Mi primera biblioteca My First Library

MOBY DICK

Herman Meville

Ilustrado por Illustrated by Hieronimus Fromm

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Me llamo Ismael. Siempre me han gustado las aventuras. Ninguna parece tan arriesgada como la caza de ballenas. La ballena es el animal ms grande y poderoso del mundo. En mis tiempos eran perseguidas en rpidos veleros y capturadas con arpones. Los arpones son como fuertes lanzas. Los hombres que arrojan el arpn se llaman arponeros. Call me Ishmael. I have always liked adventures. None seems as risky as whale hunting. The whale is the largest and most powerful animal in the world. In my days, they were pursued in swift vessels and captured with harpoons. The harpoons are like heavy lances. The men who throw the harpoons are called harpooners.

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Fui a New Bedford esperando encontrar un barco ballenero en el cual pudiera enrolarme. All, en una posada, conoca Queequeg. Era un gigantesco arponero. Su padre era el rey de la isla de Rokovoko. A pesar de su temible aspecto, Queequeg era muy afable. Nos hicimos amigos. Los dos nos dirigimos a Nantucket para buscar empleo en algn barco. I went to New Bedford hoping to nd a whale ship where I could sign up. There, in an inn, I met Queequeg. He was a giant harpooner. His father was the king of the island of Rokovoko. Despite his fearsome aspect, Queequeg was very aable. We became friends. We both went to Nantucket to nd employment in some ship.

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No era fcil conseguir una plaza en un barco ballenero. Haba uno, sin embargo, que necesitaba hombres. Se llamaba el Pequod, pero los marinos tenan miedo de hablar de l. Queequeg y yo decidimos no prestar atencin a ningn rumor, y rmamos el contrato. Pronto descubrimos que se hacan muchos comentarios extraos sobre su dueo, el misterioso capitn Ahab. It was not easy to nd a job in a whale ship. One of them needed crewmen, however. It was named the Pequod, but the sailors were afraid to talk about it. Queequeg and I decided not to pay attention to any rumors and signed the contract. We soon discovered that many strange comments were made about its master, the mysterious Captain Ahab.

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En el barco, Queequeg y yo conocimos a otros dos arponeros. Uno era un indio llamado Tashtego y el otro un africano llamado Daggoo. Esa noche, el primer ocial, el seor Starbuck, dio la orden de zarpar a la caza de ballenas. Aboard ship, Queequeg and I met two other harpooners. One was an Indian named Tashtego, and the other, an African named Daggoo. That night, the rst ocer, Mr. Starbuck, gave the order to weigh anchor for a whale hunt.

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Tras unos das de navegacin, o los gritos emocionados del viga. Eran las palabras que todos habamos estado esperando: Ballenas! Ballenas! Ya nos hallbamos cerca de un grupo de esos enormes animales. After some days on the seas, I heard the excited shouts of the watchman. They were the words we had all been waiting for: Whales! Whales! We were near a group of those enormous animals.

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El capitn Ahab nos reuni a todos y nos cont una historia terrible. Una vez, una enorme ballena blanca haba hundido uno de sus barcos y le haba comido una pierna. Esta ballena era conocida como Moby Dick. Era la ms grande ballena blanca del mundo. Despus de aquello, el capitn Ahab haba jurado perseguir a Moby Dick hasta los connes de la tierra. Deseaba la venganza. Despus de la descripcin que hizo de su pelea con el monstruo, era fcil imaginar el aspecto de Moby Dick.

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Captain Ahab gathered us together and told us a terrible story. One time, a huge white whale had sunk one of his ships and eaten one of his legs. The whale was known as Moby Dick. It was the largest white whale in the world. After that, Captain Ahab had sworn he would pursue Moby Dick to the ends of the earth. He wanted revenge. After the description he gave of his ght with the monster, it was easy to imagine what Moby Dick looked like.

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El capitn Ahab odiaba a Moby Dick. Odiaba tanto a la enorme ballena que tena en el barco un adivino oriental. Su nombre era Fedallah, y deba guiarnos hasta el punto del gran ocano donde se ocultaba la ballena blanca. Los marineros eran supersticiosos. Pensaban que Fedallah traera mala suerte al barco y a toda la tripulacin. Captain Ahab hated Moby Dick. He so hated the huge whale, that he kept in the ship an Oriental seer. His name was Fedallah and he was supposed to guide us to the point in the great ocean where the white whale hid. The sailors were superstitious. They thought Fedallah would bring bad luck to the ship and the entire crew.

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Un da bajamos un bote ballenero al agua. bamos a dar caza a una ballena. Era una ballena grande, pero no tanto como Moby Dick. De pronto, el animal nos embisti. De un coletazo, volc nuestro pequeo bote. Tuvimos que regresar nadando al Pequod. One day, we lowered a whale boat into the water. We were going to hunt a whale. It was a big whale but not as big as Moby Dick. Suddenly, the animal charged at us. With one blow of his tail, he overturned our small boat. We had to swim back to the Pequod.

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Tras muchos das de bsqueda, omos de repente al capitn Ahab gritar: Una ballena gigante a estribor! Es Moby Dick! Durante tres das, perseguimos a Moby Dick en nuestros botes balleneros. El primer da de caza, la poderosa ballena enganch un diente en un bote. Volte la embarcacin, y lanz al capitn Ahab y a los tripulantes al agua. El segundo da, la ballena nad hacia los botes. Esta vez, embisti directamente el bote del capitn Ahab. Una vez ms todos fueron lanzados al agua.

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After many days of search, we suddenly heard Captain Ahab shout: A giant whale to starboard! Its Moby Dick! For three days, we chased Moby Dick in our whale boats. The rst day of the hunt, the powerful whale sank a tooth into a boat. He overturned the boat and threw Captain Ahab and the crewmen into the water. The second day, the whale swam toward the boats. This time, he rammed Captain Ahabs boat. Once again, everyone was ung into the water.

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El tercer da partimos una vez ms en los botes balleneros. De nuevo divisamos al mortal enemigo del capitn. Ya haba decenas de arpones clavados en el lomo de la taimada ballena. Cuando nos acercamos al monstruo, el capitn Ahab lanz su arpn. Al clavarse el hierro en la ballena, sta pareci enfurecerse. Con diablica furia, Moby Dick se volvi hacia el Pequod. Era como si la ballena quisiera hundir el barco! Cerr los ojos para no ver la horrible colisin. El choque fue tan terrible que me lanz por los aires. El Pequod se parti en dos y se hundi rpidamente.

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The third day, we went out once again in the whale boats. Again we saw the captains mortal enemy. Dozens of harpoons were stuck on the back of the stubborn whale. As we approached the monster, Captain Ahab threw his harpoon. When the iron lance struck the whale, he seemed to become enraged. With diabolical fury, Moby Dick turned toward the Pequod. It was as if the whale wanted to sink the ship! I shut my eyes so I wouldnt see the horrible collision. The blow was so terrible that it sent me ying. The Pequod broke in half and sank rapidly.

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El bote del capitn Ahab aun estaba a ote. Cuando vio lo que la ballena haba hecho con su buque, se llen de clera. Rpidamente, le lanz otro arpn a la enorme ballena. La cuerda del arpn rode el cuello del capitn. Cuando la ballena se alej, saco al capitn Ahab del bote y lo lanz al agua. El capitn fue atrapado y muerto por el mismo monstruo que haba perseguido durante tantos aos! Captain Ahabs boat was still aoat. When he saw what the whale had done to his ship, he was lled with anger. Rapidly, he threw another harpoon at the huge whale. The harpoons rope ew around the captains neck. When the whale swam away, he lifted Captain Ahab from the boat and ung him into the sea. The caption was trapped and killed by the same monster that he had pursued for so many years!

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Me agarr a algunos restos del buque hundido. Durante dos das, ot en el ocano. Luego fui rescatado por el Rachel, otro barco ballenero. El resto de los hombres del Pequod desaparecieron. Yo fui el nico que sobrevivi para relatar la historia del extrao odio que le cost la vida al capitn Ahab. I clutched some debris from the sunken ship. For two days, I oated in the ocean. Then I was rescued by the Rachel, another whale ship. The rest of the men of the Pequod disappeared. I was the only one who survived to tell the story of the strange hatred that cost Captain Ahab his life.

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FIN THE END

Firmas Press Corp., 2010