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The natural aptitude of the French for seizing the picturesqueness of things seems to be peculiarly evinced in what paintings and engravings they have of their whaling scenes.
法国人之具有把握事物的生动逼真的天资，似乎特别表现在他们那些捕鲸场面的绘画和雕刻上。
With not one tenth of England's experience in the fishery, and not the thousandth part of that of the Americans,
虽然他们在捕鱼业的经验方面还不及英国的什一，更不及美国的千分之一，
they have nevertheless furnished both nations with the only finished sketches at all capable of conveying the real spirit of the whale hunt.
但是，他们却给这两个国家提供无比精巧的写生画，完全能够传达出捕鲸的真正神韵。
For the most part, the English and American whale draughtsmen seem entirely content with presenting the mechanical outline of things,
就英美大多数大鲸绘图员说来，他们似乎纯然满足于表现事物的粗陋轮廓，
such as the vacant profile of the whale;
比如画了一幅毫无神采的大鲸侧面图；
which, so far as picturesqueness of effect is concerned, is about tantamount to sketching the profile of a pyramid.
而就画趣的效果说来，却不过是略等于速写出一只金字塔的侧面图而已。
Even Scoresby, the justly renowned Right whaleman,
甚至于斯哥斯比，这个谨严的著名捕露脊鲸者，
after giving us a stiff full length of the Greenland whale, and three or four delicate miniatures of narwhales and porpoises,
在给我们一幅生硬的格陵兰鲸的全身像和三四条精巧的独角鲸和小鲸的袖珍图后，
treats us to a series of classical engravings of boat hooks, chopping knives, and grapnels;
又让我们去欣赏一连串刻有小艇铁钩，菜刀，四脚锚等的古雅版画；
and with the microscopic diligence of a Leuwenhoeck submits to the inspection of a shivering world ninety-six fac-similes of magnified Arctic snow crystals.
同时还以雷文胡克（雷文胡克——即荷兰的显微镜家安东尼·范。李文霍克（1632—1723）。）的辛勤钻研显微镜的精神，让我们观察一下令人发颤的北极地方九十六幅放大了的结晶雪粒的复制图。
I mean no disparagement to the excellent voyager (I honor him for a veteran),
我对这位优秀的航海家毫无贬抑之意（我把他尊崇为一位经验丰富的前辈），
but in so important a matter it was certainly an oversight not to have procured for every crystal a sworn affidavit taken before a Greenland Justice of the Peace.
不过，象如此关系重大的事体，事先却没有把每一颗结晶体都拿到格陵兰的治安推事那里去取得一份宣誓书，那就未免是一种失察了。
