'Think of this wine for instance,' said old Sol, 'which has been to the East Indies and back, I'm not able to say how often, and has been once round the world. Think of the pitch-dark nights, the roaring winds, and rolling seas:'
“譬如这酒，想想看，”老所尔说，“它到过东印度群岛又返回来，我讲不清有多少次了，而且还环球旅行过。想想这一片漆黑的夜，呼啸的风，汹涌的大海吧。”
'The thunder, lightning, rain, hail, storm of all kinds,' said the boy.
“还有雷鸣，闪电，大雨，冰雹，各色各样的狂风暴雨。”男孩接着说。
'To be sure,' said Solomon, - 'that this wine has passed through. Think what a straining and creaking of timbers and masts: what a whistling and howling of the gale through ropes and rigging:'
“所有这些，”所罗门说，“这酒肯定都经历过，碰到过。想想船身、桅杆在怎么样歪歪斜斜地摇晃、吱吱嘎嘎地作响！大风怎样穿过缆索奔腾呼啸呵！”
'What a clambering aloft of men, vying with each other who shall lie out first upon the yards to furl the icy sails, while the ship rolls and pitches, like mad!' cried his nephew.
“船在海里疯狂地摇晃颠簸，船上的人都争着爬到帆桁上卷起冰冷的帆呵！”
'Exactly so,' said Solomon: 'has gone on, over the old cask that held this wine. Why, when the Charming Sally went down in the - '
外甥大声讲着。“一点也不错，”所罗门说，“装这酒的酒桶这些都经历过。哎呀，当那艘漂亮的萨莉号沉没在——”
'In the Baltic Sea, in the dead of night; five-and-twenty minutes past twelve when the captain's watch stopped in his pocket; he lying dead against the main-mast - on the fourteenth of February, seventeen forty-nine!' cried Walter, with great animation.
“波罗的海，在午夜十二点二十五分，正当船长口袋里的表刚刚停止。船长身子伏在主桅杆上死了——那是1749年2月14日！”沃尔特兴奋地叫起来。
'Ay, to be sure!' cried old Sol, 'quite right! Then, there were five hundred casks of such wine aboard; and all hands (except the first mate, first lieutenant, two seamen, and a lady, in a leaky boat) going to work to stave the casks, got drunk and died drunk, singing "Rule Britannia", when she settled and went down, and ending with one awful scream in chorus.'
“对！”老所尔大声说，“完全对！当时船上有五百桶这样的酒；除了大副、上尉、两个水手还有一位女士以外在一只漏水的小船上，所有的海员都去把酒桶钻个洞，拼命地喝酒，喝得烂醉，当船沉下去的时候，他们一齐唱起‘统治吧，不列颠’ ，在庄严响亮的歌声中他们大喊一声在沉醉中死去。”
'But when the George the Second drove ashore, Uncle, on the coast of Cornwall, in a dismal gale, two hours before daybreak, on the fourth of March, 'seventy-one, she had near two hundred horses aboard; and the horses breaking loose down below, early in the gale, and tearing to and fro, and trampling each other to death, made such noises, and set up such human cries, that the crew believing the ship to be full of devils, some of the best men, losing heart and head, went overboard in despair, and only two were left alive, at last, to tell the tale.'
“可是舅舅，在1771年3月4日天亮前两小时，在凄厉的风中乔治第二号沿着康沃尔 海岸疾驶，船上约有两百匹马，风刚起时，这些马挣脱了绳索，奔来奔去，互相踩死，马的叫声，人的喊声，响成一片，那些水手都以为船里装满了魔鬼，好多很棒的水手给吓坏了，跳到海里去了，最后只剩下两个人还活着，才把这件事讲了出来。”
'And when,' said old Sol, 'when the Polyphemus - '
“而当，”老所尔说，“而当波吕斐摩斯 号——”
'Private West India Trader, burden three hundred and fifty tons, Captain, John Brown of Deptford. Owners, Wiggs and Co.,' cried Walter.
“私人的西印度商船，载重三百五十吨，船长是英国德特福地方的人，名字叫约翰·布朗，船主是威克士公司。”沃尔特喊着。
'The same,' said Sol; 'when she took fire, four days' sail with a fair wind out of Jamaica Harbour, in the night - '
“就是这艘，”所尔说，“这艘船从牙买加港口起航，航行四天一路顺风，可在第四天的夜里它失火了——”
'There were two brothers on board,' interposed his nephew, speaking very fast and loud, 'and there not being room for both of them in the only boat that wasn't swamped, neither of them would consent to go, until the elder took the younger by the waist, and flung him in. And then the younger, rising in the boat, cried out, "Dear Edward, think of your promised wife at home. I'm only a boy. No one waits at home for me. Leap down into my place!" and flung himself in the sea!'
“当时船上有一对兄弟，”外甥插话说，他说得既快又响，“只有一只小船没有进水，但这只小船只能坐一个人，兄弟俩谁都不肯到小船上去，最后哥哥把弟弟拦腰抱住，把他扔到小船上去，弟弟在小船上站了起来，高声喊道：‘亲爱的爱德华，想想你家里的未婚妻吧。我只是个男孩子，没有人在家里等我。跳下来，坐在我的位置上吧！’弟弟说着就跃入海中！”
The kindling eye and heightened colour of the boy, who had risen from his seat in the earnestness of what he said and felt, seemed to remind old Sol of something he had forgotten, or that his encircling mist had hitherto shut out.
男孩子说得起劲，满腔热情，便从座位上站了起来，眼睛闪着光芒，脸孔泛着红光，这副样子使老所尔似乎想起了他忘却了的一件事情，这件事情也许因为眼前的迷雾一直被遮挡住，没有觉察。
Instead of proceeding with any more anecdotes, as he had evidently intended but a moment before, he gave a short dry cough, and said, 'Well! suppose we change the subject.'
刚刚他分明还想再谈一些逸事趣闻的，此时他戛然而止，干咳了一声说：“这么样吧，我们换个题目吧。”
The truth was, that the simple-minded Uncle in his secret attraction towards the marvellous and adventurous - of which he was, in some sort, a distant relation, by his trade - had greatly encouraged the same attraction in the nephew;
事实是，这位朴实无华的舅舅在他的内心深处对于冒险和奇趣情有独钟，因为他所操的职业使他对于这些并没有什么隔膜，而他对于冒险和奇趣的钟爱却在他外甥的心中唤起了同感。
and that everything that had ever been put before the boy to deter him from a life of adventure, had had the usual unaccountable effect of sharpening his taste for it.
他为了防止外甥去过冒险的生活曾经在他面前摆了一些事情，但每样事情恰恰产生了加剧其冒险欲望的效果。
This is invariable.
这是无法讲清楚的，这是人之常情。❤
It would seem as if there never was a book written, or a story told, expressly with the object of keeping boys on shore, which did not lure and charm them to the ocean, as a matter of course.
似乎凡是出于力求孩子留守陆地的目的而写的书和讲的故事无不把他们诱向大海，这可以说是不言而喻的事实。
