The beef was fine—tough, but with body in it. They said it was bullbeef; others, that it was dromedary beef; but I do not know, for certain, how that was. They had dumplings too; small, but substantial, symmetrically globular, and indestructible dumplings. I fancied that you could feel them, and roll them about in you after they were swallowed. If you stooped over too far forward, you risked their pitching out of you like billiard-balls. The bread— but that couldn't be helped; besides, it was an anti-scorbutic, in short, the bread contained the only fresh fare they had. But the forecastle was not very light, and it was very easy to step over into a dark corner when you ate it. But all in all, taking her from truck to helm, considering the dimensions of the cook's boilers, including his own live parchment boilers; fore and aft, I say, the Samuel Enderby was a jolly ship; of good fare and plenty; fine flip and strong; crack fellows all, and capital from boot heels to hat-band.

牛肉真不错——尽管硬绷绷，味道却很浓。据说那是大牯肉；又有人说，那是单峰骆驼肉，但是，我却摸不准究竟是什么肉。他们也有汤团，只头小而结实，圆滚滚的而且都是摔不烂的汤团。我想，把它吞到肚里后，它还是摸得出和滚得动。如果向前弯身弯得太厉害的话，它就会有象台子球似的打肚皮里滚出来的危险。还有面包——不过，那是吃不来的；而且，它还是一种抗坏血病的特效药；总之，这种面包就是他们整个菜单上的唯一新鲜的东西。船头楼并不很光亮，你在吃它的时候，很容易踩进了黑角落里。不过，总的说来，这艘船从它桅顶上的木冠到船舵，从厨师那只硕大无比的锅炉，到他自己的那只羊皮纸似的大肚皮，我说，从船头到船尾，这艘"撒母耳·恩德比号"就是艘怪舒服的船；食物质佳量多；甜啤酒既香甜又浓洌；大家又都是些第一流的人物，从头到脚都是刮刮叫的。

But why was it, think ye, that the Samuel Enderby, and some other English whalers I know of—not all though—were such famous, hospitable ships; that passed round the beef, and the bread, and the can, and the joke; and were not soon weary of eating, and drinking, and laughing? I will tell you. The abounding good cheer of these English whalers is matter for historical research. Nor have I been at all sparing of historical whale research, when it has seemed needed.

可是，你不免要想，为什么"撒母耳·恩德比号"以及我所知道的其它一些英国捕鲸船——虽然不能说是全部——都是这样一些以待客殷勤见称的船只呢？牛肉呀，面包呀，罐头呀，传来递去，笑话说个不完，吃个不厌，喝个不停，笑声不绝，为什么会这样呢？那么，让我跟你道来。这些英国捕鲸船的无限的好兴致，真是值得做历史研究的资料。情势所需，我是会毫不吝惜地来做番捕鲸史的研究工作的。

查看有声读物更多精彩内容