But not alone has this Leviathan left his pre-adamite traces in the stereotype plates of nature, and in limestone and marl bequeathed his ancient bust; but upon Egyptian tablets, whose antiquity seems to claim for them an almost fossiliferous character, we find the unmistakable print of his fin. In an apartment of the great temple of Denderah, some fifty years ago, there was discovered upon the granite ceiling a sculptured and painted planisphere, abounding in centaurs, griffins, and dolphins, similar to the grotesque figures on the celestial globe of the moderns. Gliding among them, old Leviathan swam as of yore; was there swimming in that planisphere, centuries before Solomon was cradled.
但是,这种大鲸在亚当以前的踪迹不只是印在大自然的铅板上,而且在灰石和泥土中还遗留有它的古老的半身像;同时在埃及的竹简上(从这种竹简那副古老的神气看来,似乎就得把它们当作一种迹近化石的东西),我们也还发现出它的鳍上有一丝不差的印记。大约在五十年前,在丹德拉(丹德拉——尼罗河旁的一个小村,该地有一个埃及的司恋爱及娱乐的女神庙。)大庙的一个房间里,在那花岗石的天花板上还发现了雕刻和绘画的平面天体图,其中有许多半人半马的怪物,鹰头狮身带有翅膀的怪物和海豚,跟现代的球仪上那些奇形怪状的图样相仿佛。在那个平面天体图中,就有那条早在所罗门没有出世的几百年前的古代老鲸,在那些怪兽中游来游去。
Nor must there be omitted another strange attestation of the antiquity of the whale, in his own osseous postdiluvian reality, as set down by the venerable John Leo, the old Barbary traveller.
这里还有一个不能忽略的奇特的证据:也就是那个古代的北非巴巴利的老旅行家,约翰·里奥(约翰·里奥(1494—1552)——又称里奥·阿非利加奴斯,出生于西班牙的摩尔族,长期在非洲腹地旅行,著有《非洲记游》一书。)所提出的,那条只存一副骨殖的挪亚洪水以后时期的古鲸。
Not far from the Sea-side, they have a Temple, the Rafters and Beams of which are made of Whale-Bones; for Whales of a monstrous size are oftentimes cast up dead upon that shore. The Common People imagine, that by a secret Power bestowed by God upon the Temple, no Whale can pass it without immediate death. But the truth of the Matter is, that on either side of the Temple, there are Rocks that shoot two Miles into the Sea, and wound the Whales when they light upon 'em.
离海边不远的地方,有座古庙,它的椽木和横梁都是鲸骨做的;因为体积非常巨大的鲸经常给撞死在那一带的岸上。一般老百姓都认为,上天赋予那个古庙以一种神秘的力量,因此鲸一经过庙前,无不立刻死亡。不过,实际上,是因为大庙两旁,都有直伸向海里二英里长的岩礁,所以鲸一碰到这些岩礁就要受伤。