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John Thompson is a runaway from Maryland.
约翰·汤普森是马里兰州一名逃跑的奴隶。
I have a family in Philadelphia. But fearing to remain there any longer, I thought I would go on a whaling voyage where I stood least chance of being arrested by slave hunters.
我的家在费城，但我不敢再在那里多呆，我想到了去航海捕鲸，抓捕逃奴的赏金猎人们不太可能跑到海上来追捕我。
The equal opport unity offered in whaling is ahead of its time. Here, a colored man is only known and looked upon as a man and is promoted in rank according to his ability and skill to perform the same duties as a white man.
捕鲸业所提供的平等机会超前于其所处的时代，在这里色人种真正被当人看待并且他们的晋升只取决于能力和技术水平，干的活也和白人一样。
The whaling industry offered an ex -slave like John Thompson the possibility of socialand economic fluidity, mobility and acceptance in a way.
从某种角度来说，捕鲸业为那些像约翰·汤普森一样当过奴隶的人提供了社会经济层面的流动性和被人接受的可能性，
Even in the North, that was not possible for black people otherwise.
即使在北方，对于黑人来说这在其它行业也是不可能的。
The man on the lookout cried out, "There she blows!" There were four whales in sight, not more than 3/4 of a mile distant. It takes hours to kill them.
负责瞭望的人大声叫道"她在那儿喷水呢"，海面上出现了四只鲸鱼，距离他们只有不到四分之三英里，猎杀它们需要花费数小时的时间。
They use state -of -the-art harpoons invented by runaway slave Lewis Temple. The whale can only be killed by lancing him under the fin, which is a work of much skill and practice.
他们用的是最先进的鱼叉，这是由一个名叫路易斯·坦普的逃奴发明的杀死鲸鱼的唯一方法是在鱼鳍处捅入鱼叉，这需要很多练习和技巧。
A monster, terrible in his fury, able to shiver the boat in atoms by one stroke of his tail.
一头盛怒之中的猛兽足以在摆尾之间让小船灰飞烟灭。
And yet even the dangers at sea are preferable to the horror of life as a slave.
但海上生活纵使再凶险也比可怕的奴隶生活要强得多。
Punishment is savage for those who risk escape, but some will do anything to be free.
对那些冒险逃跑的奴隶的惩罚手段极其凶残，但仍有人为了自由不惜一切代价。
1841, New Orlea ns. Ground zero for the slave trade. It's auction day. The day every slave fears the most.
1841年，新奥尔良，奴隶交易的中心，这一天是拍卖日，一个让所有奴隶心惊胆战的日子。
In the first half of the 19th century, over half a million slaves are sold at auction. It's a business worth $2 billion to the Southern economy.
在十九世纪上半叶，超过一半的奴隶是在拍卖会上被卖出的，这一行业在南方经济中占了20亿美元。
Since the cotton boom, the value of slaves has skyrocketed.
由于棉花种植业的繁荣，奴隶的价格飙升。
Now men cost $1,000. Women, 800. Children, 500.Solomon Northup, an educated freeman from the North, was kidnapped into slavery.
现在，男奴隶1000美元，女奴隶800美元，儿童500美元。所罗门·诺萨普[曾著自传《为奴十二载》]，一位来自北方的受过教育的自由人因遭绑架而沦为奴隶。
n. 鲸
vi. 捕鲸
v. 鞭打，
