomon devoutly worshipping among his thousand concubines. Granting other whales to be in sight, the fisherman will seldom give chase to one of these Grand Turks; for these Grand Turks are too lavish of their strength, and hence their unctuousness is small. As for the sons and the daughters they beget, why, those sons and daughters must take care of themselves; at least, with only the maternal help. For like certain other omnivorous roving lovers that might be named, my Lord Whale has no taste for the nursery, however much for the bower; and so, being a great traveller, he leaves his anonymous babies all over the world; every baby an exotic.
不过，假定这个家庭幸福的侵犯者受到这群妻妾的王爷的初次冲击而抵挡不住，连忙溜之大吉的时候，那么瞧瞧这个王爷的姿态，真是叫人开胃。它又温情脉脉地摇摆起它那硕大的躯干，去奉承它的妻妾，在它们那里流连片刻，还故意对那个就在附近的青年浪子挑逗一番，就象虔敬的所罗门在他无数的妃妾间虔诚地膜拜一样。如果左近找得到其它鲸的话，捕鲸人是不很愿意追击这样一个尊贵的土耳其人的，因为这些显贵的土耳其人精力消耗太甚，油水很少。至于它们所生下来的儿女，那不消说，都得由这些儿女自己照顾自己，充其量也不过让做母亲的去料理而已。因为这种王爷鲸，可以说是跟那种一见女人就想要的薄情郎一样，尽管妻妾众多，却没有培育子女的雅兴；于是，因为它是一个大游客，它在世界各处就撒下了许多不知名字的小孩；每个小孩都是外来种。