diff --git a/crates/nailkov/benches/moby.txt b/crates/nailkov/benches/moby.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ac1994c --- /dev/null +++ b/crates/nailkov/benches/moby.txt @@ -0,0 +1,22452 @@ +CHAPTER 1 + + Loomings + + Call me Ishmael. Some years ago—never mind how long precisely— having + little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me + on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part + of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen and + regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about + the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever + I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and + bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever + my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral + principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and + methodically knocking people's hats off—then, I account it high time to + get to sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball. + With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I + quietly take to the ship. There is nothing surprising in this. If they + but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, + cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me. + + There now is your insular city of the Manhattoes, belted round by + wharves as Indian isles by coral reefs—commerce surrounds it with her + surf. Right and left, the streets take you waterward. Its extreme + downtown is the battery, where that noble mole is washed by waves, and + cooled by breezes, which a few hours previous were out of sight of + land. Look at the crowds of water-gazers there. + + Circumambulate the city of a dreamy Sabbath afternoon. Go from Corlears + Hook to Coenties Slip, and from thence, by Whitehall, northward. What + do you see?—Posted like silent sentinels all around the town, stand + thousands upon thousands of mortal men fixed in ocean reveries. Some + leaning against the spiles; some seated upon the pier-heads; some + looking over the bulwarks glasses! of ships from China; some high aloft + in the rigging, as if striving to get a still better seaward peep. But + these are all landsmen; of week days pent up in lath and plaster— tied + to counters, nailed to benches, clinched to desks. How then is this? + Are the green fields gone? What do they here? + + But look! here come more crowds, pacing straight for the water, and + seemingly bound for a dive. Strange! Nothing will content them but the + extremest limit of the land; loitering under the shady lee of yonder + warehouses will not suffice. No. They must get just as nigh the water + as they possibly can without falling in. And there they stand—miles of + them—leagues. Inlanders all, they come from lanes and alleys, streets + and avenues,— north, east, south, and west. Yet here they all unite. + Tell me, does the magnetic virtue of the needles of the compasses of + all those ships attract them thither? + + Once more. Say you are in the country; in some high land of lakes. Take + almost any path you please, and ten to one it carries you down in a + dale, and leaves you there by a pool in the stream. There is magic in + it. Let the most absent-minded of men be plunged in his deepest + reveries—stand that man on his legs, set his feet a-going, and he will + infallibly lead you to water, if water there be in all that region. + Should you ever be athirst in the great American desert, try this + experiment, if your caravan happen to be supplied with a metaphysical + professor. Yes, as every one knows, meditation and water are wedded for + ever. + + But here is an artist. He desires to paint you the dreamiest, shadiest, + quietest, most enchanting bit of romantic landscape in all the valley + of the Saco. What is the chief element he employs? There stand his + trees, each with a hollow trunk, as if a hermit and a crucifix were + within; and here sleeps his meadow, and there sleep his cattle; and up + from yonder cottage goes a sleepy smoke. Deep into distant woodlands + winds a mazy way, reaching to overlapping spurs of mountains bathed in + their hill-side blue. But though the picture lies thus tranced, and + though this pine-tree shakes down its sighs like leaves upon this + shepherd's head, yet all were vain, unless the shepherd's eye were + fixed upon the magic stream before him. Go visit the Prairies in June, + when for scores on scores of miles you wade knee-deep among + Tiger-lilies—what is the one charm wanting?— Water there is not a drop + of water there! Were Niagara but a cataract of sand, would you travel + your thousand miles to see it? Why did the poor poet of Tennessee, upon + suddenly receiving two handfuls of silver, deliberate whether to buy + him a coat, which he sadly needed, or invest his money in a pedestrian + trip to Rockaway Beach? Why is almost every robust healthy boy with a + robust healthy soul in him, at some time or other crazy to go to sea? + Why upon your first voyage as a passenger, did you yourself feel such a + mystical vibration, when first told that you and your ship were now out + of sight of land? Why did the old Persians hold the sea holy? Why did + the Greeks give it a separate deity, and own brother of Jove? Surely + all this is not without meaning. And still deeper the meaning of that + story of Narcissus, who because he could not grasp the tormenting, mild + image he saw in the fountain, plunged into it and was drowned. But that + same image, we ourselves see in all rivers and oceans. It is the image + of the ungraspable phantom of life; and this is the key to it all. + + Now, when I say that I am in the habit of going to sea whenever I begin + to grow hazy about the eyes, and begin to be over conscious of my + lungs, I do not mean to have it inferred that I ever go to sea as a + passenger. For to go as a passenger you must needs have a purse, and a + purse is but a rag unless you have something in it. Besides, passengers + get sea-sick— grow quarrelsome—don't sleep of nights—do not enjoy + themselves much, as a general thing;—no, I never go as a passenger; + nor, though I am something of a salt, do I ever go to sea as a + Commodore, or a Captain, or a Cook. I abandon the glory and distinction + of such offices to those who like them. For my part, I abominate all + honorable respectable toils, trials, and tribulations of every kind + whatsoever. It is quite as much as I can do to take care of myself, + without taking care of ships, barques, brigs, schooners, and what not. + And as for going as cook,—though I confess there is considerable glory + in that, a cook being a sort of officer on ship-board—yet, somehow, I + never fancied broiling fowls;—though once broiled, judiciously + buttered, and judgmatically salted and peppered, there is no one who + will speak more respectfully, not to say reverentially, of a broiled + fowl than I will. It is out of the idolatrous dotings of the old + Egyptians upon broiled ibis and roasted river horse, that you see the + mummies of those creatures in their huge bakehouses the pyramids. + + No, when I go to sea, I go as a simple sailor, right before the mast, + plumb down into the fore-castle, aloft there to the royal mast-head. + True, they rather order me about some, and make me jump from spar to + spar, like a grasshopper in a May meadow. And at first, this sort of + thing is unpleasant enough. It touches one's sense of honor, + particularly if you come of an old established family in the land, the + Van Rensselaers, or Randolphs, or Hardicanutes. And more than all, if + just previous to putting your hand into the tar-pot, you have been + lording it as a country schoolmaster, making the tallest boys stand in + awe of you. The transition is a keen one, I assure you, from a + schoolmaster to a sailor, and requires a strong decoction of Seneca and + the Stoics to enable you to grin and bear it. But even this wears off + in time. + + What of it, if some old hunks of a sea-captain orders me to get a broom + and sweep down the decks? What does that indignity amount to, weighed, + I mean, in the scales of the New Testament? Do you think the archangel + Gabriel thinks anything the less of me, because I promptly and + respectfully obey that old hunks in that particular instance? Who ain't + a slave? Tell me that. Well, then, however the old sea-captains may + order me about—however they may thump and punch me about, I have the + satisfaction of knowing that it is all right; that everybody else is + one way or other served in much the same way— either in a physical or + metaphysical point of view, that is; and so the universal thump is + passed round, and all hands should rub each other's shoulder-blades, + and be content. + + Again, I always go to sea as a sailor, because they make a point of + paying me for my trouble, whereas they never pay passengers a single + penny that I ever heard of. On the contrary, passengers themselves must + pay. And there is all the difference in the world between paying and + being paid. The act of paying is perhaps the most uncomfortable + infliction that the two orchard thieves entailed upon us. But being + paid,— what will compare with it? The urbane activity with which a man + receives money is really marvellous, considering that we so earnestly + believe money to be the root of all earthly ills, and that on no + account can a monied man enter heaven. Ah! how cheerfully we consign + ourselves to perdition! + + Finally, I always go to sea as a sailor, because of the wholesome + exercise and pure air of the fore-castle deck. For as in this world, + head winds are far more prevalent than winds from astern (that is, if + you never violate the Pythagorean maxim), so for the most part the + Commodore on the quarter-deck gets his atmosphere at second hand from + the sailors on the forecastle. He thinks he breathes it first; but not + so. In much the same way do the commonalty lead their leaders in many + other things, at the same time that the leaders little suspect it. But + wherefore it was that after having repeatedly smelt the sea as a + merchant sailor, I should now take it into my head to go on a whaling + voyage; this the invisible police officer of the Fates, who has the + constant surveillance of me, and secretly dogs me, and influences me in + some unaccountable way— he can better answer than any one else. And, + doubtless, my going on this whaling voyage, formed part of the grand + programme of Providence that was drawn up a long time ago. It came in + as a sort of brief interlude and solo between more extensive + performances. I take it that this part of the bill must have run + something like this: + + "Grand Contested Election for the Presidency of the United States. + "WHALING VOYAGE BY ONE ISHMAEL." + "BLOODY BATTLE IN AFFGHANISTAN." + + Though I cannot tell why it was exactly that those stage managers, the + Fates, put me down for this shabby part of a whaling voyage, when + others were set down for magnificent parts in high tragedies, and short + and easy parts in genteel comedies, and jolly parts in farces— though I + cannot tell why this was exactly; yet, now that I recall all the + circumstances, I think I can see a little into the springs and motives + which being cunningly presented to me under various disguises, induced + me to set about performing the part I did, besides cajoling me into the + delusion that it was a choice resulting from my own unbiased freewill + and discriminating judgment. + + Chief among these motives was the overwhelming idea of the great whale + himself. Such a portentous and mysterious monster roused all my + curiosity. Then the wild and distant seas where he rolled his island + bulk; the undeliverable, nameless perils of the whale; these, with all + the attending marvels of a thousand Patagonian sights and sounds, + helped to sway me to my wish. With other men, perhaps, such things + would not have been inducements; but as for me, I am tormented with an + everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail forbidden seas, and + land on barbarous coasts. Not ignoring what is good, I am quick to + perceive a horror, and could still be social with it—would they let + me—since it is but well to be on friendly terms with all the inmates of + the place one lodges in. + + By reason of these things, then, the whaling voyage was welcome; the + great flood-gates of the wonder-world swung open, and in the wild + conceits that swayed me to my purpose, two and two there floated into + my inmost soul, endless processions of the whale, and, mid most of them + all, one grand hooded phantom, like a snow hill in the air. + + + + + CHAPTER 2 + + + The Carpet-Bag + + I stuffed a shirt or two into my old carpet-bag, tucked it under my + arm, and started for Cape Horn and the Pacific. Quitting the good city + of old Manhatto, I duly arrived in New Bedford. It was on a Saturday + night in December. Much was I disappointed upon learning that the + little packet for Nantucket had already sailed, and that no way of + reaching that place would offer, till the following Monday. + + As most young candidates for the pains and penalties of whaling stop at + this same New Bedford, thence to embark on their voyage, it may as well + be related that I, for one, had no idea of so doing. For my mind was + made up to sail in no other than a Nantucket craft, because there was a + fine, boisterous something about everything connected with that famous + old island, which amazingly pleased me. Besides though New Bedford has + of late been gradually monopolizing the business of whaling, and though + in this matter poor old Nantucket is now much behind her, yet Nantucket + was her great original— the Tyre of this Carthage;—the place where the + first dead American whale was stranded. Where else but from Nantucket + did those aboriginal whalemen, the Red-Men, first sally out in canoes + to give chase to the Leviathan? And where but from Nantucket, too, did + that first adventurous little sloop put forth, partly laden with + imported cobblestones—so goes the story— to throw at the whales, in + order to discover when they were nigh enough to risk a harpoon from the + bowsprit? + + Now having a night, a day, and still another night following before me + in New Bedford, ere I could embark for my destined port, it became a + matter of concernment where I was to eat and sleep meanwhile. It was a + very dubious-looking, nay, a very dark and dismal night, bitingly cold + and cheerless. I knew no one in the place. With anxious grapnels I had + sounded my pocket, and only brought up a few pieces of silver,—So, + wherever you go, Ishmael, said I to myself, as I stood in the middle of + a dreary street shouldering my bag, and comparing the gloom towards the + north with the darkness towards the south—wherever in your wisdom you + may conclude to lodge for the night, my dear Ishmael, be sure to + inquire the price, and don't be too particular. + + With halting steps I paced the streets, and passed the sign of "The + Crossed Harpoons"—but it looked too expensive and jolly there. Further + on, from the bright red windows of the "Sword-Fish Inn," there came + such fervent rays, that it seemed to have melted the packed snow and + ice from before the house, for everywhere else the congealed frost lay + ten inches thick in a hard, asphaltic pavement,—rather weary for me, + when I struck my foot against the flinty projections, because from + hard, remorseless service the soles of my boots were in a most + miserable plight. Too expensive and jolly, again thought I, pausing one + moment to watch the broad glare in the street, and hear the sounds of + the tinkling glasses within. But go on, Ishmael, said I at last; don't + you hear? get away from before the door; your patched boots are + stopping the way. So on I went. I now by instinct followed the streets + that took me waterward, for there, doubtless, were the cheapest, if not + the cheeriest inns. + + Such dreary streets! Blocks of blackness, not houses, on either hand, + and here and there a candle, like a candle moving about in a tomb. At + this hour of the night, of the last day of the week, that quarter of + the town proved all but deserted. But presently I came to a smoky light + proceeding from a low, wide building, the door of which stood + invitingly open. It had a careless look, as if it were meant for the + uses of the public; so, entering, the first thing I did was to stumble + over an ash-box in the porch. Ha! thought I, ha, as the flying + particles almost choked me, are these ashes from that destroyed city, + Gomorrah? But "The Crossed Harpoons," and the "The Sword-Fish?"—this, + then must needs be the sign of "The Trap." However, I picked myself up + and hearing a loud voice within, pushed on and opened a second, + interior door. + + It seemed the great Black Parliament sitting in Tophet. A hundred black + faces turned round in their rows to peer; and beyond, a black Angel of + Doom was beating a book in a pulpit. It was a negro church; and the + preacher's text was about the blackness of darkness, and the weeping + and wailing and teeth-gnashing there. Ha, Ishmael, muttered I, backing + out, Wretched entertainment at the sign of 'The Trap!' + + Moving on, I at last came to a dim sort of light not far from the + docks, and heard a forlorn creaking in the air; and looking up, saw a + swinging sign over the door with a white painting upon it, faintly + representing a tall straight jet of misty spray, and these words + underneath—"The Spouter Inn:—Peter Coffin." + + Coffin?—Spouter?—Rather ominous in that particular connexion, thought + I. But it is a common name in Nantucket, they say, and I suppose this + Peter here is an emigrant from there. As the light looked so dim, and + the place, for the time, looked quiet enough, and the dilapidated + little wooden house itself looked as if it might have been carted here + from the ruins of some burnt district, and as the swinging sign had a + poverty-stricken sort of creak to it, I thought that here was the very + spot for cheap lodgings, and the best of pea coffee. + + It was a queer sort of place—a gable-ended old house, one side palsied + as it were, and leaning over sadly. It stood on a sharp bleak corner, + where that tempestuous wind Euroclydon kept up a worse howling than + ever it did about poor Paul's tossed craft. Euroclydon, nevertheless, + is a mighty pleasant zephyr to any one in-doors, with his feet on the + hob quietly toasting for bed. In judging of that tempestuous wind + called Euroclydon," says an old writer—of whose works I possess the + only copy extant—"it maketh a marvellous difference, whether thou + lookest out at it from a glass window where the frost is all on the + outside, or whether thou observest it from that sashless window, where + the frost is on both sides, and of which the wight Death is the only + glazier." True enough, thought I, as this passage occurred to my + mind—old black-letter, thou reasonest well. Yes, these eyes are + windows, and this body of mine is the house. What a pity they didn't + stop up the chinks and the crannies though, and thrust in a little lint + here and there. But it's too late to make any improvements now. The + universe is finished; the copestone is on, and the chips were carted + off a million years ago. Poor Lazarus there, chattering his teeth + against the curbstone for his pillow, and shaking off his tatters with + his shiverings, he might plug up both ears with rags, and put a + corn-cob into his mouth, and yet that would not keep out the + tempestuous Euroclydon. Euroclydon! says old Dives, in his red silken + wrapper—(he had a redder one afterwards) pooh, pooh! What a fine frosty + night; how Orion glitters; what northern lights! Let them talk of their + oriental summer climes of everlasting conservatories; give me the + privilege of making my own summer with my own coals. + + But what thinks Lazarus? Can he warm his blue hands by holding them up + to the grand northern lights? Would not Lazarus rather be in Sumatra + than here? Would he not far rather lay him down lengthwise along the + line of the equator; yea, ye gods! go down to the fiery pit itself, in + order to keep out this frost? + + Now, that Lazarus should lie stranded there on the curbstone before the + door of Dives, this is more wonderful than that an iceberg should be + moored to one of the Moluccas. Yet Dives himself, he too lives like a + Czar in an ice palace made of frozen sighs, and being a president of a + temperance society, he only drinks the tepid tears of orphans. + + But no more of this blubbering now, we are going a-whaling, and there + is plenty of that yet to come. Let us scrape the ice from our frosted + feet, and see what sort of a place this "Spouter" may be. + + + + + CHAPTER 3 + + + The Spouter-Inn + + Entering that gable-ended Spouter-Inn, you found yourself in a wide, + low, straggling entry with old-fashioned wainscots, reminding one of + the bulwarks of some condemned old craft. On one side hung a very large + oil painting so thoroughly besmoked, and every way defaced, that in the + unequal crosslights by which you viewed it, it was only by diligent + study and a series of systematic visits to it, and careful inquiry of + the neighbors, that you could any way arrive at an understanding of its + purpose. Such unaccountable masses of shades and shadows, that at first + you almost thought some ambitious young artist, in the time of the New + England hags, had endeavored to delineate chaos bewitched. But by dint + of much and earnest contemplation, and oft repeated ponderings, and + especially by throwing open the little window towards the back of the + entry, you at last come to the conclusion that such an idea, however + wild, might not be altogether unwarranted. + + But what most puzzled and confounded you was a long, limber, + portentous, black mass of something hovering in the centre of the + picture over three blue, dim, perpendicular lines floating in a + nameless yeast. A boggy, soggy, squitchy picture truly, enough to drive + a nervous man distracted. Yet was there a sort of indefinite, + half-attained, unimaginable sublimity about it that fairly froze you to + it, till you involuntarily took an oath with yourself to find out what + that marvellous painting meant. Ever and anon a bright, but, alas, + deceptive idea would dart you through.— It's the Black Sea in a + midnight gale.—It's the unnatural combat of the four primal + elements.—It's a blasted heath.— It's a Hyperborean winter scene.—It's + the breaking-up of the icebound stream of Time. But at last all these + fancies yielded to that one portentous something in the picture's + midst. That once found out, and all the rest were plain. But stop; does + it not bear a faint resemblance to a gigantic fish? even the great + leviathan himself? + + In fact, the artist's design seemed this: a final theory of my own, + partly based upon the aggregated opinions of many aged persons with + whom I conversed upon the subject. The picture represents a Cape-Horner + in a great hurricane; the half-foundered ship weltering there with its + three dismantled masts alone visible; and an exasperated whale, + purposing to spring clean over the craft, is in the enormous act of + impaling himself upon the three mast-heads. + + The opposite wall of this entry was hung all over with a heathenish + array of monstrous clubs and spears. Some were thickly set with + glittering teeth resembling ivory saws; others were tufted with knots + of human hair; and one was sickle-shaped, with a vast handle sweeping + round like the segment made in the new-mown grass by a long-armed + mower. You shuddered as you gazed, and wondered what monstrous cannibal + and savage could ever have gone a death-harvesting with such a hacking, + horrifying implement. Mixed with these were rusty old whaling lances + and harpoons all broken and deformed. Some were storied weapons. With + this once long lance, now wildly elbowed, fifty years ago did Nathan + Swain kill fifteen whales between a sunrise and a sunset. And that + harpoon—so like a corkscrew now—was flung in Javan seas, and run away + with by a whale, years afterwards slain off the Cape of Blanco. The + original iron entered nigh the tail, and, like a restless needle + sojourning in the body of a man, travelled full forty feet, and at last + was found imbedded in the hump. + + Crossing this dusky entry, and on through yon low-arched way— cut + through what in old times must have been a great central chimney with + fireplaces all round—you enter the public room. A still duskier place + is this, with such low ponderous beams above, and such old wrinkled + planks beneath, that you would almost fancy you trod some old craft's + cockpits, especially of such a howling night, when this corner-anchored + old ark rocked so furiously. On one side stood a long, low, shelf-like + table covered with cracked glass cases, filled with dusty rarities + gathered from this wide world's remotest nooks. Projecting from the + further angle of the room stands a dark-looking den—the bar—a rude + attempt at a right whale's head. Be that how it may, there stands the + vast arched bone of the whale's jaw, so wide, a coach might almost + drive beneath it. Within are shabby shelves, ranged round with old + decanters, bottles, flasks; and in those jaws of swift destruction, + like another cursed Jonah (by which name indeed they called him), + bustles a little withered old man, who, for their money, dearly sells + the sailors deliriums and death. + + Abominable are the tumblers into which he pours his poison. Though true + cylinders without—within, the villanous green goggling glasses + deceitfully tapered downwards to a cheating bottom. Parallel meridians + rudely pecked into the glass, surround these footpads' goblets. Fill to + this mark, and your charge is but a penny; to this a penny more; and so + on to the full glass— the Cape Horn measure, which you may gulp down + for a shilling. + + Upon entering the place I found a number of young seamen gathered about + a table, examining by a dim light divers specimens of skrimshander. I + sought the landlord, and telling him I desired to be accommodated with + a room, received for answer that his house was full— not a bed + unoccupied. "But avast," he added, tapping his forehead, "you haint no + objections to sharing a harpooneer's blanket, have ye? I s'pose you are + goin' a-whalin', so you'd better get used to that sort of thing." + + I told him that I never liked to sleep two in a bed; that if I should + ever do so, it would depend upon who the harpooneer might be, and that + if he (the landlord) really had no other place for me, and the + harpooneer was not decidedly objectionable, why rather than wander + further about a strange town on so bitter a night, I would put up with + the half of any decent man's blanket. + + "I thought so. All right; take a seat. Supper?—you want supper? + Supper'll be ready directly." + + I sat down on an old wooden settle, carved all over like a bench on the + Battery. At one end a ruminating tar was still further adorning it with + his jack-knife, stooping over and diligently working away at the space + between his legs. He was trying his hand at a ship under full sail, but + he didn't make much headway, I thought. + + At last some four or five of us were summoned to our meal in an + adjoining room. It was cold as Iceland— no fire at all—the landlord + said he couldn't afford it. Nothing but two dismal tallow candles, each + in a winding sheet. We were fain to button up our monkey jackets, and + hold to our lips cups of scalding tea with our half frozen fingers. But + the fare was of the most substantial kind—not only meat and potatoes, + but dumplings; good heavens! dumplings for supper! One young fellow in + a green box coat, addressed himself to these dumplings in a most + direful manner. + + "My boy," said the landlord, "you'll have the nightmare to a dead + sartainty." + + "Landlord," I whispered, "that aint the harpooneer is it?" + + "Oh, no," said he, looking a sort of diabolically funny, "the + harpooneer is a dark complexioned chap. He never eats dumplings, he + don't— he eats nothing but steaks, and he likes 'em rare." + + "The devil he does," says I. "Where is that harpooneer? + Is he here?" + + "He'll be here afore long," was the answer. + + I could not help it, but I began to feel suspicious of this "dark + complexioned" harpooneer. At any rate, I made up my mind that if it so + turned out that we should sleep together, he must undress and get into + bed before I did. + + Supper over, the company went back to the bar-room, when, knowing not + what else to do with myself, I resolved to spend the rest of the + evening as a looker on. + + Presently a rioting noise was heard without. Starting up, the landlord + cried, "That's the Grampus's crew. I seed her reported in the offing + this morning; a three years' voyage, and a full ship. Hurrah, boys; now + we'll have the latest news from the Feegees." + + A tramping of sea boots was heard in the entry; the door was flung + open, and in rolled a wild set of mariners enough. Enveloped in their + shaggy watch coats, and with their heads muffled in woollen comforters, + all bedarned and ragged, and their beards stiff with icicles, they + seemed an eruption of bears from Labrador. They had just landed from + their boat, and this was the first house they entered. No wonder, then, + that they made a straight wake for the whale's mouth— the bar—when the + wrinkled little old Jonah, there officiating, soon poured them out + brimmers all round. One complained of a bad cold in his head, upon + which Jonah mixed him a pitch-like potion of gin and molasses, which he + swore was a sovereign cure for all colds and catarrhs whatsoever, never + mind of how long standing, or whether caught off the coast of Labrador, + or on the weather side of an ice-island. + + The liquor soon mounted into their heads, as it generally does even + with the arrantest topers newly landed from sea, and they began + capering about most obstreperously. + + I observed, however, that one of them held somewhat aloof, and though + he seemed desirous not to spoil the hilarity of his shipmates by his + own sober face, yet upon the whole he refrained from making as much + noise as the rest. This man interested me at once; and since the + sea-gods had ordained that he should soon become my shipmate (though + but a sleeping partner one, so far as this narrative is concerned), I + will here venture upon a little description of him. He stood full six + feet in height, with noble shoulders, and a chest like a coffer-dam. I + have seldom seen such brawn in a man. His face was deeply brown and + burnt, making his white teeth dazzling by the contrast; while in the + deep shadows of his eyes floated some reminiscences that did not seem + to give him much joy. His voice at once announced that he was a + Southerner, and from his fine stature, I thought he must be one of + those tall mountaineers from the Alleghanian Ridge in Virginia. When + the revelry of his companions had mounted to its height, this man + slipped away unobserved, and I saw no more of him till he became my + comrade on the sea. In a few minutes, however, he was missed by his + shipmates, and being, it seems, for some reason a huge favorite with + them, they raised a cry of "Bulkington! Bulkington! where's + Bulkington?" and darted out of the house in pursuit of him. + + It was now about nine o'clock, and the room seeming almost + supernaturally quiet after these orgies, I began to congratulate myself + upon a little plan that had occurred to me just previous to the + entrance of the seamen. + + No man prefers to sleep two in a bed. In fact, you would a good deal + rather not sleep with your own brother. I don't know how it is, but + people like to be private when they are sleeping. And when it comes to + sleeping with an unknown stranger, in a strange inn, in a strange town, + and that stranger a harpooneer, then your objections indefinitely + multiply. Nor was there any earthly reason why I as a sailor should + sleep two in a bed, more than anybody else; for sailors no more sleep + two in a bed at sea, than bachelor Kings do ashore. To be sure they all + sleep together in one apartment, but you have your own hammock, and + cover yourself with your own blanket, and sleep in your own skin. + + The more I pondered over this harpooneer, the more I abominated the + thought of sleeping with him. It was fair to presume that being a + harpooneer, his linen or woollen, as the case might be, would not be of + the tidiest, certainly none of the finest. I began to twitch all over. + Besides, it was getting late, and my decent harpooneer ought to be home + and going bedwards. Suppose now, he should tumble in upon me at + midnight— how could I tell from what vile hole he had been coming? + + "Landlord! I've changed my mind about that harpooneer.— + I shan't sleep with him. I'll try the bench here." + + "Just as you please; I'm sorry I cant spare ye a tablecloth for a + mattress, and it's a plaguy rough board here"—feeling of the knots and + notches. "But wait a bit, Skrimshander; I've got a carpenter's plane + there in the bar—wait, I say, and I'll make ye snug enough." So saying + he procured the plane; and with his old silk handkerchief first dusting + the bench, vigorously set to planing away at my bed, the while grinning + like an ape. The shavings flew right and left; till at last the + plane-iron came bump against an indestructible knot. The landlord was + near spraining his wrist, and I told him for heaven's sake to quit—the + bed was soft enough to suit me, and I did not know how all the planing + in the world could make eider down of a pine plank. So gathering up the + shavings with another grin, and throwing them into the great stove in + the middle of the room, he went about his business, and left me in a + brown study. + + I now took the measure of the bench, and found that it was a foot too + short; but that could be mended with a chair. But it was a foot too + narrow, and the other bench in the room was about four inches higher + than the planed one— so there was no yoking them. I then placed the + first bench lengthwise along the only clear space against the wall, + leaving a little interval between, for my back to settle down in. But I + soon found that there came such a draught of cold air over me from + under the sill of the window, that this plan would never do at all, + especially as another current from the rickety door met the one from + the window, and both together formed a series of small whirlwinds in + the immediate vicinity of the spot where I had thought to spend the + night. + + The devil fetch that harpooneer, thought I, but stop, couldn't I steal + a march on him—bolt his door inside, and jump into his bed, not to be + wakened by the most violent knockings? It seemed no bad idea but upon + second thoughts I dismissed it. For who could tell but what the next + morning, so soon as I popped out of the room, the harpooneer might be + standing in the entry, all ready to knock me down! + + Still looking around me again, and seeing no possible chance of + spending a sufferable night unless in some other person's bed, I began + to think that after all I might be cherishing unwarrantable prejudices + against this unknown harpooneer. Thinks I, I'll wait awhile; he must be + dropping in before long. I'll have a good look at him then, and perhaps + we may become jolly good bedfellows after all—there's no telling. + + But though the other boarders kept coming in by ones, twos, and threes, + and going to bed, yet no sign of my harpooneer. + + "Landlord! said I, "what sort of a chap is he—does he always keep such + late hours?" It was now hard upon twelve o'clock. + + The landlord chuckled again with his lean chuckle, and seemed to be + mightily tickled at something beyond my comprehension. "No," he + answered, "generally he's an early bird—airley to bed and airley to + rise—yea, he's the bird what catches the worm. But to-night he went out + a peddling, you see, and I don't see what on airth keeps him so late, + unless, may be, he can't sell his head." + + "Can't sell his head?—What sort of a bamboozingly story is this you are + telling me?" getting into a towering rage. "Do you pretend to say, + landlord, that this harpooneer is actually engaged this blessed + Saturday night, or rather Sunday morning, in peddling his head around + this town?" + + "That's precisely it," said the landlord, "and I told him he couldn't + sell it here, the market's overstocked." + + "With what?" shouted I. + + "With heads to be sure; ain't there too many heads in the world?" + + "I tell you what it is, landlord," said I quite calmly, "you'd better + stop spinning that yarn to me—I'm not green." + + "May be not," taking out a stick and whittling a toothpick, "but I + rayther guess you'll be done brown if that ere harpooneer hears you a + slanderin' his head." + + "I'll break it for him," said I, now flying into a passion again at + this unaccountable farrago of the landlord's. + + "It's broke a'ready," said he. + + "Broke," said I—"broke, do you mean?" + + "Sartain, and that's the very reason he can't sell it, I guess." + + "Landlord," said I, going up to him as cool as Mt. Hecla in a + snowstorm—"landlord, stop whittling. You and I must understand one + another, and that too without delay. I come to your house and want a + bed; you tell me you can only give me half a one; that the other half + belongs to a certain harpooneer. And about this harpooneer, whom I have + not yet seen, you persist in telling me the most mystifying and + exasperating stories tending to beget in me an uncomfortable feeling + towards the man whom you design for my bedfellow—a sort of connexion, + landlord, which is an intimate and confidential one in the highest + degree. I now demand of you to speak out and tell me who and what this + harpooneer is, and whether I shall be in all respects safe to spend the + night with him. And in the first place, you will be so good as to unsay + that story about selling his head, which if true I take to be good + evidence that this harpooneer is stark mad, and I've no idea of + sleeping with a madman; and you, sir, you I mean, landlord, you, sir, + by trying to induce me to do so knowingly would thereby render yourself + liable to a criminal prosecution." + + "Wall," said the landlord, fetching a long breath, "that's a purty long + sarmon for a chap that rips a little now and then. But be easy, be + easy, this here harpooneer I have been tellin' you of has just arrived + from the south seas, where he bought up a lot of 'balmed New Zealand + heads (great curios, you know), and he's sold all on 'em but one, and + that one he's trying to sell to-night, cause to-morrow's Sunday, and it + would not do to be sellin' human heads about the streets when folks is + goin' to churches. He wanted to last Sunday, but I stopped him just as + he was goin' out of the door with four heads strung on a string, for + all the airth like a string of inions." + + This account cleared up the otherwise unaccountable mystery, and showed + that the landlord, after all, had had no idea of fooling me— but at the + same time what could I think of a harpooneer who stayed out of a + Saturday night clean into the holy Sabbath, engaged in such a cannibal + business as selling the heads of dead idolators? + + "Depend upon it, landlord, that harpooneer is a dangerous man." + + "He pays reg'lar," was the rejoinder. "But come, it's getting dreadful + late, you had better be turning flukes—it's a nice bed: Sal and me + slept in that ere bed the night we were spliced. There's plenty of room + for two to kick about in that bed; it's an almighty big bed that. Why, + afore we give it up, Sal used to put our Sam and little Johnny in the + foot of it. But I got a dreaming and sprawling about one night, and + somehow, Sam got pitched on the floor, and came near breaking his arm. + After that, Sal said it wouldn't do. Come along here, I'll give ye a + glim in a jiffy;" and so saying he lighted a candle and held it towards + me, offering to lead the way. But I stood irresolute; when looking at a + clock in the corner, he exclaimed "I vum it's Sunday—you won't see that + harpooneer to-night; he's come to anchor somewhere—come along then; do + come; won't ye come?" + + I considered the matter a moment, and then up stairs we went, and I was + ushered into a small room, cold as a clam, and furnished, sure enough, + with a prodigious bed, almost big enough indeed for any four + harpooneers to sleep abreast. + + "There," said the landlord, placing the candle on a crazy old sea chest + that did double duty as a wash-stand and centre table; "there, make + yourself comfortable now; and good night to ye." I turned round from + eyeing the bed, but he had disappeared. + + Folding back the counterpane, I stooped over the bed. Though none of + the most elegant, it yet stood the scrutiny tolerably well. I then + glanced round the room; and besides the bedstead and centre table, + could see no other furniture belonging to the place, but a rude shelf, + the four walls, and a papered fireboard representing a man striking a + whale. Of things not properly belonging to the room, there was a + hammock lashed up, and thrown upon the floor in one corner; also a + large seaman's bag, containing the harpooneer's wardrobe, no doubt in + lieu of a land trunk. Likewise, there was a parcel of outlandish bone + fish hooks on the shelf over the fire-place, and a tall harpoon + standing at the head of the bed. + + But what is this on the chest? I took it up, and held it close to the + light, and felt it, and smelt it, and tried every way possible to + arrive at some satisfactory conclusion concerning it. I can compare it + to nothing but a large door mat, ornamented at the edges with little + tinkling tags something like the stained porcupine quills round an + Indian moccasin. There was a hole or slit in the middle of this mat, as + you see the same in South American ponchos. But could it be possible + that any sober harpooneer would get into a door mat, and parade the + streets of any Christian town in that sort of guise? I put it on, to + try it, and it weighed me down like a hamper, being uncommonly shaggy + and thick, and I thought a little damp, as though this mysterious + harpooneer had been wearing it of a rainy day. I went up in it to a bit + of glass stuck against the wall, and I never saw such a sight in my + life. I tore myself out of it in such a hurry that I gave myself a kink + in the neck. + + I sat down on the side of the bed, and commenced thinking about this + head-peddling harpooneer, and his door mat. After thinking some time on + the bed-side, I got up and took off my monkey jacket, and then stood in + the middle of the room thinking. I then took off my coat, and thought a + little more in my shirt sleeves. But beginning to feel very cold now, + half undressed as I was, and remembering what the landlord said about + the harpooneer's not coming home at all that night, it being so very + late, I made no more ado, but jumped out of my pantaloons and boots, + and then blowing out the light tumbled into bed, and commended myself + to the care of heaven. + + Whether that mattress was stuffed with corncobs or broken crockery, + there is no telling, but I rolled about a good deal, and could not + sleep for a long time. At last I slid off into a light doze, and had + pretty nearly made a good offing towards the land of Nod, when I heard + a heavy footfall in the passage, and saw a glimmer of light come into + the room from under the door. + + Lord save me, thinks I, that must be the harpooneer, the infernal + head-peddler. But I lay perfectly still, and resolved not to say a word + till spoken to. Holding a light in one hand, and that identical New + Zealand head in the other, the stranger entered the room, and without + looking towards the bed, placed his candle a good way off from me on + the floor in one corner, and then began working away at the knotted + cords of the large bag I before spoke of as being in the room. I was + all eagerness to see his face, but he kept it averted for some time + while employed in unlacing the bag's mouth. This accomplished, however, + he turned round—when, good heavens; what a sight! Such a face! It was + of a dark, purplish, yellow color, here and there stuck over with large + blackish looking squares. Yes, it's just as I thought, he's a terrible + bedfellow; he's been in a fight, got dreadfully cut, and here he is, + just from the surgeon. But at that moment he chanced to turn his face + so towards the light, that I plainly saw they could not be + sticking-plasters at all, those black squares on his cheeks. They were + stains of some sort or other. At first I knew not what to make of this; + but soon an inkling of the truth occurred to me. I remembered a story + of a white man—a whaleman too— who, falling among the cannibals, had + been tattooed by them. I concluded that this harpooneer, in the course + of his distant voyages, must have met with a similar adventure. And + what is it, thought I, after all! It's only his outside; a man can be + honest in any sort of skin. But then, what to make of his unearthly + complexion, that part of it, I mean, lying round about, and completely + independent of the squares of tattooing. To be sure, it might be + nothing but a good coat of tropical tanning; but I never heard of a hot + sun's tanning a white man into a purplish yellow one. However, I had + never been in the South Seas; and perhaps the sun there produced these + extraordinary effects upon the skin. Now, while all these ideas were + passing through me like lightning, this harpooneer never noticed me at + all. But, after some difficulty having opened his bag, he commenced + fumbling in it, and presently pulled out a sort of tomahawk, and a + seal-skin wallet with the hair on. Placing these on the old chest in + the middle of the room, he then took the New Zealand head—a ghastly + thing enough— and crammed it down into the bag. He now took off his + hat— a new beaver hat—when I came nigh singing out with fresh surprise. + There was no hair on his head—none to speak of at least— nothing but a + small scalp-knot twisted up on his forehead. His bald purplish head now + looked for all the world like a mildewed skull. Had not the stranger + stood between me and the door, I would have bolted out of it quicker + than ever I bolted a dinner. + + Even as it was, I thought something of slipping out of the window, but + it was the second floor back. I am no coward, but what to make of this + headpeddling purple rascal altogether passed my comprehension. + Ignorance is the parent of fear, and being completely nonplussed and + confounded about the stranger, I confess I was now as much afraid of + him as if it was the devil himself who had thus broken into my room at + the dead of night. In fact, I was so afraid of him that I was not game + enough just then to address him, and demand a satisfactory answer + concerning what seemed inexplicable in him. + + Meanwhile, he continued the business of undressing, and at last showed + his chest and arms. As I live, these covered parts of him were + checkered with the same squares as his face, his back, too, was all + over the same dark squares; he seemed to have been in a Thirty Years' + War, and just escaped from it with a sticking-plaster shirt. Still + more, his very legs were marked, as if a parcel of dark green frogs + were running up the trunks of young palms. It was now quite plain that + he must be some abominable savage or other shipped aboard of a whaleman + in the South Seas, and so landed in this Christian country. I quaked to + think of it. A peddler of heads too—perhaps the heads of his own + brothers. He might take a fancy to mine—heavens! look at that tomahawk! + + But there was no time for shuddering, for now the savage went about + something that completely fascinated my attention, and convinced me + that he must indeed be a heathen. Going to his heavy grego, or wrapall, + or dreadnaught, which he had previously hung on a chair, he fumbled in + the pockets, and produced at length a curious little deformed image + with a hunch on its back, and exactly the color of a three days' old + Congo baby. Remembering the embalmed head, at first I almost thought + that this black manikin was a real baby preserved in some similar + manner. But seeing that it was not at all limber, and that it glistened + a good deal like polished ebony, I concluded that it must be nothing + but a wooden idol, which indeed it proved to be. For now the savage + goes up to the empty fire-place, and removing the papered fire-board, + sets up this little hunch-backed image, like a tenpin, between the + andirons. The chimney jambs and all the bricks inside were very sooty, + so that I thought this fire-place made a very appropriate little shrine + or chapel for his Congo idol. + + I now screwed my eyes hard towards the half hidden image, feeling but + ill at ease meantime—to see what was next to follow. First he takes + about a double handful of shavings out of his grego pocket, and places + them carefully before the idol; then laying a bit of ship biscuit on + top and applying the flame from the lamp, he kindled the shavings into + a sacrificial blaze. Presently, after many hasty snatches into the + fire, and still hastier withdrawals of his fingers (whereby he seemed + to be scorching them badly), he at last succeeded in drawing out the + biscuit; then blowing off the heat and ashes a little, he made a polite + offer of it to the little negro. But the little devil did not seem to + fancy such dry sort of fare at all; he never moved his lips. All these + strange antics were accompanied by still stranger guttural noises from + the devotee, who seemed to be praying in a sing-song or else singing + some pagan psalmody or other, during which his face twitched about in + the most unnatural manner. At last extinguishing the fire, he took the + idol up very unceremoniously, and bagged it again in his grego pocket + as carelessly as if he were a sportsman bagging a dead woodcock. + + All these queer proceedings increased my uncomfortableness, and seeing + him now exhibiting strong symptoms of concluding his business + operations, and jumping into bed with me, I thought it was high time, + now or never, before the light was put out, to break the spell in which + I had so long been bound. + + But the interval I spent in deliberating what to say, was a fatal one. + Taking up his tomahawk from the table, he examined the head of it for + an instant, and then holding it to the light, with his mouth at the + handle, he puffed out great clouds of tobacco smoke. The next moment + the light was extinguished, and this wild cannibal, tomahawk between + his teeth, sprang into bed with me. I sang out, I could not help it + now; and giving a sudden grunt of astonishment he began feeling me. + + Stammering out something, I knew not what, I rolled away from him + against the wall, and then conjured him, whoever or whatever he might + be, to keep quiet, and let me get up and light the lamp again. But his + guttural responses satisfied me at once that he but ill comprehended my + meaning. + + "Who-e debel you?"—he at last said—"you no speak-e, dam-me, I kill-e." + And so saying the lighted tomahawk began flourishing about me in the + dark. + + + "Landlord, for God's sake, Peter Coffin!" shouted + I. "Landlord! Watch! Coffin! Angels! save me!" + + "Speak-e! tell-ee me who-ee be, or dam-me, I kill-e!" again growled the + cannibal, while his horrid flourishings of the tomahawk scattered the + hot tobacco ashes about me till I thought my linen would get on fire. + But thank heaven, at that moment the landlord came into the room light + in hand, and leaping from the bed I ran up to him. + + "Don't be afraid now," said he, grinning again, "Queequeg here wouldn't + harm a hair of your head." + + "Stop your grinning," shouted I, "and why didn't you tell me that that + infernal harpooneer was a cannibal?" + + "I thought ye know'd it;—didn't I tell ye, he was a peddlin' heads + around town?—but turn flukes again and go to sleep. Queequeg, look + here—you sabbee me, I sabbee—you this man sleepe you—you sabbee?" + + "Me sabbee plenty"—grunted Queequeg, puffing away at his pipe and + sitting up in bed. + + "You gettee in," he added, motioning to me with his tomahawk, and + throwing the clothes to one side. He really did this in not only a + civil but a really kind and charitable way. I stood looking at him a + moment. For all his tattooings he was on the whole a clean, comely + looking cannibal. What's all this fuss I have been making about, + thought I to myself—the man's a human being just as I am: he has just + as much reason to fear me, as I have to be afraid of him. Better sleep + with a sober cannibal than a drunken Christian. + + "Landlord," said I, "tell him to stash his tomahawk there, or pipe, or + whatever you call it; tell him to stop smoking, in short, and I will + turn in with him. But I don't fancy having a man smoking in bed with + me. It's dangerous. Besides, I ain't insured." + + This being told to Queequeg, he at once complied, and again politely + motioned me to get into bed—rolling over to one side as much as to say— + I won't touch a leg of ye." + + "Good night, landlord," said I, "you may go." + + I turned in, and never slept better in my life. + + + + + CHAPTER 4 + + + The Counterpane + + Upon waking next morning about daylight, I found Queequeg's arm thrown + over me in the most loving and affectionate manner. You had almost + thought I had been his wife. The counterpane was of patchwork, full of + odd little parti-colored squares and triangles; and this arm of his + tattooed all over with an interminable Cretan labyrinth of a figure, no + two parts of which were of one precise shade— owing I suppose to his + keeping his arm at sea unmethodically in sun and shade, his shirt + sleeves irregularly rolled up at various times— this same arm of his, I + say, looked for all the world like a strip of that same patchwork + quilt. Indeed, partly lying on it as the arm did when I first awoke, I + could hardly tell it from the quilt, they so blended their hues + together; and it was only by the sense of weight and pressure that I + could tell that Queequeg was hugging me. + + My sensations were strange. Let me try to explain them. When I was a + child, I well remember a somewhat similar circumstance that befell me; + whether it was a reality or a dream, I never could entirely settle. The + circumstance was this. I had been cutting up some caper or other— I + think it was trying to crawl up the chimney, as I had seen a little + sweep do a few days previous; and my stepmother who, somehow or other, + was all the time whipping me, or sending me to bed supperless,— my + mother dragged me by the legs out of the chimney and packed me off to + bed, though it was only two o'clock in the afternoon of the 21st June, + the longest day in the year in our hemisphere. I felt dreadfully. But + there was no help for it, so up stairs I went to my little room in the + third floor, undressed myself as slowly as possible so as to kill time, + and with a bitter sigh got between the sheets. + + I lay there dismally calculating that sixteen entire hours must elapse + before I could hope for a resurrection. Sixteen hours in bed! the small + of my back ached to think of it. And it was so light too; the sun + shining in at the window, and a great rattling of coaches in the + streets, and the sound of gay voices all over the house. I felt worse + and worse— at last I got up, dressed, and softly going down in my + stockinged feet, sought out my stepmother, and suddenly threw myself at + her feet, beseeching her as a particular favor to give me a good + slippering for my misbehaviour: anything indeed but condemning me to + lie abed such an unendurable length of time. But she was the best and + most conscientious of stepmothers, and back I had to go to my room. For + several hours I lay there broad awake, feeling a great deal worse than + I have ever done since, even from the greatest subsequent misfortunes. + At last I must have fallen into a troubled nightmare of a doze; and + slowly waking from it—half steeped in dreams—I opened my eyes, and the + before sunlit room was now wrapped in outer darkness. Instantly I felt + a shock running through all my frame; nothing was to be seen, and + nothing was to be heard; but a supernatural hand seemed placed in mine. + My arm hung over the counterpane, and the nameless, unimaginable, + silent form or phantom, to which the hand belonged, seemed closely + seated by my bed-side. For what seemed ages piled on ages, I lay there, + frozen with the most awful fears, not daring to drag away my hand; yet + ever thinking that if I could but stir it one single inch, the horrid + spell would be broken. I knew not how this consciousness at last glided + away from me; but waking in the morning, I shudderingly remembered it + all, and for days and weeks and months afterwards I lost myself in + confounding attempts to explain the mystery. Nay, to this very hour, I + often puzzle myself with it. + + Now, take away the awful fear, and my sensations at feeling the + supernatural hand in mine were very similar, in their strangeness, to + those which I experienced on waking up and seeing Queequeg's pagan arm + thrown round me. But at length all the past night's events soberly + recurred, one by one, in fixed reality, and then I lay only alive to + the comical predicament. For though I tried to move his arm— unlock his + bridegroom clasp—yet, sleeping as he was, he still hugged me tightly, + as though naught but death should part us twain. I now strove to rouse + him—"Queequeg!"—but his only answer was a snore. I then rolled over, my + neck feeling as if it were in a horse-collar; and suddenly felt a + slight scratch. Throwing aside the counterpane, there lay the tomahawk + sleeping by the savage's side, as if it were a hatchet-faced baby. A + pretty pickle, truly, thought I; abed here in a strange house in the + broad day, with a cannibal and a tomahawk! "Queequeg!—in the name of + goodness, Queequeg, wake!" At length, by dint of much wriggling, and + loud and incessant expostulations upon the unbecomingness of his + hugging a fellow male in that matrimonial sort of style, I succeeded in + extracting a grunt; and presently, he drew back his arm, shook himself + all over like a Newfoundland dog just from the water, and sat up in + bed, stiff as a pike-staff, looking at me, and rubbing his eyes as if + he did not altogether remember how I came to be there, though a dim + consciousness of knowing something about me seemed slowly dawning over + him. Meanwhile, I lay quietly eyeing him, having no serious misgivings + now, and bent upon narrowly observing so curious a creature. When, at + last, his mind seemed made up touching the character of his bedfellow, + and he became, as it were, reconciled to the fact; he jumped out upon + the floor, and by certain signs and sounds gave me to understand that, + if it pleased me, he would dress first and then leave me to dress + afterwards, leaving the whole apartment to myself. Thinks I, Queequeg, + under the circumstances, this is a very civilized overture; but, the + truth is, these savages have an innate sense of delicacy, say what you + will; it is marvellous how essentially polite they are. I pay this + particular compliment to Queequeg, because he treated me with so much + civility and consideration, while I was guilty of great rudeness; + staring at him from the bed, and watching all his toilette motions; for + the time my curiosity getting the better of my breeding. Nevertheless, + a man like Queequeg you don't see every day, he and his ways were well + worth unusual regarding. + + He commenced dressing at top by donning his beaver hat, a very tall + one, by the by, and then—still minus his trowsers— he hunted up his + boots. What under the heavens he did it for, I cannot tell, but his + next movement was to crush himself— boots in hand, and hat on—under the + bed; when, from sundry violent gaspings and strainings, I inferred he + was hard at work booting himself; though by no law of propriety that I + ever heard of, is any man required to be private when putting on his + boots. But Queequeg, do you see, was a creature in the transition + state— neither caterpillar nor butterfly. He was just enough civilized + to show off his outlandishness in the strangest possible manner. His + education was not yet completed. He was an undergraduate. If he had not + been a small degree civilized, he very probably would not have troubled + himself with boots at all; but then, if he had not been still a savage, + he never would have dreamt of getting under the bed to put them on. At + last, he emerged with his hat very much dented and crushed down over + his eyes, and began creaking and limping about the room, as if, not + being much accustomed to boots, his pair of damp, wrinkled cowhide + ones— probably not made to order either—rather pinched and tormented + him at the first go off of a bitter cold morning. + + Seeing, now, that there were no curtains to the window, and that the + street being very narrow, the house opposite commanded a plain view + into the room, and observing more and more the indecorous figure that + Queequeg made, staving about with little else but his hat and boots on; + I begged him as well as I could, to accelerate his toilet somewhat, and + particularly to get into his pantaloons as soon as possible. He + complied, and then proceeded to wash himself. At that time in the + morning any Christian would have washed his face; but Queequeg, to my + amazement, contented himself with restricting his ablutions to his + chest, arms, and hands. He then donned his waistcoat, and taking up a + piece of hard soap on the wash-stand centre table, dipped it into water + and commenced lathering his face. I was watching to see where he kept + his razor, when lo and behold, he takes the harpoon from the bed + corner, slips out the long wooden stock, unsheathes the head, whets it + a little on his boot, and striding up to the bit of mirror against the + wall, begins a vigorous scraping, or rather harpooning of his cheeks. + Thinks I, Queequeg, this is using Rogers's best cutlery with a + vengeance. Afterwards I wondered the less at this operation when I came + to know of what fine steel the head of a harpoon is made, and how + exceedingly sharp the long straight edges are always kept. + + The rest of his toilet was soon achieved, and he proudly marched out of + the room, wrapped up in his great pilot monkey jacket, and sporting his + harpoon like a marshal's baton. + + + + + CHAPTER 5 + + + Breakfast + + I quickly followed suit, and descending into the bar-room accosted the + grinning landlord very pleasantly. I cherished no malice towards him, + though he had been skylarking with me not a little in the matter of my + bedfellow. + + However, a good laugh is a mighty good thing, and rather too scarce a + good thing; the more's the pity. So, if any one man, in his own proper + person, afford stuff for a good joke to anybody, let him not be + backward, but let him cheerfully allow himself to spend and to be spent + in that way. And the man that has anything bountifully laughable about + him, be sure there is more in that man than you perhaps think for. + + The bar-room was now full of the boarders who had been dropping in the + night previous, and whom I had not as yet had a good look at. They were + nearly all whalemen; chief mates, and second mates, and third mates, + and sea carpenters, and sea coopers, and sea blacksmiths, and + harpooneers, and ship keepers; a brown and brawny company, with bosky + beards; an unshorn, shaggy set, all wearing monkey jackets for morning + gowns. + + You could pretty plainly tell how long each one had been ashore. This + young fellow's healthy cheek is like a sun-toasted pear in hue, and + would seem to smell almost as musky; he cannot have been three days + landed from his Indian voyage. That man next him looks a few shades + lighter; you might say a touch of satin wood is in him. In the + complexion of a third still lingers a tropic tawn, but slightly + bleached withal; he doubtless has tarried whole weeks ashore. But who + could show a cheek like Queequeg? which, barred with various tints, + seemed like the Andes' western slope, to show forth in one array, + contrasting climates, zone by zone. + + "Grub, ho!" now cried the landlord, flinging open a door, and in we + went to breakfast. + + They say that men who have seen the world, thereby become quite at ease + in manner, quite self-possessed in company. Not always, though: + Ledyard, the great New England traveller, and Mungo Park, the Scotch + one; of all men, they possessed the least assurance in the parlor. But + perhaps the mere crossing of Siberia in a sledge drawn by dogs as + Ledyard did, or the taking a long solitary walk on an empty stomach, in + the negro heart of Africa, which was the sum of poor Mungo's + performances— this kind of travel, I say, may not be the very best mode + of attaining a high social polish. Still, for the most part, that sort + of thing is to be had anywhere. + + These reflections just here are occasioned by the circumstance that + after we were all seated at the table, and I was preparing to hear some + good stories about whaling; to my no small surprise nearly every man + maintained a profound silence. And not only that, but they looked + embarrassed. Yes, here were a set of sea-dogs, many of whom without the + slightest bashfulness had boarded great whales on the high seas—entire + strangers to them— and duelled them dead without winking; and yet, here + they sat at a social breakfast table—all of the same calling, all of + kindred tastes—looking round as sheepishly at each other as though they + had never been out of sight of some sheepfold among the Green + Mountains. A curious sight; these bashful bears, these timid warrior + whalemen! + + But as for Queequeg—why, Queequeg sat there among them— at the head of + the table, too, it so chanced; as cool as an icicle. To be sure I + cannot say much for his breeding. His greatest admirer could not have + cordially justified his bringing his harpoon into breakfast with him, + and using it there without ceremony; reaching over the table with it, + to the imminent jeopardy of many heads, and grappling the beefsteaks + towards him. But that was certainly very coolly done by him, and every + one knows that in most people's estimation, to do anything coolly is to + do it genteelly. + + We will not speak of all Queequeg's peculiarities here; how he eschewed + coffee and hot rolls, and applied his undivided attention to + beefsteaks, done rare. Enough, that when breakfast was over he withdrew + like the rest into the public room, lighted his tomahawk-pipe, and was + sitting there quietly digesting and smoking with his inseparable hat + on, when I sallied out for a stroll. + + + + + CHAPTER 6 + + + The Street + + If I had been astonished at first catching a glimpse of so outlandish + an individual as Queequeg circulating among the polite society of a + civilized town, that astonishment soon departed upon taking my first + daylight stroll through the streets of New Bedford. + + In thoroughfares nigh the docks, any considerable seaport will + frequently offer to view the queerest looking nondescripts from foreign + parts. Even in Broadway and Chestnut streets, Mediterranean mariners + will sometimes jostle the affrighted ladies. Regent Street is not + unknown to Lascars and Malays; and at Bombay, in the Apollo Green, live + Yankees have often scared the natives. But New Bedford beats all Water + Street and Wapping. In these last-mentioned haunts you see only + sailors; but in New Bedford, actual cannibals stand chatting at street + corners; savages outright; many of whom yet carry on their bones unholy + flesh. It makes a stranger stare. + + But, besides the Feegeeans, Tongatobooarrs, Erromanggoans, Pannangians, + and Brighggians, and, besides the wild specimens of the whaling-craft + which unheeded reel about the streets, you will see other sights still + more curious, certainly more comical. There weekly arrive in this town + scores of green Vermonters and New Hampshire men, all athirst for gain + and glory in the fishery. They are mostly young, of stalwart frames; + fellows who have felled forests, and now seek to drop the axe and + snatch the whale-lance. Many are as green as the Green Mountains whence + they came. In some things you would think them but a few hours old. + Look there! that chap strutting round the corner. He wears a beaver hat + and swallow-tailed coat, girdled with a sailor-belt and a sheath-knife. + Here comes another with a sou'-wester and a bombazine cloak. + + No town-bred dandy will compare with a country-bred one—I mean a + downright bumpkin dandy—a fellow that, in the dog-days, will mow his + two acres in buckskin gloves for fear of tanning his hands. Now when a + country dandy like this takes it into his head to make a distinguished + reputation, and joins the great whale-fishery, you should see the + comical things he does upon reaching the seaport. In bespeaking his + sea-outfit, he orders bell-buttons to his waistcoats; straps to his + canvas trowsers. Ah, poor Hay-Seed! how bitterly will burst those + straps in the first howling gale, when thou art driven, straps, + buttons, and all, down the throat of the tempest. + + But think not that this famous town has only harpooneers, cannibals, + and bumpkins to show her visitors. Not at all. Still New Bedford is a + queer place. Had it not been for us whalemen, that tract of land would + this day perhaps have been in as howling condition as the coast of + Labrador. As it is, parts of her back country are enough to frighten + one, they look so bony. The town itself is perhaps the dearest place to + live in, in all New England. It is a land of oil, true enough: but not + like Canaan; a land, also, of corn and wine. The streets do not run + with milk; nor in the spring-time do they pave them with fresh eggs. + Yet, in spite of this, nowhere in all America will you find more + patrician-like houses; parks and gardens more opulent, than in New + Bedford. Whence came they? how planted upon this once scraggy scoria of + a country? + + Go and gaze upon the iron emblematical harpoons round yonder lofty + mansion, and your question will be answered. Yes; all these brave + houses and flowery gardens came from the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian + oceans. One and all, they were harpooned and dragged up hither from the + bottom of the sea. Can Herr Alexander perform a feat like that? + + In New Bedford, fathers, they say, give whales for dowers to their + daughters, and portion off their nieces with a few porpoises a-piece. + You must go to New Bedford to see a brilliant wedding; for, they say, + they have reservoirs of oil in every house, and every night recklessly + burn their lengths in spermaceti candles. + + In summer time, the town is sweet to see; full of fine maples— long + avenues of green and gold. And in August, high in air, the beautiful + and bountiful horse-chestnuts, candelabra-wise, proffer the passer-by + their tapering upright cones of congregated blossoms. So omnipotent is + art; which in many a district of New Bedford has superinduced bright + terraces of flowers upon the barren refuse rocks thrown aside at + creation's final day. + + And the women of New Bedford, they bloom like their own red roses. But + roses only bloom in summer; whereas the fine carnation of their cheeks + is perennial as sunlight in the seventh heavens. Elsewhere match that + bloom of theirs, ye cannot, save in Salem, where they tell me the young + girls breathe such musk, their sailor sweethearts smell them miles off + shore, as though they were drawing nigh the odorous Moluccas instead of + the Puritanic sands. + + + + + CHAPTER 7 + + + The Chapel + + In this same New Bedford there stands a Whaleman's Chapel, and few are + the moody fishermen, shortly bound for the Indian Ocean or Pacific, who + fail to make a Sunday visit to the spot. I am sure that I did not. + + Returning from my first morning stroll, I again sallied out upon this + special errand. The sky had changed from clear, sunny cold, to driving + sleet and mist. Wrapping myself in my shaggy jacket of the cloth called + bearskin, I fought my way against the stubborn storm. Entering, I found + a small scattered congregation of sailors, and sailors' wives and + widows. A muffled silence reigned, only broken at times by the shrieks + of the storm. Each silent worshipper seemed purposely sitting apart + from the other, as if each silent grief were insular and + incommunicable. The chaplain had not yet arrived; and there these + silent islands of men and women sat steadfastly eyeing several marble + tablets, with black borders, masoned into the wall on either side the + pulpit. Three of them ran something like the following, but I do not + pretend to quote: + + SACRED + TO THE MEMORY + OF + JOHN TALBOT, + Who, at the age of eighteen, was lost overboard + Near the Isle of Desolation, off Patagonia, + November 1st, 1836. + THIS TABLET + Is erected to his Memory + BY HIS SISTER. + + SACRED + TO THE MEMORY + OF + ROBERT LONG, WILLIS ELLERY, + NATHAN COLEMAN, WALTER CANNY, SETH MACY, + AND SAMUEL GLEIG, + Forming one of the boats' crews + OF + THE SHIP ELIZA + Who were towed out of sight by a Whale, + On the Off-shore Ground in the + PACIFIC, + December 31st, 1839. + THIS MARBLE + Is here placed by their surviving + SHIPMATES. + + SACRED + TO THE MEMORY + OF + The late + CAPTAIN EZEKIEL HARDY, + Who in the bows of his boat was killed by a + Sperm Whale on the coast of Japan, + August 3d, 1833. + THIS TABLET + Is erected to his Memory + BY + HIS WIDOW. + + Shaking off the sleet from my ice-glazed hat and jacket, I seated + myself near the door, and turning sideways was surprised to see + Queequeg near me. Affected by the solemnity of the scene, there was a + wondering gaze of incredulous curiosity in his countenance. This savage + was the only person present who seemed to notice my entrance; because + he was the only one who could not read, and, therefore, was not reading + those frigid inscriptions on the wall. Whether any of the relatives of + the seamen whose names appeared there were now among the congregation, + I knew not; but so many are the unrecorded accidents in the fishery, + and so plainly did several women present wear the countenance if not + the trappings of some unceasing grief, that I feel sure that here + before me were assembled those, in whose unhealing hearts the sight of + those bleak tablets sympathetically caused the old wounds to bleed + afresh. + + Oh! ye whose dead lie buried beneath the green grass; who standing + among flowers can say—here, here lies my beloved; ye know not the + desolation that broods in bosoms like these. What bitter blanks in + those black-bordered marbles which cover no ashes! What despair in + those immovable inscriptions! What deadly voids and unbidden + infidelities in the lines that seem to gnaw upon all Faith, and refuse + resurrections to the beings who have placelessly perished without a + grave. As well might those tablets stand in the cave of Elephanta as + here. + + In what census of living creatures, the dead of mankind are included; + why it is that a universal proverb says of them, that they tell no + tales, though containing more secrets than the Goodwin Sands! how it is + that to his name who yesterday departed for the other world, we prefix + so significant and infidel a word, and yet do not thus entitle him, if + he but embarks for the remotest Indies of this living earth; why the + Life Insurance Companies pay death-forfeitures upon immortals; in what + eternal, unstirring paralysis, and deadly, hopeless trance, yet lies + antique Adam who died sixty round centuries ago; how it is that we + still refuse to be comforted for those who we nevertheless maintain are + dwelling in unspeakable bliss; why all the living so strive to hush all + the dead; wherefore but the rumor of a knocking in a tomb will terrify + a whole city. All these things are not without their meanings. + + But Faith, like a jackal, feeds among the tombs, and even from these + dead doubts she gathers her most vital hope. + + It needs scarcely to be told, with what feelings, on the eve of a + Nantucket voyage, I regarded those marble tablets, and by the murky + light of that darkened, doleful day read the fate of the whalemen who + had gone before me. Yes, Ishmael, the same fate may be thine. But + somehow I grew merry again. Delightful inducements to embark, fine + chance for promotion, it seems—aye, a stove boat will make me an + immortal by brevet. Yes, there is death in this business of whaling—a + speechlessly quick chaotic bundling of a man into Eternity. But what + then? Methinks we have hugely mistaken this matter of Life and Death. + Methinks that what they call my shadow here on earth is my true + substance. Methinks that in looking at things spiritual, we are too + much like oysters observing the sun through the water, and thinking + that thick water the thinnest of air. Methinks my body is but the lees + of my better being. In fact take my body who will, take it I say, it is + not me. And therefore three cheers for Nantucket; and come a stove boat + and stove body when they will, for stave my soul, Jove himself cannot. + + + + + CHAPTER 8 + + + The Pulpit + + I had not been seated very long ere a man of a certain venerable + robustness entered; immediately as the storm-pelted door flew back upon + admitting him, a quick regardful eyeing of him by all the congregation, + sufficiently attested that this fine old man was the chaplain. Yes, it + was the famous Father Mapple, so called by the whalemen, among whom he + was a very great favorite. He had been a sailor and a harpooneer in his + youth, but for many years past had dedicated his life to the ministry. + At the time I now write of, Father Mapple was in the hardy winter of a + healthy old age; that sort of old age which seems merging into a second + flowering youth, for among all the fissures of his wrinkles, there + shone certain mild gleams of a newly developing bloom— the spring + verdure peeping forth even beneath February's snow. No one having + previously heard his history, could for the first time behold Father + Mapple without the utmost interest, because there were certain + engrafted clerical peculiarities about him, imputable to that + adventurous maritime life he had led. When he entered I observed that + he carried no umbrella, and certainly had not come in his carriage, for + his tarpaulin hat ran down with melting sleet, and his great pilot + cloth jacket seemed almost to drag him to the floor with the weight of + the water it had absorbed. However, hat and coat and overshoes were one + by one removed, and hung up in a little space in an adjacent corner; + when, arrayed in a decent suit, he quietly approached the pulpit. + + Like most old fashioned pulpits, it was a very lofty one, and since a + regular stairs to such a height would, by its long angle with the + floor, seriously contract the already small area of the chapel, the + architect, it seemed, had acted upon the hint of Father Mapple, and + finished the pulpit without a stairs, substituting a perpendicular side + ladder, like those used in mounting a ship from a boat at sea. The wife + of a whaling captain had provided the chapel with a handsome pair of + red worsted man-ropes for this ladder, which, being itself nicely + headed, and stained with a mahogany color, the whole contrivance, + considering what manner of chapel it was, seemed by no means in bad + taste. Halting for an instant at the foot of the ladder, and with both + hands grasping the ornamental knobs of the man-ropes, Father Mapple + cast a look upwards, and then with a truly sailor-like but still + reverential dexterity, hand over hand, mounted the steps as if + ascending the main-top of his vessel. + + The perpendicular parts of this side ladder, as is usually the case + with swinging ones, were of cloth-covered rope, only the rounds were of + wood, so that at every step there was a joint. At my first glimpse of + the pulpit, it had not escaped me that however convenient for a ship, + these joints in the present instance seemed unnecessary. For I was not + prepared to see Father Mapple after gaining the height, slowly turn + round, and stooping over the pulpit, deliberately drag up the ladder + step by step, till the whole was deposited within, leaving him + impregnable in his little Quebec. + + I pondered some time without fully comprehending the reason for this. + Father Mapple enjoyed such a wide reputation for sincerity and + sanctity, that I could not suspect him of courting notoriety by any + mere tricks of the stage. No, thought I, there must be some sober + reason for this thing; furthermore, it must symbolize something unseen. + Can it be, then, that by that act of physical isolation, he signifies + his spiritual withdrawal for the time, from all outward worldly ties + and connexions? Yes, for replenished with the meat and wine of the + word, to the faithful man of God, this pulpit, I see, is a + self-containing stronghold—a lofty Ehrenbreitstein, with a perennial + well of water within the walls. + + But the side ladder was not the only strange feature of the place, + borrowed from the chaplain's former sea-farings. Between the marble + cenotaphs on either hand of the pulpit, the wall which formed its back + was adorned with a large painting representing a gallant ship beating + against a terrible storm off a lee coast of black rocks and snowy + breakers. But high above the flying scud and dark-rolling clouds, there + floated a little isle of sunlight, from which beamed forth an angel's + face; and this bright face shed a distant spot of radiance upon the + ship's tossed deck, something like that silver plate now inserted into + the Victory's plank where Nelson fell. "Ah, noble ship," the angel + seemed to say, "beat on, beat on, thou noble ship, and bear a hardy + helm; for lo! the sun is breaking through; the clouds are rolling off— + serenest azure is at hand." + + Nor was the pulpit itself without a trace of the same sea-taste that + had achieved the ladder and the picture. Its panelled front was in the + likeness of a ship's bluff bows, and the Holy Bible rested on a + projecting piece of scroll work, fashioned after a ship's fiddle-headed + beak. + + What could be more full of meaning?—for the pulpit is ever this earth's + foremost part; all the rest comes in its rear; the pulpit leads the + world. From thence it is the storm of God's quick wrath is first + descried, and the bow must bear the earliest brunt. From thence it is + the God of breezes fair or foul is first invoked for favorable winds. + Yes, the world's a ship on its passage out, and not a voyage complete; + and the pulpit is its prow. + + + + + CHAPTER 9 + + + The Sermon + + Father Mapple rose, and in a mild voice of unassuming authority ordered + the scattered people to condense. "Star board gangway, there! side away + to larboard—larboard gangway to starboard! Midships! midships!" + + There was a low rumbling of heavy sea-boots among the benches, and a + still slighter shuffling of women's shoes, and all was quiet again, and + every eye on the preacher. + + He paused a little; then kneeling in the pulpit's bows, folded his + large brown hands across his chest, uplifted his closed eyes, and + offered a prayer so deeply devout that he seemed kneeling and praying + at the bottom of the sea. + + This ended, in prolonged solemn tones, like the continual tolling of a + bell in a ship that is foundering at sea in a fog— in such tones he + commenced reading the following hymn; but changing his manner towards + the concluding stanzas, burst forth with a pealing exultation and joy— + + The ribs and terrors in the whale, + Arched over me a dismal gloom, + While all God's sun-lit waves rolled by, + And lift me deepening down to doom. + + I saw the opening maw of hell, + With endless pains and sorrows there; + Which none but they that feel can tell— + Oh, I was plunging to despair. + + In black distress, I called my God, + When I could scarce believe him mine, + He bowed his ear to my complaints— + No more the whale did me confine. + + With speed he flew to my relief, + As on a radiant dolphin borne; + Awful, yet bright, as lightning shone + The face of my Deliverer God. + + My song for ever shall record + That terrible, that joyful hour; + I give the glory to my God, + His all the mercy and the power. + + Nearly all joined in singing this hymn, which swelled high above the + howling of the storm. A brief pause ensued; the preacher slowly turned + over the leaves of the Bible, and at last, folding his hand down upon + the proper page, said: "Beloved shipmates, clinch the last verse of the + first chapter of Jonah—'And God had prepared a great fish to swallow up + Jonah.'" + + "Shipmates, this book, containing only four chapters— four yarns—is one + of the smallest strands in the mighty cable of the Scriptures. Yet what + depths of the soul does Jonah's deep sealine sound! what a pregnant + lesson to us is this prophet! What a noble thing is that canticle in + the fish's belly! How billow-like and boisterously grand! We feel the + floods surging over us, we sound with him to the kelpy bottom of the + waters; sea-weed and all the slime of the sea is about us! But what is + this lesson that the book of Jonah teaches? Shipmates, it is a + two-stranded lesson; a lesson to us all as sinful men, and a lesson to + me as a pilot of the living God. As sinful men, it is a lesson to us + all, because it is a story of the sin, hard-heartedness, suddenly + awakened fears, the swift punishment, repentance, prayers, and finally + the deliverance and joy of Jonah. As with all sinners among men, the + sin of this son of Amittai was in his wilful disobedience of the + command of God— never mind now what that command was, or how conveyed— + which he found a hard command. But all the things that God would have + us do are hard for us to do—remember that— and hence, he oftener + commands us than endeavors to persuade. And if we obey God, we must + disobey ourselves; and it is in this disobeying ourselves, wherein the + hardness of obeying God consists. + + "With this sin of disobedience in him, Jonah still further flouts at + God, by seeking to flee from Him. He thinks that a ship made by men, + will carry him into countries where God does not reign but only the + Captains of this earth. He skulks about the wharves of Joppa, and seeks + a ship that's bound for Tarshish. There lurks, perhaps, a hitherto + unheeded meaning here. By all accounts Tarshish could have been no + other city than the modern Cadiz. That's the opinion of learned men. + And where is Cadiz, shipmates? Cadiz is in Spain; as far by water, from + Joppa, as Jonah could possibly have sailed in those ancient days, when + the Atlantic was an almost unknown sea. Because Joppa, the modern + Jaffa, shipmates, is on the most easterly coast of the Mediterranean, + the Syrian; and Tarshish or Cadiz more than two thousand miles to the + westward from that, just outside the Straits of Gibraltar. See ye not + then, shipmates, that Jonah sought to flee worldwide from God? + Miserable man! Oh! most contemptible and worthy of all scorn; with + slouched hat and guilty eye, skulking from his God; prowling among the + shipping like a vile burglar hastening to cross the seas. So + disordered, self-condemning is his look, that had there been policemen + in those days, Jonah, on the mere suspicion of something wrong, had + been arrested ere he touched a deck. How plainly he's a fugitive! no + baggage, not a hat-box, valise, or carpet-bag,—no friends accompany him + to the wharf with their adieux. At last, after much dodging search, he + finds the Tarshish ship receiving the last items of her cargo; and as + he steps on board to see its Captain in the cabin, all the sailors for + the moment desist from hoisting in the goods, to mark the stranger's + evil eye. Jonah sees this; but in vain he tries to look all ease and + confidence; in vain essays his wretched smile. Strong intuitions of the + man assure the mariners he can be no innocent. In their gamesome but + still serious way, one whispers to the other—"Jack, he's robbed a + widow;" or, "Joe, do you mark him; he's a bigamist;" or, "Harry lad, I + guess he's the adulterer that broke jail in old Gomorrah, or belike, + one of the missing murderers from Sodom." Another runs to read the bill + that's stuck against the spile upon the wharf to which the ship is + moored, offering five hundred gold coins for the apprehension of a + parricide, and containing a description of his person. He reads, and + looks from Jonah to the bill; while all his sympathetic shipmates now + crowd round Jonah, prepared to lay their hands upon him. Frighted Jonah + trembles. and summoning all his boldness to his face, only looks so + much the more a coward. He will not confess himself suspected; but that + itself is strong suspicion. So he makes the best of it; and when the + sailors find him not to be the man that is advertised, they let him + pass, and he descends into the cabin. + + "'Who's there?' cries the Captain at his busy desk, hurriedly making + out his papers for the Customs—'Who's there?' Oh! how that harmless + question mangles Jonah! For the instant he almost turns to flee again. + But he rallies. 'I seek a passage in this ship to Tarshish; how soon + sail ye, sir?' Thus far the busy Captain had not looked up to Jonah, + though the man now stands before him; but no sooner does he hear that + hollow voice, than he darts a scrutinizing glance. 'We sail with the + next coming tide,' at last he slowly answered, still intently eyeing + him. 'No sooner, sir?'—'Soon enough for any honest man that goes a + passenger.' Ha! Jonah, that's another stab. But he swiftly calls away + the Captain from that scent. 'I'll sail with ye,'—he says,—'the passage + money how much is that?— I'll pay now.' For it is particularly written, + shipmates, as if it were a thing not to be overlooked in this history, + 'that he paid the fare thereof' ere the craft did sail. And taken with + the context, this is full of meaning. + + "Now Jonah's Captain, shipmates, was one whose discernment detects + crime in any, but whose cupidity exposes it only in the penniless. In + this world, shipmates, sin that pays its way can travel freely and + without a passport; whereas Virtue, if a pauper, is stopped at all + frontiers. So Jonah's Captain prepares to test the length of Jonah's + purse, ere he judge him openly. He charges him thrice the usual sum; + and it's assented to. Then the Captain knows that Jonah is a fugitive; + but at the same time resolves to help a flight that paves its rear with + gold. Yet when Jonah fairly takes out his purse, prudent suspicions + still molest the Captain. He rings every coin to find a counterfeit. + Not a forger, any way, he mutters; and Jonah is put down for his + passage. 'Point out my state-room, Sir,' says Jonah now, 'I'm + travel-weary; I need sleep." "Thou look'st like it,' says the Captain, + 'there's thy room.' Jonah enters, and would lock the door, but the lock + contains no key. Hearing him foolishly fumbling there, the Captain + laughs lowly to himself, and mutters something about the doors of + convicts' cells being never allowed to be locked within. All dressed + and dusty as he is, Jonah throws himself into his berth, and finds the + little state-room ceiling almost resting on his forehead. The air is + close, and Jonah gasps. Then, in that contracted hole, sunk, too, + beneath the ship's water-line, Jonah feels the heralding presentiment + of that stifling hour, when the whale shall hold him in the smallest of + his bowels' wards. + + "Screwed at its axis against the side, a swinging lamp slightly + oscillates in Jonah's room; and the ship, heeling over towards the + wharf with the weight of the last bales received, the lamp, flame and + all, though in slight motion, still maintains a permanent obliquity + with reference to the room; though, in truth, infallibly straight + itself, it but made obvious the false, lying levels among which it + hung. The lamp alarms and frightens Jonah; as lying in his berth his + tormented eyes roll round the place, and this thus far successful + fugitive finds no refuge for his restless glance. But that + contradiction in the lamp more and more appals him. The floor, the + ceiling, and the side, are all awry. 'Oh! so my conscience hangs in + me!' he groans, "straight upward, so it burns; but the chambers of my + soul are all in crookedness!' + + "Like one who after a night of drunken revelry hies to his bed, still + reeling, but with conscience yet pricking him, as the plungings of the + Roman race-horse but so much the more strike his steel tags into him; + as one who in that miserable plight still turns and turns in giddy + anguish, praying God for annihilation until the fit be passed; and at + last amid the whirl of woe he feels, a deep stupor steals over him, as + over the man who bleeds to death, for conscience is the wound, and + there's naught to staunch it; so, after sore wrestling in his berth, + Jonah's prodigy of ponderous misery drags him drowning down to sleep. + + "And now the time of tide has come; the ship casts off her cables; and + from the deserted wharf the uncheered ship for Tarshish, all careening, + glides to sea. That ship, my friends, was the first of recorded + smugglers! the contraband was Jonah. But the sea rebels; he will not + bear the wicked burden. A dreadful storm comes on, the ship is like to + break. But now when the boatswain calls all hands to lighten her; when + boxes, bales, and jars are clattering overboard; when the wind is + shrieking, and the men are yelling, and every plank thunders with + trampling feet right over Jonah's head; in all this raging tumult, + Jonah sleeps his hideous sleep. He sees no black sky and raging sea, + feels not the reeling timbers, and little hears he or heeds he the far + rush of the mighty whale, which even now with open mouth is cleaving + the seas after him. Aye, shipmates, Jonah was gone down into the sides + of the ship— a berth in the cabin as I have taken it, and was fast + asleep. But the frightened master comes to him, and shrieks in his dead + ear, 'What meanest thou, O, sleeper! arise!' Startled from his lethargy + by that direful cry, Jonah staggers to his feet, and stumbling to the + deck, grasps a shroud, to look out upon the sea. But at that moment he + is sprung upon by a panther billow leaping over the bulwarks. Wave + after wave thus leaps into the ship, and finding no speedy vent runs + roaring fore and aft, till the mariners come nigh to drowning while yet + afloat. And ever, as the white moon shows her affrighted face from the + steep gullies in the blackness overhead, aghast Jonah sees the rearing + bowsprit pointing high upward, but soon beat downward again towards the + tormented deep. + + "Terrors upon terrors run shouting through his soul. In all his + cringing attitudes, the God-fugitive is now too plainly known. The + sailors mark him; more and more certain grow their suspicions of him, + and at last, fully to test the truth, by referring the whole matter to + high Heaven, they all-outward to casting lots, to see for whose cause + this great tempest was upon them. The lot is Jonah's; that discovered, + then how furiously they mob him with their questions. 'What is thine + occupation? Whence comest thou? Thy country? What people? But mark now, + my shipmates, the behavior of poor Jonah. The eager mariners but ask + him who he is, and where from; whereas, they not only receive an answer + to those questions, but likewise another answer to a question not put + by them, but the unsolicited answer is forced from Jonah by the hard + hand of God that is upon him. + + "'I am a Hebrew,' he cries—and then—'I fear the Lord the God of Heaven + who hath made the sea and the dry land!' Fear him, O Jonah? Aye, well + mightest thou fear the Lord God then! Straightway, he now goes on to + make a full confession; whereupon the mariners became more and more + appalled, but still are pitiful. For when Jonah, not yet supplicating + God for mercy, since he but too well knew the darkness of his deserts,— + when wretched Jonah cries out to them to take him and cast him forth + into the sea, for he knew that for his sake this great tempest was upon + them; they mercifully turn from him, and seek by other means to save + the ship. But all in vain; the indignant gale howls louder; then, with + one hand raised invokingly to God, with the other they not + unreluctantly lay hold of Jonah. + + "And now behold Jonah taken up as an anchor and dropped into the sea; + when instantly an oily calmness floats out from the east, and the sea + is still, as Jonah carries down the gale with him, leaving smooth water + behind. He goes down in the whirling heart of such a masterless + commotion that he scarce heeds the moment when he drops seething into + the yawning jaws awaiting him; and the whale shoots-to all his ivory + teeth, like so many white bolts, upon his prison. Then Jonah prayed + unto the Lord out of the fish's belly. But observe his prayer, and so + many white bolts, upon his prison. Then Jonah prayed unto learn a + weighty lesson. For sinful as he is, Jonah does not weep and wail for + direct deliverance. He feels that his dreadful punishment is just. He + leaves all his deliverance to God, contenting himself with this, that + spite of all his pains and pangs, he will still look towards His holy + temple. And here, shipmates, is true and faithful repentance; not + clamorous for pardon, but grateful for punishment. And how pleasing to + God was this conduct in Jonah, is shown in the eventual deliverance of + him from the sea and the whale. Shipmates, I do not place Jonah before + you to be copied for his sin but I do place him before you as a model + for repentance. Sin not; but if you do, take heed to repent of it like + Jonah." + + While he was speaking these words, the howling of the shrieking, + slanting storm without seemed to add new power to the preacher, who, + when describing Jonah's sea-storm, seemed tossed by a storm himself. + His deep chest heaved as with a ground-swell; his tossed arms seemed + the warring elements at work; and the thunders that rolled away from + off his swarthy brow, and the light leaping from his eye, made all his + simple hearers look on him with a quick fear that was strange to them. + + There now came a lull in his look, as he silently turned over the + leaves of the Book once more; and, at last, standing motionless, with + closed eyes, for the moment, seemed communing with God and himself. + + But again he leaned over towards the people, and bowing his head lowly, + with an aspect of the deepest yet manliest humility, he spake these + words: + + "Shipmates, God has laid but one hand upon you; both his hands press + upon me. I have read ye by what murky light may be mine the lesson that + Jonah teaches to all sinners; and therefore to ye, and still more to + me, for I am a greater sinner than ye. And now how gladly would I come + down from this mast-head and sit on the hatches there where you sit, + and listen as you listen, while some one of you reads me that other and + more awful lesson which Jonah teaches to me, as a pilot of the living + God. How being an anointed pilot-prophet, or speaker of true things and + bidden by the Lord to sound those unwelcome truths in the ears of a + wicked Nineveh, Jonah, appalled at the hostility he should raise, fled + from his mission, and sought to escape his duty and his God by taking + ship at Joppa. But God is everywhere; Tarshish he never reached. As we + have seen, God came upon him in the whale, and swallowed him down to + living gulfs of doom, and with swift slantings tore him along 'into the + midst of the seas,' where the eddying depths sucked him ten thousand + fathoms down, and 'the weeds were wrapped about his head,' and all the + watery world of woe bowled over him. Yet even then beyond the reach of + any plummet—'out of the belly of hell'—when the whale grounded upon the + ocean's utmost bones, even then, God heard the engulphed, repenting + prophet when he cried. Then God spake unto the fish; and from the + shuddering cold and blackness of the sea, the whale came breeching up + towards the warm and pleasant sun, and all the delights of air and + earth; and 'vomited out Jonah upon the dry land;' when the word of the + Lord came a second time; and Jonah, bruised and beaten—his ears, like + two sea-shells, still multitudinously murmuring of the ocean— Jonah did + the Almighty's bidding. And what was that, shipmates? To preach the + Truth to the face of Falsehood! That was it! + + "This, shipmates, this is that other lesson; and woe to that pilot of + the living God who slights it. Woe to him whom this world charms from + Gospel duty! Woe to him who seeks to pour oil upon the waters when God + has brewed them into a gale! Woe to him who seeks to please rather than + to appal! Woe to him whose good name is more to him than goodness! Woe + to him who, in this world, courts not dishonor! Woe to him who would + not be true, even though to be false were salvation! Yea, woe to him + who as the great Pilot Paul has it, while preaching to others is + himself a castaway! + + He drooped and fell away from himself for a moment; then lifting his + face to them again, showed a deep joy in his eyes, as he cried out with + a heavenly enthusiasm,—"But oh! shipmates! on the starboard hand of + every woe, there is a sure delight; and higher the top of that delight, + than the bottom of the woe is deep. Is not the main-truck higher than + the kelson is low? Delight is to him—a far, far upward, and inward + delight— who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever + stands forth his own inexorable self. Delight is to him whose strong + arms yet support him, when the ship of this base treacherous world has + gone down beneath him. Delight is to him, who gives no quarter in the + truth, and kills, burns, and destroys all sin though he pluck it out + from under the robes of Senators and Judges. Delight,—top-gallant + delight is to him, who acknowledges no law or lord, but the Lord his + God, and is only a patriot to heaven. Delight is to him, whom all the + waves of the billows of the seas of the boisterous mob can never shake + from this sure Keel of the Ages. And eternal delight and deliciousness + will be his, who coming to lay him down, can say with his final + breath—O Father!— chiefly known to me by Thy rod—mortal or immortal, + here I die. I have striven to be Thine, more than to be this world's, + or mine own. Yet this is nothing: I leave eternity to Thee; for what is + man that he should live out the lifetime of his God?" + + He said no more, but slowly waving a benediction, covered his face with + his hands, and so remained kneeling, till all the people had departed, + and he was left alone in the place. + + + + + CHAPTER 10 + + + A Bosom Friend + + Returning to the Spouter-Inn from the Chapel, I found Queequeg there + quite alone; he having left the Chapel before the benediction some + time. He was sitting on a bench before the fire, with his feet on the + stove hearth, and in one hand was holding close up to his face that + little negro idol of his; peering hard into its face, and with a + jack-knife gently whittling away at its nose, meanwhile humming to + himself in his heathenish way. + + But being now interrupted, he put up the image; and pretty soon, going + to the table, took up a large book there, and placing it on his lap + began counting the pages with deliberate regularity; at every fiftieth + page— as I fancied—stopping for a moment, looking vacantly around him, + and giving utterance to a long-drawn gurgling whistle of astonishment. + He would then begin again at the next fifty; seeming to commence at + number one each time, as though he could not count more than fifty, and + it was only by such a large number of fifties being found together, + that his astonishment at the multitude of pages was excited. + + With much interest I sat watching him. Savage though he was, and + hideously marred about the face—at least to my taste— his countenance + yet had a something in it which was by no means disagreeable. You + cannot hide the soul. Through all his unearthly tattooings, I thought I + saw the traces of a simple honest heart; and in his large, deep eyes, + fiery black and bold, there seemed tokens of a spirit that would dare a + thousand devils. And besides all this, there was a certain lofty + bearing about the Pagan, which even his uncouthness could not + altogether maim. He looked like a man who had never cringed and never + had had a creditor. Whether it was, too, that his head being shaved, + his forehead was drawn out in freer and brighter relief, and looked + more expansive than it otherwise would, this I will not venture to + decide; but certain it was his head was phrenologically an excellent + one. It may seem ridiculous, but it reminded me of General Washington's + head, as seen in the popular busts of him. It had the same long + regularly graded retreating slope from above the brows, which were + likewise very projecting, like two long promontories thickly wooded on + top. Queequeg was George Washington cannibalistically developed. + + Whilst I was thus closely scanning him, half-pretending meanwhile to be + looking out at the storm from the casement, he never heeded my + presence, never troubled himself with so much as a single glance; but + appeared wholly occupied with counting the pages of the marvellous + book. Considering how sociably we had been sleeping together the night + previous, and especially considering the affectionate arm I had found + thrown over me upon waking in the morning, I thought this indifference + of his very strange. But savages are strange beings; at times you do + not know exactly how to take them. At first they are overawing; their + calm self-collectedness of simplicity seems as Socratic wisdom. I had + noticed also that Queequeg never consorted at all, or but very little, + with the other seamen in the inn. He made no advances whatever; + appeared to have no desire to enlarge the circle of his acquaintances. + All this struck me as mighty singular; yet, upon second thoughts, there + was something almost sublime in it. Here was a man some twenty thousand + miles from home, by the way of Cape Horn, that is— which was the only + way he could get there—thrown among people as strange to him as though + he were in the planet Jupiter; and yet he seemed entirely at his ease; + preserving the utmost serenity; content with his own companionship; + always equal to himself. Surely this was a touch of fine philosophy; + though no doubt he had never heard there was such a thing as that. But, + perhaps, to be true philosophers, we mortals should not be conscious of + so living or so striving. So soon as I hear that such or such a man + gives himself out for a philosopher, I conclude that, like the + dyspeptic old woman, he must have "broken his digester." + + As I sat there in that now lonely room; the fire burning low, in that + mild stage when, after its first intensity has warmed the air, it then + only glows to be looked at; the evening shades and phantoms gathering + round the casements, and peering in upon us silent, solitary twain; the + storm booming without in solemn swells; I began to be sensible of + strange feelings. I felt a melting in me. No more my splintered heart + and maddened hand were turned against the wolfish world. This soothing + savage had redeemed it. There he sat, his very indifference speaking a + nature in which there lurked no civilized hypocrisies and bland + deceits. Wild he was; a very sight of sights to see; yet I began to + feel myself mysteriously drawn towards him. And those same things that + would have repelled most others, they were the very magnets that thus + drew me. I'll try a pagan friend, thought I, since Christian kindness + has proved but hollow courtesy. I drew my bench near him, and made some + friendly signs and hints, doing my best to talk with him meanwhile. At + first he little noticed these advances; but presently, upon my + referring to his last night's hospitalities, he made out to ask me + whether we were again to be bedfellows. I told him yes; whereat I + thought he looked pleased, perhaps a little complimented. + + We then turned over the book together, and I endeavored to explain to + him the purpose of the printing, and the meaning of the few pictures + that were in it. Thus I soon engaged his interest; and from that we + went to jabbering the best we could about the various outer sights to + be seen in this famous town. Soon I proposed a social smoke; and, + producing his pouch and tomahawk, he quietly offered me a puff. And + then we sat exchanging puffs from that wild pipe of his, and keeping it + regularly passing between us. + + If there yet lurked any ice of indifference towards me in the Pagan's + breast, this pleasant, genial smoke we had, soon thawed it out, and + left us cronies. He seemed to take to me quite as naturally and + unbiddenly as I to him; and when our smoke was over, he pressed his + forehead against mine, clasped me round the waist, and said that + henceforth we were married; meaning, in his country's phrase, that we + were bosom friends; he would gladly die for me, if need should be. In a + countryman, this sudden flame of friendship would have seemed far too + premature, a thing to be much distrusted; but in this simple savage + those old rules would not apply. + + After supper, and another social chat and smoke, we went to our room + together. He made me a present of his embalmed head; took out his + enormous tobacco wallet, and groping under the tobacco, drew out some + thirty dollars in silver; then spreading them on the table, and + mechanically dividing them into two equal portions, pushed one of them + towards me, and said it was mine. I was going to remonstrate; but he + silenced me by pouring them into my trowsers' pockets. I let them stay. + He then went about his evening prayers, took out his idol, and removed + the paper firebrand. By certain signs and symptoms, I thought he seemed + anxious for me to join him; but well knowing what was to follow, I + deliberated a moment whether, in case he invited me, I would comply or + otherwise. + + I was a good Christian; born and bred in the bosom of the infallible + Presbyterian Church. How then could I unite with this wild idolator in + worshipping his piece of wood? But what is worship? thought I. Do you + suppose now, Ishmael, that the magnanimous God of heaven and + earth—pagans and all included—can possibly be jealous of an + insignificant bit of black wood? Impossible! But what is worship?— to + do the will of God? that is worship. And what is the will of God?— to + do to my fellow man what I would have my fellow man to do to me— that + is the will of God. Now, Queequeg is my fellow man. And what do I wish + that this Queequeg would do to me? Why, unite with me in my particular + Presbyterian form of worship. Consequently, I must then unite with him + in his; ergo, I must turn idolator. So I kindled the shavings; helped + prop up the innocent little idol; offered him burnt biscuit with + Queequeg; salamed before him twice or thrice; kissed his nose; and that + done, we undressed and went to bed, at peace with our own consciences + and all the world. But we did not go to sleep without some little chat. + + How it is I know not; but there is no place like a bed for confidential + disclosures between friends. Man and wife, they say, there open the + very bottom of their souls to each other; and some old couples often + lie and chat over old times till nearly morning. Thus, then, in our + hearts' honeymoon, lay I and Queequeg— a cosy, loving pair. + + + + + CHAPTER 11 + + + Nightgown + + We had lain thus in bed, chatting and napping at short intervals, and + Queequeg now and then affectionately throwing his brown tattooed legs + over mine, and then drawing them back; so entirely sociable and free + and easy were we; when, at last, by reason of our confabulations, what + little nappishness remained in us altogether departed, and we felt like + getting up again, though day-break was yet some way down the future. + + Yes, we became very wakeful; so much so that our recumbent position + began to grow wearisome, and by little and little we found ourselves + sitting up; the clothes well tucked around us, leaning against the + headboard with our four knees drawn up close together, and our two + noses bending over them, as if our knee-pans were warming-pans. We felt + very nice and snug, the more so since it was so chilly out of doors; + indeed out of bed-clothes too, seeing that there was no fire in the + room. The more so, I say, because truly to enjoy bodily warmth, some + small part of you must be cold, for there is no quality in this world + that is not what it is merely by contrast. Nothing exists in itself. If + you flatter yourself that you are all over comfortable, and have been + so a long time, then you cannot be said to be comfortable any more. But + if, like Queequeg and me in the bed, the tip of your nose or the crown + of your head be slightly chilled, why then, indeed, in the general + consciousness you feel most delightfully and unmistakably warm. For + this reason a sleeping apartment should never be furnished with a fire, + which is one of the luxurious discomforts of the rich. For the height + of this sort of deliciousness is to have nothing but the blankets + between you and your snugness and the cold of the outer air. Then there + you lie like the one warm spark in the heart of an arctic crystal. + + We had been sitting in this crouching manner for some time, when all at + once I thought I would open my eyes; for when between sheets, whether + by day or by night, and whether asleep or awake, I have a way of always + keeping my eyes shut, in order the more to concentrate the snugness of + being in bed. Because no man can ever feel his own identity aright + except his eyes be closed; as if, darkness were indeed the proper + element of our essences, though light be more congenial to our clayey + part. Upon opening my eyes then, and coming out of my own pleasant and + self-created darkness into the imposed and coarse outer gloom of the + unilluminated twelve-o'clock-at-night, I experienced a disagreeable + revulsion. Nor did I at all object to the hint from Queequeg that + perhaps it were best to strike a light, seeing that we were so wide + awake; and besides he felt a strong desire to have a few quiet puffs + from his Tomahawk. Be it said, that though I had felt such a strong + repugnance to his smoking in the bed the night before, yet see how + elastic our stiff prejudices grow when love once comes to bend them. + For now I liked nothing better than to have Queequeg smoking by me, + even in bed, because he seemed to be full of such serene household joy + then. I no more felt unduly concerned for the landlord's policy of + insurance. I was only alive to the condensed confidential + comfortableness of sharing a pipe and a blanket with a real friend. + With our shaggy jackets drawn about our shoulders, we now passed the + Tomahawk from one to the other, till slowly there grew over us a blue + hanging tester of smoke, illuminated by the flame of the new-lit lamp. + + Whether it was that this undulating tester rolled the savage away to + far distant scenes, I know not, but he now spoke of his native island; + and, eager to hear his history, I begged him to go on and tell it. He + gladly complied. Though at the time I but ill comprehended not a few of + his words, yet subsequent disclosures, when I had become more familiar + with his broken phraseology, now enable me to present the whole story + such as it may prove in the mere skeleton I give. + + + + + CHAPTER 12 + + + Biographical + + Queequeg was a native of Rokovoko, an island far away to the West and + South. It is not down on any map; true places never are. + + When a new-hatched savage running wild about his native woodlands in a + grass clout, followed by the nibbling goats, as if he were a green + sapling; even then, in Queequeg's ambitious soul, lurked a strong + desire to see something more of Christendom than a specimen whaler or + two. His father was a High Chief, a King; his uncle a High Priest; and + on the maternal side he boasted aunts who were the wives of + unconquerable warriors. There was excellent blood in his veins—royal + stuff; though sadly vitiated, I fear, by the cannibal propensity he + nourished in his untutored youth. + + A Sag Harbor ship visited his father's bay, and Queequeg sought a + passage to Christian lands. But the ship, having her full complement of + seamen, spurned his suit; and not all the King his father's influence + could prevail. But Queequeg vowed a vow. Alone in his canoe, he paddled + off to a distant strait, which he knew the ship must pass through when + she quitted the island. On one side was a coral reef; on the other a + low tongue of land, covered with mangrove thickets that grew out into + the water. Hiding his canoe, still afloat, among these thickets, with + its prow seaward, he sat down in the stern, paddle low in hand; and + when the ship was gliding by, like a flash he darted out; gained her + side; with one backward dash of his foot capsized and sank his canoe; + climbed up the chains; and throwing himself at full length upon the + deck, grappled a ring-bolt there, and swore not to let it go, though + hacked in pieces. + + In vain the captain threatened to throw him overboard; suspended a + cutlass over his naked wrists; Queequeg was the son of a King, and + Queequeg budged not. Struck by his desperate dauntlessness, and his + wild desire to visit Christendom, the captain at last relented, and + told him he might make himself at home. But this fine young savage— + this sea Prince of Wales, never saw the Captain's cabin. They put him + down among the sailors, and made a whaleman of him. But like Czar Peter + content to toil in the shipyards of foreign cities, Queequeg disdained + no seeming ignominy, if thereby he might happily gain the power of + enlightening his untutored countrymen. For at bottom—so he told me—he + was actuated by a profound desire to learn among the Christians, the + arts whereby to make his people still happier than they were; and more + than that, still better than they were. But, alas! the practices of + whalemen soon convinced him that even Christians could be both + miserable and wicked; infinitely more so, than all his father's + heathens. Arrived at last in old Sag Harbor; and seeing what the + sailors did there; and then going on to Nantucket, and seeing how they + spent their wages in that place also, poor Queequeg gave it up for + lost. Thought he, it's a wicked world in all meridians; I'll die a + pagan. + + And thus an old idolator at heart, he yet lived among these Christians, + wore their clothes, and tried to talk their gibberish. Hence the queer + ways about him, though now some time from home. + + By hints I asked him whether he did not propose going back, and having + a coronation; since he might now consider his father dead and gone, he + being very old and feeble at the last accounts. He answered no, not + yet; and added that he was fearful Christianity, or rather Christians, + had unfitted him for ascending the pure and undefiled throne of thirty + pagan Kings before him. But by and by, he said, he would return,—as + soon as he felt himself baptized again. For the nonce, however, he + proposed to sail about, and sow his wild oats in all four oceans. They + had made a harpooneer of him, and that barbed iron was in lieu of a + sceptre now. + + I asked him what might be his immediate purpose, touching his future + movements. He answered, to go to sea again, in his old vocation. Upon + this, I told him that whaling was my own design, and informed him of my + intention to sail out of Nantucket, as being the most promising port + for an adventurous whaleman to embark from. He at once resolved to + accompany me to that island, ship aboard the same vessel, get into the + same watch, the same boat, the same mess with me, in short to share my + every hap; with both my hands in his, boldly dip into the Potluck of + both worlds. To all this I joyously assented; for besides the affection + I now felt for Queequeg, he was an experienced harpooneer, and as such, + could not fail to be of great usefulness to one, who, like me, was + wholly ignorant of the mysteries of whaling, though well acquainted + with the sea, as known to merchant seamen. + + His story being ended with his pipe's last dying puff, Queequeg + embraced me, pressed his forehead against mine, and blowing out the + light, we rolled over from each other, this way and that, and very soon + were sleeping. + + + + + CHAPTER 13 + + + Wheelbarrow + + Next morning, Monday, after disposing of the embalmed head to a barber, + for a block, I settled my own and comrade's bill; using, however, my + comrade's money. The grinning landlord, as well as the boarders, seemed + amazingly tickled at the sudden friendship which had sprung up between + me and Queequeg— especially as Peter Coffin's cock and bull stories + about him had previously so much alarmed me concerning the very person + whom I now companied with. + + We borrowed a wheelbarrow, and embarking our things, including my own + poor carpet-bag, and Queequeg's canvas sack and hammock, away we went + down to "the Moss," the little Nantucket packet schooner moored at the + wharf. As we were going along the people stared; not at Queequeg so + much— for they were used to seeing cannibals like him in their + streets,— but at seeing him and me upon such confidential terms. But we + heeded them not, going along wheeling the barrow by turns, and Queequeg + now and then stopping to adjust the sheath on his harpoon barbs. I + asked him why he carried such a troublesome thing with him ashore, and + whether all whaling ships did not find their own harpoons. To this, in + substance, he replied, that though what I hinted was true enough, yet + he had a particular affection for his own harpoon, because it was of + assured stuff, well tried in many a mortal combat, and deeply intimate + with the hearts of whales. In short, like many inland reapers and + mowers, who go into the farmer's meadows armed with their own + scythes—though in no wise obliged to furnish them— even so, Queequeg, + for his own private reasons, preferred his own harpoon. + + Shifting the barrow from my hand to his, he told me a funny story about + the first wheelbarrow he had ever seen. It was in Sag Harbor. The + owners of his ship, it seems, had lent him one, in which to carry his + heavy chest to his boarding house. Not to seem ignorant about the + thing—though in truth he was entirely so, concerning the precise way in + which to manage the barrow—Queequeg puts his chest upon it; lashes it + fast; and then shoulders the barrow and marches up the wharf. "Why," + said I, "Queequeg, you might have known better than that, one would + think. Didn't the people laugh?" + + Upon this, he told me another story. The people of his island of + Rokovoko, it seems, at their wedding feasts express the fragrant water + of young cocoanuts into a large stained calabash like a punchbowl; and + this punchbowl always forms the great central ornament on the braided + mat where the feast is held. Now a certain grand merchant ship once + touched at Rokovoko, and its commander—from all accounts, a very + stately punctilious gentleman, at least for a sea captain— this + commander was invited to the wedding feast of Queequeg's sister, a + pretty young princess just turned of ten. Well; when all the wedding + guests were assembled at the bride's bamboo cottage, this Captain + marches in, and being assigned the post of honor, placed himself over + against the punchbowl, and between the High Priest and his majesty the + King, Queequeg's father. Grace being said,—for those people have their + grace as well as we— though Queequeg told me that unlike us, who at + such times look downwards to our platters, they, on the contrary, + copying the ducks, glance upwards to the great Giver of all + feasts—Grace, I say, being said, the High Priest opens the banquet by + the immemorial ceremony of the island; that is, dipping his consecrated + and consecrating fingers into the bowl before the blessed beverage + circulates. Seeing himself placed next the Priest, and noting the + ceremony, and thinking himself—being Captain of a ship—as having plain + precedence over a mere island King, especially in the King's own house— + the Captain coolly proceeds to wash his hands in the punch bowl;— + taking it I suppose for a huge finger-glass. "Now," said Queequeg, + "what you tink now?—Didn't our people laugh?" + + At last, passage paid, and luggage safe, we stood on board the + schooner. Hoisting sail, it glided down the Acushnet river. On one + side, New Bedford rose in terraces of streets, their ice-covered trees + all glittering in the clear, cold air. Huge hills and mountains of + casks on casks were piled upon her wharves, and side by side the + world-wandering whale ships lay silent and safely moored at last; while + from others came a sound of carpenters and coopers, with blended noises + of fires and forges to melt the pitch, all betokening that new cruises + were on the start; that one most perilous and long voyage ended, only + begins a second; and a second ended, only begins a third, and so on, + for ever and for aye. Such is the endlessness, yea, the intolerableness + of all earthly effort. + + Gaining the more open water, the bracing breeze waxed fresh; the little + Moss tossed the quick foam from her bows, as a young colt his + snortings. How I snuffed that Tartar air!—how I spurned that turnpike + earth!— that common highway all over dented with the marks of slavish + heels and hoofs; and turned me to admire the magnanimity of the sea + which will permit no records. + + At the same foam-fountain, Queequeg seemed to drink and reel with me. + His dusky nostrils swelled apart; he showed his filed and pointed + teeth. On, on we flew, and our offing gained, the Moss did homage to + the blast; ducked and dived her bows as a slave before the Sultan. + Sideways leaning, we sideways darted; every ropeyarn tingling like a + wire; the two tall masts buckling like Indian canes in land tornadoes. + So full of this reeling scene were we, as we stood by the plunging + bowsprit, that for some time we did not notice the jeering glances of + the passengers, a lubber-like assembly, who marvelled that two fellow + beings should be so companionable; as though a white man were anything + more dignified than a whitewashed negro. But there were some boobies + and bumpkins there, who, by their intense greenness, must have come + from the heart and centre of all verdure. Queequeg caught one of these + young saplings mimicking him behind his back. I thought the bumpkin's + hour of doom was come. Dropping his harpoon, the brawny savage caught + him in his arms, and by an almost miraculous dexterity and strength, + sent him high up bodily into the air; then slightly tapping his stern + in mid-somerset, the fellow landed with bursting lungs upon his feet, + while Queequeg, turning his back upon him, lighted his tomahawk pipe + and passed it to me for a puff. + + "Capting! Capting! yelled the bumpkin, running toward that officer; + "Capting, Capting, here's the devil." + + "Hallo, you sir," cried the Captain, a gaunt rib of the sea, stalking + up to Queequeg, "what in thunder do you mean by that? Don't you know + you might have killed that chap?" + + "What him say?" said Queequeg, as he mildly turned to me. + + "He say," said I, "that you came near kill-e that man there," pointing + to the still shivering greenhorn. + + "Kill-e," cried Queequeg, twisting his tattooed face into an unearthly + expression of disdain, "ah! him bevy small-e fish-e; Queequeg no kill-e + so small-e fish-e; Queequeg kill-e big whale!" + + "Look you," roared the Captain, "I'll kill-e you, you cannibal, if you + try any more of your tricks aboard here; so mind your eye." + + But it so happened just then, that it was high time for the Captain to + mind his own eye. The prodigious strain upon the main-sail had parted + the weather-sheet, and the tremendous boom was now flying from side to + side, completely sweeping the entire after part of the deck. The poor + fellow whom Queequeg had handled so roughly, was swept overboard; all + hands were in a panic; and to attempt snatching at the boom to stay it, + seemed madness. It flew from right to left, and back again, almost in + one ticking of a watch, and every instant seemed on the point of + snapping into splinters. Nothing was done, and nothing seemed capable + of being done; those on deck rushed toward the bows, and stood eyeing + the boom as if it were the lower jaw of an exasperated whale. In the + midst of this consternation, Queequeg dropped deftly to his knees, and + crawling under the path of the boom, whipped hold of a rope, secured + one end to the bulwarks, and then flinging the other like a lasso, + caught it round the boom as it swept over his head, and at the next + jerk, the spar was that way trapped, and all was safe. The schooner was + run into the wind, and while the hands were clearing away the stern + boat, Queequeg, stripped to the waist, darted from the side with a long + living arc of a leap. For three minutes or more he was seen swimming + like a dog, throwing his long arms straight out before him, and by + turns revealing his brawny shoulders through the freezing foam. I + looked at the grand and glorious fellow, but saw no one to be saved. + The greenhorn had gone down. Shooting himself perpendicularly from the + water, Queequeg, now took an instant's glance around him, and seeming + to see just how matters were, dived down and disappeared. A few minutes + more, and he rose again, one arm still striking out, and with the other + dragging a lifeless form. The boat soon picked them up. The poor + bumpkin was restored. All hands voted Queequeg a noble trump; the + captain begged his pardon. From that hour I clove to Queequeg like a + barnacle; yea, till poor Queequeg took his last long dive. + + Was there ever such unconsciousness? He did not seem to think that he + at all deserved a medal from the Humane and Magnanimous Societies. He + only asked for water—fresh water—something to wipe the brine off; that + done, he put on dry clothes, lighted his pipe, and leaning against the + bulwarks, and mildly eyeing those around him, seemed to be saying to + himself—"It's a mutual, joint-stock world, in all meridians. We + cannibals must help these Christians." + + + + + CHAPTER 14 + + + Nantucket + + Nothing more happened on the passage worthy the mentioning; so, after a + fine run, we safely arrived in Nantucket. + + Nantucket! Take out your map and look at it. See what a real corner of + the world it occupies; how it stands there, away off shore, more lonely + than the Eddystone lighthouse. Look at it— a mere hillock, and elbow of + sand; all beach, without a background. There is more sand there than + you would use in twenty years as a substitute for blotting paper. Some + gamesome wights will tell you that they have to plant weeds there, they + don't grow naturally; that they import Canada thistles; that they have + to send beyond seas for a spile to stop a leak in an oil cask; that + pieces of wood in Nantucket are carried about like bits of the true + cross in Rome; that people there plant toadstools before their houses, + to get under the shade in summer time; that one blade of grass makes an + oasis, three blades in a day's walk a prairie; that they wear quicksand + shoes, something like Laplander snow-shoes; that they are so shut up, + belted about, every way inclosed, surrounded, and made an utter island + of by the ocean, that to their very chairs and tables small clams will + sometimes be found adhering as to the backs of sea turtles. But these + extravaganzas only show that Nantucket is no Illinois. + + Look now at the wondrous traditional story of how this island was + settled by the red-men. Thus goes the legend. In olden times an eagle + swooped down upon the New England coast and carried off an infant + Indian in his talons. With loud lament the parents saw their child + borne out of sight over the wide waters. They resolved to follow in the + same direction. Setting out in their canoes, after a perilous passage + they discovered the island, and there they found an empty ivory + casket,— the poor little Indian's skeleton. + + What wonder, then, that these Nantucketers, born on a beach, should + take to the sea for a livelihood! They first caught crabs and quahogs + in the sand; grown bolder, they waded out with nets for mackerel; more + experienced, they pushed off in boats and captured cod; and at last, + launching a navy of great ships on the sea, explored this watery world; + put an incessant belt of circumnavigations round it; peeped in at + Behring's Straits; and in all seasons and all oceans declared + everlasting war with the mightiest animated mass that has survived the + flood; most monstrous and most mountainous! That Himmalehan, salt-sea, + Mastodon, clothed with such portentousness of unconscious power, that + his very panics are more to be dreaded than his most fearless and + malicious assaults! + + And thus have these naked Nantucketers, these sea hermits, issuing from + their ant-hill in the sea, overrun and conquered the watery world like + so many Alexanders; parcelling out among them the Atlantic, Pacific, + and Indian oceans, as the three pirate powers did Poland. Let America + add Mexico to Texas, and pile Cuba upon Canada; let the English + overswarm all India, and hang out their blazing banner from the sun; + two thirds of this terraqueous globe are the Nantucketer's. For the sea + is his; he owns it, as Emperors own empires; other seamen having but a + right of way through it. Merchant ships are but extension bridges; + armed ones but floating forts; even pirates and privateers, though + following the sea as highwaymen the road. they but plunder other ships, + other fragments of the land like themselves, without seeking to draw + their living from the bottomless deep itself. The Nantucketer, he alone + resides and riots on the sea; he alone, in Bible language, goes down to + it in ships; to and fro ploughing it as his own special plantation. + There is his home; there lies his business which a Noah's flood would + not interrupt, though it overwhelmed all the millions in China. He + lives on the sea, as prairie cocks in the prairie; he hides among the + waves, he climbs them as chamois hunters climb the Alps. For years he + knows not the land; so that when he comes to it at last, it smells like + another world, more strangely than the moon would to an Earthsman. With + the landless gull, that at sunset folds her wings and is rocked to + sleep between billows; so at nightfall, the Nantucketer, out of sight + of land, furls his sails, and lays him to his rest, while under his + very pillow rush herds of walruses and whales. + + + + + CHAPTER 15 + + + Chowder + + It was quite late in the evening when the little Moss came snugly to + anchor, and Queequeg and I went ashore; so we could attend to no + business that day, at least none but a supper and a bed. The landlord + of the Spouter-Inn had recommended us to his cousin Hosea Hussey of the + Try Pots, whom he asserted to be the proprietor of one of the best kept + hotels in all Nantucket, and moreover he had assured us that Cousin + Hosea, as he called him, was famous for his chowders. In short, he + plainly hinted that we could not possibly do better than try pot-luck + at the Try Pots. But the directions he had given us about keeping a + yellow warehouse on our starboard hand till we opened a white church to + the larboard, and then keeping that on the larboard hand till we made a + corner three points to the starboard, and that done, then ask the first + man we met where the place was; these crooked directions of his very + much puzzled us at first, especially as, at the outset, Queequeg + insisted that the yellow warehouse— our first point of departure—must + be left on the larboard hand, whereas I had understood Peter Coffin to + say it was on the starboard. However, by dint of beating about a little + in the dark, and now and then knocking up a peaceable inhabitant to + inquire the way, we at last came to something which there was no + mistaking. + + Two enormous wooden pots painted black, and suspended by asses' ears, + swung from the cross-trees of an old top-mast, planted in front of an + old doorway. The horns of the cross-trees were sawed off on the other + side, so that this old top-mast looked not a little like a gallows. + Perhaps I was over sensitive to such impressions at the time, but I + could not help staring at this gallows with a vague misgiving. A sort + of crick was in my neck as I gazed up to the two remaining horns; yes, + two of them, one for Queequeg, and one for me. It's ominous, thinks I. + A Coffin my Innkeeper upon landing in my first whaling port; tombstones + staring at me in the whalemen's chapel, and here a gallows! and a pair + of prodigious black pots too! Are these last throwing out oblique hints + touching Tophet? + + I was called from these reflections by the sight of a freckled woman + with yellow hair and a yellow gown, standing in the porch of the inn, + under a dull red lamp swinging there, that looked much like an injured + eye, and carrying on a brisk scolding with a man in a purple woollen + shirt. + + "Get along with ye," said she to the man, "or I'll be combing ye!" + + "Come on, Queequeg," said I, "all right. There's Mrs. Hussey." + + And so it turned out; Mr. Hosea Hussey being from home, but leaving + Mrs. Hussey entirely competent to attend to all his affairs. Upon + making known our desires for a supper and a bed, Mrs. Hussey, + postponing further scolding for the present, ushered us into a little + room, and seating us at a table spread with the relics of a recently + concluded repast, turned round to us and said—"Clam or Cod?" + + "What's that about Cods, ma'am?" said I, with much politeness. + + "Clam or Cod?" she repeated. + + "A clam for supper? a cold clam; is that what you mean, Mrs. Hussey?" + says I, "but that's a rather cold and clammy reception in the winter + time, ain't it, Mrs. Hussey?" + + But being in a great hurry to resume scolding the man in the purple + shirt who was waiting for it in the entry, and seeming to hear nothing + but the word "clam," Mrs. Hussey hurried towards an open door leading + to the kitchen, and bawling out "clam for two," disappeared. + + "Queequeg," said I, "do you think that we can make out a supper for us + both on one clam?" + + However, a warm savory steam from the kitchen served to belie the + apparently cheerless prospect before us. But when that smoking chowder + came in, the mystery was delightfully explained. Oh! sweet friends, + hearken to me. It was made of small juicy clams, scarcely bigger than + hazel nuts, mixed with pounded ship biscuits, and salted pork cut up + into little flakes! the whole enriched with butter, and plentifully + seasoned with pepper and salt. Our appetites being sharpened by the + frosty voyage, and in particular, Queequeg seeing his favourite fishing + food before him, and the chowder being surpassingly excellent, we + despatched it with great expedition: when leaning back a moment and + bethinking me of Mrs. Hussey's clam and cod announcement, I thought I + would try a little experiment. Stepping to the kitchen door, I uttered + the word "cod" with great emphasis, and resumed my seat. In a few + moments the savoury steam came forth again, but with a different + flavor, and in good time a fine cod-chowder was placed before us. + + We resumed business; and while plying our spoons in the bowl, thinks I + to myself, I wonder now if this here has any effect on the head? + What's that stultifying saying about chowder-headed people? + "But look, Queequeg, ain't that a live eel in your bowl? + Where's your harpoon?" + + Fishiest of all fishy places was the Try Pots, which well deserved its + name; for the pots there were always boiling chowders. Chowder for + breakfast, and chowder for dinner, and chowder for supper, till you + began to look for fish-bones coming through your clothes. The area + before the house was paved with clam-shells. Mrs. Hussey wore a + polished necklace of codfish vertebra; and Hosea Hussey had his account + books bound in superior old shark-skin. There was a fishy flavor to the + milk, too, which I could not at all account for, till one morning + happening to take a stroll along the beach among some fishermen's + boats, I saw Hosea's brindled cow feeding on fish remnants, and + marching along the sand with each foot in a cod's decapitated head, + looking very slipshod, I assure ye. + + Supper concluded, we received a lamp, and directions from Mrs. Hussey + concerning the nearest way to bed; but, as Queequeg was about to + precede me up the stairs, the lady reached forth her arm, and demanded + his harpoon; she allowed no harpoon in her chambers. "Why not? said I; + "every true whaleman sleeps with his harpoon— but why not?" "Because + it's dangerous," says she. "Ever since young Stiggs coming from that + unfort'nt v'y'ge of his, when he was gone four years and a half, with + only three barrels of ile, was found dead in my first floor back, with + his harpoon in his side; ever since then I allow no boarders to take + sich dangerous weepons in their rooms at night. So, Mr. Queequeg" (for + she had learned his name), "I will just take this here iron, and keep + it for you till morning. But the chowder; clam or cod to-morrow for + breakfast, men?" + + "Both," says I; "and let's have a couple of smoked herring by way of + variety." + + + + + CHAPTER 16 + + + The Ship + + In bed we concocted our plans for the morrow. But to my surprise and no + small concern, Queequeg now gave me to understand, that he had been + diligently consulting Yojo—the name of his black little god— and Yojo + had told him two or three times over, and strongly insisted upon it + everyway, that instead of our going together among the whaling-fleet in + harbor, and in concert selecting our craft; instead of this, I say, + Yojo earnestly enjoined that the selection of the ship should rest + wholly with me, inasmuch as Yojo purposed befriending us; and, in order + to do so, had already pitched upon a vessel, which, if left to myself, + I, Ishmael, should infallibly light upon, for all the world as though + it had turned out by chance; and in that vessel I must immediately ship + myself, for the present irrespective of Queequeg. + + I have forgotten to mention that, in many things, Queequeg placed great + confidence in the excellence of Yojo's judgment and surprising forecast + of things; and cherished Yojo with considerable esteem, as a rather + good sort of god, who perhaps meant well enough upon the whole, but in + all cases did not succeed in his benevolent designs. + + Now, this plan of Queequeg's or rather Yojo's, touching the selection + of our craft; I did not like that plan at all. I had not a little + relied on Queequeg's sagacity to point out the whaler best fitted to + carry us and our fortunes securely. But as all my remonstrances + produced no effect upon Queequeg, I was obliged to acquiesce; and + accordingly prepared to set about this business with a determined + rushing sort of energy and vigor, that should quickly settle that + trifling little affair. Next morning early, leaving Queequeg shut up + with Yojo in our little bedroom—for it seemed that it was some sort of + Lent or Ramadan, or day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer with + Queequeg and Yojo that day; how it was I never could find out, for, + though I applied myself to it several times, I never could master his + liturgies and XXXIX Articles— leaving Queequeg, then, fasting on his + tomahawk pipe, and Yojo warming himself at his sacrificial fire of + shavings, I sallied out among the shipping. After much prolonged + sauntering, and many random inquiries, I learnt that there were three + ships up for three-years' voyages—The Devil-Dam the Tit-bit, and the + Pequod. Devil-dam, I do not know the origin of; Tit-bit is obvious; + Pequod you will no doubt remember, was the name of a celebrated tribe + of Massachusetts Indians; now extinct as the ancient Medes. I peered + and pryed about the Devil-Dam; from her, hopped over to the Tit-bit; + and finally, going on board the Pequod, looked around her for a moment, + and then decided that this was the very ship for us. + + You may have seen many a quaint craft in your day, for aught I know;— + square-toed luggers; mountainous Japanese junks; butter-box galliots, + and what not; but take my word for it, you never saw such a rare old + craft as this same rare old Pequod. She was a ship of the old school, + rather small if anything; with an old-fashioned claw-footed look about + her. Long seasoned and weather-stained in the typhoons and calms of all + four oceans, her old hull's complexion was darkened like a French + grenadier's, who has alike fought in Egypt and Siberia. Her venerable + bows looked bearded. Her masts—cut somewhere on the coast of Japan, + where her original ones were lost overboard in a gale—her masts stood + stiffly up like the spines of the three old kings of Cologne. Her + ancient decks were worn and wrinkled, like the pilgrim-worshipped + flag-stone in Canterbury Cathedral where Beckett bled. But to all these + her old antiquities, were added new and marvellous features, pertaining + to the wild business that for more than half a century she had + followed. Old Captain Peleg, many years her chief-mate, before he + commanded another vessel of his own, and now a retired seaman, and one + of the principal owners of the Pequod,—this old Peleg, during the term + of his chief-mateship, had built upon her original grotesqueness, and + inlaid it, all over, with a quaintness both of material and device, + unmatched by anything except it be Thorkill-Hake's carved buckler or + bedstead. She was apparelled like any barbaric Ethiopian emperor, his + neck heavy with pendants of polished ivory. She was a thing of + trophies. A cannibal of a craft, tricking herself forth in the chased + bones of her enemies. All round, her unpanelled, open bulwarks were + garnished like one continuous jaw, with the long sharp teeth of the + sperm whale, inserted there for pins, to fasten her old hempen thews + and tendons to. Those thews ran not through base blocks of land wood, + but deftly travelled over sheaves of sea-ivory. Scorning a turnstile + wheel at her reverend helm, she sported there a tiller; and that tiller + was in one mass, curiously carved from the long narrow lower jaw of her + hereditary foe. The helmsman who steered by that tiller in a tempest, + felt like the Tartar, when he holds back his fiery steed by clutching + its jaw. A noble craft, but somehow a most melancholy! All noble things + are touched with that. + + Now when I looked about the quarter-deck, for some one having + authority, in order to propose myself as a candidate for the voyage, at + first I saw nobody; but I could not well overlook a strange sort of + tent, or rather wigwam, pitched a little behind the main-mast. It + seemed only a temporary erection used in port. It was of a conical + shape, some ten feet high; consisting of the long, huge slabs of limber + black bone taken from the middle and highest part of the jaws of the + right-whale. Planted with their broad ends on the deck, a circle of + these slabs laced together, mutually sloped towards each other, and at + the apex united in a tufted point, where the loose hairy fibres waved + to and fro like a top-knot on some old Pottowotamie Sachem's head. A + triangular opening faced towards the bows of the ship, so that the + insider commanded a complete view forward. + + And half concealed in this queer tenement, I at length found one who by + his aspect seemed to have authority; and who, it being noon, and the + ship's work suspended, was now enjoying respite from the burden of + command. He was seated on an old-fashioned oaken chair, wriggling all + over with curious carving; and the bottom of which was formed of a + stout interlacing of the same elastic stuff of which the wigwam was + constructed. + + There was nothing so very particular, perhaps, about the appearance of + the elderly man I saw; he was brown and brawny, like most old seamen, + and heavily rolled up in blue pilot-cloth, cut in the Quaker style; + only there was a fine and almost microscopic net-work of the minutest + wrinkles interlacing round his eyes, which must have arisen from his + continual sailings in many hard gales, and always looking to windward;— + for this causes the muscles about the eyes to become pursed together. + Such eye-wrinkles are very effectual in a scowl. + + "Is this the Captain of the Pequod?" said I, advancing to the door of + the tent. + + "Supposing it be the Captain of the Pequod, what dost thou want of + him?" he demanded. + + "I was thinking of shipping." + + "Thou wast, wast thou? I see thou art no Nantucketer— ever been in a + stove boat?" + + "No, Sir, I never have." + + "Dost know nothing at all about whaling, I dare say—eh? + + "Nothing, Sir; but I have no doubt I shall soon learn. + I've been several voyages in the merchant service, and I think that-" + + "Merchant service be damned. Talk not that lingo to me. Dost see that + leg?—I'll take that leg away from thy stern, if ever thou talkest of + the merchant service to me again. Marchant service indeed! I suppose + now ye feel considerable proud of having served in those marchant + ships. But flukes! man, what makes thee want to go a whaling, eh?—it + looks a little suspicious, don't it, eh?—Hast not been a pirate, hast + thou?— Didst not rob thy last Captain, didst thou?—Dost not think of + murdering the officers when thou gettest to sea?" + + I protested my innocence of these things. I saw that under the mask of + these half humorous innuendoes, this old seaman, as an insulated + Quakerish Nantucketer, was full of his insular prejudices, and rather + distrustful of all aliens, unless they hailed from Cape Cod or the + Vineyard. + + "But what takes thee a-whaling? I want to know that before I think of + shipping ye." + + "Well, sir, I want to see what whaling is. I want to see the world." + + "Want to see what whaling is, eh? Have ye clapped eye on Captain Ahab?" + + "Who is Captain Ahab, sir?" + + "Aye, aye, I thought so. Captain Ahab is the Captain of this ship." + + "I am mistaken then. I thought I was speaking to the Captain himself." + + "Thou art speaking to Captain Peleg—that's who ye are speaking to, + young man. It belongs to me and Captain Bildad to see the Pequod fitted + out for the voyage, and supplied with all her needs, including crew. We + are part owners and agents. But as I was going to say, if thou wantest + to know what whaling is, as thou tellest ye do, I can put ye in a way + of finding it out before ye bind yourself to it, past backing out. Clap + eye on Captain Ahab, young man, and thou wilt find that he has only one + leg." + + "What do you mean, sir? Was the other one lost by a whale?" + + "Lost by a whale! Young man, come nearer to me: it was devoured, chewed + up, crunched by the monstrousest parmacetty that ever chipped a + boat!—ah, ah!" + + I was a little alarmed by his energy, perhaps also a little touched at + the hearty grief in his concluding exclamation, but said as calmly as I + could, "What you say is no doubt true enough, sir; but how could I know + there was any peculiar ferocity in that particular whale, though indeed + I might have inferred as much from the simple fact of the accident." + + "Look ye now, young man, thy lungs are a sort of soft, d'ye see; thou + dost not talk shark a bit. Sure, ye've been to sea before now; sure of + that?" + + "Sir," said I, "I thought I told you that I had been four voyages in + the merchant-" + + "Hard down out of that! Mind what I said about the marchant service— + don't aggravate me—I won't have it. But let us understand each other. I + have given thee a hint about what whaling is! do ye yet feel inclined + for it?" + + "I do, sir." + + "Very good. Now, art thou the man to pitch a harpoon down a live + whale's throat, and then jump after it? Answer, quick!" + + "I am, sir, if it should be positively indispensable to do so; not to + be got rid of, that is; which I don't take to be the fact." + + "Good again. Now then, thou not only wantest to go a-whaling, to find + out by experience what whaling is, but ye also want to go in order to + see the world? Was not that what ye said? I thought so. Well then, just + step forward there, and take a peep over the weather bow, and then back + to me and tell me what ye see there." + + For a moment I stood a little puzzled by this curious request, not + knowing exactly how to take it, whether humorously or in earnest. But + concentrating all his crow's feet into one scowl, Captain Peleg started + me on the errand. + + Going forward and glancing over the weather bow, I perceived that the + ship swinging to her anchor with the flood-tide, was now obliquely + pointing towards the open ocean. The prospect was unlimited, but + exceedingly monotonous and forbidding; not the slightest variety that I + could see. + + "Well, what's the report?" said Peleg when I came back; "what did ye + see?" + + "Not much," I replied—"nothing but water; considerable horizon though, + and there's a squall coming up, I think." + + "Well, what dost thou think then of seeing the world? + Do ye wish to go round Cape Horn to see any more of it, eh? + Can't ye see the world where you stand?" + + I was a little staggered, but go a-whaling I must, and I would; and the + Pequod was as good a ship as any—I thought the best— and all this I now + repeated to Peleg. Seeing me so determined, he expressed his + willingness to ship me. + + "And thou mayest as well sign the papers right off," he added—"come + along with ye." And so saying, he led the way below deck into the + cabin. + + Seated on the transom was what seemed to me a most uncommon and + surprising figure. It turned out to be Captain Bildad who along with + Captain Peleg was one of the largest owners of the vessel; the other + shares, as is sometimes the case in these ports, being held by a crowd + of old annuitants; widows, fatherless children, and chancery wards; + each owning about the value of a timber head, or a foot of plank, or a + nail or two in the ship. People in Nantucket invest their money in + whaling vessels, the same way that you do yours in approved state + stocks bringing in good interest. + + Now, Bildad, like Peleg, and indeed many other Nantucketers, was a + Quaker, the island having been originally settled by that sect; and to + this day its inhabitants in general retain in an uncommon measure the + peculiarities of the Quaker, only variously and anomalously modified by + things altogether alien and heterogeneous. For some of these same + Quakers are the most sanguinary of all sailors and whale-hunters. They + are fighting Quakers; they are Quakers with a vengeance. + + So that there are instances among them of men, who, named with + Scripture names—a singularly common fashion on the island— and in + childhood naturally imbibing the stately dramatic thee and thou of the + Quaker idiom; still, from the audacious, daring, and boundless + adventure of their subsequent lives, strangely blend with these + unoutgrown peculiarities, a thousand bold dashes of character, not + unworthy a Scandinavian sea-king, or a poetical Pagan Roman. And when + these things unite in a man of greatly superior natural force, with a + globular brain and a ponderous heart; who has also by the stillness and + seclusion of many long night-watches in the remotest waters, and + beneath constellations never seen here at the north, been led to think + untraditionally and independently; receiving all nature's sweet or + savage impressions fresh from her own virgin voluntary and confiding + breast, and thereby chiefly, but with some help from accidental + advantages, to learn a bold and nervous lofty language—that man makes + one in a whole nation's census— a mighty pageant creature, formed for + noble tragedies. Nor will it at all detract from him, dramatically + regarded, if either by birth or other circumstances, he have what seems + a half wilful overruling morbidness at the bottom of his nature. For + all men tragically great are made so through a certain morbidness. Be + sure of this, O young ambition, all mortal greatness is but disease. + But, as yet we have not to do with such an one, but with quite another; + and still a man, who, if indeed peculiar, it only results again from + another phase of the Quaker, modified by individual circumstances. + + Like Captain Peleg, Captain Bildad was a well-to-do, retired whaleman. + But unlike Captain Peleg—who cared not a rush for what are called + serious things, and indeed deemed those self-same serious things the + veriest of all trifles—Captain Bildad had not only been originally + educated according to the strictest sect of Nantucket Quakerism, but + all his subsequent ocean life, and the sight of many unclad, lovely + island creatures, round the Horn—all that had not moved this native + born Quaker one single jot, had not so much as altered one angle of his + vest. Still, for all this immutableness, was there some lack of common + consistency about worthy Captain Bildad. Though refusing, from + conscientious scruples, to bear arms against land invaders, yet himself + had illimitably invaded the Atlantic and Pacific; and though a sworn + foe to human bloodshed, yet had he in his straight-bodied coat, spilled + tuns upon tuns of leviathan gore. How now in the contemplative evening + of his days, the pious Bildad reconciled these things in the + reminiscence, I do not know; but it did not seem to concern him much, + and very probably he had long since come to the sage and sensible + conclusion that a man's religion is one thing, and this practical world + quite another. This world pays dividends. Rising from a little cabin + boy in short clothes of the drabbest drab, to a harpooneer in a broad + shad-bellied waistcoat; from that becoming boat-header, chief mate, and + captain, and finally a shipowner; Bildad, as I hinted before, had + concluded his adventurous career by wholly retiring from active life at + the goodly age of sixty, and dedicating his remaining days to the quiet + receiving of his well-earned income. + + Now, Bildad, I am sorry to say, had the reputation of being an + incorrigible old hunks, and in his sea-going days, a bitter, hard + task-master. They told me in Nantucket, though it certainly seems a + curious story, that when he sailed the old Categut whaleman, his crew, + upon arriving home, were mostly all carried ashore to the hospital, + sore exhausted and worn out. For a pious man, especially for a Quaker, + he was certainly rather hard-hearted, to say the least. He never used + to swear, though, at his men, they said; but somehow he got an + inordinate quantity of cruel, unmitigated hard work out of them. When + Bildad was a chief-mate, to have his drab-colored eye intently looking + at you, made you feel completely nervous, till you could clutch + something—a hammer or a marling-spike, and go to work like mad, at + something or other, never mind what. Indolence and idleness perished + from before him. His own person was the exact embodiment of his + utilitarian character. On his long, gaunt body, he carried no spare + flesh, no superfluous beard, his chin having a soft, economical nap to + it, like the worn nap of his broad-brimmed hat. + + Such, then, was the person that I saw seated on the transom when I + followed Captain Peleg down into the cabin. The space between the decks + was small; and there, bolt upright, sat old Bildad, who always sat so, + and never leaned, and this to save his coat-tails. His broad-brim was + placed beside him; his legs were stiffly crossed; his drab vesture was + buttoned up to his chin; and spectacles on nose, he seemed absorbed in + reading from a ponderous volume. + + "Bildad," cried Captain Peleg, "at it again, Bildad, eh? Ye have been + studying those Scriptures, now, for the last thirty years, to my + certain knowledge. How far ye got, Bildad?" + + As if long habituated to such profane talk from his old shipmate, + Bildad, without noticing his present irreverence, quietly looked up, + and seeing me, glanced again inquiringly towards Peleg. + + "He says he's our man, Bildad," said Peleg, "he wants to ship." + + "Dost thee?" said Bildad, in a hollow tone, and turning round to me. + + "I dost," said I unconsciously, he was so intense a Quaker. + + "What do ye think of him, Bildad?" said Peleg. + + "He'll do," said Bildad, eyeing me, and then went on spelling away at + his book in a mumbling tone quite audible. + + I thought him the queerest old Quaker I ever saw, especially as Peleg, + his friend and old shipmate, seemed such a blusterer. But I said + nothing, only looking round me sharply. Peleg now threw open a chest, + and drawing forth the ship's articles, placed pen and ink before him, + and seated himself at a little table. I began to think it was high time + to settle with myself at what terms I would be willing to engage for + the voyage. I was already aware that in the whaling business they paid + no wages; but all hands, including the captain, received certain shares + of the profits called lays, and that these lays were proportioned to + the degree of importance pertaining to the respective duties of the + ship's company. I was also aware that being a green hand at whaling, my + own lay would not be very large; but considering that I was used to the + sea, could steer a ship, splice a rope, and all that, I made no doubt + that from all I had heard I should be offered at least the 275th + lay—that is, the 275th part of the clear net proceeds of the voyage, + whatever that might eventually amount to. And though the 275th lay was + what they call a rather long lay, yet it was better than nothing; and + if we had a lucky voyage, might pretty nearly pay for the clothing I + would wear out on it, not to speak of my three years' beef and board, + for which I would not have to pay one stiver. + + It might be thought that this was a poor way to accumulate a princely + fortune—and so it was, a very poor way indeed. But I am one of those + that never take on about princely fortunes, and am quite content if the + world is ready to board and lodge me, while I am putting up at this + grim sign of the Thunder Cloud. Upon the whole, I thought that the + 275th lay would be about the fair thing, but would not have been + surprised had I been offered the 200th, considering I was of a + broad-shouldered make. + + But one thing, nevertheless, that made me a little distrustful about + receiving a generous share of the profits was this: Ashore, I had heard + something of both Captain Peleg and his unaccountable old crony Bildad; + how that they being the principal proprietors of the Pequod, therefore + the other and more inconsiderable and scattered owners, left nearly the + whole management of the ship's affairs to these two. And I did not know + but what the stingy old Bildad might have a mighty deal to say about + shipping hands, especially as I now found him on board the Pequod, + quite at home there in the cabin, and reading his Bible as if at his + own fireside. Now while Peleg was vainly trying to mend a pen with his + jack-knife, old Bildad, to my no small surprise, considering that he + was such an interested party in these proceedings; Bildad never heeded + us, but went on mumbling to himself out of his book, "Lay not up for + yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth-" + + "Well, Captain Bildad," interrupted Peleg, "what d'ye say, what lay + shall we give this young man?" + + "Thou knowest best," was the sepulchral reply, "the seven hundred and + seventy-seventh wouldn't be too much, would it?—'where moth and rust do + corrupt, but lay-'" + + Lay, indeed, thought I, and such a lay! the seven hundred and + seventy-seventh! Well, old Bildad, you are determined that I, for one, + shall not lay up many lays here below, where moth and rust do corrupt. + It was an exceedingly long lay that, indeed; and though from the + magnitude of the figure it might at first deceive a landsman, yet the + slightest consideration will show that though seven hundred and + seventy-seven is a pretty large number, yet, when you come to make a + teenth of it, you will then see, I say, that the seven hundred and + seventy-seventh part of a farthing is a good deal less than seven + hundred and seventy-seven gold doubloons; and so I thought at the time. + + "Why, blast your eyes, Bildad," cried Peleg, Thou dost not want to + swindle this young man! he must have more than that." + + "Seven hundred and seventy-seventh," again said Bildad, without lifting + his eyes; and then went on mumbling—"for where your treasure is, there + will your heart be also." + + "I am going to put him down for the three hundredth," said Peleg, "do + ye hear that, Bildad! The three hundredth lay, I say." + + Bildad laid down his book, and turning solemnly towards him said, + "Captain Peleg, thou hast a generous heart; but thou must consider the + duty thou owest to the other owners of this ship—widows and orphans, + many of them— and that if we too abundantly reward the labors of this + young man, we may be taking the bread from those widows and those + orphans. The seven hundred and seventy-seventh lay, Captain Peleg." + + "Thou Bildad!" roared Peleg, starting up and clattering about the + cabin. + "Blast ye, Captain Bildad, if I had followed thy advice in these + matters, + I would afore now had a conscience to lug about that would be heavy + enough to founder the largest ship that ever sailed round Cape Horn." + + "Captain Peleg," said Bildad steadily, "thy conscience may be drawing + ten inches of water, or ten fathoms, I can't tell; but as thou art + still an impenitent man, Captain Peleg, I greatly fear lest thy + conscience be but a leaky one; and will in the end sink thee foundering + down to the fiery pit, Captain Peleg." + + "Fiery pit! fiery pit! ye insult me, man; past all natural bearing, ye + insult me. It's an all-fired outrage to tell any human creature that + he's bound to hell. Flukes and flames! Bildad, say that again to me, + and start my soulbolts, but I'll—I'll—yes, I'll swallow a live goat + with all his hair and horns on. Out of the cabin, ye canting, + drab-colored son of a wooden gun—a straight wake with ye!" + + As he thundered out this he made a rush at Bildad, but with a + marvellous oblique, sliding celerity, Bildad for that time eluded him. + + Alarmed at this terrible outburst between the two principal and + responsible owners of the ship, and feeling half a mind to give up all + idea of sailing in a vessel so questionably owned and temporarily + commanded, I stepped aside from the door to give egress to Bildad, who, + I made no doubt, was all eagerness to vanish from before the awakened + wrath of Peleg. But to my astonishment, he sat down again on the + transom very quietly, and seemed to have not the slightest intention of + withdrawing. He seemed quite used to impenitent Peleg and his ways. As + for Peleg, after letting off his rage as he had, there seemed no more + left in him, and he, too, sat down like a lamb, though he twitched a + little as if still nervously agitated. "Whew!" he whistled at last—"the + squall's gone off to leeward, I think. Bildad, thou used to be good at + sharpening a lance, mend that pen, will ye. My jack-knife here needs + the grindstone. That's he; thank ye, Bildad. Now then, my young man, + Ishmael's thy name, didn't ye say? Well then, down ye go here, Ishmael, + for the three hundredth lay." + + "Captain Peleg," said I, "I have a friend with me who wants to ship + too— shall I bring him down to-morrow?" + + "To be sure," said Peleg. "Fetch him along, and we'll look at him." + + "What lay does he want?" groaned Bildad, glancing up from the Book in + which he had again been burying himself. + + "Oh! never thee mind about that, Bildad," said Peleg. "Has he ever + whaled it any?" turning to me. + + "Killed more whales than I can count, Captain Peleg." + + "Well, bring him along then." + + And, after signing the papers, off I went; nothing doubting but that I + had done a good morning's work, and that the Pequod was the identical + ship that Yojo had provided to carry Queequeg and me round the Cape. + + But I had not proceeded far, when I began to bethink me that the + Captain with whom I was to sail yet remained unseen by me; though, + indeed, in many cases, a whale-ship will be completely fitted out, and + receive all her crew on board, ere the captain makes himself visible by + arriving to take command; for sometimes these voyages are so prolonged, + and the shore intervals at home so exceedingly brief, that if the + captain have a family, or any absorbing concernment of that sort, he + does not trouble himself much about his ship in port, but leaves her to + the owners till all is ready for sea. However, it is always as well to + have a look at him before irrevocably committing yourself into his + hands. Turning back I accosted Captain Peleg, inquiring where Captain + Ahab was to be found. + + "And what dost thou want of Captain Ahab? It's all right enough; thou + art shipped." + + "Yes, but I should like to see him." + + "But I don't think thou wilt be able to at present. I don't know + exactly what's the matter with him; but he keeps close inside the + house; a sort of sick, and yet he don't look so. In fact, he ain't + sick; but no, he isn't well either. Any how, young man, he won't always + see me, so I don't suppose he will thee. He's a queer man, Captain + Ahab— so some think—but a good one. Oh, thou'lt like him well enough; + no fear, no fear. He's a grand, ungodly, god-like man, Captain Ahab; + doesn't speak much; but, when he does speak, then you may well listen. + Mark ye, be forewarned; Ahab's above the common; Ahab's been in + colleges, as well as 'mong the cannibals; been used to deeper wonders + than the waves; fixed his fiery lance in mightier, stranger foes than + whales. His lance! aye, the keenest and the surest that out of all our + isle! Oh! he ain't Captain Bildad; no, and he ain't Captain Peleg; he's + Ahab, boy; and Ahab of old, thou knowest, was a crowned king!" + + "And a very vile one. When that wicked king was slain, the dogs, did + they not lick his blood?" + + "Come hither to me—hither, hither," said Peleg, with a significance in + his eye that almost startled me. "Look ye, lad; never say that on board + the Pequod. Never say it anywhere. Captain Ahab did not name himself + .'Twas a foolish, ignorant whim of his crazy, widowed mother, who died + when he was only a twelvemonth old. And yet the old squaw Tistig, at + Gayhead, said that the name would somehow prove prophetic. And, + perhaps, other fools like her may tell thee the same. I wish to warn + thee. It's a lie. I know Captain Ahab well; I've sailed with him as + mate years ago; I know what he is— a good man—not a pious, good man, + like Bildad, but a swearing good man—something like me—only there's a + good deal more of him. Aye, aye, I know that he was never very jolly; + and I know that on the passage home he was a little out of his mind for + a spell; but it was the sharp shooting pains in his bleeding stump that + brought that about, as any one might see. I know, too, that ever since + he lost his leg last voyage by that accursed whale, he's been a kind of + moody— desperate moody, and savage sometimes; but that will all pass + off. And once for all, let me tell thee and assure thee, young man, + it's better to sail with a moody good captain than a laughing bad one. + So good-bye to thee—and wrong not Captain Ahab, because he happens to + have a wicked name. Besides, my boy, he has a wife—not three voyages + wedded—a sweet, resigned girl. Think of that; by that sweet girl that + old man had a child: hold ye then there can be any utter, hopeless harm + in Ahab? No, no, my lad; stricken, blasted, if he be, Ahab has his + humanities!" + + As I walked away, I was full of thoughtfulness; what had been + incidentally revealed to me of Captain Ahab, filled me with a certain + wild vagueness of painfulness concerning him. And somehow, at the time, + I felt a sympathy and a sorrow for him, but for I don't know what, + unless it was the cruel loss of his leg. And yet I also felt a strange + awe of him; but that sort of awe, which I cannot at all describe, was + not exactly awe; I do not know what it was. But I felt it; and it did + not disincline me towards him; though I felt impatience at what seemed + like mystery in him, so imperfectly as he was known to me then. + However, my thoughts were at length carried in other directions, so + that for the present dark Ahab slipped my mind. + + + + + CHAPTER 17 + + + The Ramadan + + As Queequeg's Ramadan, or Fasting and Humiliation, was to continue all + day, I did not choose to disturb him till towards night-fall; for I + cherish the greatest respect towards everybody's religious obligations, + never mind how comical, and could not find it in my heart to undervalue + even a congregation of ants worshipping a toad-stool; or those other + creatures in certain parts of our earth, who with a degree of + footmanism quite unprecedented in other planets, bow down before the + torso of a deceased landed proprietor merely on account of the + inordinate possessions yet owned and rented in his name. + + I say, we good Presbyterian Christians should be charitable in these + things, and not fancy ourselves so vastly superior to other mortals, + pagans and what not, because of their half-crazy conceits on these + subjects. There was Queequeg, now, certainly entertaining the most + absurd notions about Yojo and his Ramadan;— but what of that? Queequeg + thought he knew what he was about, I suppose; he seemed to be content; + and there let him rest. All our arguing with him would not avail; let + him be, I say: and Heaven have mercy on us all—Presbyterians and Pagans + alike— for we are all somehow dreadfully cracked about the head, and + sadly need mending. + + Towards evening, when I felt assured that all his performances and + rituals must be over, I went up to his room and knocked at the door; + but no answer. I tried to open it, but it was fastened inside. + "Queequeg," said I softly through the key-hole:—all silent. "I say, + Queequeg! why don't you speak? It's I—Ishmael." But all remained still + as before. I began to grow alarmed. I had allowed him such abundant + time; I thought he might have had an apoplectic fit. I looked through + the key-hole; but the door opening into an odd corner of the room, the + key-hole prospect was but a crooked and sinister one. I could only see + part of the foot-board of the bed and a line of the wall, but nothing + more. I was surprised to behold resting against the wall the wooden + shaft of Queequeg's harpoon, which the landlady the evening previous + had taken from him, before our mounting to the chamber. That's strange, + thought I; but at any rate, since the harpoon stands yonder, and he + seldom or never goes abroad without it, therefore he must be inside + here, and no possible mistake. + + "Queequeg!—Queequeg!"—all still. Something must have happened. + Apoplexy! I tried to burst open the door; but it stubbornly resisted. + Running down stairs, I quickly stated my suspicions to the first person + I met—the chamber-maid. "La! la!" she cried, "I thought something must + be the matter. I went to make the bed after breakfast, and the door was + locked; and not a mouse to be heard; and it's been just so silent ever + since. But I thought, may be, you had both gone off and locked your + baggage in for safe keeping. La! La, ma'am!—Mistress! murder! Mrs. + Hussey! apoplexy!"—and with these cries she ran towards the kitchen, I + following. + + Mrs. Hussey soon appeared, with a mustard-pot in one hand and a + vinegar-cruet in the other, having just broken away from the occupation + of attending to the castors, and scolding her little black boy + meantime. + + "Wood-house!" cried I, "which way to it? Run for God's sake, and fetch + something to pry open the door—the axe!—the axe! he's had a stroke; + depend upon it!"—and so saying I was unmethodically rushing up stairs + again empty-handed, when Mrs. Hussey interposed the mustard-pot and + vinegar-cruet, and the entire castor of her countenance. + + "What's the matter with you, young man?" + + "Get the axe! For God's sake, run for the doctor, some one, while I pry + it open!" + + "Look here," said the landlady, quickly putting down the vinegar-cruet, + so as to have one hand free; "look here; are you talking about prying + open any of my doors?"— and with that she seized my arm. "What's the + matter with you? What's the matter with you, shipmate?" + + In as calm, but rapid a manner as possible, I gave her to understand + the whole case. Unconsciously clapping the vinegar-cruet to one side of + her nose, she ruminated for an instant; then exclaimed—"No! I haven't + seen it since I put it there." Running to a little closet under the + landing of the stairs, she glanced in, and returning, told me that + Queequeg's harpoon was missing. "He's killed himself," she cried. "It's + unfort'nate Stiggs done over again there goes another counterpane—God + pity his poor mother!— it will be the ruin of my house. Has the poor + lad a sister? Where's that girl?—there, Betty, go to Snarles the + Painter, and tell him to paint me a sign, with—"no suicides permitted + here, and no smoking in the parlor;"—might as well kill both birds at + once. Kill? The Lord be merciful to his ghost! What's that noise there? + You, young man, avast there!" + + And running up after me, she caught me as I was again trying to force + open the door. + + "I won't allow it; I won't have my premises spoiled. Go for the + locksmith, there's one about a mile from here. But avast!" putting her + hand in her side pocket, "here's a key that'll fit, I guess; let's + see." And with that, she turned it in the lock; but alas! Queequeg's + supplemental bolt remained unwithdrawn within. + + "Have to burst it open," said I, and was running down the entry a + little, for a good start, when the landlady caught at me, again vowing + I should not break down her premises; but I tore from her, and with a + sudden bodily rush dashed myself full against the mark. + + With a prodigious noise the door flew open, and the knob slamming + against the wall, sent the plaster to the ceiling; and there, good + heavens! there sat Queequeg, altogether cool and self-collected; right + in the middle of the room; squatting on his hams, and holding Yojo on + top of his head. He looked neither one way nor the other way but sat + like a carved image with scarce a sign of active life. + + "Queequeg," said I, going up to him, "Queequeg, what's the matter with + you?" + + "He hain't been a sittin' so all day, has he?" said the landlady. + + But all we said, not a word could we drag out of him; I almost felt + like pushing him over, so as to change his position, for it was almost + intolerable, it seemed so painfully and unnaturally constrained; + especially, as in all probability he had been sitting so for upwards of + eight or ten hours, going too without his regular meals. + + "Mrs. Hussey," said I, "he's alive at all events; so leave us, if you + please, and I will see to this strange affair myself." + + Closing the door upon the landlady, I endeavored to prevail upon + Queequeg to take a chair; but in vain. There he sat; and all he could + do—for all my polite arts and blandishments— he would not move a peg, + nor say a single word, nor even look at me, nor notice my presence in + any the slightest way. + + I wonder, thought I, if this can possibly be a part of his Ramadan; do + they fast on their hams that way in his native island. It must be so; + yes, it's a part of his creed, I suppose; well, then, let him rest; + he'll get up sooner or later, no doubt. It can't last for ever, thank + God, and his Ramadan only comes once a year; and I don't believe it's + very punctual then. + + I went down to supper. After sitting a long time listening to the long + stories of some sailors who had just come from a plum-pudding voyage, + as they called it (that is, a short whaling-voyage in a schooner or + brig, confined to the north of the line, in the Atlantic Ocean only); + after listening to these plum-puddingers till nearly eleven o'clock, I + went up stairs to go to bed, feeling quite sure by this time Queequeg + must certainly have brought his Ramadan to a termination. But no; there + he was just where I had left him; he had not stirred an inch. I began + to grow vexed with him; it seemed so downright senseless and insane to + be sitting there all day and half the night on his hams in a cold room, + holding a piece of wood on his head. + + "For heaven's sake, Queequeg, get up and shake yourself; get up and + have some supper. You'll starve; you'll kill yourself, Queequeg." But + not a word did he reply. + + Despairing of him, therefore, I determined to go to bed and to sleep; + and no doubt, before a great while, he would follow me. But previous to + turning in, I took my heavy bearskin jacket, and threw it over him, as + it promised to be a very cold night; and he had nothing but his + ordinary round jacket on. For some time, do all I would, I could not + get into the faintest doze. I had blown out the candle; and the mere + thought of Queequeg— not four feet off—sitting there in that uneasy + position, stark alone in the cold and dark; this made me really + wretched. Think of it; sleeping all night in the same room with a wide + awake pagan on his hams in this dreary, unaccountable Ramadan! + + But somehow I dropped off at last, and knew nothing more till break of + day; when, looking over the bedside, there squatted Queequeg, as if he + had been screwed down to the floor. But as soon as the first glimpse of + sun entered the window, up he got, with stiff and grating joints, but + with a cheerful look; limped towards me where I lay; pressed his + forehead again against mine; and said his Ramadan was over. + + Now, as I before hinted, I have no objection to any person's religion, + be it what it may, so long as that person does not kill or insult any + other person, because that other person don't believe it also. But when + a man's religion becomes really frantic; when it is a positive torment + to him; and, in fine, makes this earth of ours an uncomfortable inn to + lodge in; then I think it high time to take that individual aside and + argue the point with him. + + And just so I now did with Queequeg. "Queequeg," said I, "get into bed + now, and lie and listen to me." I then went on, beginning with the rise + and progress of the primitive religions, and coming down to the various + religions of the present time, during which time I labored to show + Queequeg that all these Lents, Ramadans, and prolonged ham-squattings + in cold, cheerless rooms were stark nonsense; bad for the health; + useless for the soul; opposed, in short, to the obvious laws of Hygiene + and common sense. I told him, too, that he being in other things such + an extremely sensible and sagacious savage, it pained me, very badly + pained me, to see him now so deplorably foolish about this ridiculous + Ramadan of his. Besides, argued I, fasting makes the body cave in; + hence the spirit caves in; and all thoughts born of a fast must + necessarily be half-starved. This is the reason why most dyspeptic + religionists cherish such melancholy notions about their hereafters. In + one word, Queequeg, said I, rather digressively; hell is an idea first + born on an undigested apple-dumpling; and since then perpetuated + through the hereditary dyspepsias nurtured by Ramadans. + + I then asked Queequeg whether he himself was ever troubled with + dyspepsia; expressing the idea very plainly, so that he could take it + in. He said no; only upon one memorable occasion. It was after a great + feast given by his father the king on the gaining of a great battle + wherein fifty of the enemy had been killed by about two o'clock in the + afternoon, and all cooked and eaten that very evening. + + "No more, Queequeg," said I, shuddering; "that will do;" for I knew the + inferences without his further hinting them. I had seen a sailor who + had visited that very island, and he told me that it was the custom, + when a great battle had been gained there, to barbecue all the slain in + the yard or garden of the victor; and then, one by one, they were + placed in great wooden trenchers, and garnished round like a pilau, + with breadfruit and cocoanuts; and with some parsley in their mouths, + were sent round with the victor's compliments to all his friends, just + as though these presents were so many Christmas turkeys. + + After all, I do not think that my remarks about religion made much + impression upon Queequeg. Because, in the first place, he somehow + seemed dull of hearing on that important subject, unless considered + from his own point of view; and, in the second place, he did not more + than one third understand me, couch my ideas simply as I would; and, + finally, he no doubt thought he knew a good deal more about the true + religion than I did. He looked at me with a sort of condescending + concern and compassion, as though he thought it a great pity that such + a sensible young man should be so hopelessly lost to evangelical pagan + piety. + + At last we rose and dressed; and Queequeg, taking a prodigiously hearty + breakfast of chowders of all sorts, so that the landlady should not + make much profit by reason of his Ramadan, we sallied out to board the + Pequod, sauntering along, and picking our teeth with halibut bones. + + + + + CHAPTER 18 + + + His Mark + + As we were walking down the end of the wharf towards the ship, Queequeg + carrying his harpoon, Captain Peleg in his gruff voice loudly hailed us + from his wigwam, saying he had not suspected my friend was a cannibal, + and furthermore announcing that he let no cannibals on board that + craft, unless they previously produced their papers. + + "What do you mean by that, Captain Peleg?" said I, now jumping on the + bulwarks, and leaving my comrade standing on the wharf. + + "I mean," he replied, "he must show his papers." + + "Yes," said Captain Bildad in his hollow voice, sticking his head from + behind Peleg's, out of the wigwam. "He must show that he's converted. + Son of darkness," he added, turning to Queequeg, "art thou at present + in communion with any Christian church?" + + "Why," said I, "he's a member of the first Congregational Church." Here + be it said, that many tattooed savages sailing in Nantucket ships at + last come to be converted into the churches. + + "First Congregational Church," cried Bildad, "what! that worships in + Deacon Deuteronomy Coleman's meeting-house?" and so saying, taking out + his spectacles, he rubbed them with his great yellow bandana + handkerchief, and putting them on very carefully, came out of the + wigwam, and leaning stiffly over the bulwarks, took a good long look at + Queequeg. + + "How long hath he been a member?" he then said, turning to me; "not + very long, I rather guess, young man." + + "No," said Peleg, "and he hasn't been baptized right either, or it + would have washed some of that devil's blue off his face." + + "Do tell, now," cried Bildad, "is this Philistine a regular member of + Deacon Deuteronomy's meeting? I never saw him going there, and I pass + it every Lord's day." + + "I don't know anything about Deacon Deuteronomy or his meeting," said + I; "all I know is, that Queequeg here is a born member of the First + Congregational Church. He is a deacon himself, Queequeg is." + + "Young man," said Bildad sternly, "thou art skylarking with me— explain + thyself, thou young Hittite. What church dost thee mean? answer me." + + Finding myself thus hard pushed, I replied, "I mean, sir, the same + ancient Catholic Church to which you and I, and Captain Peleg there, + and Queequeg here, and all of us, and every mother's son and soul of us + belong; the great and everlasting First Congregation of this whole + worshipping world; we all belong to that; only some of us cherish some + queer crotchets no ways touching the grand belief; in that we all join + hands." + + "Splice, thou mean'st splice hands," cried Peleg, drawing nearer. + "Young man, you'd better ship for a missionary, instead of a fore-mast + hand; I never heard a better sermon. Deacon Deuteronomy—why Father + Mapple himself couldn't beat it, and he's reckoned something. Come + aboard, come aboard: never mind about the papers. I say, tell Quohog + there— what's that you call him? tell Quohog to step along. By the + great anchor, what a harpoon he's got there! looks like good stuff + that; and he handles it about right. I say, Quohog, or whatever your + name is, did you ever stand in the head of a whale-boat? did you ever + strike a fish?" + + Without saying a word, Queequeg, in his wild sort of way, jumped upon + the bulwarks, from thence into the bows of one of the whale-boats + hanging to the side; and then bracing his left knee, and poising his + harpoon, cried out in some such way as this:— + + "Cap'ain, you see him small drop tar on water dere? You see him? well, + spose him one whale eye, well, den!" and taking sharp aim at it, he + darted the iron right over old Bildad's broad brim, clean across the + ship's decks, and struck the glistening tar spot out of sight. + + "Now," said Queequeg, quietly, hauling in the line, "spos-ee him + whale-e eye; why, dad whale dead." + + "Quick, Bildad," said Peleg, his partner, who, aghast at the close + vicinity of the flying harpoon, had retreated towards the cabin + gangway. "Quick, I say, you Bildad, and get the ship's papers. We must + have Hedgehog there, I mean Quohog, in one of our boats. Look ye, + Quohog, we'll give ye the ninetieth lay, and that's more than ever was + given a harpooneer yet out of Nantucket." + + So down we went into the cabin, and to my great joy Queequeg was soon + enrolled among the same ship's company to which I myself belonged. + + When all preliminaries were over and Peleg had got everything ready for + signing, he turned to me and said, "I guess, Quohog there don't know + how to write, does he? I say, Quohog, blast ye! dost thou sign thy name + or make thy mark? + + But at this question, Queequeg, who had twice or thrice before taken + part in similar ceremonies, looked no ways abashed; but taking the + offered pen, copied upon the paper, in the proper place, an exact + counterpart of a queer round figure which was tattooed upon his arm; so + that through Captain Peleg's obstinate mistake touching his + appellative, it stood something like this:— Quohog. his X mark. + Meanwhile Captain Bildad sat earnestly and steadfastly eyeing Queequeg, + and at last rising solemnly and fumbling in the huge pockets of his + broadskirted drab coat took out a bundle of tracts, and selecting one + entitled "The Latter Day Coming; or No Time to Lose," placed it in + Queequeg's hands, and then grasping them and the book with both his, + looked earnestly into his eyes, and said, "Son of darkness, I must do + my duty by thee; I am part owner of this ship, and feel concerned for + the souls of all its crew; if thou still clingest to thy Pagan ways, + which I sadly fear, I beseech thee, remain not for aye a Belial + bondsman. Spurn the idol Bell, and the hideous dragon; turn from the + wrath to come; mind thine eye, I say; oh! goodness gracious! steer + clear of the fiery pit!" + + Something of the salt sea yet lingered in old Bildad's language, + heterogeneously mixed with Scriptural and domestic phrases. + + "Avast there, avast there, Bildad, avast now spoiling our harpooneer, + cried Peleg. "Pious harpooneers never make good voyagers— it takes the + shark out of 'em; no harpooneer is worth a straw who aint pretty + sharkish. There was young Nat Swaine, once the bravest boat-header out + of all Nantucket and the Vineyard; he joined the meeting, and never + came to good. He got so frightened about his plaguy soul, that he + shrinked and sheered away from whales, for fear of after-claps, in case + he got stove and went to Davy Jones." + + "Peleg! Peleg!" said Bildad, lifting his eyes and hands, "thou thyself, + as I myself, hast seen many a perilous time; thou knowest, Peleg, what + it is to have the fear of death; how, then, can'st thou prate in this + ungodly guise. Thou beliest thine own heart, Peleg. Tell me, when this + same Pequod here had her three masts overboard in that typhoon on + Japan, that same voyage when thou went mate with Captain Ahab, did'st + thou not think of Death and the Judgment then?" + + "Hear him, hear him now," cried Peleg, marching across the cabin, and + thrusting his hands far down into his pockets,—"hear him, all of ye. + Think of that! When every moment we thought the ship would sink! Death + and the Judgment then? What? With all three masts making such an + everlasting thundering against the side; and every sea breaking over + us, fore and aft. Think of Death and the Judgment then? No! no time to + think about Death then. Life was what Captain Ahab and I was thinking + of; and how to save all hands how to rig jury-masts how to get into the + nearest port; that was what I was thinking of." + + Bildad said no more, but buttoning up his coat, stalked on deck, where + we followed him. There he stood, very quietly overlooking some + sailmakers who were mending a top-sail in the waist. Now and then he + stooped to pick up a patch, or save an end of tarred twine, which + otherwise might have been wasted. + + + + + CHAPTER 19 + + + The Prophet + + "Shipmates, have ye shipped in that ship?" + + Queequeg and I had just left the Pequod, and were sauntering away from + the water, for the moment each occupied with his own thoughts, when the + above words were put to us by a stranger, who, pausing before us, + levelled his massive forefinger at the vessel in question. He was but + shabbily apparelled in faded jacket and patched trowsers; a rag of a + black handkerchief investing his neck. A confluent smallpox had in all + directions flowed over his face, and left it like the complicated + ribbed bed of a torrent, when the rushing waters have been dried up. + + "Have ye shipped in her?" he repeated. + + "You mean the ship Pequod, I suppose," said I, trying to gain a little + more time for an uninterrupted look at him. + + "Aye, the Pequod—that ship there," he said, drawing back his whole arm + and then rapidly shoving it straight out from him-, with the fixed + bayonet of his pointed finger darted full at the object. + + "Yes," said I, "we have just signed the articles." + + "Anything down there about your souls?" + + "About what?" + + "Oh, perhaps you hav'n't got any," he said quickly. + "No matter though, I know many chaps that hav'n't got any,— + good luck to 'em; and they are all the better off for it. + A soul's a sort of a fifth wheel to a wagon." + + "What are you jabbering about, shipmate?" said I. + + "He's got enough, though, to make up for all deficiencies of that sort + in other chaps," abruptly said the stranger, placing a nervous emphasis + upon the word he. + + "Queequeg," said I, "let's go; this fellow has broken loose from + somewhere; he's talking about something and somebody we don't know." + + "Stop!" cried the stranger. "Ye said true—ye hav'n't seen + Old Thunder yet, have ye?" + + "Who's Old Thunder?" said I, again riveted with the insane earnestness + of his manner. + + "Captain Ahab." + + "What! the captain of our ship, the Pequod?" + + "Aye, among some of us old sailor chaps, he goes by that name. + Ye hav'n't seen him yet, have ye?" + + "No, we hav'n't. He's sick they say, but is getting better, and will be + all right again before long." + + "All right again before long!" laughed the stranger, with a solemnly + derisive sort of laugh. "Look ye; when Captain Ahab is all right, then + this left arm of mine will be all right; not before." + + "What do you know about him?" + + "What did they tell you about him? Say that!" + + "They didn't tell much of anything about him; only I've heard that he's + a good whale-hunter, and a good captain to his crew." + + "That's true, that's true—yes, both true enough. But you must jump when + he gives an order. Step and growl; growl and go—that's the word with + Captain Ahab. But nothing about that thing that happened to him off + Cape Horn, long ago, when he lay like dead for three days and nights; + nothing about that deadly skrimmage with the Spaniard afore the altar + in Santa?— heard nothing about that, eh? Nothing about the silver + calabash he spat into? And nothing about his losing his leg last + voyage, according to the prophecy. Didn't ye hear a word about them + matters and something more, eh? No, I don't think ye did; how could ye? + Who knows it? Not all Nantucket, I guess. But hows'ever, mayhap, ye've + heard tell about the leg, and how he lost it; aye, ye have heard of + that, I dare say. Oh, yes, that every one knows a'most—I mean they know + he's only one leg; and that a parmacetti took the other off." + + "My friend," said I, "what all this gibberish of yours is about, I + don't know, and I don't much care; for it seems to me that you must be + a little damaged in the head. But if you are speaking of Captain Ahab, + of that ship there, the Pequod, then let me tell you, that I know all + about the loss of his leg." + + "All about it, eh—sure you do? all? + + "Pretty sure." + + With finger pointed and eye levelled at the Pequod, the beggar-like + stranger stood a moment, as if in a troubled reverie; then starting a + little, turned and said:—"Ye've shipped, have ye? Names down on the + papers? Well, well, what's signed, is signed; and what's to be, will + be; and then again, perhaps it won't be, after all. Any how, it's all + fixed and arranged a'ready; and some sailors or other must go with him, + I suppose; as well these as any other men, God pity 'em! Morning to ye, + shipmates, morning; the ineffable heavens bless ye; I'm sorry I stopped + ye." + + "Look here, friend," said I, "if you have anything important to tell + us, out with it; but if you are only trying to bamboozle us, you are + mistaken in your game; that's all I have to say." + + "And it's said very well, and I like to hear a chap talk up that way; + you are just the man for him—the likes of ye. Morning to ye, shipmates, + morning! Oh! when ye get there, tell 'em I've concluded not to make one + of 'em." + + "Ah, my dear fellow, you can't fool us that way—you can't fool us. It + is the easiest thing in the world for a man to look as if he had a + great secret in him." + + "Morning to ye, shipmates, morning." + + "Morning it is," said I. "Come along, Queequeg, let's leave this crazy + man. But stop, tell me your name, will you?" + + "Elijah." + + Elijah! thought I, and we walked away, both commenting, after each + other's fashion, upon this ragged old sailor; and agreed that he was + nothing but a humbug, trying to be a bugbear. But we had not gone + perhaps above a hundred yards, when chancing to turn a corner, and + looking back as I did so, who should be seen but Elijah following us, + though at a distance. Somehow, the sight of him struck me so, that I + said nothing to Queequeg of his being behind, but passed on with my + comrade, anxious to see whether the stranger would turn the same corner + that we did. He did; and then it seemed to me that he was dogging us, + but with what intent I could not for the life of me imagine. This + circumstance, coupled with his ambiguous, half-hinting, half-revealing, + shrouded sort of talk, now begat in me all kinds of vague wonderments + and half-apprehensions, and all connected with the Pequod; and Captain + Ahab; and the leg he had lost; and the Cape Horn fit; and the silver + calabash; and what Captain Peleg had said of him, when I left the ship + the day previous; and the prediction of the squaw Tistig; and the + voyage we had bound ourselves to sail; and a hundred other shadowy + things. + + I was resolved to satisfy myself whether this ragged Elijah was really + dogging us or not, and with that intent crossed the way with Queequeg, + and on that side of it retraced our steps. But Elijah passed on, + without seeming to notice us. This relieved me; and once more, and + finally as it seemed to me, I pronounced him in my heart, a humbug. + + + + + CHAPTER 20 + + + All Astir + + A day or two passed, and there was great activity aboard the Pequod. + Not only were the old sails being mended, but new sails were coming on + board, and bolts of canvas, and coils of rigging; in short, everything + betokened that the ship's preparations were hurrying to a close. + Captain Peleg seldom or never went ashore, but sat in his wigwam + keeping a sharp look-out upon the hands: Bildad did all the purchasing + and providing at the stores; and the men employed in the hold and on + the rigging were working till long after night-fall. + + On the day following Queequeg's signing the articles, word was given at + all the inns where the ship's company were stopping, that their chests + must be on board before night, for there was no telling how soon the + vessel might be sailing. So Queequeg and I got down our traps, + resolving, however, to sleep ashore till the last. But it seems they + always give very long notice in these cases, and the ship did not sail + for several days. But no wonder; there was a good deal to be done, and + there is no telling how many things to be thought of, before the Pequod + was fully equipped. + + Every one knows what a multitude of things—beds, sauce-pans, knives and + forks, shovels and tongs, napkins, nut-crackers, and what not, are + indispensable to the business of housekeeping. Just so with whaling, + which necessitates a three-years' housekeeping upon the wide ocean, far + from all grocers, costermongers, doctors, bakers, and bankers. And + though this also holds true of merchant vessels, yet not by any means + to the same extent as with whalemen. For besides the great length of + the whaling voyage, the numerous articles peculiar to the prosecution + of the fishery, and the impossibility of replacing them at the remote + harbors usually frequented, it must be remembered, that of all ships, + whaling vessels are the most exposed to accidents of all kinds, and + especially to the destruction and loss of the very things upon which + the success of the voyage most depends. Hence, the spare boats, spare + spars, and spare lines and harpoons, and spare everythings, almost, but + a spare Captain and duplicate ship. + + At the period of our arrival at the Island, the heaviest storage of the + Pequod had been almost completed; comprising her beef, bread, water, + fuel, and iron hoops and staves. But, as before hinted, for some time + there was a continual fetching and carrying on board of divers odds and + ends of things, both large and small. + + Chief among those who did this fetching and carrying was Captain + Bildad's sister, a lean old lady of a most determined and indefatigable + spirit, but withal very kindhearted, who seemed resolved that, if she + could help it, nothing should be found wanting in the Pequod, after + once fairly getting to sea. At one time she would come on board with a + jar of pickles for the steward's pantry; another time with a bunch of + quills for the chief mate's desk, where he kept his log; a third time + with a roll of flannel for the small of some one's rheumatic back. + Never did any woman better deserve her name, which was Charity—Aunt + Charity, as everybody called her. And like a sister of charity did this + charitable Aunt Charity bustle about hither and thither, ready to turn + her hand and heart to anything that promised to yield safety, comfort, + and consolation to all on board a ship in which her beloved brother + Bildad was concerned, and in which she herself owned a score or two of + well-saved dollars. + + But it was startling to see this excellent hearted Quakeress coming on + board, as she did the last day, with a long oil-ladle in one hand, and + a still longer whaling lance in the other. Nor was Bildad himself nor + Captain Peleg at all backward. As for Bildad, he carried about with him + a long list of the articles needed, and at every fresh arrival, down + went his mark opposite that article upon the paper. Every once in a + while Peleg came hobbling out of his whalebone den, roaring at the men + down the hatchways, roaring up to the riggers at the mast-head, and + then concluded by roaring back into his wigwam. + + During these days of preparation, Queequeg and I often visited the + craft, and as often I asked about Captain Ahab, and how he was, and + when he was going to come on board his ship. To these questions they + would answer, that he was getting better and better, and was expected + aboard every day; meantime, the two Captains, Peleg and Bildad, could + attend to everything necessary to fit the vessel for the voyage. If I + had been downright honest with myself, I would have seen very plainly + in my heart that I did but half fancy being committed this way to so + long a voyage, without once laying my eyes on the man who was to be the + absolute dictator of it, so soon as the ship sailed out upon the open + sea. But when a man suspects any wrong, it sometimes happens that if he + be already involved in the matter, he insensibly strives to cover up + his suspicions even from himself. And much this way it was with me. I + said nothing, and tried to think nothing. + + At last it was given out that some time next day the ship would + certainly sail. So next morning, Queequeg and I took a very early + start. + + + + + CHAPTER 21 + + + Going Aboard + + It was nearly six o'clock, but only grey imperfect misty dawn, when we + drew nigh the wharf. + + "There are some sailors running ahead there, if I see right," said I to + Queequeg, "it can't be shadows; she's off by sunrise, I guess; come + on!" + + "Avast!" cried a voice, whose owner at the same time coming close + behind us, laid a hand upon both our shoulders, and then insinuating + himself between us, stood stooping forward a little, in the uncertain + twilight, strangely peering from Queequeg to me. It was Elijah. + + "Going aboard?" + + "Hands off, will you," said I. + + "Lookee here," said Queequeg, shaking himself, "go 'way!" + + "Aint going aboard, then?" + + "Yes, we are," said I, "but what business is that of yours? + Do you know, Mr. Elijah, that I consider you a little impertinent?" + + "No, no, no; I wasn't aware of that," said Elijah, slowly and + wonderingly looking from me to Queequeg, with the most unaccountable + glances. + + "Elijah," said I, "you will oblige my friend and me by withdrawing. We + are going to the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and would prefer not to be + detained." + + "Ye be, be ye? Coming back afore breakfast?" + + "He's cracked, Queequeg," said I, "come on." + + "Holloa!" cried stationary Elijah, hailing us when we had removed a few + paces. + + "Never mind him," said I, "Queequeg, come on." + + But he stole up to us again, and suddenly clapping his hand on my + shoulder, said—"Did ye see anything looking like men going towards that + ship a while ago?" + + Struck by this plain matter-of-fact question, I answered, saying, "Yes, + I thought I did see four or five men; but it was too dim to be sure." + + "Very dim, very dim," said Elijah. "Morning to ye." + + Once more we quitted him; but once more he came softly after us; and + touching my shoulder again, said, "See if you can find 'em now, will + ye? + + "Find who?" + + "Morning to ye! morning to ye!" he rejoined, again moving off. "Oh! I + was going to warn ye against—but never mind, never mind— it's all one, + all in the family too;—sharp frost this morning, ain't it? Good-bye to + ye. Shan't see ye again very soon, I guess; unless it's before the + Grand Jury." And with these cracked words he finally departed, leaving + me, for the moment, in no small wonderment at his frantic impudence. + + At last, stepping on board the Pequod, we found everything in profound + quiet, not a soul moving. The cabin entrance was locked within; the + hatches were all on, and lumbered with coils of rigging. Going forward + to the forecastle, we found the slide of the scuttle open. Seeing a + light, we went down, and found only an old rigger there, wrapped in a + tattered pea-jacket. He was thrown at whole length upon two chests, his + face downwards and inclosed in his folded arms. The profoundest slumber + slept upon him. + + "Those sailors we saw, Queequeg, where can they have gone to?" said I, + looking dubiously at the sleeper. But it seemed that, when on the + wharf, Queequeg had not at all noticed what I now alluded to; hence I + would have thought myself to have been optically deceived in that + matter, were it not for Elijah's otherwise inexplicable question. But I + beat the thing down; and again marking the sleeper, jocularly hinted to + Queequeg that perhaps we had best sit up with the body; telling him to + establish himself accordingly. He put his hand upon the sleeper's rear, + as though feeling if it was soft enough; and then, without more ado, + sat quietly down there. + + "Gracious! Queequeg, don't sit there," said I. + + "Oh; perry dood seat," said Queequeg, "my country way; won't hurt him + face." + + "Face!" said I, "call that his face? very benevolent countenance then; + but how hard he breathes, he's heaving himself; get off, + Queequeg, you are heavy, it's grinding the face of the poor. + Get off, Queequeg! Look, he'll twitch you off soon. + I wonder he don't wake." + + Queequeg removed himself to just beyond the head of the sleeper, and + lighted his tomahawk pipe. I sat at the feet. We kept the pipe passing + over the sleeper, from one to the other. Meanwhile, upon questioning + him in his broken fashion, Queequeg gave me to understand that, in his + land, owing to the absence of settees and sofas of all sorts, the king, + chiefs, and great people generally, were in the custom of fattening + some of the lower orders for ottomans; and to furnish a house + comfortably in that respect, you had only to buy up eight or ten lazy + fellows, and lay them round in the piers and alcoves. Besides, it was + very convenient on an excursion; much better than those garden-chairs + which are convertible into walking sticks; upon occasion, a chief + calling his attendant, and desiring him to make a settee of himself + under a spreading tree, perhaps in some damp marshy place. + + While narrating these things, every time Queequeg received the tomahawk + from me, he flourished the hatchet-side of it over the sleeper's head. + + "What's that for, Queequeg?" + + "Perry easy, kill-e; oh! perry easy! + + He was going on with some wild reminiscences about his tomahawk-pipe + which, it seemed, had in its two uses both brained his foes and soothed + his soul, when we were directly attracted to the sleeping rigger. The + strong vapor now completely filling the contracted hole, it began to + tell upon him. He breathed with a sort of muffledness; then seemed + troubled in the nose; then revolved over once or twice; then sat up and + rubbed his eyes. + + "Holloa!" he breathed at last, "who be ye smokers?" + + "Shipped men," answered I, "when does she sail?" + + "Aye, aye, ye are going in her, be ye? She sails to-day. The Captain + came aboard last night." + + "What Captain?—Ahab?" + + "Who but him indeed?" + + I was going to ask him some further questions concerning Ahab, when we + heard a noise on deck. + + "Holloa! Starbuck's astir," said the rigger. "He's a lively chief mate + that; good man, and a pious; but all alive now, I must turn to." And so + saying he went on deck, and we followed. + + It was now clear sunrise. Soon the crew came on board in twos and + threes; the riggers bestirred themselves; the mates were actively + engaged; and several of the shore people were busy in bringing various + last things on board. Meanwhile Captain Ahab remained invisibly + enshrined within his cabin. + + + + + CHAPTER 22 + + + Merry Christmas + + At length, towards noon, upon the final dismissal of the ship's + riggers, and after the Pequod had been hauled out from the wharf, and + after the ever-thoughtful Charity had come off in a whale-boat, with + her last gift— a nightcap for Stubb, the second mate, her + brother-in-law, and a spare Bible for the steward—after all this, the + two Captains, Peleg and Bildad, issued from the cabin, and turning to + the chief mate, Peleg said: + + "Now, Mr. Starbuck, are you sure everything is right? + Captain Ahab is all ready—just spoke to him—nothing more + to be got from shore, eh? Well, call all hands, then. + Muster 'em aft here—blast 'em!" + + "No need of profane words, however great the hurry, Peleg," said + Bildad, "but away with thee, friend Starbuck, and do our bidding." + + How now! Here upon the very point of starting for the voyage, Captain + Peleg and Captain Bildad were going it with a high hand on the + quarter-deck, just as if they were to be joint-commanders at sea, as + well as to all appearances in port. And, as for Captain Ahab, no sign + of him was yet to be seen; Only, they said he was in the cabin. But + then, the idea was, that his presence was by no means necessary in + getting the ship under weigh, and steering her well out to sea. Indeed, + as that was not at all his proper business, but the pilot's; and as he + was not yet completely recovered—so they said—therefore, Captain Ahab + stayed below. And all this seemed natural enough; especially as in the + merchant service many captains never show themselves on deck for a + considerable time after heaving up the anchor, but remain over the + cabin table, having a farewell merry-making with their shore friends, + before they quit the ship for good with the pilot. + + But there was not much chance to think over the matter, for Captain + Peleg was now all alive. He seemed to do most of the talking and + commanding, and not Bildad. + + "Aft here, ye sons of bachelors," he cried, as the sailors lingered at + the main-mast. "Mr. Starbuck, drive aft." + + "Strike the tent there!"—was the next order. As I hinted before, this + whalebone marquee was never pitched except in port; and on board the + Pequod, for thirty years, the order to strike the tent was well known + to be the next thing to heaving up the anchor. + + "Man the capstan! Blood and thunder!—jump!"—was the next command, and + the crew sprang for the handspikes. + + Now in getting under weigh, the station generally occupied by the pilot + is the forward part of the ship. And here Bildad, who, with Peleg, be + it known, in addition to his other offices, was one of the licensed + pilots of the port—he being suspected to have got himself made a pilot + in order to save the Nantucket pilot-fee to all the ships he was + concerned in, for he never piloted any other craft—Bildad, I say, might + now be seen actively engaged in looking over the bows for the + approaching anchor, and at intervals singing what seemed a dismal stave + of psalmody, to cheer the hands at the windlass, who roared forth some + sort of a chorus about the girls in Booble Alley, with hearty good + will. Nevertheless, not three days previous, Bildad had told them that + no profane songs would be allowed on board the Pequod, particularly in + getting under weigh; and Charity, his sister, had placed a small choice + copy of Watts in each seaman's berth. + + Meantime, overseeing the other part of the ship, Captain Peleg ripped + and swore astern in the most frightful manner. I almost thought he + would sink the ship before the anchor could be got up; involuntarily I + paused on my handspike, and told Queequeg to do the same, thinking of + the perils we both ran, in starting on the voyage with such a devil for + a pilot. I was comforting myself, however, with the thought that in + pious Bildad might be found some salvation, spite of his seven hundred + and seventy-seventh lay; when I felt a sudden sharp poke in my rear, + and turning round, was horrified at the apparition of Captain Peleg in + the act of withdrawing his leg from my immediate vicinity. That was my + first kick. + + "Is that the way they heave in the marchant service?" he roared. + "Spring, thou sheep-head; spring, and break thy backbone! Why don't ye + spring, I say, all of ye—spring! Quohog! spring, thou chap with the red + whiskers; spring there, Scotch-cap; spring, thou green pants. Spring, I + say, all of ye, and spring your eyes out!" And so saying, he moved + along the windlass, here and there using his leg very freely, while + imperturbable Bildad kept leading off with his psalmody. Thinks I, + Captain Peleg must have been drinking something to-day. + + At last the anchor was up, the sails were set, and off we glided. It + was a short, cold Christmas; and as the short northern day merged into + night, we found ourselves almost broad upon the wintry ocean, whose + freezing spray cased us in ice, as in polished armor. The long rows of + teeth on the bulwarks glistened in the moonlight; and like the white + ivory tusks of some huge elephant, vast curving icicles depended from + the bows. + + Lank Bildad, as pilot, headed the first watch, and ever and anon, as + the old craft deep dived into the green seas, and sent the shivering + frost all over her, and the winds howled, and the cordage rang, his + steady notes were heard,— + + "Sweet fields beyond the swelling flood, + Stand dressed in living green. + So to the Jews old Canaan stood, + While Jordan rolled between." + + Never did those sweet words sound more sweetly to me than then. They + were full of hope and fruition. Spite of this frigid winter night in + the boisterous Atlantic, spite of my wet feet and wetter jacket, there + was yet, it then seemed to me, many a pleasant haven in store; and + meads and glades so eternally vernal, that the grass shot up by the + spring, untrodden, unwilted, remains at midsummer. + + At last we gained such an offing, that the two pilots were needed no + longer. The stout sail-boat that had accompanied us began ranging + alongside. + + It was curious and not unpleasing, how Peleg and Bildad were affected + at this juncture, especially Captain Bildad. For loath to depart, yet; + very loath to leave, for good, a ship bound on so long and perilous a + voyage—beyond both stormy Capes; a ship in which some thousands of his + hardearned dollars were invested; a ship, in which an old shipmate + sailed as captain; a man almost as old as he, once more starting to + encounter all the terrors of the pitiless jaw; loath to say good-bye to + a thing so every way brimful of every interest to him,— poor old Bildad + lingered long; paced the deck with anxious strides; ran down into the + cabin to speak another farewell word there; again came on deck, and + looked to windward; looked towards the wide and endless waters, only + bounded by the far-off unseen Eastern Continents; looked towards the + land; looked aloft; looked right and left; looked everywhere and + nowhere; and at last, mechanically coiling a rope upon its pin, + convulsively grasped stout Peleg by the hand, and holding up a lantern, + for a moment stood gazing heroically in his face, as much as to say, + "Nevertheless, friend Peleg, I can stand it; yes, I can." + + As for Peleg himself, he took it more like a philosopher; but for all + his philosophy, there was a tear twinkling in his eye, when the lantern + came too near. And he, too, did not a little run from the cabin to + deck—now a word below, and now a word with Starbuck, the chief mate. + + But, at last, he turned to his comrade, with a final sort of look about + him,—"Captain Bildad—come, old shipmate, we must go. Back the mainyard + there! Boat ahoy! Stand by to come close alongside, now! Careful, + careful!—come, Bildad, boy— say your last. Luck to ye, Starbuck—luck to + ye, Mr. Stubb— luck to ye, Mr. Flask—good-bye and good luck to ye all— + and this day three years I'll have a hot supper smoking for ye in old + Nantucket. Hurrah and away!" + + "God bless ye, and have ye in His holy keeping, men," murmured old + Bildad, almost incoherently. "I hope ye'll have fine weather now, so + that Captain Ahab may soon be moving among ye—a pleasant sun is all he + needs, and ye'll have plenty of them in the tropic voyage ye go. Be + careful in the hunt, ye mates. Don't stave the boats needlessly, ye + harpooneers; good white cedar plank is raised full three per cent + within the year. Don't forget your prayers, either. Mr. Starbuck, mind + that cooper don't waste the spare staves. Oh! the sail-needles are in + the green locker. Don't whale it too much a' Lord's days, men; but + don't miss a fair chance either, that's rejecting Heaven's good gifts. + Have an eye to the molasses tierce, Mr. Stubb; it was a little leaky, I + thought. If ye touch at the islands, Mr. Flask, beware of fornication. + Good-bye, good-bye! Don't keep that cheese too long down in the hold, + Mr. Starbuck; it'll spoil. Be careful with the butter—twenty cents the + pound it was, and mind ye, if—" + + "Come, come, Captain Bildad; stop palavering,—away!" and with that, + Peleg hurried him over the side, and both dropt into the boat. + + Ship and boat diverged; the cold, damp night breeze blew between; a + screaming gull flew overhead; the two hulls wildly rolled; we gave + three heavy-hearted cheers, and blindly plunged like fate into the lone + Atlantic. + + + + + CHAPTER 23 + + + The Lee Shore + + Some chapters back, one Bulkington was spoken of, a tall, newlanded + mariner, encountered in New Bedford at the inn. + + When on that shivering winter's night, the Pequod thrust her vindictive + bows into the cold malicious waves, who should I see standing at her + helm but Bulkington! I looked with sympathetic awe and fearfulness upon + the man, who in mid-winter just landed from a four years' dangerous + voyage, could so unrestingly push off again for still another + tempestuous term. The land seemed scorching to his feet. Wonderfullest + things are ever the unmentionable; deep memories yield no epitaphs; + this six-inch chapter is the stoneless grave of Bulkington. Let me only + say that it fared with him as with the storm-tossed ship, that + miserably drives along the leeward land. The port would fain give + succor; the port is pitiful; in the port is safety, comfort, + hearthstone, supper, warm blankets, friends, all that's kind to our + mortalities. But in that gale, the port, the land, is that ship's + direst jeopardy; she must fly all hospitality; one touch of land, + though it but graze the keel, would make her shudder through and + through. With all her might she crowds all sail off shore; in so doing, + fights 'gainst the very winds that fain would blow her homeward; seeks + all the lashed sea's landlessness again; for refuge's sake forlornly + rushing into peril; her only friend her bitterest foe! + + Know ye now, Bulkington? Glimpses do ye seem to see of that mortally + intolerable truth; that all deep, earnest thinking is but the intrepid + effort of the soul to keep the open independence of her sea; while the + wildest winds of heaven and earth conspire to cast her on the + treacherous, slavish shore? + + But as in landlessness alone resides the highest truth, shoreless, + indefinite as God—so better is it to perish in that howling infinite, + than be ingloriously dashed upon the lee, even if that were safety! For + worm-like, then, oh! who would craven crawl to land! Terrors of the + terrible! is all this agony so vain? Take heart, take heart, O + Bulkington! Bear thee grimly, demigod! Up from the spray of thy + ocean-perishing—straight up, leaps thy apotheosis! + + + + + CHAPTER 24 + + + The Advocate + + As Queequeg and I are now fairly embarked in this business of whaling; + and as this business of whaling has somehow come to be regarded among + landsmen as a rather unpoetical and disreputable pursuit; therefore, I + am all anxiety to convince ye, ye landsmen, of the injustice hereby + done to us hunters of whales. + + In the first place, it may be deemed almost superfluous to establish + the fact, that among people at large, the business of whaling is not + accounted on a level with what are called the liberal professions. If a + stranger were introduced into any miscellaneous metropolitan society, + it would but slightly advance the general opinion of his merits, were + he presented to the company as a harpooneer, say; and if in emulation + of the naval officers he should append the initials S.W.F. (Sperm Whale + Fishery) to his visiting card, such a procedure would be deemed + preeminently presuming and ridiculous. + + Doubtless one leading reason why the world declines honoring us + whalemen, is this: they think that, at best, our vocation amounts to a + butchering sort of business; and that when actively engaged therein, we + are surrounded by all manner of defilements. Butchers we are, that is + true. But butchers, also, and butchers of the bloodiest badge have been + all Martial Commanders whom the world invariably delights to honor. And + as for the matter of the alleged uncleanliness of our business, ye + shall soon be initiated into certain facts hitherto pretty generally + unknown, and which, upon the whole, will triumphantly plant the sperm + whale-ship at least among the cleanliest things of this tidy earth. But + even granting the charge in question to be true; what disordered + slippery decks of a whale-ship are comparable to the unspeakable + carrion of those battle-fields from which so many soldiers return to + drink in all ladies' plaudits? And if the idea of peril so much + enhances the popular conceit of the soldier's profession; let me assure + ye that many a veteran who has freely marched up to a battery, would + quickly recoil at the apparition of the sperm whale's vast tail, + fanning into eddies the air over his head. For what are the + comprehensible terrors of man compared with the interlinked terrors and + wonders of God! + + But, though the world scouts at us whale hunters, yet does it + unwittingly pay us the profoundest homage; yea, an all-abounding + adoration! for almost all the tapers, lamps, and candles that burn + round the globe, burn, as before so many shrines, to our glory! + + But look at this matter in other lights; weigh it in all sorts of + scales; see what we whalemen are, and have been. + + Why did the Dutch in De Witt's time have admirals of their whaling + fleets? Why did Louis XVI of France, at his own personal expense, fit + out whaling ships from Dunkirk, and politely invite to that town some + score or two of families from our own island of Nantucket? Why did + Britain between the years 1750 and 1788 pay to her whalemen in bounties + upwards of 1,000,000 pounds? And lastly, how comes it that we whalemen + of America now outnumber all the rest of the banded whalemen in the + world; sail a navy of upwards of seven hundred vessels; manned by + eighteen thousand men; yearly consuming 00824,000,000 of dollars; the + ships worth, at the time of sailing, 20,000,000 dollars; and every year + importing into our harbors a well reaped harvest of 00847,000,000 + dollars. How comes all this, if there be not something puissant in + whaling? + + But this is not the half; look again. + + I freely assert, that the cosmopolite philosopher cannot, for his life, + point out one single peaceful influence, which within the last sixty + years has operated more potentially upon the whole broad world, taken + in one aggregate, than the high and mighty business of whaling. One way + and another, it has begotten events so remarkable in themselves, and so + continuously momentous in their sequential issues, that whaling may + well be regarded as that Egyptian mother, who bore offspring themselves + pregnant from her womb. It would be a hopeless, endless task to + catalogue all these things. Let a handful suffice. For many years past + the whale-ship has been the pioneer in ferreting out the remotest and + least known parts of the earth. She has explored seas and archipelagoes + which had no chart, where no Cooke or Vancouver had ever sailed. If + American and European men-of-war now peacefully ride in once savage + harbors, let them fire salutes to the honor and glory of the + whale-ship, which originally showed them the way, and first interpreted + between them and the savages. They may celebrate as they will the + heroes of Exploring Expeditions, your Cookes, Your Krusensterns; but I + say that scores of anonymous Captains have sailed out of Nantucket, + that were as great, and greater, than your Cooke and your Krusenstern. + For in their succorless empty-handedness, they, in the heathenish + sharked waters, and by the beaches of unrecorded, javelin islands, + battled with virgin wonders and terrors that Cooke with all his marines + and muskets would not willingly have willingly dared. All that is made + such a flourish of in the old South Sea Voyages, those things were but + the life-time commonplaces of our heroic Nantucketers. Often, + adventures which Vancouver dedicates three chapters to, these men + accounted unworthy of being set down in the ship's common log. Ah, the + world! Oh, the world! + + Until the whale fishery rounded Cape Horn, no commerce but colonial, + scarcely any intercourse but colonial, was carried on between Europe + and the long line of the opulent Spanish provinces on the Pacific + coast. It was the whalemen who first broke through the jealous policy + of the Spanish crown, touching those colonies; and, if space permitted, + it might be distinctly shown how from those whalemen at last eventuated + the liberation of Peru, Chili, and Bolivia from the yoke of Old Spain, + and the establishment of the eternal democracy in those parts. + + That great America on the other side of the sphere, Australia, was + given to the enlightened world by the whaleman. After its first + blunder-born discovery by a Dutchman, all other ships, long shunned + those shores as pestiferously barbarous; but the whale-ship touched + there. The whale-ship is the true mother of that now mighty colony. + Moreover, in the infancy of the first Australian settlement, the + emigrants were several times saved from starvation by the benevolent + biscuit of the whale-ship luckily dropping an anchor in their waters. + The uncounted isles of all Polynesia confess the same truth, and do + commercial homage to the whale-ship, that cleared the way for the + missionary and the merchant, and in many cases carried the primitive + missionaries to their first destinations. If that double-bolted land, + Japan, is ever to become hospitable, it is the whale-ship alone to whom + the credit will be due; for already she is on the threshold. + + But if, in the face of all this, you still declare that whaling has no + aesthetically noble associations connected with it, then am I ready to + shiver fifty lances with you there, and unhorse you with a split helmet + every time. + + The whale has no famous author, and whaling no famous chronicler, you + will say. + + The whale no famous author, and whaling no famous chronicler? Who wrote + the first account of our Leviathan? Who but mighty Job? And who + composed the first narrative of a whaling-voyage? Who, but no less a + prince than Alfred the Great, who, with his own royal pen, took down + the words from Other, the Norwegian whale-hunter of those times! And + who pronounced our glowing eulogy in Parliament? Who, but Edmund Burke! + + True enough, but then whalemen themselves are poor devils; they have no + good blood in their veins. + + No good blood in their veins? They have something better than royal + blood there. The grandmother of Benjamin Franklin was Mary Morrel; + afterwards, by marriage, Mary Folger, one of the old settlers of + Nantucket, and the ancestress to a long line of Folgers and + harpooneers—all kith and kin to noble Benjamin— this day darting the + barbed iron from one side of the world to the other. + + Good again; but then all confess that somehow whaling is not + respectable. + + Whaling not respectable? Whaling is imperial! By old English statutory + law, the whale is declared "a royal fish." + + Oh, that's only nominal! The whale himself has never figured in any + grand imposing way. + + The whale never figured in any grand imposing way? In one of the mighty + triumphs given to a Roman general upon his entering the world's + capital, the bones of a whale, brought all the way from the Syrian + coast, were the most conspicuous object in the cymballed procession.* + + *See subsequent chapters for something more on this head. + + Grant it, since you cite it; but say what you will, there is no real + dignity in whaling. + + No dignity in whaling? The dignity of our calling the very heavens + attest. Cetus is a constellation in the South! No more! Drive down your + hat in presence of the Czar, and take it off to Queequeg! No more! I + know a man that, in his lifetime has taken three hundred and fifty + whales. I account that man more honorable than that great captain of + antiquity who boasted of taking as many walled towns. + + And, as for me, if, by any possibility, there be any as yet + undiscovered prime thing in me; if I shall ever deserve any real repute + in that small but high hushed world which I might not be unreasonably + ambitious of; if hereafter I shall do anything that, upon the whole, a + man might rather have done than to have left undone; if, at my death, + my executors, or more properly my creditors, find any precious MSS. in + my desk, then here I prospectively ascribe all the honor and the glory + to whaling; for a whale-ship was my Yale College and my Harvard. + + + + + CHAPTER 25 + + + Postscript + + In behalf of the dignity of whaling, I would fain advance naught but + substantiated facts. But after embattling his facts, an advocate who + should wholly suppress a not unreasonable surmise, which might tell + eloquently upon his cause—such an advocate, would he not be + blame-worthy? + + It is well known that at the coronation of kings and queens, even + modern ones, a certain curious process of seasoning them for their + functions is gone through. There is a saltcellar of state, so called, + and there may be a caster of state. How they use the salt, + precisely—who knows? Certain I am, however, that a king's head is + solemnly oiled at his coronation, even as a head of salad. Can it be, + though, that they anoint it with a view of making its interior run + well, as they anoint machinery? Much might be ruminated here, + concerning the essential dignity of this regal process, because in + common life we esteem but meanly and contemptibly a fellow who anoints + his hair, and palpably smells of that anointing. In truth, a mature man + who uses hairoil, unless medicinally, that man has probably got a + quoggy spot in him somewhere. As a general rule, he can't amount to + much in his totality. + + But the only thing to be considered here is this—what kind of oil is + used at coronations? Certainly it cannot be olive oil, nor macassar + oil, nor castor oil, nor bear's oil, nor train oil, nor cod-liver oil. + What then can it possibly be, but the sperm oil in its unmanufactured, + unpolluted state, the sweetest of all oils? + + Think of that, ye loyal Britons! we whalemen supply your kings and + queens with coronation stuff! + + + + + CHAPTER 26 + + + Knights and Squires + + The chief mate of the Pequod was Starbuck, a native of Nantucket, and a + Quaker by descent. He was a long, earnest man, and though born on an + icy coast, seemed well adapted to endure hot latitudes, his flesh being + hard as twice-baked biscuit. Transported to the Indies, his live blood + would not spoil like bottled ale. He must have been born in some time + of general drought and famine, or upon one of those fast days for which + his state is famous. Only some thirty arid summers had he seen; those + summers had dried up all his physical superfluousness. But this, his + thinness, so to speak, seemed no more the token of wasting anxieties + and cares, than it seemed the indication of any bodily blight. It was + merely the condensation of the man. He was by no means ill-looking; + quite the contrary. His pure tight skin was an excellent fit; and + closely wrapped up in it, and embalmed with inner health and strength, + like a revivified Egyptian, this Starbuck seemed prepared to endure for + long ages to come, and to endure always, as now; for be it Polar snow + or torrid sun, like a patent chronometer, his interior vitality was + warranted to do well in all climates. Looking into his eyes, you seemed + to see there the yet lingering images of those thousand-fold perils he + had calmly confronted through life. A staid, steadfast man, whose life + for the most part was a telling pantomime of action, and not a tame + chapter of sounds. Yet, for all his hardy sobriety and fortitude, there + were certain qualities in him which at times affected, and in some + cases seemed well nigh to overbalance all the rest. Uncommonly + conscientious for a seaman, and endued with a deep natural reverence, + the wild watery loneliness of his life did therefore strongly incline + him to superstition; but to that sort of superstition, which in some + organizations seems rather to spring, somehow, from intelligence than + from ignorance. Outward portents and inward presentiments were his. And + if at times these things bent the welded iron of his soul, much more + did his far-away domestic memories of his young Cape wife and child, + tend to bend him still more from the original ruggedness of his nature, + and open him still further to those latent influences which, in some + honest-hearted men, restrain the gush of dare-devil daring, so often + evinced by others in the more perilous vicissitudes of the fishery. "I + will have no man in my boat," said Starbuck, "who is not afraid of a + whale." By this, he seemed to mean, not only that the most reliable and + useful courage was that which arises from the fair estimation of the + encountered peril, but that an utterly fearless man is a far more + dangerous comrade than a coward. + + "Aye, aye," said Stubb, the second mate, "Starbuck, there, is as + careful a man as you'll find anywhere in this fishery." But we shall + ere long see what that word "careful" precisely means when used by a + man like Stubb, or almost any other whale hunter. + + Starbuck was no crusader after perils; in him courage was not a + sentiment; but a thing simply useful to him, and always at hand upon + all mortally practical occasions. Besides, he thought, perhaps, that in + this business of whaling, courage was one of the great staple outfits + of the ship, like her beef and her bread, and not to be foolishly + wasted. Wherefore he had no fancy for lowering for whales after + sun-down; nor for persisting in fighting a fish that too much persisted + in fighting him. For, thought Starbuck, I am here in this critical + ocean to kill whales for my living, and not to be killed by them for + theirs; and that hundreds of men had been so killed Starbuck well knew. + What doom was his own father's? Where, in the bottomless deeps, could + he find the torn limbs of his brother? + + With memories like these in him, and, moreover, given to a certain + superstitiousness, as has been said; the courage of this Starbuck, + which could, nevertheless, still flourish, must indeed have been + extreme. But it was not in reasonable nature that a man so organized, + and with such terrible experiences and remembrances as he had; it was + not in nature that these things should fail in latently engendering an + element in him, which, under suitable circumstances, would break out + from its confinement, and burn all his courage up. And brave as he + might be, it was that sort of bravery chiefly, visible in some intrepid + men, which, while generally abiding firm in the conflict with seas, or + winds, or whales, or any of the ordinary irrational horrors of the + world, yet cannot withstand those more terrific, because more spiritual + terrors, which sometimes menace you from the concentrating brow of an + enraged and mighty man. + + But were the coming narrative to reveal in any instance, the complete + abasement of poor Starbuck's fortitude, scarce might I have the heart + to write it; for it is a thing most sorrowful, nay shocking, to expose + the fall of valor in the soul. Men may seem detestable as joint + stock-companies and nations; knaves, fools, and murderers there may be; + men may have mean and meagre faces; but, man, in the ideal, is so noble + and so sparkling, such a grand and glowing creature, that over any + ignominious blemish in him all his fellows should run to throw their + costliest robes. That immaculate manliness we feel within ourselves, so + far within us, that it remains intact though all the outer character + seem gone; bleeds with keenest anguish at the undraped spectacle of a + valor-ruined man. Nor can piety itself, at such a shameful sight, + completely stifle her upbraidings against the permitting stars. But + this august dignity I treat of, is not the dignity of kings and robes, + but that abounding dignity which has no robed investiture. Thou shalt + see it shining in the arm that wields a pick or drives a spike; that + democratic dignity which, on all hands, radiates without end from God; + Himself! The great God absolute! The centre and circumference of all + democracy! His omnipresence, our divine equality! + + If, then, to meanest mariners, and renegades and castaways, I shall + hereafter ascribe high qualities, though dark; weave round them tragic + graces; if even the most mournful, perchance the most abased, among + them all, shall at times lift himself to the exalted mounts; if I shall + touch that workman's arm with some ethereal light; if I shall spread a + rainbow over his disastrous set of sun; then against all mortal critics + bear me out in it, thou just Spirit of Equality, which hast spread one + royal mantle of humanity over all my kind! Bear me out in it, thou + great democratic God! who didst not refuse to the swart convict, + Bunyan, the pale, poetic pearl; Thou who didst clothe with doubly + hammered leaves of finest gold, the stumped and paupered arm of old + Cervantes; Thou who didst pick up Andrew Jackson from the pebbles; who + didst hurl him upon a war-horse; who didst thunder him higher than a + throne! Thou who, in all Thy mighty, earthly marchings, ever cullest + Thy selectest champions from the kingly commoners; bear me out in it, O + God! + + + + + CHAPTER 27 + + + Knights and Squires + + Stubb was the second mate. He was a native of Cape Cod; and hence, + according to local usage, was called a Cape-Cod-man. A happy-go-lucky; + neither craven nor valiant; taking perils as they came with an + indifferent air; and while engaged in the most imminent crisis of the + chase, toiling away, calm and collected as a journeyman joiner engaged + for the year. Good-humored, easy, and careless, he presided over his + whaleboat as if the most deadly encounter were but a dinner, and his + crew all invited guests. He was as particular about the comfortable + arrangements of his part of the boat, as an old stage-driver is about + the snugness of his box. When close to the whale, in the very + death-lock of the fight, he handled his unpitying lance coolly and + off-handedly, as a whistling tinker his hammer. He would hum over his + old rigadig tunes while flank and flank with the most exasperated + monster. Long usage had, for this Stubb, converted the jaws of death + into an easy chair. What he thought of death itself, there is no + telling. Whether he ever thought of it at all, might be a question; + but, if he ever did chance to cast his mind that way after a + comfortable dinner, no doubt, like a good sailor, he took it to be a + sort of call of the watch to tumble aloft, and bestir themselves there, + about something which he would find out when he obeyed the order, and + not sooner. + + What, perhaps, with other things, made Stubb such an easy-going, + unfearing man, so cheerily trudging off with the burden of life in a + world full of grave peddlers, all bowed to the ground with their packs; + what helped to bring about that almost impious good-humor of his; that + thing must have been his pipe. For, like his nose, his short, black + little pipe was one of the regular features of his face. You would + almost as soon have expected him to turn out of his bunk without his + nose as without his pipe. He kept a whole row of pipes there ready + loaded, stuck in a rack, within easy reach of his hand; and, whenever + he turned in, he smoked them all out in succession, lighting one from + the other to the end of the chapter; then loading them again to be in + readiness anew. For, when Stubb dressed, instead of first putting his + legs into his trowsers, he put his pipe into his mouth. + + I say this continual smoking must have been one cause, at least of his + peculiar disposition; for every one knows that this earthly air, + whether ashore or afloat, is terribly infected with the nameless + miseries of the numberless mortals who have died exhaling it; and as in + time of the cholera, some people go about with a camphorated + handkerchief to their mouths; so, likewise, against all mortal + tribulations, Stubb's tobacco smoke might have operated as a sort of + disinfecting agent. + + The third mate was Flask, a native of Tisbury, in Martha's Vineyard. A + short, stout, ruddy young fellow, very pugnacious concerning whales, + who somehow seemed to think that the great Leviathans had personally + and hereditarily affronted him; and therefore it was a sort of point of + honor with him, to destroy them whenever encountered. So utterly lost + was he to all sense of reverence for the many marvels of their majestic + bulk and mystic ways; and so dead to anything like an apprehension of + any possible danger from encountering them; that in his poor opinion, + the wondrous whale was but a species of magnified mouse, or at least + water-rat, requiring only a little circumvention and some small + application of time and trouble in order to kill and boil. This + ignorant, unconscious fearlessness of his made him a little waggish in + the matter of whales; he followed these fish for the fun of it; and a + three years' voyage round Cape Horn was only a jolly joke that lasted + that length of time. As a carpenter's nails are divided into wrought + nails and cut nails; so mankind may be similarly divided. Little Flask + was one of the wrought ones; made to clinch tight and last long. They + called him King-Post on board of the Pequod; because, in form, he could + be well likened to the short, square timber known by that name in + Arctic whalers; and which by the means of many radiating side timbers + inserted into it, serves to brace the ship against the icy concussions + of those battering seas. + + Now these three mates—Starbuck, Stubb and Flask, were momentous men. + They it was who by universal prescription commanded three of the + Pequod's boats as headsmen. In that grand order of battle in which + Captain Ahab would probably marshal his forces to descend on the + whales, these three headsmen were as captains of companies. Or, being + armed with their long keen whaling spears, they were as a picked trio + of lancers; even as the harpooneers were flingers of javelins. + + And since in this famous fishery, each mate or headsman, like a Gothic + Knight of old, is always accompanied by his boat-steerer or harpooneer, + who in certain conjunctures provides him with a fresh lance, when the + former one has been badly twisted, or elbowed in the assault; and + moreover, as there generally subsists between the two, a close intimacy + and friendliness; it is therefore but meet, that in this place we set + down who the Pequod's harpooneers were, and to what headsman each of + them belonged. + + First of all was Queequeg, whom Starbuck, the chief mate, had selected + for his squire. But Queequeg is already known. + + Next was Tashtego, an unmixed Indian from Gay Head, the most westerly + promontory of Martha's Vineyard, where there still exists the last + remnant of a village of red men, which has long supplied the + neighboring island of Nantucket with many of her most daring + harpooneers. In the fishery, they usually go by the generic name of + Gay-Headers. Tashtego's long, lean, sable hair, his high cheek bones, + and black rounding eyes—for an Indian, Oriental in their largeness, but + Antarctic in their glittering expression—all this sufficiently + proclaimed him an inheritor of the unvitiated blood of those proud + warrior hunters, who, in quest of the great New England moose, had + scoured, bow in hand, the aboriginal forests of the main. But no longer + snuffing in the trail of the wild beasts of the woodland, Tashtego now + hunted in the wake of the great whales of the sea; the unerring harpoon + of the son fitly replacing the infallible arrow of the sires. To look + at the tawny brawn of his lithe snaky limbs, you would almost have + credited the superstitions of some of the earlier Puritans and + half-believed this wild Indian to be a son of the Prince of the Powers + of the Air. Tashtego was Stubb the second mate's squire. + + Third among the harpooneers was Daggoo, a gigantic, coal-black + negro-savage, with a lion-like tread—an Ahasuerus to behold. Suspended + from his ears were two golden hoops, so large that the sailors called + them ringbolts, and would talk of securing the top-sail halyards to + them. In his youth Daggoo had voluntarily shipped on board of a whaler, + lying in a lonely bay on his native coast. And never having been + anywhere in the world but in Africa, Nantucket, and the pagan harbors + most frequented by the whalemen; and having now led for many years the + bold life of the fishery in the ships of owners uncommonly heedful of + what manner of men they shipped; Daggoo retained all his barbaric + virtues, and erect as a giraffe, moved about the decks in all the pomp + of six feet five in his socks. There was a corporeal humility in + looking up at him; and a white man standing before him seemed a white + flag come to beg truce of a fortress. Curious to tell, this imperial + negro, Ahasuerus Daggoo, was the Squire of little Flask, who looked + like a chess-man beside him. As for the residue of the Pequod's + company, be it said, that at the present day not one in two of the many + thousand men before the mast employed in the American whale fishery, + are Americans born, though pretty nearly all the officers are. Herein + it is the same with the American whale fishery as with the American + army and military and merchant navies, and the engineering forces + employed in the construction of the American Canals and Railroads. The + same, I say, because in all these cases the native American literally + provides the brains, the rest of the world as generously supplying the + muscles. No small number of these whaling seamen belong to the Azores, + where the outward bound Nantucket whalers frequently touch to augment + their crews from the hardy peasants of those rocky shores. In like + manner, the Greenland whalers sailing out of Hull or London, put in at + the Shetland Islands, to receive the full complement of their crew. + Upon the passage homewards, they drop them there again. How it is, + there is no telling, but Islanders seem to make the best whalemen. They + were nearly all Islanders in the Pequod, Isolatoes too, I call such, + not acknowledging the common continent of men, but each Isolato living + on a separate continent of his own. Yet now, federated along one keel, + what a set these Isolatoes were! An Anacharsis Clootz deputation from + all the isles of the sea, and all the ends of the earth, accompanying + Old Ahab in the Pequod to lay the world's grievances before that bar + from which not very many of them ever come back. Black Little Pip— he + never did—oh, no! he went before. Poor Alabama boy! On the grim + Pequod's forecastle, ye shall ere long see him, beating his tambourine; + prelusive of the eternal time, when sent for, to the great quarter-deck + on high, he was bid strike in with angels, and beat his tambourine in + glory; called a coward here, hailed a hero there! + + + + + CHAPTER 28 + + + Ahab + + For several days after leaving Nantucket, nothing above hatches was + seen of Captain Ahab. The mates regularly relieved each other at the + watches, and for aught that could be seen to the contrary, they seemed + to be the only commanders of the ship; only they sometimes issued from + the cabin with orders so sudden and peremptory, that after all it was + plain they but commanded vicariously. Yes, their supreme lord and + dictator was there, though hitherto unseen by any eyes not permitted to + penetrate into the now sacred retreat of the cabin. + + Every time I ascended to the deck from my watches below, I instantly + gazed aft to mark if any strange face were visible; for my first vague + disquietude touching the unknown captain, now in the seclusion of the + sea became almost a perturbation. This was strangely heightened at + times by the ragged Elijah's diabolical incoherences uninvitedly + recurring to me, with a subtle energy I could not have before conceived + of. But poorly could I withstand them, much as in other moods I was + almost ready to smile at the solemn whimsicalities of that outlandish + prophet of the wharves. But whatever it was of apprehensiveness or + uneasiness—to call it so— which I felt, yet whenever I came to look + about me in the ship, it seemed against all warranty to cherish such + emotions. For though the harpooneers, with the great body of the crew, + were a far more barbaric, heathenish, and motley set than any of the + tame merchant-ship companies which my previous experiences had made me + acquainted with, still I ascribed this—and rightly ascribed it—to the + fierce uniqueness of the very nature of that wild Scandinavian vocation + in which I had so abandonedly embarked. But it was especially the + aspect of the three chief officers of the ship, the mates, which was + most forcibly calculated to allay these colorless misgivings, and + induce confidence and cheerfulness in every presentment of the voyage. + Three better, more likely sea-officers and men, each in his own + different way, could not readily be found, and they were every one of + them Americans; a Nantucketer, a Vineyarder, a Cape man. Now, it being + Christmas when the ship shot from out her harbor, for a space we had + biting Polar weather, though all the time running away from it to the + southward; and by every degree and minute of latitude which we sailed, + gradually leaving that merciless winter, and all its intolerable + weather behind us. It was one of those less lowering, but still grey + and gloomy enough mornings of the transition, when with a fair wind the + ship was rushing through the water with a vindictive sort of leaping + and melancholy rapidity, that as I mounted to the deck at the call of + the forenoon watch, so soon as I levelled my glance towards the + taffrail, foreboding shivers ran over me. Reality outran apprehension; + Captain Ahab stood upon his quarter-deck. + + There seemed no sign of common bodily illness about him, nor of the + recovery from any. He looked like a man cut away from the stake, when + the fire has overrunningly wasted all the limbs without consuming them, + or taking away one particle from their compacted aged robustness. His + whole high, broad form, seemed made of solid bronze, and shaped in an + unalterable mould, like Cellini's cast Perseus. Threading its way out + from among his grey hairs, and continuing right down one side of his + tawny scorched face and neck, till it disappeared in his clothing, you + saw a slender rod-like mark, lividly whitish. It resembled that + perpendicular seam sometimes made in the straight, lofty trunk of a + great tree, when the upper lightning tearingly darts down it, and + without wrenching a single twig, peels and grooves out the bark from + top to bottom ere running off into the soil, leaving the tree still + greenly alive, but branded. Whether that mark was born with him, or + whether it was the scar left by some desperate wound, no one could + certainly say. By some tacit consent, throughout the voyage little or + no allusion was made to it, especially by the mates. But once + Tashtego's senior, an old Gay-Head Indian among the crew, + superstitiously asserted that not till he was full forty years old did + Ahab become that way branded, and then it came upon him, not in the + fury of any mortal fray, but in an elemental strife at sea. Yet, this + wild hint seemed inferentially negatived, by what a grey Manxman + insinuated, an old sepulchral man, who, having never before sailed out + of Nantucket, had never ere this laid eye upon wild Ahab. Nevertheless, + the old sea-traditions, the immemorial credulities, popularly invested + this old Manxman with preternatural powers of discernment. So that no + white sailor seriously contradicted him when he said that if ever + Captain Ahab should be tranquilly laid out— which might hardly come to + pass, so he muttered—then, whoever should do that last office for the + dead, would find a birth-mark on him from crown to sole. + + So powerfully did the whole grim aspect of Ahab affect me, and the + livid brand which streaked it, that for the first few moments I hardly + noted that not a little of this overbearing grimness was owing to the + barbaric white leg upon which he partly stood. It had previously come + to me that this ivory leg had at sea been fashioned from the polished + bone of the sperm whale's jaw. "Aye, he was dismasted off Japan," said + the old Gay-Head Indian once; "but like his dismasted craft, he shipped + another mast without coming home for it. He has a quiver of 'em." + + I was struck with the singular posture he maintained. Upon each side of + the Pequod's quarter deck, and pretty close to the mizzen shrouds, + there was an auger hole, bored about half an inch or so, into the + plank. His bone leg steadied in that hole; one arm elevated, and + holding by a shroud; Captain Ahab stood erect, looking straight out + beyond the ship's ever-pitching prow. There was an infinity of firmest + fortitude, a determinate, unsurrenderable wilfulness, in the fixed and + fearless, forward dedication of that glance. Not a word he spoke; nor + did his officers say aught to him; though by all their minutest + gestures and expressions, they plainly showed the uneasy, if not + painful, consciousness of being under a troubled master-eye. And not + only that, but moody stricken Ahab stood before them with a crucifixion + in his face; in all the nameless regal overbearing dignity of some + mighty woe. + + Ere long, from his first visit in the air, he withdrew into his cabin. + But after that morning, he was every day visible to the crew; either + standing in his pivot-hole, or seated upon an ivory stool he had; or + heavily walking the deck. As the sky grew less gloomy; indeed, began to + grow a little genial, he became still less and less a recluse; as if, + when the ship had sailed from home, nothing but the dead wintry + bleakness of the sea had then kept him so secluded. And, by and by, it + came to pass, that he was almost continually in the air; but, as yet, + for all that he said, or perceptibly did, on the at last sunny deck, he + seemed as unnecessary there as another mast. But the Pequod was only + making a passage now; not regularly cruising; nearly all whaling + preparatives needing supervision the mates were fully competent to, so + that there was little or nothing, out of himself, to employ or excite + Ahab, now; and thus chase away, for that one interval, the clouds that + layer upon layer were piled upon his brow, as ever all clouds choose + the loftiest peaks to pile themselves upon. + + Nevertheless, ere long, the warm, warbling persuasiveness of the + pleasant, holiday weather we came to, seemed gradually to charm him + from his mood. For, as when the red-cheeked, dancing girls, April and + May, trip home to the wintry, misanthropic woods; even the barest, + ruggedest, most thunder-cloven old oak will at least send forth some + few green sprouts, to welcome such gladhearted visitants; so Ahab did, + in the end, a little respond to the playful allurings of that girlish + air. More than once did he put forth the faint blossom of a look, + which, in any other man, would have soon flowered out in a smile. + + + + + CHAPTER 29 + + + Enter Ahab; to Him, Stubb + + Some days elapsed, and ice and icebergs all astern, the Pequod now went + rolling through the bright Quito spring, which at sea, almost + perpetually reigns on the threshold of the eternal August of the + Tropic. The warmly cool, clear, ringing perfumed, overflowing, + redundant days, were as crystal goblets of Persian sherbet, heaped up— + flaked up, with rose-water snow. The starred and stately nights seemed + haughty dames in jewelled velvets, nursing at home in lonely pride, the + memory of their absent conquering Earls, the golden helmeted suns! For + sleeping man, 'twas hard to choose between such winsome days and such + seducing nights. But all the witcheries of that unwaning weather did + not merely lend new spells and potencies to the outward world. Inward + they turned upon the soul, especially when the still mild hours of eve + came on; then, memory shot her crystals as the clear ice most forms of + noiseless twilights. And all these subtle agencies, more and more they + wrought on Ahab's texture. + + Old age is always wakeful; as if, the longer linked with life, the less + man has to do with aught that looks like death. Among sea-commanders, + the old greybeards will oftenest leave their berths to visit the + night-cloaked deck. It was so with Ahab; only that now, of late, he + seemed so much to live in the open air, that truly speaking, his visits + were more to the cabin, than from the cabin to the planks. "It feels + like going down into one's tomb,"—he would mutter to himself—"for an + old captain like me to be descending this narrow scuttle, to go to my + grave-dug berth." + + So, almost every twenty-four hours, when the watches of the night were + set, and the band on deck sentinelled the slumbers of the band below; + and when if a rope was to be hauled upon the forecastle, the sailors + flung it not rudely down, as by day, but with some cautiousness dropt + it to its place for fear of disturbing their slumbering shipmates; when + this sort of steady quietude would begin to prevail, habitually, the + silent steersman would watch the cabin-scuttle; and ere long the old + man would emerge, gripping at the iron banister, to help his crippled + way. Some considering touch of humanity was in him; for at times like + these, he usually abstained from patrolling the quarter-deck; because + to his wearied mates, seeking repose within six inches of his ivory + heel, such would have been the reverberating crack and din of that bony + step, that their dreams would have been of the crunching teeth of + sharks. But once, the mood was on him too deep for common regardings; + and as with heavy, lumber-like pace he was measuring the ship from + taffrail to mainmast, Stubb, the old second mate, came up from below, + and with a certain unassured, deprecating humorousness, hinted that if + Captain Ahab was pleased to walk the planks, then, no one could say + nay; but there might be some way of muffling the noise; hinting + something indistinctly and hesitatingly about a globe of tow, and the + insertion into it, of the ivory heel. Ah! Stubb, thou didst not know + Ahab then. + + "Am I a cannon-ball, Stubb," said Ahab, "that thou wouldst wad me that + fashion? But go thy ways; I had forgot. Below to thy nightly grave; + where such as ye sleep between shrouds, to use ye to the filling one at + last.—Down, dog, and kennel!" + + Starting at the unforeseen concluding exclamation of the so suddenly + scornful old man, Stubb was speechless a moment; then said excitedly, + "I am not used to be spoken to that way, sir; I do but less than half + like it, sir." + + "Avast! gritted Ahab between his set teeth, and violently moving away, + as if to avoid some passionate temptation. + + "No, sir; not yet," said Stubb, emboldened, "I will not tamely be + called a dog, sir." + + "Then be called ten times a donkey, and a mule, and an ass, and begone, + or I'll clear the world of thee!" + + As he said this, Ahab advanced upon him with such overbearing terrors + in his aspect, that Stubb involuntarily retreated. + + "I was never served so before without giving a hard blow for it," + muttered Stubb, as he found himself descending the cabin-scuttle. "It's + very queer. Stop, Stubb; somehow, now, I don't well know whether to go + back and strike him, or—what's that?— down here on my knees and pray + for him? Yes, that was the thought coming up in me; but it would be the + first time I ever did pray. It's queer; very queer; and he's queer too; + aye, take him fore and aft, he's about the queerest old man Stubb ever + sailed with. How he flashed at me!—his eyes like powder-pans! is he + mad! Anyway there's something's on his mind, as sure as there must be + something on a deck when it cracks. He aint in his bed now, either, + more than three hours out of the twenty-four; and he don't sleep then. + Didn't that Dough-Boy, the steward, tell me that of a morning he always + finds the old man's hammock clothes all rumpled and tumbled, and the + sheets down at the foot, and the coverlid almost tied into knots, and + the pillow a sort of frightful hot, as though a baked brick had been on + it? A hot old man! I guess he's got what some folks ashore call a + conscience; it's a kind of Tic-Dolly-row they say— worse nor a + toothache. Well, well; I don't know what it is, but the Lord keep me + from catching it. He's full of riddles; I wonder what he goes into the + after hold for, every night, as Dough-Boy tells me he suspects; what's + that for, I should like to know? Who's made appointments with him in + the hold? Ain't that queer, now? But there's no telling, it's the old + game— Here goes for a snooze. Damn me, it's worth a fellow's while to + be born into the world, if only to fall right asleep. And now that I + think of it, that's about the first thing babies do, and that's a sort + of queer, too. Damn me, but all things are queer, come to think of 'em. + But that's against my principles. Think not, is my eleventh + commandment; and sleep when you can, is my twelfth—So here goes again. + But how's that? didn't he call me a dog? blazes! he called me ten times + a donkey, and piled a lot of jackasses on top of that! He might as well + have kicked me, and done with it. Maybe he did kick me, and I didn't + observe it, I was so taken all aback with his brow, somehow. It flashed + like a bleached bone. What the devil's the matter with me? I don't + stand right on my legs. Coming afoul of that old man has a sort of + turned me wrong side out. By the Lord, I must have been dreaming, + though—How? how? how?— but the only way's to stash it; so here goes to + hammock again; and in the morning, I'll see how this plaguey juggling + thinks over by daylight." + + + + + CHAPTER 30 + + + The Pipe + + When Stubb had departed, Ahab stood for a while leaning over the + bulwarks; and then, as had been usual with him of late, calling a + sailor of the watch, he sent him below for his ivory stool, and also + his pipe. Lighting the pipe at the binnacle lamp and planting the stool + on the weather side of the deck, he sat and smoked. + + In old Norse times, the thrones of the sea-loving Danish kings were + fabricated, saith tradition, of the tusks of the narwhale. How could + one look at Ahab then, seated on that tripod of bones, without + bethinking him of the royalty it symbolized? For a Khan of the plank, + and a king of the sea and a great lord of Leviathans was Ahab. + + Some moments passed, during which the thick vapor came from his mouth + in quick and constant puffs, which blew back again into his face. "How + now," he soliloquized at last, withdrawing the tube, "this smoking no + longer soothes. Oh, my pipe! hard must it go with me if thy charm be + gone! Here have I been unconsciously toiling, not pleasuring— aye, and + ignorantly smoking to windward all the while; to windward, and with + such nervous whiffs, as if, like the dying whale, my final jets were + the strongest and fullest of trouble. What business have I with this + pipe? This thing that is meant for sereneness, to send up mild white + vapors among mild white hairs, not among torn iron-grey locks like + mine. I'll smoke no more-" + + He tossed the still lighted pipe into the sea. The fire hissed in the + waves; the same instant the ship shot by the bubble the sinking pipe + made. With slouched hat, Ahab lurchingly paced the planks. + + + + + CHAPTER 31 + + + Queen Mab + + Next morning Stubb accosted Flask. + + "Such a queer dream, King-Post, I never had. You know the old man's + ivory leg, well I dreamed he kicked me with it; and when I tried to + kick back, upon my soul, my little man, I kicked my leg right off! And + then, presto! Ahab seemed a pyramid, and I like a blazing fool, kept + kicking at it. But what was still more curious, Flask—you know how + curious all dreams are—through all this rage that I was in, I somehow + seemed to be thinking to myself, that after all, it was not much of an + insult, that kick from Ahab. 'Why,' thinks I, 'what's the row? It's not + a real leg, only a false one.' And there's a mighty difference between + a living thump and a dead thump. That's what makes a blow from the + hand, Flask, fifty times more savage to bear than a blow from a cane. + The living member— that makes the living insult, my little man. And + thinks I to myself all the while, mind, while I was stubbing my silly + toes against that cursed pyramid—so confoundedly contradictory was it + all, all the while, I say, I was thinking to myself, 'what's his leg + now, but a cane-. a whale-bone cane. Yes,' thinks I, 'it was only a + playful cudgelling—in fact, only a whaleboning that he gave me— not a + base kick. Besides,' thinks I, 'look at it once; why, the end of it—the + foot part—what a small sort of end it is; whereas, if a broad footed + farmer kicked me, there's a devilish broad insult. But this insult is + whittled down to a point only.' But now comes the greatest joke of the + dream, Flask. While I was battering away at the pyramid, a sort of + badger-haired old merman, with a hump on his back, takes me by the + shoulders, and slews me round. 'What are you 'bout?' says he. Slid! + man, but I was frightened. Such a phiz! But, somehow, next moment I was + over the fright. 'What am I about?' says I at last. 'And what business + is that of yours, I should like to know, Mr. Humpback? Do you want a + kick?' By the lord, Flask, I had no sooner said that, than he turned + round his stern to me, bent over, and dragging up a lot of seaweed he + had for a clout—what do you think, I saw?—why thunder alive, man, his + stern was stuck full of marlinspikes, with the points out. Says I on + second thought, 'I guess I won't kick you, old fellow.' 'Wise Stubb,' + said he, 'wise Stubb;' and kept muttering it all the time, a sort of + eating of his own gums like a chimney hag. Seeing he wasn't going to + stop saying over his 'wise Stubb, wise Stubb,' I thought I might as + well fall to kicking the pyramid again. But I had only just lifted my + foot for it, when he roared out, 'Stop that kicking!' 'Halloa,' says I, + 'what's the matter now, old fellow?' 'Look ye here,' says he; 'let's + argue the insult. Captain Ahab kicked ye, didn't he?' 'Yes, he did,' + says I—'right here it was.' 'Very good,' says he—'he used his ivory + leg, didn't he?' 'Yes, he did,' says I. 'Well then,' says he, 'wise + Stubb, what have you to complain of? Didn't he kick with right good + will? it wasn't a common pitch pine leg he kicked with, was it? No, you + were kicked by a great man, and with a beautiful ivory leg, Stubb. It's + an honor; I consider it an honor. Listen, wise Stubb. In old England + the greatest lords think it great glory to be slapped by a queen, and + made garter-knights of; but, be your boast, Stubb, that ye were kicked + by old Ahab, and made a wise man of. Remember what I say; be kicked by + him; account his kicks honors; and on no account kick back; for you + can't help yourself, wise Stubb. Don't you see that pyramid?' With + that, he all of a sudden seemed somehow, in some queer fashion, to swim + off into the air. I snored; rolled over; and there I was in my hammock! + Now, what do you think of that dream, Flask?" + + "I don't know; it seems a sort of foolish to me, tho.'" + + "May be; may be. But it's made a wise man of me, Flask. D'ye see Ahab + standing there, sideways looking over the stern? Well, the best thing + you can do, Flask, is to let the old man alone; never speak to him, + whatever he says. Halloa! What's that he shouts? Hark!" + + "Mast-head, there! Look sharp, all of ye! There are whales hereabouts! + + If ye see a white one, split your lungs for him! + + "What do you think of that now, Flask? ain't there a small drop of + something queer about that, eh? A white whale—did ye mark that, man? + Look ye—there's something special in the wind. Stand by for it, Flask. + Ahab has that that's bloody on his mind. But, mum; he comes this way." + + + + + CHAPTER 32 + + + Cetology + + Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost + in its unshored harborless immensities. Ere that come to pass; ere the + Pequod's weedy hull rolls side by side with the barnacled hulls of the + leviathan; at the outset it is but well to attend to a matter almost + indispensable to a thorough appreciative understanding of the more + special leviathanic revelations and allusions of all sorts which are to + follow. + + It is some systematized exhibition of the whale in his broad genera, + that I would now fain put before you. Yet is it no easy task. The + classification of the constituents of a chaos, nothing less is here + essayed. Listen to what the best and latest authorities have laid down. + + "No branch of Zoology is so much involved as that which is entitled + Cetology," says Captain Scoresby, A.D. 1820. + + "It is not my intention, were it in my power, to enter into the inquiry + as to the true method of dividing the cetacea into groups and + families…. Utter confusion exists among the historians of this animal" + (sperm whale), says Surgeon Beale, A.D. 1839. + + "Unfitness to pursue our research in the unfathomable waters." + "Impenetrable veil covering our knowledge of the cetacea." + "A field strewn with thorns." "All these incomplete indications + but serve to torture us naturalists." + + Thus speak of the whale, the great Cuvier, and John Hunter, and Lesson, + those lights of zoology and anatomy. Nevertheless, though of real + knowledge there be little, yet of books there are a plenty; and so in + some small degree, with cetology, or the science of whales. Many are + the men, small and great, old and new, landsmen and seamen, who have at + large or in little, written of the whale. Run over a few:— The Authors + of the Bible; Aristotle; Pliny; Aldrovandi; Sir Thomas Browne; Gesner; + Ray; Linnaeus; Rondeletius; Willoughby; Green; Artedi; Sibbald; + Brisson; Marten; Lacepede; Bonneterre; Desmarest; Baron Cuvier; + Frederick Cuvier; John Hunter; Owen; Scoresby; Beale; Bennett; J. Ross + Browne; the Author of Miriam Coffin; Olmstead; and the Rev. T. Cheever. + But to what ultimate generalizing purpose all these have written, the + above cited extracts will show. + + Of the names in this list of whale authors only those following Owen + ever saw living whales; and but one of them was a real professional + harpooneer and whaleman. I mean Captain Scoresby. On the separate + subject of the Greenland or right-whale, he is the best existing + authority. But Scoresby knew nothing and says nothing of the great + sperm whale, compared with which the Greenland whale is almost unworthy + mentioning. And here be it said, that the Greenland whale is an usurper + upon the throne of the seas. He is not even by any means the largest of + the whales. Yet, owing to the long priority of his claims, and the + profound ignorance which till some seventy years back, invested the + then fabulous and utterly unknown sperm-whale, and which ignorance to + this present day still reigns in all but some few scientific retreats + and whale-ports; this usurpation has been every way complete. Reference + to nearly all the leviathanic allusions in the great poets of past + days, will satisfy you that the Greenland whale, without one rival, was + to them the monarch of the seas. But the time has at last come for a + new proclamation. This is Charing Cross; hear ye! good people all,—the + Greenland whale is deposed,— the great sperm whale now reigneth! + + There are only two books in being which at all pretend to put the + living sperm whale before you, and at the same time, in the remotest + degree succeed in the attempt. Those books are Beale's and Bennett's; + both in their time surgeons to the English South-Sea whale-ships, and + both exact and reliable men. The original matter touching the sperm + whale to be found in their volumes is necessarily small; but so far as + it goes, it is of excellent quality, though mostly confined to + scientific description. As yet, however, the sperm whale, scientific or + poetic, lives not complete in any literature. Far above all other + hunted whales, his is an unwritten life. + + Now the various species of whales need some sort of popular + comprehensive classification, if only an easy outline one for the + present, hereafter to be filled in all-outward its departments by + subsequent laborers. As no better man advances to take this matter in + hand, I hereupon offer my own poor endeavors. I promise nothing + complete; because any human thing supposed to be complete must for that + very reason infallibly be faulty. I shall not pretend to a minute + anatomical description of the various species, or—in this space at + least— to much of any description. My object here is simply to project + the draught of a systematization of cetology. I am the architect, not + the builder. + + But it is a ponderous task; no ordinary letter-sorter in the + Post-Office is equal to it. To grope down into the bottom of the sea + after them; to have one's hands among the unspeakable foundations, + ribs, and very pelvis of the world; this is a fearful thing. What am I + that I should essay to hook the nose of this leviathan! The awful + tauntings in Job might well appal me. "Will he (the leviathan) make a + covenant with thee? Behold the hope of him is vain! But I have swam + through libraries and sailed through oceans; I have had to do with + whales with these visible hands; I am in earnest; and I will try. There + are some preliminaries to settle. + + First: The uncertain, unsettled condition of this science of Cetology + is in the very vestibule attested by the fact, that in some quarters it + still remains a moot point whether a whale be a fish. In his System of + Nature, A.D. 1776, Linnaeus declares, "I hereby separate the whales + from the fish." But of my own knowledge, I know that down to the year + 1850, sharks and shad, alewives and herring, against Linnaeus's express + edict, were still found dividing the possession of the same seas with + the Leviathan. + + The grounds upon which Linnaeus would fain have banished the whales + from the waters, he states as follows: "On account of their warm + bilocular heart, their lungs, their movable eyelids, their hollow ears, + penem intrantem feminam mammis lactantem," and finally, "ex lege + naturae jure meritoque." I submitted all this to my friends Simeon + Macey and Charley Coffin, of Nantucket, both messmates of mine in a + certain voyage, and they united in the opinion that the reasons set + forth were altogether insufficient. Charley profanely hinted they were + humbug. + + Be it known that, waiving all argument, I take the good old fashioned + ground that the whale is a fish, and call upon holy Jonah to back me. + This fundamental thing settled, the next point is, in what internal + respect does the whale differ from other fish. Above, Linnaeus has + given you those items. But in brief they are these: lungs and warm + blood; whereas, all other fish are lungless and cold blooded. + + Next: how shall we define the whale, by his obvious externals, so as + conspicuously to label him for all time to come. To be short, then, a + whale is a spouting fish with a horizontal tail. There you have him. + However contracted, that definition is the result of expanded + meditation. A walrus spouts much like a whale, but the walrus is not a + fish, because he is amphibious. But the last term of the definition is + still more cogent, as coupled with the first. Almost any one must have + noticed that all the fish familiar to landsmen have not a flat, but a + vertical, or up-and-down tail. Whereas, among spouting fish the tail, + though it may be similarly shaped, invariably assumes a horizontal + position. + + By the above definition of what a whale is, I do by no means exclude + from the leviathanic brotherhood any sea creature hitherto identified + with the whale by the best informed Nantucketers; nor, on the other + hand, link with it any fish hitherto authoritatively regarded as + alien.* Hence, all the smaller, spouting and horizontal tailed fish + must be included in this ground-plan of Cetology. Now, then, come the + grand divisions of the entire whale host. + + *I am aware that down to the present time, the fish styled Lamatins and + Dugongs (Pig-fish and Sow-fish of the Coffins of Nantucket) are + included by many naturalists among the whales. But as these pig-fish + are a noisy, contemptible set, mostly lurking in the mouths of rivers, + and feeding on wet hay, and especially as they do not spout, I deny + their credentials as whales; and have presented them with their + passports to quit the Kingdom of Cetology. + + First: According to magnitude I divide the whales into three primary + BOOKS (subdivisible into CHAPTERS), and these shall comprehend them + all, both small and large. + + I. THE FOLIO WHALE; II. the OCTAVO WHALE; III. the DUODECIMO WHALE. + + As the type of the FOLIO I present the Sperm Whale; of the OCTAVO, the + Grampus; of the DUODECIMO, the Porpoise. + + FOLIOS. Among these I here include the following chapters:— I. The + Sperm Whale; II. the Right Whale; III. the Fin Back Whale; IV. the + Humpbacked Whale; V. the Razor Back Whale; VI. the Sulphur Bottom + Whale. + + BOOK I. (Folio), CHAPTER I. (Sperm Whale).—This whale, among the + English of old vaguely known as the Trumpa whale and the Physeter + whale, and the Anvil Headed whale, is the present Cachalot of the + French, and the Pottsfich of the Germans, and the Macrocephalus of the + Long Words. He is, without doubt, the largest inhabitant of the globe; + the most formidable of all whales to encounter; the most majestic in + aspect; and lastly, by far the most valuable in commerce; he being the + only creature from which that valuable substance, spermaceti, is + obtained. All his peculiarities will, in many other places, be enlarged + upon. It is chiefly with his name that I now have to do. Philologically + considered, it is absurd. Some centuries ago, when the Sperm whale was + almost wholly unknown in his own proper individuality, and when his oil + was only accidentally obtained from the stranded fish; in those days + spermaceti, it would seem, was popularly supposed to be derived from a + creature identical with the one then known in England as the Greenland + or Right Whale. It was the idea also, that this same spermaceti was + that quickening humor of the Greenland Whale which the first syllable + of the word literally expresses. In those times, also, spermaceti was + exceedingly scarce, not being used for light, but only as an ointment + and medicament. It was only to be had from the druggists as you + nowadays buy an ounce of rhubarb. When, as I opine, in the course of + time, the true nature of spermaceti became known, its original name was + still retained by the dealers; no doubt to enhance its value by a + notion so strangely significant of its scarcity. And so the appellation + must at last have come to be bestowed upon the whale from which this + spermaceti was really derived. + + BOOK I. (Folio), CHAPTER II. (Right Whale).—In one respect this is the + most venerable of the leviathans, being the one first regularly hunted + by man. It yields the article commonly known as whalebone or baleen; + and the oil specially known as "whale oil," an inferior article in + commerce. Among the fishermen, he is indiscriminately designated by all + the following titles: The Whale; the Greenland Whale; the Black Whale; + the Great Whale; the True Whale; the Right Whale. There is a deal of + obscurity concerning the Identity of the species thus multitudinously + baptized. What then is the whale, which I include in the second species + of my Folios? It is the Great Mysticetus of the English naturalists; + the Greenland Whale of the English Whalemen; the Baliene Ordinaire of + the French whalemen; the Growlands Walfish of the Swedes. It is the + whale which for more than two centuries past has been hunted by the + Dutch and English in the Arctic seas; it is the whale which the + American fishermen have long pursued in the Indian ocean, on the Brazil + Banks, on the Nor' West Coast, and various other parts of the world, + designated by them Right Whale Cruising Grounds. + + + Some pretend to see a difference between the Greenland whale of the + English and the right whale of the Americans. But they precisely agree + in all their grand features; nor has there yet been presented a single + determinate fact upon which to ground a radical distinction. It is by + endless subdivisions based upon the most inconclusive differences, that + some departments of natural history become so repellingly intricate. + The right whale will be elsewhere treated of at some length, with + reference to elucidating the sperm whale. + + BOOK I. (Folio), CHAPTER III. (Fin-Back).—Under this head I reckon a + monster which, by the various names of Fin-Back, Tall-Spout, and + Long-John, has been seen almost in every sea and is commonly the whale + whose distant jet is so often descried by passengers crossing the + Atlantic, in the New York packet-tracks. In the length he attains, and + in his baleen, the Fin-back resembles the right whale, but is of a less + portly girth, and a lighter color, approaching to olive. His great lips + present a cable-like aspect, formed by the intertwisting, slanting + folds of large wrinkles. His grand distinguishing feature, the fin, + from which he derives his name, is often a conspicuous object. This fin + is some three or four feet long, growing vertically from the hinder + part of the back, of an angular shape, and with a very sharp pointed + end. Even if not the slightest other part of the creature be visible, + this isolated fin will, at times, be seen plainly projecting from the + surface. When the sea is moderately calm, and slightly marked with + spherical ripples, and this gnomon-like fin stands up and casts shadows + upon the wrinkled surface, it may well be supposed that the watery + circle surrounding it somewhat resembles a dial, with its style and + wavy hour-lines graved on it. On that Ahaz-dial the shadow often goes + back. The Fin-Back is not gregarious. He seems a whale-hater, as some + men are man-haters. Very shy; always going solitary; unexpectedly + rising to the surface in the remotest and most sullen waters; his + straight and single lofty jet rising like a tall misanthropic spear + upon a barren plain; gifted with such wondrous power and velocity in + swimming, as to defy all present pursuit from man; this leviathan seems + the banished and unconquerable Cain of his race, bearing for his mark + that style upon his back. From having the baleen in his mouth, the + Fin-Back is sometimes included with the right whale, among a theoretic + species denominated Whalebone whales, that is, whales with baleen. Of + these so-called Whalebone whales, there would seem to be several + varieties, most of which, however, are little known. Broad-nosed whales + and beaked whales; pike-headed whales; bunched whales; under-jawed + whales and rostrated whales, are the fisherman's names for a few sorts. + + + In connexion with this appellative of "Whalebone whales," it is of + great importance to mention, that however such a nomenclature may be + convenient in facilitating allusions to some kind of whales, yet it is + in vain to attempt a clear classification of the Leviathan, founded + upon either his baleen, or hump, or fin, or teeth; notwithstanding that + those marked parts or features very obviously seem better adapted to + afford the basis for a regular system of Cetology than any other + detached bodily distinctions, which the whale, in his kinds, presents. + How then? The baleen, hump, back-fin, and teeth; these are things whose + peculiarities are indiscriminately dispersed among all sorts of whales, + without any regard to what may be the nature of their structure in + other and more essential particulars. Thus, the sperm whale and the + humpbacked whale, each has a hump; but there the similitude ceases. + Then this same humpbacked whale and the Greenland whale, each of these + has baleen; but there again the similitude ceases. And it is just the + same with the other parts above mentioned. In various sorts of whales, + they form such irregular combinations; or, in the case of any one of + them detached, such an irregular isolation; as utterly to defy all + general methodization formed upon such a basis. On this rock every one + of the whale-naturalists has split. + + But it may possibly be conceived that, in the internal parts of the + whale, in his anatomy—there, at least, we shall be able to hit the + right classification. Nay; what thing, for example, is there in the + Greenland whale's anatomy more striking than his baleen? Yet we have + seen that by his baleen it is impossible correctly to classify the + Greenland whale. And if you descend into the bowels of the various + leviathans, why there you will not find distinctions a fiftieth part as + available to the systematizer as those external ones already + enumerated. What then remains? nothing but to take hold of the whales + bodily, in their entire liberal volume, and boldly sort them that way. + And this is the Bibliographical system here adopted; and it is the only + one that can possibly succeed, for it alone is practicable. To proceed. + + BOOK I. (Folio) CHAPTER IV. (Hump Back).—This whale is often seen on + the northern American coast. He has been frequently captured there, and + towed into harbor. He has a great pack on him like a peddler; or you + might call him the Elephant and Castle whale. At any rate, the popular + name for him does not sufficiently distinguish him, since the sperm + whale also has a hump though a smaller one. His oil is not very + valuable. He has baleen. He is the most gamesome and light-hearted of + all the whales, making more gay foam and white water generally than any + other of them. + + BOOK I. (Folio), CHAPTER V. ( Razor Back).—Of this whale little is + known but his name. I have seen him at a distance off Cape Horn. Of a + retiring nature, he eludes both hunters and philosophers. Though no + coward, he has never yet shown any part of him but his back, which + rises in a long sharp ridge. Let him go. I know little more of him, nor + does anybody else. + + BOOK I. (Folio), CHAPTER VI. (Sulphur Bottom).—Another retiring + gentleman, with a brimstone belly, doubtless got by scraping along the + Tartarian tiles in some of his profounder divings. He is seldom seen; + at least I have never seen him except in the remoter southern seas, and + then always at too great a distance to study his countenance. He is + never chased; he would run away with rope-walks of line. Prodigies are + told of him. Adieu, Sulphur Bottom! I can say nothing more that is true + of ye, nor can the oldest Nantucketer. + + + Thus ends BOOK I. (Folio), and now begins BOOK II. (Octavo). + + OCTAVOES.* These embrace the whales of middling magnitude, among which + at present may be numbered:—I., the Grampus; II., the Black Fish; III., + the Narwhale; IV., the Thrasher; V., the Killer. + + *Why this book of whales is not denominated the Quarto is very plain. + Because, while the whales of this order, though smaller than those of + the former order, nevertheless retain a proportionate likeness to them + in figure, yet the bookbinder's Quarto volume in its dimensioned form + does not preserve the shape of the Folio volume, but the Octavo volume + does. + + BOOK II. (Octavo), CHAPTER I. (Grampus).—Though this fish, whose loud + sonorous breathing, or rather blowing, has furnished a proverb to + landsmen, is so well known a denizen of the deep, yet is he not + popularly classed among whales. But possessing all the grand + distinctive features of the leviathan, most naturalists have recognised + him for one. He is of moderate octavo size, varying from fifteen to + twenty-five feet in length, and of corresponding dimensions round the + waist. He swims in herds; he is never regularly hunted, though his oil + is considerable in quantity, and pretty good for light. By some + fishermen his approach is regarded as premonitory of the advance of the + great sperm whale. + + BOOK II. (Octavo), CHAPTER II. (Black Fish).—I give the popular + fishermen's names for all these fish, for generally they are the best. + Where any name happens to be vague or inexpressive, I shall say so, and + suggest another. I do so now touching the Black Fish, so called because + blackness is the rule among almost all whales. So, call him the Hyena + Whale, if you please. His voracity is well known and from the + circumstance that the inner angles of his lips are curved upwards, he + carries an everlasting Mephistophelean grin on his face. This whale + averages some sixteen or eighteen feet in length. He is found in almost + all latitudes. He has a peculiar way of showing his dorsal hooked fin + in swimming, which looks something like a Roman nose. When not more + profitably employed, the sperm whale hunters sometimes capture the + Hyena whale, to keep up the supply of cheap oil for domestic + employment— as some frugal housekeepers, in the absence of company, and + quite alone by themselves, burn unsavory tallow instead of odorous wax. + Though their blubber is very thin, some of these whales will yield you + upwards of thirty gallons of oil. + + BOOK II. (Octavo), CHAPTER III. (Narwhale), that is, Nostril whale.— + Another instance of a curiously named whale, so named I suppose from + his peculiar horn being originally mistaken for a peaked nose. The + creature is some sixteen feet in length, while its horn averages five + feet, though some exceed ten, and even attain to fifteen feet. Strictly + speaking, this horn is but a lengthened tusk, growing out from the jaw + in a line a little depressed from the horizontal. But it is only found + on the sinister side, which has an ill effect, giving its owner + something analogous to the aspect of a clumsy left-handed man. What + precise purpose this ivory horn or lance answers, it would be hard to + say. It does not seem to be used like the blade of the sword-fish and + bill-fish; though some sailors tell me that the Narwhale employs it for + a rake in turning over the bottom of the sea for food. Charley Coffin + said it was used for an ice-piercer; for the Narwhale, rising to the + surface of the Polar Sea, and finding it sheeted with ice, thrusts his + horn up, and so breaks through. But you cannot prove either of these + surmises to be correct. My own opinion is, that however this one-sided + horn may really be used by the Narwhale—however that may be—it would + certainly be very convenient to him for a folder in reading pamphlets. + The Narwhale I have heard called the Tusked whale, the Horned whale, + and the Unicorn whale. He is certainly a curious example of the + Unicornism to be found in almost every kingdom of animated nature. From + certain cloistered old authors I have gathered that this same + sea-unicorn's horn was in ancient days regarded as the great antidote + against poison, and as such, preparations of it brought immense prices. + It was also distilled to a volatile salts for fainting ladies the same + way that the horns of the male deer are manufactured into hartshorn. + Originally it was in itself accounted an object of great curiosity. + Black Letter tells me that Sir Martin Frobisher on his return from that + voyage, when Queen Bess did gallantly wave her jewelled hand to him + from a window of Greenwich Palace, as his bold ship sailed down the + Thames; "when Sir Martin returned from that voyage," saith Black + Letter, "on bended knees he presented to her highness a prodigious long + horn of the Narwhale, which for a long period after hung in the castle + at Windsor." An Irish author avers that the Earl of Leicester, on + bended knees, did likewise present to her highness another horn, + pertaining to a land beast of the unicorn nature. + + + The Narwhale has a very picturesque, leopard-like look, being of a + milk-white ground color, dotted with round and oblong spots of black. + His oil is very superior, clear and fine; but there is little of it, + and he is seldom hunted. He is mostly found in the circumpolar seas. + + BOOK II. (Octavo), CHAPTER IV. (Killer).—Of this whale little is + precisely known to the Nantucketer, and nothing at all to the professed + naturalists. From what I have seen of him at a distance, I should say + that he was about the bigness of a grampus. He is very savage—a sort of + Feegee fish. He sometimes takes the great Folio whales by the lip, and + hangs there like a leech, till the mighty brute is worried to death. + The Killer is never hunted. I never heard what sort of oil he has. + Exception might be taken to the name bestowed upon this whale, on the + ground of its indistinctness. For we are all killers, on land and on + sea; Bonapartes and Sharks included. + + BOOK II. (Octavo), CHAPTER V. (Thrasher).—This gentleman is famous for + his tail which he uses for a ferule in thrashing his foes. He mounts + the Folio whale's back, and as he swims, he works his passage by + flogging him; as some schoolmasters get along in the world by a similar + process. Still less is known of the Thrasher than of the Killer. Both + are outlaws, even in the lawless seas. + + + Thus ends BOOK II. (Octavo), and begins BOOK III, (Duodecimo.) + + DUODECIMOES.—These include the smaller whales. I. The Huzza Porpoise. + II. The Algerine Porpoise. III. The Mealy-mouthed Porpoise. + + To those who have not chanced specially to study the subject, it may + possibly seem strange, that fishes not commonly exceeding four or five + feet should be marshalled among WHALES—a word, which, in the popular + sense, always conveys an idea of hugeness. But the creatures set down + above as Duodecimoes are infallibly whales, by the terms of my + definition of what a whale is—i.e. a spouting fish, with a horizontal + tail. + + BOOK III. (Duodecimo), CHAPTER 1. (Huzza Porpoise).—This is the common + porpoise found almost all over the globe. The name is of my own + bestowal; for there are more than one sort of porpoises, and something + must be done to distinguish them. I call him thus, because he always + swims in hilarious shoals, which upon the broad sea keep tossing + themselves to heaven like caps in a Fourth-of-July crowd. Their + appearance is generally hailed with delight by the mariner. Full of + fine spirits, they invariably come from the breezy billows to windward. + They are the lads that always live before the wind. They are accounted + a lucky omen. If you yourself can withstand three cheers at beholding + these vivacious fish, then heaven help ye; the spirit of godly + gamesomeness is not in ye. A well-fed, plump Huzza Porpoise will yield + you one good gallon of good oil. But the fine and delicate fluid + extracted from his jaws is exceedingly valuable. It is in request among + jewellers and watchmakers. Sailors put it on their hones. Porpoise meat + is good eating, you know. It may never have occurred to you that a + porpoise spouts. Indeed, his spout is so small that it is not very + readily discernible. But the next time you have a chance, watch him; + and you will then see the great Sperm whale himself in miniature. + + BOOK III. (Duodecimo), CHAPTER II. (Algerine Porpoise).—A pirate. Very + savage. He is only found, I think, in the Pacific. He is somewhat + larger than the Huzza Porpoise, but much of the same general make. + Provoke him, and he will buckle to a shark. I have lowered for him many + times, but never yet saw him captured. + + BOOK III. (Duodecimo), CHAPTER III. (Mealy-mouthed Porpoise).—The + largest kind of Porpoise; and only found in the Pacific, so far as it + is known. The only English name, by which he has hitherto been + designated, is that of the fisher—Right-Whale Porpoise, from the + circumstance that he is chiefly found in the vicinity of that Folio. In + shape, he differs in some degree from the Huzza Porpoise, being of a + less rotund and jolly girth; indeed, he is of quite a neat and + gentleman-like figure. He has no fins on his back (most other porpoises + have), he has a lovely tail, and sentimental Indian eyes of a hazel + hue. But his mealy-mouth spoils all. Though his entire back down to his + side fins is of a deep sable, yet a boundary line, distinct as the mark + in a ship's hull, called the "bright waist," that line streaks him from + stem to stern, with two separate colors, black above and white below. + The white comprises part of his head, and the whole of his mouth, which + makes him look as if he had just escaped from a felonious visit to a + meal-bag. A most mean and mealy aspect! His oil is much like that of + the common porpoise. + + + Beyond the DUODECIMO, this system does not proceed, inasmuch as the + Porpoise is the smallest of the whales. Above, you have all the + Leviathans of note. But there are a rabble of uncertain, fugitive, + half-fabulous whales, which, as an American whaleman, I know by + reputation, but not personally. I shall enumerate them by their + fore-castle appellations; for possibly such a list may be valuable to + future investigators, who may complete what I have here but begun. If + any of the following whales, shall hereafter be caught and marked, then + he can readily be incorporated into this System, according to his + Folio, Octavo, or Duodecimo magnitude:— The Bottle-Nose Whale; the Junk + Whale; the Pudding-Headed Whale; the Cape Whale; the Leading Whale; the + Cannon Whale; the Scragg Whale; the Coppered Whale; the Elephant Whale; + the Iceberg Whale; the Quog Whale; the Blue Whale; &c. From Icelandic, + Dutch, and old English authorities, there might be quoted other lists + of uncertain whales, blessed with all manner of uncouth names. But I + omit them as altogether obsolete; and can hardly help suspecting them + for mere sounds, full of Leviathanism, but signifying nothing. + + Finally: It was stated at the outset, that this system would not be + here, and at once, perfected. You cannot but plainly see that I have + kept my word. But I now leave my cetological System standing thus + unfinished, even as the great Cathedral of Cologne was left, with the + cranes still standing upon the top of the uncompleted tower. For small + erections may be finished by their first architects; grand ones, true + ones, ever leave the copestone to posterity. God keep me from ever + completing anything. This whole book is but a draught—nay, but the + draught of a draught. Oh, Time, Strength, Cash, and Patience! + + + + + CHAPTER 33 + + + The Specksynder + + Concerning the officers of the whale-craft, this seems as good a place + as any to set down a little domestic peculiarity on ship-board, arising + from the existence of the harpooneer class of officers, a class unknown + of course in any other marine than the whale-fleet. + + The large importance attached to the harpooneer's vocation is evinced + by the fact, that originally in the old Dutch Fishery, two centuries + and more ago, the command of a whale-ship was not wholly lodged in the + person now called the captain, but was divided between him and an + officer called the Specksynder. Literally this word means Fat-Cutter; + usage, however, in time made it equivalent to Chief Harpooneer. In + those days, the captain's authority was restricted to the navigation + and general management of the vessel; while over the whale-hunting + department and all its concerns, the Specksynder or Chief Harpooneer + reigned supreme. In the British Greenland Fishery, under the corrupted + title of Specksioneer, this old Dutch official is still retained, but + his former dignity is sadly abridged. At present he ranks simply as + senior Harpooneer; and as such, is but one of the captain's more + inferior subalterns. Nevertheless, as upon the good conduct of the + harpooneers the success of a whaling voyage largely depends, and since + in the American Fishery he is not only an important officer in the + boat, but under certain circumstances (night watches on a whaling + ground) the command of the ship's deck is also his; therefore the grand + political maxim of the sea demands, that he should nominally live apart + from the men before the mast, and be in some way distinguished as their + professional superior; though always, by them, familiarly regarded as + their social equal. + + Now, the grand distinction drawn between officer and man at sea, is + this—the first lives aft, the last forward. Hence, in whale-ships and + merchantmen alike, the mates have their quarters with the captain; and + so, too, in most of the American whalers the harpooneers are lodged in + the after part of the ship. That is to say, they take their meals in + the captain's cabin, and sleep in a place indirectly communicating with + it. + + Though the long period of a Southern whaling voyage (by far the longest + of all voyages now or ever made by man), the peculiar perils of it, and + the community of interest prevailing among a company, all of whom, high + or low, depend for their profits, not upon fixed wages, but upon their + common luck, together with their common vigilance, intrepidity, and + hard work; though all these things do in some cases tend to beget a + less rigorous discipline than in merchantmen generally; yet, never mind + how much like an old Mesopotamian family these whalemen may, in some + primitive instances, live together; for all that, the punctilious + externals, at least, of the quarter-deck are seldom materially relaxed, + and in no instance done away. Indeed, many are the Nantucket ships in + which you will see the skipper parading his quarter-deck with an elated + grandeur not surpassed in any military navy; nay, extorting almost as + much outward homage as if he wore the imperial purple, and not the + shabbiest of pilot-cloth. + + And though of all men the moody captain of the Pequod was the least + given to that sort of shallowest assumption; and though the only homage + he ever exacted, was implicit, instantaneous obedience; though he + required no man to remove the shoes from his feet ere stepping upon the + quarter-deck; and though there were times when, owing to peculiar + circumstances connected with events hereafter to be detailed, he + addressed them in unusual terms, whether of condescension or in + terrorem, or otherwise; yet even Captain Ahab was by no means + unobservant of the paramount forms and usages of the sea. + + Nor, perhaps, will it fail to be eventually perceived, that behind + those forms and usages, as it were, he sometimes masked himself; + incidentally making use of them for other and more private ends than + they were legitimately intended to subserve. That certain sultanism of + his brain, which had otherwise in a good degree remained unmanifested; + through those forms that same sultanism became incarnate in an + irresistible dictatorship. For be a man's intellectual superiority what + it will, it can never assume the practical, available supremacy over + other men, without the aid of some sort of external arts and + entrenchments, always, in themselves, more or less paltry and base. + This it is, that for ever keeps God's true princes of the Empire from + the world's hustings; and leaves the highest honors that this air can + give, to those men who become famous more through their infinite + inferiority to the choice hidden handful of the Divine Inert, than + through their undoubted superiority over the dead level of the mass. + Such large virtue lurks in these small things when extreme political + superstitions invest them, that in some royal instances even to idiot + imbecility they have imparted potency. But when, as in the case of + Nicholas the Czar, the ringed crown of geographical empire encircles an + imperial brain; then, the plebeian herds crouch abased before the + tremendous centralization. Nor, will the tragic dramatist who would + depict mortal indomitableness in its fullest sweep and direct swing, + ever forget a hint, incidentally so important in his art, as the one + now alluded to. + + But Ahab, my Captain, still moves before me in all his Nantucket + grimness and shagginess; and in this episode touching Emperors and + Kings, I must not conceal that I have only to do with a poor old + whale-hunter like him; and, therefore, all outward majestical trappings + and housings are denied me. Oh, Ahab! what shall be grand in thee, it + must needs be plucked at from the skies, and dived for in the deep, and + featured in the unbodied air! + + + + + CHAPTER 34 + + + The Cabin-Table + + It is noon; and Dough-Boy, the steward, thrusting his pale + loaf-of-bread face from the cabin-scuttle, announces dinner to his lord + and master who, sitting in the lee quarter-boat, has just been taking + an observation of the sun; and is now mutely reckoning the latitude on + the smooth, medallion-shaped tablet, reserved for that daily purpose on + the upper part of his ivory leg. From his complete inattention to the + tidings, you would think that moody Ahab had not heard his menial. But + presently, catching hold of the mizen shrouds, he swings himself to the + deck, and in an even, unexhilarated voice, saying, "Dinner, Mr. + Starbuck," disappears into the cabin. + + When the last echo of his sultan's step has died away, and Starbuck, + the first Emir, has every reason to suppose that he is seated, then + Starbuck rouses from his quietude, takes a few turns along the planks, + and, after a grave peep into the binnacle, says, with some touch of + pleasantness, "Dinner, Mr. Stubb," and descends the scuttle. The second + Emir lounges about the rigging awhile, and then slightly shaking the + main brace, to see whether it will be all right with that important + rope, he likewise takes up the old burden, and with a rapid "Dinner, + Mr. Flask," follows after his predecessors. + + But the third Emir, now seeing himself all alone on the quarter-deck, + seems to feel relieved from some curious restraint; for, tipping all + sorts of knowing winks in all sorts of directions, and kicking off his + shoes, he strikes into a sharp but noiseless squall of a hornpipe right + over the Grand Turk's head; and then, by a dexterous sleight, pitching + his cap up into the mizentop for a shelf, he goes down rollicking so + far at least as he remains visible from the deck, reversing all other + processions, by bringing up the rear with music. But ere stepping into + the cabin doorway below, he pauses, ships a new face altogether, and, + then, independent, hilarious little Flask enters King Ahab's presence, + in the character of Abjectus, or the Slave. + + It is not the least among the strange things bred by the intense + artificialness of sea-usages, that while in the open air of the deck + some officers will, upon provocation, bear themselves boldly and + defyingly enough towards their commander; yet, ten to one, let those + very officers the next moment go down to their customary dinner in that + same commander's cabin, and straightway their inoffensive, not to say + deprecatory and humble air towards him, as he sits at the head of the + table; this is marvellous, sometimes most comical. Wherefore this + difference? A problem? Perhaps not. To have been Belshazzar, King of + Babylon; and to have been Belshazzar, not haughtily but courteously, + therein certainly must have been some touch of mundane grandeur. But he + who in the rightly regal and intelligent spirit presides over his own + private dinner-table of invited guests, that man's unchallenged power + and dominion of individual influence for the time; that man's royalty + of state transcends Belshazzar's, for Belshazzar was not the greatest. + Who has but once dined his friends, has tasted what it is to be Caesar. + It is a witchery of social czarship which there is no withstanding. + Now, if to this consideration you super-add the official supremacy of a + ship-master, then, by inference, you will derive the cause of that + peculiarity of sea-life just mentioned. + + Over his ivory-inlaid table, Ahab presided like a mute, maned sea-lion + on the white coral beach, surrounded by his war-like but still + deferential cubs. In his own proper turn, each officer waited to be + served. They were as little children before Ahab; and yet, in Ahab, + there seemed not to lurk the smallest social arrogance. With one mind, + their intent eyes all fastened upon the old man's knife, as he carved + the chief dish before him. I do not suppose that for the world they + would have profaned that moment with the slightest observation, even + upon so neutral a topic as the weather. No! And when reaching out his + knife and fork, between which the slice of beef was locked, Ahab + thereby motioned Starbuck's plate towards him, the mate received his + meat as though receiving alms; and cut it tenderly; and a little + started if, perchance, the knife grazed against the plate; and chewed + it noiselessly; and swallowed it, not without circumspection. For, like + the Coronation banquet at Frankfort, where the German Emperor + profoundly dines with the seven Imperial Electors, so these cabin meals + were somehow solemn meals, eaten in awful silence; and yet at table old + Ahab forbade not conversation; only he himself was dumb. What a relief + it was to choking Stubb, when a rat made a sudden racket in the hold + below. And poor little Flask, he was the youngest son, and little boy + of this weary family party. His were the shin-bones of the saline beef; + his would have been the drumsticks. For Flask to have presumed to help + himself, this must have seemed to him tantamount to larceny in the + first degree. Had he helped himself at that table, doubtless, never + more would he have been able to hold his head up in this honest world; + nevertheless, strange to say, Ahab never forbade him. And had Flask + helped himself, the chances were Ahab had never so much as noticed it. + Least of all, did Flask presume to help himself to butter. Whether he + thought the owners of the ship denied it to him, on account of its + clotting his clear, sunny complexion; or whether he deemed that, on so + long a voyage in such marketless waters, butter was at a premium, and + therefore was not for him, a subaltern; however it was, Flask, alas! + was a butterless man! + + Another thing. Flask was the last person down at the dinner, and Flask + is the first man up. Consider! For hereby Flask's dinner was badly + jammed in point of time. Starbuck and Stubb both had the start of him; + and yet they also have the privilege of lounging in the rear. If Stubb + even, who is but a peg higher than Flask, happens to have but a small + appetite, and soon shows symptoms of concluding his repast, then Flask + must bestir himself, he will not get more than three mouthfuls that + day; for it is against holy usage for Stubb to precede Flask to the + deck. Therefore it was that Flask once admitted in private, that ever + since he had arisen to the dignity of an officer, from that moment he + had never known what it was to be otherwise than hungry, more or less. + For what he ate did not so much relieve his hunger, as keep it immortal + in him. Peace and satisfaction, thought Flask, have for ever departed + from my stomach. I am an officer; but, how I wish I could fist a bit of + old-fashioned beef in the fore-castle, as I used to when I was before + the mast. There's the fruits of promotion now; there's the vanity of + glory: there's the insanity of life! Besides, if it were so that any + mere sailor of the Pequod had a grudge against Flask in Flask's + official capacity, all that sailor had to do, in order to obtain ample + vengeance, was to go aft at dinnertime, and get a peep at Flask through + the cabin sky-light, sitting silly and dumfoundered before awful Ahab. + + Now, Ahab and his three mates formed what may be called the first table + in the Pequod's cabin. After their departure, taking place in inverted + order to their arrival, the canvas cloth was cleared, or rather was + restored to some hurried order by the pallid steward. And then the + three harpooneers were bidden to the feast, they being its residuary + legatees. They made a sort of temporary servants' hall of the high and + mighty cabin. + + In strange contrast to the hardly tolerable constraint and nameless + invisible domineerings of the captain's table, was the entire care-free + license and ease, the almost frantic democracy of those inferior + fellows the harpooneers. While their masters, the mates, seemed afraid + of the sound of the hinges of their own jaws, the harpooneers chewed + their food with such a relish that there was a report to it. They dined + like lords; they filled their bellies like Indian ships all day loading + with spices. Such portentous appetites had Queequeg and Tashtego, that + to fill out the vacancies made by the previous repast, often the pale + Dough-Boy was fain to bring on a great baron of salt-junk, seemingly + quarried out of the solid ox. And if he were not lively about it, if he + did not go with a nimble hop-skip-and-jump, then Tashtego had an + ungentlemanly way of accelerating him by darting a fork at his back, + harpoon-wise. And once Daggoo, seized with a sudden humor, assisted + Dough-Boy's memory by snatching him up bodily, and thrusting his head + into a great empty wooden trencher, while Tashtego, knife in hand, + began laying out the circle preliminary to scalping him. He was + naturally a very nervous, shuddering sort of little fellow, this + bread-faced steward; the progeny of a bankrupt baker and a hospital + nurse. And what with the standing spectacle of the black terrific Ahab, + and the periodical tumultuous visitations of these three savages, + Dough-Boy's whole life was one continual lip-quiver. Commonly, after + seeing the harpooneers furnished with all things they demanded, he + would escape from their clutches into his little pantry adjoining, and + fearfully peep out at them through the blinds of its door, till all was + over. + + It was a sight to see Queequeg seated over against Tashtego, opposing + his filed teeth to the Indian's; crosswise to them, Daggoo seated on + the floor, for a bench would have brought his hearse-plumed head to the + low carlines; at every motion of his colossal limbs, making the low + cabin framework to shake, as when an African elephant goes passenger in + a ship. But for all this, the great negro was wonderfully abstemious, + not to say dainty. It seemed hardly possible that by such comparatively + small mouthfuls he could keep up the vitality diffused through so + broad, baronial, and superb a person. But, doubtless, this noble savage + fed strong and drank deep of the abounding element of air; and through + his dilated nostrils snuffed in the sublime life of the worlds. Not by + beef or by bread, are giants made or nourished. But Queequeg, he had a + mortal, barbaric smack of the lip in eating— an ugly sound enough—so + much so, that the trembling Dough-Boy almost looked to see whether any + marks of teeth lurked in his own lean arms. And when he would hear + Tashtego singing out for him to produce himself, that his bones might + be picked, the simple-witted Steward all but shattered the crockery + hanging round him in the pantry, by his sudden fits of the palsy. Nor + did the whetstone which the harpooneers carried in their pockets, for + their lances and other weapons; and with which whetstones, at dinner, + they would ostentatiously sharpen their knives; that grating sound did + not at all tend to tranquillize poor Dough-Boy. How could he forget + that in his Island days, Queequeg, for one, must certainly have been + guilty of some murderous, convivial indiscretion. Alas! Dough-Boy! hard + fares the white waiter who waits upon cannibals. Not a napkin should he + carry on his arm, but a buckler. In good time, though, to his great + delight, the three salt-sea warriors would rise and depart; to his + credulous, fable-mongering ears, all their martial bones jingling in + them at every step, like Moorish scimetars in scabbards. + + But, though these barbarians dined in the cabin, and nominally lived + there; still, being anything but sedentary in their habits, they were + scarcely ever in it except at mealtimes, and just before sleeping-time, + when they passed through it to their own peculiar quarters. + + In this one matter, Ahab seemed no exception to most American whale + captains, who, as a set, rather incline to the opinion that by rights + the ship's cabin belongs to them; and that it is by courtesy alone that + anybody else is, at any time, permitted there. So that, in real truth, + the mates and harpooneers of the Pequod might more properly be said to + have lived out of the cabin than in it. For when they did enter it, it + was something as a streetdoor enters a house; turning inwards for a + moment, only to be turned out the next; and, as a permanent thing, + residing in the open air. Nor did they lose much hereby; in the cabin + was no companionship; socially, Ahab was inaccessible. Though nominally + included in the census of Christendom, he was still an alien to it. He + lived in the world, as the last of the Grisly Bears lived in settled + Missouri. And as when Spring and Summer had departed, that wild Logan + of the woods, burying himself in the hollow of a tree, lived out the + winter there, sucking his own paws; so, in his inclement, howling old + age, Ahab's soul, shut up in the caved trunk of his body, there fed + upon the sullen paws of its gloom! + + + + + CHAPTER 35 + + + The Mast-Head + + It was during the more pleasant weather, that in due rotation with the + other seamen my first mast-head came round. + + In most American whalemen the mast-heads are manned almost + simultaneously with the vessel's leaving her port; even though she may + have fifteen thousand miles, and more, to sail ere reaching her proper + cruising ground. And if, after a three, four, or five years' voyage she + is drawing nigh home with anything empty in her—say, an empty vial + even— then, her mast-heads are kept manned to the last! and not till + her skysail-poles sail in among the spires of the port, does she + altogether relinquish the hope of capturing one whale more. + + Now, as the business of standing mast-heads, ashore or afloat, is a + very ancient and interesting one, let us in some measure expatiate + here. I take it, that the earliest standers of mast-heads were the old + Egyptians; because, in all my researches, I find none prior to them. + For though their progenitors, the builders of Babel, must doubtless, by + their tower, have intended to rear the loftiest mast-head in all Asia, + or Africa either; yet (ere the final truck was put to it) as that great + stone mast of theirs may be said to have gone by the board, in the + dread gale of God's wrath; therefore, we cannot give these Babel + builders priority over the Egyptians. And that the Egyptians were a + nation of mast-head standers, is an assertion based upon the general + belief among archaeologists, that the first pyramids were founded for + astronomical purposes: a theory singularly supported by the peculiar + stairlike formation of all four sides of those edifices; whereby, with + prodigious long upliftings of their legs, those old astronomers were + wont to mount to the apex, and sing out for new stars; even as the + look-outs of a modern ship sing out for a sail, or a whale just bearing + in sight. In Saint Stylites, the famous Christian hermit of old times, + who built him a lofty stone pillar in the desert and spent the whole + latter portion of his life on its summit, hoisting his food from the + ground with a tackle; in him we have a remarkable instance of a + dauntless stander-of-mast-heads; who was not to be driven from his + place by fogs or frosts, rain, hail, or sleet; but valiantly facing + everything out to the last, literally died at his post. Of modern + standers-of-mast-heads we have but a lifeless set; mere stone, iron, + and bronze men; who, though well capable of facing out a stiff gale, + are still entirely incompetent to the business of singing out upon + discovering any strange sight. There is Napoleon; who, upon the top of + the column of Vendome stands with arms folded, some one hundred and + fifty feet in the air; careless, now, who rules the decks below, + whether Louis Philippe, Louis Blanc, or Louis the Devil. Great + Washington, too, stands high aloft on his towering main-mast in + Baltimore, and like one of Hercules' pillars, his column marks that + point of human grandeur beyond which few mortals will go. Admiral + Nelson, also, on a capstan of gun-metal, stands his mast-head in + Trafalgar Square; and even when most obscured by that London smoke, + token is yet given that a hidden hero is there; for where there is + smoke, must be fire. But neither great Washington, nor Napoleon, nor + Nelson, will answer a single hail from below, however madly invoked to + befriend by their counsels the distracted decks upon which they gaze; + however it may be surmised, that their spirits penetrate through the + thick haze of the future, and descry what shoals and what rocks must be + shunned. + + It may seem unwarrantable to couple in any respect the mast-head + standers of the land with those of the sea; but that in truth it is not + so, is plainly evinced by an item for which Obed Macy, the sole + historian of Nantucket, stands accountable. The worthy Obed tells us, + that in the early times of the whale fishery, ere ships were regularly + launched in pursuit of the game, the people of that island erected + lofty spars along the seacoast, to which the look-outs ascended by + means of nailed cleats, something as fowls go upstairs in a hen-house. + A few years ago this same plan was adopted by the Bay whalemen of New + Zealand, who, upon descrying the game, gave notice to the ready-manned + boats nigh the beach. But this custom has now become obsolete; turn we + then to the one proper mast-head, that of a whale-ship at sea. The + three mast-heads are kept manned from sun-rise to sun-set; the seamen + taking their regular turns (as at the helm), and relieving each other + every two hours. In the serene weather of the tropics it is exceedingly + pleasant the mast-head: nay, to a dreamy meditative man it is + delightful. There you stand, a hundred feet above the silent decks, + striding along the deep, as if the masts were gigantic stilts, while + beneath you and between your legs, as it were, swim the hugest monsters + of the sea, even as ships once sailed between the boots of the famous + Colossus at old Rhodes. There you stand, lost in the infinite series of + the sea, with nothing ruffled but the waves. The tranced ship + indolently rolls; the drowsy trade winds blow; everything resolves you + into languor. For the most part, in this tropic whaling life, a sublime + uneventfulness invests you; you hear no news; read no gazettes; extras + with startling accounts of commonplaces never delude you into + unnecessary excitements; you hear of no domestic afflictions; bankrupt + securities; fall of stocks; are never troubled with the thought of what + you shall have for dinner— for all your meals for three years and more + are snugly stowed in casks, and your bill of fare is immutable. + + In one of those southern whalesmen, on a long three or four years' + voyage, as often happens, the sum of the various hours you spend at the + mast-head would amount to several entire months. And it is much to be + deplored that the place to which you devote so considerable a portion + of the whole term of your natural life, should be so sadly destitute of + anything approaching to a cosy inhabitiveness, or adapted to breed a + comfortable localness of feeling, such as pertains to a bed, a hammock, + a hearse, a sentry box, a pulpit, a coach, or any other of those small + and snug contrivances in which men temporarily isolate themselves. Your + most usual point of perch is the head of the t' gallant-mast, where you + stand upon two thin parallel sticks (almost peculiar to whalemen) + called the t' gallant crosstrees. Here, tossed about by the sea, the + beginner feels about as cosy as he would standing on a bull's horns. To + be sure, in cold weather you may carry your house aloft with you, in + the shape of a watch-coat; but properly speaking the thickest + watch-coat is no more of a house than the unclad body; for as the soul + is glued inside of its fleshy tabernacle, and cannot freely move about + in it, nor even move out of it, without running great risk of perishing + (like an ignorant pilgrim crossing the snowy Alps in winter); so a + watch-coat is not so much of a house as it is a mere envelope, or + additional skin encasing you. You cannot put a shelf or chest of + drawers in your body, and no more can you make a convenience closet of + your watch-coat. + + Concerning all this, it is much to be deplored that the mast-heads of a + southern whale ship are unprovided with those enviable little tents or + pulpits, called crow's-nests, in which the look-outs of a Greenland + whaler are protected from the inclement weather of the frozen seas. In + the fireside narrative of Captain Sleet, entitled "A Voyage among the + Icebergs, in quest of the Greenland Whale, and incidentally for the + re-discovery of the Lost Icelandic Colonies of Old Greenland;" in this + admirable volume, all standers of mast-heads are furnished with a + charmingly circumstantial account of the then recently invented + crow's-nest of the Glacier, which was the name of Captain Sleet's good + craft. He called it the Sleet's crow's-nest, in honor of himself; he + being the original inventor and patentee, and free from all ridiculous + false delicacy, and holding that if we call our own children after our + own names (we fathers being the original inventors and patentees), so + likewise should we denominate after ourselves any other apparatus we + may beget. In shape, the Sleet's crow's-nest is something like a large + tierce or pipe; it is open above, however, where it is furnished with a + movable sidescreen to keep to windward of your head in a hard gale. + Being fixed on the summit of the mast, you ascend into it through a + little trap-hatch in the bottom. On the after side, or side next the + stern of the ship, is a comfortable seat, with a locker underneath for + umbrellas, comforters, and coats. In front is a leather rack, in which + to keep your speaking trumpet, pipe, telescope, and other nautical + conveniences. When Captain Sleet in person stood his mast-head in this + crow's-nest of his, he tells us that he always had a rifle with him + (also fixed in the rack), together with a powder flask and shot, for + the purpose of popping off the stray narwhales, or vagrant sea unicorns + infesting those waters; for you cannot successfully shoot at them from + the deck owing to the resistance of the water, but to shoot down upon + them is a very different thing. Now, it was plainly a labor of love for + Captain Sleet to describe, as he does, all the little detailed + conveniences of his crow's-nest; but though he so enlarges upon many of + these, and though he treats us to a very scientific account of his + experiments in this crow's-nest, with a small compass he kept there for + the purpose of counteracting the errors resulting from what is called + the "local attraction" of all binnacle magnets; an error ascribable to + the horizontal vicinity of the iron in the ship's planks, and in the + Glacier's case, perhaps, to there having been so many broken-down + blacksmiths among her crew; I say, that though the Captain is very + discreet and scientific here, yet, for all his learned "binnacle + deviations," "azimuth compass observations," and "approximate errors," + he knows very well, Captain Sleet, that he was not so much immersed in + those profound magnetic meditations, as to fail being attracted + occasionally towards that well replenished little case-bottle, so + nicely tucked in on one side of his crow's nest, within easy reach of + his hand. Though, upon the whole, I greatly admire and even love the + brave, the honest, and learned Captain; yet I take it very ill of him + that he should so utterly ignore that case-bottle, seeing what a + faithful friend and comforter it must have been, while with mittened + fingers and hooded head he was studying the mathematics aloft there in + that bird's nest within three or four perches of the pole. + + But if we Southern whale-fishers are not so snugly housed aloft as + Captain Sleet and his Greenlandmen were; yet that disadvantage is + greatly counter-balanced by the widely contrasting serenity of those + seductive seas in which we South fishers mostly float. For one, I used + to lounge up the rigging very leisurely, resting in the top to have a + chat with Queequeg, or any one else off duty whom I might find there; + then ascending a little way further, and throwing a lazy leg over the + top-sail yard, take a preliminary view of the watery pastures, and so + at last mount to my ultimate destination. + + Let me make a clean breast of it here, and frankly admit that I kept + but sorry guard. With the problem of the universe revolving in me, how + could I—being left completely to myself at such a thought-engendering + altitude—how could I but lightly hold my obligations to observe all + whaleships' standing orders, "Keep your weather eye open, and sing out + every time." + + And let me in this place movingly admonish you, ye ship-owners of + Nantucket! Beware of enlisting in your vigilant fisheries any lad with + lean brow and hollow eye; given to unseasonable meditativeness; and who + offers to ship with the Phaedon instead of Bowditch in his head. Beware + of such an one, I say: your whales must be seen before they can be + killed; and this sunken-eyed young Platonist will tow you ten wakes + round the world, and never make you one pint of sperm the richer. Nor + are these monitions at all unneeded. For nowadays, the whale-fishery + furnishes an asylum for many romantic, melancholy, and absent-minded + young men, disgusted with the corking care of earth, and seeking + sentiment in tar and blubber. Childe Harold not unfrequently perches + himself upon the mast-head of some luckless disappointed whale-ship, + and in moody phrase ejaculates:— + + "Roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean, roll! + Ten thousand blubber-hunters sweep over thee in vain." + + Very often do the captains of such ships take those absent-minded young + philosophers to task, upbraiding them with not feeling sufficient + "interest" in the voyage; half-hinting that they are so hopelessly lost + to all honorable ambition, as that in their secret souls they would + rather not see whales than otherwise. But all in vain; those young + Platonists have a notion that their vision is imperfect; they are + short-sighted; what use, then, to strain the visual nerve? They have + left their opera-glasses at home. + + "Why, thou monkey," said a harpooneer to one of these lads, "we've been + cruising now hard upon three years, and thou hast not raised a whale + yet. Whales are scarce as hen's teeth whenever thou art up here." + Perhaps they were; or perhaps there might have been shoals of them in + the far horizon; but lulled into such an opium-like listlessness of + vacant, unconscious reverie is this absent-minded youth by the blending + cadence of waves with thoughts, that at last he loses his identity; + takes the mystic ocean at his feet for the visible image of that deep, + blue, bottomless soul, pervading mankind and nature; and every strange, + half-seen, gliding, beautiful thing that eludes him; every + dimly-discovered, uprising fin of some undiscernible form, seems to him + the embodiment of those elusive thoughts that only people the soul by + continually flitting through it. In this enchanted mood, thy spirit + ebbs away to whence it came; becomes diffused through time and space; + like Crammer's sprinkled Pantheistic ashes, forming at last a part of + every shore the round globe over. + + There is no life in thee, now, except that rocking life imparted by a + gently rolling ship; by her, borrowed from the sea; by the sea, from + the inscrutable tides of God. But while this sleep, this dream is on + ye, move your foot or hand an inch; slip your hold at all; and your + identity comes back in horror. Over Descartian vortices you hover. And + perhaps, at midday, in the fairest weather, with one half-throttled + shriek you drop through that transparent air into the summer sea, no + more to rise for ever. Heed it well, ye Pantheists! + + + + + CHAPTER 36 + + + The Quarter-Deck + + (Enter Ahab: Then, all) + + It was not a great while after the affair of the pipe, that one morning + shortly after breakfast, Ahab, as was his wont, ascended the + cabin-gangway to the deck. There most sea-captains usually walk at that + hour, as country gentlemen, after the same meal, take a few turns in + the garden. + + Soon his steady, ivory stride was heard, as to and fro he paced his old + rounds, upon planks so familiar to his tread, that they were all over + dented, like geological stones, with the peculiar mark of his walk. Did + you fixedly gaze, too, upon that ribbed and dented brow; there also, + you would see still stranger foot-prints—the foot-prints of his one + unsleeping, ever-pacing thought. + + But on the occasion in question, those dents looked deeper, even as his + nervous step that morning left a deeper mark. And, so full of his + thought was Ahab, that at every uniform turn that he made, now at the + main-mast and now at the binnacle, you could almost see that thought + turn in him as he turned, and pace in him as he paced; so completely + possessing him, indeed, that it all but seemed the inward mould of + every outer movement. + + "D'ye mark him, Flask?" whispered Stubb; "the chick that's in him pecks + the shell. 'Twill soon be out." + + The hours wore on;—Ahab now shut up within his cabin; anon, pacing the + deck, with the same intense bigotry of purpose in his aspect. + + It drew near the close of day. Suddenly he came to a halt by the + bulwarks, and inserting his bone leg into the auger-hole there, and + with one hand grasping a shroud, he ordered Starbuck to send everybody + aft. + + "Sir!" said the mate, astonished at an order seldom or never given on + ship-board except in some extraordinary case. + + "Send everybody aft," repeated Ahab. "Mast-heads, there! come down!" + + When the entire ship's company were assembled, and with curious and not + wholly unapprehensive faces, were eyeing him, for he looked not unlike + the weather horizon when a storm is coming up, Ahab, after rapidly + glancing over the bulwarks, and then darting his eyes among the crew, + started from his standpoint; and as though not a soul were nigh him + resumed his heavy turns upon the deck. With bent head and half-slouched + hat he continued to pace, unmindful of the wondering whispering among + the men; till Stubb cautiously whispered to Flask, that Ahab must have + summoned them there for the purpose of witnessing a pedestrian feat. + But this did not last long. Vehemently pausing, he cried:— + + "What do ye do when ye see a whale, men?" + + "Sing out for him!" was the impulsive rejoinder from a score of clubbed + voices. + + "Good!" cried Ahab, with a wild approval in his tones; observing the + hearty animation into which his unexpected question had so magnetically + thrown them. + + "And what do ye next, men?" + + "Lower away, and after him!" + + "And what tune is it ye pull to, men?" + + "A dead whale or a stove boat!" + + More and more strangely and fiercely glad and approving, grew the + countenance of the old man at every shout; while the mariners began to + gaze curiously at each other, as if marvelling how it was that they + themselves became so excited at such seemingly purposeless questions. + + But, they were all eagerness again, as Ahab, now half-revolving in his + pivot-hole, with one hand reaching high up a shroud, and tightly, + almost convulsively grasping it, addressed them thus:— + + "All ye mast-headers have before now heard me give orders about a white + whale. Look ye! d'ye see this Spanish ounce of gold?"—holding up a + broad bright coin to the sun—"it is a sixteen dollar piece, men. D'ye + see it? Mr. Starbuck, hand me yon top-maul." + + While the mate was getting the hammer, Ahab, without speaking, was + slowly rubbing the gold piece against the skirts of his jacket, as if + to heighten its lustre, and without using any words was meanwhile lowly + humming to himself, producing a sound so strangely muffled and + inarticulate that it seemed the mechanical humming of the wheels of his + vitality in him. + + Receiving the top-maul from Starbuck, he advanced towards the main-mast + with the hammer uplifted in one hand, exhibiting the gold with the + other, and with a high raised voice exclaiming: "Whosoever of ye raises + me a white-headed whale with a wrinkled brow and a crooked jaw; + whosoever of ye raises me that white-headed whale, with three holes + punctured in his starboard fluke—look ye, whosoever of ye raises me + that same white whale, he shall have this gold ounce, my boys!" + + "Huzza! huzza!" cried the seamen, as with swinging tarpaulins they + hailed the act of nailing the gold to the mast. + + "It's a white whale, I say," resumed Ahab, as he threw down the + topmaul: "a white whale. Skin your eyes for him, men; look sharp for + white water; if ye see but a bubble, sing out." + + All this while Tashtego, Daggoo, and Queequeg had looked on with even + more intense interest and surprise than the rest, and at the mention of + the wrinkled brow and crooked jaw they had started as if each was + separately touched by some specific recollection. + + "Captain Ahab," said Tashtego, "that white whale must be the same that + some call Moby Dick." + + "Moby Dick?" shouted Ahab. "Do ye know the white whale then, Tash?" + + "Does he fan-tail a little curious, sir, before he goes down?" said the + Gay-Header deliberately. + + "And has he a curious spout, too," said Daggoo, "very bushy, even for a + parmacetty, and mighty quick, Captain Ahab?" + + "And he have one, two, tree—oh! good many iron in him hide, too, + Captain," cried Queequeg disjointedly, "all twiske-tee be-twisk, like + him—him-" faltering hard for a word, and screwing his hand round and + round as though uncorking a bottle—"like him—him-" + + "Corkscrew!" cried Ahab, "aye, Queequeg, the harpoons lie all twisted + and wrenched in him; aye, Daggoo, his spout is a big one, like a whole + shock of wheat, and white as a pile of our Nantucket wool after the + great annual sheep-shearing; aye, Tashtego, and he fan-tails like a + split jib in a squall. Death and devils! men, it is Moby Dick ye have + seen— Moby Dick—Moby Dick!" + + "Captain Ahab," said Starbuck, who, with Stubb and Flask, had thus far + been eyeing his superior with increasing surprise, but at last seemed + struck with a thought which somewhat explained all the wonder. "Captain + Ahab, I have heard of Moby Dick—but it was not Moby Dick that took off + thy leg?" + + "Who told thee that?" cried Ahab; then pausing, "Aye, Starbuck; aye, my + hearties all round; it was Moby Dick that dismasted me; Moby Dick that + brought me to this dead stump I stand on now. Aye, aye," he shouted + with a terrific, loud, animal sob, like that of a heart-stricken moose; + "Aye, aye! it was that accursed white whale that razeed me; made a poor + pegging lubber of me for ever and a day!" Then tossing both arms, with + measureless imprecations he shouted out: "Aye, aye! and I'll chase him + round Good Hope, and round the Horn, and round the Norway Maelstrom, + and round perdition's flames before I give him up. And this is what ye + have shipped for, men! to chase that white whale on both sides of land, + and over all sides of earth, till he spouts black blood and rolls fin + out. What say ye, men, will ye splice hands on it, now? I think ye do + look brave." + + "Aye, aye!" shouted the harpooneers and seamen, running closer to the + excited old man: "A sharp eye for the White Whale; a sharp lance for + Moby Dick!" + + "God bless ye," he seemed to half sob and half shout. + "God bless ye, men. Steward! go draw the great measure of grog. + But what's this long face about, Mr. Starbuck; wilt thou not + chase the white whale! art not game for Moby Dick?" + + "I am game for his crooked jaw, and for the jaws of Death too, + Captain Ahab, if it fairly comes in the way of the business we follow; + but I came here to hunt whales, not my commander's vengeance. + How many barrels will thy vengeance yield thee even if thou gettest it, + Captain Ahab? it will not fetch thee much in our Nantucket market." + + "Nantucket market! Hoot! But come closer, Starbuck; thou requirest a + little lower layer. If money's to be the measurer, man, and the + accountants have computed their great counting-house the globe, by + girdling it with guineas, one to every three parts of an inch; then, + let me tell thee, that my vengeance will fetch a great premium here!" + + "He smites his chest," whispered Stubb, "what's that for? methinks it + rings most vast, but hollow." + + "Vengeance on a dumb brute!" cried Starbuck, "that simply smote thee + from blindest instinct! Madness! To be enraged with a dumb thing, + Captain Ahab, seems blasphemous." + + "Hark ye yet again—the little lower layer. All visible objects, man, + are but as pasteboard masks. But in each event—in the living act, the + undoubted deed—there, some unknown but still reasoning thing puts forth + the mouldings of its features from behind the unreasoning mask. If man + will strike, strike through the mask! How can the prisoner reach + outside except by thrusting through the wall? To me, the white whale is + that wall, shoved near to me. Sometimes I think there's naught beyond. + But 'tis enough. He tasks me; he heaps me; I see in him outrageous + strength, with an inscrutable malice sinewing it. That inscrutable + thing is chiefly what I hate; and be the white whale agent, or be the + white whale principal, I will wreak that hate upon him. Talk not to me + of blasphemy, man; I'd strike the sun if it insulted me. For could the + sun do that, then could I do the other; since there is ever a sort of + fair play herein, jealousy presiding over all creations. But not my + master, man, is even that fair play. Who's over me? Truth hath no + confines. Take off thine eye! more intolerable than fiends' glarings is + a doltish stare! So, so; thou reddenest and palest; my heat has melted + thee to anger-glow. But look ye, Starbuck, what is said in heat, that + thing unsays itself. There are men from whom warm words are small + indignity. I meant not to incense thee. Let it go. Look! see yonder + Turkish cheeks of spotted tawn—living, breathing pictures painted by + the sun. The Pagan leopards—the unrecking and unworshipping things, + that live; and seek, and give no reasons for the torrid life they feel! + The crew, man, the crew! Are they not one and all with Ahab, in this + matter of the whale? See Stubb! he laughs! See yonder Chilian! he + snorts to think of it. Stand up amid the general hurricane, thy one + tost sapling cannot, Starbuck! And what is it? Reckon it. 'Tis but to + help strike a fin; no wondrous feat for Starbuck. What is it more? From + this one poor hunt, then, the best lance out of all Nantucket, surely + he will not hang back, when every foremast-hand has clutched a + whetstone. Ah! constrainings seize thee; I see! the billow lifts thee! + Speak, but speak!—Aye, aye! thy silence, then, that voices thee. + (Aside) Something shot from my dilated nostrils, he has inhaled it in + his lungs. Starbuck now is mine; cannot oppose me now, without + rebellion." + + "God keep me!—keep us all!" murmured Starbuck, lowly. + + But in his joy at the enchanted, tacit acquiescence of the mate, Ahab + did not hear his foreboding invocation; nor yet the low laugh from the + hold; nor yet the presaging vibrations of the winds in the cordage; nor + yet the hollow flap of the sails against the masts, as for a moment + their hearts sank in. For again Starbuck's downcast eyes lighted up + with the stubbornness of life; the subterranean laugh died away; the + winds blew on; the sails filled out; the ship heaved and rolled as + before. Ah, ye admonitions and warnings! why stay ye not when ye come? + But rather are ye predictions than warnings, ye shadows! Yet not so + much predictions from without, as verifications of the fore-going + things within. For with little external to constrain us, the innermost + necessities in our being, these still drive us on. + + "The measure! the measure!" cried Ahab. + + Receiving the brimming pewter, and turning to the harpooneers, he + ordered them to produce their weapons. Then ranging them before him + near the capstan, with their harpoons in their hands, while his three + mates stood at his side with their lances, and the rest of the ship's + company formed a circle round the group; he stood for an instant + searchingly eyeing every man of his crew. But those wild eyes met his, + as the bloodshot eyes of the prairie wolves meet the eye of their + leader, ere he rushes on at their head in the trail of the bison; but, + alas! only to fall into the hidden snare of the Indian. + + "Drink and pass!" he cried, handing the heavy charged flagon to the + nearest seaman. "The crew alone now drink. Round with it, round! Short + draughts—long swallows, men; 'tis hot as Satan's hoof. So, so; it goes + round excellently. It spiralizes in ye; forks out at the + serpent-snapping eye. Well done; almost drained. That way it went, this + way it comes. Hand it me—here's a hollow! Men, ye seem the years; so + brimming life is gulped and gone. Steward, refill! + + "Attend now, my braves. I have mustered ye all round this capstan; and + ye mates, flank me with your lances; and ye harpooneers, stand there + with your irons; and ye, stout mariners, ring me in, that I may in some + sort revive a noble custom of my fisherman fathers before me. O men, + you will yet see that—Ha! boy, come back? bad pennies come not sooner. + Hand it me. Why, now, this pewter had run brimming again, wert not thou + St. Vitus' imp—away, thou ague! + + "Advance, ye mates! Cross your lances full before me. Well done! Let me + touch the axis." So saying, with extended arm, he grasped the three + level, radiating lances at their crossed centre; while so doing, + suddenly and nervously twitched them; meanwhile glancing intently from + Starbuck to Stubb; from Stubb to Flask. It seemed as though, by some + nameless, interior volition, he would fain have shocked into them the + same fiery emotion accumulated within the Leyden jar of his own + magnetic life. The three mates quailed before his strong, sustained, + and mystic aspect. Stubb and Flask looked sideways from him; the honest + eye of Starbuck fell downright. + + "In vain!" cried Ahab; "but, maybe, 'tis well. For did ye three but + once take the full-forced shock, then mine own electric thing, that had + perhaps expired from out me. Perchance, too, it would have dropped ye + dead. Perchance ye need it not. Down lances! And now, ye mates, I do + appoint ye three cupbearers to my three pagan kinsmen there— yon three + most honorable gentlemen and noblemen, my valiant harpooneers. Disdain + the task? What, when the great Pope washes the feet of beggars, using + his tiara for ewer? Oh, my sweet cardinals! your own condescension, + that shall bend ye to it. I do not order ye; ye will it. Cut your + seizings and draw the poles, ye harpooneers!" + + Silently obeying the order, the three harpooneers now stood with the + detached iron part of their harpoons, some three feet long, held, barbs + up, before him. + + "Stab me not with that keen steel! Cant them; cant them over! know ye + not the goblet end? Turn up the socket! So, so; now, ye cup-bearers, + advance. The irons! take them; hold them while I fill!" Forthwith, + slowly going from one officer to the other, he brimmed the harpoon + sockets with the fiery waters from the pewter. + + "Now, three to three, ye stand. Commend the murderous chalices! Bestow + them, ye who are now made parties to this indissoluble league. Ha! + Starbuck! but the deed is done! Yon ratifying sun now waits to sit upon + it. Drink, ye harpooneers! drink and swear, ye men that man the + deathful whaleboat's bow— Death to Moby Dick! God hunt us all, if we do + not hunt Moby Dick to his death!" The long, barbed steel goblets were + lifted; and to cries and maledictions against the white whale, the + spirits were simultaneously quaffed down with a hiss. Starbuck paled, + and turned, and shivered. Once more, and finally, the replenished + pewter went the rounds among the frantic crew; when, waving his free + hand to them, they all dispersed; and Ahab retired within his cabin. + + + + + CHAPTER 37 + + + Sunset + + The cabin; by the stern windows; Ahab sitting alone, and gazing out. + + I leave a white and turbid wake; pale waters, paler cheeks, where'er I + sail. The envious billows sidelong swell to whelm my track; let them; + but first I pass. + + Yonder, by the ever-brimming goblet's rim, the warm waves blush like + wine. The gold brow plumbs the blue. The diver sun— slow dived from + noon—goes down; my soul mounts up! she wearies with her endless hill. + Is, then, the crown too heavy that I wear? this Iron Crown of Lombardy. + Yet is it bright with many a gem; I the wearer, see not its far + flashings; but darkly feel that I wear that, that dazzlingly confounds. + 'Tis iron—that I know—not gold. 'Tis split, too—that I feel; the jagged + edge galls me so, my brain seems to beat against the solid metal; aye, + steel skull, mine; the sort that needs no helmet in the most + brain-battering fight! + + Dry heat upon my brow? Oh! time was, when as the sunrise nobly spurred + me, so the sunset soothed. No more. This lovely light, it lights not + me; all loveliness is anguish to me, since I can ne'er enjoy. Gifted + with the high perception, I lack the low, enjoying power; damned, most + subtly and most malignantly! damned in the midst of Paradise! Good + night—good night! (waving his hand, he moves from the window.) + + 'Twas not so hard a task. I thought to find one stubborn, at the least; + but my one cogged circle fits into all their various wheels, and they + revolve. Or, if you will, like so many ant-hills of powder, they all + stand before me; and I their match. Oh, hard! that to fire others, the + match itself must needs be wasting! What I've dared, I've willed; and + what I've willed, I'll do! They think me mad— Starbuck does; but I'm + demoniac, I am madness maddened! That wild madness that's only calm to + comprehend itself! The prophecy was that I should be dismembered; + and—Aye! I lost this leg. I now prophesy that I will dismember my + dismemberer. Now, then, be the prophet and the fulfiller one. That's + more than ye, ye great gods, ever were. I laugh and hoot at ye, ye + cricket-players, ye pugilists, ye deaf Burkes and blinded Bendigoes! I + will not say as schoolboys do to bullies—Take some one of your own + size; don't pommel me! No, ye've knocked me down, and I am up again; + but ye have run and hidden. Come forth from behind your cotton bags! I + have no long gun to reach ye. Come, Ahab's compliments to ye; come and + see if ye can swerve me. Swerve me? ye cannot swerve me, else ye swerve + yourselves! man has ye there. Swerve me? The path to my fixed purpose + is laid with iron rails, whereon my soul is grooved to run. Over + unsounded gorges, through the rifled hearts of mountains, under + torrents' beds, unerringly I rush! Naught's an obstacle, naught's an + angle to the iron way! + + + + + CHAPTER 38 + + + Dusk + + By the Mainmast; Starbuck leaning against it. + + My soul is more than matched; she's over-manned; and by a madman! + Insufferable sting, that sanity should ground arms on such a field! But + he drilled deep down, and blasted all my reason out of me! I think I + see his impious end; but feel that I must help him to it. Will I, nill + I, the ineffable thing has tied me to him; tows me with a cable I have + no knife to cut. Horrible old man! Who's over him, he cries;—aye, he + would be a democrat to all above; look, how he lords it over all below! + Oh! I plainly see my miserable office,— to obey, rebelling; and worse + yet, to hate with touch of pity! For in his eyes I read some lurid woe + would shrivel me up, had I it. Yet is there hope. Time and tide flow + wide. The hated whale has the round watery world to swim in, as the + small gold-fish has its glassy globe. His heaven-insulting purpose, God + may wedge aside. I would up heart, were it not like lead. But my whole + clock's run down; my heart the all-controlling weight, I have no key to + lift again. + + [A burst of revelry from the forecastle.] + + Oh, God! to sail with such a heathen crew that have small touch of + human mothers in them! Whelped somewhere by the sharkish sea. The white + whale is their demigorgon. Hark! the infernal orgies! that revelry is + forward! mark the unfaltering silence aft! Methinks it pictures life. + Foremost through the sparkling sea shoots on the gay, embattled, + bantering bow, but only to drag dark Ahab after it, where he broods + within his sternward cabin, builded over the dead water of the wake, + and further on, hunted by its wolfish gurglings. The long howl thrills + me through! Peace! ye revellers, and set the watch! Oh, life! 'tis in + an hour like this, with soul beat down and held to knowledge,— as wild, + untutored things are forced to feed—Oh, life! 'tis now that I do feel + the latent horror in thee! but 'tis not me! that horror's out of me, + and with the soft feeling of the human in me, yet will I try to fight + ye, ye grim, phantom futures! Stand by me, hold me, bind me, O ye + blessed influences! + + + + + CHAPTER 39 + + + First Night Watch + + (Stubb solus, and mending a brace.) + + Ha! ha! ha! ha! hem! clear my throat!—I've been thinking over it ever + since, and that ha, ha's the final consequence. Why so? Because a + laugh's the wisest, easiest answer to all that's queer; and come what + will, one comfort's always left— that unfailing comfort is, it's all + predestinated. I heard not all his talk with Starbuck; but to my poor + eye Starbuck then looked something as I the other evening felt. Be sure + the old Mogul has fixed him, too. I twigged it, knew it; had had the + gift, might readily have prophesied it—for when I clapped my eye upon + his skull I saw it. Well, Stubb, wise Stubb— that's my title—well, + Stubb, what of it, Stubb? Here's a carcase. I know not all that may be + coming, but be it what it will, I'll go to it laughing. Such a waggish + leering as lurks in all your horribles! I feel funny. Fa, la! lirra, + skirra! What's my juicy little pear at home doing now? Crying its eyes + out?— Giving a party to the last arrived harpooneers, I dare say, gay + as a frigate's pennant, and so am I—fa, la! lirra, skirra! Oh— + + We'll drink to-night with hearts as light, + To love, as gay and fleeting + As bubbles that swim, on the beaker's brim, + And break on the lips while meeting. + + A brave stave that—who calls? Mr. Starbuck? Aye, aye, sir— + (Aside) he's my superior, he has his too, if I'm not mistaken.— + Aye, aye, sir, just through with this job—coming. + + + + + CHAPTER 40 + + + Midnight, Forecastle + + HARPOONEERS AND SAILORS + + + (Foresail rises and discovers the watch standing, lounging, leaning, + and lying in various attitudes, all singing in chorus.) + + Farewell and adieu to you, Spanish ladies! + Farewell and adieu to you, ladies of Spain! + Our captain's commanded.— + + 1ST NANTUCKET SAILOR + + + Oh, boys, don't be sentimental. it's bad for the digestion! + Take a tonic, follow me! (Sings, and all follow) + Our captain stood upon the deck, + A spy-glass in his hand, + A viewing of those gallant whales + That blew at every strand. + Oh, your tubs in your boats, my boys, + And by your braces stand, + And we'll have one of those fine whales, + Hand, boys, over hand! + So, be cheery, my lads! may your hearts never fail! + While the bold harpooneer is striking the whale! + + MATE'S VOICE FROM THE QUARTER-DECK + + + Eight bells there, forward! + + 2ND NANTUCKET SAILOR + + + Avast the chorus! Eight bells there! d'ye hear, bell-boy? Strike the + bell eight, thou Pip! thou blackling! and let me call the watch. I've + the sort of mouth for that—the hogshead mouth. So, so, (thrusts his + head down the scuttle,) Star-bo-l-e-e-n-s, a-h-o-y! Eight bells there + below! Tumble up! + + DUTCH SAILOR + + + Grand snoozing to-night, maty; fat night for that. I mark this in our + old + Mogul's wine; it's quite as deadening to some as filliping to others. + We sing; they sleep—aye, lie down there, like ground-tier butts. + At 'em again! There, take this copper-pump, and hail 'em through it. + Tell 'em to avast dreaming of their lassies. Tell 'em it's + the resurrection; they must kiss their last, and come to judgment. + That's the way—that's it; thy throat ain't spoiled with + eating Amsterdam butter. + + FRENCH SAILOR + + + Hist, boys! let's have a jig or two before we ride to anchor in Blanket + Bay. What say ye? There comes the other watch. Stand by all legs! Pip! + little Pip! hurrah with your tambourine! + + PIP (Sulky and sleepy) + + Don't know where it is. + + FRENCH SAILOR + + + Beat thy belly, then, and wag thy ears. Jig it, men, I say; + merry's the word; hurrah! Damn me, won't you dance? + Form, now, Indian-file, and gallop into the double-shuffle? + Throw yourselves! Legs! legs! + + ICELAND SAILOR + + + I don't like your floor, maty; it's too springy to my taste. I'm used + to ice-floors. I'm sorry to throw cold water on the subject; but excuse + me. + + MALTESE SAILOR + + + Me too; where's your girls? Who but a fool would take his left hand by + his right, and say to himself, how d'ye do? Partners! I must have + partners! + + SICILIAN SAILOR + + + Aye; girls and a green!—then I'll hop with ye; yea, turn grasshopper! + + LONG-ISLAND SAILOR + + + Well, well, ye sulkies, there's plenty more of us. + Hoe corn when you may, say I. All legs go to harvest soon. + Ah! here comes the music; now for it! + + AZORE SAILOR (Ascending, and pitching the tambourine up the scuttle.) + + Here you are, Pip; and there's the windlass-bits; up you mount! Now, + boys! + + (The half of them dance to the tambourine; some go below; some sleep or + lie among the coils of rigging. Oaths a-plenty.) + + AZORE SAILOR (Dancing) + + Go it, Pip! Bang it, bell-boy! Rig it, dig it, stig it, quig it, + bell-boy! Make fire-flies; break the jinglers! + + PIP + + + Jinglers, you say?—there goes another, dropped off; I pound it so. + + CHINA SAILOR + + + Rattle thy teeth, then, and pound away; make a pagoda of thyself. + + FRENCH SAILOR + + Merry-mad! Hold up thy hoop, Pip, till I jump through it! + Split jibs! tear yourselves! Tashtego ( Quietly smoking.) + + That's a white man; he calls that fun: humph! I save my sweat. + + OLD MANX SAILOR + + + I wonder whether those jolly lads bethink them of what they are dancing + over. I'll dance over your grave, I will—that's the bitterest threat of + your night-women, that beat head-winds round corners. O Christ! to + think of the green navies and the green-skulled crews! Well, well; + belike the whole world's a ball, as you scholars have it; and so 'tis + right to make one ballroom of it. Dance on, lads, you're young; I was + once. + + 3D NANTUCKET SAILOR + + + Spell oh!—whew! this is worse than pulling after whales in a calm— give + us a whiff, Tash. + + (They cease dancing, and gather in clusters. Meantime the sky darkens— + the wind rises.) + + LASCAR SAILOR + + + By Brahma! boys, it'll be douse sail soon. The sky-born, high-tide + Ganges turned to wind! Thou showest thy black brow, Seeva! + + MALTESE SAILOR (Reclining and shaking his cap) + + It's the waves—the snow's caps turn to jig it now. They'll shake their + tassels soon. Now would all the waves were women, then I'd go drown, + and chassee with them evermore! There's naught so sweet on earth—heaven + may not match it!— as those swift glances of warm, wild bosoms in the + dance, when the over-arboring arms hide such ripe, bursting grapes. + + SICILIAN SAILOR (Reclining) + + Tell me not of it! Hark ye, lad—fleet interlacings of the limbs— lithe + swayings—coyings—flutterings! lip! heart! hip! all graze: unceasing + touch and go! not taste, observe ye, else come satiety. Eh, Pagan? + (Nudging.) + + TAHITAN SAILOR (Reclining on a mat) + + Hail, holy nakedness of our dancing girls!—the Heeva-Heeva! Ah! low + veiled, high palmed Tahiti! I still rest me on thy mat, but the soft + soil has slid! I saw thee woven in the wood, my mat! green the first + day I brought ye thence; now worn and wilted quite. Ah me!—not thou nor + I can bear the change! How then, if so be transplanted to yon sky? Hear + I the roaring streams from Pirohitee's peak of spears, when they leap + down the crags and drown the villages?—The blast, the blast! Up, spine, + and meet it! (Leaps to his feet.) + + PORTUGUESE SAILOR + + + How the sea rolls swashing 'gainst the side! Stand by for reefing, + hearties! the winds are just crossing swords, pell-mell they'll go + lunging presently. + + DANISH SAILOR + + + Crack, crack, old ship! so long as thou crackest, thou holdest! Well + done! The mate there holds ye to it stiffly. He's no more afraid than + the isle fort at Cattegat, put there to fight the Baltic with + storm-lashed guns, on which the sea-salt cakes! + + 4TH NANTUCKET SAILOR + + + He has his orders, mind ye that. I heard old Ahab tell him he must + always kill a squall, something as they burst a waterspout with a + pistol— fire your ship right into it! + + ENGLISH SAILOR + + + Blood! but that old man's a grand old cove! We are the lads to hunt him + up his whale! + + ALL + + + Aye! aye! + + OLD MANX SAILOR + + + How the three pines shake! Pines are the hardest sort of tree to live + when shifted to any other soil, and here there's none but the crew's + cursed clay. Steady, helmsman! steady. This is the sort of weather when + brave hearts snap ashore, and keeled hulls split at sea. Our captain + has his birthmark; look yonder, boys, there's another in the sky + lurid—like, ye see, all else pitch black. + + DAGGOO + + + What of that? Who's afraid of black's afraid of me! + I'm quarried out of it! + + SPANISH SAILOR + + + (Aside.) He wants to bully, ah!—the old grudge makes me touchy + (Advancing.) Aye, harpooneer, thy race is the undeniable dark side of + mankind—devilish dark at that. No offence. + + DAGGOO (Grimly) + + None. + + ST. JAGO'S SAILOR + + + That Spaniard's mad or drunk. But that can't be, or else in his one + case our old Mogul's fire-waters are somewhat long in working. + + 5TH NANTUCKET SAILOR + + + What's that I saw—lightning? Yes. + + SPANISH SAILOR + + + No; Daggoo showing his teeth. + + DAGGOO (Springing) + + Swallow thine, mannikin! White skin, white liver! + + SPANISH SAILOR (Meeting him) + + Knife thee heartily! big frame, small spirit! + + ALL + + + A row! a row! a row! + + TASHTEGO (With a whiff) + + A row a'low, and a row aloft—Gods and men—both brawlers! Humph! + + BELFAST SAILOR + + + A row! arrah a row! The Virgin be blessed, a row! + Plunge in with ye! + + ENGLISH SAILOR + + + Fair play! Snatch the Spaniard's knife! A ring, a ring! + + OLD MANX SAILOR + + + Ready formed. There! the ringed horizon. In that ring Cain struck Abel. + Sweet work, right work! No? Why then, God, mad'st thou the ring? + + MATE'S VOICE FROM THE QUARTER-DECK + + + Hands by the halyards! in top-gallant sails! Stand by to reef topsails! + + ALL + + + The squall! the squall! jump, my jollies! (They scatter.) + + PIP (Shrinking under the windlass) + + Jollies? Lord help such jollies! Crish, crash! there goes the jib-stay! + Blang-whang! God! Duck lower, Pip, here comes the royal yard! It's + worse than being in the whirled woods, the last day of the year! Who'd + go climbing after chestnuts now? But there they go, all cursing, and + here I don't. Fine prospects to 'em; they're on the road to heaven. + Hold on hard! Jimmini, what a squall! But those chaps there are worse + yet— they are your white squalls, they. White squalls? white whale, + shirr! shirr! Here have I heard all their chat just now, and the white + whale—shirr! shirr!—but spoken of once! and only this evening—it makes + me jingle all over like my tambourine— that anaconda of an old man + swore 'em in to hunt him! Oh! thou big white God aloft there somewhere + in yon darkness, have mercy on this small black boy down here; preserve + him from all men that have no bowels to feel fear! + + + + + CHAPTER 41 + + + Moby Dick + + I, Ishmael, was one of that crew; my shouts had gone up with the rest; + my oath had been welded with theirs; and stronger I shouted, and more + did I hammer and clinch my oath, because of the dread in my soul. A + wild, mystical, sympathetical feeling was in me; Ahab's quenchless feud + seemed mine. With greedy ears I learned the history of that murderous + monster against whom I and all the others had taken our oaths of + violence and revenge. + + For some time past, though at intervals only, the unaccompanied, + secluded White Whale had haunted those uncivilized seas mostly + frequented by the Sperm Whale fishermen. But not all of them knew of + his existence; only a few of them, comparatively, had knowingly seen + him; while the number who as yet had actually and knowingly given + battle to him, was small indeed. For, owing to the large number of + whale-cruisers; the disorderly way they were sprinkled over the entire + watery circumference, many of them adventurously pushing their quest + along solitary latitudes, so as seldom or never for a whole twelvemonth + or more on a stretch, to encounter a single news-telling sail of any + sort; the inordinate length of each separate voyage; the irregularity + of the times of sailing from home; all these, with other circumstances, + direct and indirect, long obstructed the spread through the whole + world-wide whaling-fleet of the special individualizing tidings + concerning Moby Dick. It was hardly to be doubted, that several vessels + reported to have encountered, at such or such a time, or on such or + such a meridian, a Sperm Whale of uncommon magnitude and malignity, + which whale, after doing great mischief to his assailants, has + completely escaped them; to some minds it was not an unfair + presumption, I say, that the whale in question must have been no other + than Moby Dick. Yet as of late the Sperm Whale fishery had been marked + by various and not unfrequent instances of great ferocity, cunning, and + malice in the monster attacked; therefore it was, that those who by + accident ignorantly gave battle to Moby Dick; such hunters, perhaps, + for the most part, were content to ascribe the peculiar terror he bred, + more, as it were, to the perils of the Sperm Whale fishery at large, + than to the individual cause. In that way, mostly, the disastrous + encounter between Ahab and the whale had hitherto been popularly + regarded. + + And as for those who, previously hearing of the White Whale, by chance + caught sight of him; in the beginning of the thing they had every one + of them, almost, as boldly and fearlessly lowered for him, as for any + other whale of that species. But at length, such calamities did ensue + in these assaults— not restricted to sprained wrists and ankles, broken + limbs, or devouring amputations—but fatal to the last degree of + fatality; those repeated disastrous repulses, all accumulating and + piling their terrors upon Moby Dick; those things had gone far to shake + the fortitude of many brave hunters, to whom the story of the White + Whale had eventually come. + + Nor did wild rumors of all sorts fail to exaggerate, and still the more + horrify the true histories of these deadly encounters. For not only do + fabulous rumors naturally grow out of the very body of all surprising + terrible events,—as the smitten tree gives birth to its fungi; but, in + maritime life, far more than in that of terra firma, wild rumors + abound, wherever there is any adequate reality for them to cling to. + And as the sea surpasses the land in this matter, so the whale fishery + surpasses every other sort of maritime life, in the wonderfulness and + fearfulness of the rumors which sometimes circulate there. For not only + are whalemen as a body unexempt from that ignorance and + superstitiousness hereditary to all sailors; but of all sailors, they + are by all odds the most directly brought into contact with whatever is + appallingly astonishing in the sea; face to face they not only eye its + greatest marvels, but, hand to jaw, give battle to them. Alone, in such + remotest waters, that though you sailed a thousand miles, and passed a + thousand shores, you would not come to any chiselled hearth-stone, or + aught hospitable beneath that part of the sun; in such latitudes and + longitudes, pursuing too such a calling as he does, the whaleman is + wrapped by influences all tending to make his fancy pregnant with many + a mighty birth. No wonder, then, that ever gathering volume from the + mere transit over the wildest watery spaces, the outblown rumors of the + White Whale did in the end incorporate with themselves all manner of + morbid hints, and half-formed foetal suggestions of supernatural + agencies, which eventually invested Moby Dick with new terrors + unborrowed from anything that visibly appears. So that in many cases + such a panic did he finally strike, that few who by those rumors, at + least, had heard of the White Whale, few of those hunters were willing + to encounter the perils of his jaw. + + But there were still other and more vital practical influences at work. + Nor even at the present day has the original prestige of the Sperm + Whale, as fearfully distinguished from all other species of the + leviathan, died out of the minds of the whalemen as a body. There are + those this day among them, who, though intelligent and courageous + enough in offering battle to the Greenland or Right whale, would + perhaps—either from professional inexperience, or incompetency, or + timidity, decline a contest with the Sperm Whale; at any rate, there + are plenty of whalemen, especially among those whaling nations not + sailing under the American flag, who have never hostilely encountered + the Sperm Whale, but whose sole knowledge of the leviathan is + restricted to the ignoble monster primitively pursued in the North; + seated on their hatches, these men will hearken with a childish + fireside interest and awe, to the wild, strange tales of Southern + whaling. Nor is the preeminent tremendousness of the great Sperm Whale + anywhere more feelingly comprehended, than on board of those prows + which stem him. + + And as if the now tested reality of his might had in former legendary + times thrown its shadow before it; we find some book naturalists— + Olassen and Povelson—declaring the Sperm Whale not only to be a + consternation to every other creature in the sea, but also to be so + incredibly ferocious as continually to be athirst for human blood. Nor + even down to so late a time as Cuvier's, were these or almost similar + impressions effaced. For in his Natural History, the Baron himself + affirms that at sight of the Sperm Whale, all fish (sharks included) + are "struck with the most lively terrors," and "often in the + precipitancy of their flight dash themselves against the rocks with + such violence as to cause instantaneous death." And however the general + experiences in the fishery may amend such reports as these; yet in + their full terribleness, even to the bloodthirsty item of Povelson, the + superstitious belief in them is, in some vicissitudes of their + vocation, revived in the minds of the hunters. + + So that overawed by the rumors and portents concerning him, not a few + of the fishermen recalled, in reference to Moby Dick, the earlier days + of the Sperm Whale fishery, when it was oftentimes hard to induce long + practised Right whalemen to embark in the perils of this new and daring + warfare; such men protesting that although other leviathans might be + hopefully pursued, yet to chase and point lances at such an apparition + as the Sperm Whale was not for mortal man. That to attempt it, would be + inevitably to be torn into a quick eternity. On this head, there are + some remarkable documents that may be consulted. + + Nevertheless, some there were, who even in the face of these things + were ready to give chase to Moby Dick; and a still greater number who, + chancing only to hear of him distantly and vaguely, without the + specific details of any certain calamity, and without superstitious + accompaniments were sufficiently hardy not to flee from the battle if + offered. + + One of the wild suggestions referred to, as at last coming to be linked + with the White Whale in the minds of the superstitiously inclined, was + the unearthly conceit that Moby Dick was ubiquitous; that he had + actually been encountered in opposite latitudes at one and the same + instant of time. + + Nor, credulous as such minds must have been, was this conceit + altogether without some faint show of superstitious probability. For as + the secrets of the currents in the seas have never yet been divulged, + even to the most erudite research; so the hidden ways of the Sperm + Whale when beneath the surface remain, in great part, unaccountable to + his pursuers; and from time to time have originated the most curious + and contradictory speculations regarding them, especially concerning + the mystic modes whereby, after sounding to a great depth, he + transports himself with such vast swiftness to the most widely distant + points. + + It is a thing well known to both American and English whale-ships, and + as well a thing placed upon authoritative record years ago by Scoresby, + that some whales have been captured far north in the Pacific, in whose + bodies have been found the barbs of harpoons darted in the Greenland + seas. Nor is it to be gainsaid, that in some of these instances it has + been declared that the interval of time between the two assaults could + not have exceeded very many days. Hence, by inference, it has been + believed by some whalemen, that the Nor' West Passage, so long a + problem to man, was never a problem to the whale. So that here, in the + real living experience of living men, the prodigies related in old + times of the inland Strello mountain in Portugal (near whose top there + was said to be a lake in which the wrecks of ships floated up to the + surface); and that still more wonderful story of the Arethusa fountain + near Syracuse (whose waters were believed to have come from the Holy + Land by an underground passage); these fabulous narrations are almost + fully equalled by the realities of the whalemen. + + Forced into familiarity, then, with such prodigies as these; and + knowing that after repeated, intrepid assaults, the White Whale had + escaped alive; it cannot be much matter of surprise that some whalemen + should go still further in their superstitions; declaring Moby Dick not + only ubiquitous, but immortal (for immortality is but ubiquity in + time); that though groves of spears should be planted in his flanks, he + would still swim away unharmed; or if indeed he should ever be made to + spout thick blood, such a sight would be but a ghastly deception; for + again in unensanguined billows hundreds of leagues away, his unsullied + jet would once more be seen. + + But even stripped of these supernatural surmisings, there was enough in + the earthly make and incontestable character of the monster to strike + the imagination with unwonted power. For, it was not so much his + uncommon bulk that so much distinguished him from other sperm whales, + but, as was elsewhere thrown out—a peculiar snow-white wrinkled + forehead, and a high, pyramidical white hump. These were his prominent + features; the tokens whereby, even in the limitless, uncharted seas, he + revealed his identity, at a long distance, to those who knew him. + + The rest of his body was so streaked, and spotted, and marbled with the + same shrouded hue, that, in the end, he had gained his distinctive + appellation of the White Whale; a name, indeed, literally justified by + his vivid aspect, when seen gliding at high noon through a dark blue + sea, leaving a milky-way wake of creamy foam, all spangled with golden + gleamings. + + Nor was it his unwonted magnitude, nor his remarkable hue, nor yet his + deformed lower jaw, that so much invested the whale with natural + terror, as that unexampled, intelligent malignity which, according to + specific accounts, he had over and over again evinced in his assaults. + More than all, his treacherous retreats struck more of dismay than + perhaps aught else. For, when swimming before his exulting pursuers, + with every apparent symptom of alarm, he had several times been known + to turn around suddenly, and, bearing down upon them, either stave + their boats to splinters, or drive them back in consternation to their + ship. + + Already several fatalities had attended his chase. But though similar + disasters, however little bruited ashore, were by no means unusual in + the fishery; yet, in most instances, such seemed the White Whale's + infernal aforethought of ferocity, that every dismembering or death + that he caused, was not wholly regarded as having been inflicted by an + unintelligent agent. + + Judge, then, to what pitches of inflamed, distracted fury the minds of + his more desperate hunters were impelled, when amid the chips of chewed + boats, and the sinking limbs of torn comrades, they swam out of the + white curds of the whale's direful wrath into the serene, exasperating + sunlight, that smiled on, as if at a birth or a bridal. + + His three boats stove around him, and oars and men both whirling in the + eddies; one captain, seizing the line-knife from his broken prow, had + dashed at the whale, as an Arkansas duellist at his foe, blindly + seeking with a six inch blade to reach the fathom-deep life of the + whale. That captain was Ahab. And then it was, that suddenly sweeping + his sickle-shaped lower jaw beneath him, Moby Dick had reaped away + Ahab's leg, as a mower a blade of grass in the field. No turbaned Turk, + no hired Venetian or Malay, could have smote him with more seeming + malice. Small reason was there to doubt, then, that ever since that + almost fatal encounter, Ahab had cherished a wild vindictiveness + against the whale, all the more fell for that in his frantic morbidness + he at last came to identify with him, not only all his bodily woes, but + all his intellectual and spiritual exasperations. The White Whale swam + before him as the monomaniac incarnation of all those malicious + agencies which some deep men feel eating in them, till they are left + living on with half a heart and half a lung. That intangible malignity + which has been from the beginning; to whose dominion even the modern + Christians ascribe one-half of the worlds; which the ancient Ophites of + the east reverenced in their statue devil;— Ahab did not fall down and + worship it like them; but deliriously transferring its idea to the + abhorred white whale, he pitted himself, all mutilated, against it. All + that most maddens and torments; all that stirs up the lees of things; + all truth with malice in it; all that cracks the sinews and cakes the + brain; all the subtle demonisms of life and thought; all evil, to crazy + Ahab, were visibly personified, and made practically assailable in Moby + Dick. He piled upon the whale's white hump the sum of all the general + rage and hate felt by his whole race from Adam down; and then, as if + his chest had been a mortar, he burst his hot heart's shell upon it. + + It is not probable that this monomania in him took its instant rise at + the precise time of his bodily dismemberment. Then, in darting at the + monster, knife in hand, he had but given loose to a sudden, passionate, + corporal animosity; and when he received the stroke that tore him, he + probably but felt the agonizing bodily laceration, but nothing more. + Yet, when by this collision forced to turn towards home, and for long + months of days and weeks, Ahab and anguish lay stretched together in + one hammock, rounding in mid winter that dreary, howling Patagonian + Cape; then it was, that his torn body and gashed soul bled into one + another; and so interfusing, made him mad. That it was only then, on + the homeward voyage, after the encounter, that the final monomania + seized him, seems all but certain from the fact that, at intervals + during the passage, he was a raving lunatic; and, though unlimbed of a + leg, yet such vital strength yet lurked in his Egyptian chest, and was + moreover intensified by his delirium, that his mates were forced to + lace him fast, even there, as he sailed, raving in his hammock. In a + strait-jacket, he swung to the mad rockings of the gales. And, when + running into more sufferable latitudes, the ship, with mild stun'sails + spread, floated across the tranquil tropics, and, to all appearances, + the old man's delirium seemed left behind him with the Cape Horn + swells, and he came forth from his dark den into the blessed light and + air; even then, when he bore that firm, collected front, however pale, + and issued his calm orders once again; and his mates thanked God the + direful madness was now gone; even then, Ahab, in his hidden self, + raved on. Human madness is oftentimes a cunning and most feline thing. + When you think it fled, it may have but become transfigured into some + still subtler form. Ahab's full lunacy subsided not, but deepeningly + contracted; like the unabated Hudson, when that noble Northman flows + narrowly, but unfathomably through the Highland gorge. But, as in his + narrow-flowing monomania, not one jot of Ahab's broad madness had been + left behind; so in that broad madness, not one jot of his great natural + intellect had perished. That before living agent, now became the living + instrument. If such a furious trope may stand, his special lunacy + stormed his general sanity, and carried it, and turned all its + concentred cannon upon its own mad mark; so that far from having lost + his strength, Ahab, to that one end, did now possess a thousand fold + more potency than ever he had sanely brought to bear upon any one + reasonable object. + + This is much; yet Ahab's larger, darker, deeper part remains unhinted. + But vain to popularize profundities, and all truth is profound. Winding + far down from within the very heart of this spiked Hotel de Cluny where + we here stand—however grand and wonderful, now quit it;— and take your + way, ye nobler, sadder souls, to those vast Roman halls of Thermes; + where far beneath the fantastic towers of man's upper earth, his root + of grandeur, his whole awful essence sits in bearded state; an antique + buried beneath antiquities, and throned on torsoes! So with a broken + throne, the great gods mock that captive king; so like a Caryatid, he + patient sits, upholding on his frozen brow the piled entablatures of + ages. Wind ye down there, ye prouder, sadder souls! question that + proud, sad king! A family likeness! aye, he did beget ye, ye young + exiled royalties; and from your grim sire only will the old + State-secret come. + + Now, in his heart, Ahab had some glimpse of this, namely; all my means + are sane, my motive and my object mad. Yet without power to kill, or + change, or shun the fact; he likewise knew that to mankind he did now + long dissemble; in some sort, did still. But that thing of his + dissembling was only subject to his perceptibility, not to his will + determinate. Nevertheless, so well did he succeed in that dissembling, + that when with ivory leg he stepped ashore at last, no Nantucketer + thought him otherwise than but naturally grieved, and that to the + quick, with the terrible casualty which had overtaken him. + + The report of his undeniable delirium at sea was likewise popularly + ascribed to a kindred cause. And so too, all the added moodiness which + always afterwards, to the very day of sailing in the Pequod on the + present voyage, sat brooding on his brow. Nor is it so very unlikely, + that far from distrusting his fitness for another whaling voyage, on + account of such dark symptoms, the calculating people of that prudent + isle were inclined to harbor the conceit, that for those very reasons + he was all the better qualified and set on edge, for a pursuit so full + of rage and wildness as the bloody hunt of whales. Gnawed within and + scorched without, with the infixed, unrelenting fangs of some incurable + idea; such an one, could he be found, would seem the very man to dart + his iron and lift his lance against the most appalling of all brutes. + Or, if for any reason thought to be corporeally incapacitated for that, + yet such an one would seem superlatively competent to cheer and howl on + his underlings to the attack. But be all this as it may, certain it is, + that with the mad secret of his unabated rage bolted up and keyed in + him, Ahab had purposely sailed upon the present voyage with the one + only and all-engrossing object of hunting the White Whale. Had any one + of his old acquaintances on shore but half dreamed of what was lurking + in him then, how soon would their aghast and righteous souls have + wrenched the ship from such a fiendish man! They were bent on + profitable cruises, the profit to be counted down in dollars from the + mint. He was intent on an audacious, immitigable, and supernatural + revenge. + + Here, then, was this grey-headed, ungodly old man, chasing with curses + a Job's whale round the world, at the head of a crew, too, chiefly made + up of mongrel renegades, and castaways, and cannibals—morally enfeebled + also, by the incompetence of mere unaided virtue or right-mindedness in + Starbuck, the invulnerable jollity of indifference and recklessness in + Stubb, and the pervading mediocrity in Flask. Such a crew, so + officered, seemed specially picked and packed by some infernal fatality + to help him to his monomaniac revenge. How it was that they so + aboundingly responded to the old man's ire—by what evil magic their + souls were possessed, that at times his hate seemed almost theirs; the + White Whale as much their insufferable foe as his; how all this came to + be—what the White Whale was to them, or how to their unconscious + understandings, also, in some dim, unsuspected way, he might have + seemed the gliding great demon of the seas of life,— all this to + explain, would be to dive deeper than Ishmael can go. The subterranean + miner that works in us all, how can one tell whither leads his shaft by + the ever shifting, muffled sound of his pick? Who does not feel the + irresistible arm drag? What skiff in tow of a seventy-four can stand + still? For one, I gave myself up to the abandonment of the time and the + place; but while yet all a-rush to encounter the whale, could see + naught in that brute but the deadliest ill. + + + + + CHAPTER 42 + + + The Whiteness of The Whale + + What the white whale was to Ahab, has been hinted; what, at times, he + was to me, as yet remains unsaid. + + Aside from those more obvious considerations touching Moby Dick, which + could not but occasionally awaken in any man's soul some alarm, there + was another thought, or rather vague, nameless horror concerning him, + which at times by its intensity completely overpowered all the rest; + and yet so mystical and well nigh ineffable was it, that I almost + despair of putting it in a comprehensible form. It was the whiteness of + the whale that above all things appalled me. But how can I hope to + explain myself here; and yet, in some dim, random way, explain myself I + must, else all these chapters might be naught. + + Though in many natural objects, whiteness refiningly enhances beauty, + as if imparting some special virtue of its own, as in marbles, + japonicas, and pearls; and though various nations have in some way + recognised a certain royal preeminence in this hue; even the barbaric, + grand old kings of Pegu placing the title "Lord of the White Elephants" + above all their other magniloquent ascriptions of dominion; and the + modern kings of Siam unfurling the same snow-white quadruped in the + royal standard; and the Hanoverian flag bearing the one figure of a + snow-white charger; and the great Austrian Empire, Caesarian, heir to + overlording Rome, having for the imperial color the same imperial hue; + and though this pre-eminence in it applies to the human race itself, + giving the white man ideal mastership over every dusky tribe; and + though, besides, all this, whiteness has been even made significant of + gladness, for among the Romans a white stone marked a joyful day; and + though in other mortal sympathies and symbolizings, this same hue is + made the emblem of many touching, noble things— the innocence of + brides, the benignity of age; though among the Red Men of America the + giving of the white belt of wampum was the deepest pledge of honor; + though in many climes, whiteness typifies the majesty of Justice in the + ermine of the Judge, and contributes to the daily state of kings and + queens drawn by milk-white steeds; though even in the higher mysteries + of the most august religions it has been made the symbol of the divine + spotlessness and power; by the Persian fire worshippers, the white + forked flame being held the holiest on the altar; and in the Greek + mythologies, Great Jove himself being made incarnate in a snow-white + bull; and though to the noble Iroquois, the midwinter sacrifice of the + sacred White Dog was by far the holiest festival of their theology, + that spotless, faithful creature being held the purest envoy they could + send to the Great Spirit with the annual tidings of their own fidelity; + and though directly from the Latin word for white, all Christian + priests derive the name of one part of their sacred vesture, the alb or + tunic, worn beneath the cassock; and though among the holy pomps of the + Romish faith, white is specially employed in the celebration of the + Passion of our Lord; though in the Vision of St. John, white robes are + given to the redeemed, and the four-and-twenty elders stand clothed in + white before the great-white throne, and the Holy One that sitteth + there white like wool; yet for all these accumulated associations, with + whatever is sweet, and honorable, and sublime, there yet lurks an + elusive something in the innermost idea of this hue, which strikes more + of panic to the soul than that redness which affrights in blood. + + This elusive quality it is, which causes the thought of whiteness, when + divorced from more kindly associations, and coupled with any object + terrible in itself, to heighten that terror to the furthest bounds. + Witness the white bear of the poles, and the white shark of the + tropics; what but their smooth, flaky whiteness makes them the + transcendent horrors they are? That ghastly whiteness it is which + imparts such an abhorrent mildness, even more loathsome than terrific, + to the dumb gloating of their aspect. So that not the fierce-fanged + tiger in his heraldic coat can so stagger courage as the white-shrouded + bear or shark.* + + *With reference to the Polar bear, it may possibly be urged by him who + would fain go still deeper into this matter, that it is not the + whiteness, separately regarded, which heightens the intolerable + hideousness of that brute; for, analysed, that heightened hideousness, + it might be said, only rises from the circumstance, that the + irresponsible ferociousness of the creature stands invested in the + fleece of celestial innocence and love; and hence, by bringing together + two such opposite emotions in our minds, the Polar bear frightens us + with so unnatural a contrast. But even assuming all this to be true; + yet, were it not for the whiteness, you would not have that intensified + terror. + + As for the white shark, the white gliding ghostliness of repose in that + creature, when beheld in his ordinary moods, strangely tallies with the + same quality in the Polar quadruped. This peculiarity is most vividly + hit by the French in the name they bestow upon that fish. The Romish + mass for the dead begins with "Requiem eternam" (eternal rest), whence + Requiem denominating the mass itself, and any other funeral music. Now, + in allusion to the white, silent stillness of death in this shark, and + the mild deadliness of his habits, the French call him Requin. + + Bethink thee of the albatross, whence come those clouds of spiritual + wonderment and pale dread, in which that white phantom sails in all + imaginations? Not Coleridge first threw that spell; but God's great, + unflattering laureate, Nature.* + + *I remember the first albatross I ever saw. It was during a prolonged + gale, in waters hard upon the Antarctic seas. From my forenoon watch + below, I ascended to the overclouded deck; and there, dashed upon the + main hatches, I saw a regal, feathery thing of unspotted whiteness, and + with a hooked, Roman bill sublime. At intervals, it arched forth its + vast archangel wings, as if to embrace some holy ark. Wondrous + flutterings and throbbings shook it. Though bodily unharmed, it uttered + cries, as some king's ghost in supernatural distress. Through its + inexpressible, strange eyes, methought I peeped to secrets which took + hold of God. As Abraham before the angels, I bowed myself; the white + thing was so white, its wings so wide, and in those for ever exiled + waters, I had lost the miserable warping memories of traditions and of + towns. Long I gazed at that prodigy of plumage. I cannot tell, can only + hint, the things that darted through me then. But at last I awoke; and + turning, asked a sailor what bird was this. A goney, he replied. Goney! + never had heard that name before; is it conceivable that this glorious + thing is utterly unknown to men ashore! never! But some time after, I + learned that goney was some seaman's name for albatross. So that by no + possibility could Coleridge's wild Rhyme have had aught to do with + those mystical impressions which were mine, when I saw that bird upon + our deck. For neither had I then read the Rhyme, nor knew the bird to + be an albatross. Yet, in saying this, I do but indirectly burnish a + little brighter the noble merit of the poem and the poet. + + I assert, then, that in the wondrous bodily whiteness of the bird + chiefly lurks the secret of the spell; a truth the more evinced in + this, that by a solecism of terms there are birds called grey + albatrosses; and these I have frequently seen, but never with such + emotions as when I beheld the Antarctic fowl. + + But how had the mystic thing been caught? Whisper it not, and I will + tell; with a treacherous hook and line, as the fowl floated on the sea. + At last the Captain made a postman of it; tying a lettered, leathern + tally round its neck, with the ship's time and place; and then letting + it escape. But I doubt not, that leathern tally, meant for man, was + taken off in Heaven, when the white fowl flew to join the wing-folding, + the invoking, and adoring cherubim! + + Most famous in our Western annals and Indian traditions is that of the + White Steed of the Prairies; a magnificent milk-white charger, + large-eyed, small-headed, bluff-chested, and with the dignity of a + thousand monarchs in his lofty, overscorning carriage. He was the + elected Xerxes of vast herds of wild horses, whose pastures in those + days were only fenced by the Rocky Mountains and the Alleghanies. At + their flaming head he westward trooped it like that chosen star which + every evening leads on the hosts of light. The flashing cascade of his + mane, the curving comet of his tail, invested him with housings more + resplendent than gold and silver-beaters could have furnished him. A + most imperial and archangelical apparition of that unfallen, western + world, which to the eyes of the old trappers and hunters revived the + glories of those primeval times when Adam walked majestic as a god, + bluff-bowed and fearless as this mighty steed. Whether marching amid + his aides and marshals in the van of countless cohorts that endlessly + streamed it over the plains, like an Ohio; or whether with his + circumambient subjects browsing all around at the horizon, the White + Steed gallopingly reviewed them with warm nostrils reddening through + his cool milkiness; in whatever aspect he presented himself, always to + the bravest Indians he was the object of trembling reverence and awe. + Nor can it be questioned from what stands on legendary record of this + noble horse, that it was his spiritual whiteness chiefly, which so + clothed him with divineness; and that this divineness had that in it + which, though commanding worship, at the same time enforced a certain + nameless terror. + + But there are other instances where this whiteness loses all that + accessory and strange glory which invests it in the White Steed and + Albatross. + + What is it that in the Albino man so peculiarly repels and often shocks + the eye, as that sometimes he is loathed by his own kith and kin! It is + that whiteness which invests him, a thing expressed by the name he + bears. The Albino is as well made as other men— has no substantive + deformity—and yet this mere aspect of all-pervading whiteness makes him + more strangely hideous than the ugliest abortion. Why should this be + so? + + Nor, in quite other aspects, does Nature in her least palpable but not + the less malicious agencies, fail to enlist among her forces this + crowning attribute of the terrible. From its snowy aspect, the + gauntleted ghost of the Southern Seas has been denominated the White + Squall. Nor, in some historic instances, has the art of human malice + omitted so potent an auxiliary. How wildly it heightens the effect of + that passage in Froissart, when, masked in the snowy symbol of their + faction, the desperate White Hoods of Ghent murder their bailiff in the + market-place! + + Nor, in some things, does the common, hereditary experience of all + mankind fail to bear witness to the supernaturalism of this hue. It + cannot well be doubted, that the one visible quality in the aspect of + the dead which most appals the gazer, is the marble pallor lingering + there; as if indeed that pallor were as much like the badge of + consternation in the other world, as of mortal trepidation here. And + from that pallor of the dead, we borrow the expressive hue of the + shroud in which we wrap them. Nor even in our superstitions do we fail + to throw the same snowy mantle round our phantoms; all ghosts rising in + a milk-white fog—Yea, while these terrors seize us, let us add, that + even the king of terrors, when personified by the evangelist, rides on + his pallid horse. + + Therefore, in his other moods, symbolize whatever grand or gracious + thing he will by whiteness, no man can deny that in its profoundest + idealized significance it calls up a peculiar apparition to the soul. + + But though without dissent this point be fixed, how is mortal man to + account for it? To analyse it, would seem impossible. Can we, then, by + the citation of some of those instances wherein this thing of + whiteness—though for the time either wholly or in great part stripped + of all direct associations calculated to impart to it aught fearful, + but nevertheless, is found to exert over us the same sorcery, however + modified;— can we thus hope to light upon some chance clue to conduct + us to the hidden cause we seek? + + Let us try. But in a matter like this, subtlety appeals to subtlety, + and without imagination no man can follow another into these halls. And + though, doubtless, some at least of the imaginative impressions about + to be presented may have been shared by most men, yet few perhaps were + entirely conscious of them at the time, and therefore may not be able + to recall them now. + + Why to the man of untutored ideality, who happens to be but loosely + acquainted with the peculiar character of the day, does the bare + mention of Whitsuntide marshal in the fancy such long, dreary, + speechless processions of slow-pacing pilgrims, down-cast and hooded + with new-fallen snow? Or to the unread, unsophisticated Protestant of + the Middle American States, why does the passing mention of a White + Friar or a White Nun, evoke such an eyeless statue in the soul? + + Or what is there apart from the traditions of dungeoned warriors and + kings (which will not wholly account for it) that makes the White Tower + of London tell so much more strongly on the imagination of an + untravelled American, than those other storied structures, its + neighbors— the Byward Tower, or even the Bloody? And those sublimer + towers, the White Mountains of New Hampshire, whence, in peculiar + moods, comes that gigantic ghostliness over the soul at the bare + mention of that name, while the thought of Virginia's Blue Ridge is + full of a soft, dewy, distant dreaminess? Or why, irrespective of all + latitudes and longitudes, does the name of the White Sea exert such a + spectralness over the fancy, while that of the Yellow Sea lulls us with + mortal thoughts of long lacquered mild afternoons on the waves, + followed by the gaudiest and yet sleepiest of sunsets? Or, to choose a + wholly unsubstantial instance, purely addressed to the fancy, why, in + reading the old fairy tales of Central Europe, does "the tall pale man" + of the Hartz forests, whose changeless pallor unrestingly glides + through the green of the groves— why is this phantom more terrible than + all the whooping imps of the Blocksburg? + + Nor is it, altogether, the remembrance of her cathedral-toppling + earthquakes; nor the stampedoes of her frantic seas; nor the + tearlessness of arid skies that never rain; nor the sight of her wide + field of leaning spires, wrenched cope-stones, and crosses all adroop + (like canted yards of anchored fleets); and her suburban avenues of + house-walls lying over upon each other, as a tossed pack of cards;— it + is not these things alone which make tearless Lima, the strangest, + saddest city thou can'st see. For Lima has taken the white veil; and + there is a higher horror in this whiteness of her woe. Old as Pizarro, + this whiteness keeps her ruins for ever new; admits not the cheerful + greenness of complete decay; spreads over her broken ramparts the rigid + pallor of an apoplexy that fixes its own distortions. + + I know that, to the common apprehension, this phenomenon of whiteness + is not confessed to be the prime agent in exaggerating the terror of + objects otherwise terrible; nor to the unimaginative mind is there + aught of terror in those appearances whose awfulness to another mind + almost solely consists in this one phenomenon, especially when + exhibited under any form at all approaching to muteness or + universality. What I mean by these two statements may perhaps be + respectively elucidated by the following examples. + + First: The mariner, when drawing nigh the coasts of foreign lands, if + by night he hear the roar of breakers, starts to vigilance, and feels + just enough of trepidation to sharpen all his faculties; but under + precisely similar circumstances, let him be called from his hammock to + view his ship sailing through a midnight sea of milky whiteness— as if + from encircling headlands shoals of combed white bears were swimming + round him, then he feels a silent, superstitious dread; the shrouded + phantom of the whitened waters is horrible to him as a real ghost; in + vain the lead assures him he is still off soundings; heart and helm + they both go down; he never rests till blue water is under him again. + Yet where is the mariner who will tell thee, "Sir, it was not so much + the fear of striking hidden rocks, as the fear of that hideous + whiteness that so stirred me?" + + Second: To the native Indian of Peru, the continual sight of the + snowhowdahed Andes conveys naught of dread, except, perhaps, in the + mere fancying of the eternal frosted desolateness reigning at such vast + altitudes, and the natural conceit of what a fearfulness it would be to + lose oneself in such inhuman solitudes. Much the same is it with the + backwoodsman of the West, who with comparative indifference views an + unbounded prairie sheeted with driven snow, no shadow of tree or twig + to break the fixed trance of whiteness. Not so the sailor, beholding + the scenery of the Antarctic seas; where at times, by some infernal + trick of legerdemain in the powers of frost and air, he, shivering and + half shipwrecked, instead of rainbows speaking hope and solace to his + misery, views what seems a boundless churchyard grinning upon him with + its lean ice monuments and splintered crosses. + + But thou sayest, methinks this white-lead chapter about whiteness is + but a white flag hung out from a craven soul; thou surrenderest to a + hypo, Ishmael. + + Tell me, why this strong young colt, foaled in some peaceful valley of + Vermont, far removed from all beasts of prey— why is it that upon the + sunniest day, if you but shake a fresh buffalo robe behind him, so that + he cannot even see it, but only smells its wild animal muskiness—why + will he start, snort, and with bursting eyes paw the ground in + phrensies of affright? There is no remembrance in him of any gorings of + wild creatures in his green northern home, so that the strange + muskiness he smells cannot recall to him anything associated with the + experience of former perils; for what knows he, this New England colt, + of the black bisons of distant Oregon? + + No; but here thou beholdest even in a dumb brute, the instinct of the + knowledge of the demonism in the world. Though thousands of miles from + Oregon, still when he smells that savage musk, the rending, goring + bison herds are as present as to the deserted wild foal of the + prairies, which this instant they may be trampling into dust. + + Thus, then, the muffled rollings of a milky sea; the bleak rustlings of + the festooned frosts of mountains; the desolate shiftings of the + windrowed snows of prairies; all these, to Ishmael, are as the shaking + of that buffalo robe to the frightened colt! + + Though neither knows where lie the nameless things of which the mystic + sign gives forth such hints; yet with me, as with the colt, somewhere + those things must exist. Though in many of its aspects this visible + world seems formed in love, the invisible spheres were formed in + fright. + + But not yet have we solved the incantation of this whiteness, and + learned why it appeals with such power to the soul; and more strange + and far more portentous—why, as we have seen, it is at once the most + meaning symbol of spiritual things, nay, the very veil of the + Christian's Deity; and yet should be as it is, the intensifying agent + in things the most appalling to mankind. + + Is it that by its indefiniteness it shadows forth the heartless voids + and immensities of the universe, and thus stabs us from behind with the + thought of annihilation, when beholding the white depths of the milky + way? Or is it, that as in essence whiteness is not so much a color as + the visible absence of color; and at the same time the concrete of all + colors; is it for these reasons that there is such a dumb blankness, + full of meaning, in a wide landscape of snows—a colorless, all-color of + atheism from which we shrink? And when we consider that other theory of + the natural philosophers, that all other earthly hues—every stately or + lovely emblazoning— the sweet tinges of sunset skies and woods; yea, + and the gilded velvets of butterflies, and the butterfly cheeks of + young girls; all these are but subtile deceits, not actually inherent + in substances, but only laid on from without; so that all deified + Nature absolutely paints like the harlot, whose allurements cover + nothing but the charnel-house within; and when we proceed further, and + consider that the mystical cosmetic which produces every one of her + hues, the great principle of light, for ever remains white or colorless + in itself, and if operating without medium upon matter, would touch all + objects, even tulips and roses, with its own blank tinge—pondering all + this, the palsied universe lies before us a leper; and like wilful + travellers in Lapland, who refuse to wear colored and coloring glasses + upon their eyes, so the wretched infidel gazes himself blind at the + monumental white shroud that wraps all the prospect around him. And of + all these things the Albino whale was the symbol. Wonder ye then at the + fiery hunt? .. + + + + + CHAPTER 43 + + + Hark! + + "HIST! Did you hear that noise, Cabaco? + + It was the middle-watch: a fair moonlight; the seamen were standing in + a cordon, extending from one of the fresh-water butts in the waist, to + the scuttle-butt near the taffrail. In this manner, they passed the + buckets to fill the scuttle-butt. Standing, for the most part, on the + hallowed precincts of the quarter-deck, they were careful not to speak + or rustle their feet. From hand to hand, the buckets went in the + deepest silence, only broken by the occasional flap of a sail, and the + steady hum of the unceasingly advancing keel. + + It was in the midst of this repose, that Archy, one of the cordon, + whose post was near the after-hatches, whispered to his neighbor, a + Cholo, the words above. + + "Hist! did you hear that noise, Cabaco?" + + "Take the bucket, will ye, Archy? what noise d'ye mean?" + + "There it is again—under the hatches—don't you hear it—a cough— it + sounded like a cough." + + "Cough be damned! Pass along that return bucket." + + "There again—there it is!—it sounds like two or three sleepers turning + over, now!" + + "Caramba! have done, shipmate, will ye? It's the three soaked biscuits + ye eat for supper turning over inside of ye—nothing else. Look to the + bucket!" + + "Say what ye will, shipmate; I've sharp ears." + + "Aye, you are the chap, ain't ye, that heard the hum of the old + Quakeress's knitting-needles fifty miles at sea from Nantucket; you're + the chap." + + "Grin away; we'll see what turns up. Hark ye, Cabaco, there is somebody + down in the after-hold that has not yet been seen on deck; and I + suspect our old Mogul knows something of it too. I heard Stubb tell + Flask, one morning watch, that there was something of that sort in the + wind." + + "Tish! the bucket!" + + + + + CHAPTER 44 + + + The Chart + + Had you followed Captain Ahab down into his cabin after the squall that + took place on the night succeeding that wild ratification of his + purpose with his crew, you would have seen him go to a locker in the + transom, and bringing out a large wrinkled roll of yellowish sea + charts, spread them before him on his screwed-down table. Then seating + himself before it, you would have seen him intently study the various + lines and shadings which there met his eye; and with slow but steady + pencil trace additional courses over spaces that before were blank. At + intervals, he would refer to piles of old log-books beside him, wherein + were set down the seasons and places in which, on various former + voyages of various ships, sperm whales had been captured or seen. + + While thus employed, the heavy pewter lamp suspended in chains over his + head, continually rocked with the motion of the ship, and for ever + threw shifting gleams and shadows of lines upon his wrinkled brow, till + it almost seemed that while he himself was marking out lines and + courses on the wrinkled charts, some invisible pencil was also tracing + lines and courses upon the deeply marked chart of his forehead. + + But it was not this night in particular that, in the solitude of his + cabin, Ahab thus pondered over his charts. Almost every night they were + brought out; almost every night some pencil marks were effaced, and + others were substituted. For with the charts of all four oceans before + him, Ahab was threading a maze of currents and eddies, with a view to + the more certain accomplishment of that monomaniac thought of his soul. + + Now, to any one not fully acquainted with the ways of the leviathans, + it might seem an absurdly hopeless task thus to seek out one solitary + creature in the unhooped oceans of this planet. But not so did it seem + to Ahab, who knew the sets of all tides and currents; and thereby + calculating the driftings of the sperm whale's food; and, also calling + to mind the regular, ascertained seasons for hunting him in particular + latitudes; could arrive at reasonable surmises, almost approaching to + certainties, concerning the timeliest day to be upon this or that + ground in search of his prey. + + So assured, indeed, is the fact concerning the periodicalness of the + sperm whale's resorting to given waters, that many hunters believe + that, could he be closely observed and studied throughout the world; + were the logs for one voyage of the entire whale fleet carefully + collated, then the migrations of the sperm whale would be found to + correspond in invariability to those of the herring-shoals or the + flights of swallows. On this hint, attempts have been made to construct + elaborate migratory charts of the sperm whale.* + + *Since the above was written, the statement is happily borne out by an + official circular, issued by Lieutenant Maury, of the National + Observatory, Washington, April 16th, 1851. By that circular, it appears + that precisely such a chart is in course of completion; and portions of + it are presented in the circular. "This chart divides the ocean into + districts of five degrees of latitude by five degrees of longitude; + perpendicularly through each of which districts are twelve columns for + the twelve months; and horizontally through each of which districts are + three lines; one to show the number of days that have been spent in + each month in every district, and the two others to show the number of + days in which whales, sperm or right, have been seen." + + Besides, when making a passage from one feeding-ground to another, the + sperm whales, guided by some infallible instinct—say, rather, secret + intelligence from the Deity—mostly swim in veins, as they are called; + continuing their way along a given ocean-line with such undeviating + exactitude, that no ship ever sailed her course, by any chart, with one + tithe of such marvellous precision. Though, in these cases, the + direction taken by any one whale be straight as a surveyor's parallel, + and though the line of advance be strictly confined to its own + unavoidable, straight wake, yet the arbitrary vein in which at these + times he is said to swim, generally embraces some few miles in width + (more or less, as the vein is presumed to expand or contract); but + never exceeds the visual sweep from the whale-ship's mast-heads, when + circumspectly gliding along this magic zone. The sum is, that at + particular seasons within that breadth and along that path, migrating + whales may with great confidence be looked for. + + And hence not only at substantiated times, upon well known separate + feeding-grounds, could Ahab hope to encounter his prey; but in crossing + the widest expanses of water between those grounds he could, by his + art, so place and time himself on his way, as even then not to be + wholly without prospect of a meeting. + + There was a circumstance which at first sight seemed to entangle his + delirious but still methodical scheme. But not so in the reality, + perhaps. Though the gregarious sperm whales have their regular seasons + for particular grounds, yet in general you cannot conclude that the + herds which haunted such and such a latitude or longitude this year, + say, will turn out to be identically the same with those that were + found there the preceding season; though there are peculiar and + unquestionable instances where the contrary of this has proved true. In + general, the same remark, only within a less wide limit, applies to the + solitaries and hermits among the matured, aged sperm whales. So that + though Moby Dick had in a former year been seen, for example, on what + is called the Seychelle ground in the Indian ocean, or Volcano Bay on + the Japanese Coast; yet it did not follow that were the Pequod to visit + either of those spots at any subsequent corresponding season, she would + infallibly encounter him there. So, too, with some other + feeding-grounds, where he had at times revealed himself. But all these + seemed only his casual stopping-places and ocean-inns, so to speak, not + his places of prolonged abode. And where Ahab's chances of + accomplishing his object have hitherto been spoken of, allusion has + only been made to whatever way-side, antecedent, extra prospects were + his, ere a particular set time or place were attained, when all + possibilities would become probabilities, and, as Ahab fondly thought, + every possibility the next thing to a certainty. That particular set + time and place were conjoined in the one technical phrase—the + Season-on-the-Line. For there and then, for several consecutive years, + Moby Dick had been periodically descried, lingering in those waters for + awhile, as the sun, in its annual round, loiters for a predicted + interval in any one sign of the Zodiac. There it was, too, that most of + the deadly encounters with the white whale had taken place; there the + waves were storied with his deeds; there also was that tragic spot + where the monomaniac old man had found the awful motive to his + vengeance. But in the cautious comprehensiveness and unloitering + vigilance with which Ahab threw his brooding soul into this unfaltering + hunt, he would not permit himself to rest all his hopes upon the one + crowning fact above mentioned, however flattering it might be to those + hopes; nor in the sleeplessness of his vow could he so tranquillize his + unquiet heart as to postpone all intervening quest. + + Now, the Pequod had sailed from Nantucket at the very beginning of the + Season-on-the-Line. No possible endeavor then could enable her + commander to make the great passage southwards, double Cape Horn, and + then running down sixty degrees of latitude arrive in the equatorial + Pacific in time to cruise there. Therefore, he must wait for the next + ensuing season. Yet the premature hour of the Pequod's sailing had, + perhaps, been correctly selected by Ahab, with a view to this very + complexion of things. Because, an interval of three hundred and + sixty-five days and nights was before him; an interval which, instead + of impatiently enduring ashore, he would spend in a miscellaneous hunt; + if by chance the White Whale, spending his vacation in seas far remote + from his periodical feeding-grounds, should turn up his wrinkled brow + off the Persian Gulf, or in the Bengal Bay, or China Seas, or in any + other waters haunted by his race. So that Monsoons, Pampas, + Nor-Westers, Harmattans, Trades; any wind but the Levanter and Simoon, + might blow Moby Dick into the devious zig-zag world-circle of the + Pequod's circumnavigating wake. + + But granting all this; yet, regarded discreetly and coolly, seems it + not but a mad idea, this; that in the broad boundless ocean, one + solitary whale, even if encountered, should be thought capable of + individual recognition from his hunter, even as a white-bearded Mufti + in the thronged thoroughfares of Constantinople? Yes. For the peculiar + snow-white brow of Moby Dick, and his snow-white hump, could not but be + unmistakable. And have I not tallied the whale, Ahab would mutter to + himself, as after poring over his charts till long after midnight he + would throw himself back in reveries—tallied him, and shall he escape? + His broad fins are bored, and scalloped out like a lost sheep's ear! + And here, his mad mind would run on in a breathless race; till a + weariness and faintness of pondering came over him! and in the open air + of the deck he would seek to recover his strength. Ah, God! what + trances of torments does that man endure who is consumed with one + unachieved revengeful desire. He sleeps with clenched hands; and wakes + with his own bloody nails in his palms. + + Often, when forced from his hammock by exhausting and intolerably vivid + dreams of the night, which, resuming his own intense thoughts through + the day, carried them on amid a clashing of phrensies, and whirled them + round and round and round in his blazing brain, till the very throbbing + of his life-spot became insufferable anguish; and when, as was + sometimes the case, these spiritual throes in him heaved his being up + from its base, and a chasm seemed opening in him, from which forked + flames and lightnings shot up, and accursed fiends beckoned him to leap + down among them; when this hell in himself yawned beneath him, a wild + cry would be heard through the ship; and with glaring eyes Ahab would + burst from his state room, as though escaping from a bed that was on + fire. Yet these, perhaps, instead of being the unsuppressable symptoms + of some latent weakness, or fright at his own resolve, were but the + plainest tokens of its intensity. For, at such times, crazy Ahab, the + scheming, unappeasedly steadfast hunter of the white whale; this Ahab + that had gone to his hammock, was not the agent that so caused him to + burst from it in horror again. The latter was the eternal, living + principle or soul in him; and in sleep, being for the time dissociated + from the characterizing mind, which at other times employed it for its + outer vehicle or agent, it spontaneously sought escape from the + scorching contiguity of the frantic thing, of which, for the time, it + was no longer an integral. But as the mind does not exist unless + leagued with the soul, therefore it must have been that, in Ahab's + case, yielding up all his thoughts and fancies to his one supreme + purpose; that purpose, by its own sheer inveteracy of will, forced + itself against gods and devils into a kind of self-assumed, independent + being of its own. Nay, could grimly live and burn, while the common + vitality to which it was conjoined, fled horror-stricken from the + unbidden and unfathered birth. Therefore, the tormented spirit that + glared out of bodily eyes, when what seemed Ahab rushed from his room, + was for the time but a vacated thing, a formless somnambulistic being, + a ray of living light, to be sure, but without an object to color, and + therefore a blankness in itself. God help thee, old man, thy thoughts + have created a creature in thee; and he whose intense thinking thus + makes him a Prometheus; a vulture feeds upon that heart for ever; that + vulture the very creature he creates. + + + + + CHAPTER 45 + + + The Affidavit + + So far as what there may be of a narrative in this book; and, indeed, + as indirectly touching one or two very interesting and curious + particulars in the habits of sperm whales, the foregoing chapter, in + its earlier part, is as important a one as will be found in this + volume; but the leading matter of it requires to be still further and + more familiarly enlarged upon, in order to be adequately understood, + and moreover to take away any incredulity which a profound ignorance of + the entire subject may induce in some minds, as to the natural verity + of the main points of this affair. + + I care not to perform this part of my task methodically; but shall be + content to produce the desired impression by separate citations of + items, practically or reliably known to me as a whaleman; and from + these citations, I take it— the conclusion aimed at will naturally + follow of itself. + + First: I have personally known three instances where a whale, after + receiving a harpoon, has effected a complete escape; and, after an + interval (in one instance of three years), has been again struck by the + same hand, and slain; when the two irons, both marked by the same + private cypher, have been taken from the body. In the instance where + three years intervened between the flinging of the two harpoons; and I + think it may have been something more than that; the man who darted + them happening, in the interval, to go in a trading ship on a voyage to + Africa, went ashore there, joined a discovery party, and penetrated far + into the interior, where he travelled for a period of nearly two years, + often endangered by serpents, savages, tigers, poisonous miasmas, with + all the other common perils incident to wandering in the heart of + unknown regions. Meanwhile, the whale he had struck must also have been + on its travels; no doubt it had thrice circumnavigated the globe, + brushing with its flanks all the coasts of Africa; but to no purpose. + This man and this whale again came together, and the one vanquished the + other. I say I, myself, have known three instances similar to this; + that is in two of them I saw the whales struck; and, upon the second + attack, saw the two irons with the respective marks cut in them, + afterwards taken from the dead fish. In the three-year instance, it so + fell out that I was in the boat both times, first and last, and the + last time distinctly recognized a peculiar sort of huge mole under the + whale's eye, which I had observed there three years previous. I say + three years, but I am pretty sure it was more than that. Here are three + instances, then, which I personally know the truth of; but I have heard + of many other instances from persons whose veracity in the matter there + is no good ground to impeach. + + Secondly: It is well known in the Sperm Whale Fishery, however ignorant + the world ashore may be of it, that there have been several memorable + historical instances where a particular whale in the ocean has been at + distant times and places popularly cognisable. Why such a whale became + thus marked was not altogether and originally owing to his bodily + peculiarities as distinguished from other whales; for however peculiar + in that respect any chance whale may be, they soon put an end to his + peculiarities by killing him, and boiling him down into a peculiarly + valuable oil. No: the reason was this: that from the fatal experiences + of the fishery there hung a terrible prestige of perilousness about + such a whale as there did about Rinaldo Rinaldini, insomuch that most + fishermen were content to recognise him by merely touching their + tarpaulins when he would be discovered lounging by them on the sea, + without seeking to cultivate a more intimate acquaintance. Like some + poor devils ashore that happen to known an irascible great man, they + make distant unobtrusive salutations to him in the street, lest if they + pursued the acquaintance further, they might receive a summary thump + for their presumption. + + But not only did each of these famous whales enjoy great individual + celebrity—nay, you may call it an oceanwide renown; not only was he + famous in life and now is immortal in forecastle stories after death, + but he was admitted into all the rights, privileges, and distinctions + of a name; had as much a name indeed as Cambyses or Caesar. Was it not + so, O Timor Tom! thou famed leviathan, scarred like an iceberg, who so + long did'st lurk in the Oriental straits of that name, whose spout was + oft seen from the palmy beach of Ombay? Was it not so, O New Zealand + Jack! thou terror of all cruisers that crossed their wakes in the + vicinity of the Tattoo Land? Was it not so, O Morquan! King of Japan, + whose lofty jet they say at times assumed the semblance of a snow-white + cross against the sky? Was it not so, O Don Miguel! thou Chilian whale, + marked like an old tortoise with mystic hieroglyphics upon the back! In + plain prose, here are four whales as well known to the students of + Cetacean History as Marius or Sylla to the classic scholar. + + But this is not all. New Zealand Tom and Don Miguel, after at various + times creating great havoc among the boats of different vessels, were + finally gone in quest of, systematically hunted out, chased and killed + by valiant whaling captains, who heaved up their anchors with that + express object as much in view, as in setting out through the + Narragansett Woods, Captain Butler of old had it in his mind to capture + that notorious murderous savage Annawon, the headmost warrior of the + Indian King Philip. + + I do not know where I can find a better place than just here, to make + mention of one or two other things, which to me seem important, as in + printed form establishing in all respects the reasonableness of the + whole story of the White Whale, more especially the catastrophe. For + this is one of those disheartening instances where truth requires full + as much bolstering as error. So ignorant are most landsmen of some of + the plainest and most palpable wonders of the world, that without some + hints touching the plain facts, historical and otherwise, of the + fishery, they might scout at Moby Dick as a monstrous fable, or still + worse and more detestable, a hideous and intolerable allegory. + + First: Though most men have some vague flitting ideas of the general + perils of the grand fishery, yet they have nothing like a fixed, vivid + conception of those perils, and the frequency with which they recur. + One reason perhaps is, that not one in fifty of the actual disasters + and deaths by casualties in the fishery, ever finds a public record at + home, however transient and immediately forgotten that record. Do you + suppose that that poor fellow there, who this moment perhaps caught by + the whale-line off the coast of New Guinea, is being carried down to + the bottom of the sea by the sounding leviathan— do you suppose that + that poor fellow's name will appear in the newspaper obituary you will + read to-morrow at your breakfast? No: because the mails are very + irregular between here and New Guinea. In fact, did you ever hear what + might be called regular news direct or indirect from New Guinea? Yet I + will tell you that upon one particular voyage which I made to the + Pacific, among many others we spoke thirty different ships, every one + of which had had a death by a whale, some of them more than one, and + three that had each lost a boat's crew. For God's sake, be economical + with your lamps and candles! not a gallon you burn, but at least one + drop of man's blood was spilled for it. + + Secondly: People ashore have indeed some indefinite idea that a whale + is an enormous creature of enormous power; but I have ever found that + when narrating to them some specific example of this two-fold + enormousness, they have significantly complimented me upon my + facetiousness; when, I declare upon my soul, I had no more idea of + being facetious than Moses, when he wrote the history of the plagues of + Egypt. + + But fortunately the special point I here seek can be established upon + testimony entirely independent of my own. That point is this: The Sperm + Whale is in some cases sufficiently powerful, knowing, and judiciously + malicious, as with direct aforethought to stave in, utterly destroy, + and sink a large ship; and what is more, the Sperm Whale has done it. + + First: In the year 1820 the ship Essex, Captain Pollard, of Nantucket, + was cruising in the Pacific Ocean. One day she saw spouts, lowered her + boats, and gave chase to a shoal of sperm whales. Ere long, several of + the whales were wounded; when, suddenly, a very large whale escaping + from the boats, issued from the shoal, and bore directly down upon the + ship. Dashing his forehead against her hull, he so stove her in, that + in less than "ten minutes" she settled down and fell over. Not a + surviving plank of her has been seen since. After the severest + exposure, part of the crew reached the land in their boats. Being + returned home at last, Captain Pollard once more sailed for the Pacific + in command of another ship, but the gods shipwrecked him again upon + unknown rocks and breakers; for the second time his ship was utterly + lost, and forthwith forswearing the sea, he has never attempted it + since. At this day Captain Pollard is a resident of Nantucket. I have + seen Owen Chace, who was chief mate of the Essex at the time of the + tragedy; I have read his plain and faithful narrative; I have conversed + with his son; and all this within a few miles of the scene of the + catastrophe.* + + *The following are extracts from Chace's narrative: "Every fact seemed + to warrant me in concluding that it was anything but chance which + directed his operations; he made two several attacks upon the ship, at + a short interval between them, both of this catastrophe I have never + chanced to their direction, were calculated to do us the whale hunters + I have now and then heard casual allusions to it. + + Thirdly: Some eighteen or twenty years ago Commodore J—-then commanding + an American sloop-of-war of the first class, happened to be dining with + a party of whaling captains, on board a Nantucket ship in the harbor of + Oahu, Sandwich Islands. Conversation turning upon whales, the Commodore + was pleased to be sceptical touching the amazing strength ascribed to + them by the professional gentlemen present. He peremptorily denied for + example, that any whale could so smite his stout sloop-of-war as to + cause her to leak so much as a thimbleful. Very good; but there is more + coming. Some weeks later, the Commodore set sail in this impregnable + craft for Valparaiso. But he was stopped on the way by a portly sperm + whale, that begged a few moments' confidential business with him. That + business consisted in fetching the Commodore's craft such a thwack, + that with all his pumps going he made straight for the nearest port to + heave down and repair. I am not superstitious, but I consider the + Commodore's interview with that whale as providential. Was not Saul of + Tarsus converted from unbelief by a similar fright? I tell you, the + sperm whale will stand no nonsense. + + I will now refer you to Langsdorff's Voyages for a little circumstance + in point, peculiarly interesting to the writer hereof. Langsdorff, you + must know by the way, was attached to the Russian Admiral Krusenstern's + famous Discovery Expedition in the beginning of the present century. + Captain Langsdorff thus begins his seventeenth chapter: + + "By the thirteenth of May our ship was ready to sail, and the next day + we were out in the open sea, on our way to Ochotsh. The weather was + very clear and fine, but so intolerably cold that we were obliged to + keep on our fur clothing. For some days we had very little wind; it was + not till the nineteenth that a brisk gale from the northwest sprang up. + An uncommonly large whale, the body of which was larger than the ship + itself, lay almost at the surface of the water, but was not perceived + by any one on board till the moment when the ship, which was in full + sail, was almost upon him, so that it was impossible to prevent its + striking against him. We were thus placed in the most imminent danger, + as this gigantic creature, setting up its back, raised the ship three + feet at least out of the water. The masts reeled, and the sails fell + altogether, while we who were below all sprang instantly upon the deck, + concluding that we had struck upon some rock; instead of this we saw + the monster sailing off with the utmost gravity and solemnity. Captain + D'Wolf applied immediately to the pumps to examine whether or not the + vessel had received any damage from the shock, but we found that very + happily it had escaped entirely uninjured." + + Now, the Captain D'Wolf here alluded to as commanding the ship in + question, is a New Englander, who, after a long life of unusual + adventures as a sea-captain, this day resides in the village of + Dorchester near Boston. I have the honor of being a nephew of his. I + have particularly questioned him concerning this passage in Langsdorff. + He substantiates every word. The ship, however, was by no means a large + one: a Russian craft built on the Siberian coast, and purchased by my + uncle after bartering away the vessel in which he sailed from home. + + In that up and down manly book of old-fashioned adventure, so full, + too, of honest wonders—the voyage of Lionel Wafer, one of ancient + Dampier's old chums—I found a little matter set down so like that just + quoted from Langsdorff, that I cannot forbear inserting it here for a + corroborative example, if such be needed. + + Lionel, it seems, was on his way to "John Ferdinando," as he calls the + modern Juan Fernandes. "In our way thither," he says, "about four + o'clock in the morning, when we were about one hundred and fifty + leagues from the Main of America, our ship felt a terrible shock, which + put our men in such consternation that they could hardly tell where + they were or what to think; but every one began to prepare for death. + And, indeed, the shock was so sudden and violent, that we took it for + granted the ship had struck against a rock; but when the amazement was + a little over, we cast the lead, and sounded, but found no ground. … + The suddenness of the shock made the guns leap in their carriages, and + several of the men were shaken out of their hammocks. Captain Davis, + who lay with his head on a gun, was thrown out of his cabin!" Lionel + then goes on to impute the shock to an earthquake, and seems to + substantiate the imputation by stating that a great earthquake, + somewhere about that time, did actually do great mischief along the + Spanish land. But I should not much wonder if, in the darkness of that + early hour of the morning, the shock was after all caused by an unseen + whale vertically bumping the hull from beneath. + + I might proceed with several more examples, one way or another known to + me, of the great power and malice at times of the sperm whale. In more + than one instance, he has been known, not only to chase the assailing + boats back to their ships, but to pursue the ship itself, and long + withstand all the lances hurled at him from its decks. The English ship + Pusie Hall can tell a story on that head; and, as for his strength, let + me say, that there have been examples where the lines attached to a + running sperm whale have, in a calm, been transferred to the ship, and + secured there! the whale towing her great hull through the water, as a + horse walks off with a cart. Again, it is very often observed that, if + the sperm whale, once struck, is allowed time to rally, he then acts, + not so often with blind rage, as with wilful, deliberate designs of + destruction to his pursuers; nor is it without conveying some eloquent + indication of his character, that upon being attacked he will + frequently open his mouth, and retain it in that dread expansion for + several consecutive minutes. But I must be content with only one more + and a concluding illustration; a remarkable and most significant one, + by which you will not fail to see, that not only is the most marvellous + event in this book corroborated by plain facts of the present day, but + that these marvels (like all marvels) are mere repetitions of the ages; + so that for the millionth time we say amen with Solomon—Verily there is + nothing new under the sun. + + In the sixth Christian century lived Procopius, a Christian magistrate + of Constantinople, in the days when Justinian was Emperor and + Belisarius general. As many know, he wrote the history of his own + times, a work every way of uncommon value. By the best authorities, he + has always been considered a most trustworthy and unexaggerating + historian, except in some one or two particulars, not at all affecting + the matter presently to be mentioned. + + Now, in this history of his, Procopius mentions that, during the term + of his prefecture at Constantinople, a great sea-monster was captured + in the neighboring Propontis, or Sea of Marmora, after having destroyed + vessels at intervals in those waters for a period of more than fifty + years. A fact thus set down in substantial history cannot easily be + gainsaid. Nor is there any reason it should be. Of what precise species + this sea-monster was, is not mentioned. But as he destroyed ships, as + well as for other reasons, he must have been a whale; and I am strongly + inclined to think a sperm whale. And I will tell you why. For a long + time I fancied that the sperm whale had been always unknown in the + Mediterranean and the deep waters connecting with it. Even now I am + certain that those seas are not, and perhaps never can be, in the + present constitution of things, a place for his habitual gregarious + resort. But further investigations have recently proved to me, that in + modern times there have been isolated instances of the presence of the + sperm whale in the Mediterranean. I am told, on good authority, that on + the Barbary coast, a Commodore Davis of the British navy found the + skeleton of a sperm whale. Now, as a vessel of war readily passes + through the Dardanelles, hence a sperm whale could, by the same route, + pass out of the Mediterranean into the Propontis. + + In the Propontis, as far as I can learn, none of that peculiar + substance called brit is to be found, the aliment of the right whale. + But I have every reason to believe that the food of the sperm whale— + squid or cuttle-fish—lurks at the bottom of that sea, because large + creatures, but by no means the largest of that sort, have been found at + its surface. If, then, you properly put these statements together, and + reason upon them a bit, you will clearly perceive that, according to + all human reasoning, Procopius's sea-monster, that for half a century + stove the ships of a Roman Emperor, must in all probability have been a + sperm whale. + + + + + CHAPTER 46 + + + Surmises + + Though, consumed with the hot fire of his purpose, Ahab in all his + thoughts and actions ever had in view the ultimate capture of Moby + Dick; though he seemed ready to sacrifice all mortal interests to that + one passion; nevertheless it may have been that he was by nature and + long habituation far too wedded to a fiery whaleman's ways, altogether + to abandon the collateral prosecution of the voyage. Or at least if + this were otherwise, there were not wanting other motives much more + influential with him. It would be refining too much, perhaps, even + considering his monomania, to hint that his vindictiveness towards the + White Whale might have possibly extended itself in some degree to all + sperm whales, and that the more monsters he slew by so much the more he + multiplied the chances that each subsequently encountered whale would + prove to be the hated one he hunted. But if such an hypothesis be + indeed exceptionable, there were still additional considerations which, + though not so strictly according with the wildness of his ruling + passion, yet were by no means incapable of swaying him. + + To accomplish his object Ahab must use tools; and of all tools used in + the shadow of the moon, men are most apt to get out of order. He knew, + for example, that however magnetic his ascendency in some respects was + over Starbuck, yet that ascendency did not cover the complete spiritual + man any more than mere corporeal superiority involves intellectual + mastership; for to the purely spiritual, the intellectual but stand in + a sort of corporeal relation. Starbuck's body and Starbuck's coerced + will were Ahab's, so long as Ahab kept his magnet at Starbuck's brain; + still he knew that for all this the chief mate, in his soul, abhorred + his captain's quest, and could he, would joyfully disintegrate himself + from it, or even frustrate it. It might be that a long interval would + elapse ere the White Whale was seen. During that long interval Starbuck + would ever be apt to fall into open relapses of rebellion against his + captain's leadership, unless some ordinary, prudential, circumstantial + influences were brought to bear upon him. Not only that, but the subtle + insanity of Ahab respecting Moby Dick was noways more significantly + manifested than in his superlative sense and shrewdness in foreseeing + that, for the present, the hunt should in some way be stripped of that + strange imaginative impiousness which naturally invested it; that the + full terror of the voyage must be kept withdrawn into the obscure + background (for few men's courage is proof against protracted + meditation unrelieved by action); that when they stood their long night + watches, his officers and men must have some nearer things to think of + than Moby Dick. For however eagerly and impetuously the savage crew had + hailed the announcement of his quest; yet all sailors of all sorts are + more or less capricious and unreliable— they live in the varying outer + weather, and they inhale its fickleness— and when retained for any + object remote and blank in the pursuit, however promissory of life and + passion in the end, it is above all things requisite that temporary + interests and employments should intervene and hold them healthily + suspended for the final dash. + + Nor was Ahab unmindful of another thing. In times of strong emotion + mankind disdain all base considerations; but such times are evanescent. + The permanent constitutional condition of the manufactured man, thought + Ahab, is sordidness. Granting that the White Whale fully incites the + hearts of this my savage crew, and playing round their savageness even + breeds a certain generous knight-errantism in them, still, while for + the love of it they give chase to Moby Dick, they must also have food + for their more common, daily appetites. For even the high lifted and + chivalric Crusaders of old times were not content to traverse two + thousand miles of land to fight for their holy sepulchre, without + committing burglaries, picking pockets, and gaining other pious + perquisites by the way. Had they been strictly held to their one final + and romantic object— that final and romantic object, too many would + have turned from in disgust. I will not strip these men, thought Ahab, + of all hopes of cash—aye, cash. They may scorn cash now; but let some + months go by, and no perspective promise of it to them, and then this + same quiescent cash all at once mutinying in them, this same cash would + soon cashier Ahab. + + Nor was there wanting still another precautionary motive more related + to Ahab personally. Having impulsively, it is probable, and perhaps + somewhat prematurely revealed the prime but private purpose of the + Pequod's voyage, Ahab was now entirely conscious that, in so doing, he + had indirectly laid himself open to the unanswerable charge of + usurpation; and with perfect impunity, both moral and legal, his crew + if so disposed, and to that end competent, could refuse all further + obedience to him, and even violently wrest from him the command. From + even the barely hinted imputation of usurpation, and the possible + consequences of such a suppressed impression gaining ground, Ahab must + of course have been most anxious to protect himself. That protection + could only consist in his own predominating brain and heart and hand, + backed by a heedful, closely calculating attention to every minute + atmospheric influence which it was possible for his crew to be + subjected to. + + For all these reasons then, and others perhaps too analytic to be + verbally developed here, Ahab plainly saw that he must still in a good + degree continue true to the natural, nominal purpose of the Pequod's + voyage; observe all customary usages; and not only that, but force + himself to evince all his well known passionate interest in the general + pursuit of his profession. + + Be all this as it may, his voice was now often heard hailing the three + mastheads and admonishing them to keep a bright look-out, and not omit + reporting even a porpoise. This vigilance was not long without reward. + + + + + CHAPTER 47 + + + The Mat-Maker + + It was a cloudy, sultry afternoon; the seamen were lazily lounging + about the decks, or vacantly gazing over into the lead-colored waters. + Queequeg and I were mildly employed weaving what is called a sword-mat, + for an additional lashing to our boat. So still and subdued and yet + somehow preluding was all the scene, and such an incantation of revelry + lurked in the air, that each silent sailor seemed resolved into his own + invisible self. + + I was the attendant or page of Queequeg, while busy at the mat. As I + kept passing and repassing the filling or woof of marline between the + long yarns of the warp, using my own hand for the shuttle, and as + Queequeg, standing sideways, ever and anon slid his heavy oaken sword + between the threads, and idly looking off upon the water, carelessly + and unthinkingly drove home every yarn; I say so strange a dreaminess + did there then reign all over the ship and all over the sea, only + broken by the intermitting dull sound of the sword, that it seemed as + if this were the Loom of Time, and I myself were a shuttle mechanically + weaving and weaving away at the Fates. There lay the fixed threads of + the warp subject to but one single, ever returning, unchanging + vibration, and that vibration merely enough to admit of the crosswise + interblending of other threads with its own. This warp seemed + necessity; and here, thought I, with my own hand I ply my own shuttle + and weave my own destiny into these unalterable threads. Meantime, + Queequeg's impulsive, indifferent sword, sometimes hitting the woof + slantingly, or crookedly, or strongly, or weakly, as the case might be; + and by this difference in the concluding blow producing a corresponding + contrast in the final aspect of the completed fabric; this savage's + sword, thought I, which thus finally shapes and fashions both warp and + woof; this easy, indifferent sword must be chance— aye, chance, free + will, and necessity—no wise incompatible— all interweavingly working + together. The straight warp of necessity, not to be swerved from its + ultimate course— its every alternating vibration, indeed, only tending + to that; free will still free to ply her shuttle between given threads; + and chance, though restrained in its play within the right lines of + necessity, and sideways in its motions directed by free will, though + thus prescribed to by both, chance by turns rules either, and has the + last featuring blow at events. + + Thus we were weaving and weaving away when I started at a sound so + strange, long drawn, and musically wild and unearthly, that the ball of + free will dropped from my hand, and I stood gazing up at the clouds + whence that voice dropped like a wing. High aloft in the cross-trees + was that mad Gay-Header, Tashtego. His body was reaching eagerly + forward, his hand stretched out like a wand, and at brief sudden + intervals he continued his cries. To be sure the same sound was that + very moment perhaps being heard all over the seas, from hundreds of + whalemen's look-outs perched as high in the air; but from few of those + lungs could that accustomed old cry have derived such a marvellous + cadence as from Tashtego the Indian's. + + As he stood hovering over you half suspended in air, so wildly and + eagerly peering towards the horizon, you would have thought him some + prophet or seer beholding the shadows of Fate, and by those wild cries + announcing their coming. + + "There she blows! there! there! there! she blows! she blows!" + + "Where-away?" + + "On the lee-beam, about two miles off! a school of them!" + + Instantly all was commotion. + + The Sperm Whale blows as a clock ticks, with the same undeviating and + reliable uniformity. And thereby whalemen distinguish this fish from + other tribes of his genus. + + "There go flukes!" was now the cry from Tashtego; and the whales + disappeared. + + "Quick, steward!" cried Ahab. "Time! time!" + + Dough-Boy hurried below, glanced at the watch, and reported the exact + minute to Ahab. + + The ship was now kept away from the wind, and she went gently rolling + before it. Tashtego reporting that the whales had gone down heading to + leeward, we confidently looked to see them again directly in advance of + our bows. For that singular craft at times evinced by the Sperm Whale + when, sounding with his head in one direction, he nevertheless, while + concealed beneath the surface, mills around, and swiftly swims off in + the opposite quarter—this deceitfulness of his could not now be in + action; for there was no reason to suppose that the fish seen by + Tashtego had been in any way alarmed, or indeed knew at all of our + vicinity. One of the men selected for shipkeepers—that is, those not + appointed to the boats, by this time relieved the Indian at the + main-mast head. The sailors at the fore and mizzen had come down; the + line tubs were fixed in their places; the cranes were thrust out; the + mainyard was backed, and the three boats swung over the sea like three + samphire baskets over high cliffs. Outside of the bulwarks their eager + crews with one hand clung to the rail, while one foot was expectantly + poised on the gunwale. So look the long line of man-of-war's men about + to throw themselves on board an enemy's ship. + + But at this critical instant a sudden exclamation was heard that took + every eye from the whale. With a start all glared at dark Ahab, who was + surrounded by five dusky phantoms that seemed fresh formed out of air. + + + + + CHAPTER 48 + + + The First Lowering + + The phantoms, for so they then seemed, were flitting on the other side + of the deck, and, with a noiseless celerity, were casting loose the + tackles and bands of the boat which swung there. This boat had always + been deemed one of the spare boats, though technically called the + captain's, on account of its hanging from the starboard quarter. The + figure that now stood by its bows was tall and swart, with one white + tooth evilly protruding from its steel-like lips. A rumpled Chinese + jacket of black cotton funereally invested him, with wide black + trowsers of the same dark stuff. But strangely crowning this ebonness + was a glistening white plaited turban, the living hair braided and + coiled round and round upon his head. Less swart in aspect, the + companions of this figure were of that vivid, tiger-yellow complexion + peculiar to some of the aboriginal natives of the Manillas;—a race + notorious for a certain diabolism of subtilty, and by some honest white + mariners supposed to be the paid spies and secret confidential agents + on the water of the devil, their lord, whose counting-room they suppose + to be elsewhere. + + While yet the wondering ship's company were gazing upon these + strangers, + Ahab cried out to the white-turbaned old man at their head, + "All ready there, Fedallah?" + + "Ready," was the half-hissed reply. + + "Lower away then; d'ye hear?" shouting across the deck. + "Lower away there, I say." + + Such was the thunder of his voice, that spite of their amazement the + men sprang over the rail; the sheaves whirled round in the blocks; with + a wallow, the three boats dropped into the sea; while, with a + dexterous, off-handed daring, unknown in any other vocation, the + sailors, goat-like, leaped down the rolling ship's side into the tossed + boats below. + + Hardly had they pulled out from under the ship's lee, when a fourth + keel, coming from the windward side, pulled round under the stern, and + showed the five strangers rowing Ahab, who, standing erect in the + stern, loudly hailed Starbuck, Stubb, and Flask, to spread themselves + widely, so as to cover a large expanse of water. But with all their + eyes again riveted upon the swart Fedallah and his crew, the inmates of + the other boats obeyed not the command. + + "Captain Ahab?-" said Starbuck. + + "Spread yourselves," cried Ahab; "give way, all four boats. + Thou, Flask, pull out more to leeward!" + + "Aye, aye, sir," cheerily cried little King-Post, sweeping round his + great steering oar. "Lay back!" addressing his crew. "There!—there!— + there again! There she blows right ahead, boys!—lay back! + + "Never heed yonder yellow boys, Archy." + + "Oh, I don't mind'em, sir," said Archy; "I knew it all before now. + Didn't I hear 'em in the hold? And didn't I tell Cabaco here of it? + What say ye, Cabaco? They are stowaways, Mr. Flask." + + "Pull, pull, my fine hearts-alive; pull, my children; pull, my little + ones," drawlingly and soothingly sighed Stubb to his crew, some of whom + still showed signs of uneasiness. "Why don't you break your backbones, + my boys? What is it you stare at? Those chaps in yonder boat? Tut! They + are only five more hands come to help us never mind from where the more + the merrier. Pull, then, do pull; never mind the brimstone devils are + good fellows enough. So, so; there you are now; that's the stroke for a + thousand pounds; that's the stroke to sweep the stakes! Hurrah for the + gold cup of sperm oil, my heroes! Three cheers, men—all hearts alive! + Easy, easy; don't be in a hurry— don't be in a hurry. Why don't you + snap your oars, you rascals? Bite something, you dogs! So, so, so, + then:—softly, softly! That's it—that's it! long and strong. Give way + there, give way! The devil fetch ye, ye ragamuffin rapscallions; ye are + all asleep. Stop snoring, ye sleepers, and pull. Pull, will ye? pull, + can't ye? pull, won't ye? Why in the name of gudgeons and ginger-cakes + don't ye pull?—pull and break something! pull, and start your eyes out! + Here," whipping out the sharp knife from his girdle; "every mother's + son of ye draw his knife, and pull with the blade between his teeth. + That's it—that's it. Now ye do something; that looks like it, my + steel-bits. Start her— start her, my silverspoons! Start her, + marling-spikes!" + + Stubb's exordium to his crew is given here at large, because he had + rather a peculiar way of talking to them in general, and especially in + inculcating the religion of rowing. But you must not suppose from this + specimen of his sermonizings that he ever flew into downright passions + with his congregation. Not at all; and therein consisted his chief + peculiarity. He would say the most terrific things to his crew, in a + tone so strangely compounded of fun and fury, and the fury seemed so + calculated merely as a spice to the fun, that no oarsman could hear + such queer invocations without pulling for dear life, and yet pulling + for the mere joke of the thing. Besides he all the time looked so easy + and indolent himself, so loungingly managed his steering-oar, and so + broadly gaped— open-mouthed at times—that the mere sight of such a + yawning commander, by sheer force of contrast, acted like a charm upon + the crew. Then again, Stubb was one of those odd sort of humorists, + whose jollity is sometimes so curiously ambiguous, as to put all + inferiors on their guard in the matter of obeying them. + + In obedience to a sign from Ahab, Starbuck was now pulling obliquely + across Stubb's bow; and when for a minute or so the two boats were + pretty near to each other, Stubb hailed the mate. + + "Mr. Starbuck! larboard boat there, ahoy! a word with ye, sir, if ye + please!" + + "Halloa!" returned Starbuck, turning round not a single inch as he + spoke; still earnestly but whisperingly urging his crew; his face set + like a flint from Stubb's. + + "What think ye of those yellow boys, sir! + + "Smuggled on board, somehow, before the ship sailed. (Strong, strong, + boys!)" in a whisper to his crew, then speaking out loud again: "A sad + business, Mr. Stubb! (seethe her, seethe her, my lads!) but never mind, + Mr. Stubb, all for the best. Let all your crew pull strong, come what + will. (Spring, my men, spring!) There's hogsheads of sperm ahead, Mr. + Stubb, and that's what ye came for. (Pull, my boys!) Sperm, sperm's the + play! This at least is duty; duty and profit hand in hand." + + "Aye, aye, I thought as much," soliloquized Stubb, when the boats + diverged, "as soon as I clapt eye on 'em, I thought so. Aye, and that's + what he went into the after hold for, so often, as Dough-Boy long + suspected. They were hidden down there. The White Whale's at the bottom + of it. Well, well, so be it! Can't be helped! All right! Give way men! + It ain't the White Whale to-day! Give way!" + + Now the advent of these outlandish strangers at such a critical instant + as the lowering of the boats from the deck, this had not unreasonably + awakened a sort of superstitious amazement in some of the ship's + company; but Archy's fancied discovery having some time previous got + abroad among them, though indeed not credited then, this had in some + small measure prepared them for the event. It took off the extreme edge + of their wonder; and so what with all this and Stubb's confident way of + accounting for their appearance, they were for the time freed from + superstitious surmisings; though the affair still left abundant room + for all manner of wild conjectures as to dark Ahab's precise agency in + the matter from the beginning. For me, I silently recalled the + mysterious shadows I had seen creeping on board the Pequod during the + dim Nantucket dawn, as well as the enigmatical hintings of the + unaccountable Elijah. + + Meantime, Ahab, out of hearing of his officers, having sided the + furthest to windward, was still ranging ahead of the other boats; a + circumstance bespeaking how potent a crew was pulling him. Those tiger + yellow creatures of his seemed all steel and whalebone; like five + trip-hammers they rose and fell with regular strokes of strength, which + periodically started the boat along the water like a horizontal burst + boiler out of a Mississippi steamer. As for Fedallah, who was seen + pulling the harpooneer oar, he had thrown aside his black jacket, and + displayed his naked chest with the whole part of his body above the + gunwale, clearly cut against the alternating depressions of the watery + horizon; while at the other end of the boat Ahab, with one arm, like a + fencer's, thrown half backward into the air, as if to counterbalance + any tendency to trip; Ahab was seen steadily managing his steering oar + as in a thousand boat lowerings ere the White Whale had torn him. All + at once the outstretched arm gave a peculiar motion and then remained + fixed, while the boat's five oars were seen simultaneously peaked. Boat + and crew sat motionless on the sea. Instantly the three spread boats in + the rear paused on their way. The whales had irregularly settled bodily + down into the blue, thus giving no distantly discernible token of the + movement, though from his closer vicinity Ahab had observed it. + + "Every man look out along his oars!" cried Starbuck. "Thou, Queequeg, + stand up!" + + Nimbly springing up on the triangular raised box in the bow, the savage + stood erect there, and with intensely eager eyes gazed off towards the + spot where the chase had last been descried. Likewise upon the extreme + stern of the boat where it was also triangularly platformed level with + the gunwale, Starbuck himself was seen coolly and adroitly balancing + himself to the jerking tossings of his chip of a craft, and silently + eyeing the vast blue eye of the sea. + + Not very far distant Flask's boat was also lying breathlessly still; + its commander recklessly standing upon the top of the loggerhead, a + stout sort of post rooted in the keel, and rising some two feet above + the level of the stern platform. It is used for catching turns with the + whale line. Its top is not more spacious than the palm of a man's hand, + and standing upon such a base as that, Flask seemed perched at the + mast-head of some ship which had sunk to all but her trucks. But little + King-Post was small and short, and at the same time little King-Post + was full of a large and tall ambition, so that this logger head + stand-point of his did by no means satisfy King-Post. + + "I can't see three seas off; tip us up an oar there, and let me onto + that." + + Upon this, Daggoo, with either hand upon the gunwale to steady his way, + swiftly slid aft, and then erecting himself volunteered his lofty + shoulders for a pedestal. + + "Good a mast-head as any, sir. Will you mount?" + + "That I will, and thank ye very much, my fine fellow; only I wish you + fifty feet taller." + + Whereupon planting his feet firmly against two opposite planks of the + boat, the gigantic negro, stooping a little, presented his flat palm to + Flask's foot, and then putting Flask's hand on his hearse-plumed head + and bidding him spring as he himself should toss, with one dexterous + fling landed the little man high and dry on his shoulders. And here was + Flask now standing, Daggoo with one lifted arm furnishing him with a + breastband to lean against and steady himself by. + + At any time it is a strange sight to the tyro to see with what wondrous + habitude of unconscious skill the whaleman will maintain an erect + posture in his boat, even when pitched about by the most riotously + perverse and cross-running seas. Still more strange to see him giddily + perched upon the logger head itself, under such circumstances. But the + sight of little Flask mounted upon gigantic Daggoo was yet more + curious; for sustaining himself with a cool, indifferent, easy, + unthought of, barbaric majesty, the noble negro to every roll of the + sea harmoniously rolled his fine form. On his broad back, flaxen-haired + Flask seemed a snow-flake. The bearer looked nobler than the rider. + Though truly vivacious, tumultuous, ostentatious little Flask would now + and then stamp with impatience; but not one added heave did he thereby + give to the negro's lordly chest. So have I seen Passion and Vanity + stamping the living magnanimous earth, but the earth did not alter her + tides and her seasons for that. + + Meanwhile Stubb, the third mate, betrayed no such far-gazing + solicitudes. The whales might have made one of their regular soundings, + not a temporary dive from mere fright; and if that were the case, + Stubb, as his wont in such cases, it seems, was resolved to solace the + languishing interval with his pipe. He withdrew it from his hatband, + where he always wore it aslant like a feather. He loaded it, and rammed + home the loading with his thumb-end; but hardly had he ignited his + match across the rough sandpaper of his hand, when Tashtego, his + harpooneer, whose eyes had been setting to windward like two fixed + stars, suddenly dropped like light from his erect attitude to his seat, + crying out in a quick phrensy of hurry, "Down, down all, and give + way!—there they are!" + + To a landsman, no whale, nor any sign of a herring, would have been + visible at that moment; nothing but a troubled bit of greenish white + water, and thin scattered puffs of vapor hovering over it, and + suffusingly blowing off to leeward, like the confused scud from white + rolling billows. The air around suddenly vibrated and tingled, as it + were, like the air over intensely heated plates of iron. Beneath this + atmospheric waving and curling, and partially beneath a thin layer of + water, also, the whales were swimming. Seen in advance of all the other + indications, the puffs of vapor they spouted, seemed their forerunning + couriers and detached flying outriders. + + All four boats were now in keen pursuit of that one spot of troubled + water and air. But it bade far to outstrip them; it flew on and on, as + a mass of interblending bubbles borne down a rapid stream from the + hills. + + "Pull, pull, my good boys," said Starbuck, in the lowest possible but + intensest concentrated whisper to his men; while the sharp fixed glance + from his eyes darted straight ahead of the bow, almost seemed as two + visible needles in two unerring binnacle compasses. He did not say much + to his crew, though, nor did his crew say anything to him. Only the + silence of the boat was at intervals startlingly pierced by one of his + peculiar whispers, now harsh with command, now soft with entreaty. + + How different the loud little King-Post. "Sing out and say something, + my hearties. Roar and pull, my thunderbolts! Beach me, beach me on + their black backs, boys; only do that for me, and I'll sign over to you + my Martha's Vineyard plantation, boys; including wife and children, + boys. Lay me on—lay me on! O Lord, Lord! but I shall go stark, staring + mad! See! see that white water!" And so shouting, he pulled his hat + from his head, and stamped up and down on it; then picking it up, + flirted it far off upon the sea; and finally fell to rearing and + plunging in the boat's stern like a crazed colt from the prairie. + + "Look at that chap now," philosophically drawled Stubb, who, with his + unlighted short pipe, mechanically retained between his teeth, at a + short distance, followed after—"He's got fits, that Flask has. Fits? + yes, give him fits—that's the very word—pitch fits into 'em. Merrily, + merrily, hearts-alive. Pudding for supper, you know;— merry's the word. + Pull, babes—pull, sucklings—pull, all. But what the devil are you + hurrying about? Softly, softly, and steadily, my men. Only pull, and + keep pulling; nothing more. Crack all your backbones, and bite your + knives in two—that's all. Take it easy—why don't ye take it easy, I + say, and burst all your livers and lungs!" + + But what it was that inscrutable Ahab said to that tiger-yellow crew of + his—these were words best omitted here; for you live under the blessed + light of the evangelical land. Only the infidel sharks in the audacious + seas may give ear to such words, when, with tornado brow, and eyes of + red murder, and foam-glued lips, Ahab leaped after his prey. + + Meanwhile, all the boats tore on. The repeated specific allusions of + Flask to "that whale," as he called the fictitious monster which he + declared to be incessantly tantalizing his boat's bow with its + tail—these allusions of his were at times so vivid and life-like, that + they would cause some one or two of his men to snatch a fearful look + over his shoulder. But this was against all rule; for the oarsmen must + put out their eyes, and ram a skewer through their necks; usages + announcing that they must have no organs but ears; and no limbs but + arms, in these critical moments. + + It was a sight full of quick wonder and awe! The vast swells of the + omnipotent sea; the surging, hollow roar they made, as they rolled + along the eight gunwales, like gigantic bowls in a boundless + bowling-green; the brief suspended agony of the boat, as it would tip + for an instant on the knife-like edge of the sharper waves, that almost + seemed threatening to cut it in two; the sudden profound dip into the + watery glens and hollows; the keen spurrings and goadings to gain the + top of the opposite hill; the headlong, sled-like slide down its other + side;—all these, with the cries of the headsmen and harpooneers, and + the shuddering gasps of the oarsmen, with the wondrous sight of the + ivory Pequod bearing down upon her boats with outstretched sails, like + a wild hen after her screaming brood;—all this was thrilling. Not the + raw recruit, marching from the bosom of his wife into the fever heat of + his first battle; not the dead man's ghost encountering the first + unknown phantom in the other world;— neither of these can feel stranger + and stronger emotions than that man does, who for the first time finds + himself pulling into the charmed, churned circle of the hunted sperm + whale. + + The dancing white water made by the chase was now becoming more and + more visible, owing to the increasing darkness of the dun cloud-shadows + flung upon the sea. The jets of vapor no longer blended, but tilted + everywhere to right and left; the whales seemed separating their wakes. + The boats were pulled more apart; Starbuck giving chase to three whales + running dead to leeward. Our sail was now set, and, with the still + rising wind, we rushed along; the boat going with such madness through + the water, that the lee oars could scarcely be worked rapidly enough to + escape being torn from the row-locks. + + Soon we were running through a suffusing wide veil of mist; neither + ship nor boat to be seen. + + "Give way, men," whispered Starbuck, drawing still further aft the + sheet of his sail; "there is time to kill a fish yet before the squall + comes. There's white water again!—close to! Spring!" + + Soon after, two cries in quick succession on each side of us denoted + that the other boats had got fast; but hardly were they overheard, when + with a lightning-like hurtling whisper Starbuck said: "Stand up!" and + Queequeg, harpoon in hand, sprang to his feet. + + Though not one of the oarsmen was then facing the life and death peril + so close to them ahead, yet with their eyes on the intense countenance + of the mate in the stern of the boat, they knew that the imminent + instant had come; they heard, too, an enormous wallowing sound as of + fifty elephants stirring in their litter. Meanwhile the boat was still + booming through the mist, the waves curling and hissing around us like + the erected crests of enraged serpents. + + "That's his hump. There, there, give it to him!" whispered Starbuck. + + A short rushing sound leaped out of the boat; it was the darted iron of + Queequeg. Then all in one welded commotion came an invisible push from + astern, while forward the boat seemed striking on a ledge; the sail + collapsed and exploded; a gush of scalding vapor shot up near by; + something rolled and tumbled like an earthquake beneath us. The whole + crew were half suffocated as they were tossed helter-skelter into the + white curdling cream of the squall. Squall, whale, and harpoon had all + blended together; and the whale, merely grazed by the iron, escaped. + + Though completely swamped, the boat was nearly unharmed. Swimming round + it we picked up the floating oars, and lashing them across the gunwale, + tumbled back to our places. There we sat up to our knees in the sea, + the water covering every rib and plank, so that to our downward gazing + eyes the suspended craft seemed a coral boat grown up to us from the + bottom of the ocean. + + The wind increased to a howl; the waves dashed their bucklers together; + the whole squall roared, forked, and crackled around us like a white + fire upon the prairie, in which unconsumed, we were burning; immortal + in these jaws of death! In vain we hailed the other boats; as well roar + to the live coals down the chimney of a flaming furnace as hail those + boats in that storm. Meanwhile the driving scud, rack, and mist, grew + darker with the shadows of night; no sign of the ship could be seen. + The rising sea forbade all attempts to bale out the boat. The oars were + useless as propellers, performing now the office of life-preservers. + So, cutting the lashing of the waterproof match keg, after many + failures Starbuck contrived to ignite the lamp in the lantern; then + stretching it on a waif pole, handed it to Queequeg as the + standard-bearer of this forlorn hope. There, then, he sat, holding up + that imbecile candle in the heart of that almighty forlornness. There, + then, he sat, the sign and symbol of a man without faith, hopelessly + holding up hope in the midst of despair. + + Wet, drenched through, and shivering cold, despairing of ship or boat, + we lifted up our eyes as the dawn came on. The mist still spread over + the sea, the empty lantern lay crushed in the bottom of the boat. + Suddenly Queequeg started to his feet, hollowing his hand to his ear. + We all heard a faint creaking, as of ropes and yards hitherto muffled + by the storm. The sound came nearer and nearer; the thick mists were + dimly parted by a huge, vague form. Affrighted, we all sprang into the + sea as the ship at last loomed into view, bearing right down upon us + within a distance of not much more than its length. + + Floating on the waves we saw the abandoned boat, as for one instant it + tossed and gaped beneath the ship's bows like a chip at the base of a + cataract; and then the vast hull rolled over it, and it was seen no + more till it came up weltering astern. Again we swam for it, were + dashed against it by the seas, and were at last taken up and safely + landed on board. Ere the squall came close to, the other boats had cut + loose from their fish and returned to the ship in good time. The ship + had given us up, but was still cruising, if haply it might light upon + some token of our perishing,— an oar or a lance pole. + + + + + CHAPTER 49 + + + The Hyena + + There are certain queer times and occasions in this strange mixed + affair we call life when a man takes this whole universe for a vast + practical joke, though the wit thereof he but dimly discerns, and more + than suspects that the joke is at nobody's expense but his own. + However, nothing dispirits, and nothing seems worth while disputing. He + bolts down all events, all creeds, and beliefs, and persuasions, all + hard things visible and invisible, never mind how knobby; as an ostrich + of potent digestion gobbles down bullets and gun flints. And as for + small difficulties and worryings, prospects of sudden disaster, peril + of life and limb; all these, and death itself, seem to him only sly, + good-natured hits, and jolly punches in the side bestowed by the unseen + and unaccountable old joker. That odd sort of wayward mood I am + speaking of, comes over a man only in some time of extreme tribulation; + it comes in the very midst of his earnestness, so that what just before + might have seemed to him a thing most momentous, now seems but a part + of the general joke. There is nothing like the perils of whaling to + breed this free and easy sort of genial, desperado philosophy; and with + it I now regarded this whole voyage of the Pequod, and the great White + Whale its object. + + "Queequeg," said I, when they had dragged me, the last man, to the + deck, and I was still shaking myself in my jacket to fling off the + water; "Queequeg, my fine friend, does this sort of thing often + happen?" Without much emotion, though soaked through just like me, he + gave me to understand that such things did often happen. + + "Mr. Stubb," said I, turning to that worthy, who, buttoned up in his + oil-jacket, was now calmly smoking his pipe in the rain; "Mr. Stubb, I + think I have heard you say that of all whalemen you ever met, our chief + mate, Mr. Starbuck, is by far the most careful and prudent. I suppose + then, that going plump on a flying whale with your sail set in a foggy + squall is the height of a whaleman's discretion?" + + "Certain. I've lowered for whales from a leaking ship in a gale off + Cape Horn." + + "Mr. Flask," said I, turning to little King-Post, who was standing + close by; "you are experienced in these things, and I am not. Will you + tell me whether it is an unalterable law in this fishery, Mr. Flask, + for an oarsman to break his own back pulling himself back-foremost into + death's jaws?" + + "Can't you twist that smaller?" said Flask. "Yes, that's the law. I + should like to see a boat's crew backing water up to a whale face + foremost. Ha, ha! the whale would give them squint for squint, mind + that!" + + Here then, from three impartial witnesses, I had a deliberate statement + of the entire case. Considering, therefore, that squalls and capsizings + in the water and consequent bivouacks on the deep, were matters of + common occurrence in this kind of life; considering that at the + superlatively critical instant of going on to the whale I must resign + my life into the hands of him who steered the boat— oftentimes a fellow + who at that very moment is in his impetuousness upon the point of + scuttling the craft with his own frantic stampings; considering that + the particular disaster to our own particular boat was chiefly to be + imputed to Starbuck's driving on to his whale almost in the teeth of a + squall, and considering that Starbuck, notwithstanding, was famous for + his great heedfulness in the fishery; considering that I belonged to + this uncommonly prudent Starbuck's boat; and finally considering in + what a devil's chase I was implicated, touching the White Whale: taking + all things together, I say, I thought I might as well go below and make + a rough draft of my will. "Queequeg," said I, "come along, you shall be + my lawyer, executor, and legatee." + + It may seem strange that of all men sailors should be tinkering at + their last wills and testaments, but there are no people in the world + more fond of that diversion. This was the fourth time in my nautical + life that I had done the same thing. After the ceremony was concluded + upon the present occasion, I felt all the easier; a stone was rolled + away from my heart. Besides, all the days I should now live would be as + good as the days that Lazarus lived after his resurrection; a + supplementary clean gain of so many months or weeks as the case may be. + I survived myself; my death and burial were locked up in my chest. I + looked round me tranquilly and contentedly, like a quiet ghost with a + clean conscience sitting inside the bars of a snug family vault. + + Now then, thought I, unconsciously rolling up the sleeves of my frock, + here goes for a cool, collected dive at death and destruction, and the + devil fetch the hindmost. + + + + + CHAPTER 50 + + + Ahab's Boat and Crew. Fedallah + + "Who would have thought it, Flask!" cried Stubb; "if I had but one leg + you would not catch me in a boat, unless maybe to stop the plug-hole + with my timber toe. Oh! he's a wonderful old man!" + + "I don't think it so strange, after all, on that account," said Flask. + "If his leg were off at the hip, now, it would be a different thing. + That would disable him; but he has one knee, and good part of the other + left, you know." + + "I don't know that, my little man; I never yet saw him kneel." + + Among whale-wise people it has often been argued whether, considering + the paramount importance of his life to the success of the voyage, it + is right for a whaling captain to jeopardize that life in the active + perils of the chase. So Tamerlane's soldiers often argued with tears in + their eyes, whether that invaluable life of his ought to be carried + into the thickest of the fight. + + But with Ahab the question assumed a modified aspect. Considering that + with two legs man is but a hobbling wight in all times of danger; + considering that the pursuit of whales is always under great and + extraordinary difficulties; that every individual moment, indeed, then + comprises a peril; under these circumstances is it wise for any maimed + man to enter a whale-boat in the hunt? As a general thing, the + joint-owners of the Pequod must have plainly thought not. + + Ahab well knew that although his friends at home would think little of + his entering a boat in certain comparatively harmless vicissitudes of + the chase, for the sake of being near the scene of action and giving + his orders in person, yet for Captain Ahab to have a boat actually + apportioned to him as a regular headsman in the hunt—above all for + Captain Ahab to be supplied with five extra men, as that same boat's + crew, he well knew that such generous conceits never entered the heads + of the owners of the Pequod. Therefore he had not solicited a boat's + crew from them, nor had he in any way hinted his desires on that head. + Nevertheless he had taken private measures of his own touching all that + matter. Until Cabaco's published discovery, the sailors had little + foreseen it, though to be sure when, after being a little while out of + port, all hands had concluded the customary business of fitting the + whaleboats for service; when some time after this Ahab was now and then + found bestirring himself in the matter of making thole-pins with his + own hands for what was thought to be one of the spare boats, and even + solicitously cutting the small wooden skewers, which when the line is + running out are pinned over the groove in the bow: when all this was + observed in him, and particularly his solicitude in having an extra + coat of sheathing in the bottom of the boat, as if to make it better + withstand the pointed pressure of his ivory limb; and also the anxiety + he evinced in exactly shaping the thigh board, or clumsy cleat, as it + is sometimes called, the horizontal piece in the boat's bow for bracing + the knee against in darting or stabbing at the whale; when it was + observed how often he stood up in that boat with his solitary knee + fixed in the semi-circular depression in the cleat, and with the + carpenter's chisel gouged out a little here and straightened it a + little there; all these things, I say, had awakened much interest and + curiosity at the time. But almost everybody supposed that this + particular preparative heedfulness in Ahab must only be with a view to + the ultimate chase of Moby Dick; for he had already revealed his + intention to hunt that mortal monster in person. But such a supposition + did by no means involve the remotest suspicion as to any boat's crew + being assigned to that boat. + + Now, with the subordinate phantoms, what wonder remained soon waned + away; for in a whaler wonders soon wane. Besides, now and then such + unaccountable odds and ends of strange nations come up from the unknown + nooks and ash-holes of the earth to man these floating outlaws of + whalers; and the ships themselves often pick up such queer castaway + creatures found tossing about the open sea on planks, bits of wreck, + oars, whaleboats, canoes, blown-off Japanese junks, and what not; that + Beelzebub himself might climb up the side and step down into the cabin + to chat with the captain, and it would not create any unsubduable + excitement in the forecastle. + + But be all this as it may, certain it is that while the subordinate + phantoms soon found their place among the crew, though still as it were + somehow distinct from them, yet that hair-turbaned Fedallah remained a + muffled mystery to the last. Whence he came in a mannerly world like + this, by what sort of unaccountable tie he soon evinced himself to be + linked with Ahab's peculiar fortunes; nay, so far as to have some sort + of a half-hinted influence; Heaven knows, but it might have been even + authority over him; all this none knew. But one cannot sustain an + indifferent air concerning Fedallah. He was such a creature as + civilized, domestic people in the temperate zone only see in their + dreams, and that but dimly; but the like of whom now and then glide + among the unchanging Asiatic communities, especially the Oriental isles + to the east of the continent— those insulated, immemorial, unalterable + countries, which even in these modern days still preserve much of the + ghostly aboriginalness of earth's primal generations, when the memory + of the first man was a distinct recollection, and all men his + descendants, unknowing whence he came, eyed each other as real + phantoms, and asked of the sun and the moon why they were created and + to what end; when though, according to Genesis, the angels indeed + consorted with the daughters of men, the devils also, add the + uncanonical Robbins, indulged in mundane amours. + + + + + CHAPTER 51 + + + The Spirit-Spout + + Days, weeks passed, and under easy sail, the ivory Pequod had slowly + swept across four several cruising-grounds; that off the Azores; off + the Cape de Verdes; on the Plate (so called), being off the mouth of + the Rio de la Plata; and the Carrol Ground, an unstaked, watery + locality, southerly from St. Helena. + + It was while gliding through these latter waters that one serene and + moonlight night, when all the waves rolled by like scrolls of silver; + and, by their soft, suffusing seethings, made what seemed a silvery + silence, not a solitude; on such a silent night a silvery jet was seen + far in advance of the white bubbles at the bow. Lit up by the moon, it + looked celestial; seemed some plumed and glittering god uprising from + the sea. Fedallah first descried this jet. For of these moonlight + nights, it was his wont to mount to the main-mast head, and stand a + look-out there, with the same precision as if it had been day. And yet, + though herds of whales were seen by night, not one whaleman in a + hundred would venture a lowering for them. You may think with what + emotions, then, the seamen beheld this old Oriental perched aloft at + such unusual hours; his turban and the moon, companions in one sky. But + when, after spending his uniform interval there for several successive + nights without uttering a single sound; when, after all this silence, + his unearthly voice was heard announcing that silvery, moon-lit jet, + every reclining mariner started to his feet as if some winged spirit + had lighted in the rigging, and hailed the mortal crew. "There she + blows!" Had the trump of judgment blown, they could not have quivered + more; yet still they felt no terror; rather pleasure. For though it was + a most unwonted hour, yet so impressive was the cry, and so deliriously + exciting, that almost every soul on board instinctively desired a + lowering. + + Walking the deck with quick, side-lunging strides, Ahab commanded the + t'gallant sails and royals to be set, and every stunsail spread. The + best man in the ship must take the helm. Then, with every mast-head + manned, the piled-up craft rolled down before the wind. The strange, + upheaving, lifting tendency of the taffrail breeze filling the hollows + of so many sails, made the buoyant, hovering deck to feel like air + beneath the feet; while still she rushed along, as if two antagonistic + influences were struggling in her—one to mount direct to heaven, the + other to drive yawingly to some horizontal goal. And had you watched + Ahab's face that night, you would have thought that in him also two + different things were warring. While his one live leg made lively + echoes along the deck, every stroke of his dead limb sounded like a + coffin-tap. On life and death this old man walked. But though the ship + so swiftly sped, and though from every eye, like arrows, the eager + glances shot, yet the silvery jet was no more seen that night. Every + sailor swore he saw it once, but not a second time. + + This midnight-spout had almost grown a forgotten thing, when, some days + after, lo! at the same silent hour, it was again announced: again it + was descried by all; but upon making sail to overtake it, once more it + disappeared as if it had never been. And so it served us night after + night, till no one heeded it but to wonder at it. Mysteriously jetted + into the clear moonlight, or starlight, as the case might be; + disappearing again for one whole day, or two days, or three; and + somehow seeming at every distinct repetition to be advancing still + further and further in our van, this solitary jet seemed for ever + alluring us on. + + Nor with the immemorial superstition of their race, and in accordance + with the preternaturalness, as it seemed, which in many things invested + the Pequod, were there wanting some of the seamen who swore that + whenever and wherever descried; at however remote times, or in however + far apart latitudes and longitudes, that unnearable spout was cast by + one selfsame whale; and that whale, Moby Dick. For a time, there + reigned, too, a sense of peculiar dread at this flitting apparition, as + if it were treacherously beckoning us on and on, in order that the + monster might turn round upon us, and rend us at last in the remotest + and most savage seas. + + These temporary apprehensions, so vague but so awful, derived a + wondrous potency from the contrasting serenity of the weather, in + which, beneath all its blue blandness, some thought there lurked a + devilish charm, as for days and days we voyaged along, through seas so + wearily, lonesomely mild, that all space, in repugnance to our vengeful + errand, seemed vacating itself of life before our urn-like prow. + + But, at last, when turning to the eastward, the Cape winds began + howling around us, and we rose and fell upon the long, troubled seas + that are there; when the ivory-tusked Pequod sharply bowed to the + blast, and gored the dark waves in her madness, till, like showers of + silver chips, the foamflakes flew over her bulwarks; then all this + desolate vacuity of life went away, but gave place to sights more + dismal than before. + + Close to our bows, strange forms in the water darted hither and thither + before us; while thick in our rear flew the inscrutable sea-ravens. And + every morning, perched on our stays, rows of these birds were seen; and + spite of our hootings, for a long time obstinately clung to the hemp, + as though they deemed our ship some drifting, uninhabited craft; a + thing appointed to desolation, and therefore fit roosting-place for + their homeless selves. And heaved and heaved, still unrestingly heaved + the black sea, as if its vast tides were a conscience; and the great + mundane soul were in anguish and remorse for the long sin and suffering + it had bred. + + Cape of Good Hope, do they call ye? Rather Cape Tormentoto, as called + of yore; for long allured by the perfidious silences that before had + attended us, we found ourselves launched into this tormented sea, where + guilty beings transformed into those fowls and these fish, seemed + condemned to swim on everlastingly without any haven in store, or beat + that black air without any horizon. But calm, snow-white, and + unvarying; still directing its fountain of feathers to the sky; still + beckoning us on from before, the solitary jet would at times be + descried. + + During all this blackness of the elements, Ahab, though assuming for + the time the almost continual command of the drenched and dangerous + deck, manifested the gloomiest reserve; and more seldom than ever + addressed his mates. In tempestuous times like these, after everything + above and aloft has been secured, nothing more can be done but + passively to await the issue of the gale. Then Captain and crew become + practical fatalists. So, with his ivory leg inserted into its + accustomed hole, and with one hand firmly grasping a shroud, Ahab for + hours and hours would stand gazing dead to windward, while an + occasional squall of sleet or snow would all but congeal his very + eyelashes together. Meantime, the crew driven from the forward part of + the ship by the perilous seas that burstingly broke over its bows, + stood in a line along the bulwarks in the waist; and the better to + guard against the leaping waves, each man had slipped himself into a + sort of bowline secured to the rail, in which he swung as in a loosened + belt. Few or no words were spoken; and the silent ship, as if manned by + painted sailors in wax, day after day tore on through all the swift + madness and gladness of the demoniac waves. By night the same muteness + of humanity before the shrieks of the ocean prevailed; still in silence + the men swung in the bowlines; still wordless Ahab stood up to the + blast. Even when wearied nature seemed demanding repose he would not + seek that repose in his hammock. Never could Starbuck forget the old + man's aspect, when one night going down into the cabin to mark how the + barometer stood, he saw him with closed eyes sitting straight in his + floor-screwed chair; the rain and half-melted sleet of the storm from + which he had some time before emerged, still slowly dripping from the + unremoved hat and coat. On the table beside him lay unrolled one of + those charts of tides and currents which have previously been spoken + of. His lantern swung from his tightly clenched hand. Though the body + was erect, the head was thrown back so that the closed eyes were + pointed towards the needle of the tell-tale that swung from a beam in + the ceiling.* + + *The cabin-compass is called the tell-tale, because without going to + the compass at the helm, the Captain, while below, can inform himself + of the course of the ship. + + Terrible old man! thought Starbuck with a shudder, sleeping in this + gale, still thou steadfastly eyest thy purpose. + + + + + CHAPTER 52 + + + The Albatross + + South-eastward from the Cape, off the distant Crozetts, a good cruising + ground for Right Whalemen, a sail loomed ahead, the Goney (Albatross) + by name. As she slowly drew nigh, from my lofty perch at the + fore-mast-head, I had a good view of that sight so remarkable to a tyro + in the far ocean fisheries— a whaler at sea, and long absent from home. + + As if the waves had been fullers, this craft was bleached like the + skeleton of a stranded walrus. All down her sides, this spectral + appearance was traced with long channels of reddened rust, while all + her spars and her rigging were like the thick branches of trees furred + over with hoar-frost. Only her lower sails were set. A wild sight it + was to see her long-bearded look-outs at those three mast-heads. They + seemed clad in the skins of beasts, so torn and bepatched the raiment + that had survived nearly four years of cruising. Standing in iron hoops + nailed to the mast, they swayed and swung over a fathomless sea; and + though, when the ship slowly glided close under our stern, we six men + in the air came so nigh to each other that we might almost have leaped + from the mast-heads of one ship to those of the other; yet, those + forlorn-looking fishermen, mildly eyeing us as they passed, said not + one word to our own look-outs, while the quarter-deck hail was being + heard from below. + + "Ship ahoy! Have ye seen the White Whale?" + + But as the strange captain, leaning over the pallid bulwarks, was in + the act of putting his trumpet to his mouth, it somehow fell from his + hand into the sea; and the wind now rising amain, he in vain strove to + make himself heard without it. Meantime his ship was still increasing + the distance between us. While in various silent ways the seamen of the + Pequod were evincing their observance of this ominous incident at the + first mere mention of the White Whale's name to another ship, Ahab for + a moment paused; it almost seemed as though he would have lowered a + boat to board the stranger, had not the threatening wind forbade. But + taking advantage of his windward position, he again seized his trumpet, + and knowing by her aspect that the stranger vessel was a Nantucketer + and shortly bound home, he loudly hailed—"Ahoy there! This is the + Pequod, bound round the world! Tell them to address all future letters + to the Pacific ocean! and this time three years, if I am not at home, + tell them to address them to-" + + At that moment the two wakes were fairly crossed, and instantly, then, + in accordance with their singular ways, shoals of small harmless fish, + that for some days before had been placidly swimming by our side, + darted away with what seemed shuddering fins, and ranged themselves + fore and aft with the stranger's flanks. Though in the course of his + continual voyagings Ahab must often before have noticed a similar + sight, yet, to any monomaniac man, the veriest trifles capriciously + carry meanings. + + "Swim away from me, do ye?" murmured Ahab, gazing over into the water. + There seemed but little in the words, but the tone conveyed more of + deep helpless sadness than the insane old man had ever before evinced. + But turning to the steersman, who thus far had been holding the ship in + the wind to diminish her headway, he cried out in his old lion + voice,—"Up helm! Keep her off round the world!" + + Round the world! There is much in that sound to inspire proud feelings; + but whereto does all that circumnavigation conduct? Only through + numberless perils to the very point whence we started, where those that + we left behind secure, were all the time before us. + + Were this world an endless plain, and by sailing eastward we could for + ever reach new distances, and discover sights more sweet and strange + than any Cyclades or Islands of King Solomon, then there were promise + in the voyage. But in pursuit of those far mysteries we dream of, or in + tormented chase of that demon phantom that, some time or other, swims + before all human hearts; while chasing such over this round globe, they + either lead us on in barren mazes or midway leave us whelmed. + + + + + CHAPTER 53 + + + The Gam + + The ostensible reason why Ahab did not go on board of the whaler we had + spoken was this: the wind and sea betokened storms. But even had this + not been the case, he would not after all, perhaps, have boarded + her—judging by his subsequent conduct on similar occasions—if so it had + been that, by the process of hailing, he had obtained a negative answer + to the question he put. For, as it eventually turned out, he cared not + to consort, even for five minutes, with any stranger captain, except he + could contribute some of that information he so absorbingly sought. But + all this might remain inadequately estimated, were not something said + here of the peculiar usages of whaling-vessels when meeting each other + in foreign seas, and especially on a common cruising-ground. + + If two strangers crossing the Pine Barrens in New York State, or the + equally desolate Salisbury Plain in England; if casually encountering + each other in such inhospitable wilds, these twain, for the life of + them, cannot well avoid a mutual salutation; and stopping for a moment + to interchange the news; and, perhaps, sitting down for a while and + resting in concert: then, how much more natural that upon the + illimitable Pine Barrens and Salisbury Plains of the sea, two whaling + vessels descrying each other at the ends of the earth—off lone + Fanning's Island, or the far away King's Mills; how much more natural, + I say, that under such circumstances these ships should not only + interchange hails, but come into still closer, more friendly and + sociable contact. And especially would this seem to be a matter of + course, in the case of vessels owned in one seaport, and whose + captains, officers, and not a few of the men are personally known to + each other; and consequently, have all sorts of dear domestic things to + talk about. + + For the long absent ship, the outward-bounder, perhaps, has letters on + board; at any rate, she will be sure to let her have some papers of a + date a year or two later than the last one on her blurred and + thumb-worn files. And in return for that courtesy, the outward-bound + ship would receive the latest whaling intelligence from the + cruising-ground to which she may be destined, a thing of the utmost + importance to her. And in degree, all this will hold true concerning + whaling vessels crossing each other's track on the cruising-ground + itself, even though they are equally long absent from home. For one of + them may have received a transfer of letters from some third, and now + far remote vessel; and some of those letters may be for the people of + the ship she now meets. Besides, they would exchange the whaling news, + and have an agreeable chat. For not only would they meet with all the + sympathies of sailors, but likewise with all the peculiar + congenialities arising from a common pursuit and mutually shared + privations and perils. + + Nor would difference of country make any very essential difference; + that is, so long as both parties speak one language, as is the case + with Americans and English. Though, to be sure, from the small number + of English whalers, such meetings do not very often occur, and when + they do occur there. is too apt to be a sort of shyness between them; + for your Englishman is rather reserved, and your Yankee, he does not + fancy that sort of thing in anybody but himself. Besides, the English + whalers sometimes affect a kind of metropolitan superiority over the + American whalers; regarding the long, lean Nantucketer, with his + nondescript provincialisms, as a sort of sea-peasant. But where this + superiority in the English whaleman does really consist, it would be + hard to say, seeing that the Yankees in one day, collectively, kill + more whales than all the English, collectively, in ten years. But this + is a harmless little foible in the English whale-hunters, which the + Nantucketer does not take much to heart; probably, because he knows + that he has a few foibles himself. + + So, then, we see that of all ships separately sailing the sea, the + whalers have most reason to be sociable—and they are so. Whereas, some + merchant ships crossing each other's wake in the mid-Atlantic, will + oftentimes pass on without so much as a single word of recognition, + mutually cutting each other on the high seas, like a brace of dandies + in Broadway; and all the time indulging, perhaps, in finical criticism + upon each other's rig. As for Men-of-War, when they chance to meet at + sea, they first go through such a string of silly bowings and + scrapings, such a ducking of ensigns, that there does not seem to be + much right-down hearty good-will and brotherly love about it at all. As + touching Slave-ships meeting, why, they are in such a prodigious hurry, + they run away from each other as soon as possible. And as for Pirates, + when they chance to cross each other's cross-bones, the first hail + is—"How many skulls?"— the same way that whalers hail—"How many + barrels?" And that question once answered, pirates straightway steer + apart, for they are infernal villains on both sides, and don't like to + see overmuch of each other's villanous likenesses. + + But look at the godly, honest, unostentatious, hospitable, sociable, + free-and-easy whaler! What does the whaler do when she meets another + whaler in any sort of decent weather? She has a "Gam," a thing so + utterly unknown to all other ships that they never heard of the name + even; and if by chance they should hear of it, they only grin at it, + and repeat gamesome stuff about "spouters" and "blubber-boilers," and + such like pretty exclamations. Why it is that all Merchant-seamen, and + also all Pirates and Man-of-War's men, and Slave-ship sailors, cherish + such a scornful feeling towards Whale-ships; this is a question it + would be hard to answer. Because, in the case of pirates, say, I should + like to know whether that profession of theirs has any peculiar glory + about it. It sometimes ends in uncommon elevation, indeed; but only at + the gallows. And besides, when a man is elevated in that odd fashion, + he has no proper foundation for his superior altitude. Hence, I + conclude, that in boasting himself to be high lifted above a whaleman, + in that assertion the pirate has no solid basis to stand on. + + But what is a Gam? You might wear out your index-finger running up and + down the columns of dictionaries, and never find the word, Dr. Johnson + never attained to that erudition; Noah Webster's ark does not hold it. + Nevertheless, this same expressive word has now for many years been in + constant use among some fifteen thousand true born Yankees. Certainly, + it needs a definition, and should be incorporated into the Lexicon. + With that view, let me learnedly define it. + + GAM. NOUN—A social meeting of two (or more) Whaleships, generally on a + cruising-ground; when, after exchanging hails, they exchange visits by + boats' crews, the two captains remaining, for the time, on board of one + ship, and the two chief mates on the other. + + There is another little item about Gamming which must not be forgotten + here. All professions have their own little peculiarities of detail; so + has the whale fishery. In a pirate, man-of-war, or slave ship, when the + captain is rowed anywhere in his boat, he always sits in the stern + sheets on a comfortable, sometimes cushioned seat there, and often + steers himself with a pretty little milliner's tiller decorated with + gay cords and ribbons. But the whale-boat has no seat astern, no sofa + of that sort whatever, and no tiller at all. High times indeed, if + whaling captains were wheeled about the water on castors like gouty old + aldermen in patent chairs. And as for a tiller, the whale-boat never + admits of any such effeminacy; and therefore as in gamming a complete + boat's crew must leave the ship, and hence as the boat steerer or + harpooneer is of the number, that subordinate is the steersman upon the + occasion, and the captain, having no place to sit in, is pulled off to + his visit all standing like a pine tree. And often you will notice that + being conscious of the eyes of the whole visible world resting on him + from the sides of the two ships, this standing captain is all alive to + the importance of sustaining his dignity by maintaining his legs. Nor + is this any very easy matter; for in his rear is the immense projecting + steering oar hitting him now and then in the small of his back, the + after-oar reciprocating by rapping his knees in front. He is thus + completely wedged before and behind, and can only expand himself + sideways by settling down on his stretched legs; but a sudden, violent + pitch of the boat will often go far to topple him, because length of + foundation is nothing without corresponding breadth. Merely make a + spread angle of two poles, and you cannot stand them up. Then, again, + it would never do in plain sight of the world's riveted eyes, it would + never do, I say, for this straddling captain to be seen steadying + himself the slightest particle by catching hold of anything with his + hands; indeed, as token of his entire, buoyant self-command, he + generally carries his hands in his trowsers' pockets; but perhaps being + generally very large, heavy hands, he carries them there for ballast. + Nevertheless there have occurred instances, well authenticated ones + too, where the captain has been known for an uncommonly critical moment + or two, in a sudden squall say—to seize hold of the nearest oarsman's + hair, and hold on there like grim death. + + + + + CHAPTER 54 + + + The Town-Ho's Story + + (As told at the Golden Inn) + + The Cape of Good Hope, and all the watery region round about there, is + much like some noted four corners of a great highway, where you meet + more travellers than in any other part. + + It was not very long after speaking the Goney that another + homeward-bound whaleman, the Town-Ho,* was encountered. She was manned + almost wholly by Polynesians. In the short gam that ensued she gave us + strong news of Moby Dick. To some the general interest in the White + Whale was now wildly heightened by a circumstance of the Town-Ho's + story, which seemed obscurely to involve with the whale a certain + wondrous, inverted visitation of one of those so called judgments of + God which at times are said to overtake some men. This latter + circumstance, with its own particular accompaniments, forming what may + be called the secret part of the tragedy about to be narrated, never + reached the ears of Captain Ahab or his mates. For that secret part of + the story was unknown to the captain of the Town-Ho himself. It was the + private property of three confederate white seamen of that ship, one of + whom, it seems, communicated it to Tashtego with Romish injunctions of + secrecy, but the following night Tashtego rambled in his sleep, and + revealed so much of it in that way, that when he was wakened he could + not well withhold the rest. Nevertheless, so potent an influence did + this thing have on those seamen in the Pequod who came to the full + knowledge of it, and by such a strange delicacy, to call it so, were + they governed in this matter, that they kept the secret among + themselves so that it never transpired abaft the Pequod's main-mast. + Interweaving in its proper place this darker thread with the story as + publicly narrated on the ship, the whole of this strange affair I now + proceed to put on lasting record. + + *The ancient whale-cry upon first sighting a whale from the mast-head, + still used by whalemen in hunting the famous Gallipagos terrapin. + + For my humor's sake, I shall preserve the style in which I once + narrated it at Lima, to a lounging circle of my Spanish friends, one + saint's eve, smoking upon the thick-gilt tiled piazza of the Golden + Inn. Of those fine cavaliers, the young Dons, Pedro and Sebastian, were + on the closer terms with me; and hence the interluding questions they + occasionally put, and which are duly answered at the time. + + "Some two years prior to my first learning the events which I am about + rehearsing to you, gentlemen, the Town-Ho, Sperm Whaler of Nantucket, + was cruising in your Pacific here, not very many days' sail eastward + from the eaves of this good Golden Inn. She was somewhere to the + northward of the Line. One morning upon handling the pumps according to + daily usage, it was observed that she made more water in her hold than + common. They supposed a sword-fish had stabbed her, gentlemen. But the + captain, having some unusual reason for believing that rare good luck + awaited him in those latitudes; and therefore being very averse to quit + them, and the leak not being then considered at all dangerous, though, + indeed, they could not find it after searching the hold as low down as + was possible in rather heavy weather, the ship still continued her + cruisings, the mariners working at the pumps at wide and easy + intervals; but no good luck came; more days went by and not only was + the leak yet undiscovered, but it sensibly increased. So much so, that + now taking some alarm, the captain, making all sail, stood away for the + nearest harbor among the islands, there to have his hull hove out and + repaired. + + "Though no small passage was before her, yet, if the commonest chance + favoured, he did not at all fear that his ship would founder by the + way, because his pumps were of the best, and being periodically + relieved at them, those six-and-thirty men of his could easily keep the + ship free; never mind if the leak should double on her. In truth, well + nigh the whole of this passage being attended by very prosperous + breezes, the Town-Ho had all but certainly arrived in perfect safety at + her port without the occurrence of the least fatality, had it not been + for the brutal overbearing of Radney, the mate, a Vineyarder, and the + bitterly provoked vengeance of Steelkilt, a Lakeman and desperado from + Buffalo. + + "'Lakeman!—Buffalo! Pray, what is a Lakeman, and where is Buffalo?' + said Don Sebastian, rising in his swinging mat of grass. + + "On the eastern shore of our Lake Erie, Don; but—I crave your + courtesy—may be, you shall soon hear further of all that. Now, + gentlemen, in square-sail brigs and three-masted ships, well nigh as + large and stout as any that ever sailed out of your old Callao to far + Manilla; this Lakeman, in the land-locked heart of our America, had yet + been nurtured by all those agrarian freebooting impressions popularly + connected with the open ocean. For in their interflowing aggregate, + those grand fresh-water seas of ours,—Erie, and Ontario, and Huron, and + Superior, and Michigan,— possess an ocean-like expansiveness, with many + of the ocean's noblest traits; with many of its rimmed varieties of + races and of climes. They contain round archipelagoes of romantic + isles, even as the Polynesian waters do; in large part, are shored by + two great contrasting nations, as the Atlantic is; they furnish long + maritime approaches to our numerous territorial colonies from the East, + dotted all round their banks; here and there are frowned upon by + batteries, and by the goat-like craggy guns of lofty Mackinaw; they + have heard the fleet thunderings of naval victories; at intervals, they + yield their beaches to wild barbarians, whose red painted faces flash + from out their peltry wigwams; for leagues and leagues are flanked by + ancient and unentered forests, where the gaunt pines stand like serried + lines of kings in Gothic genealogies; those same woods harboring wild + Afric beasts of prey, and silken creatures whose exported furs give + robes to Tartar Emperors; they mirror the paved capitals of Buffalo and + Cleveland, as well as Winnebago villages; they float alike the + full-rigged merchant ship, the armed cruiser of the State, the steamer, + and the beech canoe; they are swept by Borean and dismasting blasts as + direful as any that lash the salted wave; they know what shipwrecks + are, for out of sight of land, however inland, they have drowned full + many a midnight ship with all its shrieking crew. Thus, gentlemen, + though an inlander, Steelkilt was wild-ocean born, and wild-ocean + nurtured; as much of an audacious mariner as any. And for Radney, + though in his infancy he may have laid him down on the lone Nantucket + beach, to nurse at his maternal sea; though in after life he had long + followed our austere Atlantic and your contemplative Pacific; yet was + he quite as vengeful and full of social quarrel as the backwoods + seaman, fresh from the latitudes of buckhorn handled Bowie-knives. Yet + was this Nantucketer a man with some good-hearted traits; and this + Lakeman, a mariner, who though a sort of devil indeed, might yet by + inflexible firmness, only tempered by that common decency of human + recognition which is the meanest slave's right; thus treated, this + Steelkilt had long been retained harmless and docile. At all events, he + had proved so thus far; but Radney was doomed and made mad, and + Steelkilt—but, gentlemen, you shall hear. + + "It was not more than a day or two at the furthest after pointing her + prow for her island haven, that the Town-Ho's leak seemed again + increasing, but only so as to require an hour or more at the pumps + every day. You must know that in a settled and civilized ocean like our + Atlantic, for example, some skippers think little of pumping their + whole way across it; though of a still, sleepy night, should the + officer of the deck happen to forget his duty in that respect, the + probability would be that he and his shipmates would never again + remember it, on account of all hands gently subsiding to the bottom. + Nor in the solitary and savage seas far from you to the westward, + gentlemen, is it altogether unusual for ships to keep clanging at their + pump-handles in full chorus even for a voyage of considerable length! + that is, if it lie along a tolerably accessible coast, or if any other + reasonable retreat is afforded them. It is only when a leaky vessel is + in some very out of the way part of those waters, some really landless + latitude, that her captain begins to feel a little anxious. + + "Much this way had it been with the Town-Ho; so when her leak was found + gaining once more, there was in truth some small concern manifested by + several of her company; especially by Radney the mate. He commanded the + upper sails to be well hoisted, sheeted home anew, and every way + expanded to the breeze. Now this Radney, I suppose, was as little of a + coward, and as little inclined to any sort of nervous apprehensiveness + touching his own person as any fearless, unthinking creature on land or + on sea that you can conveniently imagine, gentlemen. Therefore when he + betrayed this imagine, solicitude about the safety of the ship, some of + the seamen declared that it was only on account of his being a part + owner in her. So when they were working that evening at the pumps, + there was on this head no small gamesomeness slily going on among them, + as they stood with their feet continually overflowed by the rippling + clear water; clear as any mountain spring, gentlemen—that bubbling from + the pumps ran across the deck, and poured itself out in steady spouts + at the lee scupper-holes. + + "Now, as you well know, it is not seldom the case in this conventional + world of ours—watery or otherwise; that when a person placed in command + over his fellow-men finds one of them to be very significantly his + superior in general pride of manhood, straightway against that man he + conceives an unconquerable dislike and bitterness; and if he had a + chance he will pull down and pulverize that subaltern's tower, and make + a little heap of dust of it. Be this conceit of mine as it may, + gentlemen, at all events Steelkilt was a tall and noble animal with a + head like a Roman, and a flowing golden beard like the tasseled + housings of your last viceroy's snorting charger; and a brain, and a + heart, and a soul in him, gentlemen, which had made Steelkilt + Charlemagne, had he been born son to Charlemagne's father. But Radney, + the mate, was ugly as a mule; yet as hardy, as stubborn, as malicious. + He did not love Steelkilt, and Steelkilt knew it. + + "Espying the mate drawing near as he was toiling at the pump with the + rest, the Lakeman affected not to notice him, but unawed, went on with + his gay banterings. + + "'Aye, aye, my merry lads, it's a lively leak this; hold a cannikin, + one of ye, and let's have a taste. By the Lord, it's worth bottling! I + tell ye what, men, old Rad's investment must go for it! he had best cut + away his part of the hull and tow it home. The fact is, boys, that + sword-fish only began the job; he's come back again with a gang of + ship-carpenters, saw-fish, and file-fish, and what not; and the whole + posse of 'em are now hard at work cutting and slashing at the bottom; + making improvements, I suppose. If old Rad were here now, I'd tell him + to jump overboard and scatter 'em. They're playing the devil with his + estate, I can tell him. But he's a simple old soul,—Rad, and a beauty + too. Boys, they say the rest of his property is invested in + looking-glasses. I wonder if he'd give a poor devil like me the model + of his nose.' + + "'Damn your eyes! what's that pump stopping for?' roared Radney, + pretending not to have heard the sailors' talk. 'Thunder away at it!' + + 'Aye, aye, sir,' said Steelkilt, merry as a cricket. 'Lively, boys, + lively, now!' And with that the pump clanged like fifty fire-engines; + the men tossed their hats off to it, and ere long that peculiar gasping + of the lungs was heard which denotes the fullest tension of life's + utmost energies. + + "Quitting the pump at last, with the rest of his band, the Lakeman went + forward all panting, and sat himself down on the windlass; his face + fiery red, his eyes bloodshot, and wiping the profuse sweat from his + brow. Now what cozening fiend it was, gentlemen, that possessed Radney + to meddle with such a man in that corporeally exasperated state, I know + not; but so it happened. Intolerably striding along the deck, the mate + commanded him to get a broom and sweep down the planks, and also a + shovel, and remove some offensive matters consequent upon allowing a + pig to run at large. + + "Now, gentlemen, sweeping a ship's deck at sea is a piece of household + work which in all times but raging gales is regularly attended to every + evening; it has been known to be done in the case of ships actually + foundering at the time. Such, gentlemen, is the inflexibility of + sea-usages and the instinctive love of neatness in seamen; some of whom + would not willingly drown without first washing their faces. But in all + vessels this broom business is the prescriptive province of the boys, + if boys there be aboard. Besides, it was the stronger men in the + Town-Ho that had been divided into gangs, taking turns at the pumps; + and being the most athletic seaman of them all, Steelkilt had been + regularly assigned captain of one of the gangs; consequently he should + have been freed from any trivial business not connected with truly + nautical duties, such being the case with his comrades. I mention all + these particulars so that you may understand exactly how this affair + stood between the two men. + + "But there was more than this: the order about the shovel was almost as + plainly meant to sting and insult Steelkilt, as though Radney had spat + in his face. Any man who has gone sailor in a whale-ship will + understand this; and all this and doubtless much more, the Lakeman + fully comprehended when the mate uttered his command. But as he sat + still for a moment, and as he steadfastly looked into the mate's + malignant eye and perceived the stacks of powder-casks heaped up in him + and the slow-match silently burning along towards them; as he + instinctively saw all this, that strange forbearance and unwillingness + to stir up the deeper passionateness in any already ireful being—a + repugnance most felt, when felt at all, by really valiant men even when + aggrieved— this nameless phantom feeling, gentlemen, stole over + Steelkilt. + + "Therefore, in his ordinary tone, only a little broken by the bodily + exhaustion he was temporarily in, he answered him saying that sweeping + the deck was not his business, and he would not do it. And then, + without at all alluding to the shovel, he pointed to three lads, as the + customary sweepers; who, not being billeted at the pumps, had done + little or nothing all day. To this, Radney replied, with an oath, in a + most domineering and outrageous manner unconditionally reiterating his + command; meanwhile advancing upon the still seated Lakeman, with an + uplifted cooper's club hammer which he had snatched from a cask near + by. + + "Heated and irritated as he was by his spasmodic toil at the pumps, for + all his first nameless feeling of forbearance the sweating Steelkilt + could but ill brook this bearing in the mate; but somehow still + smothering the conflagration within him, without speaking he remained + doggedly rooted to his seat, till at last the incensed Radney shook the + hammer within a few inches of his face, furiously commanding him to do + his bidding. + + "Steelkilt rose, and slowly retreating round the windlass, steadily + followed by the mate with his menacing hammer, deliberately repeated + his intention not to obey. Seeing, however, that his forbearance had + not the slightest effect, by an awful and unspeakable intimation with + his twisted hand he warned off the foolish and infatuated man; but it + was to no purpose. And in this way the two went once slowly round the + windlass; when, resolved at last no longer to retreat, bethinking him + that he had now forborne as much as comported with his humor, the + Lakeman paused on the hatches and thus spoke to the officer: + + "'Mr. Radney, I will not obey you. Take that hammer away, or look to + yourself.' But the predestinated mate coming still closer to him, where + the Lakeman stood fixed, now shook the heavy hammer within an inch of + his teeth; meanwhile repeating a string of insufferable maledictions. + Retreating not the thousandth part of an inch; stabbing him in the eye + with the unflinching poniard of his glance, Steelkilt, clenching his + right hand behind him and creepingly drawing it back, told his + persecutor that if the hammer but grazed his cheek he (Steelkilt) would + murder him. But, gentlemen, the fool had been branded for the slaughter + by the gods. Immediately the hammer touched the cheek; the next instant + the lower jaw of the mate was stove in his head; he fell on the hatch + spouting blood like a whale. + + "Ere the cry could go aft Steelkilt was shaking one of the backstays + leading far aloft to where two of his comrades were standing their + mastheads. They were both Canallers. + + "'Canallers!' cried Don Pedro. 'We have seen many whaleships in our + harbors, but never heard of your Canallers. Pardon: who and what are + they?' + + "'Canallers, Don, are the boatmen belonging to our grand + Erie Canal. You must have heard of it.' + + "'Nay, Senor; hereabouts in this dull, warm, most lazy, and hereditary + land, we know but little of your vigorous North.' + + "'Aye? Well then, Don, refill my cup. Your chicha's very fine; and ere + proceeding further I will tell ye what our Canallers are; for such + information may throw side-light upon my story.' + + "For three hundred and sixty miles, gentlemen, through the entire + breadth of the state of New York; through numerous populous cities and + most thriving villages; through long, dismal, uninhabited swamps, and + affluent, cultivated fields, unrivalled for fertility; by billiard-room + and bar-room; through the holy-of-holies of great forests; on Roman + arches over Indian rivers; through sun and shade; by happy hearts or + broken; through all the wide contrasting scenery of those noble Mohawk + counties; and especially, by rows of snow-white chapels, whose spires + stand almost like milestones, flows one continual stream of Venetianly + corrupt and often lawless life. There's your true Ashantee, gentlemen; + there howl your pagans; where you ever find them, next door to you; + under the long-flung shadow, and the snug patronizing lee of churches. + For by some curious fatality, as it is often noted of your metropolitan + freebooters that they ever encamp around the halls of justice, so + sinners, gentlemen, most abound in holiest vicinities. + + "'Is that a friar passing?' said Don Pedro, looking downwards into the + crowded plazza, with humorous concern. + + "'Well for our northern friend, Dame Isabella's Inquisition wanes in + Lima,' laughed Don Sebastian. 'Proceed, Senor.' + + "'A moment! Pardon!' cried another of the company. 'In the name of all + us Limeese, I but desire to express to you, sir sailor, that we have by + no means overlooked your delicacy in not substituting present Lima for + distant Venice in your corrupt comparison. Oh! do not bow and look + surprised: you know the proverb all along this coast—"Corrupt as Lima." + It but bears out your saying, too; churches more plentiful than + billiard-tables, and for ever open-and "Corrupt as Lima." So, too, + Venice; I have been there; the holy city of the blessed evangelist, St. + Mark!—St. Dominic, purge it! Your cup! Thanks: here I refill; now, you + pour out again.' + + "Freely depicted in his own vocation, gentlemen, the Canaller would + make a fine dramatic hero, so abundantly and picturesquely wicked is + he. Like Mark Antony, for days and days along his green-turfed, flowery + Nile, he indolently floats, openly toying with his red-cheeked + Cleopatra, ripening his apricot thigh upon the sunny deck. But ashore, + all this effeminacy is dashed. The brigandish guise which the Canaller + so proudly sports; his slouched and gaily-ribboned hat betoken his + grand features. A terror to the smiling innocence of the villages + through which he floats; his swart visage and bold swagger are not + unshunned in cities. Once a vagabond on his own canal, I have received + good turns from one of these Canallers; I thank him heartily; would + fain be not ungrateful; but it is often one of the prime redeeming + qualities of your man of violence, that at times he has as stiff an arm + to back a poor stranger in a strait, as to plunder a wealthy one. In + sum, gentlemen, what the wildness of this canal life is, is + emphatically evinced by this; that our wild whale-fishery contains so + many of its most finished graduates, and that scarce any race of + mankind, except Sydney men, are so much distrusted by our whaling + captains. Nor does it at all diminish the curiousness of this matter, + that to many thousands of our rural boys and young men born along its + line, the probationary life of the Grand Canal furnishes the sole + transition between quietly reaping in a Christian corn-field, and + recklessly ploughing the waters of the most barbaric seas. + + "'I see! I see!' impetuously exclaimed Don Pedro, spilling his + chicha upon his silvery ruffles. 'No need to travel! + The world's one Lima. I had thought, now, that at your temperate + North the generations were cold and holy as the hills.— + But the story.' + + "I had left off, gentlemen, where the Lakeman shook the backstay. + Hardly had he done so, when he was surrounded by the three junior mates + and the four harpooneers, who all crowded him to the deck. But sliding + down the ropes like baleful comets, the two Canallers rushed into the + uproar, and sought to drag their man out of it towards the forecastle. + Others of the sailors joined with them in this attempt, and a twisted + turmoil ensued; while standing out of harm's way, the valiant captain + danced up and down with a whale-pike, calling upon his officers to + manhandle that atrocious scoundrel, and smoke him along to the + quarter-deck. At intervals, he ran close up to the revolving border of + the confusion, and prying into the heart of it with his pike, sought to + prick out the object of his resentment. But Steelkilt and his + desperadoes were too much for them all; they succeeded in gaining the + forecastle deck, where, hastily slewing about three or four large casks + in a line with the windlass, these sea-Parisians entrenched themselves + behind the barricade. + + "'Come out of that, ye pirates!' roared the captain, now menacing them + with a pistol in each hand, just brought to him by the steward. 'Come + out of that, ye cut-throats!' + + "Steelkilt leaped on the barricade, and striding up and down there, + defied the worst the pistols could do; but gave the captain to + understand distinctly, that his (Steelkilt's) death would be the signal + for a murderous mutiny on the part of all hands. Fearing in his heart + lest this might prove but too true, the captain a little desisted, but + still commanded the insurgents instantly to return to their duty. + + "'Will you promise not to touch us, if we do?' demanded their + ringleader. + + "'Turn to! turn to!—I make no promise; to your duty! + Do you want to sink the ship, by knocking off at a time like this? + Turn to!' and he once more raised a pistol. + + "'Sink the ship?' cried Steelkilt. 'Aye, let her sink. + Not a man of us turns to, unless you swear not to raise a rope-yarn + against us. What say ye, men?' turning to his comrades. + A fierce cheer was their response. + + "The Lakeman now patrolled the barricade, all the while keeping his eye + on the Captain, and jerking out such sentences as these:— 'It's not our + fault; we didn't want it; I told him to take his hammer away; it was + boy's business; he might have known me before this; I told him not to + prick the buffalo; I believe I have broken a finger here against his + cursed jaw; ain't those mincing knives down in the forecastle there, + men? look to those handspikes, my hearties. Captain, by God, look to + yourself; say the word; don't be a fool; forget it all; we are ready to + turn to; treat us decently, and we're your men; but we won't be + flogged.' + + "'Turn to! I make no promises, turn to, I say!' + + "'Look ye, now,' cried the Lakeman, flinging out his arm towards him, + 'there are a few of us here (and I am one of them) who have shipped for + the cruise, d'ye see; now as you well know, sir, we can claim our + discharge as soon as the anchor is down; so we don't want a row; it's + not our interest; we want to be peaceable; we are ready to work, but we + won't be flogged.' + + "'Turn to!' roared the Captain. + + "Steelkilt glanced round him a moment, and then said:—'I tell you what + it is now, Captain, rather than kill ye, and be hung for such a shabby + rascal, we won't lift a hand against ye unless ye attack us; but till + you say the word about not flogging us, we don't do a hand's turn.' + + "'Down into the forecastle then, down with ye, I'll keep ye there till + ye're sick of it. Down ye go.' + + "'Shall we?' cried the ringleader to his men. Most of them were against + it; but at length, in obedience to Steelkilt, they preceded him down + into their dark den, growlingly disappearing, like bears into a cave. + + "As the Lakeman's bare head was just level with the planks, the Captain + and his posse leaped the barricade, and rapidly drawing over the slide + of the scuttle, planted their group of hands upon it, and loudly called + for the steward to bring the heavy brass padlock belonging to the + companionway. + + Then opening the slide a little, the Captain whispered something down + the crack, closed it, and turned the key upon them—ten in number— + leaving on deck some twenty or more, who thus far had remained neutral. + + "All night a wide-awake watch was kept by all the officers, forward and + aft, especially about the forecastle scuttle and fore hatchway; at + which last place it was feared the insurgents might emerge, after + breaking through the bulkhead below. But the hours of darkness passed + in peace; the men who still remained at their duty toiling hard at the + pumps, whose clinking and clanking at intervals through the dreary + night dismally resounded through the ship. + + "At sunrise the Captain went forward, and knocking on the deck, + summoned the prisoners to work; but with a yell they refused. Water was + then lowered down to them, and a couple of handfuls of biscuit were + tossed after it; when again turning the key upon them and pocketing it, + the Captain returned to the quarter-deck. Twice every day for three + days this was repeated; but on the fourth morning a confused wrangling, + and then a scuffling was heard, as the customary summons was delivered; + and suddenly four men burst up from the forecastle, saying they were + ready to turn to. The fetid closeness of the air, and a famishing diet, + united perhaps to some fears of ultimate retribution, had constrained + them to surrender at discretion. Emboldened by this, the Captain + reiterated his demand to the rest, but Steelkilt shouted up to him a + terrific hint to stop his babbling and betake himself where he + belonged. On the fifth morning three others of the mutineers bolted up + into the air from the desperate arms below that sought to restrain + them. Only three were left. + + "'Better turn to, now?' said the Captain with a heartless jeer. + + "'Shut us up again, will ye!' cried Steelkilt. + + "Oh! certainly," said the Captain, and the key clicked. + + "It was at this point, gentlemen, that enraged by the defection of + seven of his former associates, and stung by the mocking voice that had + last hailed him, and maddened by his long entombment in a place as + black as the bowels of despair; it was then that Steelkilt proposed to + the two Canallers, thus far apparently of one mind with him, to burst + out of their hole at the next summoning of the garrison; and armed with + their keen mincing knives (long, crescentic, heavy implements with a + handle at each end) run amuck from the bowsprit to the taffrail; and if + by any devilishness of desperation possible, seize the ship. For + himself, he would do this, he said, whether they joined him or not. + That was the last night he should spend in that den. But the scheme met + with no opposition on the part of the other two; they swore they were + ready for that, or for any other mad thing, for anything in short but a + surrender. And what was more, they each insisted upon being the first + man on deck, when the time to make the rush should come. But to this + their leader as fiercely objected, reserving that priority for himself; + particularly as his two comrades would not yield, the one to the other, + in the matter; and both of them could not be first, for the ladder + would but admit one man at a time. And here, gentlemen, the foul play + of these miscreants must come out. + + "Upon hearing the frantic project of their leader, each in his own + separate soul had suddenly lighted, it would seem, upon the same piece + of treachery, namely: to be the foremost in breaking out, in order to + be the first of the three, though the last of the ten, to surrender; + and thereby secure whatever small chance of pardon such conduct might + merit. But when Steelkilt made known his determination still to lead + them to the last, they in some way, by some subtle chemistry of + villany, mixed their before secret treacheries together; and when their + leader fell into a doze, verbally opened their souls to each other in + three sentences; and bound the sleeper with cords, and gagged him with + cords; and shrieked out for the Captain at midnight. + + "Thinking murder at hand, and smelling in the dark for the blood, he + and all his armed mates and harpooneers rushed for the forecastle. In a + few minutes the scuttle was opened, and, bound hand and foot, the still + struggling ringleader was shoved up into the air by his perfidious + allies, who at once claimed the honor of securing a man who had been + fully ripe for murder. But all these were collared, and dragged along + the deck like dead cattle; and, side by side, were seized up into the + mizzen rigging, like three quarters of meat, and there they hung till + morning. 'Damn ye,' cried the Captain, pacing to and fro before them, + 'the vultures would not touch ye, ye villains!' + + "At sunrise he summoned all hands; and separating those who had + rebelled from those who had taken no part in the mutiny, he told the + former that he had a good mind to flog them all round—thought, upon the + while, he would do so—he ought to—justice demanded it; but for the + present, considering their timely surrender, he would let them go with + a reprimand, which he accordingly administered in the vernacular. + + "'But as for you, ye carrion rogues,' turning to the three men in the + rigging—'for you, I mean to mince ye up for the try-pots;' and, seizing + a rope, he applied it with all his might to the backs of the two + traitors, till they yelled no more, but lifelessly hung their heads + sideways, as the two crucified thieves are drawn. + + "'My wrist is sprained with ye!' he cried, at last; 'but there is still + rope enough left for you, my fine bantam, that wouldn't give up. Take + that gag from his mouth, and let us hear what he can say for himself.' + + "For a moment the exhausted mutineer made a tremulous motion of his + cramped jaws, and then painfully twisting round his head, said in a + sort of hiss, 'What I say is this—and mind it well—- if you flog me, I + murder you!' + + "'Say ye so? then see how ye frighten me'—and the Captain drew off with + the rope to strike. + + "'Best not,' hissed the Lakeman. + + "'But I must,'—and the rope was once more drawn back for the stroke. + + "Steelkilt here hissed out something, inaudible to all but the Captain; + who, to the amazement of all hands, started back, paced the deck + rapidly two or three times, and then suddenly throwing down his rope, + said, 'I won't do it—let him go— cut him down: d'ye hear?' + + But as the junior mates were hurrying to execute the order, a pale man, + with a bandaged head, arrested them—Radney the chief mate. Ever since + the blow, he had lain in his berth; but that morning, hearing the + tumult on the deck, he had crept out, and thus far had watched the + whole scene. Such was the state of his mouth, that he could hardly + speak; but mumbling something about his being willing and able to do + what the captain dared not attempt, he snatched the rope and advanced + to his pinioned foe. + + "'You are a coward!' hissed the Lakeman. + + "'So I am, but take that.' The mate was in the very act of striking, + when another hiss stayed his uplifted arm. He paused: and then pausing + no more, made good his word, spite of Steelkilt's threat, whatever that + might have been. The three men were then cut down, all hands were + turned to, and, sullenly worked by the moody seamen, the iron pumps + clanged as before. + + "Just after dark that day, when one watch had retired below, a clamor + was heard in the forecastle; and the two trembling traitors running up, + besieged the cabin door, saying they durst not consort with the crew. + Entreaties, cuffs, and kicks could not drive them back, so at their own + instance they were put down in the ship's run for salvation. Still, no + sign of mutiny reappeared among the rest. On the contrary, it seemed, + that mainly at Steelkilt's instigation, they had resolved to maintain + the strictest peacefulness, obey all orders to the last, and, when the + ship reached port, desert her in a body. But in order to insure the + speediest end to the voyage, they all agreed to another thing—namely, + not to sing out for whales, in case any should be discovered. For, + spite of her leak, and spite of all her other perils, the Town-Ho still + maintained her mast-heads, and her captain was just as willing to lower + for a fish that moment, as on the day his craft first struck the + cruising ground; and Radney the mate was quite as ready to change his + berth for a boat, and with his bandaged mouth seek to gag in death the + vital jaw of the whale. + + "But though the Lakeman had induced the seamen to adopt this sort of + passiveness in their conduct, he kept his own counsel (at least till + all was over) concerning his own proper and private revenge upon the + man who had stung him in the ventricles of his heart. He was in Radney + the chief mate's watch; and as if the infatuated man sought to run more + than half way to meet his doom, after the scene at the rigging, he + insisted, against the express counsel of the captain, upon resuming the + head of his watch at night. Upon this, and one or two other + circumstances, Steelkilt systematically built the plan of his revenge. + + "During the night, Radney had an unseaman-like way of sitting on the + bulwarks of the quarterdeck, and leaning his arm upon the gunwale of + the boat which was hoisted up there, a little above the ship's side. In + this attitude, it was well known, he sometimes dozed. There was a + considerable vacancy between the boat and the ship, and down between + this was the sea. Steelkilt calculated his time, and found that his + next trick at the helm would come round at two o'clock, in the morning + of the third day from that in which he had been betrayed. At his + leisure, he employed the interval in braiding something very carefully + in his watches below. + + "'What are you making there?' said a shipmate. + + "'What do you think? what does it look like?' + + "'Like a lanyard for your bag; but it's an odd one, seems to me.' + + 'Yes, rather oddish,' said the Lakeman, holding it at arm's length + before him; 'but I think it will answer. Shipmate, I haven't enough + twine,—have you any?' + + "But there was none in the forecastle. + + "'Then I must get some from old Rad;' and he rose to go aft. + + "'You don't mean to go a begging to him!' said a sailor. + + "'Why not? Do you think he won't do me a turn, when it's to help + himself in the end, shipmate?' and going to the mate, he looked at him + quietly, and asked him for some twine to mend his hammock. It was given + him—neither twine nor lanyard were seen again; but the next night an + iron ball, closely netted, partly rolled from the pocket of the + Lakeman's monkey jacket, as he was tucking the coat into his hammock + for a pillow. Twenty-four hours after, his trick at the silent helm— + nigh to the man who was apt to doze over the grave always ready dug to + the seaman's hand—that fatal hour was then to come; and in the + fore-ordaining soul of Steelkilt, the mate was already stark and + stretched as a corpse, with his forehead crushed in. + + "But, gentlemen, a fool saved the would-be murderer from the bloody + deed he had planned. Yet complete revenge he had, and without being the + avenger. For by a mysterious fatality, Heaven itself seemed to step in + to take out of his hands into its own the damning thing he would have + done. + + "It was just between daybreak and sunrise of the morning of the second + day, when they were washing down the decks, that a stupid Teneriffe + man, drawing water in the main-chains, all at once shouted out, 'There + she rolls! there she rolls!' Jesu, what a whale! It was Moby Dick. + + "'Moby Dick!' cried Don Sebastian; 'St. Dominic! Sir sailor, but do + whales have christenings? Whom call you Moby Dick?' + + "'A very white, and famous, and most deadly immortal monster, Don;— but + that would be too long a story.' + + "'How? how?' cried all the young Spaniards, crowding. + + "'Nay, Dons, Dons—nay, nay! I cannot rehearse that now. + Let me get more into the air, Sirs.' + + "'The chicha! the chicha!' cried Don Pedro; 'our vigorous friend looks + faint;—fill up his empty glass!' + + "No need, gentlemen; one moment, and I proceed.—Now, gentlemen, so + suddenly perceiving the snowy whale within fifty yards of the ship— + forgetful of the compact among the crew—in the excitement of the + moment, the Teneriffe man had instinctively and involuntarily lifted + his voice for the monster, though for some little time past it had been + plainly beheld from the three sullen mast-heads. All was now a phrensy. + 'The White Whale—the White Whale!' was the cry from captain, mates, and + harpooneers, who, undeterred by fearful rumours, were all anxious to + capture so famous and precious a fish; while the dogged crew eyed + askance, and with curses, the appalling beauty of the vast milky mass, + that lit up by a horizontal spangling sun, shifted and glistened like a + living opal in the blue morning sea. Gentlemen, a strange fatality + pervades the whole career of these events, as if verily mapped out + before the world itself was charted. The mutineer was the bowsman of + the mate, and when fast to a fish, it was his duty to sit next him, + while Radney stood up with his lance in the prow, and haul in or + slacken the line, at the word of command. Moreover, when the four boats + were lowered, the mate's got the start; and none howled more fiercely + with delight than did Steelkilt, as he strained at his oar. After a + stiff pull, their harpooneer got fast, and, spear in hand, Radney + sprang to the bow. He was always a furious man, it seems, in a boat. + And now his bandaged cry was, to beach him on the whale's topmost back. + Nothing loath, his bowsman hauled him up and up, through a blinding + foam that blent two whitenesses together; till of a sudden the boat + struck as against a sunken ledge, and keeling over, spilled out the + standing mate. That instant, as he fell on the whale's slippery back, + the boat righted, and was dashed aside by the swell, while Radney was + tossed over into the sea, on the other flank of the whale. He struck + out through the spray, and, for an instant, was dimly seen through that + veil, wildly seeking to remove himself from the eye of Moby Dick. But + the whale rushed round in a sudden maelstrom; seized the swimmer + between his jaws; and rearing high up with him, plunged headlong again, + and went down. + + "Meantime, at the first tap of the boat's bottom, the Lakeman had + slackened the line, so as to drop astern from the whirlpool; calmly + looking on, he thought his own thoughts. But a sudden, terrific, + downward jerking of the boat, quickly brought his knife to the line. He + cut it; and the whale was free. But, at some distance, Moby Dick rose + again, with some tatters of Radney's red woollen shirt, caught in the + teeth that had destroyed him. All four boats gave chase again; but the + whale eluded them, and finally wholly disappeared. + + "In good time, the Town-Ho reached her port—a savage, solitary place— + where no civilized creature resided. There, headed by the Lakeman, all + but five or six of the foremastmen deliberately deserted among the + palms; eventually, as it turned out, seizing a large double war-canoe + of the savages, and setting sail for some other harbor. + + "The ship's company being reduced to but a handful, the captain called + upon the Islanders to assist him in the laborious business of heaving + down the ship to stop the leak. But to such unresting vigilance over + their dangerous allies was this small band of whites necessitated, both + by night and by day, and so extreme was the hard work they underwent, + that upon the vessel being ready again for sea, they were in such a + weakened condition that the captain durst not put off with them in so + heavy a vessel. After taking counsel with his officers, he anchored the + ship as far off shore as possible; loaded and ran out his two cannon + from the bows; stacked his muskets on the poop; and warning the + Islanders not to approach the ship at their peril, took one man with + him, and setting the sail of his best whale-boat, steered straight + before the wind for Tahiti, five hundred miles distant, to procure a + reinforcement to his crew. + + "On the fourth day of the sail, a large canoe was descried, which + seemed to have touched at a low isle of corals. He steered away from + it; but the savage craft bore down on him; and soon the voice of + Steelkilt hailed him to heave to, or he would run him under water. The + captain presented a pistol. With one foot on each prow of the yoked + war-canoes, the Lakeman laughed him to scorn; assuring him that if the + pistol so much as clicked in the lock, he would bury him in bubbles and + foam. + + "'What do you want of me?' cried the captain. + + "'Where are you bound? and for what are you bound?' demanded Steelkilt; + 'no lies.' + + "'I am bound to Tahiti for more men.' + + "'Very good. Let me board you a moment—I come in peace.' With that he + leaped from the canoe, swam to the boat; and climbing the gunwale, + stood face to face with the captain. + + "'Cross your arms, sir; throw back your head. Now, repeat after me. As + soon as Steelkilt leaves me, I swear to beach this boat on yonder + island, and remain there six days. If I do not, may lightning strike + me!' + + "'A pretty scholar,' laughed the Lakeman. 'Adios, Senor!' and leaping + into the sea, he swam back to his comrades. + + "Watching the boat till it was fairly beached, and drawn up to the + roots of the cocoa-nut trees, Steelkilt made sail again, and in due + time arrived at Tahiti, his own place of destination. There, luck + befriended him; two ships were about to sail for France, and were + providentially in want of precisely that number of men which the sailor + headed. They embarked, and so for ever got the start of their former + captain, had he been at all minded to work them legal retribution. + + "Some ten days after the French ships sailed, the whale-boat arrived, + and the captain was forced to enlist some of the more civilized + Tahitians, who had been somewhat used to the sea. Chartering a small + native schooner, he returned with them to his vessel; and finding all + right there, again resumed his cruisings. + + "Where Steelkilt now is, gentlemen, none know; but upon the island of + Nantucket, the widow of Radney still turns to the sea which refuses to + give up its dead; still in dreams sees the awful white whale that + destroyed him. + + "'Are you through?' said Don Sebastian, quietly. + + "'I am, Don.' + + "'Then I entreat you, tell me if to the best of your own convictions, + this your story is in substance really true? It is so passing + wonderful! Did you get it from an unquestionable source? Bear with me + if I seem to press.' + + "'Also bear with all of us, sir sailor; for we all join in + Don Sebastian's suit,' cried the company, with exceeding interest. + + "'Is there a copy of the Holy Evangelists in the Golden Inn, + gentlemen?' + + "'Nay,' said Don Sebastian; 'but I know a worthy priest near by, who + will quickly procure one for me. I go for it; but are you well advised? + this may grow too serious.' + + "'Will you be so good as to bring the priest also, Don?' + + "'Though there are no Auto-da-Fe's in Lima now,' said one of the + company to another; 'I fear our sailor friend runs risks of the + archiepiscopacy. Let us withdraw more out of the moonlight. I see no + need of this.' + + "'Excuse me for running after you, Don Sebastian; but may I also beg + that you will be particular in procuring the largest sized Evangelists + you can.' + + 'This is the priest, he brings you the Evangelists,' said Don + Sebastian, gravely, returning with a tall and solemn figure. + + "'Let me remove my hat. Now, venerable priest, further into the light, + and hold the Holy Book before me that I may touch it. + + "'So help me Heaven, and on my honor the story I have told ye, + gentlemen, is in substance and its great items, true. I know it to be + true; it happened on this ball; I trod the ship; I knew the crew; I + have seen and talked with Steelkilt since the death of Radney." + + + + + CHAPTER 55 + + + Of the Monstrous Pictures of Whales + + I shall ere long paint to you as well as one can without canvas, + something like the true form of the whale as he actually appears to the + eye of the whaleman when in his own absolute body the whale is moored + alongside the whaleship so that he can be fairly stepped upon there. It + may be worth while, therefore, previously to advert to those curious + imaginary portraits of him which even down to the present day + confidently challenge the faith of the landsman. It is time to set the + world right in this matter, by proving such pictures of the whale all + wrong. + + It may be that the primal source of all those pictorial delusions will + be found among the oldest Hindoo, Egyptian, and Grecian sculptures. For + ever since those inventive but unscrupulous times when on the marble + panellings of temples, the pedestals of statues, and on shields, + medallions, cups, and coins, the dolphin was drawn in scales of + chain-armor like Saladin's, and a helmeted head like St. George's; ever + since then has something of the same sort of license prevailed, not + only in most popular pictures of the whale, but in many scientific + presentations of him. + + Now, by all odds, the most ancient extant portrait anyways purporting + to be the whale's, is to be found in the famous cavern-pagoda of + Elephants, in India. The Brahmins maintain that in the almost endless + sculptures of that immemorial pagoda, all the trades and pursuits, + every conceivable avocation of man, were prefigured ages before any of + them actually came into being. No wonder then, that in some sort our + noble profession of whaling should have been there shadowed forth. The + Hindoo whale referred to, occurs in a separate department of the wall, + depicting the incarnation of Vishnu in the form of leviathan, learnedly + known as the Matse Avatar. But though this sculpture is half man and + half whale, so as only to give the tail of the latter, yet that small + section of him is all wrong. It looks more like the tapering tail of an + anaconda, than the broad palms of the true whale's majestic flukes. + + But go to the old Galleries, and look now at a great Christian + painter's portrait of this fish; for he succeeds no better than the + antediluvian Hindoo. It is Guido's picture of Perseus rescuing + Andromeda from the sea-monster or whale. Where did Guido get the model + of such a strange creature as that? Nor does Hogarth, in painting the + same scene in his own "Perseus Descending," make out one whit better. + The huge corpulence of that Hogarthian monster undulates on the + surface, scarcely drawing one inch of water. It has a sort of howdah on + its back, and its distended tusked mouth into which the billows are + rolling, might be taken for the Traitors' Gate leading from the Thames + by water into the Tower. Then, there are the Prodromus whales of the + old Scotch Sibbald, and Jonah's whale, as depicted in the prints of old + Bibles and the cuts of old primers. What shall be said of these? As for + the book-binder's whale winding like a vine-stalk round the stock of a + descending anchor— as stamped and gilded on the backs and titlepages of + many books both old and new—that is a very picturesque but purely + fabulous creature, imitated, I take it, from the like figures on + antique vases. Though universally denominated a dolphin, I nevertheless + call this book-binder's fish an attempt at a whale; because it was so + intended when the device was first introduced. It was introduced by an + old Italian publisher somewhere about the 15th century, during the + Revival of Learning; and in those days, and even down to a + comparatively late period, dolphins were popularly supposed to be a + species of the Leviathan. + + In the vignettes and other embellishments of some ancient books you + will at times meet with very curious touches at the whale, where all + manner of spouts, jets d'eau, hot springs and cold, Saratoga and + Baden-Baden, come bubbling up from his unexhausted brain. In the + title-page of the original edition of the "Advancement of Learning" you + will find some curious whales. + + But quitting all these unprofessional attempts, let us glance at those + pictures of leviathan purporting to be sober, scientific delineations, + by those who know. In old Harris's collection of voyages there are some + plates of whales extracted from a Dutch book of voyages, A.D. 1671, + entitled "A Whaling Voyage to Spitzbergen in the ship Jonas in the + Whale, Peter Peterson of Friesland, master." In one of those plates the + whales, like great rafts of logs, are represented lying among + ice-isles, with white bears running over their living backs. In another + plate, the prodigious blunder is made of representing the whale with + perpendicular flukes. + + Then again, there is an imposing quarto, written by one Captain + Colnett, a Post Captain in the English navy, entitled "A Voyage round + Cape Horn into the South Seas, for the purpose of extending the + Spermaceti Whale Fisheries." In this book is an outline purporting to + be a "Picture of a Physeter or Spermaceti whale, drawn by scale from + one killed on the coast of Mexico, August, 1793, and hoisted on deck." + I doubt not the captain had this veracious picture taken for the + benefit of his marines. To mention but one thing about it, let me say + that it has an eye which applied, according to the accompanying scale, + to a full grown sperm whale, would make the eye of that whale a + bow-window some five feet long. Ah, my gallant captain, why did ye not + give us Jonah looking out of that eye! + + Nor are the most conscientious compilations of Natural History for the + benefit of the young and tender, free from the same heinousness of + mistake. Look at that popular work "Goldsmith's Animated Nature." In + the abridged London edition of 1807, there are plates of an alleged + "whale" and a "narwhale." I do not wish to seem inelegant, but this + unsightly whale looks much like an amputated sow; and, as for the + narwhale, one glimpse at it is enough to amaze one, that in this + nineteenth century such a hippogriff could be palmed for genuine upon + any intelligent public of schoolboys. + + Then, again, in 1825, Bernard Germain, Count de Lacepede, a great + naturalist, published a scientific systemized whale book, wherein are + several pictures of the different species of the Leviathan. All these + are not only incorrect, but the picture of the Mysticetus or Greenland + whale (that is to say the Right whale), even Scoresby, a long + experienced man as touching that species, declares not to have its + counterpart in nature. + + But the placing of the cap-sheaf to all this blundering business was + reserved for the scientific Frederick Cuvier, brother to the famous + Baron. In 1836, he published a Natural History of Whales, in which he + gives what he calls a picture of the Sperm Whale. Before showing that + picture to any Nantucketer, you had best provide for your summary + retreat from Nantucket. In a word, Frederick Cuvier's Sperm Whale is + not a Sperm Whale, but a squash. Of course, he never had the benefit of + a whaling voyage (such men seldom have), but whence he derived that + picture, who can tell? Perhaps he got it as his scientific predecessor + in the same field, Desmarest, got one of his authentic abortions; that + is, from a Chinese drawing. And what sort of lively lads with the + pencil those Chinese are, many queer cups and saucers inform us. + + As for the sign-painters' whales seen in the streets hanging over the + shops of oil-dealers, what shall be said of them? They are generally + Richard III. whales, with dromedary humps, and very savage; + breakfasting on three or four sailor tarts, that is whaleboats full of + mariners: their deformities floundering in seas of blood and blue + paint. + + But these manifold mistakes in depicting the whale are not so very + surprising after all. Consider! Most of the scientific drawings have + been taken from the stranded fish; and these are about as correct as a + drawing of a wrecked ship, with broken back, would correctly represent + the noble animal itself in all its undashed pride of hull and spars. + Though elephants have stood for their full-lengths, the living + Leviathan has never yet fairly floated himself for his portrait. The + living whale, in his full majesty and significance, is only to be seen + at sea in unfathomable waters; and afloat the vast bulk of him is out + of sight, like a launched line-of-battle ship; and out of that element + it is a thing eternally impossible for mortal man to hoist him bodily + into the air, so as to preserve all his mighty swells and undulations. + And, not to speak of the highly presumable difference of contour + between a young suckling whale and a full-grown Platonian Leviathan; + yet, even in the case of one of those young sucking whales hoisted to a + ship's deck, such is then the outlandish, eel-like, limbered, varying + shape of him, that his precise expression the devil himself could not + catch. + + But it may be fancied, that from the naked skeleton of the stranded + whale, accurate hints may be derived touching his true form. Not at + all. For it is one of the more curious things about this Leviathan, + that his skeleton gives very little idea of his general shape. Though + Jeremy Bentham's skeleton, which hangs for candelabra in the library of + one of his executors, correctly conveys the idea of a burly-browed + utilitarian old gentleman, with all Jeremy's other leading personal + characteristics; yet nothing of this kind could be inferred from any + leviathan's articulated bones. In fact, as the great Hunter says, the + mere skeleton of the whale bears the same relation to the fully + invested and padded animal as the insect does to the chrysalis that so + roundingly envelopes it. This peculiarity is strikingly evinced in the + head, as in some part of this book will be incidentally shown. It is + also very curiously displayed in the side fin, the bones of which + almost exactly answer to the bones of the human hand, minus only the + thumb. This fin has four regular bone-fingers, the index, middle, ring, + and little finger. But all these are permanently lodged in their fleshy + covering, as the human fingers in an artificial covering. "However + recklessly the whale may sometimes serve us," said humorous Stubb one + day, "he can never be truly said to handle us without mittens." + + For all these reasons, then, any way you may look at it, you must needs + conclude that the great Leviathan is that one creature in the world + which must remain unpainted to the last. True, one portrait may hit the + mark much nearer than another, but none can hit it with any very + considerable degree of exactness. So there is no earthly way of finding + out precisely what the whale really looks like. And the only mode in + which you can derive even a tolerable idea of his living contour, is by + going a whaling yourself; but by so doing, you run no small risk of + being eternally stove and sunk by him. Wherefore, it seems to me you + had best not be too fastidious in your curiosity touching this + Leviathan. + + + + + CHAPTER 56 + + + Of the Less Erroneous Pictures of Whales and the True Pictures of + Whaling Scenes + + In connexion with the monstrous pictures of whales, I am strongly + tempted here to enter upon those still more monstrous stories of them + which are to be found in certain books, both ancient and modern, + especially in Pliny, Purchas, Hackluyt, Harris, Cuvier, &c. But I pass + that matter by. + + I know of only four published outlines of the great Sperm Whale; + Colnett's, Huggins's, Frederick Cuvier's, and Beale's. In the previous + chapter Colnett and Cuvier have been referred to. Huggins's is far + better than theirs; but, by great odds, Beale's is the best. All + Beale's drawings of this whale are good, excepting the middle figure in + the picture of three whales in various attitudes, capping his second + chapter. His frontispiece, boats attacking Sperm Whales, though no + doubt calculated to excite the civil scepticism of some parlor men, is + admirably correct and life-like in its general effect. Some of the + Sperm Whale drawings in J. Ross Browne are pretty correct in contour; + but they are wretchedly engraved. That is not his fault though. + + Of the Right Whale, the best outline pictures are in Scoresby; but they + are drawn on too small a scale to convey a desirable impression. He has + but one picture of whaling scenes, and this is a sad deficiency, + because it is by such pictures only, when at all well done, that you + can derive anything like a truthful idea of the living whale as seen by + his living hunters. + + But, taken for all in all, by far the finest, though in some details + not the most correct, presentations of whales and whaling scenes to be + anywhere found, are two large French engravings, well executed, and + taken from paintings by one Garnery. Respectively, they represent + attacks on the Sperm and Right Whale. In the first engraving a noble + Sperm Whale is depicted in full majesty of might, just risen beneath + the boat from the profundities of the ocean, and bearing high in the. + air upon his back the terrific wreck of the stoven planks. The prow of + the boat is partially unbroken, and is drawn just balancing upon the + monster's spine; and standing in that prow, for that one single + incomputable flash of time, you behold an oarsman, half shrouded by the + incensed boiling spout of the whale, and in the act of leaping, as if + from a precipice. The action of the whole thing is wonderfully good and + true. The half-emptied line-tub floats on the whitened sea; the wooden + poles of the spilled harpoons obliquely bob in it; the heads of the + swimming crew are scattered about the whale in contrasting expressions + of affright; while in the black stormy distance the ship is bearing + down upon the scene. Serious fault might be found with the anatomical + details of this whale, but let that pass; since, for the life of me, I + could not draw so good a one. + + In the second engraving, the boat is in the act of drawing alongside + the barnacled flank of a large running Right Whale, that rolls his + black weedy bulk in the sea like some mossy rock-slide from the + Patagonian cliffs. His jets are erect, full, and black like soot; so + that from so abounding a smoke in the chimney, you would think there + must be a brave supper cooking in the great bowels below. Sea fowls are + pecking at the small crabs, shell-fish, and other sea candies and + maccaroni, which the Right Whale sometimes carries on his pestilent + back. And all the while the thick-lipped leviathan is rushing through + the deep, leaving tons of tumultuous white curds in his wake, and + causing the slight boat to rock in the swells like a skiff caught nigh + the paddle-wheels of an ocean steamer. Thus, the fore-ground is all + raging commotion; but behind, in admirable artistic contrast, is the + glassy level of a sea becalmed, the drooping unstarched sails of the + powerless ship, and the inert mass of a dead whale, a conquered + fortress, with the flag of capture lazily hanging from the whale-pole + inserted into his spout-hole. + + Who Garnery the painter is, or was, I know not. But my life for it he + was either practically conversant with his subject, or else + marvellously tutored by some experienced whaleman. The French are the + lads for painting action. Go and gaze upon all the paintings in Europe, + and where will you find such a gallery of living and breathing + commotion on canvas, as in that triumphal hall at Versailles; where the + beholder fights his way, pell-mell, through the consecutive great + battles of France; where every sword seems a flash of the Northern + Lights, and the successive armed kings and Emperors dash by, like a + charge of crowned centaurs? Not wholly unworthy of a place in that + gallery, are these sea battle-pieces of Garnery. + + 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. With not one tenth of England's + experience in the fishery, and not the thousandth part of that of the + Americans, they have nevertheless furnished both nations with the only + finished sketches at all capable of conveying the real spirit of the + whale hunt. For the most part, the English and American whale + draughtsmen seem entirely content with presenting the mechanical + outline of things, such as the vacant profile of the whale; which, so + far as picturesqueness of effect is concerned, is about tantamount to + sketching the profile of a pyramid. Even Scoresby, the justly renowned + Right whaleman, after giving us a stiff full length of the Greenland + whale, and three or four delicate miniatures of narwhales and + porpoises, treats us to a series of classical engravings of boat hooks, + chopping knives, and grapnels; 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. I mean no disparagement + to the excellent voyager (I honor him for a veteran), 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. + + In addition to those fine engravings from Garnery, there are two other + French engravings worthy of note, by some one who subscribes himself + "H. Durand." One of them, though not precisely adapted to our present + purpose, nevertheless deserves mention on other accounts. It is a quiet + noon-scene among the isles of the Pacific; a French whaler anchored, + inshore, in a calm, and lazily taking water on board; the loosened + sails of the ship, and the long leaves of the palms in the background, + both drooping together in the breezeless air. The effect is very fine, + when considered with reference to its presenting the hardy fishermen + under one of their few aspects of oriental repose. The other engraving + is quite a different affair: the ship hove-to upon the open sea, and in + the very heart of the Leviathanic life, with a Right Whale alongside; + the vessel (in the act of cutting-in) hove over to the monster as if to + a quay; and a boat, hurriedly pushing off from this scene of activity, + is about giving chase to whales in the distance. The harpoons and + lances lie levelled for use; three oarsmen are just setting the mast in + its hole; while from a sudden roll of the sea, the little craft stands + half-erect out of the water, like a rearing horse. From the ship, the + smoke of the torments of the boiling whale is going up like the smoke + over a village of smithies; and to windward, a black cloud, rising up + with earnest of squalls and rains, seems to quicken the activity of the + excited seamen. + + + + + CHAPTER 57 + + + Of Whales in Paint; in Teeth; in Wood; in Sheet-Iron; in Stone; in + Mountains; in Stars + + On Tower-hill, as you go down to the London docks, you may have seen a + crippled beggar (or kedger, as the sailors say) holding a painted board + before him, representing the tragic scene in which he lost his leg. + There are three whales and three boats; and one of the boats (presumed + to contain the missing leg in all its original integrity) is being + crunched by the jaws of the foremost whale. Any time these ten years, + they tell me, has that man held up that picture, and exhibited that + stump to an incredulous world. But the time of his justification has + now come. His three whales are as good whales as were ever published in + Wapping, at any rate; and his stump as unquestionable a stump as any + you will find in the western clearings. But, though for ever mounted on + that stump, never a stump-speech does the poor whaleman make; but, with + downcast eyes, stands ruefully contemplating his own amputation. + + Throughout the Pacific, and also in Nantucket, and New Bedford, and Sag + Harbor, you will come across lively sketches of whales and + whaling-scenes, graven by the fishermen themselves on Sperm + Whale-teeth, or ladies' busks wrought out of the Right Whale-bone, and + other like skrimshander articles, as the whalemen call the numerous + little ingenious contrivances they elaborately carve out of the rough + material, in their hours of ocean leisure. Some of them have little + boxes of dentistical-looking implements, specially intended for the + skrimshandering business. But, in general, they toil with their + jack-knives alone; and, with that almost omnipotent tool of the sailor, + they will turn you out anything you please, in the way of a mariner's + fancy. + + Long exile from Christendom and civilization inevitably restores a man + to that condition in which God placed him, i.e. what is called + savagery. Your true whale-hunter is as much a savage as an Iroquois. I + myself am a savage, owning no allegiance but to the King of the + Cannibals; and ready at any moment to rebel against him. + + Now, one of the peculiar characteristics of the savage in his domestic + hours, is his wonderful patience of industry. An ancient Hawaiian + war-club or spear-paddle, in its full multiplicity and elaboration of + carving, is as great a trophy of human perseverance as a Latin lexicon. + For, with but a bit of broken sea-shell or a shark's tooth, that + miraculous intricacy of wooden net-work has been achieved; and it has + cost steady years of steady application. + + As with the Hawaiian savage, so with the white sailor-savage. With the + same marvellous patience, and with the same single shark's tooth, of + his one poor jack-knife, he will carve you a bit of bone sculpture, not + quite as workmanlike, but as close packed in its maziness of design, as + the Greek savage, Achilles's shield; and full of barbaric spirit and + suggestiveness, as the prints of that fine old Dutch savage, Albert + Durer. + + Wooden whales, or whales cut in profile out of the small dark slabs of + the noble South Sea war-wood, are frequently met with in the + forecastles of American whalers. Some of them are done with much + accuracy. + + At some old gable-roofed country houses you will see brass whales hung + by the tail for knockers to the road-side door. When the porter is + sleepy, the anvil-headed whale would be best. But these knocking whales + are seldom remarkable as faithful essays. On the spires of some + old-fashioned churches you will see sheet-iron whales placed there for + weathercocks; but they are so elevated, and besides that are to all + intents and purposes so labelled with "Hands off!" you cannot examine + them closely enough to decide upon their merit. + + In bony, ribby regions of the earth, where at the base of high broken + cliffs masses of rock lie strewn in fantastic groupings upon the plain, + you will often discover images as of the petrified forms of the + Leviathan partly merged in grass, which of a windy day breaks against + them in a surf of green surges. + + Then, again, in mountainous countries where the traveller is + continually girdled by amphitheatrical heights; here and there from + some lucky point of view you will catch passing glimpses of the + profiles of whales defined along the undulating ridges. But you must be + a thorough whaleman, to see these sights; and not only that, but if you + wish to return to such a sight again, you must be sure and take the + exact intersecting latitude and longitude of your first stand-point, + else so chance-like are such observations of the hills, that your + precise, previous stand-point would require a laborious re-discovery; + like the Solomon islands, which still remain incognita, though once + high-ruffed Mendanna trod them and old Figuera chronicled them. + + Nor when expandingly lifted by your subject, can you fail to trace out + great whales in the starry heavens, and boats in pursuit of them; as + when long filled with thoughts of war the Eastern nations saw armies + locked in battle among the clouds. Thus at the North have I chased + Leviathan round and round the Pole with the revolutions of the bright + points that first defined him to me. And beneath the effulgent + Antarctic skies I have boarded the Argo-Navis, and joined the chase + against the starry Cetus far beyond the utmost stretch of Hydrus and + the Flying Fish. + + With a frigate's anchors for my bridle-bitts and fasces of harpoons for + spurs, would I could mount that whale and leap the topmost skies, to + see whether the fabled heavens with all their countless tents really + lie encamped beyond my mortal sight! + + + + + CHAPTER 58 + + + Brit + + Steering north-eastward from the Crozetts, we fell in with vast meadows + of brit, the minute, yellow substance, upon which the Right Whale + largely feeds. For leagues and leagues it undulated round us, so that + we seemed to be sailing through boundless fields of ripe and golden + wheat. + + On the second day, numbers of Right Whales were seen, who, secure from + the attack of a Sperm-Whaler like the Pequod, with open jaws sluggishly + swam through the brit, which, adhering to the fringing fibres of that + wondrous Venetian blind in their mouths, was in that manner separated + from the water that escaped at the lips. + + As morning mowers, who side by side slowly and seethingly advance their + scythes through the long wet grass of marshy meads; even so these + monsters swam, making a strange, grassy, cutting sound; and leaving + behind them endless swaths of blue upon the yellow sea.* + + *That part of the sea known among whalemen as the "Brazil Banks" does + not bear that name as the Banks of Newfoundland do, because of there + being shallows and soundings there, but because of this remarkable + meadow-like appearance, caused by the vast drifts of brit continually + floating in those latitudes, where the Right Whale is often chased. + + But it was only the sound they made as they parted the brit which at + all reminded one of mowers. Seen from the mast-heads, especially when + they paused and were stationary for a while, their vast black forms + looked more like lifeless masses of rock than anything else. And as in + the great hunting countries of India, the stranger at a distance will + sometimes pass on the plains recumbent elephants without knowing them + to be such, taking them for bare, blackened elevations of the soil; + even so, often, with him, who for the first time beholds this species + of the leviathans of the sea. And even when recognized at last, their + immense magnitude renders it very hard really to believe that such + bulky masses of overgrowth can possibly be instinct, in all parts, with + the same sort of life that lives in a dog or a horse. + + Indeed. in other respects, you can hardly regard any creatures of the + deep with the same feelings that you do those of the shore. For though + some old naturalists have maintained that all creatures of the land are + of their kind in the sea; and though taking a broad general view of the + thing, this may very well be; yet coming to specialties, where, for + example, does the ocean furnish any fish that in disposition answers to + the sagacious kindness of the dog? The accursed shark alone can in any + generic respect be said to bear comparative analogy to him. + + But though, to landsmen in general, the native inhabitants of the seas + have ever been regarded with emotions unspeakably unsocial and + repelling; though we know the sea to be an everlasting terra incognita, + so that Columbus sailed over numberless unknown worlds to discover his + one superficial western one; though, by vast odds, the most terrific of + all mortal disasters have immemorially and indiscriminately befallen + tens and hundreds of thousands of those who have gone upon the waters; + though but a moment's consideration will teach that, however baby man + may brag of his science and skill, and however much, in a flattering + future, that science and skill may augment; yet for ever and for ever, + to the crack of doom, the sea will insult and murder him, and pulverize + the stateliest, stiffest frigate he can make; nevertheless, by the + continual repetition of these very impressions, man has lost that sense + of the full awfulness of the sea which aboriginally belongs to it. + + The first boat we read of, floated on an ocean, that with Portuguese + vengeance had whelmed a whole world without leaving so much as a widow. + That same ocean rolls now; that same ocean destroyed the wrecked ships + of last year. Yea, foolish mortals, Noah's flood is not yet subsided; + two thirds of the fair world it yet covers. + + Wherein differ the sea and the land, that a miracle upon one is not a + miracle upon the other? Preternatural terrors rested upon the Hebrews, + when under the feet of Korah and his company the live ground opened and + swallowed them up for ever; yet not a modern sun ever sets, but in + precisely the same manner the live sea swallows up ships and crews. + + But not only is the sea such a foe to man who is an alien to it, but it + is also a fiend to its own off-spring; worse than the Persian host who + murdered his own guests; sparing not the creatures which itself hath + spawned. Like a savage tigress that tossing in the jungle overlays her + own cubs, so the sea dashes even the mightiest whales against the + rocks, and leaves them there side by side with the split wrecks of + ships. No mercy, no power but its own controls it. Panting and snorting + like a mad battle steed that has lost its rider, the masterless ocean + overruns the globe. + + Consider the subtleness of the sea; how its most dreaded creatures + glide under water, unapparent for the most part, and treacherously + hidden beneath the loveliest tints of azure. Consider also the devilish + brilliance and beauty of many of its most remorseless tribes, as the + dainty embellished shape of many species of sharks. Consider once more, + the universal cannibalism of the sea; all whose creatures prey upon + each other, carrying on eternal war since the world began. + + Consider all this; and then turn to this green, gentle, and most docile + earth; consider them both, the sea and the land; and do you not find a + strange analogy to something in yourself? For as this appalling ocean + surrounds the verdant land, so in the soul of man there lies one + insular Tahiti, full of peace and joy, but encompassed by all the + horrors of the half known life. God keep thee! Push not off from that + isle, thou canst never return! + + + + + CHAPTER 59 + + + Squid + + Slowly wading through the meadows of brit, the Pequod still held on her + way north-eastward towards the island of Java; a gentle air impelling + her keel, so that in the surrounding serenity her three tall tapering + masts mildly waved to that languid breeze, as three mild palms on a + plain. And still, at wide intervals in the silvery night, the lonely, + alluring jet would be seen. + + But one transparent blue morning, when a stillness almost preternatural + spread over the sea, however unattended with any stagnant calm; when + the long burnished sun-glade on the waters seemed a golden finger laid + across them, enjoining some secrecy; when the slippered waves whispered + together as they softly ran on; in this profound hush of the visible + sphere a strange spectre was seen by Daggoo from the main-mast-head. + + In the distance, a great white mass lazily rose, and rising higher and + higher, and disentangling itself from the azure, at last gleamed before + our prow like a snow-slide, new slid from the hills. Thus glistening + for a moment, as slowly it subsided, and sank. Then once more arose, + and silently gleamed. It seemed not a whale; and yet is this Moby Dick? + thought Daggoo. Again the phantom went down, but on re-appearing once + more, with a stiletto-like cry that startled every man from his nod, + the negro yelled out—"There! there again! there she breaches! right + ahead! The White Whale, the White Whale!" + + Upon this, the seamen rushed to the yard-arms, as in swarming-time the + bees rush to the boughs. Bare-headed in the sultry sun, Ahab stood on + the bowsprit, and with one hand pushed far behind in readiness to wave + his orders to the helmsman, cast his eager glance in the direction + indicated aloft by the outstretched motionless arm of Daggoo. + + Whether the flitting attendance of the one still and solitary jet had + gradually worked upon Ahab, so that he was now prepared to connect the + ideas of mildness and repose with the first sight of the particular + whale he pursued; however this was, or whether his eagerness betrayed + him; whichever way it might have been, no sooner did he distinctly + perceive the white mass, than with a quick intensity he instantly gave + orders for lowering. + + The four boats were soon on the water; Ahab's in advance, and all + swiftly pulling towards their prey. Soon it went down, and while, with + oars suspended, we were awaiting its reappearance, lo! in the same spot + where it sank, once more it slowly rose. Almost forgetting for the + moment all thoughts of Moby Dick, we now gazed at the most wondrous + phenomenon which the secret seas have hitherto revealed to mankind. A + vast pulpy mass, furlongs in length and breadth, of a glancing + cream-color, lay floating on the water, innumerable long arms radiating + from its centre, and curling and twisting like a nest of anacondas, as + if blindly to clutch at any hapless object within reach. No perceptible + face or front did it have; no conceivable token of either sensation or + instinct; but undulated there on the billows, an unearthly, formless, + chance-like apparition of life. + + As with a low sucking sound it slowly disappeared again, Starbuck still + gazing at the agitated waters where it had sunk, with a wild voice + exclaimed—"Almost rather had I seen Moby Dick and fought him, than to + have seen thee, thou white ghost!" + + "What was it, Sir?" said Flask. + + "The great live squid, which, they say, few whale-ships ever beheld, + and returned to their ports to tell of it." + + But Ahab said nothing; turning his boat, he sailed back to the vessel; + the rest as silently following. + + Whatever superstitions the sperm whalemen in general have connected + with the sight of this object, certain it is, that a glimpse of it + being so very unusual, that circumstance has gone far to invest it with + portentousness. So rarely is it beheld, that though one and all of them + declare it to be the largest animated thing in the ocean, yet very few + of them have any but the most vague ideas concerning its true nature + and form; notwithstanding, they believe it to furnish to the sperm + whale his only food. For though other species of whales find their food + above water, and may be seen by man in the act of feeding, the + spermaceti whale obtains his whole food in unknown zones below the + surface; and only by inference is it that any one can tell of what, + precisely, that food consists. At times, when closely pursued, he will + disgorge what are supposed to be the detached arms of the squid; some + of them thus exhibited exceeding twenty and thirty feet in length. They + fancy that the monster to which these arms belonged ordinarily clings + by them to the bed of the ocean; and that the sperm whale, unlike other + species, is supplied with teeth in order to attack and tear it. + + There seems some ground to imagine that the great Kraken of Bishop + Pontoppodan may ultimately resolve itself into Squid. The manner in + which the Bishop describes it, as alternately rising and sinking, with + some other particulars he narrates, in all this the two correspond. But + much abatement is necessary with respect to the incredible bulk he + assigns it. + + By some naturalists who have vaguely heard rumors of the mysterious + creature, here spoken of, it is included among the class of + cuttle-fish, to which, indeed, in certain external respects it would + seem to belong, but only as the Anak of the tribe. + + + + + CHAPTER 60 + + + The Line + + With reference to the whaling scene shortly to be described, as well as + for the better understanding of all similar scenes elsewhere presented, + I have here to speak of the magical, sometimes horrible whale-line. + + The line originally used in the fishery was of the best hemp, slightly + vapored with tar, not impregnated with it, as in the case of ordinary + ropes; for while tar, as ordinarily used, makes the hemp more pliable + to the rope-maker, and also renders the rope itself more convenient to + the sailor for common ship use; yet, not only would the ordinary + quantity too much stiffen the whale-line for the close coiling to which + it must be subjected; but as most seamen are beginning to learn, tar in + general by no means adds to the rope's durability or strength, however + much it may give it compactness and gloss. + + Of late years the Manilla rope has in the American fishery almost + entirely superseded hemp as a material for whale-lines; for, though not + so durable as hemp, it is stronger, and far more soft and elastic; and + I will add (since there is an aesthetics in all things), is much more + handsome and becoming to the boat, than hemp. Hemp is a dusky, dark + fellow, a sort of Indian; but Manilla is as a golden-haired Circassian + to behold. + + The whale-line is only two thirds of an inch in thickness. At first + sight, you would not think it so strong as it really is. By experiment + its one and fifty yarns will each suspend a weight of one hundred and + twenty pounds; so that the whole rope will bear a strain nearly equal + to three tons. In length, the common sperm whale-line measures + something over two hundred fathoms. Towards the stern of the boat it is + spirally coiled away in the tub, not like the worm-pipe of a still + though, but so as to form one round, cheese-shaped mass of densely + bedded "sheaves," or layers of concentric spiralizations, without any + hollow but the "heart," or minute vertical tube formed at the axis of + the cheese. As the least tangle or kink in the coiling would, in + running out, infallibly take somebody's arm, leg, or entire body off, + the utmost precaution is used in stowing the line in its tub. Some + harpooneers will consume almost an entire morning in this business, + carrying the line high aloft and then reeving it downwards through a + block towards the tub, so as in the act of coiling to free it from all + possible wrinkles and twists. + + In the English boats two tubs are used instead of one; the same line + being continuously coiled in both tubs. There is some advantage in + this; because these twin-tubs being so small they fit more readily into + the boat, and do not strain it so much; whereas, the American tub, + nearly three feet in diameter and of proportionate depth, makes a + rather bulky freight for a craft whose planks are but one-half inch in + thickness; for the bottom of the whale-boat is like critical ice, which + will bear up a considerable distributed weight, but not very much of a + concentrated one. When the painted canvas cover is clapped on the + american line-tub, the boat looks as if it were pulling off with a + prodigious great wedding-cake to present to the whales. + + Both ends of the line are exposed; the lower end terminating in an + eye-splice or loop coming up from the bottom against the side of the + tub, and hanging over its edge completely disengaged from everything. + This arrangement of the lower end is necessary on two accounts. First: + In order to facilitate the fastening to it of an additional line from a + neighboring boat, in case the stricken whale should sound so deep as to + threaten to carry off the entire line originally attached to the + harpoon. In these instances, the whale of course is shifted like a mug + of ale, as it were, from the one boat to the other; though the first + boat always hovers at hand to assist its consort. Second: This + arrangement is indispensable for common safety's sake; for were the + lower end of the line in any way attached to the boat, and were the + whale then to run the line out to the end almost in a single, smoking + minute as he sometimes does, he would not stop there, for the doomed + boat would infallibly be dragged down after him into the profundity of + the sea; and in that case no town-crier would ever find her again. + + Before lowering the boat for the chase, the upper end of the line is + taken aft from the tub, and passing round the loggerhead there, is + again carried forward the entire length of the boat, resting crosswise + upon the loom or handle of every man's oar, so that it jogs against his + wrist in rowing; and also passing between the men, as they alternately + sit at the opposite gunwales, to the leaded chocks or grooves in the + extreme pointed prow of the boat, where a wooden pin or skewer the size + of a common quill, prevents it from slipping out. From the chocks it + hangs in a slight festoon over the bows, and is then passed inside the + boat again; and some ten or twenty fathoms (called box-line) being + coiled upon the box in the bows, it continues its way to the gunwale + still a little further aft, and is then attached to the short-warp— the + rope which is immediately connected with the harpoon; but previous to + that connexion, the short-warp goes through sundry mystifications too + tedious to detail. + + Thus the whale-line folds the whole boat in its complicated coils, + twisting and writhing around it in almost every direction. All the + oarsmen are involved in its perilous contortions; so that to the timid + eye of the landsman, they seem as Indian jugglers, with the deadliest + snakes sportively festooning their limbs. Nor can any son of mortal + woman, for the first time, seat himself amid those hempen intricacies, + and while straining his utmost at the oar, bethink him that at any + unknown instant the harpoon may be darted, and all these horrible + contortions be put in play like ringed lightnings; he cannot be thus + circumstanced without a shudder that makes the very marrow in his bones + to quiver in him like a shaken jelly. Yet habit—strange thing! what + cannot habit accomplish?—Gayer sallies, more merry mirth, better jokes, + and brighter repartees, you never heard over your mahogany, than you + will hear over the half-inch white cedar of the whaleboat, when thus + hung in hangman's nooses; and, like the six burghers of Calais before + King Edward, the six men composing the crew pull into the jaws of + death, with a halter around every neck, as you may say. + + Perhaps a very little thought will now enable you to account for those + repeated whaling disasters—some few of which are casually chronicled—of + this man or that man being taken out of the boat by the line, and lost. + For, when the line is darting out, to be seated then in the boat, is + like being seated in the midst of the manifold whizzings of a + steam-engine in full play, when every flying beam, and shaft, and + wheel, is grazing you. It is worse; for you cannot sit motionless in + the heart of these perils, because the boat is rocking like a cradle, + and you are pitched one way and the other, without the slightest + warning; and only by a certain self-adjusting buoyancy and + simultaneousness of volition and action, can you escape being made a + Mazeppa of, and run away with where the all-seeing sun himself could + never pierce you out. + + Again: as the profound calm which only apparently precedes and + prophesies of the storm, is perhaps more awful than the storm itself; + for, indeed, the calm is but the wrapper and envelope of the storm; and + contains it in itself, as the seemingly harmless rifle holds the fatal + powder, and the ball, and the explosion; so the graceful repose of the + line, as it silently serpentines about the oarsmen before being brought + into actual play— this is a thing which carries more of true terror + than any other aspect of this dangerous affair. But why say more? All + men live enveloped in whale-lines. All are born with halters round + their necks; but it is only when caught in the swift, sudden turn of + death, that mortals realize the silent, subtle, everpresent perils of + life. And if you be a philosopher, though seated in the whale-boat, you + would not at heart feel one whit more of terror, than though seated + before your evening fire with a poker, and not a harpoon, by your side. + + + + + CHAPTER 61 + + + Stubb Kills a Whale + + If to Starbuck the apparition of the Squid was a thing of portents, to + Queequeg it was quite a different object. + + "When you see him 'quid," said the savage, honing his harpoon in the + bow of his hoisted boat, "then you quick see him 'parm whale." + + The next day was exceedingly still and sultry, and with nothing special + to engage them, the Pequod's crew could hardly resist the spell of + sleep induced by such a vacant sea. For this part of the Indian Ocean + through which we then were voyaging is not what whalemen call a lively + ground; that is, it affords fewer glimpses of porpoises, dolphins, + flying-fish, and other vivacious denizens of more stirring waters, than + those off the Rio de la Plata, or the in-shore ground off Peru. + + It was my turn to stand at the foremast-head; and with my shoulders + leaning against the slackened royal shrouds, to and fro I idly swayed + in what seemed an enchanted air. No resolution could withstand it; in + that dreamy mood losing all consciousness, at last my soul went out of + my body; though my body still continued to sway as a pendulum will, + long after the power which first moved it is withdrawn. + + Ere forgetfulness altogether came over me, I had noticed that the + seamen at the main and mizzen mast-heads were already drowsy. So that + at last all three of us lifelessly swung from the spars, and for every + swing that we made there was a nod from below from the slumbering + helmsman. The waves, too, nodded their indolent crests; and across the + wide trance of the sea, east nodded to west, and the sun over all. + + Suddenly bubbles seemed bursting beneath my closed eyes; like vices my + hands grasped the shrouds; some invisible, gracious agency preserved + me; with a shock I came back to life. And lo! close under our lee, not + forty fathoms off, a gigantic Sperm Whale lay rolling in the water like + the capsized hull of a frigate, his broad, glossy back, of an Ethiopian + hue, glistening in the sun's rays like a mirror. But lazily undulating + in the trough of the sea, and ever and anon tranquilly spouting his + vapory jet, the whale looked like a portly burgher smoking his pipe of + a warm afternoon. But that pipe, poor whale, was thy last. As if struck + by some enchanter's wand, the sleepy ship and every sleeper in it all + at once started into wakefulness; and more than a score of voices from + all parts of the vessel, simultaneously with the three notes from + aloft, shouted forth the accustomed cry, as the great fish slowly and + regularly spouted the sparkling brine into the air. + + "Clear away the boats! Luff!" cried Ahab. And obeying his own order, he + dashed the helm down before the helmsman could handle the spokes. + + The sudden exclamations of the crew must have alarmed the whale; and + ere the boats were down, majestically turning, he swam away to the + leeward, but with such a steady tranquillity, and making so few ripples + as he swam, that thinking after all he might not as yet be alarmed, + Ahab gave orders that not an oar should be used, and no man must speak + but in whispers. So seated like Ontario Indians on the gunwales of the + boats, we swiftly but silently paddled along; the calm not admitting of + the noiseless sails being set. Presently, as we thus glided in chase, + the monster perpendicularly flitted his tail forty feet into the air, + and then sank out of sight like a tower swallowed up. + + "There go flukes!" was the cry, an announcement immediately followed by + Stubb's producing his match and igniting his pipe, for now a respite + was granted. After the full interval of his sounding had elapsed, the + whale rose again, and being now in advance of the smoker's boat, and + much nearer to it than to any of the others, Stubb counted upon the + honor of the capture. It was obvious, now, that the whale had at length + become aware of his pursuers. All silence of cautiousness was therefore + no longer of use. Paddles were dropped, and oars came loudly into play. + And still puffing at his pipe, Stubb cheered on his crew to the + assault. + + Yes, a mighty change had come over the fish. All alive to his jeopardy, + he was going "head out"; that part obliquely projecting from the mad + yeast which he brewed.* + + *It will be seen in some other place of what a very light substance the + entire interior of the sperm whale's enormous head consists. Though + apparently the most massive, it is by far the most buoyant part about + him. So that with ease he elevates it in the air, and invariably does + so when going at his utmost speed. Besides, such is the breadth of the + upper part of the front of his head, and such the tapering cut-water + formation of the lower part, that by obliquely elevating his head, he + thereby may be said to transform himself from a bluff-bowed sluggish + galliot into a sharppointed New York pilot-boat. + + "Start her, start her, my men! Don't hurry yourselves; take plenty of + time—but start her; start her like thunder-claps, that's all," cried + Stubb, spluttering out the smoke as he spoke. "Start her, now; give 'em + the long and strong stroke, Tashtego. Start her, Tash, my boy— start + her, all; but keep cool, keep cool—cucumbers is the word— easy, + easy—only start her like grim death and grinning devils, and raise the + buried dead perpendicular out of their graves, boys— that's all. Start + her!" + + "Woo-hoo! Wa-hee!" screamed the Gay-Header in reply, raising some old + war-whoop to the skies; as every oarsman in the strained boat + involuntarily bounced forward with the one tremendous leading stroke + which the eager Indian gave. + + But his wild screams were answered by others quite as wild. "Kee-hee! + Kee-hee!" yelled Daggoo, straining forwards and backwards on his seat, + like a pacing tiger in his cage. + + "Ka-la! Koo-loo!" howled Queequeg, as if smacking his lips over a + mouthful of Grenadier's steak. And thus with oars and yells the keels + cut the sea. Meanwhile, Stubb, retaining his place in the van, still + encouraged his men to the onset, all the while puffing the smoke from + his mouth. Like desperadoes they tugged and they strained, till the + welcome cry was heard—"Stand up, Tashtego!—give it to him!" The harpoon + was hurled. "Stern all!" The oarsmen backed water; the same moment + something went hot and hissing along every one of their wrists. It was + the magical line. An instant before, Stubb had swiftly caught two + additional turns with it round the loggerhead, whence, by reason of its + increased rapid circlings, a hempen blue smoke now jetted up and + mingled with the steady fumes from his pipe. As the line passed round + and round the loggerhead; so also, just before reaching that point, it + blisteringly passed through and through both of Stubb's hands, from + which the hand-cloths, or squares of quilted canvas sometimes worn at + these times, had accidentally dropped. It was like holding an enemy's + sharp two-edged sword by the blade, and that enemy all the time + striving to wrest it out of your clutch. + + "Wet the line! wet the line!" cried Stubb to the tub oarsman (him + seated by the tub) who, snatching off his hat, dashed the sea-water + into it.* More turns were taken, so that the line began holding its + place. The boat now flew through the boiling water like a shark all + fins. Stubb and Tashtego here changed places—stem for stern—a + staggering business truly in that rocking commotion. + + *Partly to show the indispensableness of this act, it may here be + stated, that, in the old Dutch fishery, a mop was used to dash the + running line with water; in many other ships, a wooden piggin, or + bailer, is set apart for that purpose. Your hat, however, is the most + convenient. + + From the vibrating line extending the entire length of the upper part + of the boat, and from its now being more tight than a harpstring, you + would have thought the craft had two keels—one cleaving the water, the + other the air—as the boat churned on through both opposing elements at + once. A continual cascade played at the bows; a ceaseless whirling eddy + in her wake; and, at the slightest motion from within, even but of a + little finger, the vibrating, cracking craft canted over her spasmodic + gunwale into the sea. Thus they rushed; each man with might and main + clinging to his seat, to prevent being tossed to the foam; and the tall + form of Tashtego at the steering oar crouching almost double, in order + to bring down his centre of gravity. Whole Atlantics and Pacifics + seemed passed as they shot on their way, till at length the whale + somewhat slackened his flight. + + "Haul in—haul in!" cried Stubb to the bowsman! and, facing round + towards the whale, all hands began pulling the boat up to him, while + yet the boat was being towed on. Soon ranging up by his flank, Stubb, + firmly planting his knee in the clumsy cleat, darted dart after dart + into the flying fish; at the word of command, the boat alternately + sterning out of the way of the whale's horrible wallow, and then + ranging up for another fling. + + The red tide now poured from all sides of the monster like brooks down + a hill. His tormented body rolled not in brine but in blood, which + bubbled and seethed for furlongs behind in their wake. The slanting sun + playing upon this crimson pond in the sea, sent back its reflection + into every face, so that they all glowed to each other like red men. + And all the while, jet after jet of white smoke was agonizingly shot + from the spiracle of the whale, and vehement puff after puff from the + mouth of the excited headsman; as at every dart, hauling in upon his + crooked lance (by the line attached to it), Stubb straightened it again + and again, by a few rapid blows against the gunwale, then again and + again sent it into the whale. + + "Pull up—pull up!" he now cried to the bowsman, as the waning whale + relaxed in his wrath. "Pull up!—close to!" and the boat ranged along + the fish's flank. When reaching far over the bow, Stubb slowly churned + his long sharp lance into the fish, and kept it there, carefully + churning and churning, as if cautiously seeking to feel after some gold + watch that the whale might have swallowed, and which he was fearful of + breaking ere he could hook it out. But that gold watch he sought was + the innermost life of the fish. And now it is struck; for, starting + from his trance into that unspeakable thing called his "flurry," the + monster horribly wallowed in his blood, overwrapped himself in + impenetrable, mad, boiling spray, so that the imperilled craft, + instantly dropping astern, had much ado blindly to struggle out from + that phrensied twilight into the clear air of the day. + + And now abating in his flurry, the whale once more rolled out into + view! surging from side to side; spasmodically dilating and contracting + his spout-hole, with sharp, cracking, agonized respirations. At last, + gush after gush of clotted red gore, as if it had been the purple lees + of red wine, shot into the frightened air; and falling back again, ran + dripping down his motionless flanks into the sea. His heart had burst! + + "He's dead, Mr. Stubb," said Daggoo. + + "Yes; both pipes smoked out!" and withdrawing his own from his mouth, + Stubb scattered the dead ashes over the water; and, for a moment, stood + thoughtfully eyeing the vast corpse he had made. + + + + + CHAPTER 62 + + + The Dart + + A word concerning an incident in the last chapter. + + According to the invariable usage of the fishery, the whale-boat pushes + off from the ship, with the headsman or whale-killer as temporary + steersman, and the harpooneer or whale-fastener pulling the foremost + oar, the one known as the harpooneer-oar. Now it needs a strong, + nervous arm to strike the first iron into the fish; for often, in what + is called a long dart, the heavy implement has to be flung to the + distance of twenty or thirty feet. But however prolonged and exhausting + the chase, the harpooneer is expected to pull his oar meanwhile to the + uttermost; indeed, he is expected to set an example of superhuman + activity to the rest, not only by incredible rowing, but by repeated + loud and intrepid exclamations; and what it is to keep shouting at the + top of one's compass, while all the other muscles are strained and half + started— what that is none know but those who have tried it. For one, I + cannot bawl very heartily and work very recklessly at one and the same + time. In this straining, bawling state, then, with his back to the + fish, all at once the exhausted harpooneer hears the exciting + cry—"Stand up, and give it to him!" He now has to drop and secure his + oar, turn round on his centre half way, seize his harpoon from the + crotch, and with what little strength may remain, he essays to pitch it + somehow into the whale. No wonder, taking the whole fleet of whalemen + in a body, that out of fifty fair chances for a dart, not five are + successful; no wonder that so many hapless harpooneers are madly cursed + and disrated; no wonder that some of them actually burst their + blood-vessels in the boat; no wonder that some sperm whalemen are + absent four years with four barrels; no wonder that to many ship + owners, whaling is but a losing concern; for it is the harpooneer that + makes the voyage, and if you take the breath out of his body how can + you expect to find it there when most wanted! + + Again, if the dart be successful, then at the second critical instant, + that is, when the whale starts to run, the boatheader and harpooneer + likewise start to running fore and aft, to the imminent jeopardy of + themselves and every one else. It is then they change places; and the + headsman, the chief officer of the little craft, takes his proper + station in the bows of the boat. + + Now, I care not who maintains the contrary, but all this is both + foolish and unnecessary. The headsman should stay in the bows from + first to last; he should both dart the harpoon and the lance, and no + rowing whatever should be expected of him, except under circumstances + obvious to any fisherman. I know that this would sometimes involve a + slight loss of speed in the chase; but long experience in various + whalemen of more than one nation has convinced me that in the vast + majority of failures in the fishery, it has not by any means been so + much the speed of the whale as the before described exhaustion of the + harpooneer that has caused them. + + To insure the greatest efficiency in the dart, the harpooneers of this + world must start to their feet from out of idleness, and not from out + of toil. + + + + + CHAPTER 63 + + + The Crotch + + Out of the trunk, the branches grow; out of them, the twigs. + So, in productive subjects, grow the chapters. + + The crotch alluded to on a previous page deserves independent mention. + It is a notched stick of a peculiar form, some two feet in length, + which is perpendicularly inserted into the starboard gunwale near the + bow, for the purpose of furnishing a rest for the wooden extremity of + the harpoons, whose other naked, barbed end slopingly projects from the + prow. Thereby the weapon is instantly at hand to its hurler, who + snatches it up as readily from its rest as a backwoodsman swings his + rifle from the wall. It is customary to have two harpoons reposing in + the crotch, respectively called the first and second irons. + + But these two harpoons, each by its own cord, are both connected with + the line; the object being this: to dart them both, if possible, one + instantly after the other into the same whale; so that if, in the + coming drag, one should draw out, the other may still retain a hold. It + is a doubling of the chances. But it very often happens that owing to + the instantaneous, violent, convulsive running of the whale upon + receiving the first iron, it becomes impossible for the harpooneer, + however lightning-like in his movements, to pitch the second iron into + him. Nevertheless, as the second iron is already connected with the + line, and the line is running, hence that weapon must, at all events, + be anticipatingly tossed out of the boat, somehow and somewhere; else + the most terrible jeopardy would involve all hands. Tumbled into the + water, it accordingly is in such cases; the spare coils of box line + (mentioned in a preceding chapter) making this feat, in most instances, + prudently practicable. But this critical act is not always unattended + with the saddest and most fatal casualties. + + Furthermore: you must know that when the second iron is thrown + overboard, it thenceforth becomes a dangling, sharp-edged terror, + skittishly curvetting about both boat and whale, entangling the lines, + or cutting them, and making a prodigious sensation in all directions. + Nor, in general, is it possible to secure it again until the whale is + fairly captured and a corpse. + + Consider, now, how it must be in the case of four boats all engaging + one unusually strong, active, and knowing whale; when owing to these + qualities in him, as well as to the thousand concurring accidents of + such an audacious enterprise, eight or ten loose second irons may be + simultaneously dangling about him. For, of course, each boat is + supplied with several harpoons to bend on to the line should the first + one be ineffectually darted without recovery. All these particulars are + faithfully narrated here, as they will not fail to elucidate several + most important however intricate passages, in scenes hereafter to be + painted. + + + + + CHAPTER 64 + + + Stubb's Supper + + Stubb's whale had been killed some distance from the ship. It was a + calm; so, forming a tandem of three boats, we commenced the slow + business of towing the trophy to the Pequod. And now, as we eighteen + men with our thirty-six arms, and one hundred and eighty thumbs and + fingers, slowly toiled hour after hour upon that inert, sluggish corpse + in the sea; and it seemed hardly to budge at all, except at long + intervals; good evidence was hereby furnished of the enormousness of + the mass we moved. For, upon the great canal of Hang-Ho, or whatever + they call it, in China, four or five laborers on the foot-path will + draw a bulky freighted junk at the rate of a mile an hour; but this + grand argosy we towed heavily forged along, as if laden with piglead in + bulk. + + Darkness came on; but three lights up and down in the Pequod's + main-rigging dimly guided our way; till drawing nearer we saw Ahab + dropping one of several more lanterns over the bulwarks. Vacantly + eyeing the heaving whale for a moment, he issued the usual orders for + securing it for the night, and then handing his lantern to a seaman, + went his way into the cabin, and did not come forward again until + morning. + + Though, in overseeing the pursuit of this whale, Captain Ahab had + evinced his customary activity, to call it so; yet now that the + creature was dead, some vague dissatisfaction, or impatience, or + despair, seemed working in him; as if the sight of that dead body + reminded him that Moby Dick was yet to be slain; and though a thousand + other whales were brought to his ship, all that would not one jot + advance his grand, monomaniac object. Very soon you would have thought + from the sound on the Pequod's decks, that all hands were preparing to + cast anchor in the deep; for heavy chains are being dragged along the + deck, and thrust rattling out of the port-holes. But by those clanking + links, the vast corpse itself, not the ship, is to be moored. Tied by + the head to the stern, and by the tail to the bows, the whale now lies + with its black hull close to the vessel's, and seen through the + darkness of the night, which obscured the spars and rigging aloft, the + two—ship and whale, seemed yoked together like colossal bullocks, + whereof one reclines while the other remains standing.* + + *A little item may as well be related here. The strongest and most + reliable hold which the ship has upon the whale when moored alongside, + is by the flukes or tail; and as from its greater density that part is + relatively heavier than any other (excepting the side-fins), its + flexibility even in death, causes it to sink low beneath the surface; + so that with the hand you cannot get at it from the boat, in order to + put the chain round it. But this difficulty is ingeniously overcome: a + small, strong line is prepared with a wooden float at its outer end, + and a weight in its middle, while the other end is secured to the ship. + By adroit management the wooden float is made to rise on the other side + of the mass, so that now having girdled the whale, the chain is readily + made to follow suit; and being slipped along the body, is at last + locked fast round the smallest part of the tail, at the point of + junction with its broad flukes or lobes. + + If moody Ahab was now all quiescence, at least so far as could be known + on deck, Stubb, his second mate, flushed with conquest, betrayed an + unusual but still good-natured excitement. Such an unwonted bustle was + he in that the staid Starbuck, his official superior, quietly resigned + to him for the time the sole management of affairs. One small, helping + cause of all this liveliness in Stubb, was soon made strangely + manifest. Stubb was a high liver; he was somewhat intemperately fond of + the whale as a flavorish thing to his palate. + + "A steak, a steak, ere I sleep! You, Daggoo! overboard you go, and cut + me one from his small!" + + Here be it known, that though these wild fishermen do not, as a general + thing, and according to the great military maxim, make the enemy defray + the current expenses of the war (at least before realizing the proceeds + of the voyage), yet now and then you find some of these Nantucketers + who have a genuine relish for that particular part of the Sperm Whale + designated by Stubb; comprising the tapering extremity of the body. + + About midnight that steak was cut and cooked; and lighted by two + lanterns of sperm oil, Stubb stoutly stood up to his spermaceti supper + at the capstan-head, as if that capstan were a sideboard. Nor was Stubb + the only banqueter on whale's flesh that night. Mingling their + mumblings with his own mastications, thousands on thousands of sharks, + swarming round the dead leviathan, smackingly feasted on its fatness. + The few sleepers below in their bunks were often startled by the sharp + slapping of their tails against the hull, within a few inches of the + sleepers' hearts. Peering over the side you could just see them (as + before you heard them) wallowing in the sullen, black waters, and + turning over on their backs as they scooped out huge globular pieces of + the whale of the bigness of a human head. This particular feat of the + shark seems all but miraculous. How at such an apparently unassailable + surface, they contrive to gouge out such symmetrical mouthfuls, remains + a part of the universal problem of all things. The mark they thus leave + on the whale, may best be likened to the hollow made by a carpenter in + countersinking for a screw. + + Though amid all the smoking horror and diabolism of a sea-fight, sharks + will be seen longingly gazing up to the ship's decks, like hungry dogs + round a table where red meat is being carved, ready to bolt down every + killed man that is tossed to them; and though, while the valiant + butchers over the deck-table are thus cannibally carving each other's + live meat with carving-knives all gilded and tasselled, the sharks, + also, with their jewel-hilted mouths, are quarrelsomely carving away + under the table at the dead meat; and though, were you to turn the + whole affair upside down, it would still be pretty much the same thing, + that is to say, a shocking sharkish business enough for all parties; + and though sharks also are the invariable outriders of all slave ships + crossing the Atlantic, systematically trotting alongside, to be handy + in case a parcel is to be carried anywhere, or a dead slave to be + decently buried; and though one or two other like instances might be + set down, touching the set terms, places, and occasions, when sharks do + most socially congregate, and most hilariously feast; yet is there no + conceivable time or occasion when you will find them in such countless + numbers, and in gayer or more jovial spirits, than around a dead sperm + whale, moored by night to a whaleship at sea. If you have never seen + that sight, then suspend your decision about the propriety of + devil-worship, and the expediency of conciliating the devil. + + But, as yet, Stubb heeded not the mumblings of the banquet that was + going on so nigh him, no more than the sharks heeded the smacking of + his own epicurean lips. + + "Cook, cook!—where's that old Fleece?" he cried at length, widening his + legs still further, as if to form a more secure base for his supper; + and, at the same time darting his fork into the dish, as if stabbing + with his lance; "cook, you cook!— sail this way, cook!" + + The old black, not in any very high glee at having been previously + routed from his warm hammock at a most unseasonable hour, came + shambling along from his galley, for, like many old blacks, there was + something the matter with his knee-pans, which he did not keep well + scoured like his other pans; this old Fleece, as they called him, came + shuffling and limping along, assisting his step with his tongs, which, + after a clumsy fashion, were made of straightened iron hoops; this old + Ebony floundered along, and in obedience to the word of command, came + to a dead stop on the opposite side of Stubb's sideboard; when, with + both hands folded before him, and resting on his two-legged cane, he + bowed his arched back still further over, at the same time sideways + inclining his head, so as to bring his best ear into play. + + "Cook," said Stubb, rapidly lifting a rather reddish morsel to his + mouth, "don't you think this steak is rather overdone? You've been + beating this steak too much, cook; it's too tender. Don't I always say + that to be good, a whale-steak must be tough? There are those sharks + now over the side, don't you see they prefer it tough and rare? What a + shindy they are kicking up! Cook, go and talk to 'em; tell 'em they are + welcome to help themselves civilly, and in moderation, but they must + keep quiet. Blast me, if I can hear my own voice. Away, cook, and + deliver my message. Here, take this lantern," snatching one from his + sideboard; "now then, go and preach to them!" + + Sullenly taking the offered lantern, old Fleece limped across the deck + to the bulwarks; and then, with one hand drooping his light low over + the sea, so as to get a good view of his congregation, with the other + hand he solemnly flourished his tongs, and leaning far over the side in + a mumbling voice began addressing the sharks, while Stubb, softly + crawling behind, overheard all that was said. + + "Fellow-critters: I'se ordered here to say dat you must stop dat dam + noise dare. You hear? Stop dat dam smackin' ob de lips! Massa Stubb say + dat you can fill your dam bellies up to de hatchings, but by Gor! you + must stop dat dam racket!" + + "Cook," here interposed Stubb, accompanying the word with a sudden slap + on the shoulder,—Cook! why, damn your eyes, you mustn't swear that way + when you're preaching. That's no way to convert sinners, Cook! Who dat? + Den preach to him yourself," sullenly turning to go. + + No, Cook; go on, go on." + + "Well, den, Belubed fellow-critters:"— + + "Right!" exclaimed Stubb, approvingly, "coax 'em to it, try that," and + Fleece continued. + + "Do you is all sharks, and by natur wery woracious, yet I zay to you, + fellow-critters, dat dat woraciousness—'top dat dam slappin' ob de + tail! How you tink to hear, 'spose you keep up such a dam slapping and + bitin' dare?" + + "Cook," cried Stubb, collaring him, "I won't have that swearing. + Talk to 'em gentlemanly." + + Once more the sermon proceeded. + + "Your woraciousness, fellow-critters. I don't blame ye so much for; dat + is natur, and can't be helped; but to gobern dat wicked natur, dat is + de pint. You is sharks, sartin; but if you gobern de shark in you, why + den you be angel; for all angel is not'ing more dan de shark well + goberned. Now, look here, bred'ren, just try wonst to be cibil, a + helping yourselbs from dat whale. Don't be tearin' de blubber out your + neighbour's mout, I say. Is not one shark dood right as toder to dat + whale? And, by Gor, none on you has de right to dat whale; dat whale + belong to some one else. I know some o' you has berry brig mout, + brigger dan oders; but den de brig mouts sometimes has de small + bellies; so dat de brigness of de mout is not to swallar wid, but to + bit off de blubber for de small fry ob sharks, dat can't get into de + scrouge to help demselves." + + "Well done, old Fleece!" cried Stubb, "that's Christianity; go on." + + "No use goin' on; de dam willains will keep a scrougin' and slappin' + each oder, Massa Stubb; dey don't hear one word; no use a-preaching to + such dam g'uttons as you call 'em, till dare bellies is full, and dare + bellies is bottomless; and when dey do get 'em full, dey wont hear you + den; for den dey sink in de sea, go fast to sleep on de coral, and + can't hear noting at all, no more, for eber and eber." + + "Upon my soul, I am about of the same opinion; so give the benediction, + Fleece, and I'll away to my supper." + + Upon this, Fleece, holding both hands over the fishy mob, raised his + shrill voice, and cried— + + "Cussed fellow-critters! Kick up de damndest row as ever you can; fill + your dam bellies 'till dey bust—and den die." + + "Now, cook," said Stubb, resuming his supper at the capstan; Stand just + where you stood before, there, over against me, and pay particular + attention." + + "All 'dention," said Fleece, again stooping over upon his tongs in the + desired position. + + "Well," said Stubb, helping himself freely meanwhile; + "I shall now go back to the subject of this steak. + In the first place, how old are you, cook?" + + "What dat do wid de 'teak, " said the old black, testily. + + "Silence! How old are you, cook?" + + "'Bout ninety, dey say," he gloomily muttered. + + And have you have lived in this world hard upon one hundred years, + cook, and don't know yet how to cook a whale-steak?" rapidly bolting + another mouthful at the last word, so that that morsel seemed a + continuation of the question. "Where were you born, cook?" + + "'Hind de hatchway, in ferry-boat, goin' ober de Roanoke." + + "Born in a ferry-boat! That's queer, too. But I want to know what + country you were born in, cook!" + + "Didn't I say de Roanoke country?" he cried sharply. + + "No, you didn't, cook; but I'll tell you what I'm coming to, cook. You + must go home and be born over again; you don't know how to cook a + whale-steak yet." + + "Bress my soul, if I cook noder one," he growled, angrily, turning + round to depart. + + "Come back here, cook;—here, hand me those tongs;—now take that bit of + steak there, and tell me if you think that steak cooked as it should + be? Take it, I say"—holding the tongs towards him—"take it, and taste + it." + + Faintly smacking his withered lips over it for a moment, the old negro + muttered, "Best cooked 'teak I eber taste; joosy, berry joosy." + + "Cook," said Stubb, squaring himself once more; "do you belong to the + church?" + + "Passed one once in Cape-Down," said the old man sullenly. + + "And you have once in your life passed a holy church in Cape-Town, + where you doubtless overheard a holy parson addressing his hearers as + his beloved fellow-creatures, have you, cook! And yet you come here, + and tell me such a dreadful lie as you did just now, eh?" said Stubb. + "Where do you expect to go to, cook?" + + "Go to bed berry soon," he mumbled, half-turning as he spoke. + + "Avast! heave to! I mean when you die, cook. It's an awful question. + Now what's your answer?" + + "When dis old brack man dies," said the negro slowly, changing his + whole air and demeanor, "he hisself won't go nowhere; but some bressed + angel will come and fetch him." + + "Fetch him? How? In a coach and four, as they fetched Elijah? + And fetch him where?" + + "Up dere," said Fleece, holding his tongs straight over his head, and + keeping it there very solemnly. + + "So, then, you expect to go up into our main-top, do you, cook, when + you are dead? But don't you know the higher you climb, the colder it + gets? Main-top, eh?" + + "Didn't say dat t'all," said Fleece, again in the sulks. + + "You said up there, didn't you? and now look yourself, and see where + your tongs are pointing. But, perhaps you expect to get into heaven by + crawling through the lubber's hole, cook; but, no, no, cook, you don't + get there, except you go the regular way, round by the rigging. It's a + ticklish business, but must be done, or else it's no go. But none of us + are in heaven yet. Drop your tongs, cook, and hear my orders. Do ye + hear? Hold your hat in one hand, and clap t'other a'top of your heart, + when I'm giving my orders, cook. What! that your heart, there?— that's + your gizzard! Aloft! aloft!—that's it—now you have it. Hold it there + now, and pay attention." + + "All 'dention," said the old black, with both hands placed as desired, + vainly wriggling his grizzled head, as if to get both ears in front at + one and the same time. + + "Well then, cook, you see this whale-steak of yours was so very bad, + that I have put it out of sight as soon as possible; you see that, + don't you? Well, for the future, when you cook another whale-steak for + my private table here, the capstan, I'll tell you what to do so as not + to spoil it by overdoing. Hold the steak in one hand, and show a live + coal to it with the other; that done, dish it; d'ye hear? And now + to-morrow, cook, when we are cutting in the fish, be sure you stand by + to get the tips of his fins; have them put in pickle. As for the ends + of the flukes, have them soused, cook. There, now ye may go." + + But Fleece had hardly got three paces off, when he was recalled. + + "Cook, give me cutlets for supper to-morrow night in the mid-watch. + D'ye hear? away you sail then.—Halloa! stop! make a bow before you go.— + Avast heaving again! Whale-balls for breakfast—don't forget." + + "Wish, by gor! whale eat him, 'stead of him eat whale. I'm bressed if + he ain't more of shark dan Massa Shark hisself," muttered the old man, + limping away; with which sage ejaculation he went to his hammock. + + + + + CHAPTER 65 + + + The Whale as a Dish + + That mortal man should feed upon the creature that feeds his lamp, and, + like Stubb, eat him by his own light, as you may say; this seems so + outlandish a thing that one must needs go a little into the history and + philosophy of it. + + It is upon record, that three centuries ago the tongue of the Right + Whale was esteemed a great delicacy in France, and commanded large + prices there. Also, that in Henry VIIIth's time, a certain cook of the + court obtained a handsome reward for inventing an admirable sauce to be + eaten with barbacued porpoises, which, you remember, are a species of + whale. Porpoises, indeed, are to this day considered fine eating. The + meat is made into balls about the size of billiard balls, and being + well seasoned and spiced might be taken for turtle-balls or veal balls. + The old monks of Dunfermline were very fond of them. They had a great + porpoise grant from the crown. + + The fact is, that among his hunters at least, the whale would by all + hands be considered a noble dish, were there not so much of him; but + when you come to sit down before a meat-pie nearly one hundred feet + long, it takes away your appetite. Only the most unprejudiced of men + like Stubb, nowadays partake of cooked whales; but the Esquimaux are + not so fastidious. We all know how they live upon whales, and have rare + old vintages of prime old train oil. Zogranda, one of their most famous + doctors, recommends strips of blubber for infants, as being exceedingly + juicy and nourishing. And this reminds me that certain Englishmen, who + long ago were accidentally left in Greenland by a whaling vessel— that + these men actually lived for several months on the mouldy scraps of + whales which had been left ashore after trying out the blubber. Among + the Dutch whalemen these scraps are called "fritters"; which, indeed, + they greatly resemble, being brown and crisp, and smelling something + like old Amsterdam housewives' dough-nuts or oly-cooks, when fresh. + They have such an eatable look that the most self-denying stranger can + hardly keep his hands off. + + But what further depreciates the whale as a civilized dish, is his + exceeding richness. He is the great prize ox of the sea, too fat to be + delicately good. Look at his hump, which would be as fine eating as the + buffalo's (which is esteemed a rare dish), were it not such a solid + pyramid of fat. But the spermaceti itself, how bland and creamy that + is; like the transparent, half jellied, white meat of a cocoanut in the + third month of its growth, yet far too rich to supply a substitute for + butter. Nevertheless, many whalemen have a method of absorbing it into + some other substance, and then partaking of it. In the long try watches + of the night it is a common thing for the seamen to dip their + ship-biscuit into the huge oil-pots and let them fry there awhile. Many + a good supper have I thus made. + + In the case of a small Sperm Whale the brains are accounted a fine + dish. The casket of the skull is broken into with an axe, and the two + plump, whitish lobes being withdrawn (precisely resembling two large + puddings), they are then mixed with flour, and cooked into a most + delectable mess, in flavor somewhat resembling calves' head, which is + quite a dish among some epicures; and every one knows that some young + bucks among the epicures, by continually dining upon calves' brains, by + and by get to have a little brains of their own, so as to be able to + tell a calf's head from their own heads; which, indeed, requires + uncommon discrimination. And that is the reason why a young buck with + an intelligent looking calf's head before him, is somehow one of the + saddest sights you can see. The head looks a sort of reproachfully at + him, with an "Et tu Brute!" expression. + + It is not, perhaps, entirely because the whale is so excessively + unctuous that landsmen seem to regard the eating of him with + abhorrence; that appears to result, in some way, from the consideration + before mentioned: i.e. that a man should eat a newly murdered thing of + the sea, and eat it too by its own light. But no doubt the first man + that ever murdered an ox was regarded as a murderer; perhaps he was + hung; and if he had been put on his trial by oxen, he certainly would + have been; and he certainly deserved it if any murderer does. Go to the + meat-market of a Saturday night and see the crowds of live bipeds + staring up at the long rows of dead quadrupeds. Does not that sight + take a tooth out of the cannibal's jaw? Cannibals? who is not a + cannibal? I tell you it will be more tolerable for the Fejee that + salted down a lean missionary in his cellar against a coming famine; it + will be more tolerable for that provident Fejee, I say, in the day of + judgment, than for thee, civilized and enlightened gourmand, who + nailest geese to the ground and feastest on their bloated livers in thy + pate-de-foie-gras. + + But Stubb, he eats the whale by its own light, does he? and that is + adding insult to injury, is it? Look at your knife-handle, there, my + civilized and enlightened gourmand, dining off that roast beef, what is + that handle made of?—what but the bones of the brother of the very ox + you are eating? And what do you pick your teeth with, after devouring + that fat goose? With a feather of the same fowl. And with what quill + did the Secretary of the Society for the Suppression of Cruelty to + Ganders formally indite his circulars? It is only within the last month + or two that that society passed a resolution to patronize nothing but + steel pens. + + + + + CHAPTER 66 + + + The Shark Massacre + + When in the Southern Fishery a captured Sperm Whale, after long and + weary toil, is brought alongside late at night, it is not, as a general + thing at least, customary to proceed at once to the business of cutting + him in. For that business is an exceedingly laborious one; is not very + soon completed; and requires all hands to set about it. Therefore, the + common usage is to take in all sail; lash the helm a'lee; and then send + every one below to his hammock till daylight, with the reservation + that, until that time, anchor-watches shall be kept; that is, two and + two for an hour, each couple, the crew in rotation shall mount the deck + to see that all goes well. + + But sometimes, especially upon the Line in the Pacific, this plan will + not answer at all; because such incalculable hosts of sharks gather + round the moored carcase, that were he left so for six hours, say, on a + stretch, little more than the skeleton would be visible by morning. In + most other parts of the ocean, however, where these fish do not so + largely abound, their wondrous voracity can be at times considerably + diminished, by vigorously stirring them up with sharp whaling-spades, a + procedure notwithstanding, which, in some instances, only seems to + tickle them into still greater activity. But it was not thus in the + present case with the Pequod's sharks; though, to be sure, any man + unaccustomed to such sights, to have looked over her side that night, + would have almost thought the whole round sea was one huge cheese, and + those sharks the maggots in it. + + Nevertheless, upon Stubb setting the anchor-watch after his supper was + concluded; and when, accordingly Queequeg and a forecastle seaman came + on deck, no small excitement was created among the sharks; for + immediately suspending the cutting stages over the side, and lowering + three lanterns, so that they cast long gleams of light over the turbid + sea, these two mariners, darting their long whaling-spades,* kept up an + incessant murdering of the sharks, by striking the keen steel deep into + their skulls, seemingly their only vital part. But in the foamy + confusion of their mixed and struggling hosts, the marksmen could not + always hit their mark; and this brought about new revelations of the + incredible ferocity of the foe. They viciously snapped, not only at + each other's disembowelments, but like flexible bows, bent round, and + bit their own; till those entrails seemed swallowed over and over again + by the same mouth, to be oppositely voided by the gaping wound. Nor was + this all. It was unsafe to meddle with the corpses and ghosts of these + creatures. A sort of generic or Pantheistic vitality seemed to lurk in + their very joints and bones, after what might be called the individual + life had departed. Killed and hoisted on deck for the sake of his skin, + one of these sharks almost took poor Queequeg's hand off, when he tried + to shut down the dead lid of his murderous jaw. + + *The whaling-spade used for cutting-in is made of the very best steel; + is about the bigness of a man's spread hand; and in general shape, + corresponds to the garden implement after which it is named; only its + sides are perfectly flat, and its upper end considerably narrower than + the lower. This weapon is always kept as sharp as possible; and when + being used is occasionally honed, just like a razor. In its socket, a + stiff pole, from twenty to thirty feet long, is inserted for a handle. + + "Queequeg no care what god made him shark," said the savage, + agonizingly lifting his hand up and down; "wedder Fejee god or + Nantucket god; but de god wat made shark must be one dam Ingin." + + + + + CHAPTER 67 + + + Cutting In + + It was a Saturday night, and such a Sabbath as followed! Ex officio + professors of Sabbath breaking are all whalemen. The ivory Pequod was + turned into what seemed a shamble; every sailor a butcher. You would + have thought we were offering up ten thousand red oxen to the sea gods. + + In the first place, the enormous cutting tackles, among other ponderous + things comprising a cluster of blocks generally painted green, and + which no single man can possibly lift—this vast bunch of grapes was + swayed up to the main-top and firmly lashed to the lower mast-head, the + strongest point anywhere above a ship's deck. The end of the + hawser-like rope winding through these intricacies, was then conducted + to the windlass, and the huge lower block of the tackles was swung over + the whale; to this block the great blubber hook, weighing some one + hundred pounds, was attached. And now suspended in stages over the + side, Starbuck and Stubb, the mates, armed with their long spades, + began cutting a hole in the body for the insertion of the hook just + above the nearest of the two side-fins. This done, a broad, + semicircular line is cut round the hole, the hook is inserted, and the + main body of the crew striking up a wild chorus, now commence heaving + in one dense crowd at the windlass. When instantly, the entire ship + careens over on her side; every bolt in her starts like the nailheads + of an old house in frosty weather; she trembles, quivers, and nods her + frighted mast-heads to the sky. More and more she leans over to the + whale, while every gasping heave of the windlass is answered by a + helping heave from the billows; till at last, a swift, startling snap + is heard; with a great swash the ship rolls upwards and backwards from + the whale, and the triumphant tackle rises into sight dragging after it + the disengaged semicircular end of the first strip of blubber. Now as + the blubber envelopes the whale precisely as the rind does an orange, + so is it stripped off from the body precisely as an orange is sometimes + stripped by spiralizing it. For the strain constantly kept up by the + windlass continually keeps the whale rolling over and over in the + water, and as the blubber in one strip uniformly peels off along the + line called the "scarf," simultaneously cut by the spades of Starbuck + and Stubb, the mates; and just as fast as it is thus peeled off, and + indeed by that very act itself, it is all the time being hoisted higher + and higher aloft till its upper end grazes the main-top; the men at the + windlass then cease heaving, and for a moment or two the prodigious + blood-dripping mass sways to and fro as if let down from the sky, and + every one present must take good heed to dodge it when it swings, else + it may box his ears and pitch him headlong overboard. + + One of the attending harpooneers now advances with a long, keen weapon + called a boarding-sword, and watching his chance he dexterously slices + out a considerable hole in the lower part of the swaying mass. Into + this hole, the end of the second alternating great tackle is then + hooked so as to retain a hold upon the blubber, in order to prepare for + what follows. Whereupon, this accomplished swordsman, warning all hands + to stand off, once more makes a scientific dash at the mass, and with a + few sidelong, desperate, lunging, slicings, severs it completely in + twain; so that while the short lower part is still fast, the long upper + strip, called a blanket-piece, swings clear, and is all ready for + lowering. The heavers forward now resume their song, and while the one + tackle is peeling and hoisting a second strip from the whale, the other + is slowly slackened away, and down goes the first strip through the + main hatchway right beneath, into an unfurnished parlor called the + blubber-room. Into this twilight apartment sundry nimble hands keep + coiling away the long blanket-piece as if it were a great live mass of + plaited serpents. And thus the work proceeds; the two tackles hoisting + and lowering simultaneously; both whale and windlass heaving, the + heavers singing, the blubber-room gentlemen coiling, the mates + scarfing, the ship straining, and all hands swearing occasionally, by + way of assuaging the general friction. + + + + + CHAPTER 68 + + + The Blanket + + I have given no small attention to that not unvexed subject, the skin + of the whale. I have had controversies about it with experienced + whalemen afloat, and learned naturalists ashore. My original opinion + remains unchanged; but it is only an opinion. + + The question is, what and where is the skin of the whale. Already you + know what his blubber is. That blubber is something of the consistence + of firm, close-grained beef, but tougher, more elastic and compact, and + ranges from eight or ten to twelve and fifteen inches in thickness. + + Now, however preposterous it may at first seem to talk of any + creature's skin as being of that sort of consistence and thickness, yet + in point of fact these are no arguments against such a presumption; + because you cannot raise any other dense enveloping layer from the + whale's body but that same blubber; and the outermost enveloping layer + of any animal, if reasonably dense, what can that be but the skin? + True, from the unmarred dead body of the whale, you may scrape off with + your hand an infinitely thin, transparent substance, somewhat + resembling the thinnest shreds of isinglass, only it is almost as + flexible and soft as satin; that is, previous to being dried, when it + not only contracts and thickens, but becomes rather hard and brittle. I + have several such dried bits, which I use for marks in my whale-books. + It is transparent, as I said before; and being laid upon the printed + page, I have sometimes pleased myself with fancying it exerted a + magnifying influence. At any rate, it is pleasant to read about whales + through their own spectacles, as you may say. But what I am driving at + here is this. That same infinitely thin, isinglass substance, which, I + admit, invests the entire body of the whale, is not so much to be + regarded as the skin of the creature, as the skin of the skin, so to + speak; for it were simply ridiculous to say, that the proper skin of + the tremendous whale is thinner and more tender than the skin of a + new-born child. But no more of this. + + Assuming the blubber to be the skin of the whale; then, when this skin, + as in the case of a very large Sperm Whale, will yield the bulk of one + hundred barrels of oil; and, when it is considered that, in quantity, + or rather weight, that oil, in its expressed state, is only three + fourths, and not the entire substance of the coat; some idea may hence + be had of the enormousness of that animated mass, a mere part of whose + mere integument yields such a lake of liquid as that. Reckoning ten + barrels to the ton, you have ten tons for the net weight of only three + quarters of the stuff of the whale's skin. + + In life, the visible surface of the Sperm Whale is not the least among + the many marvels he presents. Almost invariably it is all over + obliquely crossed and re-crossed with numberless straight marks in + thick array, something like those in the finest Italian line + engravings. But these marks do not seem to be impressed upon the + isinglass substance above mentioned, but seem to be seen through it, as + if they were engraved upon the body itself. Nor is this all. In some + instances, to the quick, observant eye, those linear marks, as in a + veritable engraving, but afford the ground for far other delineations. + These are hieroglyphical; that is, if you call those mysterious cyphers + on the walls of pyramids hieroglyphics, then that is the proper word to + use in the present connexion. By my retentive memory of the + hieroglyphics upon one Sperm Whale in particular, I was much struck + with a plate representing the old Indian characters chiselled on the + famous hieroglyphic palisades on the banks of the Upper Mississippi. + Like those mystic rocks, too, the mystic-marked whale remains + undecipherable. This allusion to the Indian rocks reminds me of another + thing. Besides all the other phenomena which the exterior of the Sperm + Whale presents, he not seldom displays the back, and more especially + his flanks, effaced in great part of the regular linear appearance, by + reason of numerous rude scratches, altogether of an irregular, random + aspect. I should say that those New England rocks on the seacoast, + which Agassiz imagines to bear the marks of violent scraping contact + with vast floating icebergs—I should say, that those rocks must not a + little resemble the Sperm Whale in this particular. It also seems to me + that such scratches in the whale are probably made by hostile contact + with other whales; for I have most remarked them in the large, + full-grown bulls of the species. + + A word or two more concerning this matter of the skin or blubber of the + whale. It has already been said, that it is stript from him in long + pieces, called blanket-pieces. Like most sea-terms, this one is very + happy and significant. For the whale is indeed wrapt up in his blubber + as in a real blanket or counterpane; or, still better, an Indian poncho + slipt over his head, and skirting his extremity. It is by reason of + this cosy blanketing of his body, that the whale is enabled to keep + himself comfortable in all weathers, in all seas, times, and tides. + What would become of a Greenland whale, say, in those shuddering, icy + seas of the North, if unsupplied with his cosy surtout? True, other + fish are found exceedingly brisk in those Hyperborean waters; but + these, be it observed, are your cold-blooded, lungless fish, whose very + bellies are refrigerators; creatures, that warm themselves under the + lee of an iceberg, as a traveller in winter would bask before an inn + fire; whereas, like man, the whale has lungs and warm blood. Freeze his + blood, and he dies. How wonderful is it then—except after + explanation—that this great monster, to whom corporeal warmth is as + indispensable as it is to man; how wonderful that he should be found at + home, immersed to his lips for life in those Arctic waters! where, when + seamen fall overboard, they are sometimes found, months afterwards, + perpendicularly frozen into the hearts of fields of ice, as a fly is + found glued in amber. But more surprising is it to know, as has been + proved by experiment, that the blood of a Polar whale is warmer than + that of a Borneo negro in summer. + + It does seem to me, that herein we see the rare virtue of a strong + individual vitality, and the rare virtue of thick walls, and the rare + virtue of interior spaciousness. Oh, man! admire and model thyself + after the whale! Do thou, too, remain warm among ice. Do thou, too, + live in this world without being of it. Be cool at the equator; keep + thy blood fluid at the Pole. Like the great dome of St. Peter's, and + like the great whale, retain, O man! in all seasons a temperature of + thine own. + + But how easy and how hopeless to teach these fine things! Of erections, + how few are domed like St. Peter's! of creatures, how few vast as the + whale! + + + + + CHAPTER 69 + + + The Funeral + + Haul in the chains! Let the carcase go astern! + + The vast tackles have now done their duty. The peeled white body of the + beheaded whale flashes like a marble sepulchre; though changed in hue, + it has not perceptibly lost anything in bulk. It is still colossal. + Slowly it floats more and more away, the water round it torn and + splashed by the insatiate sharks, and the air above vexed with + rapacious flights of screaming fowls, whose beaks are like so many + insulting poniards in the whale.The vast white headless phantom floats + further and further from the ship, and every rod that it so floats, + what seem square roods of sharks and cubic roods of fowls, augment the + murderous din. For hours and hours from the almost stationary ship that + hideous sight is seen. Beneath the unclouded and mild azure sky, upon + the fair face of the pleasant sea, wafted by the joyous breezes, that + great mass of death floats on and on, till lost in infinite + perspectives. + + There's a most doleful and most mocking funeral! The sea-vultures all + in pious mourning, the air-sharks all punctiliously in black or + speckled. In life but few of them would have helped the whale, I ween, + if peradventure he had needed it; but upon the banquet of his funeral + they most piously do pounce. Oh, horrible vulturism of earth! from + which not the mightiest whale is free. + + Nor is this the end. Desecrated as the body is, a vengeful ghost + survives and hovers over it to scare. Espied by some timid man-of-war + or blundering discovery-vessel from afar, when the distance obscuring + the swarming fowls, nevertheless still shows the white mass floating in + the sun, and the white spray heaving high against it; straightway the + whale's unharming corpse, with trembling fingers is set down in the + log—shoals, rocks, and breakers hereabouts: beware! And for years + afterwards, perhaps, ships shun the place; leaping over it as silly + sheep leap over a vacuum, because their leader originally leaped there + when a stick was held. There's your law of precedents; there's your + utility of traditions; there's the story of your obstinate survival of + old beliefs never bottomed on the earth, and now not even hovering in + the air! There's orthodoxy! + + Thus, while in the life the great whale's body may have been a real + terror to his foes, in his death his ghost becomes a powerless panic to + a world. + + Are you a believer in ghosts, my friend? There are other ghosts than + the Cock-Lane one, and far deeper men than Doctor Johnson who believe + in them. + + + + + CHAPTER 70 + + + The Sphynx + + It should not have been omitted that previous to completely stripping + the body of the leviathan, he was beheaded. Now, the beheading of the + Sperm Whale is a scientific anatomical feat, upon which experienced + whale surgeons very much pride themselves: and not without reason. + + Consider that the whale has nothing that can properly be called a neck; + on the contrary, where his head and body seem to join, there, in that + very place, is the thickest part of him. Remember, also, that the + surgeon must operate from above, some eight or ten feet intervening + between him and his subject, and that subject almost hidden in a + discolored, rolling, and oftentimes tumultuous and bursting sea. Bear + in mind, too, that under these untoward circumstances he has to cut + many feet deep in the flesh; and in that subterraneous manner, without + so much as getting one single peep into the ever-contracting gash thus + made, he must skilfully steer clear of all adjacent, interdicted parts, + and exactly divide the spine at a critical point hard by its insertion + into the skull. Do you not marvel, then, at Stubb's boast, that he + demanded but ten minutes to behead a sperm whale? + + When first severed, the head is dropped astern and held there by a + cable till the body is stripped. That done, if it belong to a small + whale it is hoisted on deck to be deliberately disposed of. But, with a + full grown leviathan this is impossible; for the sperm whale's head + embraces nearly one third of his entire bulk, and completely to suspend + such a burden as that, even by the immense tackles of a whaler, this + were as vain a thing as to attempt weighing a Dutch barn in jewellers' + scales. + + The Pequod's whale being decapitated and the body stripped, the head + was hoisted against the ship's side—about half way out of the sea, so + that it might yet in great part be buoyed up by its native element. And + there with the strained craft steeply leaning over to it, by reason of + the enormous downward drag from the lower mast-head, and every yard-arm + on that side projecting like a crane over the waves; there, that + blood-dripping head hung to the Pequod's waist like the giant + Holofernes's from the girdle of Judith. + + When this last task was accomplished it was noon, and the seamen went + below to their dinner. Silence reigned over the before tumultuous but + now deserted deck. An intense copper calm, like a universal yellow + lotus, was more and more unfolding its noiseless measureless leaves + upon the sea. + + A short space elapsed, and up into this noiselessness came Ahab alone + from his cabin. Taking a few turns on the quarter-deck, he paused to + gaze over the side, then slowly getting into the main-chains he took + Stubb's long spade still remaining there after the whale's decapitation + and striking it into the lower part of the half-suspended mass, placed + its other end crutchwise under one arm, and so stood leaning over with + eyes attentively fixed on this head. + + It was a black and hooded head; and hanging there in the midst of so + intense a calm, it seemed the Sphynx's in the desert. "Speak, thou vast + and venerable head," muttered Ahab, "which, though ungarnished with a + beard, yet here and there lookest hoary with mosses; speak, mighty + head, and tell us the secret thing that is in thee. Of all divers, thou + hast dived the deepest. That head upon which the upper sun now gleams, + has moved amid this world's foundations. Where unrecorded names and + navies rust, and untold hopes and anchors rot; where in her murderous + hold this frigate earth is ballasted with bones of millions of the + drowned; there, in that awful water-land, there was thy most familiar + home. Thou hast been where bell or diver never went; hast slept by many + a sailor's side, where sleepless mothers would give their lives to lay + them down. Thou saw'st the locked lovers when leaping from their + flaming ship; heart to heart they sank beneath the exulting wave; true + to each other, when heaven seemed false to them. Thou saw'st the + murdered mate when tossed by pirates from the midnight deck; for hours + he fell into the deeper midnight of the insatiate maw; and his + murderers still sailed on unharmed— while swift lightnings shivered the + neighboring ship that would have borne a righteous husband to + outstretched, longing arms. O head! thou hast seen enough to split the + planets and make an infidel of Abraham, and not one syllable is thine!" + + "Sail ho!" cried a triumphant voice from the main-mast-head. + + "Aye? Well, now, that's cheering," cried Ahab, suddenly erecting + himself, while whole thunder-clouds swept aside from his brow. "That + lively cry upon this deadly calm might almost convert a better + man.—Where away?" + + "Three points on the starboard bow, sir, and bringing down her breeze + to us! + + "Better and better, man. Would now St. Paul would come along that way, + and to my breezelessness bring his breeze! O Nature, and O soul of man! + how far beyond all utterance are your linked analogies; not the + smallest atom stirs or lives on matter, but has its cunning duplicate + in mind." + + + + + CHAPTER 71 + + + The Jeroboam's Story + + Hand in hand, ship and breeze blew on; but the breeze came faster than + the ship, and soon the Pequod began to rock. + + By and by, through the glass the stranger's boats and manned mast-heads + proved her a whale-ship. But as she was so far to windward, and + shooting by, apparently making a passage to some other ground, the + Pequod could not hope to reach her. So the signal was set to see what + response would be made. + + Here be it said, that like the vessels of military marines, the ships + of the American Whale Fleet have each a private signal; all which + signals being collected in a book with the names of the respective + vessels attached, every captain is provided with it. Thereby, the whale + commanders are enabled to recognise each other upon the ocean, even at + considerable distance, and with no small facility. + + The Pequod's signal was at last responded to by the stranger's setting + her own; which proved the ship to be the Jeroboam of Nantucket. + Squaring her yards, she bore down, ranged abeam under the Pequod's lee, + and lowered a boat; it soon drew nigh; but, as the side-ladder was + being rigged by Starbuck's order to accommodate the visiting captain, + the stranger in question waved his hand from his boat's stern in token + of that proceeding being entirely unnecessary. It turned out that the + Jeroboam had a malignant epidemic on board, and that Mayhew, her + captain, was fearful of infecting the Pequod's company. For, though + himself and the boat's crew remained untainted, and though his ship was + half a rifle-shot off, and an incorruptible sea and air rolling and + flowing between; yet conscientiously adhering to the timid quarantine + of the land, he peremptorily refused to come into direct contact with + the Pequod. + + But this did by no means prevent all communications. Preserving an + interval of some few yards between itself and the ship, the Jeroboam's + boat by the occasional use of its oars contrived to keep parallel to + the Pequod, as she heavily forged through the sea (for by this time it + blew very fresh), with her main-topsail aback; though, indeed, at times + by the sudden onset of a large rolling wave, the boat would be pushed + some way ahead; but would be soon skilfully brought to her proper + bearings again. Subject to this, and other the like interruptions now + and then, a conversation was sustained between the two parties; but at + intervals not without still another interruption of a very different + sort. + + Pulling an oar in the Jeroboam's boat, was a man of a singular + appearance, even in that wild whaling life where individual + notabilities make up all totalities. He was a small, short, youngish + man, sprinkled all over his face with freckles, and wearing redundant + yellow hair. A long-skirted, cabalistically-cut coat of a faded walnut + tinge enveloped him; the overlapping sleeves of which were rolled up on + his wrists. A deep, settled, fanatic delirium was in his eyes. + + So soon as this figure had been first descried, Stubb had exclaimed— + "That's he! that's he!—the long-togged scaramouch the Town-Ho's company + told us of!" Stubb here alluded to a strange story told of the + Jeroboam, and a certain man among her crew, some time previous when the + Pequod spoke the Town-Ho. According to this account and what was + subsequently learned, it seemed that the scaramouch in question had + gained a wonderful ascendency over almost everybody in the Jeroboam. + His story was this: + + He had been originally nurtured among the crazy society of Neskyeuna + Shakers, where he had been a great prophet; in their cracked, secret + meetings having several times descended from heaven by the way of a + trapdoor, announcing the speedy opening of the seventh vial, which he + carried in his vest-pocket; but, which, instead of containing + gunpowder, was supposed to be charged with laudanum. A strange, + apostolic whim having seized him, he had left Neskyeuna for Nantucket, + where, with that cunning peculiar to craziness, he assumed a steady, + common sense exterior, and offered himself as a green-hand candidate + for the Jeroboam's whaling voyage. They engaged him; but straightway + upon the ship's getting out of sight of land, his insanity broke out in + a freshet. He announced himself as the archangel Gabriel, and commanded + the captain to jump overboard. He published his manifesto, whereby he + set himself forth as the deliverer of the isles of the sea and + vicar-general of all Oceanica. The unflinching earnestness with which + he declared these things;—the dark, daring play of his sleepless, + excited imagination, and all the preternatural terrors of real + delirium, united to invest this Gabriel in the minds of the majority of + the ignorant crew, with an atmosphere of sacredness. Moreover, they + were afraid of him. As such a man, however, was not of much practical + use in the ship, especially as he refused to work except when he + pleased, the incredulous captain would fain have been rid of him; but + apprised that that individual's intention was to land him in the first + convenient port, the archangel forthwith opened all his seals and + vials—devoting the ship and all hands to unconditional perdition, in + case this intention was carried out. So strongly did he work upon his + disciples among the crew, that at last in a body they went to the + captain and told him if Gabriel was sent from the ship, not a man of + them would remain. He was therefore forced to relinquish his plan. Nor + would they permit Gabriel to be any way maltreated, say or do what he + would; so that it came to pass that Gabriel had the complete freedom of + the ship. The consequence of all this was, that the archangel cared + little or nothing for the captain and mates; and since the epidemic had + broken out, he carried a higher hand than ever; declaring that the + plague, as he called it, was at his sole command; nor should it be + stayed but according to his good pleasure. The sailors, mostly poor + devils, cringed, and some of them fawned before him; in obedience to + his instructions, sometimes rendering him personal homage, as to a god. + Such things may seem incredible; but, however wondrous, they are true. + Nor is the history of fanatics half so striking in respect to the + measureless self-deception of the fanatic himself, as his measureless + power of deceiving and bedevilling so many others. But it is time to + return to the Pequod. + + "I fear not thy epidemic, man," said Ahab from the bulwarks, to Captain + Mayhew, who stood in the boat's stern; "come on board." + + But now Gabriel started to his feet. + + "Think, think of the fevers, yellow and bilious! + Beware of the horrible plague!" + + "Gabriel! Gabriel!" cried Captain Mayhew; "thou must either-" But that + instant a headlong wave shot the boat far ahead, and its seethings + drowned all speech. + + "Hast thou seen the White Whale?" demanded Ahab, when the boat drifted + back. + + "Think, think of thy whale-boat, stoven and sunk! + Beware of the horrible tail!" + + "I tell thee again, Gabriel, that-" But again the boat tore ahead as if + dragged by fiends. Nothing was said for some moments, while a + succession of riotous waves rolled by which by one of those occasional + caprices of the seas were tumbling, not heaving it. Meantime, the + hoisted sperm whale's head jogged about very violently, and Gabriel was + seen eyeing it with rather more apprehensiveness than his archangel + nature seemed to warrant. + + When this interlude was over, Captain Mayhew began a dark story + concerning Moby Dick; not, however, without frequent interruptions from + Gabriel, whenever his name was mentioned, and the crazy sea that seemed + leagued with him. + + It seemed that the Jeroboam had not long left home, when upon speaking + a whale-ship, her people were reliably apprised of the existence of + Moby Dick, and the havoc he had made. Greedily sucking in this + intelligence, Gabriel solemnly warned the captain against attacking the + White Whale, in case the monster should be seen; in his gibbering + insanity, pronouncing the White Whale to be no less a being than the + Shaker God incarnated; the Shakers receiving the Bible. But when, some + year or two afterwards, Moby Dick was fairly sighted from the + mast-heads, Macey, the chief mate, burned with ardor to encounter him; + and the captain himself being not unwilling to let him have the + opportunity, despite all the archangel's denunciations and + forewarnings, Macey succeeded in persuading five men to man his boat. + With them he pushed off; and, after much weary pulling, and many + perilous, unsuccessful onsets, he at last succeeded in getting one iron + fast. Meantime, Gabriel, ascending to the main-royal mast-head, was + tossing one arm in frantic gestures, and hurling forth prophecies of + speedy doom to the sacrilegious assailants of his divinity. Now, while + Macey, the mate, was standing up in his boat's bow, and with all the + reckless energy of his tribe was venting his wild exclamations upon the + whale, and essaying to get a fair chance for his poised lance, lo! a + broad white shadow rose from the sea; by its quick, fanning motion, + temporarily taking the breath out of the bodies of the oarsmen. Next + instant, the luckless mate, so full of furious life, was smitten bodily + into the air, and making a long arc in his descent, fell into the sea + at the distance of about fifty yards. Not a chip of the boat was + harmed, nor a hair of any oarsman's head; but the mate for ever sank. + + It is well to parenthesize here, that of the fatal accidents in the + Sperm-Whale Fishery, this kind is perhaps almost as frequent as any. + Sometimes, nothing is injured but the man who is thus annihilated; + oftener the boat's bow is knocked off, or the thigh-board, on which the + headsman stands, is torn from its place and accompanies the body. But + strangest of all is the circumstance, that in more instances than one, + when the body has been recovered, not a single mark of violence is + discernible the man being stark dead. + + The whole calamity, with the falling form of Macey, was plainly + descried from the ship. Raising a piercing shriek—"The vial! the vial!" + Gabriel called off the terror-stricken crew from the further hunting of + the whale. This terrible event clothed the archangel with added + influence; because his credulous disciples believed that he had + specifically fore-announced it, instead of only making a general + prophecy, which any one might have done, and so have chanced to hit one + of many marks in the wide margin allowed. He became a nameless terror + to the ship. + + Mayhew having concluded his narration, Ahab put such questions to him, + that the stranger captain could not forbear inquiring whether he + intended to hunt the White Whale, if opportunity should offer. To which + Ahab answered—"Aye." Straightway, then, Gabriel once more started to + his feet, glaring upon the old man, and vehemently exclaimed, with + downward pointed finger—"Think, think of the blasphemer— dead, and down + there!—beware of the blasphemer's end!" + + Ahab stolidly turned aside; then said to Mayhew, "Captain, I have just + bethought me of my letter-bag; there is a letter for one of thy + officers, if I mistake not. Starbuck, look over the bag." + + Every whale-ship takes out a goodly number of letters for various + ships, whose delivery to the persons to whom they may be addressed, + depends upon the mere chance of encountering them in the four oceans. + Thus, most letters never reach their mark; and many are only received + after attaining an age of two or three years or more. + + Soon Starbuck returned with a letter in his hand. It was sorely + tumbled, damp, and covered with a dull, spotted, green mould, in + consequence of being kept in a dark locker of the cabin. Of such a + letter, Death himself might well have been the post-boy. + + "Can'st not read it?" cried Ahab. "Give it me, man. Aye, aye, aye it's + but a dim scrawl;—what's this?" As he was studying it out, Starbuck + took a long cutting-spade pole, and with his knife slightly split the + end, to insert the letter there, and in that way, hand it to the boat, + without its coming any closer to the ship. + + Meantime, Ahab holding the letter, muttered, "Mr. Har— yes, Mr. + Harry—(a woman's pinny hand,—the man's wife, I'll wager)—Aye—Mr. Harry + Macey, Ship Jeroboam; why it's Macey, and he's dead!" + + "Poor fellow! poor fellow! and from his wife," sighed Mayhew; "but let + me have it." + + "Nay, keep it thyself," cried Gabriel to Ahab; "thou art soon going + that way." + + "Curses throttle thee!" yelled Ahab. "Captain Mayhew, stand by now to + receive it"; and taking the fatal missive from Starbuck's hands, he + caught it in the slit of the pole, and reached it over towards the + boat. But as he did so, the oarsmen expectantly desisted from rowing; + the boat drifted a little towards the ship's stern; so that, as if by + magic, the letter suddenly ranged along with Gabriel's eager hand. He + clutched it in an instant, seized the boat-knife, and impaling the + letter on it, sent it thus loaded back into the ship. It fell at Ahab's + feet. Then Gabriel shrieked out to his comrades to give way with their + oars, and in that manner the mutinous boat rapidly shot away from the + Pequod. + + As, after this interlude, the seamen resumed their work upon the jacket + of the whale, many strange things were hinted in reference to this wild + affair. + + + + + CHAPTER 72 + + + The Monkey-Rope + + In the tumultuous business of cutting-in and attending to a whale, + there is much running backwards and forwards among the crew. Now hands + are wanted here, and then again hands are wanted there. There is no + staying in any one place; for at one and the same time everything has + to be done everywhere. It is much the same with him who endeavors the + description of the scene. We must now retrace our way a little. It was + mentioned that upon first breaking ground in the whale's back, the + blubber-hook was inserted into the original hole there cut by the + spades of the mates. But how did so clumsy and weighty a mass as that + same hook get fixed in that hole? It was inserted there by my + particular friend Queequeg, whose duty it was, as harpooneer, to + descend upon the monster's back for the special purpose referred to. + But in very many cases, circumstances require that the harpooneer shall + remain on the whale till the whole tensing or stripping operation is + concluded. The whale, be it observed, lies almost entirely submerged, + excepting the immediate parts operated upon. So down there, some ten + feet below the level of the deck, the poor harpooneer flounders about, + half on the whale and half in the water, as the vast mass revolves like + a tread-mill beneath him. On the occasion in question, Queequeg figured + in the Highland costume— a shirt and socks—in which to my eyes, at + least, he appeared to uncommon advantage; and no one had a better + chance to observe him, as will presently be seen. + + Being the savage's bowsman, that is, the person who pulled the bow-oar + in his boat (the second one from forward), it was my cheerful duty to + attend upon him while taking that hard-scrabble scramble upon the dead + whale's back. You have seen Italian organ-boys holding a dancing-ape by + a long cord. Just so, from the ship's steep side, did I hold Queequeg + down there in the sea, by what is technically called in the fishery a + monkey-rope, attached to a strong strip of canvas belted round his + waist. + + It was a humorously perilous business for both of us. For, before we + proceed further, it must be said that the monkey-rope was fast at both + ends; fast to Queequeg's broad canvas belt, and fast to my narrow + leather one. So that for better or for worse, we two, for the time, + were wedded; and should poor Queequeg sink to rise no more, then both + usage and honor demanded, that instead of cutting the cord, it should + drag me down in his wake. So, then, an elongated Siamese ligature + united us. Queequeg was my own inseparable twin brother; nor could I + any way get rid of the dangerous liabilities which the hempen bond + entailed. + + So strongly and metaphysically did I conceive of my situation then, + that while earnestly watching his motions, I seemed distinctly to + perceive that my own individuality was now merged in a joint stock + company of two; that my free will had received a mortal wound; and that + another's mistake or misfortune might plunge innocent me into unmerited + disaster and death. Therefore, I saw that here was a sort of + interregnum in Providence; for its even-handed equity never could have + so gross an injustice. And yet still further pondering—while I jerked + him now and then from between the whale and ship, which would threaten + to jam him—still further pondering, I say, I saw that this situation of + mine was the precise situation of every mortal that breathes; only, in + most cases, he, one way or other, has this Siamese connexion with a + plurality of other mortals. If your banker breaks, you snap; if your + apothecary by mistake sends you poison in your pills, you die. True, + you may say that, by exceeding caution, you may possibly escape these + and the multitudinous other evil chances of life. But handle Queequeg's + monkey-rope heedfully as I would, sometimes he jerked it so, that I + came very near sliding overboard. Nor could I possibly forget that, do + what I would, I only had the management of one end of it.* + + *The monkey-rope is found in all whalers; but it was only in the Pequod + that the monkey and his holder were ever tied together. This + improvement upon the original usage was introduced by no less a man + than Stubb, in order to afford to the imperilled harpooneer the + strongest possible guarantee for the faithfulness and vigilance of his + monkey-rope holder. + + I have hinted that I would often jerk poor Queequeg from between the + whale and the ship—where he would occasionally fall, from the incessant + rolling and swaying of both. But this was not the only jamming jeopardy + he was exposed to. Unappalled by the massacre made upon them during the + night, the sharks now freshly and more keenly allured by the before + pent blood which began to flow from the carcass—the rabid creatures + swarmed round it like bees in a beehive. + + And right in among those sharks was Queequeg; who often pushed them + aside with his floundering feet. A thing altogether incredible were it + not that attracted by such prey as a dead whale, the otherwise + miscellaneously carnivorous shark will seldom touch a man. + + Nevertheless, it may well be believed that since they have such a + ravenous finger in the pie, it is deemed but wise to look sharp to + them. Accordingly, besides the monkey-rope, with which I now and then + jerked the poor fellow from too close a vicinity to the maw of what + seemed a peculiarly ferocious shark—he was provided with still another + protection. Suspended over the side in one of the stages, Tashtego and + Daggoo continually flourished over his head a couple of keen + whale-spades, wherewith they slaughtered as many sharks as they could + reach. This procedure of theirs, to be sure, was very disinterested and + benevolent of them. They meant Queequeg's best happiness, I admit; but + in their hasty zeal to befriend him, and from the circumstance that + both he and the sharks were at times half hidden by the blood-muddled + water, those indiscreet spades of theirs would come nearer amputating a + leg than a tall. But poor Queequeg, I suppose, straining and gasping + there with that great iron hook—poor Queequeg, I suppose, only prayed + to his Yojo, and gave up his life into the hands of his gods. + + Well, well, my dear comrade and twin-brother, thought I, as I drew in + and then slacked off the rope to every swell of the sea— what matters + it, after all? Are you not the precious image of each and all of us men + in this whaling world? That unsounded ocean you gasp in, is Life; those + sharks, your foes; those spades, your friends; and what between sharks + and spades you are in a sad pickle and peril, poor lad. + + But courage! there is good cheer in store for you, Queequeg. For now, + as with blue lips and blood-shot eyes the exhausted savage at last + climbs up the chains and stands all dripping and involuntarily + trembling over the side; the steward advances, and with a benevolent, + consolatory glance hands him—what? Some hot Cognac? No! hands him, ye + gods! hands him a cup of tepid ginger and water! + + "Ginger? Do I smell ginger?" suspiciously asked Stubb, coming near. + "Yes, this must be ginger," peering into the as yet untasted cup. Then + standing as if incredulous for a while, he calmly walked towards the + astonished steward slowly saying, "Ginger? ginger? and will you have + the goodness to tell me, Mr. Dough-Boy, where lies the virtue of + ginger? Ginger! is ginger the sort of fuel you use, Dough-boy, to + kindle a fire in this shivering cannibal? Ginger!—what the devil is + ginger?— sea-coal? firewood?—lucifer matches?—tinder?—gunpowder?—what + the devil is ginger, I say, that you offer this cup to our poor + Queequeg here." + + "There is some sneaking Temperance Society movement about this + business," he suddenly added, now approaching Starbuck, who had just + come from forward. "Will you look at that kannakin, sir; smell of it, + if you please." Then watching the mate's countenance, he added, "The + steward, Mr. Starbuck, had the face to offer that calomel and jalap to + Queequeg, there, this instant off the whale. Is the steward an + apothecary, sir? and may I ask whether this is the sort of bitters by + which he blows back the life into a half-drowned man?" + + "I trust not," said Starbuck, "it is poor stuff enough." + + "Aye, aye, steward," cried Stubb, "we'll teach you to drug it + harpooneer; none of your apothecary's medicine here; you want to poison + us, do ye? You have got out insurances on our lives and want to give + way with their oars, and pocket the proceeds, do ye?" + + "It was not me," cried Dough-Boy, "it was Aunt Charity that brought the + ginger on board; and bade me never give the harpooneers any spirits, + but only this ginger-jub—so she called it." + + "Ginger-jub! you gingerly rascal! take that! and run along with ye to + the lockers, and get something better. I hope I do no wrong, Mr. + Starbuck. It is the captain's orders— grog for the harpooneer on a + whale." + + "Enough," replied Starbuck, "only don't hit him again, but-" + + "Oh, I never hurt when I hit, except when I hit a whale or something of + that sort; and this fellow's a weazel. What were you about saying, + sir?" + + "Only this: go down with him, and get what thou wantest thyself." + + When Stubb reappeared, he came with a dark flask in one hand, and a + sort of tea-caddy in the other. The first contained strong spirits, and + was handed to Queequeg; the second was Aunt Charity's gift, and that + was freely given to the waves. + + + + + CHAPTER 73 + + + Stubb and Flask Kill a Right Whale; and Then Have a Talk Over Him + + It must be borne in mind that all this time we have a Sperm Whale's + prodigious head hanging to the Pequod's side. But we must let it + continue hanging there a while till we can get a chance to attend to + it. For the present other matters press, and the best we can do now for + the head, is to pray heaven the tackles may hold. + + Now, during the past night and forenoon, the Pequod had gradually + drifted into a sea, which, by its occasional patches of yellow brit, + gave unusual tokens of the vicinity of Right Whales, a species of the + Leviathan that but few supposed to be at this particular time lurking + anywhere near. And though all hands commonly disdained the capture of + those inferior creatures; and though the Pequod was not commissioned to + cruise for them at all, and though she had passed numbers of them near + the Crozetts without lowering a boat; yet now that a Sperm Whale had + been brought alongside and beheaded, to the surprise of all, the + announcement was made that a Right Whale should be captured that day, + if opportunity offered. + + Nor was this long wanting. Tall spouts were seen to leeward; and two + boats, Stubb's and Flask's, were detached in pursuit. Pulling further + and further away, they at last became almost invisible to the men at + the masthead. But suddenly in the distance, they saw a great heap of + tumultuous white water, and soon after news came from aloft that one or + both the boats must be fast. An interval passed and the boats were in + plain sight, in the act of being dragged right towards the ship by the + towing whale. So close did the monster come to the hull, that at first + it seemed as if he meant it malice; but suddenly going down in a + maelstrom, within three rods of the planks, he wholly disappeared from + view, as if diving under the keel. "Cut, cut!" was the cry from the + ship to the boats, which, for one instant, seemed on the point of being + brought with a deadly dash against the vessel's side. But having plenty + of line yet in the tubs, and the whale not sounding very rapidly, they + paid out abundance of rope, and at the same time pulled with all their + might so as to get ahead of the ship. For a few minutes the struggle + was intensely critical; for while they still slacked out the tightened + line in one direction, and still plied their oars in another, the + contending strain threatened to take them under. But it was only a few + feet advance they sought to gain. And they stuck to it till they did + gain it; when instantly, a swift tremor was felt running like lightning + along the keel, as the strained line, scraping beneath the ship, + suddenly rose to view under her bows, snapping and quivering; and so + flinging off its drippings, that the drops fell like bits of broken + glass on the water, while the whale beyond also rose to sight, and once + more the boats were free to fly. But the fagged whale abated his speed, + and blindly altering his course, went round the stern of the ship + towing the two boats after him, so that they performed a complete + circuit. + + Meantime, they hauled more and more upon their lines, till close + flanking him on both sides, Stubb answered Flask with lance for lance; + and thus round and round the Pequod the battle went, while the + multitudes of sharks that had before swum round the Sperm Whale's body, + rushed to the fresh blood that was spilled, thirstily drinking at every + new gash, as the eager Israelites did at the new bursting fountains + that poured from the smitten rock. + + At last his spout grew thick, and with a frightful roll and vomit, he + turned upon his back a corpse. + + While the two headsmen were engaged in making fast cords to his flukes, + and in other ways getting the mass in readiness for towing, some + conversation ensued between them. + + "I wonder what the old man wants with this lump of foul lard," said + Stubb, not without some disgust at the thought of having to do with so + ignoble a leviathan. + + "Wants with it?" said Flask, coiling some spare line in the boat's bow, + "did you never hear that the ship which but once has a Sperm Whale's + head hoisted on her starboard side, and at the same time a Right + Whale's on the larboard; did you never hear, Stubb, that that ship can + never afterwards capsize?" + + "Why not? + + "I don't know, but I heard that gamboge ghost of a Fedallah saying so, + and he seems to know all about ships' charms. But I sometimes think + he'll charm the ship to no good at last. I don't half like that chap, + Stubb. Did you ever notice how that tusk of his is a sort of carved + into a snake's head, Stubb?" + + "Sink him! I never look at him at all; but if ever I get a chance of a + dark night, and he standing hard by the bulwarks, and no one by; look + down there, Flask"—pointing into the sea with a peculiar motion of both + hands—"Aye, will I! Flask, I take that Fedallah to be the devil in + disguise. Do you believe that cock and bull story about his having been + stowed away on board ship? He's the devil, I say. The reason why you + don't see his tail, is because he tucks it up out of sight; he carries + it coiled away in his pocket, I guess. Blast him! now that I think of + it, he's always wanting oakum to stuff into the toes of his boots." + + "He sleeps in his boots, don't he? He hasn't got any hammock; but I've + seen him lay of nights in a coil of rigging." + + "No doubt, and it's because of his cursed tail; he coils it down, do ye + see, in the eye of the rigging." + + "What's the old man have so much to do with him for?" + + "Striking up a swap or a bargain, I suppose." + + "Bargain?—about what?" + + "Why, do ye see, the old man is hard bent after that White Whale, and + the devil there is trying to come round him, and get him to swap away + his silver watch, or his soul, or something of that sort, and then + he'll surrender Moby Dick." + + "Pooh! Stubb, you are skylarking; how can Fedallah do that?" + + "I don't know, Flask, but the devil is a curious chap, and a wicked + one, I tell ye. Why, they say as how he went a sauntering into the old + flag-ship once, switching his tail about devilish easy and + gentlemanlike, and inquiring if the old governor was at home. Well, he + was at home, and asked the devil what he wanted. The devil, switching + his hoofs, up and says, 'I want John.' 'What for?' says the old + governor. 'What business is that of yours,' says the devil, getting + mad,—'I want to use him.' 'Take him,' says the governor— and by the + Lord, Flask, if the devil didn't give John the Asiatic cholera before + he got through with him, I'll eat this whale in one mouthful. But look + sharp—ain't you all ready there? Well, then, pull ahead, and let's get + the whale alongside." + + "I think I remember some such story as you were telling," said Flask, + when at last the two boats were slowly advancing with their burden + towards the ship, "but I can't remember where." + + "Three Spaniards? Adventures of those three bloody-minded soldadoes? + Did ye read it there, Flask? I guess ye did?" + + "No: never saw such a book; heard of it, though. But now, tell me, + Stubb, do you suppose that that devil you was speaking of just now, was + the same you say is now on board the Pequod?" + + "Am I the same man that helped kill this whale? Doesn't the devil live + for ever; who ever heard that the devil was dead? Did you ever see any + parson a wearing mourning for the devil? And if the devil has a + latch-key to get into the admiral's cabin, don't you suppose he can + crawl into a porthole? Tell me that, Mr. Flask?" + + "How old do you suppose Fedallah is, Stubb?" + + "Do you see that mainmast there?" pointing to the ship; "well, that's + the figure one; now take all the hoops in the Pequod's hold, and string + 'em along in a row with that mast, for oughts, do you see; well, that + wouldn't begin to be Fedallah's age. Nor all the coopers in creation + couldn't show hoops enough to make oughts enough." + + "But see here, Stubb, I thought you a little boasted just now, that you + meant to give Fedallah a sea-toss, if you got a good chance. Now, if + he's so old as all those hoops of yours come to, and if he is going to + live for ever, what good will it do to pitch him overboard— tell me + that? + + "Give him a good ducking, anyhow." + + "But he'd crawl back." + + "Duck him again; and keep ducking him." + + "Suppose he should take it into his head to duck you, though— yes, and + drown you—what then?" + + "I should like to see him try it; I'd give him such a pair of black + eyes that he wouldn't dare to show his face in the admiral's cabin + again for a long while, let alone down in the orlop there, where he + lives, and hereabouts on the upper decks where he sneaks so much. Damn + the devil, Flask; do you suppose I'm afraid of the devil? Who's afraid + of him, except the old governor who daresn't catch him and put him in + double-darbies, as he deserves, but lets him go about kidnapping + people; aye, and signed a bond with him, that all the people the devil + kidnapped, he'd roast for him? There's a governor!" + + "Do you suppose Fedallah wants to kidnap Captain Ahab?" + + "Do I suppose it? You'll know it before long, Flask. But I am going now + to keep a sharp look-out on him; and if I see anything very suspicious + going on, I'll just take him by the nape of his neck, and say—Look + here, Beelzebub, you don't do it; and if he makes any fuss, by the Lord + I'll make a grab into his pocket for his tail, take it to the capstan, + and give him such a wrenching and heaving, that his tail will come + short off at the stump—do you see; and then, I rather guess when he + finds himself docked in that queer fashion, he'll sneak off without the + poor satisfaction of feeling his tail between his legs." + + "And what will you do with the tail, Stubb?" + + "Do with it? Sell it for an ox whip when we get home;—what else?" + + "Now, do you mean what you say, and have been saying all along, Stubb?" + + "Mean or not mean, here we are at the ship." + + The boats were here hailed, to tow the whale on the larboard side, + where fluke chains and other necessaries were already prepared for + securing him. + + "Didn't I tell you so?" said Flask; "yes, you'll soon see this right + whale's head hoisted up opposite that parmacety's." + + In good time, Flask's saying proved true. As before, the Pequod steeply + leaned over towards the sperm whale's head, now, by the counterpoise of + both heads, she regained her even keel; though sorely strained, you may + well believe. So, when on one side you hoist in Locke's head, you go + over that way; but now, on the other side, hoist in Kant's and you come + back again; but in very poor plight. Thus, some minds for ever keep + trimming boat. Oh, ye foolish! throw all these thunder-heads overboard, + and then you will float light and right. + + In disposing of the body of a right whale, when brought alongside the + ship, the same preliminary proceedings commonly take place as in the + case of a sperm whale; only, in the latter instance, the head is cut + off whole, but in the former the lips and tongue are separately removed + and hoisted on deck, with all the well known black bone attached to + what is called the crown-piece. But nothing like this, in the present + case, had been done. The carcases of both whales had dropped astern; + and the head-laden ship not a little resembled a mule carrying a pair + of overburdening panniers. + + Meantime, Fedallah was calmly eyeing the right whale's head, and ever + and anon glancing from the deep wrinkles there to the lines in his own + hand. And Ahab chanced so to stand, that the Parsee occupied his + shadow; while, if the Parsee's shadow was there at all it seemed only + to blend with, and lengthen Ahab's. As the crew toiled on, Laplandish + speculations were bandied among them, concerning all these passing + things. + + + + + CHAPTER 74 + + + The Sperm Whale's Head - Contrasted View + + Here, now, are two great whales, laying their heads together; let us + join them, and lay together our own. + + Of the grand order of folio leviathans, the Sperm Whale and the Right + Whale are by far the most noteworthy. They are the only whales + regularly hunted by man. To the Nantucketer, they present the two + extremes of all the known varieties of the whale. As the external + difference between them is mainly observable in their heads; and as a + head of each is this moment hanging from the Pequod's side; and as we + may freely go from one to the other, by merely stepping across the + deck:—where, I should like to know, will you obtain a better chance to + study practical cetology than here? + + In the first place, you are struck by the general contrast between + these heads. Both are massive enough in all conscience; but, there is a + certain mathematical symmetry in the Sperm Whale's which the Right + Whale's sadly lacks. There is more character in the Sperm Whale's head. + As you behold it, you involuntarily yield the immense superiority to + him, in point of pervading dignity. In the present instance, too, this + dignity is heightened by the pepper and salt color of his head at the + summit, giving token of advanced age and large experience. In short, he + is what the fishermen technically call a "grey-headed whale." + + Let us now note what is least dissimilar in these heads— namely, the + two most important organs, the eye and the ear. Far back on the side of + the head, and low down, near the angle of either whale's jaw, if you + narrowly search, you will at last see a lashless eye, which you would + fancy to be a young colt's eye; so out of all proportion is it to the + magnitude of the head. + + Now, from this peculiar sideway position of the whale's eyes, it is + plain that he can never see an object which is exactly ahead, no more + than he can one exactly astern. In a word, the position of the whale's + eyes corresponds to that of a man's ears; and you may fancy, for + yourself, how it would fare with you, did you sideways survey objects + through your ears. You would find that you could only command some + thirty degrees of vision in advance of the straight side-line of sight; + and about thirty more behind it. If your bitterest foe were walking + straight towards you, with dagger uplifted in broad day, you would not + be able to see him, any more than if he were stealing upon you from + behind. In a word, you would have two backs, so to speak; but, at the + same time, also, two fronts (side fronts): for what is it that makes + the front of a man— what, indeed, but his eyes? + + Moreover, while in most other animals that I can now think of, the eyes + are so planted as imperceptibly to blend their visual power, so as to + produce one picture and not two to the brain; the peculiar position of + the whale's eyes, effectually divided as they are by many cubic feet of + solid head, which towers between them like a great mountain separating + two lakes in valleys; this, of course, must wholly separate the + impressions which each independent organ imparts. The whale, therefore, + must see one distinct picture on this side, and another distinct + picture on that side; while all between must be profound darkness and + nothingness to him. Man may, in effect, be said to look out on the + world from a sentry-box with two joined sashes for his window. But with + the whale, these two sashes are separately inserted, making two + distinct windows, but sadly impairing the view. This peculiarity of the + whale's eyes is a thing always to be borne in mind in the fishery; and + to be remembered by the reader in some subsequent scenes. + + A curious and most puzzling question might be started concerning this + visual matter as touching the Leviathan. But I must be content with a + hint. So long as a man's eyes are open in the light, the act of seeing + is involuntary; that is, he cannot then help mechanically seeing + whatever objects are before him. Nevertheless, any one's experience + will teach him, that though he can take in an undiscriminating sweep of + things at one glance, it is quite impossible for him, attentively, and + completely, to examine any two things—however large or however small— + at one and the same instant of time; never mind if they lie side by + side and touch each other. But if you now come to separate these two + objects, and surround each by a circle of profound darkness; then, in + order to see one of them, in such a manner as to bring your mind to + bear on it, the other will be utterly excluded from your contemporary + consciousness. How is it, then, with the whale? True, both his eyes, in + themselves, must simultaneously act; but is his brain so much more + comprehensive, combining, and subtle than man's, that he can at the + same moment of time attentively examine two distinct prospects, one on + one side of him, and the other in an exactly opposite direction? If he + can, then is it as marvellous a thing in him, as if a man were able + simultaneously to go through the demonstrations of two distinct + problems in Euclid. Nor, strictly investigated, is there any + incongruity in this comparison. + + It may be but an idle whim, but it has always seemed to me, that the + extraordinary vacillations of movement displayed by some whales when + beset by three or four boats; the timidity and liability to queer + frights, so common to such whales; I think that all this indirectly + proceeds from the helpless perplexity of volition, in which their + divided and diametrically opposite powers of vision must involve them. + + But the ear of the whale is full as curious as the eye. If you are an + entire stranger to their race, you might hunt over these two heads for + hours, and never discover that organ. The ear has no external leaf + whatever; and into the hole itself you can hardly insert a quill, so + wondrously minute is it. It is lodged a little behind the eye. With + respect to their ears, this important difference is to be observed + between the sperm whale and the right. While the ears of the former has + an external opening, that of the latter is entirely and evenly covered + over with a membrane, so as to be quite imperceptible from without. + + Is it not curious, that so vast a being as the whale should see the + world through so small an eye, and hear the thunder through an ear + which is smaller than a hare's? But if his eyes were broad as the lens + of Herschel's great telescope; and his ears capacious as the porches of + cathedrals; would that make him any longer of sight, or sharper of + hearing? Not at all.—Why then do you try to "enlarge" your mind? + Subtilize it. + + Let us now with whatever levers and steam-engines we have at hand, cant + over the sperm whale's head, so, that it may lie bottom up; then, + ascending by a ladder to the summit, have a peep down the mouth; and + were it not that the body is now completely separated from it, with a + lantern we might descend into the great Kentucky Mammoth Cave of his + stomach. But let us hold on here by this tooth, and look about us where + we are. What a really beautiful and chaste-looking mouth! from floor to + ceiling, lined, or rather papered with a glistening white membrane, + glossy as bridal satins. + + But come out now, and look at this portentous lower jaw, which seems + like the long narrow lid of an immense snuff-box, with the hinge at one + end, instead of one side. If you pry it up, so as to get it overhead, + and expose its rows of teeth, it seems a terrific portcullis; and such, + alas! it proves to many a poor wight in the fishery, upon whom these + spikes fall with impaling force. But far more terrible is it to behold, + when fathoms down in the sea, you see some sulky whale, floating there + suspended, with his prodigious jaw, some fifteen feet long, hanging + straight down at right-angles with his body; for all the world like a + ship's jibboom. This whale is not dead; he is only dispirited; out of + sorts, perhaps; hypochondriac; and so supine, that the hinges of his + jaw have relaxed, leaving him there in that ungainly sort of plight, a + reproach to all his tribe, who must, no doubt, imprecate lock-jaws upon + him. + + In most cases this lower jaw—being easily unhinged by a practised + artist— is disengaged and hoisted on deck for the purpose of extracting + the ivory teeth, and furnishing a supply of that hard white whalebone + with which the fishermen fashion all sorts of curious articles + including canes, umbrella-stocks, and handles to riding-whips. + + With a long, weary hoist the jaw is dragged on board, as if it were an + anchor; and when the proper time comes— some few days after the other + work—Queequeg, Daggoo, and Tashtego, being all accomplished dentists, + are set to drawing teeth. With a keen cutting-spade, Queequeg lances + the gums; then the jaw is lashed down to ringbolts, and a tackle being + rigged from aloft, they drag out these teeth, as Michigan oxen drag + stumps of old oaks out of wild woodlands. There are generally forty-two + teeth in all; in old whales, much worn down, but undecayed; nor filled + after our artificial fashion. The jaw is afterwards sawn into slabs, + and piled away like joists for building houses. + + + + + CHAPTER 75 + + + The Right Whale's Head - Contrasted View + + Crossing the deck, let us now have a good long look at the the + Right Whale's head. + + As in general shape the noble Sperm Whale's head may be compared to a + Roman war-chariot (especially in front, where it is so broadly + rounded); so, at a broad view, the Right Whale's head bears a rather + inelegant resemblance to a gigantic galliot-toed shoe. Two hundred + years ago an old Dutch voyager likened its shape to that of a + shoemaker's last. And in this same last or shoe, that old woman of the + nursery tale with the swarming brood, might very comfortably be lodged, + she and all her progeny. + + But as you come nearer to this great head it begins to assume different + aspects, according to your point of view. If you stand on its summit + and look at these two f-shaped spout-holes, you would take the whole + head for an enormous bass viol, and these spiracles, the apertures in + its soundingboard. Then, again, if you fix your eye upon this strange, + crested, comblike incrustation on the top of the mass—this green, + barnacled thing, which the Greenlanders call the "crown," and the + Southern fishers the "bonnet" of the Right Whale; fixing your eyes + solely on this, you would take the head for the trunk of some huge oak, + with a bird's nest in its crotch. At any rate, when you watch those + live crabs that nestle here on this bonnet, such an idea will be almost + sure to occur to you; unless, indeed, your fancy has been fixed by the + technical term "crown" also bestowed upon it; in which case you will + take great interest in thinking how this mighty monster is actually a + diademed king of the sea, whose green crown has been put together for + him in this marvellous manner. But if this whale be a king, he is a + very sulky looking fellow to grace a diadem. Look at that hanging lower + lip! what a huge sulk and pout is there! a sulk and pout, by + carpenter's measurement, about twenty feet long and five feet deep; a + sulk and pout that will yield you some 500 gallons of oil and more. + + A great pity, now, that this unfortunate whale should be hare-lipped. + The fissure is about a foot across. Probably the mother during an + important interval was sailing down the Peruvian coast, when + earthquakes caused the beach to gape. Over this lip, as over a slippery + threshold, we now slide into the mouth. Upon my word were I at + Mackinaw, I should take this to be the inside of an Indian wigwam. Good + Lord! is this the road that Jonah went? The roof is about twelve feet + high, and runs to a pretty sharp angle, as if there were a regular + ridge-pole there; while these ribbed, arched, hairy sides, present us + with those wondrous, half vertical, scimitar-shaped slats of whalebone, + say three hundred on a side, which depending from the upper part of the + head or crown bone, form those Venetian blinds which have elsewhere + been cursorily mentioned. The edges of these bones are fringed with + hairy fibres, through which the Right Whale strains the water, and in + whose intricacies he retains the small fish, when openmouthed he goes + through the seas of brit in feeding time. In the central blinds of + bone, as they stand in their natural order, there are certain curious + marks, curves, hollows, and ridges, whereby some whalemen calculate the + creature's age, as the age of an oak by its circular rings. Though the + certainty of this criterion is far from demonstrable, yet it has the + savor of analogical probability. At any rate, if we yield to it, we + must grant a far greater age to the Right Whale than at first glance + will seem reasonable. + + In old times, there seem to have prevailed the most curious fancies + concerning these blinds. One voyager in Purchas calls them the wondrous + "whiskers" inside of the whale's mouth;* another, "hogs' bristles"; a + third old gentleman in Hackluyt uses the following elegant language: + "There are about two hundred and fifty fins growing on each side of his + upper chop, which arch over his tongue on each side of his mouth." + + *This reminds us that the Right Whale really has a sort of whisker, or + rather a moustache, consisting of a few scattered white hairs on the + upper part of the outer end of the lower jaw. Sometimes these tufts + impart a rather brigandish expression to his otherwise solemn + countenance. + + As every one knows, these same "hogs' bristles," "fins," "whiskers," + "blinds," or whatever you please, furnish to the ladies their busks and + other stiffening contrivances. But in this particular, the demand has + long been on the decline. It was in Queen Anne's time that the bone was + in its glory, the farthingale being then all the fashion. And as those + ancient dames moved about gaily, though in the jaws of the whale, as + you may say; even so, in a shower, with the like thoughtlessness, do we + nowadays fly under the same jaws for protection; the umbrella being a + tent spread over the same bone. + + But now forget all about blinds and whiskers for a moment, and, + standing in the Right Whale's mouth, look around you afresh. Seeing all + these colonnades of bone so methodically ranged about, would you not + think you were inside of the great Haarlem organ, and gazing upon its + thousand pipes? For a carpet to the organ we have a rug of the softest + Turkey—the tongue, which is glued, as it were, to the floor of the + mouth. It is very fat and tender, and apt to tear in pieces in hoisting + it on deck. This particular tongue now before us; at a passing glance I + should say it was a six-barreler; that is, it will yield you about that + amount of oil. + + Ere this, you must have plainly seen the truth of what I started with— + that the Sperm Whale and the Right Whale have almost entirely different + heads. To sum up, then: in the Right Whale's there is no great well of + sperm; no ivory teeth at all; no long, slender mandible of a lower jaw, + like the Sperm Whale's. Nor in the Sperm Whale are there any of those + blinds of bone; no huge lower lip; and scarcely anything of a tongue. + Again, the Right Whale has two external spout-holes, the Sperm Whale + only one. + + Look your last now, on these venerable hooded heads, while they yet lie + together; for one will soon sink, unrecorded, in the sea; the other + will not be very long in following. + + Can you catch the expression of the Sperm Whale's there? It is the same + he died with, only some of the longer wrinkles in the forehead seem now + faded away. I think his broad brow to be full of a prairie-like + placidity, born of a speculative indifference as to death. But mark the + other head's expression. See that amazing lower lip, pressed by + accident against the vessel's side, so as firmly to embrace the jaw. + Does not this whole head seem to speak of an enormous practical + resolution in facing death? This Right Whale I take to have been a + Stoic; the Sperm Whale, a Platonian, who might have taken up Spinoza in + his latter years. + + + + + CHAPTER 76 + + + The Battering-Ram + + Ere quitting, for the nonce, the Sperm Whale's head, I would have you, + as a sensible physiologist, simply—particularly remark its front + aspect, in all its compacted collectedness. I would have you + investigate it now with the sole view of forming to yourself some + unexaggerated, intelligent estimate of whatever battering-ram power may + be lodged there. Here is a vital point; for you must either + satisfactorily settle this matter with yourself, or for ever remain an + infidel as to one of the most appalling, but not the less true events, + perhaps anywhere to be found in all recorded history. + + You observe that in the ordinary swimming position of the Sperm Whale, + the front of his head presents an almost wholly vertical plane to the + water; you observe that the lower part of that front slopes + considerably backwards, so as to furnish more of a retreat for the long + socket which receives the boom-like lower jaw; you observe that the + mouth is entirely under the head, much in the same way, indeed, as + though your own mouth were entirely under your chin. Moreover you + observe that the whale has no external nose; and that what nose he + has—his spout hole— is on the top of his head; you observe that his + eyes and ears are at the sides of his head; nearly one third of his + entire length from the front. Wherefore, you must now have perceived + that the front of the Sperm Whale's head is a dead, blind wall, without + a single organ or tender prominence of any sort whatsoever. + Furthermore, you are now to consider that only in the extreme, lower, + backward sloping part of the front of the head, is there the slightest + vestige of bone; and not till you get near twenty feet from the + forehead do you come to the full cranial development. So that this + whole enormous boneless mass is as one wad. Finally, though, as will + soon be revealed, its contents partly comprise the most delicate oil; + yet, you are now to be apprised of the nature of the substance which so + impregnably invests all that apparent effeminacy. In some previous + place I have described to you how the blubber wraps the body of the + whale, as the rind wraps an orange. Just so with the head; but with + this difference: about the head this envelope, though not so thick is + of a boneless toughness, inestimable by any man who has not handled it. + The severest pointed harpoon, the sharpest lance darted by the + strongest human arm, impotently rebounds from it. It is as though the + forehead of the Sperm Whale were paved with horses' hoofs. I do not + think that any sensation lurks in it. + + Bethink yourself also of another thing. When two large, loaded + Indian-men chance to crowd and crush towards each other in the docks, + what do the sailors do? They do not suspend between them, at the point + of coming contact, any merely hard substance, like iron or wood. No, + they hold there a large, round wad of tow and cork, enveloped in the + thickest and toughest of ox-hide. That bravely and uninjured takes the + jam which would have snapped all their oaken handspikes and iron + crow-bars. By itself this sufficiently illustrates the obvious fact I + drive at. But supplementary to this, it has hypothetically occurred to + me, that as ordinary fish possess what is called a swimming bladder in + them, capable, at will, of distension or contraction; and as the Sperm + Whale, as far as I know, has no such provision in him; considering, + too, the otherwise inexplicable manner in which he now depresses his + head altogether beneath the surface, and anon swims with it high + elevated out of the water; considering the unobstructed elasticity of + its envelope; considering the unique interior of his head; it has + hypothetically occurred to me, I say, that those mystical lung-celled + honeycombs there may possibly have some hitherto unknown and + unsuspected connexion with the outer air, so as to be susceptible to + atmospheric distension and contraction. If this be so, fancy the + irresistibleness of that might, to which the most impalpable and + destructive of all elements contributes. + + Now, mark. Unerringly impelling this dead, impregnable, uninjurable + wall, and this most buoyant thing within; there swims behind it all a + mass of tremendous life, only to be adequately estimated as piled wood + is— by the cord; and all obedient to one volition, as the smallest + insect. So that when I shall hereafter detail to you all the + specialities and concentrations of potency everywhere lurking in this + expansive monster; when I shall show you some of his more + inconsiderable braining feats; I trust you will have renounced all + ignorant incredulity, and be ready to abide by this; that though the + Sperm Whale stove a passage through the Isthmus of Darien, and mixed + the Atlantic with the Pacific, you would not elevate one hair of your + eye-brow. For unless you own the whale, you are but a provincial and + sentimentalist in Truth. But clear Truth is a thing for salamander + giants only to encounter; how small the chances for the provincials + then? What befell the weakling youth lifting the dread goddess's veil + at Lais? + + + + + CHAPTER 77 + + + The Great Heidelburgh Tun + + Now comes the Baling of the Case. But to comprehend it aright, you must + know something of the curious internal structure of the thing operated + upon. + + Regarding the Sperm Whale's head as a solid oblong, you may, on an + inclined plane, sideways divide it into two quoins,* whereof the lower + is the bony structure, forming the cranium and jaws, and the upper an + unctuous mass wholly free from bones; its broad forward end forming the + expanded vertical apparent forehead of the whale. At the middle of the + forehead horizontally subdivide this upper quoin, and then you have two + almost equal parts, which before were naturally divided by an internal + wall of a thick tendinous substance. + + *Quoin is not a Euclidean term. It belongs to the pure nautical + mathematics. I know not that it has been defined before. A quoin is a + solid which differs from a wedge in having its sharp end formed by the + steep inclination of one side, instead of the mutual tapering of both + sides. + + The lower subdivided part, called the junk, is one immense honeycomb of + oil, formed by the crossing and recrossing, into ten thousand + infiltrated cells, of tough elastic white fibres throughout its whole + extent. The upper part, known as the Case, may be regarded as the great + Heidelburgh Tun of the Sperm Whale. And as that famous great tierce is + mystically carved in front, so the whale's vast plaited forehead forms + innumerable strange devices for the emblematical adornment of his + wondrous tun. Moreover, as that of Heidelburgh was always replenished + with the most excellent of the wines of the Rhenish valleys, so the tun + of the whale contains by far the most precious of all his oily + vintages; namely, the highly-prized spermaceti, in its absolutely pure, + limpid, and odoriferous state. Nor is this precious substance found + unalloyed in any other part of the creature. Though in life it remains + perfectly fluid, yet, upon exposure to the air, after death, it soon + begins to concrete; sending forth beautiful crystalline shoots, as when + the first thin delicate ice is just forming in water. A large whale's + case generally yields about five hundred gallons of sperm, though from + unavoidable circumstances, considerable of it is spilled, leaks, and + dribbles away, or is otherwise irrevocably lost in the ticklish + business of securing what you can. + + I know not with what fine and costly material the Heidelburgh Tun was + coated within, but in superlative richness that coating could not + possibly have compared with the silken pearl-colored membrane, like the + lining of a fine pelisse, forming the inner surface of the Sperm + Whale's case. + + It will have been seen that the Heidelburgh Tun of the Sperm Whale + embraces the entire length of the entire top of the head; and since—as + has been elsewhere set forth—the head embraces one third of the whole + length of the creature, then setting that length down at eighty feet + for a good sized whale, you have more than twenty-six feet for the + depth of the tun, when it is lengthwise hoisted up and down against a + ship's side. + + As in decapitating the whale, the operator's instrument is brought + close to the spot where an entrance is subsequently forced into the + spermaceti magazine; he has, therefore, to be uncommonly heedful, lest + a careless, untimely stroke should invade the sanctuary and wastingly + let out its invaluable contents. It is this decapitated end of the + head, also, which is at last elevated out of the water, and retained in + that position by the enormous cutting tackles, whose hempen + combinations, on one side, make quite a wilderness of ropes in that + quarter. + + Thus much being said, attend now, I pray you, to that marvellous and— + in this particular instance—almost fatal operation whereby the Sperm + Whale's great Heidelburgh Tun is tapped. + + + + + CHAPTER 78 + + + Cistern and Buckets + + Nimble as a cat, Tashtego mounts aloft; and without altering his erect + posture, runs straight out upon the overhanging mainyard-arm, to the + part where it exactly projects over the hoisted Tun. He has carried + with him a light tackle called a whip, consisting of only two parts, + travelling through a single-sheaved block. Securing this block, so that + it hangs down from the yard-arm, he swings one end of the rope, till it + is caught and firmly held by a hand on the deck. Then, hand-over-hand, + down the other part, the Indian drops through the air, till dexterously + he lands on the summit of the head. There—still high elevated above the + rest of the company, to whom he vivaciously cries— he seems some + Turkish Muezzin calling the good people to prayers from the top of a + tower. A short-handled sharp spade being sent up to him, he diligently + searches for the proper place to begin breaking into the Tun. In this + business he proceeds very heedfully, like a treasure-hunter in some old + house, sounding the walls to find where the gold is masoned in. By the + time this cautious search is over, a stout ironbound bucket, precisely + like a well-bucket, has been attached to one end of the whip; while the + other end, being stretched across the deck, is there held by two or + three alert hands. These last now hoist the bucket within grasp of the + Indian, to whom another person has reached up a very long pole. + Inserting this pole into the bucket, Tashtego downward guides the + bucket into the Tun, till it entirely disappears; then giving the word + to the seamen at the whip, up comes the bucket again, all bubbling like + a dairy-maid's pail of new milk. Carefully lowered from its height, the + full-freighted vessel is caught by an appointed hand, and quickly + emptied into a large tub. Then remounting aloft, it again goes through + the same round until the deep cistern will yield no more. Towards the + end, Tashtego has to ram his long pole harder and harder, and deeper + and deeper into the Tun, until some twenty feet of the pole have gone + down. + + Now, the people of the Pequod had been baling some time in this way; + several tubs had been filled with the fragrant sperm; when all at once + a queer accident happened. Whether it was that Tashtego, that wild + Indian, was so heedless and reckless as to let go for a moment his + one-handed hold on the great cabled tackles suspending the head; or + whether the place where he stood was so treacherous and oozy; or + whether the Evil One himself would have it to fall out so, without + stating his particular reasons; how it was exactly, there is no telling + now; but, on a sudden, as the eightieth or ninetieth bucket came + suckingly up—my God! poor Tashtego— like the twin reciprocating bucket + in a veritable well, dropped head-foremost down into this great Tun of + Heidelburgh, and with a horrible oily gurgling, went clean out of + sight! + + "Man overboard!" cried Daggoo, who amid the general consternation first + came to his senses. "Swing the bucket this way!" and putting one foot + into it, so as the better to secure his slippery hand-hold on the whip + itself the hoisters ran him high up to the top of the head, almost + before Tashtego could have reached its interior bottom. Meantime, there + was a terrible tumult. Looking over the side, they saw the before + lifeless head throbbing and heaving just below the surface of the sea, + as if that moment seized with some momentous idea; whereas it was only + the poor Indian unconsciously revealing by those struggles the perilous + depth to which he had sunk. + + At this instant, while Daggoo, on the summit of the head, was clearing + the whip—which had somehow got foul of the great cutting tackles— a + sharp cracking noise was heard; and to the unspeakable horror of all, + one of the two enormous hooks suspending the head tore out, and with a + vast vibration the enormous mass sideways swung, till the drunk ship + reeled and shook as if smitten by an iceberg. The one remaining hook, + upon which the entire strain now depended, seemed every instant to be + on the point of giving way; an event still more likely from the violent + motions of the head. + + "Come down, come down!" yelled the seamen to Daggoo, but with one hand + holding on to the heavy tackles, so that if the head should drop, he + would still remain suspended; the negro having cleared the foul line, + rammed down the bucket into the now collapsed well, meaning that the + buried harpooneer should grasp it, and so be hoisted out. + + "In heaven's name, man," cried Stubb, "are you ramming home a cartridge + there?—Avast! How will that help him; jamming that iron-bound bucket on + top of his head? Avast, will ye!" + + "Stand clear of the tackle!" cried a voice like the bursting of a + rocket. + + Almost in the same instant, with a thunder-boom, the enormous mass + dropped into the sea, like Niagara's Table-Rock into the whirlpool; the + suddenly relieved hull rolled away from it, to far down her glittering + copper; and all caught their breath, as half swinging—now over the + sailors' heads, and now over the water—Daggoo, through a thick mist of + spray, was dimly beheld clinging to the pendulous tackles, while poor, + buried-alive Tashtego was sinking utterly down to the bottom of the + sea! But hardly had the blinding vapor cleared away, when a naked + figure with a boardingsword in his hand, was for one swift moment seen + hovering over the bulwarks. The next, a loud splash announced that my + brave Queequeg had dived to the rescue. One packed rush was made to the + side, and every eye counted every ripple, as moment followed moment, + and no sign of either the sinker or the diver could be seen. Some hands + now jumped into a boat alongside, and pushed a little off from the + ship. + + "Ha! ha!" cried Daggoo, all at once, from his now quiet, swinging perch + overhead; and looking further off from the side, we saw an arm thrust + upright from the blue waves; a sight strange to see, as an arm thrust + forth from the grass over a grave. + + "Both! both!—it is both!"-cried Daggoo again with a joyful shout; and + soon after, Queequeg was seen boldly striking out with one hand, and + with the other clutching the long hair of the Indian. Drawn into the + waiting boat, they were quickly brought to the deck; but Tashtego was + long in coming to, and Queequeg did not look very brisk. + + Now, how had this noble rescue been accomplished? Why, diving after the + slowly descending head, Queequeg with his keen sword had made side + lunges near its bottom, so as to scuttle a large hole there; then + dropping his sword, had thrust his long arm far inwards and upwards, + and so hauled out our poor Tash by the head. He averred, that upon + first thrusting in for him, a leg was presented; but well knowing that + that was not as it ought to be, and might occasion great trouble;—he + had thrust back the leg, and by a dexterous heave and toss, had wrought + a somerset upon the Indian; so that with the next trial, he came forth + in the good old way— head foremost. As for the great head itself, that + was doing as well as could be expected. + + And thus, through the courage and great skill in obstetrics of + Queequeg, the deliverance, or rather, delivery of Tashtego, was + successfully accomplished, in the teeth, too, of the most untoward and + apparently hopeless impediments; which is a lesson by no means to be + forgotten. Midwifery should be taught in the same course with fencing + and boxing, riding and rowing. + + I know that this queer adventure of the Gay-Header's will be sure to + seem incredible to some landsmen, though they themselves may have + either seen or heard of some one's falling into a cistern ashore; an + accident which not seldom happens, and with much less reason too than + the Indian's, considering the exceeding slipperiness of the curb of the + Sperm Whale's well. + + But, peradventure, it may be sagaciously urged, how is this? We thought + the tissued, infiltrated head of the Sperm Whale, was the lightest and + most corky part about him; and yet thou makest it sink in an element of + a far greater specific gravity than itself. We have thee there. Not at + all, but I have ye; for at the time poor Tash fell in, the case had + been nearly emptied of its lighter contents, leaving little but the + dense tendinous wall of the well—a double welded, hammered substance, + as I have before said, much heavier than the sea water, and a lump of + which sinks in it like lead almost. But the tendency to rapid sinking + in this substance was in the present instance materially counteracted + by the other parts of the head remaining undetached from it, so that it + sank very slowly and deliberately indeed, affording Queequeg a fair + chance for performing his agile obstetrics on the run, as you may say. + Yes, it was a running delivery, so it was. + + Now, had Tashtego perished in that head, it had been a very precious + perishing; smothered in the very whitest and daintiest of fragrant + spermaceti; coffined, hearsed, and tombed in the secret inner chamber + and sanctum sanctorum of the whale. Only one sweeter end can readily be + recalled—the delicious death of an Ohio honey-hunter, who seeking honey + in the crotch of a hollow tree, found such exceeding store of it, that + leaning too far over, it sucked him in, so that he died embalmed. How + many, think ye, have likewise fallen into Plato's honey head, and + sweetly perished there? + + + + + CHAPTER 79 + + + The Prairie + + To scan the lines of his face, or feel the bumps on the head of this + Leviathan; this is a thing which no Physiognomist or Phrenologist has + as yet undertaken. Such an enterprise would seem almost as hopeful as + for Lavater to have scrutinized the wrinkles on the Rock of Gibraltar, + or for Gall to have mounted a ladder and manipulated the Dome of the + Pantheon. Still, in that famous work of his, Lavater not only treats of + the various faces of men, but also attentively studies the faces of + horses, birds, serpents, and fish; and dwells in detail upon the + modifications of expression discernible therein. Nor have Gall and his + disciple Spurzheim failed to throw out some hints touching the + phrenological characteristics of other beings than man. Therefore, + though I am but ill qualified for a pioneer, in the application of + these two semi-sciences to the whale, I will do my endeavor. I try all + things; I achieve what I can. + + Physiognomically regarded, the Sperm Whale is an anomalous creature. He + has no proper nose. And since the nose is the central and most + conspicuous of the features; and since it perhaps most modifies and + finally controls their combined expression; hence it would seem that + its entire absence, as an external appendage, must very largely affect + the countenance of the whale. For as in landscape gardening, a spire, + cupola, monument, or tower of some sort, is deemed almost indispensable + to the completion of the scene; so no face can be physiognomically in + keeping without the elevated open-work belfry of the nose. Dash the + nose from Phidias's marble Jove, and what a sorry remainder! + Nevertheless, Leviathan is of so mighty a magnitude, all his + proportions are so stately, that the same deficiency which in the + sculptured Jove were hideous, in him is no blemish at all. Nay, it is + an added grandeur. A nose to the whale would have been impertinent. As + on your physiognomical voyage you sail round his vast head in your + jollyboat, your noble conceptions of him are never insulted by the + reflection that he has a nose to be pulled. A pestilent conceit, which + so often will insist upon obtruding even when beholding the mightiest + royal beadle on his throne. + + In some particulars, perhaps the most imposing physiognomical view to + be had of the Sperm Whale, is that of the full front of his head. This + aspect is sublime. + + In thought, a fine human brow is like the East when troubled with the + morning. In the repose of the pasture, the curled brow of the bull has + a touch of the grand in it. Pushing heavy cannon up mountain defiles, + the elephant's brow is majestic. Human or animal, the mystical brow is + as that great golden seal affixed by the German Emperors to their + decrees. It signifies—"God: done this day by my hand." But in most + creatures, nay in man himself, very often the brow is but a mere strip + of alpine land lying along the snow line. Few are the foreheads which + like Shakespeare's or Melancthon's rise so high, and descend so low, + that the eyes themselves seem clear, eternal, tideless mountain lakes; + and all above them in the forehead's wrinkles, you seem to track the + antlered thoughts descending there to drink, as the Highland hunters + track the snow prints of the deer. But in the great Sperm Whale, this + high and mighty god-like dignity inherent in the brow is so immensely + amplified, that gazing on it, in that full front view, you feel the + Deity and the dread powers more forcibly than in beholding any other + object in living nature. For you see no one point precisely; not one + distinct feature is revealed; no nose, eyes, ears, or mouth; no face; + he has none, proper; nothing but that one broad firmament of a + forehead, pleated with riddles; dumbly lowering with the doom of boats, + and ships, and men. Nor, in profile, does this wondrous brow diminish; + though that way viewed its grandeur does not domineer upon you so. In + profile, you plainly perceive that horizontal, semi-crescentic + depression in the forehead's middle, which, in a man, is Lavater's mark + of genius. + + But how? Genius in the Sperm Whale? Has the Sperm Whale ever written a + book, spoken a speech? No, his great genius is declared in his doing + nothing particular to prove it. It is moreover declared in his + pyramidical silence. And this reminds me that had the great Sperm Whale + been known to the young Orient World, he would have been deified by + their child-magian thoughts. They deified the crocodile of the Nile, + because the crocodile is tongueless; and the Sperm Whale has no tongue, + or at least it is so exceedingly small, as to be incapable of + protrusion. If hereafter any highly cultured, poetical nation shall + lure back to their birth-right, the merry May-day gods of old; and + livingly enthrone them again in the now egotistical sky; in the now + unhaunted hill; then be sure, exalted to Jove's high seat, the great + Sperm Whale shall lord it. + + Champollion deciphered the wrinkled granite hieroglyphics. But there is + no Champollion to decipher the Egypt of every man's and every being's + face. Physiognomy, like every other human science, is but a passing + fable. If then, Sir William Jones, who read in thirty languages, could + not read the simplest peasant's face in its profounder and more subtle + meanings, how may unlettered Ishmael hope to read the awful Chaldee of + the Sperm Whale's brow? I but put that brow before you. Read if it if + you can. + + + + + CHAPTER 80 + + + The Nut + + If the Sperm Whale be physiognomically a Sphinx, to the phrenologist + his brain seems that geometrical circle which it is impossible to + square. + + In the full-grown creature the skull will measure at least twenty feet + in length. Unhinge the lower jaw, and the side view of this skull is as + the side view of a moderately inclined plane resting throughout on a + level base. But in life—as we have elsewhere seen—this inclined plane + is angularly filled up, and almost squared by the enormous + superincumbent mass of the junk and sperm. At the high end the skull + forms a crater to bed that part of the mass; while under the long floor + of this crater—in another cavity seldom exceeding ten inches in length + and as many in depth reposes the mere handful of this monster's brain. + The brain is at least twenty feet from his apparent forehead in life; + it is hidden away behind its vast outworks, like the innermost citadel + within the amplified fortifications of Quebec. So like a choice casket + is it secreted in him, that I have known some whalemen who peremptorily + deny that the Sperm Whale has any other brain than that palpable + semblance of one formed by the cubic-yards of his sperm magazine. Lying + in strange folds, courses, and convolutions, to their apprehensions, it + seems more in keeping with the idea of his general might to regard that + mystic part of him as the seat of his intelligence. + + It is plain, then, that phrenologically the head of this Leviathan, in + the creature's living intact state, is an entire delusion. As for his + true brain, you can then see no indications of it, nor feel any. The + whale, like all things that are mighty, wears a false brow to the + common world. + + If you unload his skull of its spermy heaps and then take a rear view + of its rear end, which is the high end, you will be struck by its + resemblance to the human skull, beheld in the same situation, and from + the same point of view. Indeed, place this reversed skull (scaled down + to the human magnitude) among a plate of men's skulls, and you would + involuntarily confound it with them; and remarking the depressions on + one part of its summit, in phrenological phrase you would say—This man + had no self-esteem, and no veneration. And by those negations, + considered along with the affirmative fact of his prodigious bulk and + power, you can best form to yourself the truest, though not the most + exhilarating conception of what the most exalted potency is. + + But if from the comparative dimensions of the whale's proper brain, you + deem it incapable of being adequately charted, then I have another idea + for you. If you attentively regard almost any quadruped's spine, you + will be struck with the resemblance of its vertebrae to a strung + necklace of dwarfed skulls, all bearing rudimental resemblance to the + skull proper. It is a German conceit, that the vertebrae are absolutely + undeveloped skulls. But the curious external resemblance, I take it the + Germans were not the first men to perceive. A foreign friend once + pointed it out to me, in the skeleton of a foe he had slain, and with + the vertebrae of which he was inlaying, in a sort of basso-relieve, the + beaked prow of his canoe. Now, I consider that the phrenologists have + omitted an important thing in not pushing their investigations from the + cerebellum through the spinal canal. For I believe that much of a man's + character will be found betokened in his backbone. I would rather feel + your spine than your skull, whoever you are. A thin joist of a spine + never yet upheld a full and noble soul. I rejoice in my spine, as in + the firm audacious staff of that flag which I fling half out to the + world. + + Apply this spinal branch of phrenology to the Sperm Whale. His cranial + cavity is continuous with the first neck-vertebra; and in that vertebra + the bottom of the spinal canal will measure ten inches across, being + eight in height, and of a triangular figure with the base downwards. As + it passes through the remaining vertebrae the canal tapers in size, but + for a considerable distance remains of large capacity. Now, of course, + this canal is filled with much the same strangely fibrous substance—the + spinal cord—as the brain; and directly communicates with the brain. And + what is still more, for many feet after emerging from the brain's + cavity, the spinal cord remains of an undecreasing girth, almost equal + to that of the brain. Under all these circumstances, would it be + unreasonable to survey and map out the whale's spine phrenologically? + For, viewed in this light, the wonderful comparative smallness of his + brain proper is more than compensated by the wonderful comparative + magnitude of his spinal cord. + + But leaving this hint to operate as it may with the phrenologists, I + would merely assume the spinal theory for a moment, in reference to the + Sperm Whale's hump. This august hump, if I mistake not, rises over one + of the larger vertebrae, and is, therefore, in some sort, the outer + convex mould of it. From its relative situation then, I should call + this high hump the organ of firmness or indomitableness in the Sperm + Whale. And that the great monster is indomitable, you will yet have + reason to know. + + + + + CHAPTER 81 + + + The Pequod Meets The Virgin + + The predestinated day arrived, and we duly met the ship + Jungfrau, Derick De Deer, master, of Bremen. + + At one time the greatest whaling people in the world, the Dutch and + Germans are now among the least; but here and there at very wide + intervals of latitude and longitude, you still occasionally meet with + their flag in the Pacific. + + For some reason, the Jungfrau seemed quite eager to pay her respects. + While yet some distance from the Pequod, she rounded to, and dropping a + boat, her captain was impelled towards us, impatiently standing in the + bows instead of the stern. + + "What has he in his hand there?" cried Starbuck, pointing to something + wavingly held by the German. "Impossible!—a lamp-feeder!" + + "Not that," said Stubb, "no, no, it's a coffee-pot, Mr. Starbuck; he's + coming off to make us our coffee, is the Yarman; don't you see that big + tin can there alongside of him?—that's his boiling water. Oh! he's all + right, is the Yarman." + + "Go along with you," cried Flask, "it's a lamp-feeder and an oil-can. + He's out of oil, and has come a-begging." + + However curious it may seem for an oil-ship to be borrowing oil on the + whale-ground, and however much it may invertedly contradict the old + proverb about carrying coals to Newcastle, yet sometimes such a thing + really happens; and in the present case Captain Derick De Deer did + indubitably conduct a lamp-feeder as Flask did declare. + + As he mounted the deck, Ahab abruptly accosted him, without at all + heeding what he had in his hand; but in his broken lingo, the German + soon evinced his complete ignorance of the White Whale; immediately + turning the conversation to his lamp-feeder and oil can, with some + remarks touching his having to turn into his hammock at night in + profound darkness—his last drop of Bremen oil being gone, and not a + single flying-fish yet captured to supply the deficiency; concluding by + hinting that his ship was indeed what in the Fishery is technically + called a clean one (that is, an empty one), well deserving the name of + Jungfrau or the Virgin. + + His necessities supplied, Derick departed; but he had not gained his + ship's side, when whales were almost simultaneously raised from the + mast-heads of both vessels; and so eager for the chase was Derick, that + without pausing to put his oil-can and lamp-feeder aboard, he slewed + round his boat and made after the leviathan lamp-feeders. + + Now, the game having risen to leeward, he and the other three German + boats that soon followed him, had considerably the start of the + Pequod's keels. There were eight whales, an average pod. Aware of their + danger, they were going all abreast with great speed straight before + the wind, rubbing their flanks as closely as so many spans of horses in + harness. They left a great, wide wake, as though continually unrolling + a great wide parchment upon the sea. + + Full in this rapid wake, and many fathoms in the rear, swam a huge, + humped old bull, which by his comparatively slow progress, as well as + by the unusual yellowish incrustations over-growing him, seemed + afflicted with the jaundice, or some other infirmity. Whether this + whale belonged to the pod in advance, seemed questionable; for it is + not customary for such venerable leviathans to be at all social. + Nevertheless, he stuck to their wake, though indeed their back water + must have retarded him, because the white-bone or swell at his broad + muzzle was a dashed one, like the swell formed when two hostile + currents meet. His spout was short, slow, and laborious; coming forth + with a choking sort of gush, and spending itself in torn shreds, + followed by strange subterranean commotions in him, which seemed to + have egress at his other buried extremity, causing the waters behind + him to upbubble. + + "Who's got some paregoric?" said Stubb, "he has the stomach-ache, + I'm afraid. Lord, think of having half an acre of stomach-ache! + Adverse winds are holding mad Christmas in him, boys. + It's the first foul wind I ever knew to blow from astern; but look, + did ever whale yaw so before? it must be, he's lost his tiller." + + As an overladen Indiaman bearing down the Hindostan coast with a deck + load of frightened horses, careens, buries, rolls, and wallows on her + way; so did this old whale heave his aged bulk, and now and then partly + turning over on his cumbrous rib-ends, expose the cause of his devious + wake in the unnatural stump of his starboard fin. Whether he had lost + that fin in battle, or had been born without it, it were hard to say. + + "Only wait a bit, old chap, and I'll give ye a sling for that wounded + arm," cried cruel Flask, pointing to the whale-line near him. + + "Mind he don't sling thee with it," cried Starbuck. "Give way, or the + German will have him." + + With one intent all the combined rival boats were pointed for this one + fish, because not only was he the largest, and therefore the most + valuable whale, but he was nearest to them, and the other whales were + going with such great velocity, moreover, as almost to defy pursuit for + the time. At this juncture, the Pequod's keels had shot by the three + German boats last lowered; but from the great start he had had, + Derick's boat still led the chase, though every moment neared by his + foreign rivals. The only thing they feared, was, that from being + already so nigh to his mark, he would be enabled to dart his iron + before they could completely overtake and pass him. As for Derick, he + seemed quite confident that this would be the case, and occasionally + with a deriding gesture shook his lamp-feeder at the other boats. + + "The ungracious and ungrateful dog!" cried Starbuck; "he mocks and + dares me with the very poor-box I filled for him not five minutes + ago!"— Then in his old intense whisper—"give way, greyhounds! Dog to + it!" + + "I tell ye what it is, men"—cried Stubb to his crew—It's against my + religion to get mad; but I'd like to eat that villainous Yarman—Pull— + won't ye? Are ye going to let that rascal beat ye? Do ye love brandy? A + hogshead of brandy, then, to the best man. Come, why don't some of ye + burst a blood-vessel? Who's that been dropping an anchor overboard— we + don't budge an inch—we're becalmed. Halloo, here's grass growing in the + boat's bottom—and by the Lord, the mast there's budding. This won't do, + boys. Look at that Yarman! The short and long of it is, men, will ye + spit fire or not?" + + "Oh! see the suds he makes!" cried Flask, dancing up and down—"What a + hump—Oh, do pile on the beef—lays like a log! Oh! my lads, do + spring—slap-jacks and quahogs for supper, you know, my lads— baked + clams and muffins—oh, do, do, spring,—he's a hundred barreler— don't + lose him now—don't oh, don't!—see that Yarman—Oh, won't ye pull for + your duff, my lads—such a sog! such a sogger! Don't ye love sperm? + There goes three thousand dollars, men!—a bank!—a whole bank! The bank + of England!—Oh, do, do, do!—What's that Yarman about now?" + + At this moment Derick was in the act of pitching his lamp-feeder at the + advancing boats, and also his oil-can; perhaps with the double view of + retarding his rivals' way, and at the same time economically + accelerating his own by the momentary impetus of the backward toss. + + "The unmannerly Dutch dogger!" cried Stubb. "Pull now, men, like fifty + thousand line-of-battle-ship loads of red-haired devils. What d'ye say, + Tashtego; are you the man to snap your spine in two-and-twenty pieces + for the honor of old Gayhead? What d'ye say?" + + "I say, pull like god-dam,"—cried the Indian. + + Fiercely, but evenly incited by the taunts of the German, the Pequod's + three boats now began ranging almost abreast; and, so disposed, + momentarily neared him. In that fine, loose, chivalrous attitude of the + headsman when drawing near to his prey, the three mates stood up + proudly, occasionally backing the after oarsman with an exhilarating + cry of, "There she slides, now! Hurrah for the white-ash breeze! Down + with the Yarman! Sail over him!" + + But so decided an original start had Derick had, that spite of all + their gallantry, he would have proved the victor in this race, had not + a righteous judgment descended upon him in a crab which caught the + blade of his midship oarsman. While this clumsy lubber was striving to + free his white-ash, and while, in consequence, Derick's boat was nigh + to capsizing, and he thundering away at his men in a mighty rage;—that + was a good time for Starbuck, Stubb, and Flask. With a shout, they took + a mortal start forwards, and slantingly ranged up on the German's + quarter. An instant more, and all four boats were diagonically in the + whale's immediate wake, while stretching from them, on both sides, was + the foaming swell that he made. + + It was a terrific, most pitiable, and maddening sight. The whale was + now going head out, and sending his spout before him in a continual + tormented jet; while his one poor fin beat his side in an agony of + fright. Now to this hand, now to that, he yawed in his faltering + flight, and still at every billow that he broke, he spasmodically sank + in the sea, or sideways rolled towards the sky his one beating fin. So + have I seen a bird with clipped wing, making affrighted broken circles + in the air, vainly striving to escape the piratical hawks. But the bird + has a voice, and with plaintive cries will make known her fear; but the + fear of this vast dumb brute of the sea, was chained up and enchanted + in him; he had no voice, save that choking respiration through his + spiracle, and this made the sight of him unspeakably pitiable; while + still, in his amazing bulk, portcullis jaw, and omnipotent tail, there + was enough to appal the stoutest man who so pitied. + + Seeing now that but a very few moments more would give the Pequod's + boats the advantage, and rather than be thus foiled of his game, Derick + chose to hazard what to him must have seemed a most unusually long + dart, ere the last chance would for ever escape. + + But no sooner did his harpooneer stand up for the stroke, than all + three tigers—Queequeg, Tashtego, Daggoo—instinctively sprang to their + feet, and standing in a diagonal row, simultaneously pointed their + barbs; and darted over the head of the German harpooneer, their three + Nantucket irons entered the whale. Blinding vapors of foam and + white-fire! The three boats, in the first fury of the whale's headlong + rush, bumped the German's aside with such force, that both Derick and + his baffled harpooneer were spilled out, and sailed over by the three + flying keels. + + "Don't be afraid, my butter-boxes," cried Stubb, casting a passing + glance upon them as he shot by; "ye'll be picked up presently— all + right—I saw some sharks astern—St. Bernard's dogs, you know— relieve + distressed travellers. Hurrah! this is the way to sail now. Every keel + a sunbeam! Hurrah!—Here we go like three tin kettles at the tail of a + mad cougar! This puts me in mind of fastening to an elephant in a + tilbury on a plain— makes the wheelspokes fly, boys, when you fasten to + him that way; and there's danger of being pitched out too, when you + strike a hill. Hurrah! this is the way a fellow feels when he's going + to Davy Jones—all a rush down an endless inclined plane! Hurrah! this + whale carries the everlasting mail!" + + But the monster's run was a brief one. Giving a sudden gasp, he + tumultuously sounded. With a grating rush, the three lines flew round + the loggerheads with such a force as to gouge deep grooves in them; + while so fearful were the harpooneers that this rapid sounding would + soon exhaust the lines, that using all their dexterous might, they + caught repeated smoking turns with the rope to hold on; till at + last—owing to the perpendicular strain from the lead-lined chocks of + the boats, whence the three ropes went straight down into the blue—the + gunwales of the bows were almost even with the water, while the three + sterns tilted high in the air. And the whale soon ceasing to sound, for + some time they remained in that attitude, fearful of expending more + line, though the position was a little ticklish. But though boats have + been taken down and lost in this way, yet it is this "holding on," as + it is called; this hooking up by the sharp barbs of his live flesh from + the back; this it is that often torments the Leviathan into soon rising + again to meet the sharp lance of his foes. Yet not to speak of the + peril of the thing, it is to be doubted whether this course is always + the best; for it is but reasonable to presume, that the longer the + stricken whale stays under water, the more he is exhausted. Because, + owing to the enormous surface of him— in a full grown sperm whale + something less than 2000 square feet— the pressure of the water is + immense. We all know what an astonishing atmospheric weight we + ourselves stand up under; even here, above-ground, in the air; how + vast, then, the burden of a whale, bearing on his back a column of two + hundred fathoms of ocean! It must at least equal the weight of fifty + atmospheres. One whaleman has estimated it at the weight of twenty + line-of-battle ships, with all their guns, and stores, and men on + board. + + As the three boats lay there on that gently rolling sea, gazing down + into its eternal blue noon; and as not a single groan or cry of any + sort, nay, not so much as a ripple or a bubble came up from its depths; + what landsman would have thought, that beneath all that silence and + placidity, the utmost monster of the seas was writhing and wrenching in + agony! Not eight inches of perpendicular rope were visible at the bows. + Seems it credible that by three such thin threads the great Leviathan + was suspended like the big weight to an eight day clock. Suspended? and + to what? To three bits of board. Is this the creature of whom it was + once so triumphantly said—"Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? + or his head with fish-spears? The sword of him that layeth at him + cannot hold, the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon: he esteemeth iron + as straw; the arrow cannot make him flee; darts are counted as stubble; + he laugheth at the shaking of a spear!" This the creature? this he? Oh! + that unfulfilments should follow the prophets. For with the strength of + a thousand thighs in his tail, Leviathan had run his head under the + mountains of the sea, to hide him from the Pequod's fishspears! + + In that sloping afternoon sunlight, the shadows that the three boats + sent down beneath the surface, must have been long enough and broad + enough to shade half Xerxes' army. Who can tell how appalling to the + wounded whale must have been such huge phantoms flitting over his head! + + "Stand by, men; he stirs," cried Starbuck, as the three lines suddenly + vibrated in the water, distinctly conducting upwards to them, as by + magnetic wires, the life and death throbs of the whale, so that every + oarsman felt them in his seat. The next moment, relieved in a great + part from the downward strain at the bows, the boats gave a sudden + bounce upwards, as a small icefield will, when a dense herd of white + bears are scared from it into the sea. + + "Haul in! Haul in!" cried Starbuck again; "he's rising." + + The lines, of which, hardly an instant before, not one hand's breadth + could have been gained, were now in long quick coils flung back all + dripping into the boats, and soon the whale broke water within two + ship's length of the hunters. + + His motions plainly denoted his extreme exhaustion. In most land + animals there are certain valves or flood-gates in many of their veins, + whereby when wounded, the blood is in some degree at least instantly + shut off in certain directions. Not so with the whale; one of whose + peculiarities it is, to have an entire non-valvular structure of the + blood-vessels, so that when pierced even by so small a point as a + harpoon, a deadly drain is at once begun upon his whole arterial + system; and when this is heightened by the extraordinary pressure of + water at a great distance below the surface, his life may be said to + pour from him in incessant streams. Yet so vast is the quantity of + blood in him, and so distant and numerous its interior fountains, that + he will keep thus bleeding and bleeding for a considerable period; even + as in a drought a river will flow, whose source is in the well-springs + of far-off and indiscernible hills. Even now, when the boats pulled + upon this whale, and perilously drew over his swaying flukes, and the + lances were darted into him, they were followed by steady jets from the + new made wound, which kept continually playing, while the natural + spout-hole in his head was only at intervals, however rapid, sending + its affrighted moisture into the air. From this last vent no blood yet + came, because no vital part of him had thus far been struck. His life, + as they significantly call it, was untouched. + + As the boats now more closely surrounded him, the whole upper part of + his form, with much of it that is ordinarily submerged, was plainly + revealed. His eyes, or rather the places where his eyes had been, were + beheld. As strange misgrown masses gather in the knot-holes of the + noblest oaks when prostrate, so from the points which the whale's eyes + had once occupied, now protruded blind bulbs, horribly pitiable to see. + But pity there was none. For all his old age, and his one arm, and his + blind eyes, he must die the death and be murdered, in order to light + the gay bridals and other merry-makings of men, and also to illuminate + the solemn churches that preach unconditional inoffensiveness by all to + all. Still rolling in his blood, at last he partially disclosed a + strangely discolored bunch or protuberance, the size of a bushel, low + down on the flank. + + "A nice spot," cried Flask; "just let me prick him there once." + + "Avast!" cried Starbuck, "there's no need of that!" + + But humane Starbuck was too late. At the instant of the dart an + ulcerous jet shot from this cruel wound, and goaded by it into more + than sufferable anguish, the whale now spouting thick blood, with swift + fury blindly darted at the craft, bespattering them and their glorying + crews all over with showers of gore, capsizing Flask's boat and marring + the bows. It was his death stroke. For, by this time, so spent was he + by loss of blood, that he helplessly rolled away from the wreck he had + made; lay panting on his side, impotently flapped with his stumped fin, + then over and over slowly revolved like a waning world; turned up the + white secrets of his belly; lay like a log, and died. It was most + piteous, that last expiring spout. As when by unseen hands the water is + gradually drawn off from some mighty fountain, and with half-stifled + melancholy gurglings the spray-column lowers and lowers to the ground— + so the last long dying spout of the whale. + + Soon, while the crews were awaiting the arrival of the ship, the body + showed symptoms of sinking with all its treasures unrifled. + Immediately, by Starbuck's orders, lines were secured to it at + different points, so that ere long every boat was a buoy; the sunken + whale being suspended a few inches beneath them by the cords. By very + heedful management, when the ship drew nigh, the whale was transferred + to her side, and was strongly secured there by the stiffest + fluke-chains, for it was plain that unless artificially upheld, the + body would at once sink to the bottom. + + It so chanced that almost upon first cutting into him with the spade, + the entire length of a corroded harpoon was found imbedded in his + flesh, on the lower part of the bunch before described. But as the + stumps of harpoons are frequently found in the dead bodies of captured + whales, with the flesh perfectly healed around them, and no prominence + of any kind to denote their place; therefore, there must needs have + been some other unknown reason in the present case fully to account for + the ulceration alluded to. But still more curious was the fact of a + lance-head of stone being found in him, not far from the buried iron, + the flesh perfectly firm about it. Who had darted that stone lance? And + when? It might have been darted by some Nor' West Indian long before + America was discovered. + + What other marvels might have been rummaged out of this monstrous + cabinet there is no telling. But a sudden stop was put to further + discoveries, by the ship's being unprecedentedly dragged over sideways + to the sea, owing to the body's immensely increasing tendency to sink. + However, Starbuck, who had the ordering of affairs, hung on to it to + the last; hung on to it so resolutely, indeed, that when at length the + ship would have been capsized, if still persisting in locking arms with + the body; then, when the command was given to break clear from it, such + was the immovable strain upon the timber-heads to which the + fluke-chains and cables were fastened, that it was impossible to cast + them off. Meantime everything in the Pequod was aslant. To cross to the + other side of the deck was like walking up the steep gabled roof of a + house. The ship groaned and gasped. Many of the ivory inlayings of her + bulwarks and cabins were started from their places, by the unnatural + dislocation. In vain handspikes and crows were brought to bear upon the + immovable fluke-chains, to pry them adrift from the timberheads; and so + low had the whale now settled that the submerged ends could not be at + all approached, while every moment whole tons of ponderosity seemed + added to the sinking bulk, and the ship seemed on the point of going + over. + + "Hold on, hold on, won't ye?" cried Stubb to the body, "don't be in + such a devil of a hurry to sink! By thunder, men, we must do something + or go for it. No use prying there; avast, I say with your handspikes, + and run one of ye for a prayer book and a pen-knife, and cut the big + chains." + + "Knife? Aye, aye," cried Queequeg, and seizing the carpenter's heavy + hatchet, he leaned out of a porthole, and steel to iron, began slashing + at the largest fluke-chains. But a few strokes, full of sparks, were + given, when the exceeding strain effected the rest. With a terrific + snap, every fastening went adrift; the ship righted, the carcase sank. + + Now, this occasional inevitable sinking of the recently killed Sperm + Whale is a very curious thing; nor has any fisherman yet adequately + accounted for it. Usually the dead Sperm Whale floats with great + buoyancy, with its side or belly considerably elevated above the + surface. If the only whales that thus sank were old, meagre, and + broken-hearted creatures, their pads of lard diminished and all their + bones heavy and rheumatic; then you might with some reason assert that + this sinking is caused by an uncommon specific gravity in the fish so + sinking, consequent upon this absence of buoyant matter in him. But it + is not so. For young whales, in the highest health, and swelling with + noble aspirations, prematurely cut off in the warm flush and May of + life, with all their panting lard about them! even these brawny, + buoyant heroes do sometimes sink. + + Be it said, however, that the Sperm Whale is far less liable to this + accident than any other species. Where one of that sort go down, twenty + Right Whales do. This difference in the species is no doubt imputable + in no small degree to the greater quantity of bone in the Right Whale; + his Venetian blinds alone sometimes weighing more than a ton; from this + incumbrance the Sperm Whale is wholly free. But there are instances + where, after the lapse of many hours or several days, the sunken whale + again rises, more buoyant than in life. But the reason of this is + obvious. Gases are generated in him; he swells to a prodigious + magnitude; becomes a sort of animal balloon. A line-of-battle ship + could hardly keep him under then. In the Shore Whaling, on soundings, + among the Bays of New Zealand, when a Right Whale gives token of + sinking, they fasten buoys to him, with plenty of rope; so that when + the body has gone down, they know where to look for it when it shall + have ascended again. + + It was not long after the sinking of the body that a cry was heard from + the Pequod's mast-heads, announcing that the Jungfrau was again + lowering her boats; though the only spout in sight was that of a + Fin-Back, belonging to the species of uncapturable whales, because of + its incredible power of swimming. Nevertheless, the Fin-Back's spout is + so similar to the Sperm Whale's, that by unskilful fishermen it is + often mistaken for it. And consequently Derick and all his host were + now in valiant chase of this unnearable brute. The Virgin crowding all + sail, made after her four young keels, and thus they all disappeared + far to leeward, still in bold, hopeful chase. + + Oh! many are the Fin-Backs, and many are the Dericks, my friend. + + + + + CHAPTER 82 + + + The Honor and Glory of Whaling + + There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness is the + true method. + + The more I dive into this matter of whaling, and push my researches up + to the very spring-head of it so much the more am I impressed with its + great honorableness and antiquity; and especially when I find so many + great demi-gods and heroes, prophets of all sorts, who one way or other + have shed distinction upon it, I am transported with the reflection + that I myself belong, though but subordinately, to so emblazoned a + fraternity. + + The gallant Perseus, a son of Jupiter, was the first whaleman; and to + the eternal honor of our calling be it said, that the first whale + attacked by our brotherhood was not killed with any sordid intent. + Those were the knightly days of our profession, when we only bore arms + to succor the distressed, and not to fill men's lamp-feeders. Every one + knows the fine story of Perseus and Andromeda; how the lovely + Andromeda, the daughter of a king, was tied to a rock on the sea-coast, + and as Leviathan was in the very act of carrying her off, Perseus, the + prince of whalemen, intrepidly advancing, harpooned the monster, and + delivered and married the maid. It was an admirable artistic exploit, + rarely achieved by the best harpooneers of the present day; inasmuch as + this Leviathan was slain at the very first dart. And let no man doubt + this Arkite story; for in the ancient Joppa, now Jaffa, on the Syrian + coast, in one of the Pagan temples, there stood for many ages the vast + skeleton of a whale, which the city's legends and all the inhabitants + asserted to be the identical bones of the monster that Perseus slew. + When the Romans took Joppa, the same skeleton was carried to Italy in + triumph. What seems most singular and suggestively important in this + story, is this: it was from Joppa that Jonah set sail. + + Akin to the adventure of Perseus and Andromeda—indeed, by some supposed + to be indirectly derived from it—is that famous story of St. George and + the Dragon; which dragon I maintain to have been a whale; for in many + old chronicles whales and dragons are strangely jumbled together, and + often stand for each other. "Thou art as a lion of the waters, and as a + dragon of the sea," said Ezekiel; hereby, plainly meaning a whale; in + truth, some versions of the Bible use that word itself. Besides, it + would much subtract from the glory of the exploit had St. George but + encountered a crawling reptile of the land, instead of doing battle + with the great monster of the deep. Any man may kill a snake, but only + a Perseus, a St. George, a Coffin, have the heart in them to march + boldly up to a whale. + + Let not the modern paintings of this scene mislead us; for though the + creature encountered by that valiant whaleman of old is vaguely + represented of a griffin-like shape, and though the battle is depicted + on land and the saint on horseback, yet considering the great ignorance + of those times, when the true form of the whale was unknown to artists; + and considering that as in Perseus' case, St. George's whale might have + crawled up out of the sea on the beach; and considering that the animal + ridden by St. George might have been only a large seal, or sea-horse; + bearing all this in mind, it will not appear altogether incompatible + with the sacred legend and the ancientest draughts of the scene, to + hold this so-called dragon no other than the great Leviathan himself. + In fact, placed before the strict and piercing truth, this whole story + will fare like that fish, flesh, and fowl idol of the Philistines, + Dagon by name; who being planted before the ark of Israel, his horse's + head and both the palms of his hands fell off from him, and only the + stump or fishy part of him remained. Thus, then, one of our own noble + stamp, even a whaleman, is the tutelary guardian of England; and by + good rights, we harpooneers of Nantucket should be enrolled in the most + noble order of St. George. And therefore, let not the knights of that + honorable company (none of whom, I venture to say, have ever had to do + with a whale like their great patron), let them never eye a Nantucketer + with disdain, since even in our woollen frocks and tarred trowsers we + are much better entitled to St. George's decoration than they. + + Whether to admit Hercules among us or not, concerning this I long + remained dubious: for though according to the Greek mythologies, that + antique Crockett and Kit Carson—that brawny doer of rejoicing good + deeds, was swallowed down and thrown up by a whale; still, whether that + strictly makes a whaleman of him, that might be mooted. It nowhere + appears that he ever actually harpooned his fish, unless, indeed, from + the inside. Nevertheless, he may be deemed a sort of involuntary + whaleman; at any rate the whale caught him, if he did not the whale. I + claim him for one of our clan. + + But, by the best contradictory authorities, this Grecian story of + Hercules and the whale is considered to be derived from the still more + ancient Hebrew story of Jonah and the whale; and vice versa; certainly + they are very similar. If I claim the demigod then, why not the + prophet? + + Nor do heroes, saints, demigods, and prophets alone comprise the whole + roll of our order. Our grand master is still to be named; for like + royal kings of old times, we find the head-waters of our fraternity in + nothing short of the great gods themselves. That wondrous oriental + story is now to be rehearsed from the Shaster, which gives us the dread + Vishnoo, one of the three persons in the godhead of the Hindoos; gives + us this divine Vishnoo himself for our Lord;—Vishnoo, who, by the first + of his ten earthly incarnations, has for ever set apart and sanctified + the whale. When Brahma, or the God of Gods, saith the Shaster, resolved + to recreate the world after one of its periodical dissolutions, he gave + birth to Vishnoo, to preside over the work; but the Vedas, or mystical + books, whose perusal would seem to have been indispensable to Vishnoo + before beginning the creation, and which therefore must have contained + something in the shape of practical hints to young architects, these + Vedas were lying at the bottom of the waters; so Vishnoo became + incarnate in a whale, and sounding down in him to the uttermost depths, + rescued the sacred volumes. Was not this Vishnoo a whaleman, then? even + as a man who rides a horse is called a horseman? + + Perseus, St. George, Hercules, Jonah, and Vishnoo! there's a + member-roll for you! What club but the whaleman's can head off like + that? + + + + + CHAPTER 83 + + + Jonah Historically Regarded + + Reference was made to the historical story of Jonah and the whale in + the preceding chapter. Now some Nantucketers rather distrust this + historical story of Jonah and the whale. But then there were some + sceptical Greeks and Romans, who, standing out from the orthodox pagans + of their times, equally doubted the story of Hercules and the whale, + and Arion and the dolphin; and yet their doubting those traditions did + not make those traditions one whit the less facts, for all that. + + One old Sag-Harbor whaleman's chief reason for questioning the Hebrew + story was this:—He had one of those quaint old-fashioned Bibles, + embellished with curious, unscientific plates; one of which represented + Jonah's whale with two spouts in his head—a peculiarity only true with + respect to a species of the Leviathan (the Right Whale, and the + varieties of that order), concerning which the fishermen have this + saying, "A penny roll would choke him"; his swallow is so very small. + But, to this, Bishop Jebb's anticipative answer is ready. It is not + necessary, hints the Bishop, that we consider Jonah as tombed in the + whale's belly, but as temporarily lodged in some part of his mouth. And + this seems reasonable enough in the good Bishop. For truly, the Right + Whale's mouth would accommodate a couple of whist-tables, and + comfortably seat all the players. Possibly, too, Jonah might have + ensconced himself in a hollow tooth; but, on second thoughts, the Right + Whale is toothless. + + Another reason which Sag-Harbor (he went by that name) urged for his + want of faith in this matter of the prophet, was something obscurely in + reference to his incarcerated body and the whale's gastric juices. But + this objection likewise falls to the ground, because a German exegetist + supposes that Jonah must have taken refuge in the floating body of a + dead whale— even as the French soldiers in the Russian campaign turned + their dead horses into tents, and crawled into them. Besides, it has + been divined by other continental commentators, that when Jonah was + thrown overboard from the Joppa ship, he straightway effected his + escape to another vessel near by, some vessel with a whale for a + figure-head; and, I would add, possibly called "The Whale," as some + craft are nowadays christened the "Shark," the "Gull," the "Eagle." Nor + have there been wanting learned exegetists who have opined that the + whale mentioned in the book of Jonah merely meant a life-preserver—an + inflated bag of wind—which the endangered prophet swam to, and so was + saved from a watery doom. Poor Sag-Harbor, therefore, seems worsted all + round. But he had still another reason for his want of faith. It was + this, if I remember right: Jonah was swallowed by the whale in the + Mediterranean Sea, and after three days' he was vomited up somewhere + within three days' journey of Nineveh, a city on the Tigris, very much + more than three days' journey across from the nearest point of the + Mediterranean coast. How is that? + + But was there no other way for the whale to land the prophet within + that short distance of Nineveh? Yes. He might have carried him round by + the way of the Cape of Good Hope. But not to speak of the passage + through the whole length of the Mediterranean, and another passage up + the Persian Gulf and Red Sea, such a supposition would involve the + complete circumnavigation of all Africa in three days, not to speak of + the Tigris waters, near the site of Nineveh, being too shallow for any + whale to swim in. Besides, this idea of Jonah's weathering the Cape of + Good Hope at so early a day would wrest the honor of the discovery of + that great headland from Bartholomew Diaz, its reputed discoverer, and + so make modern history a liar. + + But all these foolish arguments of old Sag-Harbor only evinced his + foolish pride of reason—a thing still more reprehensible in him, seeing + that he had but little learning except what he had picked up from the + sun and the sea. I say it only shows his foolish, impious pride, and + abominable, devilish rebellion against the reverend clergy. For by a + Portuguese Catholic priest, this very idea of Jonah's going to Nineveh + via the Cape of Good Hope was advanced as a signal magnification of the + general miracle. And so it was. Besides, to this day, the highly + enlightened Turks devoutly believe in the historical story of Jonah. + And some three centuries ago, an English traveller in old Harris's + Voyages, speaks of a Turkish Mosque built in honor of Jonah, in which + Mosque was a miraculous lamp that burnt without any oil. + + + + + CHAPTER 84 + + + Pitchpoling + + To make them run easily and swiftly, the axles of carriages are + anointed; and for much the same purpose, some whalers perform an + analogous operation upon their boat; they grease the bottom. Nor is it + to be doubted that as such a procedure can do no harm, it may possibly + be of no contemptible advantage; considering that oil and water are + hostile; that oil is a sliding thing, and that the object in view is to + make the boat slide bravely. Queequeg believed strongly in anointing + his boat, and one morning not long after the German ship Jungfrau + disappeared, took more than customary pains in that occupation; + crawling under its bottom, where it hung over the side, and rubbing in + the unctuousness as though diligently seeking to insure a crop of hair + from the craft's bald keel. He seemed to be working in obedience to + some particular presentiment. Nor did it remain unwarranted by the + event. + + Towards noon whales were raised; but so soon as the ship sailed down to + them, they turned and fled with swift precipitancy; a disordered + flight, as of Cleopatra's barges from Actium. + + Nevertheless, the boats pursued, and Stubb's was foremost. By great + exertion, Tashtego at last succeeded in planting one iron; but the + stricken whale, without at all sounding, still continued his horizontal + flight, with added fleetness. Such unintermitted strainings upon the + planted iron must sooner or later inevitably extract it. It became + imperative to lance the flying whale, or be content to lose him. But to + haul the boat up to his flank was impossible, he swam so fast and + furious. What then remained? + + Of all the wondrous devices and dexterities, the sleights of hand and + countless subtleties, to which the veteran whaleman is so often forced, + none exceed that fine manoeuvre with the lance called pitchpoling. + Small sword, or broad sword, in all its exercises boasts nothing like + it. It is only indispensable with an inveterate running whale; its + grand fact and feature is the wonderful distance to which the long + lance is accurately darted from a violently rocking, jerking boat, + under extreme headway. Steel and wood included, the entire spear is + some ten or twelve feet in length; the staff is much slighter than that + of the harpoon, and also of a lighter material—pine. It is furnished + with a small rope called a warp, of considerable length, by which it + can be hauled back to the hand after darting. + + But before going further, it is important to mention here, that though + the harpoon may be pitchpoled in the same way with the lance, yet it is + seldom done; and when done, is still less frequently successful, on + account of the greater weight and inferior length of the harpoon as + compared with the lance, which in effect become serious drawbacks. As a + general thing, therefore, you must first get fast to a whale, before + any pitchpoling comes into play. + + Look now at Stubb; a man who from his humorous, deliberate coolness and + equanimity in the direst emergencies, was specially qualified to excel + in pitchpoling. Look at him; he stands upright in the tossed bow of the + flying boat; wrapt in fleecy foam, the towing whale is forty feet + ahead. Handling the long lance lightly, glancing twice or thrice along + its length to see if it be exactly straight, Stubb whistlingly gathers + up the coil of the warp in one hand, so as to secure its free end in + his grasp, leaving the rest unobstructed. Then holding the lance full + before his waistband's middle, he levels it at the whale; when, + covering him with it, he steadily depresses the butt-end in his hand, + thereby elevating the point till the weapon stands fairly balanced upon + his palm, fifteen feet in the air. He minds you somewhat of a juggler, + balancing a long staff on his chin. Next moment with a rapid, nameless + impulse, in a superb lofty arch the bright steel spans the foaming + distance, and quivers in the life spot of the whale. Instead of + sparkling water, he now spouts red blood. + + "That drove the spigot out of him!" cried Stubb. "'Tis July's immortal + Fourth; all fountains must run wine today! Would now, it were old + Orleans whiskey, or old Ohio, or unspeakable old Monongahela! Then, + Tashtego, lad, I'd have ye hold a canakin to the jet, and we'd drink + round it! Yea, verily, hearts alive, we'd brew choice punch in the + spread of his spout-hole there, and from that live punch-bowl quaff the + living stuff." + + Again and again to such gamesome talk, the dexterous dart is repeated, + the spear returning to its master like a greyhound held in skilful + leash. The agonized whale goes into his flurry; the tow-line is + slackened, and the pitchpoler dropping astern, folds his hands, and + mutely watches the monster die. + + + + + CHAPTER 85 + + + The Fountain + + That for six thousand years—and no one knows how many millions of ages + before—the great whales should have been spouting all over the sea, and + sprinkling and mistifying the gardens of the deep, as with so many + sprinkling or mistifying pots; and that for some centuries back, + thousands of hunters should have been close by the fountain of the + whale, watching these sprinklings and spoutings— that all this should + be, and yet, that down to this blessed minute (fifteen and a quarter + minutes past one o'clock P.M. of this sixteenth day of December, A.D. + 1851), it should still remain a problem, whether these spoutings are, + after all, really water, or nothing but vapor—this is surely a + noteworthy thing. + + Let us, then, look at this matter, along with some interesting items + contingent. Every one knows that by the peculiar cunning of their + gills, the finny tribes in general breathe the air which at all times + is combined with the element in which they swim; hence, a herring or a + cod might live a century, and never once raise its head above the + surface. But owing to his marked internal structure which gives him + regular lungs, like a human being's, the whale can only live by + inhaling the disengaged air in the open atmosphere. Wherefore the + necessity for his periodical visits to the upper world. But he cannot + in any degree breathe through his mouth, for, in his ordinary attitude, + the Sperm Whale's mouth is buried at least eight feet beneath the + surface; and what is still more, his windpipe has no connexion with his + mouth. No, he breathes through his spiracle alone; and this is on the + top of his head. + + If I say, that in any creature breathing is only a function + indispensable to vitality, inasmuch as it withdraws from the air a + certain element, which being subsequently brought into contact with the + blood imparts to the blood its vivifying principle, I do not think I + shall err; though I may possibly use some superfluous scientific words. + Assume it, and it follows that if all the blood in a man could be + aerated with one breath, he might then seal up his nostrils and not + fetch another for a considerable time. That is to say, he would then + live without breathing. Anomalous as it may seem, this is precisely the + case with the whale, who systematically lives, by intervals, his full + hour and more (when at the bottom) without drawing a single breath, or + so much as in any way inhaling a particle of air; for, remember, he has + no gills. How is this? Between his ribs and on each side of his spine + he is supplied with a remarkable involved Cretan labyrinth of + vermicelli-like vessels, which vessels, when he quits the surface, are + completely distended with oxygenated blood. So that for an hour or + more, a thousand fathoms in the sea, he carries a surplus stock of + vitality in him, just as the camel crossing the waterless desert + carries a surplus supply of drink for future use in its four + supplementary stomachs. The anatomical fact of this labyrinth is + indisputable; and that the supposition founded upon it is reasonable + and true, seems the more cogent to me, when I consider the otherwise + inexplicable obstinacy of that leviathan in having his spoutings out, + as the fishermen phrase it. This is what I mean. If unmolested, upon + rising to the surface, the Sperm Whale will continue there for a period + of time exactly uniform with all his other unmolested risings. Say he + stays eleven minutes, and jets seventy times, that is, respires seventy + breaths; then whenever he rises again, he will be sure to have his + seventy breaths over again, to a minute. Now, if after he fetches a few + breaths you alarm him, so that he sounds, he will be always dodging up + again to make good his regular allowance of air. And not till those + seventy breaths are told, will he finally go down to stay out his full + term below. Remark, however, that in different individuals these rates + are different; but in any one they are alike. Now, why should the whale + thus insist upon having his spoutings out, unless it be to replenish + his reservoir of air, ere descending for good? How obvious it is it, + too, that this necessity for the whale's rising exposes him to all the + fatal hazards of the chase. For not by hook or by net could this vast + leviathan be caught, when sailing a thousand fathoms beneath the + sunlight. Not so much thy skill, then, O hunter, as the great + necessities that strike the victory to thee! + + In man, breathing is incessantly going on—one breath only serving for + two or three pulsations; so that whatever other business he has to + attend to, waking or sleeping, breathe he must, or die he will. But the + Sperm Whale only breathes about one seventh or Sunday of his time. + + It has been said that the whale only breathes through his spout-hole; + if it could truthfully be added that his spouts are mixed with water, + then I opine we should be furnished with the reason why his sense of + smell seems obliterated in him; for the only thing about him that at + all answers to his nose is that identical spout-hole; and being so + clogged with two elements, it could not be expected to have the power + of smelling. But owing to the mystery of the spout—whether it be water + or whether it be vapor—no absolute certainty can as yet be arrived at + on this head. Sure it is, nevertheless, that the Sperm Whale has no + proper olfactories. But what does he want of them? No roses, no + violets, no Cologne-water in the sea. + + Furthermore, as his windpipe solely opens into the tube of his spouting + canal, and as that long canal—like the grand Erie Canal— is furnished + with a sort of locks (that open and shut) for the downward retention of + air or the upward exclusion of water, therefore the whale has no voice; + unless you insult him by saying, that when he so strangely rumbles, he + talks through his nose. But then again, what has the whale to say? + Seldom have I known any profound being that had anything to say to this + world, unless forced to stammer out something by way of getting a + living. Oh! happy that the world is such an excellent listener! + + Now, the spouting canal of the Sperm Whale, chiefly intended as it is + for the conveyance of air, and for several feet laid along, + horizontally, just beneath the upper surface of his head, and a little + to one side; this curious canal is very much like a gas-pipe laid down + in a city on one side of a street. But the question returns whether + this gas-pipe is also a water-pipe; in other words, whether the spout + of the Sperm Whale is the mere vapor of the exhaled breath, or whether + that exhaled breath is mixed with water taken in at the mouth, and + discharged through the spiracle. It is certain that the mouth + indirectly communicates with the spouting canal; but it cannot be + proved that this is for the purpose of discharging water through the + spiracle. Because the greatest necessity for so doing would seem to be, + when in feeding he accidentally takes in water. But the Sperm Whale's + food is far beneath the surface, and there he cannot spout even if he + would. Besides, if you regard him very closely, and time him with your + watch, you will find that when unmolested, there is an undeviating + rhyme between the periods of his jets and the ordinary periods of + respiration. + + But why pester one with all this reasoning on the subject? Speak out! + You have seen him spout; then declare what the spout is; can you not + tell water from air? My dear sir, in this world it is not so easy to + settle these plain things. I have ever found your plain things the + knottiest of all. And as for this whale spout, you might almost stand + in it, and yet be undecided as to what it is precisely. + + The central body of it is hidden in the snowy sparkling mist enveloping + it; and how can you certainly tell whether any water falls from it, + when, always, when you are close enough to a whale to get a close view + of his spout, he is in a prodigious commotion, the water cascading all + around him. And if at such times you should think that you really + perceived drops of moisture in the spout, how do you know that they are + not merely condensed from its vapor; or how do you know that they are + not those identical drops superficially lodged in the spout-hole + fissure, which is countersunk into the summit of the whale's head? For + even when tranquilly swimming through the mid-day sea in a calm, with + his elevated hump sun-dried as a dromedary's in the desert; even then, + the whale always carries a small basin of water on his head, as under a + blazing sun you will sometimes see a cavity in a rock filled up with + rain. + + Nor is it at all prudent for the hunter to be over curious touching the + precise nature of the whale spout. It will not do for him to be peering + into it, and putting his face in it. You cannot go with your pitcher to + this fountain and fill it, and bring it away. For even when coming into + slight contact with the outer, vapory shreds of the jet, which will + often happen, your skin will feverishly smart, from the acridness of + the thing so touching it. And I know one, who coming into still closer + contact with the spout, whether with some scientific object in view, or + otherwise, I cannot say, the skin peeled off from his cheek and arm. + Wherefore, among whalemen, the spout is deemed poisonous; they try to + evade it. Another thing; I have heard it said, and I do not much doubt + it, that if the jet is fairly spouted into your eyes, it will blind + you. The wisest thing the investigator can do then, it seems to me, is + to let this deadly spout alone. + + Still, we can hypothesize, even if we cannot prove and establish. My + hypothesis is this: that the spout is nothing but mist. And besides + other reasons, to this conclusion I am impelled, by considerations + touching the great inherent dignity and sublimity of the Sperm Whale; I + account him no common, shallow being, inasmuch as it is an undisputed + fact that he is never found on soundings, or near shores; all other + whales sometimes are. He is both ponderous and profound. And I am + convinced that from the heads of all ponderous profound beings, such as + Plato, Pyrrho, the Devil, Jupiter, Dante, and so on, there always goes + up a certain semi-visible steam, while in the act of thinking deep + thoughts. While composing a little treatise on Eternity, I had the + curiosity to place a mirror before me; and ere long saw reflected + there, a curious involved worming and undulation in the atmosphere over + my head. The invariable moisture of my hair, while plunged in deep + thought, after six cups of hot tea in my thin shingled attic, of an + August noon; this seems an additional argument for the above + supposition. + + And how nobly it raises our conceit of the mighty, misty monster, to + behold him solemnly sailing through a calm tropical sea; his vast, mild + head overhung by a canopy of vapor, engendered by his incommunicable + contemplations, and that vapor— as you will sometimes see it—glorified + by a rainbow, as if Heaven itself had put its seal upon his thoughts. + For d'ye see, rainbows do not visit the clear air; they only irradiate + vapor. And so, through all the thick mists of the dim doubts in my + mind, divine intuitions now and then shoot, enkindling my fog with a + heavenly ray. And for this I thank God; for all have doubts; many deny; + but doubts or denials, few along with them, have intuitions. Doubts of + all things earthly, and intuitions of some things heavenly; this + combination makes neither believer nor infidel, but makes a man who + regards them both with equal eye. + + + + + CHAPTER 86 + + + The Tail + + Other poets have warbled the praises of the soft eye of the antelope, + and the lovely plumage of the bird that never alights; less celestial, + I celebrate a tail. + + Reckoning the largest sized Sperm Whale's tail to begin at that point + of the trunk where it tapers to about the girth of a man, it comprises + upon its upper surface alone, an area of at least fifty square feet. + The compact round body of its root expands into two broad, firm, flat + palms or flukes, gradually shoaling away to less than an inch in + thickness. At the crotch or junction, these flukes slightly overlap, + then sideways recede from each other like wings, leaving a wide vacancy + between. In no living thing are the lines of beauty more exquisitely + defined than in the crescentic borders of these flukes. At its utmost + expansion in the full grown whale, the tail will considerably exceed + twenty feet across. + + The entire member seems a dense webbed bed of welded sinews; but cut + into it, and you find that three distinct strata compose it:—upper, + middle, and lower. The fibres in the upper and lower layers, are long + and horizontal; those of the middle one, very short, and running + crosswise between the outside layers. This triune structure, as much as + anything else, imparts power to the tail. To the student of old Roman + walls, the middle layer will furnish a curious parallel to the thin + course of tiles always alternating with the stone in those wonderful + relics of the antique, and which undoubtedly contribute so much to the + great strength of the masonry. + + But as if this vast local power in the tendinous tail were not enough, + the whole bulk of the leviathan is knit over with a warp and woof of + muscular fibres and filaments, which passing on either side the loins + and running down into the flukes, insensibly blend with them, and + largely contribute to their might; so that in the tail the confluent + measureless force of the whole whale seems concentrated to a point. + Could annihilation occur to matter, this were the thing to do it. + + Nor does this—its amazing strength, at all tend to cripple the graceful + flexion of its motions; where infantileness of ease undulates through a + Titanism of power. On the contrary, those motions derive their most + appalling beauty from it. Real strength never impairs beauty or + harmony, but it often bestows it; and in everything imposingly + beautiful, strength has much to do with the magic. Take away the tied + tendons that all over seem bursting from the marble in the carved + Hercules, and its charm would be gone. As devout Eckerman lifted the + linen sheet from the naked corpse of Goethe, he was overwhelmed with + the massive chest of the man, that seemed as a Roman triumphal arch. + When Angelo paints even God the Father in human form, mark what + robustness is there. And whatever they may reveal of the divine love in + the Son, the soft, curled, hermaphroditical Italian pictures, in which + his idea has been most successfully embodied; these pictures, so + destitute as they are of all brawniness, hint nothing of any power, but + the mere negative, feminine one of submission and endurance, which on + all hands it is conceded, form the peculiar practical virtues of his + teachings. + + Such is the subtle elasticity of the organ I treat of, that whether + wielded in sport, or in earnest, or in anger, whatever be the mood it + be in, its flexions are invariably marked by exceeding grace. Therein + no fairy's arm can transcend it. + + Five great motions are peculiar to it. First, when used as a fin for + progression; Second, when used as a mace in battle; Third, in sweeping; + Fourth, in lobtailing; Fifth, in peaking flukes. + + First: Being horizontal in its position, the Leviathan's tail acts in a + different manner from the tails of all other sea creatures. It never + wriggles. In man or fish, wriggling is a sign of inferiority. To the + whale his tail is the sole means of propulsion. Scroll-wise coiled + forwards beneath the body, and then rapidly sprung backwards, it is + this which gives that singular darting, leaping motion to the monster + when furiously swimming. His side-fins only serve to steer by. + + Second: It is a little significant, that while one sperm whale only + fights another sperm whale with his head and jaw, nevertheless, in his + conflicts with man, he chiefly and contemptuously uses his tail. In + striking at a boat, he swiftly curves away his flukes from it, and the + blow is only inflicted by the recoil. If it be made in the unobstructed + air, especially if it descend to its mark, the stroke is then simply + irresistible. No ribs of man or boat can withstand it. Your only + salvation lies in eluding it; but if it comes sideways through the + opposing water, then partly owing to the light buoyancy of the + whale-boat, and the elasticity of its materials, a cracked rib or a + dashed plank or two, a sort of stitch in the side, is generally the + most serious result. These submerged side blows are so often received + in the fishery, that they are accounted mere child's play. Some one + strips off a frock, and the hole is stopped. + + Third: I cannot demonstrate it, but it seems to me, that in the whale + the sense of touch is concentrated in the tail; for in this respect + there is a delicacy in it only equalled by the daintiness of the + elephant's trunk. This delicacy is chiefly evinced in the action of + sweeping, when in maidenly gentleness the whale with a certain soft + slowness moves his immense flukes from side to side upon the surface of + the sea; and if he feel but a sailor's whisker, woe to that sailor, + whiskers and all. What tenderness there is in that preliminary touch! + Had this tail any prehensile power, I should straightway bethink me of + Darmonodes' elephant that so frequented the flower-market, and with low + salutations presented nosegays to damsels, and then caressed their + zones. On more accounts than one, a pity it is that the whale does not + possess this prehensile virtue in his tail; for I have heard of yet + another elephant, that when wounded in the fight, curved round his + trunk and extracted the dart. + + Fourth: Stealing unawares upon the whale in the fancied security of the + middle of solitary seas, you find him unbent from the vast corpulence + of his dignity, and kitten-like, he plays on the ocean as if it were a + hearth. But still you see his power in his play. The broad palms of his + tail are flirted high into the air! then smiting the surface, the + thunderous concussion resounds for miles. You would almost think a + great gun had been discharged; and if you noticed the light wreath of + vapor from the spiracle at his other extremity, you would think that + that was the smoke from the touch-hole. + + Fifth: As in the ordinary floating posture of the leviathan the flukes + lies considerably below the level of his back, they are then completely + out of sight beneath the surface; but when he is about to plunge into + the deeps, his entire flukes with at least thirty feet of his body are + tossed erect in the air, and so remain vibrating a moment, till they + downwards shoot out of view. Excepting the sublime breach— somewhere + else to be described—this peaking of the whale's flukes is perhaps the + grandest sight to be seen in all animated nature. Out of the bottomless + profundities the gigantic tail seems spasmodically snatching at the + highest heaven. So in dreams, have I seen majestic Satan thrusting + forth his tormented colossal claw from the flame Baltic of Hell. But in + gazing at such scenes, it is all in all what mood you are in; if in the + Dantean, the devils will occur to you; if in that of Isaiah, the + archangels. Standing at the mast-head of my ship during a sunrise that + crimsoned sky and sea, I once saw a large herd of whales in the east, + all heading towards the sun, and for a moment vibrating in concert with + peaked flukes. As it seemed to me at the time, such a grand embodiment + of adoration of the gods was never beheld, even in Persia, the home of + the fire worshippers. As Ptolemy Philopater testified of the African + elephant, I then testified of the whale, pronouncing him the most + devout of all beings. For according to King Juba, the military + elephants of antiquity often hailed the morning with their trunks + uplifted in the profoundest silence. + + The chance comparison in this chapter, between the whale and the + elephant, so far as some aspects of the tail of the one and the trunk + of the other are concerned, should not tend to place those two opposite + organs on an equality, much less the creatures to which they + respectively belong. For as the mightiest elephant is but a terrier to + Leviathan, so, compared with Leviathan's tail, his trunk is but the + stalk of a lily. The most direful blow from the elephant's trunk were + as the playful tap of a fan, compared with the measureless crush and + crash of the sperm whale's ponderous flukes, which in repeated + instances have one after the other hurled entire boats with all their + oars and crews into the air, very much as an Indian juggler tosses his + balls.* + + *Though all comparison in the way of general bulk between the whale and + the elephant is preposterous, inasmuch as in that particular the + elephant stands in much the same respect to the whale that a dog does + to the elephant; nevertheless, there are not wanting some points of + curious similitude; among these is the spout. It is well known that the + elephant will often draw up water or dust in his trunk, and then + elevating it, jet it forth in a stream. + + The more I consider this mighty tail, the more do I deplore my + inability to express it. At times there are gestures in it, which, + though they would well grace the hand of man, remain wholly + inexplicable. In an extensive herd, so remarkable, occasionally, are + these mystic gestures, that I have heard hunters who have declared them + akin to Free-Mason signs and symbols; that the whale, indeed, by these + methods intelligently conversed with the world. Nor are there wanting + other motions of the whale in his general body, full of strangeness, + and unaccountable to his most experienced assailant. Dissect him how I + may, then, I but go skin deep. I know him not, and never will. But if I + know not even the tail of this whale, how understand his head? much + more, how comprehend his face, when face he has none? Thou shalt see my + back parts, my tail, he seems to say, but my face shall not be seen. + But I cannot completely make out his back parts; and hint what he will + about his face, I say again he has no face. + + + + + CHAPTER 87 + + + The Grand Armada + + The long and narrow peninsula of Malacca, extending south-eastward from + the territories of Birmah, forms the most southerly point of all Asia. + In a continuous line from that peninsula stretch the long islands of + Sumatra, Java, Bally, and Timor; which, with many others, form a vast + mole, or rampart, lengthwise connecting Asia with Australia, and + dividing the long unbroken Indian ocean from the thickly studded + oriental archipelagoes. This rampart is pierced by several sally-ports + for the convenience of ships and whales; conspicuous among which are + the straits of Sunda and Malacca. By the straits of Sunda, chiefly, + vessels bound to China from the west, emerge into the China seas. + + Those narrow straits of Sunda divide Sumatra from Java; and standing + midway in that vast rampart of islands, buttressed by that bold green + promontory, known to seamen as Java Head; they not a little correspond + to the central gateway opening into some vast walled empire: and + considering the inexhaustible wealth of spices, and silks, and jewels, + and gold, and ivory, with which the thousand islands of that oriental + sea are enriched, it seems a significant provision of nature, that such + treasures, by the very formation of the land, should at least bear the + appearance, however ineffectual, of being guarded from the all-grasping + western world. The shores of the Straits of Sunda are unsupplied with + those domineering fortresses which guard the entrances to the + Mediterranean, the Baltic, and the Propontis. Unlike the Danes, these + Orientals do not demand the obsequious homage of lowered top-sails from + the endless procession of ships before the wind, which for centuries + past, by night and by day, have passed between the islands of Sumatra + and Java, freighted with the costliest cargoes of the east. But while + they freely waive a ceremonial like this, they do by no means renounce + their claim to more solid tribute. + + Time out of mind the piratical proas of the Malays, lurking among the + low shaded coves and islets of Sumatra, have sallied out upon the + vessels sailing through the straits, fiercely demanding tribute at the + point of their spears. Though by the repeated bloody chastisements they + have received at the hands of European cruisers, the audacity of these + corsairs has of late been somewhat repressed; yet, even at the present + day, we occasionally hear of English and American vessels, which, in + those waters, have been remorselessly boarded and pillaged. + + With a fair, fresh wind, the Pequod was now drawing nigh to these + straits; Ahab purposing to pass through them into the Java sea, and + thence, cruising northwards, over waters known to be frequented here + and there by the Sperm Whale, sweep inshore by the Philippine Islands, + and gain the far coast of Japan, in time for the great whaling season + there. By these means, the circumnavigating Pequod would sweep almost + all the known Sperm Whale cruising grounds of the world, previous to + descending upon the Line in the Pacific; where Ahab, though everywhere + else foiled in his pursuit, firmly counted upon giving battle to Moby + Dick, in the sea he was most known to frequent; and at a season when he + might most reasonably be presumed to be haunting it. + + But how now? in this zoned quest, does Ahab touch no land? does his + crew drink air? Surely, he will stop for water. Nay. For a long time, + now, the circus-running sun has raced within his fiery ring, and needs + no sustenance but what's in himself. So Ahab. Mark this, too, in the + whaler. While other hulls are loaded down with alien stuff, to be + transferred to foreign wharves; the world-wandering whale-ship carries + no cargo but herself and crew, their weapons and their wants. She has a + whole lake's contents bottled in her ample hold. She is ballasted with + utilities; not altogether with unusable pig-lead and kentledge. She + carries years' water in her. Clear old prime Nantucket water; which, + when three years afloat, the Nantucketer, in the Pacific, prefers to + drink before the brackish fluid, but yesterday rafted off in casks, + from the Peruvian or Indian streams. Hence it is, that, while other + ships may have gone to China from New York, and back again, touching at + a score of ports, the whale-ship, in all that interval, may not have + sighted one grain of soil; her crew having seen no man but floating + seamen like themselves. So that did you carry them the news that + another flood had come; they would only answer—"Well, boys, here's the + ark!" + + Now, as many Sperm Whales had been captured off the western coast of + Java, in the near vicinity of the Straits of Sunda; indeed, as most of + the ground, roundabout, was generally recognised by the fishermen as an + excellent spot for cruising; therefore, as the Pequod gained more and + more upon Java Head, the look-outs were repeatedly hailed, and + admonished to keep wide awake. But though the green palmy cliffs of the + land soon loomed on the starboard bow, and with delighted nostrils the + fresh cinnamon was snuffed in the air, yet not a single jet was + descried. Almost renouncing all thought of falling in with any game + hereabouts, the ship had well nigh entered the straits, when the + customary cheering cry was heard from aloft, and ere long a spectacle + of singular magnificence saluted us. + + But here be it premised, that owing to the unwearied activity with + which of late they have been hunted over all four oceans, the Sperm + Whales, instead of almost invariably sailing in small detached + companies, as in former times, are now frequently met with in extensive + herds, sometimes embracing so great a multitude, that it would almost + seem as if numerous nations of them had sworn solemn league and + covenant for mutual assistance and protection. To this aggregation of + the Sperm Whale into such immense caravans, may be imputed the + circumstance that even in the best cruising grounds, you may now + sometimes sail for weeks and months together, without being greeted by + a single spout; and then be suddenly saluted by what sometimes seems + thousands on thousands. + + Broad on both bows, at the distance of some two or three miles, and + forming a great semicircle, embracing one half of the level horizon, a + continuous chain of whale-jets were up-playing and sparkling in the + noon-day air. Unlike the straight perpendicular twin-jets of the Right + Whale, which, dividing at top, falls over in two branches, like the + cleft drooping boughs of a willow, the single forward-slanting spout of + the Sperm Whale presents a thick curled bush of white mist, continually + rising and falling away to leeward. + + Seen from the Pequod's deck, then, as she would rise on a high hill of + the sea, this host of vapory spouts, individually curling up into the + air, and beheld through a blending atmosphere of bluish haze, showed + like the thousand cheerful chimneys of some dense metropolis, descried + of a balmy autumnal morning, by some horseman on a height. + + As marching armies approaching an unfriendly defile in the mountains, + accelerate their march, all eagerness to place that perilous passage in + their rear, and once more expand in comparative security upon the + plain; even so did this vast fleet of whales now seem hurrying forward + through the straits; gradually contracting the wings of their + semicircle, and swimming on, in one solid, but still crescentic centre. + + Crowding all sail the Pequod pressed after them; the harpooneers + handling their weapons, and loudly cheering from the heads of their yet + suspended boats. If the wind only held, little doubt had they, that + chased through these Straits of Sunda, the vast host would only deploy + into the Oriental seas to witness the capture of not a few of their + number. And who could tell whether, in that congregated caravan, Moby + Dick himself might not temporarily be swimming, like the worshipped + white-elephant in the coronation procession of the Siamese! So with + stun-sail piled on stun-sail, we sailed along, driving these leviathans + before us; when, of a sudden, the voice of Tashtego was heard, loudly + directing attention to something in our wake. + + Corresponding to the crescent in our van, we beheld another in our + rear. It seemed formed of detached white vapors, rising and falling + something like the spouts of the whales; only they did not so + completely come and go; for they constantly hovered, without finally + disappearing. Levelling his glass at this sight, Ahab quickly revolved + in his pivot-hole, crying, "Aloft there, and rig whips and buckets to + wet the sails;—Malays, sir, and after us!" + + As if too long lurking behind the headlands, till the Pequod should + fairly have entered the straits, these rascally Asiatics were now in + hot pursuit, to make up for their over-cautious delay. But when the + swift Pequod, with a fresh leading wind, was herself in hot chase; how + very kind of these tawny philanthropists to assist in speeding her on + to her own chosen pursuit,— mere riding-whips and rowels to her, that + they were. As with glass under arm, Ahab to-and-fro paced the deck; in + his forward turn beholding the monsters he chased, and in the after one + the bloodthirsty pirates chasing him; some such fancy as the above + seemed his. And when he glanced upon the green walls of the watery + defile in which the ship was then sailing, and bethought him that + through that gate lay the route to his vengeance, and beheld, how that + through that same gate he was now both chasing and being chased to his + deadly end; and not only that, but a herd of remorseless wild pirates + and inhuman atheistical devils were infernally cheering him on with + their curses;—when all these conceits had passed through his brain, + Ahab's brow was left gaunt and ribbed, like the black sand beach after + some stormy tide has been gnawing it, without being able to drag the + firm thing from its place. + + But thoughts like these troubled very few of the reckless crew; and + when, after steadily dropping and dropping the pirates astern, the + Pequod at last shot by the vivid green Cockatoo Point on the Sumatra + side, emerging at last upon the broad waters beyond; then, the + harpooneers seemed more to grieve that the swift whales had been + gaining upon the ship, than to rejoice that the ship had so + victoriously gained upon the Malays. But still driving on in the wake + of the whales, at length they seemed abating their speed; gradually the + ship neared them; and the wind now dying away, word was passed to + spring to the boats. But no sooner did the herd, by some presumed + wonderful instinct of the Sperm Whale, become notified of the three + keels that were after them,— though as yet a mile in their rear,—than + they rallied again, and forming in close ranks and battalions, so that + their spouts all looked like flashing lines of stacked bayonets, moved + on with redoubled velocity. + + Stripped to our shirts and drawers, we sprang to the white-ash, and + after several hours' pulling were almost disposed to renounce the + chase, when a general pausing commotion among the whales gave animating + tokens that they were now at last under the influence of that strange + perplexity of inert irresolution, which, when the fishermen perceive it + in the whale, they say he is gallied*. The compact martial columns in + which they had been hitherto rapidly and steadily swimming, were now + broken up in one measureless rout; and like King Porus' elephants in + the Indian battle with Alexander, they seemed going mad with + consternation. In all directions expanding in vast irregular circles, + and aimlessly swimming hither and thither, by their short thick + spoutings, they plainly betrayed their distraction of panic. This was + still more strangely evinced by those of their number, who, completely + paralysed as it were, helplessly floated like water-logged dismantled + ships on the sea. Had these Leviathans been but a flock of simple + sheep, pursued over the pasture by three fierce wolves, they could not + possibly have evinced such excessive dismay. But this occasional + timidity is characteristic of almost all herding creatures. Though + banding together in tens of thousands, the lion-maned buffaloes of the + West have fled before a solitary horseman. Witness, too, all human + beings, how when herded together in the sheepfold of a theatre's pit, + they will, at the slightest alarm of fire, rush helter-skelter for the + outlets, crowding, trampling, jamming, and remorselessly dashing each + other to death. Best, therefore, withhold any amazement at the + strangely gallied whales before us, for there is no folly of the beasts + of the earth which is not infinitely outdone by the madness of men. + + * To gally, or gallow, is to frighten excessively— to confound with + fright. It is an old Saxon word. It occurs once in Shakespeare:— + + The wrathful skies Gallow the very wanderers of the dark And make them + keep their caves. + + To common language, the word is now completely obsolete. When the + polite landsman first hears it from the gaunt Nantucketer, he is apt to + set it down as one of the whaleman's self-derived savageries. Much the + same is it with many other sinewy Saxonisms of this sort, which + emigrated to New-England rocks with the noble brawn of the old English + emigrants in the time of the Commonwealth. Thus, some of the best and + furthest-descended English words—the etymological Howards and + Percys—are now democratised, nay, plebeianised—so to speak— in the New + World. + + Though many of the whales, as has been said, were in violent motion, + yet it is to be observed that as a whole the herd neither advanced nor + retreated, but collectively remained in one place. As is customary in + those cases, the boats at once separated, each making for some one lone + whale on the outskirts of the shoal. In about three minutes' time, + Queequeg's harpoon was flung; the stricken fish darted blinding spray + in our faces, and then running away with us like light, steered + straight for the heart of the herd. Though such a movement on the part + of the whale struck under such circumstances, is in no wise + unprecedented; and indeed is almost always more or less anticipated; + yet does it present one of the more perilous vicissitudes of the + fishery. For as the swift monster drags you deeper and deeper into the + frantic shoal, you bid adieu to circumspect life and only exist in a + delirious throb. + + As, blind and deaf, the whale plunged forward, as if by sheer power of + speed to rid himself of the iron leech that had fastened to him; as we + thus tore a white gash in the sea, on all sides menaced as we flew, by + the crazed creatures to and fro rushing about us; our beset boat was + like a ship mobbed by ice-isles in a tempest, and striving to steer + through their complicated channels and straits, knowing not at what + moment it may be locked in and crushed. + + But not a bit daunted, Queequeg steered us manfully; now sheering off + from this monster directly across our route in advance; now edging away + from that, whose colossal flukes were suspended overhead, while all the + time, Starbuck stood up in the bows, lance in hand, pricking out of our + way whatever whales he could reach by short darts, for there was no + time to make long ones. Nor were the oarsmen quite idle, though their + wonted duty was now altogether dispensed with. They chiefly attended to + the shouting part of the business. "Out of the way, Commodore!" cried + one, to a great dromedary that of a sudden rose bodily to the surface, + and for an instant threatened to swamp us. "Hard down with your tail, + there!" cried a second to another, which, close to our gunwale, seemed + calmly cooling himself with his own fan-like extremity. + + All whale-boats carry certain curious contrivances, originally invented + by the Nantucket Indians, called druggs. Two thick squares of wood of + equal size are stoutly clenched together, so that they cross each + other's grain at right angles; a line of considerable length is then + attached to the middle of this block, and the other end of the line + being looped, it can in a moment be fastened to a harpoon. It is + chiefly among gallied whales that this drugg is used. For then, more + whales are close round you than you can possibly chase at one time. But + sperm whales are not every day encountered; while you may, then, you + must kill all you can. And if you cannot kill them all at once, you + must wing them, so that they can be afterwards killed at your leisure. + Hence it is, that at times like these the drug, comes into requisition. + Our boat was furnished with three of them. The first and second were + successfully darted, and we saw the whales staggeringly running off, + fettered by the enormous sidelong resistance of the towing drugg. They + were cramped like malefactors with the chain and ball. But upon + flinging the third, in the act of tossing overboard the clumsy wooden + block, it caught under one of the seats of the boat, and in an instant + tore it out and carried it away, dropping the oarsman in the boat's + bottom as the seat slid from under him. On both sides the sea came in + at the wounded planks, but we stuffed two or three drawers and shirts + in, and so stopped the leaks for the time. + + It had been next to impossible to dart these drugged-harpoons, were it + not that as we advanced into the herd, our whale's way greatly + diminished; moreover, that as we went still further and further from + the circumference of commotion, the direful disorders seemed waning. So + that when at last the jerking harpoon drew out, and the towing whale + sideways vanished; then, with the tapering force of his parting + momentum, we glided between two whales into the innermost heart of the + shoal, as if from some mountain torrent we had slid into a serene + valley lake. Here the storms in the roaring glens between the outermost + whales, were heard but not felt. In this central expanse the sea + presented that smooth satin-like surface, called a sleek, produced by + the subtle moisture thrown off by the whale in his more quiet moods. + Yes, we were now in that enchanted calm which they say lurks at the + heart of every commotion. And still in the distracted distance we + beheld the tumults of the outer concentric circles, and saw successive + pods of whales, eight or ten in each, swiftly going round and round, + like multiplied spans of horses in a ring; and so closely shoulder to + shoulder, that a Titanic circus-rider might easily have over-arched the + middle ones, and so have gone round on their backs. Owing to the + density of the crowd of reposing whales, more immediately surrounding + the embayed axis of the herd, no possible chance of escape was at + present afforded us. We must watch for a breach in the living wall that + hemmed us in; the wall that had only admitted us in order to shut us + up. Keeping at the centre of the lake, we were occasionally visited by + small tame cows and calves; the women and children of this routed host. + + Now, inclusive of the occasional wide intervals between the revolving + outer circles, and inclusive of the spaces between the various pods in + any one of those circles, the entire area at this juncture, embraced by + the whole multitude, must have contained at least two or three square + miles. At any rate—though indeed such a test at such a time might be + deceptive—spoutings might be discovered from our low boat that seemed + playing up almost from the rim of the horizon. I mention this + circumstance, because, as if the cows and calves had been purposely + locked up in this innermost fold; and as if the wide extent of the herd + had hitherto prevented them from learning the precise cause of its + stopping; or, possibly, being so young, unsophisticated, and every way + innocent and inexperienced; however it may have been, these smaller + whales— now and then visiting our becalmed boat from the margin of the + lake— evinced a wondrous fearlessness and confidence, or else a still + becharmed panic which it was impossible not to marvel at. Like + household dogs they came snuffling round us, right up to our gunwales, + and touching them; till it almost seemed that some spell had suddenly + domesticated them. Queequeg patted their foreheads; Starbuck scratched + their backs with his lance; but fearful of the consequences, for the + time refrained from darting it. + + But far beneath this wondrous world upon the surface, another and still + stranger world met our eyes as we gazed over the side. For, suspended + in those watery vaults, floated the forms of the nursing mothers of the + whales, and those that by their enormous girth seemed shortly to become + mothers. The lake, as I have hinted, was to a considerable depth + exceedingly transparent; and as human infants while suckling will + calmly and fixedly gaze away from the breast, as if leading two + different lives at the time; and while yet drawing mortal nourishment, + be still spiritually feasting upon some unearthly reminiscence;—even so + did the young of these whales seem looking up towards us, but not at + us, as if we were but a bit of Gulfweed in their new-born sight. + Floating on their sides, the mothers also seemed quietly eyeing us. One + of these little infants, that from certain queer tokens seemed hardly a + day old, might have measured some fourteen feet in length, and some six + feet in girth. He was a little frisky; though as yet his body seemed + scarce yet recovered from that irksome position it had so lately + occupied in the maternal reticule; where, tail to head, and all ready + for the final spring, the unborn whale lies bent like a Tartar's bow. + The delicate side-fins, and the palms of his flukes, still freshly + retained the plaited crumpled appearance of a baby's ears newly arrived + from foreign parts. + + "Line! line!" cried Queequeg, looking over the gunwale; "him fast! him + fast!—Who line him! Who struck?—Two whale; one big, one little!" + + "What ails ye, man?" cried Starbuck. + + "Look-e here," said Queequeg, pointing down. + + As when the stricken whale, that from the tub has reeled out hundreds + of fathoms of rope; as, after deep sounding, he floats up again, and + shows the slackened curling line buoyantly rising and spiralling + towards the air; so now, Starbuck saw long coils of the umbilical cord + of Madame Leviathan, by which the young cub seemed still tethered to + its dam. Not seldom in the rapid vicissitudes of the chase, this + natural line, with the maternal end loose, becomes entangled with the + hempen one, so that the cub is thereby trapped. Some of the subtlest + secrets of the seas seemed divulged to us in this enchanted pond. We + saw young Leviathan amours in the deep.* + + *The sperm whale, as with all other species of the Leviathan, but + unlike most other fish, breeds indifferently at all seasons; after a + gestation which may probably be set down at nine months, producing but + one at a time; though in some few known instances giving birth to an + Esau and Jacob:—a contingency provided for in suckling by two teats, + curiously situated, one on each side of the anus; but the breasts + themselves extend upwards from that. When by chance these precious + parts in a nursing whale are cut by the hunter's lance, the mother's + pouring milk and blood rivallingly discolor the sea for rods. The milk + is very sweet and rich; it has been tasted by man; it might do well + with strawberries. When overflowing with mutual esteem, the whales + salute more hominum. + + And thus, though surrounded by circle upon circle of consternations and + affrights, did these inscrutable creatures at the centre freely and + fearlessly indulge in all peaceful concernments; yea, serenely revelled + in dalliance and delight. But even so, amid the tornadoed Atlantic of + my being, do I myself still for ever centrally disport in mute calm; + and while ponderous planets of unwaning woe revolve round me, deep down + and deep inland there I still bathe me in eternal mildness of joy. + + Meanwhile, as we thus lay entranced, the occasional sudden frantic + spectacles in the distance evinced the activity of the other boats, + still engaged in drugging the whales on the frontier of the host; or + possibly carrying on the war within the first circle, where abundance + of room and some convenient retreats were afforded them. But the sight + of the enraged drugged whales now and then blindly darting to and fro + across the circles, was nothing to what at last met our eyes. It is + sometimes the custom when fast to a whale more than commonly powerful + and alert, to seek to hamstring him, as it were, by sundering or + maiming his gigantic tail-tendon. It is done by darting a short-handled + cutting-spade, to which is attached a rope for hauling it back again. A + whale wounded (as we afterwards learned) in this part, but not + effectually, as it seemed, had broken away from the boat, carrying + along with him half of the harpoon line; and in the extraordinary agony + of the wound, he was now dashing among the revolving circles like the + lone mounted desperado Arnold, at the battle of Saratoga, carrying + dismay wherever he went. + + But agonizing as was the wound of this whale, and an appalling + spectacle enough, any way; yet the peculiar horror with which he seemed + to inspire the rest of the herd, was owing to a cause which at first + the intervening distance obscured from us. But at length we perceived + that by one of the unimaginable accidents of the fishery, this whale + had become entangled in the harpoon-line that he towed; he had also run + away with the cutting-spade in him; and while the free end of the rope + attached to that weapon, had permanently caught in the coils of the + harpoon-line round his tail, the cutting-spade itself had worked loose + from his flesh. So that tormented to madness, he was now churning + through the water, violently flailing with his flexible tail, and + tossing the keen spade about him, wounding and murdering his own + comrades. + + This terrific object seemed to recall the whole herd from their + stationary fright. First, the whales forming the margin of our lake + began to crowd a little, and tumble against each other, as if lifted by + half spent billows from afar; then the lake itself began faintly to + heave and swell; the submarine bridal-chambers and nurseries vanished; + in more and more contracting orbits the whales in the more central + circles began to swim in thickening clusters. Yes, the long calm was + departing. A low advancing hum was soon heard; and then like to the + tumultuous masses of block-ice when the great river Hudson breaks up in + Spring, the entire host of whales came tumbling upon their inner + centre, as if to pile themselves up in one common mountain. Instantly + Starbuck and Queequeg changed places; Starbuck taking the stern. + + "Oars! Oars!" he intensely whispered, seizing the helm—"gripe your + oars, and clutch your souls, now! My God, men, stand by! Shove him off, + you Queequeg—the whale there!—prick him!—hit him! Stand up—stand up, + and stay so! Spring men—pull, men; never mind their backs—scrape + them!—scrape away!" + + The boat was now all but jammed between two vast black bulks, leaving a + narrow Dardanelles between their long lengths. But by desperate + endeavor we at last shot into a temporary opening; then giving way + rapidly, and at the same time earnestly watching for another outlet. + After many similar hair-breadth escapes, we at last swiftly glided into + what had just been one of the outer circles, but now crossed by random + whales, all violently making for one centre. This lucky salvation was + cheaply purchased by the loss of Queequeg's hat, who, while standing in + the bows to prick the fugitive whales, had his hat taken clean from his + head by the air-eddy made by the sudden tossing of a pair of broad + flukes close by. + + Riotous and disordered as the universal commotion now was, it soon + resolved itself into what seemed a systematic movement; for having + clumped together at last in one dense body, they then renewed their + onward flight with augmented fleetness. Further pursuit was useless; + but the boats still lingered in their wake to pick up what drugged + whales might be dropped astern, and likewise to secure one which Flask + had killed and waited. The waif is a pennoned pole, two or three of + which are carried by every boat; and which, when additional game is at + hand, are inserted upright into the floating body of a dead whale, both + to mark its place on the sea, and also as token of prior possession, + should the boats of any other ship draw near. + + The result of this lowering was somewhat illustrative of that sagacious + saying in the Fishery,—the more whales the less fish. Of all the + drugged whales only one was captured. The rest contrived to escape for + the time, but only to be taken, as will hereafter be seen, by some + other craft than the Pequod. + + + + + CHAPTER 88 + + + Schools and Schoolmasters + + The previous chapter gave account of an immense body or herd of Sperm + Whales, and there was also then given the probable cause inducing those + vast aggregations. + + Now, though such great bodies are at times encountered, yet, as must + have been seen, even at the present day, small detached bands are + occasionally observed, embracing from twenty to fifty individuals each. + Such bands are known as schools. They generally are of two sorts; those + composed almost entirely of females, and those mustering none but young + vigorous males, or bulls as they are familiarly designated. + + In cavalier attendance upon the school of females, you invariably see a + male of full grown magnitude, but not old; who, upon any alarm, evinces + his gallantry by falling in the rear and covering the flight of his + ladies. In truth, this gentleman is a luxurious Ottoman, swimming about + over the watery world, surroundingly accompanied by all the solaces and + endearments of the harem. The contrast between this Ottoman and his + concubines is striking; because, while he is always of the largest + leviathanic proportions, the ladies, even at full growth, are not more + than one-third of the bulk of an average-sized male. They are + comparatively delicate, indeed; I dare say, not to exceed half a dozen + yards round the waist. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied, that upon the + whole they are hereditarily entitled to en bon point. + + It is very curious to watch this harem and its lord in their indolent + ramblings. Like fashionables, they are for ever on the move in + leisurely search of variety. You meet them on the Line in time for the + full flower of the Equatorial feeding season, having just returned, + perhaps, from spending the summer in the Northern seas, and so cheating + summer of all unpleasant weariness and warmth. By the time they have + lounged up and down the promenade of the Equator awhile, they start for + the Oriental waters in anticipation of the cool season there, and so + evade the other excessive temperature of the year. + + When serenely advancing on one of these journeys, if any strange + suspicious sights are seen, my lord whale keeps a wary eye on his + interesting family. Should any unwarrantably pert young Leviathan + coming that way, presume to draw confidentially close to one of the + ladies, with what prodigious fury the Bashaw assails him, and chases + him away! High times, indeed, if unprincipled young rakes like him are + to be permitted to invade the sanctity of domestic bliss; though do + what the Bashaw will, he cannot keep the most notorious Lothario out of + his bed; for alas! all fish bed in common. As ashore, the ladies often + cause the most terrible duels among their rival admirers; just so with + the whales, who sometimes come to deadly battle, and all for love. They + fence with their long lower jaws, sometimes locking them together, and + so striving for the supremacy like elks that warringly interweave their + antlers. Not a few are captured having the deep scars of these + encounters,— furrowed heads, broken teeth, scolloped fins; and in some + instances, wrenched and dislocated mouths. + + But supposing the invader of domestic bliss to betake himself away at + the first rush of the harem's lord, then is it very diverting to watch + that lord. Gently he insinuates his vast bulk among them again and + revels there awhile, still in tantalizing vicinity to young Lothario, + like pious Solomon devoutly worshipping among his thousand concubines. + Granting other whales to be in sight, the fisherman will seldom give + chase to one of these Grand Turks; for these Grand Turks are too lavish + of their strength, and hence their unctuousness is small. As for the + sons and the daughters they beget, why, those sons and daughters must + take care of themselves; at least, with only the maternal help. For + like certain other omnivorous roving lovers that might be named, my + Lord Whale has no taste for the nursery, however much for the bower; + and so, being a great traveller, he leaves his anonymous babies all + over the world; every baby an exotic. In good time, nevertheless, as + the ardor of youth declines; as years and dumps increase; as reflection + lends her solemn pauses; in short, as a general lassitude overtakes the + sated Turk; then a love of ease and virtue supplants the love for + maidens; our Ottoman enters upon the impotent, repentant, admonitory + stage of life, forswears, disbands the harem, and grown to an + exemplary, sulky old soul, goes about all alone among the meridians and + parallels saying his prayers, and warning each young Leviathan from his + amorous errors. + + Now, as the harem of whales is called by the fishermen a school, so is + the lord and master of that school technically known as the + schoolmaster. It is therefore not in strict character, however + admirably satirical, that after going to school himself, he should then + go abroad inculcating not what he learned there, but the folly of it. + His title, schoolmaster, would very naturally seem derived from the + name bestowed upon the harem itself, but some have surmised that the + man who first thus entitled this sort of Ottoman whale, must have read + the memoirs of Vidocq, and informed himself what sort of a + country-schoolmaster that famous Frenchman was in his younger days, and + what was the nature of those occult lessons he inculcated into some of + his pupils. + + The same secludedness and isolation to which the schoolmaster whale + betakes himself in his advancing years, is true of all aged Sperm + Whales. Almost universally, a lone whale— as a solitary Leviathan is + called—proves an ancient one. Like venerable moss-bearded Daniel Boone, + he will have no one near him but Nature herself; and her he takes to + wife in the wilderness of waters, and the best of wives she is, though + she keeps so many moody secrets. + + The schools composing none but young and vigorous males, previously + mentioned, offer a strong contrast to the harem schools. For while + those female whales are characteristically timid, the young males, or + forty-barrel-bulls, as they call them, are by far the most pugnacious + of all Leviathans, and proverbially the most dangerous to encounter; + excepting those wondrous grey-headed, grizzled whales, sometimes met, + and these will fight you like grim fiends exasperated by a penal gout. + + The Forty-barrel-bull schools are larger than the harem schools. Like a + mob of young collegians, they are full of fight, fun, and wickedness, + tumbling round the world at such a reckless, rollicking rate, that no + prudent underwriter would insure them any more than he would a riotous + lad at Yale or Harvard. They soon relinquish this turbulence though, + and when about three-fourths grown, break up, and separately go about + in quest of settlements, that is, harems. + + Another point of difference between the male and female schools is + still more characteristic of the sexes. Say you strike a + Forty-barrel-bull—poor devil! all his comrades quit him. But strike a + member of the harem school, and her companions swim around her with + every token of concern, sometimes lingering so near her and so long, as + themselves to fall a prey. + + + + + CHAPTER 89 + + + Fast-Fish and Loose-Fish + + The allusion to the waifs and waif-poles in the last chapter but one, + necessitates some account of the laws and regulations of the whale + fishery, of which the waif may be deemed the grand symbol and badge. + + It frequently happens that when several ships are cruising in company, + a whale may be struck by one vessel, then escape, and be finally killed + and captured by another vessel; and herein are indirectly comprised + many minor contingencies, all partaking of this one grand feature. For + example,—after a weary and perilous chase and capture of a whale, the + body may get loose from the ship by reason of a violent storm; and + drifting far away to leeward, be retaken by a second whaler, who, in a + calm, snugly tows it alongside, without risk of life or line. Thus the + most vexatious and violent disputes would often arise between the + fishermen, were there not some written or unwritten, universal, + undisputed law applicable to all cases. + + Perhaps the only formal whaling code authorized by legislative + enactment, was that of Holland. It was decreed by the States-General in + A.D. 1695. But though no other nation has ever had any written whaling + law, yet the American fishermen have been their own legislators and + lawyers in this matter. They have provided a system which for terse + comprehensiveness surpasses Justinian's Pandects and the By-laws of the + Chinese Society for the Suppression of Meddling with other People's + Business. Yes; these laws might be engraven on a Queen Anne's farthing, + or the barb of a harpoon, and worn round the neck, so small are they. + + I. A Fast-Fish belongs to the party fast to it. + + II. A Loose-Fish is fair game for anybody who can soonest catch it. + + But what plays the mischief with this masterly code is the admirable + brevity of it, which necessitates a vast volume of commentaries to + expound it. + + First: What is a Fast-Fish? Alive or dead a fish is technically fast, + when it is connected with an occupied ship or boat, by any medium at + all controllable by the occupant or occupants,—a mast, an oar, a + nine-inch cable, a telegraph wire, or a strand of cobweb, it is all the + same. Likewise a fish is technically fast when it bears a waif, or any + other recognized symbol of possession; so long as the party wailing it + plainly evince their ability at any time to take it alongside, as well + as their intention so to do. + + These are scientific commentaries; but the commentaries of the whalemen + themselves sometimes consist in hard words and harder knocks— the + Coke-upon-Littleton of the fist. True, among the more upright and + honorable whalemen allowances are always made for peculiar cases, where + it would be an outrageous moral injustice for one party to claim + possession of a whale previously chased or killed by another party. But + others are by no means so scrupulous. + + Some fifty years ago there was a curious case of whale-trover litigated + in England, wherein the plaintiffs set forth that after a hard chase of + a whale in the Northern seas; and when indeed they (the plaintiffs) had + succeeded in harpooning the fish; they were at last, through peril of + their lives, obliged to forsake not only their lines, but their boat + itself. Ultimately the defendants (the crew of another ship) came up + with the whale, struck, killed, seized, and finally appropriated it + before the very eyes of the plaintiffs. And when those defendants were + remonstrated with, their captain snapped his fingers in the plaintiffs' + teeth, and assured them that by way of doxology to the deed he had + done, he would now retain their line, harpoons, and boat, which had + remained attached to the whale at the time of the seizure. Wherefore + the plaintiffs now sued for the recovery of the value of their whale, + line, harpoons, and boat. + + Mr. Erskine was counsel for the defendants; Lord Ellenborough was the + judge. In the course of the defence, the witty Erskine went on to + illustrate his position, by alluding to a recent crim. con. case, + wherein a gentleman, after in vain trying to bridle his wife's + viciousness, had at last abandoned her upon the seas of life; but in + the course of years, repenting of that step, he instituted an action to + recover possession of her. Erskine was on the other side; and he then + supported it by saying, that though the gentleman had originally + harpooned the lady, and had once had her fast, and only by reason of + the great stress of her plunging viciousness, had at last abandoned + her; yet abandon her he did, so that she became a loose-fish; and + therefore when a subsequent gentleman re-harpooned her, the lady then + became that subsequent gentleman's property, along with whatever + harpoon might have been found sticking in her. + + Now in the present case Erskine contended that the examples of the + whale and the lady were reciprocally illustrative of each other. + + These pleadings, and the counter pleadings, being duly heard, the very + learned Judge in set terms decided, to wit,— That as for the boat, he + awarded it to the plaintiffs, because they had merely abandoned it to + save their lives; but that with regard to the controverted whale, + harpoons, and line, they belonged to the defendants; the whale, because + it was a Loose-Fish at the time of the final capture; and the harpoons + and line because when the fish made off with them, it (the fish) + acquired a property in those articles; and hence anybody who afterwards + took the fish had a right to them. Now the defendants afterwards took + the fish; ergo, the aforesaid articles were theirs. + + A common man looking at this decision of the very learned Judge, might + possibly object to it. But ploughed up to the primary rock of the + matter, the two great principles laid down in the twin whaling laws + previously quoted, and applied and elucidated by Lord Ellenborough in + the above cited case; these two laws touching Fast-Fish and Loose-Fish, + I say, will on reflection, be found the fundamentals of all human + jurisprudence; For notwithstanding its complicated tracery of + sculpture, the Temple of the Law, like the Temple of the Philistines, + has but two props to stand on. + + Is it not a saying in every one's mouth, Possession is half of the law: + that is, regardless of how the thing came into possession? But often + possession is the whole of the law. What are the sinews and souls of + Russian serfs and Republican slaves but Fast-Fish, whereof possession + is the whole of the law? What to the rapacious landlord is the widow's + last mite but a Fast-Fish? What is yonder undetected villain's marble + mansion with a doorplate for a waif; what is that but a Fast-Fish? What + is the ruinous discount which Mordecai, the broker, gets from the poor + Woebegone, the bankrupt, on a loan to keep Woebegone's family from + starvation; what is that ruinous discount but a Fast-Fish? What is the + Archbishop of Savesoul's income of 100,000 pounds seized from the scant + bread and cheese of hundreds of thousands of broken-backed laborers + (all sure of heaven without any of Savesoul's help) what is that + globular 100,000 but a Fast-Fish. What are the Duke of Dunder's + hereditary towns and hamlets but Fast-Fish? What to that redoubted + harpooneer, John Bull, is poor Ireland, but a Fast-Fish? What to that + apostolic lancer, Brother Jonathan, is Texas but a Fast-Fish? And + concerning all these, is not Possession the whole of the law? + + But if the doctrine of Fast-Fish be pretty generally applicable, the + kindred doctrine of Loose-Fish is still more widely so. That is + internationally and universally applicable. + + What was America in 1492 but a Loose-Fish, in which Columbus struck the + Spanish standard by way of wailing it for his royal master and + mistress? What was Poland to the Czar? What Greece to the Turk? What + India to England? What at last will Mexico be to the United States? All + Loose-Fish. + + What are the Rights of Man and the Liberties of the World but + Loose-Fish? What all men's minds and opinions but Loose-Fish? What is + the principle of religious belief in them but a Loose-Fish? What to the + ostentatious smuggling verbalists are the thoughts of thinkers but + Loose-Fish? What is the great globe itself but a Loose-Fish? And what + are you, reader, but a Loose-Fish and a Fast-Fish, too? + + + + + CHAPTER 90 + + + Heads or Tails + + "De balena vero sufficit, si rex habeat caput, et regina caudam." + BRACTON, L. 3, C. 3. + + Latin from the books of the Laws of England, which taken along with the + context, means, that of all whales captured by anybody on the coast of + that land, the King, as Honorary Grand Harpooneer, must have the head, + and the Queen be respectfully presented with the tail. A division + which, in the whale, is much like halving an apple; there is no + intermediate remainder. Now as this law, under a modified form, is to + this day in force in England; and as it offers in various respects a + strange anomaly touching the general law of Fast—and Loose-Fish, it is + here treated of in a separate chapter, on the same courteous principle + that prompts the English railways to be at the expense of a separate + car, specially reserved for the accommodation of royalty. In the first + place, in curious proof of the fact that the above-mentioned law is + still in force, I proceed to lay before you a circumstance-that + happened within the last two years. + + It seems that some honest mariners of Dover, or Sandwich, or some one + of the Cinque Ports, had after a hard chase succeeded in killing and + beaching a fine whale which they had originally descried afar off from + the shore. Now the Cinque Ports are partially or somehow under the + jurisdiction of a sort of policeman or beadle, called a Lord Warden. + Holding the office directly from the crown, I believe, all the royal + emoluments incident to the Cinque Port territories become by assignment + his. By some writers this office is called a sinecure. But not so. + Because the Lord Warden is busily employed at times in fobbing his + perquisites; which are his chiefly by virtue of that same fobbing of + them. + + Now when these poor sun-burnt mariners, bare-footed, and with their + trowsers rolled high up on their eely legs, had wearily hauled their + fat fish high and dry, promising themselves a good 150 pounds from the + precious oil and bone; and in fantasy sipping rare tea with their + wives, and good ale with their cronies, upon the strength of their + respective shares; up steps a very learned and most Christian and + charitable gentleman, with a copy of Blackstone under his arm; and + laying it upon the whale's head, he says—"Hands off! this fish, my + masters, is a Fast-Fish. I seize it as the Lord Warden's." Upon this + the poor mariners in their respectful consternation—so truly English— + knowing not what to say, fall to vigorously scratching their heads all + round; meanwhile ruefully glancing from the whale to the stranger. But + that did in nowise mend the matter, or at all soften the hard heart of + the learned gentleman with the copy of Blackstone. At length one of + them, after long scratching about for his ideas, made bold to speak, + + "Please, sir, who is the Lord Warden?" + + "The Duke." + + "But the duke had nothing to do with taking this fish?" + + "It is his." + + "We have been at great trouble, and peril, and some expense, and is all + that to go to the Duke's benefit; we getting nothing at all for our + pains but our blisters?" + + "It is his." + + "Is the Duke so very poor as to be forced to this desperate mode of + getting a livelihood?" + + "It is his." + + "I thought to relieve my old bed-ridden mother by part of my share of + this whale." + + "It is his." + + "Won't the Duke be content with a quarter or a half?" + + "It is his." + + In a word, the whale was seized and sold, and his Grace the Duke of + Wellington received the money. Thinking that viewed in some particular + lights, the case might by a bare possibility in some small degree be + deemed, under the circumstances, a rather hard one, an honest clergyman + of the town respectfully addressed a note to his Grace, begging him to + take the case of those unfortunate mariners into full consideration. To + which my Lord Duke in substance replied (both letters were published) + that he had already done so, and received the money, and would be + obliged to the reverend gentleman if for the future he (the reverend + gentleman) would decline meddling with other people's business. Is this + the still militant old man, standing at the corners of the three + kingdoms, on all hands coercing alms of beggars? + + It will readily be seen that in this case the alleged right of the Duke + to the whale was a delegated one from the Sovereign. We must needs + inquire then on what principle the Sovereign is originally invested + with that right. The law itself has already been set forth. But Plowdon + gives us the reason for it. Says Plowdon, the whale so caught belongs + to the King and Queen, "because of its superior excellence." And by the + soundest commentators this has ever been held a cogent argument in such + matters. + + But why should the King have the head, and the Queen the tail? + A reason for that, ye lawyers! + + In his treatise on "Queen-Gold," or Queen-pin-money, an old King's + Bench author, one William Prynne, thus discourseth: "Ye tail is ye + Queen's, that ye Queen's wardrobe may be supplied with ye whalebone." + Now this was written at a time when the black limber bone of the + Greenland or Right whale was largely used in ladies' bodices. But this + same bone is not in the tail; it is in the head, which is a sad mistake + for a sagacious lawyer like Prynne. But is the Queen a mermaid, to be + presented with a tail? An allegorical meaning may lurk here. + + There are two royal fish so styled by the English law writers— the + whale and the sturgeon; both royal property under certain limitations, + and nominally supplying the tenth branch of the crown's ordinary + revenue. I know not that any other author has hinted of the matter; but + by inference it seems to me that the sturgeon must be divided in the + same way as the whale, the King receiving the highly dense and elastic + head peculiar to that fish, which, symbolically regarded, may possibly + be humorously grounded upon some presumed congeniality. And thus there + seems a reason in all things, even in law. + + + + + CHAPTER 91 + + + The Pequod Meets The Rose-Bud + + "In vain it was to rake for Ambergriese in the paunch of this + Leviathan, insufferable fetor denying not inquiry." SIR T. BROWNE, V. + E. + + It was a week or two after the last whaling scene recounted, and when + we were slowly sailing over a sleepy, vapory, mid-day sea, that the + many noses on the Pequod's deck proved more vigilant discoverers than + the three pairs of eyes aloft. A peculiar and not very pleasant smell + was smelt in the sea. + + "I will bet something now," said Stubb, "that somewhere hereabouts are + some of those drugged whales we tickled the other day. I thought they + would keel up before long." + + Presently, the vapors in advance slid aside; and there in the distance + lay a ship, whose furled sails betokened that some sort of whale must + be alongside. As we glided nearer, the stranger showed French colors + from his peak; and by the eddying cloud of vulture sea-fowl that + circled, and hovered, and swooped around him, it was plain that the + whale alongside must be what the fishermen call a blasted whale, that + is, a whale that has died unmolested on the sea, and so floated an + unappropriated corpse. It may well be conceived, what an unsavory odor + such a mass must exhale; worse than an Assyrian city in the plague, + when the living are incompetent to bury the departed. So intolerable + indeed is it regarded by some, that no cupidity could persuade them to + moor alongside of it. Yet are there those who will still do it; + notwithstanding the fact that the oil obtained from such subjects is of + a very inferior quality, and by no means of the nature of + attar-of-rose. + + Coming still nearer with the expiring breeze, we saw that the Frenchman + had a second whale alongside; and this second whale seemed even more of + a nosegay than the first. In truth, it turned out to be one of those + problematical whales that seem to dry up and die with a sort of + prodigious dyspepsia, or indigestion; leaving their defunct bodies + almost entirely bankrupt of anything like oil. Nevertheless, in the + proper place we shall see that no knowing fisherman will ever turn up + his nose at such a whale as this, however much he may shun blasted + whales in general. + + The Pequod had now swept so nigh to the stranger, that Stubb vowed he + recognized his cutting spade-pole entangled in the lines that were + knotted round the tail of one of these whales. + + "There's a pretty fellow, now," he banteringly laughed, standing in the + ship's bows, "there's a jackal for ye! I well know that these Crappoes + of Frenchmen are but poor devils in the fishery; sometimes lowering + their boats for breakers, mistaking them for Sperm Whale spouts; yes, + and sometimes sailing from their port with their hold full of boxes of + tallow candles, and cases of snuffers, foreseeing that all the oil they + will get won't be enough to dip the Captain's wick into; aye, we all + know these things; but look ye, here's a Crappo that is content with + our leavings, the drugged whale there, I mean; aye, and is content too + with scraping the dry bones of that other precious fish he has there. + Poor devil! I say, pass round a hat, some one, and let's make him a + present of a little oil for dear charity's sake. For what oil he'll get + from that drugged whale there, wouldn't be fit to burn in a jail; no, + not in a condemned cell. And as for the other whale, why, I'll agree to + get more oil by chopping up and trying out these three masts of ours, + than he'll get from that bundle of bones; though, now that I think of + it, it may contain something worth a good deal more than oil; yes, + ambergris. I wonder now if our old man has thought of that. It's worth + trying. Yes, I'm for it;" and so saying he started for the + quarter-deck. + + By this time the faint air had become a complete calm; so that whether + or no, the Pequod was now fairly entrapped in the smell, with no hope + of escaping except by its breezing up again. Issuing from the cabin, + Stubb now called his boat's crew, and pulled off for the stranger. + Drawing across her bow, he perceived that in accordance with the + fanciful French taste, the upper part of her stem-piece was carved in + the likeness of a huge drooping stalk, was painted green, and for + thorns had copper spikes projecting from it here and there; the whole + terminating in a symmetrical folded bulb of a bright red color. Upon + her head boards, in large gilt letters, he read "Bouton de + Rose,"—Rose-button, or Rose-bud; and this was the romantic name of this + aromatic ship. + + Though Stubb did not understand the Bouton part of the inscription, yet + the word rose, and the bulbous figure-head put together, sufficiently + explained the whole to him. + + "A wooden rose-bud, eh?" he cried with his hand to his nose, "that will + do very well; but how like all creation it smells!" + + Now in order to hold direct communication with the people on deck, he + had to pull round the bows to the starboard side, and thus come close + to the blasted whale; and so talk over it. + + Arrived then at this spot, with one hand still to his nose, he + bawled—"Bouton-de-Rose, ahoy! are there any of you Bouton-de-Roses that + speak English?" + + "Yes," rejoined a Guernsey-man from the bulwarks, who turned out to be + the chief-mate. + + "Well, then, my Bouton-de-Rose-bud, have you seen the White Whale?" + + "What whale?" + + "The White Whale—a Sperm Whale—Moby Dick, have ye seen him? + + "Never heard of such a whale. Cachalot Blanche! White Whale—no." + + "Very good, then; good bye now, and I'll call again in a minute." + + Then rapidly pulling back towards the Pequod, and seeing Ahab leaning + over the quarter-deck rail awaiting his report, he moulded his two + hands into a trumpet and shouted—"No, Sir! No!" Upon which Ahab + retired, and Stubb returned to the Frenchman. + + He now perceived that the Guernsey-man, who had just got into the + chains, and was using a cutting-spade, had slung his nose in a sort of + bag. + + "What's the matter with your nose, there?" said Stubb. "Broke it?" + + "I wish it was broken, or that I didn't have any nose at all!" answered + the Guernsey-man, who did not seem to relish the job he was at very + much. "But what are you holding yours for?" + + "Oh, nothing! It's a wax nose; I have to hold it on. Fine day, ain't + it? Air rather gardenny, I should say; throw us a bunch of posies, will + ye, Bouton-de-Rose?" + + "What in the devil's name do you want here?" roared the Guernseyman, + flying into a sudden passion. + + "Oh! keep cool—cool? yes, that's the word! why don't you pack those + whales in ice while you're working at 'em? But joking aside, though; do + you know, Rose-bud, that it's all nonsense trying to get any oil out of + such whales? As for that dried up one, there, he hasn't a gill in his + whole carcase." + + "I know that well enough; but, d'ye see, the Captain here won't believe + it; this is his first voyage; he was a Cologne manufacturer before. But + come aboard, and mayhap he'll believe you, if he won't me; and so I'll + get out of this dirty scrape." + + "Anything to oblige ye, my sweet and pleasant fellow," rejoined Stubb, + and with that he soon mounted to the deck. There a queer scene + presented itself. The sailors, in tasselled caps of red worsted, were + getting the heavy tackles in readiness for the whales. But they worked + rather slow and talked very fast, and seemed in anything but a good + humor. All their noses upwardly projected from their faces like so many + jibbooms. Now and then pairs of them would drop their work, and run up + to the mast-head to get some fresh air. Some thinking they would catch + the plague, dipped oakum in coal-tar, and at intervals held it to their + nostrils. Others having broken the stems of their pipes almost short + off at the bowl, were vigorously puffing tobacco-smoke, so that it + constantly filled their olfactories. + + Stubb was struck by a shower of outcries and anathemas proceeding from + the Captain's round-house abaft; and looking in that direction saw a + fiery face thrust from behind the door, which was held ajar from + within. This was the tormented surgeon, who, after in vain + remonstrating against the proceedings of the day, had betaken himself + to the Captain's round-house (cabinet he called it) to avoid the pest; + but still, could not help yelling out his entreaties and indignations + at times. + + Marking all this, Stubb argued well for his scheme, and turning to the + Guernsey-man had a little chat with him, during which the stranger mate + expressed his detestation of his Captain as a conceited ignoramus, who + had brought them all into so unsavory and unprofitable a pickle. + Sounding him carefully, Stubb further perceived that the Guernsey-man + had not the slightest suspicion concerning the ambergris. He therefore + held his peace on that head, but otherwise was quite frank and + confidential with him, so that the two quickly concocted a little plan + for both circumventing and satirizing the Captain, without his at all + dreaming of distrusting their sincerity. According to this little plan + of theirs, the Guernsey-man, under cover of an interpreter's office, + was to tell the Captain what he pleased, but as coming from Stubb; and + as for Stubb, he was to utter any nonsense that should come uppermost + in him during the interview. + + By this time their destined victim appeared from his cabin. He was a + small and dark, but rather delicate looking man for a sea-captain, with + large whiskers and moustache, however; and wore a red cotton velvet + vest with watch-seals at his side. To this gentleman, Stubb was now + politely introduced by the Guernsey-man, who at once ostentatiously put + on the aspect of interpreting between them. + + "What shall I say to him first?" said he. + + "Why," said Stubb, eyeing the velvet vest and the watch and seals, "you + may as well begin by telling him that he looks a sort of babyish to me, + though I don't pretend to be a judge." + + "He says, Monsieur," said the Guernsey-man, in French, turning to his + captain, "that only yesterday his ship spoke a vessel, whose captain + and chief-mate, with six sailors, had all died of a fever caught from a + blasted whale they had brought alongside." + + Upon this the captain started, and eagerly desired to know more. + + "What now?" said the Guernsey-man to Stubb. + + "Why, since he takes it so easy, tell him that now I have eyed him + carefully, I'm quite certain that he's no more fit to command a + whale-ship than a St. Jago monkey. In fact, tell him from me he's a + baboon." + + "He vows and declares, Monsieur, that the other whale, the dried one, + is far more deadly than the blasted one; in fine, Monsieur, he conjures + us, as we value our lives, to cut loose from these fish." + + Instantly the captain ran forward, and in a loud voice commanded his + crew to desist from hoisting the cutting-tackles, and at once cast + loose the cables and chains confining the whales to the ship. + + "What now?" said the Guernsey-man, when the Captain had returned to + them. + + "Why, let me see; yes, you may as well tell him now that—that—in fact, + tell him I've diddled him, and (aside to himself) perhaps somebody + else." + + "He says, Monsieur, that he's very happy to have been of any service to + us." + + Hearing this, the captain vowed that they were the grateful parties + (meaning himself and mate), and concluded by inviting Stubb down into + his cabin to drink a bottle of Bordeaux. + + "He wants you to take a glass of wine with him," said the interpreter. + + "Thank him heartily; but tell him it's against my principles to drink + with the man I've diddled. In fact, tell him I must go." + + "He says, Monsieur, that his principles won't admit of his drinking; + but that if Monsieur wants to live another day to drink, then Monsieur + had best drop all four boats, and pull the ship away from these whales, + for it's so calm they won't drift." + + By this time Stubb was over the side, and getting into his boat, hailed + the Guernsey-man to this effect,—that having a long tow-line in his + boat, he would do what he could to help them, by pulling out the + lighter whale of the two from the ship's side. While the Frenchman's + boats, then, were engaged in towing the ship one way, Stubb + benevolently towed away at his whale the other way, ostentatiously + slacking out a most unusually long tow-line. + + Presently a breeze sprang up; Stubb feigned to cast off from the whale; + hoisting his boats, the Frenchman soon increased his distance, while + the Pequod slid in between him and Stubb's whale. Whereupon Stubb + quickly pulled to the floating body, and hailing the Pequod to give + notice of his intentions, at once proceeded to reap the fruit of his + unrighteous cunning. Seizing his sharp boat-spade, he commenced an + excavation in the body, a little behind the side fin. You would almost + have thought he was digging a cellar there in the sea; and when at + length his spade struck against the gaunt ribs, it was like turning up + old Roman tiles and pottery buried in fat English loam. His boat's crew + were all in high excitement, eagerly helping their chief, and looking + as anxious as gold-hunters. + + And all the time numberless fowls were diving, and ducking, and + screaming, and yelling, and fighting around them. Stubb was beginning + to look disappointed, especially as the horrible nosegay increased, + when suddenly from out the very heart of this plague, there stole a + faint stream of perfume, which flowed through the tide of bad smells + without being absorbed by it, as one river will flow into and then + along with another, without at all blending with it for a time. + + "I have it, I have it," cried Stubb, with delight, striking something + in the subterranean regions, "a purse! a purse!" + + Dropping his spade, he thrust both hands in, and drew out handfuls of + something that looked like ripe Windsor soap, or rich mottled old + cheese; very unctuous and savory withal. You might easily dent it with + your thumb; it is of a hue between yellow and ash color. And this, good + friends, is ambergris, worth a gold guinea an ounce to any druggist. + Some six handfuls were obtained; but more was unavoidably lost in the + sea, and still more, perhaps, might have been secured were it not for + impatient Ahab's loud command to Stubb to desist, and come on board, + else the ship would bid them good-bye. + + + + + CHAPTER 92 + + + Ambergris + + Now this ambergris is a very curious substance, and so important as an + article of commerce, that in 1791 a certain Nantucket-born Captain + Coffin was examined at the bar of the English House of Commons on that + subject. For at that time, and indeed until a comparatively late day, + the precise origin of ambergris remained, like amber itself, a problem + to the learned. Though the word ambergris is but the French compound + for grey amber, yet the two substances are quite distinct. For amber, + though at times found on the sea-coast, is also dug up in some far + inland soils, whereas ambergris is never found except upon the sea. + Besides, amber is a hard, transparent, brittle, odorless substance, + used for mouth-pieces to pipes, for beads and ornaments; but ambergris + is soft, waxy, and so highly fragrant and spicy, that it is largely + used in perfumery, in pastiles, precious candles, hair-powders, and + pomatum. The Turks use it in cooking, and also carry it to Mecca, for + the same purpose that frankincense is carried to St. Peter's in Rome. + Some wine merchants drop a few grains into claret, to flavor it. + + Who would think, then, that such fine ladies and gentlemen should + regale themselves with an essence found in the inglorious bowels of a + sick whale! Yet so it is. By some, ambergris is supposed to be the + cause, and by others the effect, of the dyspepsia in the whale. How to + cure such a dyspepsia it were hard to say, unless by administering + three or four boat loads of Brandreth's pills, and then running out of + harm's way, as laborers do in blasting rocks. + + I have forgotten to say that there were found in this ambergris, + certain hard, round, bony plates, which at first Stubb thought might be + sailors' trousers buttons; but it afterwards turned out that they were + nothing, more than pieces of small squid bones embalmed in that manner. + + Now that the incorruption of this most fragrant ambergris should be + found in the heart of such decay; is this nothing? Bethink thee of that + saying of St. Paul in Corinthians, about corruption and incorruption; + how that we are sown in dishonor, but raised in glory. And likewise + call to mind that saying of Paracelsus about what it is that maketh the + best musk. Also forget not the strange fact that of all things of + ill-savor, Cologne-water, in its rudimental manufacturing stages, is + the worst. + + I should like to conclude the chapter with the above appeal, but + cannot, owing to my anxiety to repel a charge often made against + whalemen, and which, in the estimation of some already biased minds, + might be considered as indirectly substantiated by what has been said + of the Frenchman's two whales. Elsewhere in this volume the slanderous + aspersion has been disproved, that the vocation of whaling is + throughout a slatternly, untidy business. But there is another thing to + rebut. They hint that all whales always smell bad. Now how did this + odious stigma originate? + + I opine, that it is plainly traceable to the first arrival of the + Greenland whaling ships in London, more than two centuries ago. Because + those whalemen did not then, and do not now, try out their oil at sea + as the Southern ships have always done; but cutting up the fresh + blubber in small bits, thrust it through the bung holes of large casks, + and carry it home in that manner; the shortness of the season in those + Icy Seas, and the sudden and violent storms to which they are exposed, + forbidding any other course. The consequence is, that upon breaking + into the hold, and unloading one of these whale cemeteries, in the + Greenland dock, a savor is given forth somewhat similar to that arising + from excavating an old city graveyard, for the foundations of a + Lying-in Hospital. + + I partly surmise also, that this wicked charge against whalers may be + likewise imputed to the existence on the coast of Greenland, in former + times, of a Dutch village called Schmerenburgh or Smeerenberg, which + latter name is the one used by the learned Fogo Von Slack, in his great + work on Smells, a text-book on that subject. As its name imports + (smeer, fat; berg, to put up), this village was founded in order to + afford a place for the blubber of the Dutch whale fleet to be tried + out, without being taken home to Holland for that purpose. It was a + collection of furnaces, fat-kettles, and oil sheds; and when the works + were in full operation certainly gave forth no very pleasant savor. But + all this is quite different from a South Sea Sperm Whaler; which in a + voyage of four years perhaps, after completely filling her hold with + oil, does not, perhaps, consume fifty days in the business of boiling + out; and in the state that it is casked, the oil is nearly scentless. + The truth is, that living or dead, if but decently treated, whales as a + species are by no means creatures of ill odor; nor can whalemen be + recognised, as the people of the middle ages affected to detect a Jew + in the company, by the nose. Nor indeed can the whale possibly be + otherwise than fragrant, when, as a general thing, he enjoys such high + health; taking abundance of exercise; always out of doors; though, it + is true, seldom in the open air. I say, that the motion of a Sperm + Whale's flukes above water dispenses a perfume, as when a musk-scented + lady rustles her dress in a warm parlor. What then shall I liken the + Sperm Whale to for fragrance, considering his magnitude? Must it not be + to that famous elephant, with jewelled tusks, and redolent with myrrh, + which was led out of an Indian town to do honor to Alexander the Great? + + + + + CHAPTER 93 + + + The Castaway + + It was but some few days after encountering the Frenchman, that a most + significant event befell the most insignificant of the Pequod's crew; + an event most lamentable; and which ended in providing the sometimes + madly merry and predestinated craft with a living and ever accompanying + prophecy of whatever shattered sequel might prove her own. + + Now, in the whale ship, it is not every one that goes in the boats. + Some few hands are reserved called shipkeepers, whose province it is to + work the vessel while the boats are pursuing the whale. As a general + thing, these shipkeepers are as hardy fellows as the men comprising the + boats' crews. But if there happen to be an unduly slender, clumsy, or + timorous wight in the ship, that wight is certain to be made a + ship-keeper. It was so in the Pequod with the little negro Pippin by + nick-name, Pip by abbreviation. Poor Pip! ye have heard of him before; + ye must remember his tambourine on that dramatic midnight, so + gloomy-jolly. + + In outer aspect, Pip and Dough-Boy made a match, like a black pony and + a white one, of equal developments, though of dissimilar color, driven + in one eccentric span. But while hapless Dough-Boy was by nature dull + and torpid in his intellects, Pip, though over tender-hearted, was at + bottom very bright, with that pleasant, genial, jolly brightness + peculiar to his tribe; a tribe, which ever enjoy all holidays and + festivities with finer, freer relish than any other race. For blacks, + the year's calendar should show naught but three hundred and sixty-five + Fourth of Julys and New Year's Days. Nor smile so, while I write that + this little black was brilliant, for even blackness has its brilliancy; + behold yon lustrous ebony, panelled in king's cabinets. But Pip loved + life, and all life's peaceable securities; so that the panic-striking + business in which he had somehow unaccountably become entrapped, had + most sadly blurred his brightness; though, as ere long will be seen, + what was thus temporarily subdued in him, in the end was destined to be + luridly illumined by strange wild fires, that fictitiously showed him + off to ten times the natural lustre with which in his native Tolland + County in Connecticut, he had once enlivened many a fiddler's frolic on + the green; and at melodious even-tide, with his gay ha-ha! had turned + the round horizon into one star-belled tambourine. So, though in the + clear air of day, suspended against a blue-veined neck, the + pure-watered diamond drop will healthful glow; yet, when the cunning + jeweller would show you the diamond in its most impressive lustre, he + lays it against a gloomy ground, and then lights it up, not by the sun, + but by some unnatural gases. Then come out those fiery effulgences, + infernally superb; then the evil-blazing diamond, once the divinest + symbol of the crystal skies, looks like some crown-jewel stolen from + the King of Hell. But let us to the story. + + It came to pass, that in the ambergris affair Stubb's after-oarsman + chanced so to sprain his hand, as for a time to become quite maimed; + and, temporarily, Pip was put into his place. + + The first time Stubb lowered with him, Pip evinced much nervousness; + but happily, for that time, escaped close contact with the whale; and + therefore came off not altogether discreditably; though Stubb observing + him, took care, afterwards, to exhort him to cherish his courageousness + to the utmost, for he might often find it needful. + + Now upon the second lowering, the boat paddled upon the whale; and as + the fish received the darted iron, it gave its customary rap, which + happened, in this instance, to be right under poor Pip's seat. The + involuntary consternation of the moment caused him to leap, paddle in + hand, out of the boat; and in such a way, that part of the slack whale + line coming against his chest, he breasted it overboard with him, so as + to become entangled in it, when at last plumping into the water. That + instant the stricken whale started on a fierce run, the line swiftly + straightened; and presto! poor Pip came all foaming up to the chocks of + the boat, remorselessly dragged there by the line, which had taken + several turns around his chest and neck. + + Tashtego stood in the bows. He was full of the fire of the hunt. He + hated Pip for a poltroon. Snatching the boat-knife from its sheath, he + suspended its sharp edge over the line, and turning towards Stubb, + exclaimed interrogatively, "Cut?" Meantime Pip's blue, choked face + plainly looked, Do, for God's sake! All passed in a flash. In less than + half a minute, this entire thing happened. + + "Damn him, cut!" roared Stubb; and so the whale was lost and Pip was + saved. + + So soon as he recovered himself, the poor little negro was assailed by + yells and execrations from the crew. Tranquilly permitting these + irregular cursings to evaporate, Stubb then in a plain, business-like, + but still half humorous manner, cursed Pip officially; and that done, + unofficially gave him much wholesome advice. The substance was, Never + jump from a boat, Pip, except—but all the rest was indefinite, as the + soundest advice ever is. Now, in general, Stick to the boat, is your + true motto in whaling; but cases will sometimes happen when Leap from + the boat, is still better. Moreover, as if perceiving at last that if + he should give undiluted conscientious advice to Pip, he would be + leaving him too wide a margin to jump in for the future; Stubb suddenly + dropped all advice, and concluded with a peremptory command "Stick to + the boat, Pip, or by the Lord, I won't pick you up if you jump; mind + that. We can't afford to lose whales by the likes of you; a whale would + sell for thirty times what you would, Pip, in Alabama. Bear that in + mind, and don't jump any more." Hereby perhaps Stubb indirectly hinted, + that though man loved his fellow, yet man is a money-making animal, + which propensity too often interferes with his benevolence. + + But we are all in the hands of the Gods; and Pip jumped again. It was + under very similar circumstances to the first performance; but this + time he did not breast out the line; and hence, when the whale started + to run, Pip was left behind on the sea, like a hurried traveller's + trunk. Alas! Stubb was but too true to his word. It was a beautiful, + bounteous, blue day! the spangled sea calm and cool, and flatly + stretching away, all round, to the horizon, like gold-beater's skin + hammered out to the extremest. Bobbing up and down in that sea, Pip's + ebon head showed like a head of cloves. No boat-knife was lifted when + he fell so rapidly astern. Stubb's inexorable back was turned upon him; + and the whale was winged. In three minutes, a whole mile of shoreless + ocean was between Pip and Stubb. Out from the centre of the sea, poor + Pip turned his crisp, curling, black head to the sun, another lonely + castaway, though the loftiest and the brightest. + + Now, in calm weather, to swim in the open ocean is as easy to the + practised swimmer as to ride in a spring-carriage ashore. But the awful + lonesomeness is intolerable. The intense concentration of self in the + middle of such a heartless immensity, my God! who can tell it? Mark, + how when sailors in a dead calm bathe in the open sea— mark how closely + they hug their ship and only coast along her sides. + + But had Stubb really abandoned the poor little negro to his fate? No; + he did not mean to, at least. Because there were two boats in his wake, + and he supposed, no doubt, that they would of course come up to Pip + very quickly, and pick him up; though, indeed, such considerations + towards oarsmen jeopardized through their own timidity, is not always + manifested by the hunters in all similar instances; and such instances + not unfrequently occur; almost invariably in the fishery, a coward, so + called, is marked with the same ruthless detestation peculiar to + military navies and armies. + + But it so happened, that those boats, without seeing Pip, suddenly + spying whales close to them on one side, turned, and gave chase; and + Stubb's boat was now so far away, and he and all his crew so intent + upon his fish, that Pip's ringed horizon began to expand around him + miserably. By the merest chance the ship itself at last rescued him; + but from that hour the little negro went about the deck an idiot; such, + at least, they said he was. The sea had jeeringly kept his finite body + up, but drowned the infinite of his soul. Not drowned entirely, though. + Rather carried down alive to wondrous depths, where strange shapes of + the unwarped primal world glided to and fro before his passive eyes; + and the miser-merman, Wisdom, revealed his hoarded heaps; and among the + joyous, heartless, ever-juvenile eternities, Pip saw the multitudinous, + God-omnipresent, coral insects, that out of the firmament of waters + heaved the colossal orbs. He saw God's foot upon the treadle of the + loom, and spoke it; and therefore his shipmates called him mad. So + man's insanity is heaven's sense; and wandering from all mortal reason, + man comes at last to that celestial thought, which, to reason, is + absurd and frantic; and weal or woe, feels then uncompromised, + indifferent as his God. + + For the rest blame not Stubb too hardly. The thing is common in that + fishery; and in the sequel of the narrative, it will then be seen what + like abandonment befell myself. + + + + + CHAPTER 94 + + + A Squeeze of the Hand + + That whale of Stubb's, so dearly purchased, was duly brought to the + Pequod's side, where all those cutting and hoisting operations + previously detailed, were regularly gone through, even to the baling of + the Heidelburgh Tun, or Case. + + While some were occupied with this latter duty, others were employed in + dragging away the larger tubs, so soon as filled with the sperm; and + when the proper time arrived, this same sperm was carefully manipulated + ere going to the try-works, of which anon. + + It had cooled and crystallized to such a degree, that when, with + several others, I sat down before a large Constantine's bath of it, I + found it strangely concreted into lumps, here and there rolling about + in the liquid part. It was our business to squeeze these lumps back + into fluid. A sweet and unctuous duty! No wonder that in old times this + sperm was such a favorite cosmetic. Such a clearer! such a sweetener! + such a softener; such a delicious mollifier! After having my hands in + it for only a few minutes, my fingers felt like eels, and began, as it + were, to serpentine and spiralize. + + As I sat there at my ease, cross-legged on the deck; after the bitter + exertion at the windlass; under a blue tranquil sky; the ship under + indolent sail, and gliding so serenely along; as I bathed my hands + among those soft, gentle globules of infiltrated tissues, woven almost + within the hour; as they richly broke to my fingers, and discharged all + their opulence, like fully ripe grapes their wine; as. I snuffed up + that uncontaminated aroma,— literally and truly, like the smell of + spring violets; I declare to you, that for the time I lived as in a + musky meadow; I forgot all about our horrible oath; in that + inexpressible sperm, I washed my hands and my heart of it; I almost + began to credit the old Paracelsan superstition that sperm is of rare + virtue in allaying the heat of anger; while bathing in that bath, I + felt divinely free from all ill-will, or petulance, or malice, of any + sort whatsoever. + + Squeeze! squeeze! squeeze! all the morning long; I squeezed that sperm + till I myself almost melted into it; I squeezed that sperm till a + strange sort of insanity came over me; and I found myself unwittingly + squeezing my co-laborers' hands in it, mistaking their hands for the + gentle globules. Such an abounding, affectionate, friendly, loving + feeling did this avocation beget; that at last I was continually + squeezing their hands, and looking up into their eyes sentimentally; as + much as to say,—Oh! my dear fellow beings, why should we longer cherish + any social acerbities, or know the slightest ill-humor or envy! Come; + let us squeeze hands all round; nay, let us all squeeze ourselves into + each other; let us squeeze ourselves universally into the very milk and + sperm of kindness. + + Would that I could keep squeezing that sperm for ever! For now, since + by many prolonged, repeated experiences, I have perceived that in all + cases man must eventually lower, or at least shift, his conceit of + attainable felicity; not placing it anywhere in the intellect or the + fancy; but in the wife, the heart, the bed, the table, the saddle, the + fire-side; the country; now that I have perceived all this, I am ready + to squeeze case eternally. In thoughts of the visions of the night, I + saw long rows of angels in paradise, each with his hands in a jar of + spermaceti. + + Now, while discoursing of sperm it behooves to speak of other things + akin to it, in the business of preparing the sperm whale for the + try-works. + + First comes white-horse, so called, which is obtained from the tapering + part of the fish, and also from the thicker portions of his flukes. It + is tough with congealed tendons—a wad of muscle—but still contains some + oil. After being severed from the whale, the white-horse is first cut + into portable oblongs ere going to the mincer. They look much like + blocks of Berkshire marble. + + Plum-pudding is the term bestowed upon certain fragmentary parts of the + whale's flesh, here and there adhering to the blanket of blubber, and + often participating to a considerable degree in its unctuousness. It is + a most refreshing, convivial, beautiful object to behold. As its name + imports, it is of an exceedingly rich, mottled tint, with a bestreaked + snowy and golden ground, dotted with spots of the deepest crimson and + purple. It is plums of rubies, in pictures of citron. Spite of reason, + it is hard to keep yourself from eating it. I confess, that once I + stole behind the foremast to try it. It tasted something as I should + conceive a royal cutlet from the thigh of Louis le Gros might have + tasted, supposing him to have been killed the first day after the + venison season, and that particular venison season contemporary with an + unusually fine vintage of the vineyards of Champagne. + + There is another substance, and a very singular one, which turns up in + the course of this business, but which I feel it to be very puzzling + adequately to describe. It is called slobgollion; an appellation + original with the whalemen, and even so is the nature of the substance. + It is an ineffably oozy, stringy affair, most frequently found in the + tubs of sperm, after a prolonged squeezing, and subsequent decanting. I + hold it to be the wondrously thin, ruptured membranes of the case, + coalescing. + + Gurry, so called, is a term properly belonging to right whalemen, but + sometimes incidentally used by the sperm fishermen. It designates the + dark, glutinous substance which is scraped off the back of the + Greenland or right whale, and much of which covers the decks of those + inferior souls who hunt that ignoble Leviathan. + + Nippers. Strictly this word is not indigenous to the whale's + vocabulary. But as applied by whalemen, it becomes so. A whaleman's + nipper is a short firm strip of tendinous stuff cut from the tapering + part of Leviathan's tail: it averages an inch in thickness, and for the + rest, is about the size of the iron part of a hoe. Edgewise moved along + the oily deck, it operates like a leathern squilgee; and by nameless + blandishments, as of magic, allures along with it all impurities. + + But to learn all about these recondite matters, your best way is at + once to descend into the blubber-room, and have a long talk with its + inmates. This place has previously been mentioned as the receptacle for + the blanket-pieces, when stript and hoisted from the whale. When the + proper time arrives for cutting up its contents, this apartment is a + scene of terror to all tyros, especially by night. On one side, lit by + a dull lantern, a space has been left clear for the workmen. They + generally go in pairs,—a pike-and-gaffman and a spade-man. The + whaling-pike is similar to a frigate's boarding-weapon of the same + name. The gaff is something like a boat-hook. With his gaff, the + gaffman hooks on to a sheet of blubber, and strives to hold it from + slipping, as the ship pitches and lurches about. Meanwhile, the + spade-man stands on the sheet itself, perpendicularly chopping it into + the portable horse-pieces. This spade is sharp as hone can make it; the + spademan's feet are shoeless; the thing he stands on will sometimes + irresistibly slide away from him, like a sledge. If he cuts off one of + his own toes, or one of his assistants', would you be very much + astonished? Toes are scarce among veteran blubber-room men. + + + + + CHAPTER 95 + + + The Cassock + + Had you stepped on board the Pequod at a certain juncture of this + post-mortemizing of the whale; and had you strolled forward nigh the + windlass, pretty sure am I that you would have scanned with no small + curiosity a very strange, enigmatical object, which you would have seen + there, lying along lengthwise in the lee scuppers. Not the wondrous + cistern in the whale's huge head; not the prodigy of his unhinged lower + jaw; not the miracle of his symmetrical tail; none of these would so + surprise you, as half a glimpse of that unaccountable cone,—longer than + a Kentuckian is tall, nigh a foot in diameter at the base, and + jet-black as Yojo, the ebony idol of Queequeg. And an idol, indeed, it + is; or rather, in old times, its likeness was. Such an idol as that + found in the secret groves of Queen Maachah in Judea; and for + worshipping which, King Asa, her son, did depose her, and destroyed the + idol, and burnt it for an abomination at the brook Kedron, as darkly + set forth in the 15th chapter of the First Book of Kings. + + Look at the sailor, called the mincer, who now comes along, and + assisted by two allies, heavily backs the grandissimus, as the mariners + call it, and with bowed shoulders, staggers off with it as if he were a + grenadier carrying a dead comrade from the field. Extending it upon the + forecastle deck, he now proceeds cylindrically to remove its dark pelt, + as an African hunter the pelt of a boa. This done he turns the pelt + inside out, like a pantaloon leg; gives it a good stretching, so as + almost to double its diameter; and at last hangs it, well spread, in + the rigging, to dry. Ere long, it is taken down; when removing some + three feet of it, towards the pointed extremity, and then cutting two + slits for arm-holes at the other end, he lengthwise slips himself + bodily into it. The mincer now stands before you invested in the full + canonicals of his calling. Immemorial to all his order, this + investiture alone will adequately protect him, while employed in the + peculiar functions of his office. + + That office consists in mincing the horse-pieces of blubber for the + pots; an operation which is conducted at a curious wooden horse, + planted endwise against the bulwarks, and with a capacious tub beneath + it, into which the minced pieces drop, fast as the sheets from a rapt + orator's desk. Arrayed in decent black; occupying a conspicuous pulpit; + intent on bible leaves; what a candidate for an archbishopric, what a + lad for a Pope were this mincer!* + + * Bible leaves! Bible leaves! This is the invariable cry from the mates + to the mincer. It enjoins him to be careful, and cut his work into as + thin slices as possible, inasmuch as by so doing the business of + boiling out the oil is much accelerated, and its quantity considerably + increased, besides perhaps improving it in quality. + + + + + CHAPTER 96 + + + The Try-Works + + Besides her hoisted boats, an American whaler is outwardly + distinguished by her try-works. She presents the curious anomaly of the + most solid masonry joining with oak and hemp in constituting the + completed ship. It is as if from the open field a brick-kiln were + transported to her planks. + + The try-works are planted between the foremast and mainmast, the most + roomy part of the deck. The timbers beneath are of a peculiar strength, + fitted to sustain the weight of an almost solid mass of brick and + mortar, some ten feet by eight square, and five in height. The + foundation does not penetrate the deck, but the masonry is firmly + secured to the surface by ponderous knees of iron bracing it on all + sides, and screwing it down to the timbers. On the flanks it is cased + with wood, and at top completely covered by a large, sloping, battened + hatchway. Removing this hatch we expose the great try-pots, two in + number, and each of several barrels' capacity. When not in use, they + are kept remarkably clean. Sometimes they are polished with soapstone + and sand, till they shine within like silver punchbowls. During the + night-watches some cynical old sailors will crawl into them and coil + themselves away there for a nap. While employed in polishing them—one + man in each pot, side by side— many confidential communications are + carried on, over the iron lips. It is a place also for profound + mathematical meditation. It was in the left hand try-pot of the Pequod, + with the soapstone diligently circling round me, that I was first + indirectly struck by the remarkable fact, that in geometry all bodies + gliding along the cycloid, my soapstone for example, will descend from + any point in precisely the same time. + + Removing the fire-board from the front of the try-works, the bare + masonry of that side is exposed, penetrated by the two iron mouths of + the furnaces, directly underneath the pots. These mouths are fitted + with heavy doors of iron. The intense heat of the fire is prevented + from communicating itself to the deck, by means of a shallow reservoir + extending under the entire inclosed surface of the works. By a tunnel + inserted at the rear, this reservoir is kept replenished with water as + fast as it evaporates. There are no external chimneys; they open direct + from the rear wall. And here let us go back for a moment. + + It was about nine o'clock at night that the Pequod's try-works were + first started on this present voyage. It belonged to Stubb to oversee + the business. + + "All ready there? Off hatch, then, and start her. You cook, fire the + works." This was an easy thing, for the carpenter had been thrusting + his shavings into the furnace throughout the passage. Here be it said + that in a whaling voyage the first fire in the try-works has to be fed + for a time with wood. After that no wood is used, except as a means of + quick ignition to the staple fuel. In a word, after being tried out, + the crisp, shrivelled blubber, now called scraps or fritters, still + contains considerable of its unctuous properties. These fritters feed + the flames. Like a plethoric burning martyr, or a self-consuming + misanthrope, once ignited, the whale supplies his own fuel and burns by + his own body. Would that he consumed his own smoke! for his smoke is + horrible to inhale, and inhale it you must, and not only that, but you + must live in it for the time. It has an unspeakable, wild, Hindoo odor + about it, such as may lurk in the vicinity of funereal pyres. It smells + like the left wing of the day of judgment; it is an argument for the + pit. + + By midnight the works were in full operation. We were clear from the + carcass; sail had been made; the wind was freshening; the wild ocean + darkness was intense. But that darkness was licked up by the fierce + flames, which at intervals forked forth from the sooty flues, and + illuminated every lofty rope in the rigging, as with the famed Greek + fire. The burning ship drove on, as if remorselessly commissioned to + some vengeful deed. So the pitch and sulphur-freighted brigs of the + bold Hydriote, Canaris, issuing from their midnight harbors, with broad + sheets of flame for sails, bore down upon the Turkish frigates, and + folded them in conflagrations. + + The hatch, removed from the top of the works, now afforded a wide + hearth in front of them. Standing on this were the Tartarean shapes of + the pagan harpooneers, always the whale-ship's stokers. With huge + pronged poles they pitched hissing masses of blubber into the scalding + pots, or stirred up the fires beneath, till the snaky flames darted, + curling, out of the doors to catch them by the feet. The smoke rolled + away in sullen heaps. To every pitch of the ship there was a pitch of + the boiling oil, which seemed all eagerness to leap into their faces. + Opposite the mouth of the works, on the further side of the wide wooden + hearth, was the windlass. This served for a sea-sofa. Here lounged the + watch, when not otherwise employed, looking into the red heat of the + fire, till their eyes felt scorched in their heads. Their tawny + features, now all begrimed with smoke and sweat, their matted beards, + and the contrasting barbaric brilliancy of their teeth, all these were + strangely revealed in the capricious emblazonings of the works. As they + narrated to each other their unholy adventures, their tales of terror + told in words of mirth; as their uncivilized laughter forked upwards + out of them, like the flames from the furnace; as to and fro, in their + front, the harpooneers wildly gesticulated with their huge pronged + forks and dippers; as the wind howled on, and the sea leaped, and the + ship groaned and dived, and yet steadfastly shot her red hell further + and further into the blackness of the sea and the night, and scornfully + champed the white bone in her mouth, and viciously spat round her on + all sides; then the rushing Pequod, freighted with savages, and laden + with fire, and burning a corpse, and plunging into that blackness of + darkness, seemed the material counterpart of her monomaniac commander's + soul. + + So seemed it to me, as I stood at her helm, and for long hours silently + guided the way of this fire-ship on the sea. Wrapped, for that + interval, in darkness myself, I but the better saw the redness, the + madness, the ghastliness of others. The continual sight of the fiend + shapes before me, capering half in smoke and half in fire, these at + last begat kindred visions in my soul, so soon as I began to yield to + that unaccountable drowsiness which ever would come over me at a + midnight helm. + + But that night, in particular, a strange (and ever since inexplicable) + thing occurred to me. Starting from a brief standing sleep, I was + horribly conscious of something fatally wrong. The jaw-bone tiller + smote my side, which leaned against it; in my ears was the low hum of + sails, just beginning to shake in the wind; I thought my eyes were + open; I was half conscious of putting my fingers to the lids and + mechanically stretching them still further apart. But, spite of all + this, I could see no compass before me to steer by; though it seemed + but a minute since I had been watching the card, by the steady binnacle + lamp illuminating it. Nothing seemed before me but a jet gloom, now and + then made ghastly by flashes of redness. Uppermost was the impression, + that whatever swift, rushing thing I stood on was not so much bound to + any haven ahead as rushing from all havens astern. A stark, bewildered + feeling, as of death, came over me. Convulsively my hands grasped the + tiller, but with the crazy conceit that the tiller was, somehow, in + some enchanted way, inverted. My God! what is the matter with me? + thought I. Lo! in my brief sleep I had turned myself about, and was + fronting the ship's stern, with my back to her prow and the compass. In + an instant I faced back, just in time to prevent the vessel from flying + up into the wind, and very probably capsizing her. How glad and how + grateful the relief from this unnatural hallucination of the night, and + the fatal contingency of being brought by the lee! + + Look not too long in the face of the fire, O man! Never dream with thy + hand on the helm! Turn not thy back to the compass; accept the first + hint of the hitching tiller; believe not the artificial fire, when its + redness makes all things look ghastly. To-morrow, in the natural sun, + the skies will be bright; those who glared like devils in the forking + flames, the morn will show in far other, at least gentler, relief; the + glorious, golden, glad sun, the only true lamp—all others but liars! + + Nevertheless the sun hides not Virginia's Dismal Swamp, nor Rome's + accursed Campagna, nor wide Sahara, nor all the millions of miles of + deserts and of griefs beneath the moon. The sun hides not the ocean, + which is the dark side of this earth, and which is two thirds of this + earth. So, therefore, that mortal man who hath more of joy than sorrow + in him, that mortal man cannot be true—not true, or undeveloped. With + books the same. The truest of all men was the Man of Sorrows, and the + truest of all books is Solomon's, and Ecclesiastes is the fine hammered + steel of woe. "All is vanity." ALL. This wilful world hath not got hold + of unchristian Solomon's wisdom yet. But he who dodges hospitals and + jails, and walks fast crossing graveyards, and would rather talk of + operas than hell; calls Cowper, Young, Pascal, Rousseau, poor devils + all of sick men; and throughout a care-free lifetime swears by Rabelais + as passing wise, and therefore jolly;—not that man is fitted to sit + down on tomb-stones, and break the green damp mould with unfathomably + wondrous Solomon. + + But even Solomon, he says, "the man that wandereth out of the way of + understanding shall remain" (i.e. even while living) "in the + congregation of the dead." Give not thyself up, then, to fire, lest it + invert thee, deaden thee; as for the time it did me. There is a wisdom + that is woe; but there is a woe that is madness. And there is a + Catskill eagle in some souls that can alike dive down into the blackest + gorges, and soar out of them again and become invisible in the sunny + spaces. And even if he for ever flies within the gorge, that gorge is + in the mountains; so that even in his lowest swoop the mountain eagle + is still higher than other birds upon the plain, even though they soar. + + + + + CHAPTER 97 + + + The Lamp + + Had you descended from the Pequod's try-works to the Pequod's + forecastle, where the off duty watch were sleeping, for one single + moment you would have almost thought you were standing in some + illuminated shrine of canonized kings and counsellors. There they lay + in their triangular oaken vaults, each mariner a chiselled muteness; a + score of lamps flashing upon his hooded eyes. + + In merchantmen, oil for the sailor is more scarce than the milk of + queens. To dress in the dark, and eat in the dark, and stumble in + darkness to his pallet, this is his usual lot. But the whaleman, as he + seeks the food of light, so he lives in light. He makes his berth an + Aladdin's lamp, and lays him down in it; so that in the pitchiest night + the ship's black hull still houses an illumination. + + See with what entire freedom the whaleman takes his handful of + lamps—often but old bottles and vials, though—to the copper cooler at + the tryworks, and replenishes them there, as mugs of ale at a vat. He + burns, too, the purest of oil, in its unmanufactured, and, therefore, + unvitiated state; a fluid unknown to solar, lunar, or astral + contrivances ashore. It is sweet as early grass butter in April. He + goes and hunts for his oil, so as to be sure of its freshness and + genuineness, even as the traveller on the prairie hunts up his own + supper of game. + + + + + CHAPTER 98 + + + Stowing Down and Clearing Up + + Already has it been related how the great leviathan is afar off + descried from the mast-head; how he is chased over the watery moors, + and slaughtered in the valleys of the deep; how he is then towed + alongside and beheaded; and how (on the principle which entitled the + headsman of old to the garments in which the beheaded was killed) his + great padded surtout becomes the property of his executioner; how, in + due time, he is condemned to the pots, and, like Shadrach, Meshach, and + Abednego, his spermaceti, oil, and bone pass unscathed through the + fire;—but now it remains to conclude the last chapter of this part of + the description by rehearsing—singing, if I may—the romantic proceeding + of decanting off his oil into the casks and striking them down into the + hold, where once again leviathan returns to his native profundities, + sliding along beneath the surface :is before; but, alas! never more to + rise and blow. + + While still warm, the oil, like hot punch, is received into the + six-barrel casks; and while, perhaps, the ship is pitching and rolling + this way and that in the midnight sea, the enormous casks are slewed + round and headed over, end for end, and sometimes perilously scoot + across the slippery deck, like so many land slides, till at last + man-handled and stayed in their course; and all round the hoops, rap, + rap, go as many hammers as can play upon them, for now, ex officio, + every sailor is a cooper. + + At length, when the last pint is casked, and all is cool, then the + great hatchways are unsealed, the bowels of the ship are thrown open, + and down go the casks to their final rest in the sea. This done, the + hatches are replaced, and hermetically closed, like a closet walled up. + + In the sperm fishery, this is perhaps one of the most remarkable + incidents in all the business of whaling. One day the planks stream + with freshets of blood and oil; on the sacred quarter-deck enormous + masses of the whale's head are profanely piled; great rusty casks lie + about, as in a brewery yard; the smoke from the try-works has besooted + all the bulwarks; the mariners go about suffused with unctuousness; the + entire ship seems great leviathan himself; while on all hands the din + is deafening. + + But a day or two after, you look about you, and prick your ears in this + self-same ship! and were it not for the tell-tale boats and try-works, + you would all but swear you trod some silent merchant vessel, with a + most scrupulously neat commander. The unmanufactured sperm oil + possesses a singularly cleansing virtue. This is the reason why the + decks never look so white as just after what they call an affair of + oil. Besides, from the ashes of the burned scraps of the whale, a + potent lye is readily made; and whenever any adhesiveness from the back + of the whale remains clinging to the side, that lye quickly + exterminates it. Hands go diligently along the bulwarks, and with + buckets of water and rags restore them to their full tidiness. The soot + is brushed from the lower rigging. All the numerous implements which + have been in use are likewise faithfully cleansed and put away. The + great hatch is scrubbed and placed upon the try-works, completely + hiding the pots; every cask is out of sight; all tackles are coiled in + unseen nooks; and when by the combined and, simultaneous industry of + almost the entire ship's company, the whole of this conscientious duty + is at last concluded, then the crew themselves proceed to their own + ablutions; shift themselves from top to toe; and finally issue to the + immaculate deck, fresh and all aglow as bridegrooms new-leaped from out + the daintiest Holland. + + Now, with elated step, they pace the planks in twos and threes, and + humorously discourse of parlors, sofas, carpets, and fine cambrics; + propose to mat the deck; think of having hangings to the top; object + not to taking tea by moonlight on the piazza of the forecastle. To hint + to such musked mariners of oil, and bone, and blubber, were little + short of audacity. They know not the thing you distantly allude to. + Away, and bring us napkins! + + But mark: aloft there, at the three mast heads, stand three men intent + on spying out more whales, which, if caught, infallibly will again soil + the old oaken furniture, and drop at least one small grease-spot + somewhere. Yes; and many is the time, when, after the severest + uninterrupted labors, which know no night; continuing straight through + for ninety-six hours; when from the boat, where they have swelled their + wrists with all day rowing on the Line,—they only step to the deck to + carry vast chains, and heave the heavy windlass, and cut and slash, + yea, and in their very sweatings to be smoked and burned anew by the + combined fires of the equatorial sun and the equatorial try-works; + when, on the heel of all this, they have finally bestirred themselves + to cleanse the ship, and make a spotless dairy room of it; many is the + time the poor fellows, just buttoning the necks of their clean frocks, + are startled by the cry of "There she blows!" and away they fly to + fight another whale, and go through the whole weary thing again. Oh! my + friends, but this is man-killing! Yet this is life. For hardly have we + mortals by long toilings extracted from this world's vast bulk its + small but valuable sperm; and then, with weary patience, cleansed + ourselves from its defilements, and learned to live here in clean + tabernacles of the soul; hardly is this done, when—There she blows!—the + ghost is spouted up, and away we sail to fight some other world, and go + through young life's old routine again. + + Oh! the metempsychosis! Oh! Pythagoras, that in bright Greece, two + thousand years ago, did die, so good, so wise, so mild; I sailed with + thee along the Peruvian coast last voyage—and, foolish as I am, taught + thee, a green simple boy, how to splice a rope. + + + + + CHAPTER 99 + + + The Doubloon + + Ere now it has been related how Ahab was wont to pace his quarter-deck, + taking regular turns at either limit, the binnacle and mainmast; but in + the multiplicity of other things requiring narration it has not been + added how that sometimes in these walks, when most plunged in his mood, + he was wont to pause in turn at each spot, and stand there strangely + eyeing the particular object before him. When he halted before the + binnacle, with his glance fastened on the pointed needle in the + compass, that glance shot like a javelin with the pointed intensity of + his purpose; and when resuming his walk he again paused before the + mainmast, then, as the same riveted glance fastened upon the riveted + gold coin there, he still wore the same aspect of nailed firmness, only + dashed with a certain wild longing, if not hopefulness. + + But one morning, turning to pass the doubloon, he seemed to be newly + attracted by the strange figures and inscriptions stamped on it, as + though now for the first time beginning to interpret for himself in + some monomaniac way whatever significance might lurk in them. And some + certain significance lurks in all things, else all things are little + worth, and the round world itself but an empty cipher, except to sell + by the cartload, as they do hills about Boston, to fill up some morass + in the Milky Way. + + Now this doubloon was of purest, virgin gold, raked somewhere out of + the heart of gorgeous hills, whence, east and west, over golden sands, + the head-waters of many a Pactolus flows. And though now nailed amidst + all the rustiness of iron bolts and the verdigris of copper spikes, + yet, untouchable and immaculate to any foulness, it still preserved its + Quito glow. Nor, though placed amongst a ruthless crew and every hour + passed by ruthless hands, and through the livelong nights shrouded with + thick darkness which might cover any pilfering approach, nevertheless + every sunrise found the doubloon where the sunset last left it last. + For it was set apart and sanctified to one awe-striking end; and + however wanton in their sailor ways, one and all, the mariners revered + it as the white whale's talisman. Sometimes they talked it over in the + weary watch by night, wondering whose it was to be at last, and whether + he would ever live to spend it. + + Now those noble golden coins of South America are as medals of the sun + and tropic token-pieces. Here palms, alpacas, and volcanoes; sun's + disks and stars, ecliptics, horns-of-plenty, and rich banners waving, + are in luxuriant profusion stamped; so that the precious gold seems + almost to derive an added preciousness and enhancing glories, by + passing through those fancy mints, so Spanishly poetic. + + It so chanced that the doubloon of the Pequod was a most wealthy + example of these things. On its round border it bore the letters, + REPUBLICA DEL ECUADOR: QUITO. So this bright coin came from a country + planted in the middle of the world, and beneath the great equator, and + named after it; and it had been cast midway up the Andes, in the + unwaning clime that knows no autumn. Zoned by those letters you saw the + likeness of three Andes' summits; from one a flame; a tower on another; + on the third a crowing cock; while arching over all was a segment of + the partitioned zodiac, the signs all marked with their usual + cabalistics, and the keystone sun entering the equinoctial point at + Libra. + + Before this equatorial coin, Ahab, not unobserved by others, was now + pausing. + + "There's something ever egotistical in mountain-tops and towers, and + all other grand and lofty things; look here,— three peaks as proud as + Lucifer. The firm tower, that is Ahab; the volcano, that is Ahab; the + courageous, the undaunted, and victorious fowl, that, too, is Ahab; all + are Ahab; and this round gold is but the image of the rounder globe, + which, like a magician's glass, to each and every man in turn but + mirrors back his own mysterious self. Great pains, small gains for + those who ask the world to solve them; it cannot solve itself. Methinks + now this coined sun wears a ruddy face; but see! aye, he enters the + sign of storms, the equinox! and but six months before he wheeled out + of a former equinox at Aries! From storm to storm! So be it, then. Born + in throes, 't is fit that man should live in pains and die in pangs! So + be it, then! Here's stout stuff for woe to work on. So be it, then." + + "No fairy fingers can have pressed the gold, but devil's claws must + have left their mouldings there since yesterday," murmured Starbuck to + himself, leaning against the bulwarks. "The old man seems to read + Belshazzar's awful writing. I have never marked the coin inspectingly. + He goes below; let me read. A dark valley between three mighty, + heaven-abiding peaks, that almost seem the Trinity, in some faint + earthly symbol. So in this vale of Death, God girds us round; and over + all our gloom, the sun of Righteousness still shines a beacon and a + hope. If we bend down our eyes, the dark vale shows her mouldy soil; + but if we lift them, the bright sun meets our glance half way, to + cheer. Yet, oh, the great sun is no fixture; and if, at midnight, we + would fain snatch some sweet solace from him, we gaze for him in vain! + This coin speaks wisely, mildly, truly, but still sadly to me. I will + quit it, lest Truth shake me falsely." + + "There now's the old Mogul," soliloquized Stubb by the try-works, "he's + been twigging it; and there goes Starbuck from the same, and both with + faces which I should say might be somewhere within nine fathoms long. + And all from looking at a piece of gold, which did I have it now on + Negro Hill or in Corlaer's Hook, I'd not look at it very long ere + spending it. Humph! in my poor, insignificant opinion, I regard this as + queer. I have seen doubloons before now in my voyagings; your doubloons + of old Spain, your doubloons of Peru, your doubloons of Chili, your + doubloons of Bolivia, your doubloons of Popayan; with plenty of gold + moidores and pistoles, and joes, and half joes, and quarter joes. What + then should there be in this doubloon of the Equator that is so killing + wonderful? By Golconda! let me read it once. Halloa! here's signs and + wonders truly! That, now, is what old Bowditch in his Epitome calls the + zodiac, and what my almanack below calls ditto. I'll get the almanack; + and as I have heard devils can be raised with Daboll's arithmetic, I'll + try my hand at raising a meaning out of these queer curvicues here with + the Massachusetts calendar. Here's the book. Let's see now. Signs and + wonders; and the sun, he's always among 'em. Hem, hem, hem; here they + are— here they go—all alive: Aries, or the Ram; Taurus, or the Bull and + Jimimi! here's Gemini himself, or the Twins. Well; the sun he wheels + among 'em. Aye, here on the coin he's just crossing the threshold + between two of twelve sitting-rooms all in a ring. Book! you lie there; + the fact is, you books must know your places. You'll do to give us the + bare words and facts, but we come in to supply the thoughts. That's my + small experience, so far as the Massachusetts calendar, and Bowditch's + navigator, and Daboll's arithmetic go. Signs and wonders, eh? Pity if + there is nothing wonderful in signs, and significant in wonders! + There's a clue somewhere; wait a bit; hist—hark! By Jove, I have it! + Look you, Doubloon, your zodiac here is the life of man in one round + chapter; and now I'll read it off, straight out of the book. Come, + Almanack! To begin: there's Aries, or the Ram— lecherous dog, he begets + us; then, Taurus, or the Bull— he bumps us the first thing; then + Gemini, or the Twins— that is, Virtue and Vice; we try to reach Virtue, + when lo! comes Cancer the Crab, and drags us back; and here, going from + Virtue, Leo, a roaring Lion, lies in the path— he gives a few fierce + bites and surly dabs with his paw; we escape, and hail Virgo, the + Virgin! that's our first love; we marry and think to be happy for aye, + when pop comes Libra, or the Scales—happiness weighed and found + wanting; and while we are very sad about that, Lord! how we suddenly + jump, as Scorpio, or the Scorpion, stings us in the rear; we are curing + the wound, when whang comes the arrows all round; Sagittarius, or the + Archer, is amusing himself. As we pluck out the shafts, stand aside! + here's the battering-ram, Capricornus, or the Goat; full tilt, he comes + rushing, and headlong we are tossed; when Aquarius, or the Waterbearer, + pours out his whole deluge and drowns us; and to wind up with Pisces, + or the Fishes, we sleep. There's a sermon now, writ in high heaven, and + the sun goes through it every year, and yet comes out of it all alive + and hearty. Jollily he, aloft there, wheels through toil and trouble; + and so, alow here, does jolly Stubb. Oh, jolly's the word for aye! + Adieu, Doubloon! But stop; here comes little King-Post; dodge round the + try-works, now, and let's hear what he'll have to say. There; he's + before it; he'll out with something presently. So, so; he's beginning." + + "I see nothing here, but a round thing made of gold, and whoever raises + a certain whale, this round thing belongs to him. So, what's all this + staring been about? It is worth sixteen dollars, that's true; and at + two cents the cigar, that's nine hundred and sixty cigars. I won't + smoke dirty pipes like Stubb, but I like cigars, and here's nine + hundred and sixty of them; so here goes Flask aloft to spy 'em out." + + "Shall I call that Wise or foolish, now; if it be really wise it has a + foolish look to it; yet, if it be really foolish, then has it a sort of + wiseish look to it. But, avast; here comes our old Manxman—the old + hearse-driver, he must have been, that is, before he took to the sea. + He luffs up before the doubloon; halloa, and goes round on the other + side of the mast; why, there's a horse-shoe nailed on that side; and + now he's back again; what does that mean? Hark! he's muttering— voice + like an old worn-out coffee-mill. Prick ears, and listen!" + + "If the White Whale be raised, it must be in a month and a day, when + the sun stands in some one of these signs. I've studied signs, and know + their marks; they were taught me two score years ago, by the old witch + in Copenhagen. Now, in what sign will the sun then be? The horse-shoe + sign; for there it is, right opposite the gold. And what's the + horse-shoe sign? The lion is the horse-shoe sign— the roaring and + devouring lion. Ship, old ship! my old head shakes to think of thee." + + "There's another rendering now; but still one text. All sorts of men in + one kind of world, you see. Dodge again! here comes Queequeg— all + tattooing—looks like the signs of the Zodiac himself. What says the + Cannibal? As I live he's comparing notes; looking at his thigh bone; + thinks the sun is in the thigh, or in the calf, or in the bowels, I + suppose, as the old women talk Surgeon's Astronomy in the back country. + And by Jove, he's found something there in the vicinity of his thigh— I + guess it's Sagittarius, or the Archer. No: he don't know what to make + of the doubloon; he takes it for an old button off some king's + trowsers. But, aside again! here comes that ghost-devil, Fedallah; tail + coiled out of sight as usual, oakum in the toes of his pumps as usual. + What does he say, with that look of his? Ah, only makes a sign to the + sign and bows himself; there is a sun on the coin— fire worshipper, + depend upon it. Ho! more and more. This way comes Pip— poor boy! would + he had died, or I; he's half horrible to me. He too has been watching + all of these interpreters myself included— and look now, he comes to + read, with that unearthly idiot face. Stand away again and hear him. + Hark!" + + "I look, you look, he looks; we look, ye look, they look." + + "Upon my soul, he's been studying Murray's Grammar! Improving his mind, + poor fellow! But what's that he says now—hist!" + + "I look, you look, he looks; we look, ye look, they look." + + "Why, he's getting it by heart—hist! again." + + "I look, you look, he looks; we look, ye look, they look." + + "Well, that's funny." + + "And I, you, and he; and we, ye, and they, are all bats; and I'm a + crow, especially when I stand a'top of this pine tree here. Caw! caw! + caw! caw! caw! caw! Ain't I a crow? And where's the scare-crow? There + he stands; two bones stuck into a pair of old trowsers, and two more + poked into the sleeves of an old jacket." + + "Wonder if he means me?—complimentary—poor lad!—I could go hang myself. + Any way, for the present, I'll quit Pip's vicinity. I can stand the + rest, for they have plain wits; but he's too crazy-witty for my sanity. + So, so, I leave him muttering." + + "Here's the ship's navel, this doubloon here, and they are all one fire + to unscrew it. But, unscrew your navel, and what's the consequence? + Then again, if it stays here, that is ugly, too, for when aught's + nailed to the mast it's a sign that things grow desperate. Ha! ha! old + Ahab! the White Whale; he'll nail ye! This is a pine tree. My father, + in old Tolland county, cut down a pine tree once, and found a silver + ring grown over in it; some old darkey's wedding ring. How did it get + there? And so they'll say in the resurrection, when they come to fish + up this old mast, and find a doubloon lodged in it, with bedded oysters + for the shaggy bark. Oh, the gold! the precious, precious gold!—the + green miser'll hoard ye soon! Hish! hish! God goes 'mong the worlds + blackberrying. Cook! ho, cook! and cook us! Jenny! hey, hey, hey, hey, + hey, Jenny, Jenny! and get your hoe-cake done!" + + + + + CHAPTER 100 + + + Leg and Arm + + The Pequod of Nantucket, Meets the Samuel Enderby, of London + + "Ship, ahoy! Hast seen the White Whale?" + + So cried Ahab, once more hailing a ship showing English colors, bearing + down under the stern. Trumpet to mouth, the old man was standing in his + hoisted quarter-deck, his ivory leg plainly revealed to the stranger + captain, who was carelessly reclining in his own boat's bow. He was a + darkly-tanned, burly, goodnatured, fine-looking man, of sixty or + thereabouts, dressed in a spacious roundabout, that hung round him in + festoons of blue pilot-cloth; and one empty arm of this jacket streamed + behind him like the broidered arm of a huzzar's surcoat. + + "Hast seen the White Whale!" + + "See you this?" and withdrawing it from the folds that had hidden it, + he held up a white arm of sperm whale bone, terminating in a wooden + head like a mallet. + + "Man my boat!" cried Ahab, impetuously, and tossing about the oars near + him—"Stand by to lower!" + + In less than a minute, without quitting his little craft, he and his + crew were dropped to the water, and were soon alongside of the + stranger. But here a curious difficulty presented itself. In the + excitement of the moment, Ahab had forgotten that since the loss of his + leg he had never once stepped on board of any vessel at sea but his + own, and then it was always by an ingenious and very handy mechanical + contrivance peculiar to the Pequod, and a thing not to be rigged and + shipped in any other vessel at a moment's warning. Now, it is no very + easy matter for anybody— except those who are almost hourly used to it, + like whalemen— to clamber up a ship's side from a boat on the open sea; + for the great swells now lift the boat high up towards the bulwarks, + and then instantaneously drop it half way down to the kelson. So, + deprived of one leg, and the strange ship of course being altogether + unsupplied with the kindly invention, Ahab now found himself abjectly + reduced to a clumsy landsman again; hopelessly eyeing the uncertain + changeful height he could hardly hope to attain. + + It has before been hinted, perhaps, that every little untoward + circumstance that befell him, and which indirectly sprang from his + luckless mishap, almost invariably irritated or exasperated Ahab. And + in the present instance, all this was heightened by the sight of the + two officers of the strange ship, leaning over the side, by the + perpendicular ladder of nailed cleets there, and swinging towards him a + pair of tastefully-ornamented man-ropes; for at first they did not seem + to bethink them that a one-legged man must be too much of a cripple to + use their sea bannisters. But this awkwardness only lasted a minute, + because the strange captain, observing at a glance how affairs stood, + cried out, "I see, I see!— avast heaving there! Jump, boys, and swing + over the cutting-tackle." + + As good luck would have it, they had had a whale alongside a day or two + previous, and the great tackles were still aloft, and the massive + curved blubber-hook, now clean and dry, was still attached to the end. + This was quickly lowered to Ahab, who at once comprehending it all, + slid his solitary thigh into the curve of the hook (it was like sitting + in the fluke of an anchor, or the crotch of an apple tree), and then + giving the word, held himself fast, and at the same time also helped to + hoist his own weight, by pulling hand-over-hand upon one of the running + parts of the tackle. Soon he was carefully swung inside the high + bulwarks, and gently landed upon the capstan head. With his ivory arm + frankly thrust forth in welcome, the other captain advanced, and Ahab, + putting out his ivory leg, and crossing the ivory arm (like two + sword-fish blades) cried out in his walrus way, "Aye, aye, hearty! let + us shake bones together!—an arm and a leg!— an arm that never can + shrink, d'ye see; and a leg that never can run. Where did'st thou see + the White Whale?—how long ago?" + + "The White Whale," said the Englishman, pointing his ivory arm towards + the East, and taking a rueful sight along it, as if it had been a + telescope; There I saw him, on the Line, last season." + + "And he took that arm off, did he?" asked Ahab, now sliding down from + the capstan, and resting on the Englishman's shoulder, as he did so. + + "Aye, he was the cause of it, at least; and that leg, too?" + + "Spin me the yarn," said Ahab; "how was it?" + + "It was the first time in my life that I ever cruised on the Line," + began the Englishman. "I was ignorant of the White Whale at that time. + Well, one day we lowered for a pod of four or five whales, and my boat + fastened to one of them; a regular circus horse he was, too, that went + milling and milling round so that my boat's crew could only trim dish, + by sitting all their sterns on the outer gunwale. Presently up breaches + from the bottom of the sea a bouncing great whale, with a milky-white + head and hump, all crows' feet and wrinkles." + + "It was he, it was he!" cried Ahab, suddenly letting out his suspended + breath. + + "And harpoons sticking in near his starboard fin. Aye, aye— they were + mine—my irons," cried Ahab, exultingly—"but on!" + + "Give me a chance, then," said the Englishman, good-humoredly. "Well, + this old great-grandfather, with the white head and hump, runs all + afoam into the pod, and goes to snapping furiously at my fast-line! + + "Aye, I see!—wanted to part it; free the fast-fish—an old trick— + I know him." + + "How it was exactly," continued the one-armed commander, "I do not + know; but in biting the line, it got foul of his teeth, caught there + somehow; but we didn't know it then; so that when we afterwards pulled + on the line, bounce we came plump on to his hump! instead of the other + whale's; that went off to windward, all fluking. Seeing how matters + stood, and what a noble great whale it was— the noblest and biggest I + ever saw, sir, in my life—I resolved to capture him, spite of the + boiling rage he seemed to be in. And thinking the hap-hazard line would + get loose, or the tooth it was tangled to might draw (for I have a + devil of a boat's crew for a pull on a whale-line); seeing all this, I + say, I jumped into my first mate's boat—Mr. Mounttop's here (by the + way, Captain—Mounttop; Mounttop—the captain);— as I was saying, I + jumped into Mounttop's boat, which, d'ye see, was gunwale and gunwale + with mine, then; and snatching the first harpoon, let this old + great-grandfather have it. But, Lord, look you, sir—hearts and souls + alive, man—the next instant, in a jiff, I was blind as a bat—both eyes + out—all befogged and bedeadened with black foam—the whale's tail + looming straight up out of it, perpendicular in the air, like a marble + steeple. No use sterning all, then; but as I was groping at midday, + with a blinding sun, all crown-jewels; as I was groping, I say, after + the second iron, to toss it overboard—down comes the tail like a Lima + tower, cutting my boat in two, leaving each half in splinters; and, + flukes first, the white hump backed through the wreck, as though it was + all chips. We all struck out. To escape his terrible flailings, I + seized hold of my harpoon-pole sticking in him, and for a moment clung + to that like a sucking fish. But a combing sea dashed me off, and at + the same instant, the fish, taking one good dart forwards, went down + like a flash; and the barb of that cursed second iron towing along near + me caught me here" (clapping his hand just below his shoulder); "yes, + caught me just here, I say, and bore me down to Hell's flames, I was + thinking; when, when, all of a sudden, thank the good God, the barb + ript its way along the flesh— clear along the whole length of my + arm—came out nigh my wrist, and up I floated;—and that gentleman there + will tell you the rest (by the way, captain—Dr. Bunger, ship's surgeon: + Bunger, my lad,— the captain). Now, Bunger boy, spin your part of the + yarn." + + The professional gentleman thus familiarly pointed out, had been all + the time standing near them, with nothing specific visible, to denote + his gentlemanly rank on board. His face was an exceedingly round but + sober one; he was dressed in a faded blue woollen frock or shirt, and + patched trowsers; and had thus far been dividing his attention between + a marlingspike he held in one hand, and a pill-box held in the other, + occasionally casting a critical glance at the ivory limbs of the two + crippled captains. But, at his superior's introduction of him to Ahab, + he politely bowed, and straightway went on to do his captain's bidding. + + "It was a shocking bad wound," began the whale-surgeon; "and, taking my + advice, Captain Boomer here, stood our old Sammy-" + + "Samuel Enderby is the name of my ship," interrupted the one-armed + captain, addressing Ahab; "go on, boy." + + "Stood our old Sammy off to the northward, to get out of the blazing + hot weather there on the Line. But it was no use—I did all I could; sat + up with him nights; was very severe with him in the matter of diet-" + + "Oh, very severe!" chimed in the patient himself; then suddenly + altering his voice, "Drinking hot rum toddies with me every night, till + he couldn't see to put on the bandages; and sending me to bed, half + seas over, about three o'clock in the morning. Oh, ye stars! he sat up + with me indeed, and was very severe in my diet. Oh! a great watcher, + and very dietetically severe, is Dr. Bunger. (Bunger, you dog, laugh + out! why don't ye? You know you're a precious jolly rascal.) But, heave + ahead, boy, I'd rather be killed by you than kept alive by any other + man." + + "My captain, you must have ere this perceived, respected sir"— said the + imperturbable godly-looking Bunger, slightly bowing to Ahab—"is apt to + be facetious at times; he spins us many clever things of that sort. But + I may as well say—en passant, as the French remark—that I myself—that + is to say, Jack Bunger, late of the reverend clergy—am a strict total + abstinence man; I never drink-" + + "Water!" cried the captain; "he never drinks it; it's a sort of fits to + him; fresh water throws him into the hydrophobia; but go on—go on with + the arm story." + + "Yes, I may as well," said the surgeon, coolly. "I was about observing, + sir, before Captain Boomer's facetious interruption, that spite of my + best and severest endeavors, the wound kept getting worse and worse; + the truth was, sir, it was as ugly gaping wound as surgeon ever saw; + more than two feet and several inches long. I measured it with the lead + line. In short, it grew black; I knew what was threatened, and off it + came. But I had no hand in shipping that ivory arm there; that thing is + against all rule"— pointing at it with the marlingspike—"that is the + captain's work, not mine; he ordered the carpenter to make it; he had + that club-hammer there put to the end, to knock some one's brains out + with, I suppose, as he tried mine once. He flies into diabolical + passions sometimes. Do ye see this dent, sir"—removing his hat, and + brushing aside his hair, and exposing a bowl-like cavity in his skull, + but which bore not the slightest scarry trace, or any token of ever + having been a wound— "Well, the captain there will tell you how that + came there; he knows." + + "No, I don't," said the captain, "but his mother did; he was born with + it. Oh, you solemn rogue, you—you Bunger! was there ever such another + Bunger in the watery world? Bunger, when you die, you ought to die in + pickle, you dog; you should be preserved to future ages, you rascal." + + "What became of the White Whale?" now cried Ahab, who thus far had been + impatiently listening to this byeplay between the two Englishmen. + + "Oh!" cried the one-armed captain, Oh, yes! Well; after he sounded, we + didn't see him again for some time; in fact, as I before hinted, I + didn't then know what whale it was that had served me such a trick, + till some time afterwards, when coming back to the Line, we heard about + Moby Dick—as some call him—and then I knew it was he." + + "Did'st thou cross his wake again?" + + "Twice." + + "But could not fasten?" + + "Didn't want to try to; ain't one limb enough? What should I do without + this other arm? And I'm thinking Moby Dick doesn't bite so much as he + swallows." + + "Well, then," interrupted Bunger, "give him your left arm for bait to + get the right. Do you know, gentlemen"—very gravely and mathematically + bowing to each Captain in succession—"Do you know, gentlemen, that the + digestive organs of the whale are so inscrutably constructed by Divine + Providence, that it is quite impossible for him to completely digest + even a man's arm? And he knows it too. So that what you take for the + White Whale's malice is only his awkwardness. For he never means to + swallow a single limb; he only thinks to terrify by feints. But + sometimes he is like the old juggling fellow, formerly a patient of + mine in Ceylon, that making believe swallow jack-knives, once upon a + time let one drop into him in good earnest, and there it stayed for a + twelvemonth or more; when I gave him an emetic, and he heaved it up in + small tacks, d'ye see? No possible way for him to digest that + jack-knife, and fully incorporate it into his general bodily system. + Yes, Captain Boomer, if you are quick enough about it, and have a mind + to pawn one arm for the sake of the privilege of giving decent burial + to the other, why, in that case the arm is yours; only let the whale + have another chance at you shortly, that's all." + + "No, thank you, Bunger," said the English Captain, "he's welcome to the + arm he has, since I can't help it, and didn't know him then; but not to + another one. No more White Whales for me; I've lowered for him once, + and that has satisfied me. There would be great glory in killing him, I + know that; and there is a ship-load of precious sperm in him, but, hark + ye, he's best let alone; don't you think so, Captain?"—glancing at the + ivory leg. + + "He is. But he will still be hunted, for all that. What is best + let alone, that accursed thing is not always what least allures. + He's all a magnet! How long since thou saw'st him last? + Which way heading?" + + "Bless my soul, and curse the foul fiend's," cried Bunger, stoopingly + walking round Ahab, and like a dog, strangely snuffing; "this man's + blood—bring the thermometer!—it's at the boiling point!— his pulse + makes these planks beat!—sir!"—taking a lancet from his pocket, and + drawing near to Ahab's arm. + + "Avast!" roared Ahab, dashing him against the bulwarks—"Man the boat! + Which way heading?" + + "Good God!" cried the English Captain, to whom the question was put. + "What's the matter? He was heading east, I think.—Is your + Captain crazy?" whispering Fedallah. + + But Fedallah, putting a finger on his lip, slid over the bulwarks to + take the boat's steering oar, and Ahab, swinging the cutting-tackle + towards him commanded the ship's sailors to stand by to lower. + + In a moment he was standing in the boat's stern, and the Manilla men + were springing to their oars. In vain the English Captain hailed him. + With back to the stranger ship, and face set like a flint to his own, + Ahab stood upright till alongside of the Pequod. + + + + + CHAPTER 101 + + + The Decanter + + Ere the English ship fades from sight be it set down here, that she + hailed from London, and was named after the late Samuel Enderby, + merchant of that city, the original of the famous whaling house of + enderby and sons; a house which in my poor whaleman's opinion, comes + not far behind the united royal houses of the Tudors and Bourbons, in + point of real historical interest. How long, prior to the year of our + Lord 1775, this great whaling house was in existence, my numerous + fish-documents do not make plain; but in that year (1775) it fitted out + the first English ships that ever regularly hunted the Sperm Whale; + though for some score of years previous (ever since 1726) our valiant + Coffins and Maceys of Nantucket and the Vineyard had in large fleets + pursued the Leviathan, but only in the North and South Atlantic: not + elsewhere. Be it distinctly recorded here, that the Nantucketers were + the first among mankind to harpoon with civilized steel the great Sperm + Whale; and that for half a century they were the only people of the + whole globe who so harpooned him. + + In 1778, a fine ship, the Amelia, fitted out for the express purpose, + and at the sole charge of the vigorous Enderbys, boldly rounded Cape + Horn, and was the first among the nations to lower a whale-boat of any + sort in the great South Sea. The voyage was a skilful and lucky one; + and returning to her berth with her hold full of the precious sperm, + the Amelia's example was soon followed by other ships, English and + American, and thus the vast Sperm Whale grounds of the Pacific were + thrown open. But not content with this good deed, the indefatigable + house again bestirred itself: Samuel and all his Sons—how many, their + mother only knows—and under their immediate auspices, and partly, I + think, at their expense, the British government was induced to send the + sloop-of-war Rattler on a whaling voyage of discovery into the South + Sea. Commanded by a naval Post-Captain, the Rattler made a rattling + voyage of it, and did some service; how much does not appear. But this + is not all. In 1819, the same house fitted out a discovery whale ship + of their own, to go on a tasting cruise to the remote waters of Japan. + That ship— well called the "Syren"—made a noble experimental cruise; + and it was thus that the great Japanese Whaling Ground first became + generally known. The Syren in this famous voyage was commanded by a + Captain Coffin, a Nantucketer. + + All honor to the Enderbies, therefore, whose house, I think, exists to + the present day; though doubtless the original Samuel must long ago + have slipped his cable for the great South Sea of the other world. + + The ship named after him was worthy of the honor, being a very fast + sailer and a noble craft every way. I boarded her once at midnight + somewhere off the Patagonian coast, and drank good flip down in the + forecastle. It was a fine gam we had, and they were all trumps—every + soul on board. A short life to them, and a jolly death. And that fine + gam I had— long, very long after old Ahab touched her planks with his + ivory heel— it minds me of the noble, solid, Saxon hospitality of that + ship; and may my parson forget me, and the devil remember me, if I ever + lose sight of it. Flip? Did I say we had flip? Yes, and we flipped it + at the rate of ten gallons the hour; and when the squall came (for it's + squally off there by Patagonia), and all hands— visitors and all—were + called to reef topsails, we were so top-heavy that we had to swing each + other aloft in bowlines; and we ignorantly furled the skirts of our + jackets into the sails, so that we hung there, reefed fast in the + howling gale, a warning example to all drunken tars. However, the masts + did not go overboard; and by and by we scrambled down, so sober, that + we had to pass the flip again, though the savage salt spray bursting + down the forecastle scuttle, rather too much diluted and pickled it for + my taste. + + The beef was fine—tough, but with body in it. They said it was + bullbeef; others, that it was dromedary beef; but I do not know, for + certain, how that was. They had dumplings too; small, but substantial, + symmetrically globular, and indestructible dumplings. I fancied that + you could feel them, and roll them about in you after they were + swallowed. If you stooped over too far forward, you risked their + pitching out of you like billiard-balls. The bread— but that couldn't + be helped; besides, it was an anti-scorbutic, in short, the bread + contained the only fresh fare they had. But the forecastle was not very + light, and it was very easy to step over into a dark corner when you + ate it. But all in all, taking her from truck to helm, considering the + dimensions of the cook's boilers, including his own live parchment + boilers; fore and aft, I say, the Samuel Enderby was a jolly ship; of + good fare and plenty; fine flip and strong; crack fellows all, and + capital from boot heels to hat-band. + + But why was it, think ye, that the Samuel Enderby, and some other + English whalers I know of—not all though—were such famous, hospitable + ships; that passed round the beef, and the bread, and the can, and the + joke; and were not soon weary of eating, and drinking, and laughing? I + will tell you. The abounding good cheer of these English whalers is + matter for historical research. Nor have I been at all sparing of + historical whale research, when it has seemed needed. + + The English were preceded in the whale fishery by the Hollanders, + Zealanders, and Danes; from whom they derived many terms still extant + in the fishery; and what is yet more, their fat old fashions, touching + plenty to eat and drink. For, as a general thing, the English + merchant-ship scrimps her crew; but not so the English whaler. Hence, + in the English, this thing of whaling good cheer is not normal and + natural, but incidental and particular; and, therefore, must have some + special origin, which is here pointed out, and will be still further + elucidated. + + During my researches in the Leviathanic histories, I stumbled upon an + ancient Dutch volume, which, by the musty whaling smell of it, I knew + must be about whalers. The title was, "Dan Coopman," wherefore I + concluded that this must be the invaluable memoirs of some Amsterdam + cooper in the fishery, as every whale ship must carry its cooper. I was + reinforced in this opinion by seeing that it was the production of one + "Fitz Swackhammer." But my friend Dr. Snodhead, a very learned man, + professor of Low Dutch and High German in the college of Santa Claus + and St. Potts, to whom I handed the work for translation, giving him a + box of sperm candles for his trouble—this same Dr. Snodhead, so soon as + he spied the book, assured me that "Dan Coopman" did not mean "The + Cooper," but "The Merchant." In short, this ancient and learned Low + Dutch book treated of the commerce of Holland; and, among other + subjects, contained a very interesting account of its whale fishery. + And in this chapter it was, headed, "Smeer," or "Fat," that I found a + long detailed list of the outfits for the larders and cellars of 180 + sail of Dutch whalemen; from which list, as translated by Dr. Snodhead, + I transcribe the following: + + 0084400,000 lbs. of beef. + 60,000 lbs. Friesland pork. + 150,000 lbs. of stock fish. + 550,000 lbs. of biscuit. + 72,000 lbs. of soft bread. + 2,800 firkins of butter. + 20,000 lbs. of Texel and Leyden cheese. + 144,000 lbs. cheese (probably an inferior article). + 550 ankers of Geneva. + 10,800 barrels of beer. + + Most statistical tables are parchingly dry in the reading; not so in + the present case, however, where the reader is flooded with whole + pipes, barrels, quarts, and gills of good gin and good cheer. + + At the time, I devoted three days to the studious digesting of all this + beer, beef, and bread, during which many profound thoughts were + incidentally suggested to me, capable of a transcendental and Platonic + application; and, furthermore, I compiled supplementary tables of my + own, touching the probable quantity of stock-fish, &c., consumed by + every Low Dutch harpooneer in that ancient Greenland and Spitzbergen + whale fishery. In the first place, the amount of butter, and Texel and + Leyden cheese consumed, seems amazing. I impute it, though, to their + naturally unctuous natures, being rendered still more unctuous by the + nature of their vocation, and especially by their pursuing their game + in those frigid Polar Seas, on the very coasts of that Esquimaux + country where the convivial natives pledge each other in bumpers of + train oil. + + The quantity of the beer, too, is very large, 10,800 barrels. Now, as + those polar fisheries could only be prosecuted in the short summer of + that climate, so that the whole cruise of one of these Dutch whalemen, + including the short voyage to and from the Spitzbergen sea, did not + much exceed three months, say, and reckoning 30 men to each of their + fleet of 180 sail, we have 5,400 Low Dutch seamen in all; therefore, I + say, we have precisely two barrels of beer per man, for a twelve weeks' + allowance, exclusive of his fair proportion of that 550 ankers of gin. + Now, whether these gin and beer harpooneers, so fuddled as one might + fancy them to have been, were the right sort of men to stand up in a + boat's head, and take good aim at flying whales; this would seem + somewhat improbable. Yet they did aim at them, and hit them too. But + this was very far North, be it remembered, where beer agrees well with + the constitution; upon the Equator, in our southern fishery, beer would + be apt to make the harpooneer sleepy at the mast-head and boozy in his + boat; and grievous loss might ensue to Nantucket and New Bedford. + + But no more; enough has been said to show that the old Dutch whalers of + two or three centuries ago were high livers; and that the English + whalers have not neglected so excellent an example. For, say they, when + cruising in an empty ship, if you can get nothing better out of the + world, get a good dinner out of it, at least. And this empties the + decanter. + + + + + CHAPTER 102 + + + A Bower in the Arsacides + + Hitherto, in descriptively treating of the Sperm Whale, I have chiefly + dwelt upon the marvels of his outer aspect; or separately and in detail + upon some few interior structural features. But to a large and thorough + sweeping comprehension of him, it behoves me now to unbutton him still + further, and untagging the points of his hose, unbuckling his garters, + and casting loose the hooks and the eyes of the joints of his innermost + bones, set him before you in his ultimatum; that is to say, in his + unconditional skeleton. + + But how now, Ishmael? How is it, that you, a mere oarsman in the + fishery, pretend to know aught about the subterranean parts of the + whale? Did erudite Stubb, mounted upon your capstan, deliver lectures + on the anatomy of the Cetacea; and by help of the windlass, hold up a + specimen rib for exhibition? Explain thyself, Ishmael. Can you land a + full-grown whale on your deck for examination, as a cook dishes a + roast-pig? Surely not. A veritable witness have you hitherto been, + Ishmael; but have a care how you seize the privilege of Jonah alone; + the privilege of discoursing upon the joists and beams; the rafters, + ridge-pole, sleepers, and under-pinnings, making up the frame-work of + leviathan; and belike of the tallow-vats, dairy-rooms, butteries, and + cheeseries in his bowels. + + I confess, that since Jonah, few whalemen have penetrated very far + beneath the skin of the adult whale; nevertheless, I have been blessed + with an opportunity to dissect him in miniature. In a ship I belonged + to, a small cub Sperm Whale was once bodily hoisted to the deck for his + poke or bag, to make sheaths for the barbs of the harpoons, and for the + heads of the lances. Think you I let that chance go, without using my + boat-hatchet and jack-knife, and breaking the seal and reading all the + contents of that young cub? + + And as for my exact knowledge of the bones of the leviathan in their + gigantic, full grown development, for that rare knowledge I am indebted + to my late royal friend Tranquo, king of Tranque, one of the Arsacides. + For being at Tranque, years ago, when attached to the trading-ship Dey + of Algiers, I was invited to spend part of the Arsacidean holidays with + the lord of Tranque, at his retired palm villa at Pupella; a sea-side + glen not very far distant from what our sailors called Bamboo-Town, his + capital. + + Among many other fine qualities, my royal friend Tranquo, being gifted + with a devout love for all matters of barbaric vertu, had brought + together in Pupella whatever rare things the more ingenious of his + people could invent; chiefly carved woods of wonderful devices, + chiselled shells, inlaid spears, costly paddles, aromatic canoes; and + all these distributed among whatever natural wonders, the + wonder-freighted, tribute-rendering waves had cast upon his shores. + + Chief among these latter was a great Sperm Whale, which, after an + unusually long raging gale, had been found dead and stranded, with his + head against a cocoa-nut tree, whose plumage-like, tufted droopings + seemed his verdant jet. When the vast body had at last been stripped of + its fathomdeep enfoldings, and the bones become dust dry in the sun, + then the skeleton was carefully transported up the Pupella glen, where + a grand temple of lordly palms now sheltered it. + + The ribs were hung with trophies; the vertebrae were carved with + Arsacidean annals, in strange hieroglyphics; in the skull, the priests + kept up an unextinguished aromatic flame, so that the mystic head again + sent forth its vapory spout; while, suspended from a bough, the + terrific lower jaw vibrated over all the devotees, like the hair-hung + sword that so affrighted Damocles. + + It was a wondrous sight. The wood was green as mosses of the Icy Glen; + the trees stood high and haughty, feeling their living sap; the + industrious earth beneath was as a weaver's loom, with a gorgeous + carpet on it, whereof the ground-vine tendrils formed the warp and + woof, and the living flowers the figures. All the trees, with all their + laden branches; all the shrubs, and ferns, and grasses; the + message-carrying air; all these unceasingly were active. Through the + lacings of the leaves, the great sun seemed a flying shuttle weaving + the unwearied verdure. Oh, busy weaver! unseen weaver!—pause!—one + word!— whither flows the fabric? what palace may it deck? wherefore all + these ceaseless toilings? Speak, weaver!—stay thy hand!— but one single + word with thee! Nay—the shuttle flies— the figures float from forth the + loom; the fresher-rushing carpet for ever slides away. The weaver-god, + he weaves; and by that weaving is he deafened, that he hears no mortal + voice; and by that humming, we, too, who look on the loom are deafened; + and only when we escape it shall we hear the thousand voices that speak + through it. For even so it is in all material factories. The spoken + words that are inaudible among the flying spindles; those same words + are plainly heard without the walls, bursting from the opened + casements. Thereby have villainies been detected. Ah, mortal! then, be + heedful; for so, in all this din of the great world's loom, thy + subtlest thinkings may be overheard afar. + + Now, amid the green, life-restless loom of that Arsacidean wood, the + great, white, worshipped skeleton lay lounging—a gigantic idler! Yet, + as the ever-woven verdant warp and woof intermixed and hummed around + him, the mighty idler seemed the cunning weaver; himself all woven over + with the vines; every month assuming greener, fresher verdure; but + himself a skeleton. Life folded Death; Death trellised Life; the grim + god wived with youthful Life, and begat him curly-headed glories. + + Now, when with royal Tranquo I visited this wondrous whale, and saw the + skull an altar, and the artificial smoke ascending from where the real + jet had issued, I marvelled that the king should regard a chapel as an + object of vertu. He laughed. But more I marvelled that the priests + should swear that smoky jet of his was genuine. To and fro I paced + before this skeleton— brushed the vines aside—broke through the + ribs—and with a ball of Arsacidean twine, wandered, eddied long amid + its many winding, shaded colonnades and arbors. But soon my line was + out; and following it back, I emerged from the opening where I entered. + I saw no living thing within; naught was there but bones. + + Cutting me a green measuring-rod, I once more dived within the + skeleton. From their arrow-slit in the skull, the priests perceived me + taking the altitude of the final rib, "How now!" they shouted; "Dar'st + thou measure this our god! That's for us." "Aye, priests—well, how long + do ye make him, then?" But hereupon a fierce contest rose among them, + concerning feet and inches; they cracked each other's sconces with + their yard-sticks— the great skull echoed—and seizing that lucky + chance, I quickly concluded my own admeasurements. + + These admeasurements I now propose to set before you. But first, be it + recorded, that, in this matter, I am not free to utter any fancied + measurements I please. Because there are skeleton authorities you can + refer to, to test my accuracy. There is a Leviathanic Museum, they tell + me, in Hull, England, one of the whaling ports of that country, where + they have some fine specimens of fin-backs and other whales. Likewise, + I have heard that in the museum of Manchester, in New Hampshire, they + have what the proprietors call "the only perfect specimen of a + Greenland or River Whale in the United States." Moreover, at a place in + Yorkshire, England, Burton Constable by name, a certain Sir Clifford + Constable has in his possession the skeleton of a Sperm Whale, but of + moderate size, by no means of the full-grown magnitude of my friend + King Tranquo's. + + In both cases, the stranded whales to which these two skeletons + belonged, were originally claimed by their proprietors upon similar + grounds. King Tranquo seizing his because he wanted it; and Sir + Clifford, because he was lord of the seignories of those parts. Sir + Clifford's whale has been articulated throughout; so that, like a great + chest of drawers, you can open and shut him, in all his bony + cavities—spread out his ribs like a gigantic fan— and swing all day + upon his lower jaw. Locks are to be put upon some of his trap-doors and + shutters; and a footman will show round future visitors with a bunch of + keys at his side. Sir Clifford thinks of charging twopence for a peep + at the whispering gallery in the spinal column; threepence to hear the + echo in the hollow of his cerebellum; and sixpence for the unrivalled + view from his forehead. + + The skeleton dimensions I shall now proceed to set down are copied + verbatim from my right arm, where I had them tattooed; as in my wild + wanderings at that period, there was no other secure way of preserving + such valuable statistics. But as I was crowded for space, and wished + the other parts of my body to remain a blank page for a poem I was then + composing— at least, what untattooed parts might remain—I did not + trouble myself with the odd inches; nor, indeed, should inches at all + enter into a congenial admeasurement of the whale. + + + + + CHAPTER 103 + + + Measurement of The Whale's Skeleton + + In the first place, I wish to lay before you a particular, plain + statement, touching the living bulk of this leviathan, whose skeleton + we are briefly to exhibit. Such a statement may prove useful here. + + According to a careful calculation I have made, and which I partly base + upon Captain Scoresby's estimate, of seventy tons for the largest sized + Greenland whale of sixty feet in length; according to my careful + calculation, I say, a Sperm Whale of the largest magnitude, between + eighty-five and ninety feet in length, and something less than forty + feet in its fullest circumference, such a whale will weigh at least + ninety tons; so that, reckoning thirteen men to a ton, he would + considerably outweigh the combined population of a whole village of one + thousand one hundred inhabitants. + + Think you not then that brains, like yoked cattle, should be put to + this leviathan, to make him at all budge to any landsman's imagination? + + Having already in various ways put before you his skull, spout-hole, + jaw, teeth, tail, forehead, fins, and divers other parts, I shall now + simply point out what is most interesting in the general bulk of his + unobstructed bones. But as the colossal skull embraces so very large a + proportion of the entire extent of the skeleton; as it is by far the + most complicated part; and as nothing is to be repeated concerning it + in this chapter, you must not fail to carry it in your mind, or under + your arm, as we proceed, otherwise you will not gain a complete notion + of the general structure we are about to view. + + In length, the Sperm Whale's skeleton at Tranque measured seventy-two + feet: so that when fully invested and extended in life, he must have + been ninety feet long; for in the whale, the skeleton loses about one + fifth in length compared with the living body. Of this seventy-two + feet, his skull and jaw comprised some twenty feet, leaving some fifty + feet of plain backbone. Attached to this back-bone, for something less + than a third of its length, was the mighty circular basket of ribs + which once enclosed his vitals. + + To me this vast ivory-ribbed chest, with the long, unrelieved spine, + extending far away from it in a straight line, not a little resembled + the hull of a great ship new-laid upon the stocks, when only some + twenty of her naked bow-ribs are inserted, and the keel is otherwise, + for the time, but a long, disconnected timber. + + The ribs were ten on a side. The first, to begin from the neck, was + nearly six feet long; the second, third, and fourth were each + successively longer, till you came to the climax of the fifth, or one + of the middle ribs, which measured eight feet and some inches. From + that part, the remaining ribs diminished, till the tenth and last only + spanned five feet and some inches. In general thickness, they all bore + a seemly correspondence to their length. The middle ribs were the most + arched. In some of the Arsacides they are used for beams whereon to lay + footpath bridges over small streams. + + In considering these ribs, I could not but be struck anew with the + circumstance, so variously repeated in this book, that the skeleton of + the whale is by no means the mould of his invested form. The largest of + the Tranque ribs, one of the middle ones, occupied that part of the + fish which, in life, is greatest in depth. Now, the greatest depth of + the invested body of this particular whale must have been at least + sixteen feet; whereas, the corresponding rib measured but little more + than eight feet. So that this rib only conveyed half of the true notion + of the living magnitude of that part. Besides, for some way, where I + now saw but a naked spine, all that had been once wrapped round with + tons of added bulk in flesh, muscle, blood, and bowels. Still more, for + the ample fins, I here saw but a few disordered joints; and in place of + the weighty and majestic, but boneless flukes, an utter blank! + + How vain and foolish, then, thought I, for timid untravelled man to try + to comprehend aright this wondrous whale, by merely poring over his + dead attenuated skeleton, stretched in this peaceful wood. No. Only in + the heart of quickest perils; only when within the eddyings of his + angry flukes; only on the profound unbounded sea, can the fully + invested whale be truly and livingly found out. + + But the spine. For that, the best way we can consider it is, with a + crane, to pile its bones high up on end. No speedy enterprise. But now + it's done, it looks much like Pompey's Pillar. + + There are forty and odd vertebrae in all, which in the skeleton are not + locked together. They mostly lie like the great knobbed blocks on a + Gothic spire, forming solid courses of heavy masonry. The largest, a + middle one, is in width something less than three feet, and in depth + more than four. The smallest, where the spine tapers away into the + tail, is only two inches in width, and looks something like a white + billiard-ball. I was told that there were still smaller ones, but they + had been lost by some little cannibal urchins, the priest's children, + who had stolen them to play marbles with. Thus we see how that the + spine of even the hugest of living things tapers off at last into + simple child's play. + + + + + CHAPTER 104 + + + The Fossil Whale + + From his mighty bulk the whale affords a most congenial theme whereon + to enlarge, amplify, and generally expatiate. Would you, you could not + compress him. By good rights he should only be treated of in imperial + folio. Not to tell over again his furlongs from spiracle to tail, and + the yards he measures about the waist; only think of the gigantic + involutions of his intestines, where they lie in him like great cables + and hawsers coiled away in the subterranean orlop-deck of a + line-of-battle-ship. + + Since I have undertaken to manhandle this Leviathan, it behoves me to + approve myself omnisciently exhaustive in the enterprise; not + overlooking the minutest seminal germs of his blood, and spinning him + out to the uttermost coil of his bowels. Having already described him + in most of his present habitatory and anatomical peculiarities, it now + remains to magnify him in an archaeological, fossiliferous, and + antediluvian point of view. Applied to any other creature than the + Leviathan—to an ant or a flea— such portly terms might justly be deemed + unwarrantably grandiloquent. But when Leviathan is the text, the case + is altered. Fain am I to stagger to this enterprise under the + weightiest words of the dictionary. And here be it said, that whenever + it has been convenient to consult one in the course of these + dissertations, I have invariably used a huge quarto edition of Johnson, + expressly purchased for that purpose; because that famous + lexicographer's uncommon personal bulk more fitted him to compile a + lexicon to be used by a whale author like me. + + One often hears of writers that rise and swell with their subject, + though it may seem but an ordinary one. How, then, with me, writing of + this Leviathan? Unconsciously my chirography expands into placard + capitals. Give me a condor's quill! Give me Vesuvius' crater for an + inkstand! Friends, hold my arms! For in the mere act of penning my + thoughts of this Leviathan, they weary me, and make me faint with their + outreaching comprehensiveness of sweep, as if to include the whole + circle of the sciences, and all the generations of whales, and men, and + mastodons, past, present, and to come, with all the revolving panoramas + of empire on earth, and throughout the whole universe, not excluding + its suburbs. Such, and so magnifying, is the virtue of a large and + liberal theme! We expand to its bulk. To produce a mighty book, you + must choose a mighty theme. No great and enduring volume can ever be + written on the flea, though many there be who have tried it. + + Ere entering upon the subject of Fossil Whales, I present my + credentials as a geologist, by stating that in my miscellaneous time I + have been a stone-mason, and also a great digger of ditches, canals and + wells, wine-vaults, cellars, and cisterns of all sorts. Likewise, by + way of preliminary, I desire to remind the reader, that while in the + earlier geological strata there are found the fossils of monsters now + almost completely extinct; the subsequent relics discovered in what are + called the Tertiary formations seem the connecting, or at any rate + intercepted links, between the antichronical creatures, and those whose + remote posterity are said to have entered the Ark; all the Fossil + Whales hitherto discovered belong to the Tertiary period, which is the + last preceding the superficial formations. And though none of them + precisely answer to any known species of the present time, they are yet + sufficiently akin to them in general respects, to justify their taking + ranks as Cetacean fossils. + + Detached broken fossils of pre-adamite whales, fragments of their bones + and skeletons, have within thirty years past, at various intervals, + been found at the base of the Alps, in Lombardy, in France, in England, + in Scotland, and in the States of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. + Among the more curious of such remains is part of a skull, which in the + year 1779 was disinterred in the Rue Dauphine in Paris, a short street + opening almost directly upon the palace of the Tuileries; and bones + disinterred in excavating the great docks of Antwerp, in Napoleon's + time. Cuvier pronounced these fragments to have belonged to some + utterly unknown Leviathanic species. + + But by far the most wonderful of all Cetacean relics was the almost + complete vast skeleton of an extinct monster, found in the year 1842, + on the plantation of Judge Creagh, in Alabama. The awe-stricken + credulous slaves in the vicinity took it for the bones of one of the + fallen angels. The Alabama doctors declared it a huge reptile, and + bestowed upon it the name of Basilosaurus. But some specimen bones of + it being taken across the sea to Owen, the English Anatomist, it turned + out that this alleged reptile was a whale, though of a departed + species. A significant illustration of the fact, again and again + repeated in this book, that the skeleton of the whale furnishes but + little clue to the shape of his fully invested body. So Owen + rechristened the monster Zeuglodon; and in his paper read before the + London Geological Society, pronounced it, in substance, one of the most + extraordinary creatures which the mutations of the globe have blotted + out of existence. + + When I stand among these mighty Leviathan skeletons, skulls, tusks, + jaws, ribs, and vertebrae, all characterized by partial resemblances to + the existing breeds of sea-monsters; but at the same time bearing on + the other hand similar affinities to the annihilated antichronical + Leviathans, their incalculable seniors; I am, by a flood, borne back to + that wondrous period, ere time itself can be said to have begun; for + time began with man. Here Saturn's grey chaos rolls over me, and I + obtain dim, shuddering glimpses into those Polar eternities; when + wedged bastions of ice pressed hard upon what are now the Tropics; and + in all the 25,000 miles of this world's circumference, not an + inhabitable hand's breadth of land was visible. Then the whole world + was the whale's; and, king of creation, he left his wake along the + present lines of the Andes and the Himmalehs. Who can show a pedigree + like Leviathan? Ahab's harpoon had shed older blood than the Pharaoh's. + Methuselah seems a schoolboy. I look round to shake hands with Shem. I + am horror-struck at this antemosaic, unsourced existence of the + unspeakable terrors of the whale, which, having been before all time, + must needs exist after all humane ages are over. + + 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. + + 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. + + "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. They keep a + Whale's Rib of an incredible length for a Miracle, which lying upon the + Ground with its convex part uppermost, makes an Arch, the Head of which + cannot be reached by a Man upon a Camel's Back. This Rib (says John + Leo) is said to have layn there a hundred Years before I saw it. Their + Historians affirm, that a Prophet who prophesy'd of Mahomet, came from + this Temple, and some do not stand to assert, that the Prophet Jonas + was cast forth by the Whale at the Base of the Temple." + + In this Afric Temple of the Whale I leave you, reader, and if you be a + Nantucketer, and a whaleman, you will silently worship there. + + + + + CHAPTER 105 + + + Does the Whale's Magnitude Diminish? - Will He Perish? + + Inasmuch, then, as this Leviathan comes floundering down upon us from + the head-waters of the Eternities, it may be fitly inquired, whether, + in the long course of his generations, he has not degenerated from the + original bulk of his sires. + + But upon investigation we find, that not only are the whales of the + present day superior in magnitude to those whose fossil remains are + found in the Tertiary system (embracing a distinct geological period + prior to man), but of the whales found in that Tertiary system, those + belonging to its latter formations exceed in size those of its earlier + ones. + + Of all the pre-adamite whales yet exhumed, by far the largest is the + Alabama one mentioned in the last chapter, and that was less than + seventy feet in length in the skeleton. Whereas, we have already seen, + that the tape-measure gives seventy-two feet for the skeleton of a + large sized modern whale. And I have heard, on whalemen's authority, + that Sperm Whales have been captured near a hundred feet long at the + time of capture. + + But may it not be, that while the whales of the present hour are an + advance in magnitude upon those of all previous geological periods; may + it not be, that since Adam's time they have degenerated? + + Assuredly, we must conclude so, if we are to credit the accounts of + such gentlemen as Pliny, and the ancient naturalists generally. For + Pliny tells us of Whales that embraced acres of living bulk, and + Aldrovandus of others which measured eight hundred feet in length— Rope + Walks and Thames Tunnels of Whales! And even in the days of Banks and + Solander, Cooke's naturalists, we find a Danish member of the Academy + of Sciences setting down certain Iceland Whales (reydan-siskur, or + Wrinkled Bellies) at one hundred and twenty yards; that is, three + hundred and sixty feet. And Lacepede, the French naturalist, in his + elaborate history of whales, in the very beginning of his work (page + 3), sets down the Right Whale at one hundred metres, three hundred and + twenty-eight feet. And this work was published so late as A.D. 1825. + + But will any whaleman believe these stories? No. The whale of to-day is + as big as his ancestors in Pliny's time. And if ever I go where Pliny + is, I, a whaleman (more than he was), will make bold to tell him so. + Because I cannot understand how it is, that while the Egyptian mummies + that were buried thousands of years before even Pliny was born, do not + measure so much in their coffins as a modern Kentuckian in his socks; + and while the cattle and other animals sculptured on the oldest + Egyptian and Nineveh tablets, by the relative proportions in which they + are drawn, just as plainly prove that the high-bred, stall-fed, prize + cattle of Smithfield, not only equal, but far exceed in magnitude the + fattest of Pharaoh's fat kine; in the face of all this, I will not + admit that of all animals the whale alone should have degenerated. + + But still another inquiry remains; one often agitated by the more + recondite Nantucketers. Whether owing to the almost omniscient + look-outs at the mast-heads of the whaleships, now penetrating even + through Behring's straits, and into the remotest secret drawers and + lockers of the world; and the thousand harpoons and lances darted along + all continental coasts; the moot point is, whether Leviathan can long + endure so wide a chase, and so remorseless a havoc; whether he must not + at last be exterminated from the waters, and the last whale, like the + last man, smoke his last pipe, and then himself evaporate in the final + puff. + + Comparing the humped herds of whales with the humped herds of buffalo, + which, not forty years ago, overspread by tens of thousands the + prairies of Illinois and Missouri, and shook their iron manes and + scowled with their thunder-clotted brows upon the sites of populous + river-capitals, where now the polite broker sells you land at a dollar + an inch; in such a comparison an irresistible argument would seem + furnished, to show that the hunted whale cannot now escape speedy + extinction. + + But you must look at this matter in every light. Though so short a + period ago—not a good lifetime—the census of the buffalo in Illinois + exceeded the census of men now in London, and though at the present day + not one horn or hoof of them remains in all that region; and though the + cause of this wondrous extermination was the spear of man; yet the far + different nature of the whale-hunt peremptorily forbids so inglorious + an end to the Leviathan. Forty men in one ship hunting the Sperm Whales + for forty-eight months think they have done extremely well, and thank + God, if at last they carry home the oil of forty fish. Whereas, in the + days of the old Canadian and Indian hunters and trappers of the West, + when the far west (in whose sunset suns still rise) was a wilderness + and a virgin, the same number of moccasined men, for the same number of + months, mounted on horse instead of sailing in ships, would have slain + not forty, but forty thousand and more buffaloes; a fact that, if need + were, could be statistically stated. + + Nor, considered aright, does it seem any argument in favor of the + gradual extinction of the Sperm Whale, for example, that in former + years (the latter part of the last century, say) these Leviathans, in + small pods, were encountered much oftener than at present, and, in + consequence, the voyages were not so prolonged, and were also much more + remunerative. Because, as has been elsewhere noticed, those whales, + influenced by some views to safety, now swim the seas in immense + caravans, so that to a large degree the scattered solitaries, yokes, + and pods, and schools of other days are now aggregated into vast but + widely separated, unfrequent armies. That is all. And equally + fallacious seems the conceit, that because the so-called whale-bone + whales no longer haunt many grounds in former years abounding with + them, hence that species also is declining. For they are only being + driven from promontory to cape; and if one coast is no longer enlivened + with their jets, then, be sure, some other and remoter strand has been + very recently startled by the unfamiliar spectacle. + + Furthermore: concerning these last mentioned Leviathans, they have two + firm fortresses, which, in all human probability, will for ever remain + impregnable. And as upon the invasion of their valleys, the frosty + Swiss have retreated to their mountains; so, hunted from the savannas + and glades of the middle seas, the whale-bone whales can at last resort + to their Polar citadels, and diving under the ultimate glassy barriers + and walls there, come up among icy fields and floes! and in a charmed + circle of everlasting December, bid defiance to all pursuit from man. + + But as perhaps fifty of these whale-bone whales are harpooned for one + cachalot, some philosophers of the forecastle have concluded that this + positive havoc has already very seriously diminished their battalions. + But though for some time past a number of these whales, not less than + 13,000, have been annually slain on the nor'west coast by the Americans + alone; yet there are considerations which render even this circumstance + of little or no account as an opposing argument in this matter. + + Natural as it is to be somewhat incredulous concerning the populousness + of the more enormous creatures of the globe, yet what shall we say to + Harto, the historian of Goa, when he tells us that at one hunting the + King of Siam took 4,000 elephants; that in those regions elephants are + numerous as droves of cattle in the temperate climes. And there seems + no reason to doubt that if these elephants, which have now been hunted + for thousands of years, by Semiramis, by Porus, by Hannibal, and by all + the successive monarchs of the East— if they still survive there in + great numbers, much more may the great whale outlast all hunting, since + he has a pasture to expatiate in, which is precisely twice as large as + all Asia, both Americas, Europe and Africa, New Holland, and all the + Isles of the sea combined. + + Moreover: we are to consider, that from the presumed great longevity of + whales, their probably attaining the age of a century and more, + therefore at any one period of time, several distinct adult generations + must be contemporary. And what this is, we may soon gain some idea of, + by imagining all the grave-yards, cemeteries, and family vaults of + creation yielding up the live bodies of all the men, women, and + children who were alive seventy-five years ago; and adding this + countless host to the present human population of the globe. + + Wherefore, for all these things, we account the whale immortal in his + species, however perishable in his individuality. He swam the seas + before the continents broke water; he once swam over the site of the + Tuileries, and Windsor Castle, and the Kremlin. In Noah's flood he + despised Noah's Ark; and if ever the world is to be again flooded, like + the Netherlands, to kill off its rats, then the eternal whale will + still survive, and rearing upon the topmost crest of the equatorial + flood, spout his frothed defiance to the skies. + + + + + CHAPTER 106 + + + Ahab's Leg + + The precipitating manner in which Captain Ahab had quitted the Samuel + Enderby of London, had not been unattended with some small violence to + his own person. He had lighted with such energy upon a thwart of his + boat that his ivory leg had received a half-splintering shock. And when + after gaining his own deck, and his own pivot-hole there, he so + vehemently wheeled round with an urgent command to the steersman (it + was, as ever, something about his not steering inflexibly enough); + then, the already shaken ivory received such an additional twist and + wrench, that though it still remained entire, and to all appearances + lusty, yet Ahab did not deem it entirely trustworthy. + + And, indeed, it seemed small matter for wonder, that for all his + pervading, mad recklessness, Ahab, did at times give careful heed to + the condition of that dead bone upon which he partly stood. For it had + not been very long prior to the Pequod's sailing from Nantucket, that + he had been found one night lying prone upon the ground, and + insensible; by some unknown, and seemingly inexplicable, unimaginable + casualty, his ivory limb having been so violently displaced, that it + had stake-wise smitten, and all but pierced his groin; nor was it + without extreme difficulty that the agonizing wound was entirely cured. + + Nor, at the time, had it failed to enter his monomaniac mind, that all + the anguish of that then present suffering was but the direct issue of + a former woe; and he too plainly seemed to see, that as the most + poisonous reptile of the marsh perpetuates his kind as inevitably as + the sweetest songster of the grove; so, equally with every felicity, + all miserable events do naturally beget their like. Yea, more than + equally, thought Ahab; since both the ancestry and posterity of Grief + go further than the ancestry and posterity of Joy. For, not to hint of + this: that it is an inference from certain canonic teachings, that + while some natural enjoyments here shall have no children born to them + for the other world, but, on the contrary, shall be followed by the + joy-childlessness of all hell's despair; whereas, some guilty mortal + miseries shall still fertilely beget to themselves an eternally + progressive progeny of griefs beyond the grave; not at all to hint of + this, there still seems an inequality in the deeper analysis of the + thing. For, thought Ahab, while even the highest earthly felicities + ever have a certain unsignifying pettiness lurking in them, but, at + bottom, all heartwoes, a mystic significance, and, in some men, an + archangelic grandeur; so do their diligent tracings-out not belie the + obvious deduction. To trail the genealogies of these high mortal + miseries, carries us at last among the sourceless primogenitures of the + gods; so that, in the face of all the glad, hay-making suns, and + softcymballing, round harvest-moons, we must needs give in to this: + that the gods themselves are not for ever glad. The ineffaceable, sad + birth-mark in the brow of man, is but the stamp of sorrow in the + signers. + + Unwittingly here a secret has been divulged, which perhaps might more + properly, in set way, have been disclosed before. With many other + particulars concerning Ahab, always had it remained a mystery to some, + why it was, that for a certain period, both before and after the + sailing of the Pequod, he had hidden himself away with such + Grand-Lama-like exclusiveness; and, for that one interval, sought + speechless refuge, as it were, among the marble senate of the dead. + Captain Peleg's bruited reason for this thing appeared by no means + adequate; though, indeed, as touching all Ahab's deeper part, every + revelation partook more of significant darkness than of explanatory + light. But, in the end, it all came out; this one matter did, at least. + That direful mishap was at the bottom of his temporary recluseness. And + not only this, but to that ever-contracting, dropping circle ashore, + who for any reason, possessed the privilege of a less banned approach + to him; to that timid circle the above hinted casualty—remaining, as it + did, moodily unaccounted for by Ahab—invested itself with terrors, not + entirely underived from the land of spirits and of wails. So that, + through their zeal for him, they had all conspired, so far as in them + lay, to muffle up the knowledge of this thing from others; and hence it + was, that not till a considerable interval had elapsed, did it + transpire upon the Pequod's decks. + + But be all this as it may; let the unseen, ambiguous synod in the air, + or the vindictive princes and potentates of fire, have to do or not + with earthly Ahab, yet, in this present matter of his leg, he took + plain practical procedures;— he called the carpenter. + + And when that functionary appeared before him, he bade him without + delay set about making a new leg, and directed the mates to see him + supplied with all the studs and joists of jaw-ivory (Sperm Whale) which + had thus far been accumulated on the voyage, in order that a careful + selection of the stoutest, clearest-grained stuff might be secured. + This done, the carpenter received orders to have the leg completed that + night; and to provide all the fittings for it, independent of those + pertaining to the distrusted one in use. Moreover, the ship's forge was + ordered to be hoisted out of its temporary idleness in the hold; and, + to accelerate the affair, the blacksmith was commanded to proceed at + once to the forging of whatever iron contrivances might be needed. + + + + + CHAPTER 107 + + + The Carpenter + + Seat thyself sultanically among the moons of Saturn, and take high + abstracted man alone; and he seems a wonder, a grandeur, and a woe. But + from the same point, take mankind in mass, and for the most part, they + seem a mob of unnecessary duplicates, both contemporary and hereditary. + But most humble though he was, and far from furnishing an example of + the high, humane abstraction; the Pequod's carpenter was no duplicate; + hence, he now comes in person on this stage. + + Like all sea-going ship carpenters, and more especially those belonging + to whaling vessels, he was, to a certain off-hand, practical extent, + alike experienced in numerous trades and callings collateral to his + own; the carpenter's pursuit being the ancient and outbranching trunk + of all those numerous handicrafts which more or less have to do with + wood as an auxiliary material. But, besides the application to him of + the generic remark above, this carpenter of the Pequod was singularly + efficient in those thousand nameless mechanical emergencies continually + recurring in a large ship, upon a three or four years' voyage, in + uncivilized and far-distant seas. For not to speak of his readiness in + ordinary duties:— repairing stove boats, sprung spars, reforming the + shape of clumsy-bladed oars, inserting bull's eyes in the deck, or new + tree-nails in the side planks, and other miscellaneous matters more + directly pertaining to his special business; he was moreover + unhesitatingly expert in all manner of conflicting aptitudes, both + useful and capricious. + + The one grand stage where he enacted all his various parts so manifold, + was his vice-bench; a long rude ponderous table furnished with several + vices, of different sizes, and both of iron and of wood. At all times + except when whales were alongside, this bench was securely lashed + athwartships against the rear of the Try-works. + + A belaying pin is found too large to be easily inserted into its hole: + the carpenter claps it into one of his ever ready vices, and + straightway files it smaller. A lost landbird of strange plumage strays + on board, and is made a captive: out of clean shaved rods of + right-whale bone, and cross-beams of sperm whale ivory, the carpenter + makes a pagoda-looking cage for it. An oarsman sprains his wrist: the + carpenter concocts a soothing lotion. Stubb longed for vermillion stars + to be painted upon the blade of his every oar; screwing each oar in his + big vice of wood, the carpenter symmetrically supplies the + constellation. A sailor takes a fancy to wear shark-bone ear-rings: the + carpenter drills his ears. Another has the toothache: the carpenter out + pincers, and clapping one hand upon his bench bids him be seated there; + but the poor fellow unmanageably winces under the unconcluded + operation; whirling round the handle of his wooden vice, the carpenter + signs him to clap his jaw in that, if he would have him draw the tooth. + + Thus, this carpenter was prepared at all points, and alike indifferent + and without respect in all. Teeth he accounted bits of ivory; heads he + deemed but top-blocks; men themselves he lightly held for capstans. But + while now upon so wide a field thus variously accomplished and with + such liveliness of expertness in him, too; all this would seem to argue + some uncommon vivacity of intelligence. But not precisely so. For + nothing was this man more remarkable, than for a certain impersonal + stolidity as it were; impersonal, I say; for it so shaded off into the + surrounding infinite of things, that it seemed one with the general + stolidity discernible in the whole visible world; which while + pauselessly active in uncounted modes, still eternally holds its peace, + and ignores you, though you dig foundations for cathedrals. Yet was + this half-horrible stolidity in him, involving, too, as it appeared, an + all-ramifying heartlessness;— yet was it oddly dashed at times, with an + old, crutch-like, antediluvian, wheezing humorousness, not unstreaked + now and then with a certain grizzled wittiness; such as might have + served to pass the time during the midnight watch on the bearded + forecastle of Noah's ark. Was it that this old carpenter had been a + life-long wanderer, whose much rolling, to and fro, not only had + gathered no moss; but what is more, had rubbed off whatever small + outward clingings might have originally pertained to him? He was a + stript abstract; an unfractioned integral; uncompromised as a new-born + babe; living without premeditated reference to this world or the next. + You might almost say, that this strange uncompromisedness in him + involved a sort of unintelligence; for in his numerous trades, he did + not seem to work so much by reason or by instinct, or simply because he + had been tutored to it, or by any intermixture of all these, even or + uneven; but merely by a kind of deaf and dumb, spontaneous literal + process. He was a pure manipulator; his brain, if he had ever had one, + must have early oozed along into the muscles of his fingers. He was + like one of those unreasoning but still highly useful, multum in parvo, + Sheffield contrivances, assuming the exterior— though a little + swelled—of a common pocket knife; but containing, not only blades of + various sizes, but also screw-drivers, cork-screws, tweezers, awls, + pens, rulers, nail-filers, countersinkers. So, if his superiors wanted + to use the carpenter for a screw-driver, all they had to do was to open + that part of him, and the screw was fast: or if for tweezers, take him + up by the legs, and there they were. + + Yet, as previously hinted, this omnitooled, open-and-shut carpenter, + was, after all, no mere machine of an automaton. If he did not have a + common soul in him, he had a subtle something that somehow anomalously + did its duty. What that was, whether essence of quicksilver, or a few + drops of hartshorn, there is no telling. But there it was; and there it + had abided for now some sixty years or more. And this it was, this same + unaccountable, cunning life-principle in him; this it was, that kept + him a great part of the time soliloquizing; but only like an + unreasoning wheel, which also hummingly soliloquizes; or rather, his + body was a sentry-box and this soliloquizer on guard there, and talking + all the time to keep himself awake. + + + + + CHAPTER 108 + + + Ahab and the Carpenter + + The Deck - First Night Watch + + (Carpenter standing before his vice-bench, and by the light of two + lanterns busily filing the ivory joist for the leg, which joist is + firmly fixed in the vice. Slabs of ivory, leather straps, pads, screws, + and various tools of all sorts lying about the bench. Forward, the red + flame of the forge is seen, where the blacksmith is at work.) + + Drat the file, and drat the bone! That is hard which should be soft, + and that is soft which should be hard. So we go, who file old jaws and + shin bones. Let's try another. Aye, now, this works better (sneezes). + Halloa, this bone dust is (sneezes)—why it's (sneezes)—yes it's + (sneezes)—bless my soul, it won't let me speak! This is what an old + fellow gets now for working in dead lumber. Saw a live tree, and you + don't get this dust; amputate a live bone, and you don't get it + (sneezes). Come, come, you old Smut, there, bear a hand, and let's have + that ferrule and buckle-screw; I'll be ready for them presently. Lucky + now (sneezes) there's no knee-joint to make; that might puzzle a + little; but a mere shin-bone—why it's easy as making hop-poles; only I + should like to put a good finish on. Time, time; if I but only had the + time, I could turn him out as neat a leg now as ever (sneezes) scraped + to a lady in a parlor. Those buckskin legs and calves of legs I've seen + in shop windows wouldn't compare at all. They soak water, they do; and + of course get rheumatic, and have to be doctored (sneezes) with washes + and lotions, just like live legs. There; before I saw it off, now, I + must call his old Mogulship, and see whether the length will be all + right; too short, if anything, I guess. Ha! that's the heel; we are in + luck; here he comes, or it's somebody else, that's certain. AHAB + (advancing) + + (During the ensuing scene, the carpenter continues sneezing at times). + + Well, manmaker! + + Just in time, sir. If the captain pleases, I will now mark the length. + Let me measure, sir. + + Measured for a leg! good. Well, it's not the first time. + About it! There; keep thy finger on it. This is a cogent + vice thou hast here, carpenter; let me feel its grip once. + So, so; it does pinch some. + + Oh, sir, it will break bones—beware, beware! + + No fear; I like a good grip; I like to feel something in this slippery + world that can hold, man. What's Prometheus about there?— the + blacksmith, I mean—what's he about? + + He must be forging the buckle-screw, sir, now. + + Right. It's a partnership; he supplies the muscle part. + He makes a fierce red flame there! + + Aye, sir; he must have the white heat for this kind of fine work. + + Um-m. So he must. I do deem it now a most meaning thing, that that old + Greek, Prometheus, who made men, they say, should have been a + blacksmith, and animated them with fire; for what's made in fire must + properly belong to fire; and so hell's probable. How the soot flies! + This must be the remainder the Greek made the Africans of. Carpenter, + when he's through with that buckle, tell him to forge a pair of steel + shoulder-blades; there's a pedlar aboard with a crushing pack. + + Sir? + + Hold; while Prometheus is about it, I'll order a complete man after a + desirable pattern. Imprimis, fifty feet high in his socks; then, chest + modelled after the Thames Tunnel then, legs with roots to 'em, to stay + in one place; then, arms three feet through the wrist; no heart at all, + brass forehead, and about a quarter of an acre of fine brains; and let + me see—shall I order eyes to see outwards? No, but put a sky-light on + top of his head to illuminate inwards. There, take the order, and away. + + Now, what's he speaking about, and who's he speaking to, + I should like to know? Shall I keep standing here? (aside.) + + 'Tis but indifferent architecture to make a blind dome; here's one. + No, no, no; I must have a lantern. + + Ho, ho! That's it, hey? Here are two, sir; one will serve my turn. + + What art thou thrusting that thief-catcher into my face for, man? + Thrusted light is worse than presented pistols. + + I thought, sir, that you spoke to carpenter. + + Carpenter? why that's—but no;—a very tidy, and, I may say, an extremely + gentlemanlike sort of business thou art in here, carpenter;—or would'st + thou rather work in clay? + + Sir?—Clay? clay, sir? That's mud; we leave clay to ditchers, sir. + + The fellow's impious! What art thou sneezing about? + + Bone is rather dusty, sir. + + Take the hint, then; and when thou art dead, never bury thyself under + living people's noses. + + Sir?—oh! ah!—I guess so; so;—yes, yes—oh dear! + + Look ye, carpenter, I dare say thou callest thyself a right good + workmanlike workman, eh? Well, then, will it speak thoroughly well for + thy work, if, when I come to mount this leg thou makest, I shall + nevertheless feel another leg in the same identical place with it; that + is, carpenter, my old lost leg; the flesh and blood one, I mean. Canst + thou not drive that old Adam away? + + Truly, sir, I begin to understand somewhat now. Yes, I have heard + something curious on that score, sir; how that a dismasted man never + entirely loses the feeling of his old spar, but it will be still + pricking him at times. May I humbly ask if it be really so, sir? + + It is, man. Look, put thy live leg here in the place where mine once + was; so, now, here is only one distinct leg to the eye, yet two to the + soul. Where thou feelest tingling life; there, exactly there, there to + a hair, do I. Is't a riddle? + + I should humbly call it a poser, sir. + + Hist, then. How dost thou know that some entire, living, thinking thing + may not be invisibly and uninterpenetratingly standing precisely where + thou now standest; aye, and standing there in thy spite? In thy most + solitary hours, then, dost thou not fear eavesdroppers? Hold, don't + speak! And if I still feel the smart of my crushed leg, though it be + now so long dissolved; then, why mayest not thou, carpenter, feel the + fiery pains of hell for ever, and without a body? Hah! + + Good Lord! Truly, sir, if it comes to that, I must calculate over + again; + I think I didn't carry a small figure, sir. + + Look ye, pudding-heads should never grant premises.—How long before + this leg is done? + + Perhaps an hour, sir. + + Bungle away at it then, and bring it to me (turns to go). Oh, Life. + Here I am, proud as Greek god, and yet standing debtor to this + blockhead for a bone to stand on! Cursed be that mortal + inter-indebtedness which will not do away with ledgers. I would be free + as air; and I'm down in the whole world's books. I am so rich, I could + have given bid for bid with the wealthiest Praetorians at the auction + of the Roman empire (which was the world's); and yet I owe for the + flesh in the tongue I brag with. By heavens! I'll get a crucible, and + into it, and dissolve myself down to one small, compendious vertebra. + So. + + Carpenter ( resuming his work). + + Well, well, well! Stubb knows him best of all, and Stubb always says + he's queer; says nothing but that one sufficient little word queer; + he's queer, says Stubb; he's queer—queer, queer; and keeps dinning it + into Mr. Starbuck all the time—queer—sir—queer, queer, very queer. And + here's his leg. Yes, now that I think of it, here's his bed-fellow! has + a stick of whale's jaw-bone for a wife! And this is his leg; he'll + stand on this. What was that now about one leg standing in three + places, and all three places standing in one hell— how was that? Oh! I + don't wonder he looked so scornful at me! I'm a sort of + strange-thoughted sometimes, they say; but that's only haphazard-like. + Then, a short, little old body like me, should never undertake to wade + out into deep waters with tall, heron-built captains; the water chucks + you under the chin pretty quick, and there's a great cry for + life-boats. And here's the heron's leg! long and slim, sure enough! + Now, for most folks one pair of legs lasts a lifetime, and that must be + because they use them mercifully, as a tender-hearted old lady uses her + roly-poly old coach-horses. But Ahab; oh he's a hard driver. Look, + driven one leg to death, and spavined the other for life, and now wears + out bone legs by the cord. Halloa, there, you Smut! bear a hand there + with those screws, and let's finish it before the resurrection fellow + comes a-calling with his horn for all legs, true or false, as brewery + men go round collecting old beer barrels, to fill 'em up again. What a + leg this is! It looks like a real live leg, filed down to nothing but + the core; he'll be standing on this to-morrow; he'll be taking + altitudes on it. Halloa! I almost forgot the little oval slate, + smoothed ivory, where he figures up the latitude. So, so; chisel, file, + and sand-paper, now! + + + + + CHAPTER 109 + + + Ahab and Starbuck in the Cabin + + According to usage they were pumping the ship next morning; and lo! no + inconsiderable oil came up with the water; the casks below must have + sprung a bad leak. Much concern was shown; and Starbuck went down into + the cabin to report this unfavorable affair.* + + *In Sperm-whalemen with any considerable quantity of oil on board, it + is a regular semiweekly duty to conduct a hose into the hold, and + drench the casks with sea-water; which afterwards, at varying + intervals, is removed by the ship's pumps. Hereby the casks are sought + to be kept damply tight; while by the changed character of the + withdrawn water, the mariners readily detect any serious leakage in the + precious cargo. + + Now, from the South and West the Pequod was drawing nigh to Formosa and + the Bashee Isles, between which lies one of the tropical outlets from + the China waters into the Pacific. And so Starbuck found Ahab with a + general chart of the oriental archipelagoes spread before him; and + another separate one representing the long eastern coasts of the + Japanese islands—Niphon, Matsmai, and Sikoke. With his snow-white new + ivory leg braced against the screwed leg of his table, and with a long + pruning-hook of a jack-knife in his hand, the wondrous old man, with + his back to the gangway door, was wrinkling his brow, and tracing his + old courses again. + + "Who's there?" hearing the footstep at the door, but not turning round + to it. "On deck! Begone!" + + "Captain Ahab mistakes; it is I. The oil in the hold is leaking, sir. + We must up Burtons and break out." + + "Up Burtons and break out? Now that we are nearing Japan; heave-to here + for a week to tinker a parcel of old hoops?" + + "Either do that, sir, or waste in one day more oil than we may make + good in a year. What we come twenty thousand miles to get is worth + saving, sir." + + "So it is, so it is; if we get it." + + "I was speaking of the oil in the hold, sir." + + "And I was not speaking or thinking of that at all. Begone! Let it + leak! I'm all aleak myself. Aye! leaks in leaks! not only full of leaky + casks, but those leaky casks are in a leaky ship; and that's a far + worse plight than the Pequod's, man. Yet I don't stop to plug my leak; + for who can find it in the deep-loaded hull; or how hope to plug it, + even if found, in this life's howling gale? Starbuck! I'll not have the + Burtons hoisted." + + "What will the owners say, sir?" + + "Let the owners stand on Nantucket beach and outyell the Typhoons. What + cares Ahab? Owners, owners? Thou art always prating to me, Starbuck, + about those miserly owners, as if the owners were my conscience. But + look ye, the only real owner of anything is its commander; and hark ye, + my conscience is in this ship's keel.—On deck!" + + "Captain Ahab," said the reddening mate, moving further into the cabin, + with a daring so strangely respectful and cautious that it almost + seemed not only every way seeking to avoid the slightest outward + manifestation of itself, but within also seemed more than half + distrustful of itself; "A better man than I might well pass over in + thee what he would quickly enough resent in a younger man; aye, and in + a happier, Captain Ahab." + + "Devils! Dost thou then so much as dare to critically think of me?—On + deck!" + + "Nay, sir, not yet; I do entreat. And I do dare, sir—to be forbearing! + Shall we not understand each other better than hitherto, Captain Ahab?" + + Ahab seized a loaded musket from the rack (forming part of most + South-Sea-men's cabin furniture), and pointing it towards + Starbuck, exclaimed: "There is one God that is Lord over the earth, + and one Captain that is lord over the Pequod.—On deck!" + + For an instant in the flashing eyes of the mate, and his fiery cheeks, + you would have almost thought that he had really received the blaze of + the levelled tube. But, mastering his emotion, he half calmly rose, and + as he quitted the cabin, paused for an instant and said: "Thou hast + outraged, not insulted me, Sir; but for that I ask thee not to beware + of Starbuck; thou wouldst but laugh; but let Ahab beware of Ahab; + beware of thyself, old man." + + "He waxes brave, but nevertheless obeys; most careful bravery that!" + murmured Ahab, as Starbuck disappeared. "What's that he said—Ahab + beware of Ahab—there's something there!" Then unconsciously using the + musket for a staff, with an iron brow he paced to and fro in the little + cabin; but presently the thick plaits of his forehead relaxed, and + returning the gun to the rack, he went to the deck. + + "Thou art but too good a fellow, Starbuck," he said lowly to the mate; + then raising his voice to the crew: "Furl the t'gallant-sails, and + close-reef the top-sails, fore and aft; back the main-yard; up Burtons, + and break out in the main-hold." + + It were perhaps vain to surmise exactly why it was, that as respecting + Starbuck, Ahab thus acted. It may have been a flash of honesty in him; + or mere prudential policy which, under the circumstance, imperiously + forbade the slightest symptom of open disaffection, however transient, + in the important chief officer of his ship. However it was, his orders + were executed; and the Burtons were hoisted. + + + + + CHAPTER 110 + + + Queequeg in His Coffin + + Upon searching, it was found that the casks last struck into the hold + were perfectly sound, and that the leak must be further off. So, it + being calm weather, they broke out deeper and deeper, disturbing the + slumbers of the huge ground-tier butts; and from that black midnight + sending those gigantic moles into the daylight above. So deep did they + go; and so ancient, and corroded, and weedy the aspect of the lowermost + puncheons, that you almost looked next for some mouldy corner-stone + cask containing coins of Captain Noah, with copies of the posted + placards, vainly warning the infatuated old world from the flood. + Tierce after tierce, too, of water, and bread, and beef, and shooks of + staves, and iron bundles of hoops, were hoisted out, till at last the + piled decks were hard to get about; and the hollow hull echoed under + foot, as if you were treading over empty catacombs, and reeled and + rolled in the sea like an air-freighted demijohn. Top-heavy was the + ship as a dinnerless student with all Aristotle in his head. Well was + it that the Typhoons did not visit them then. + + Now, at this time it was that my poor pagan companion, and fast + bosom-friend, Queequeg, was seized with a fever, which brought him nigh + to his endless end. + + Be it said, that in this vocation of whaling, sinecures are unknown; + dignity and danger go hand in hand; till you get to be Captain, the + higher you rise the harder you toil. So with poor Queequeg, who, as + harpooneer, must not only face all the rage of the living whale, but—as + we have elsewhere seen—mount his dead back in a rolling sea; and + finally descend into the gloom of the hold, and bitterly sweating all + day in that subterraneous confinement, resolutely manhandle the + clumsiest casks and see to their stowage. To be short, among whalemen, + the harpooneers are the holders, so called. + + Poor Queequeg! when the ship was about half disembowelled, you should + have stooped over the hatchway, and peered down upon him there; where, + stripped to his woollen drawers, the tattooed savage was crawling about + amid that dampness and slime, like a green spotted lizard at the bottom + of a well. And a well, or an ice-house, it somehow proved to him, poor + pagan; where, strange to say, for all the heat of his sweatings, he + caught a terrible chill which lapsed into a fever; and at last, after + some days' suffering, laid him in his hammock, close to the very sill + of the door of death. How he wasted and wasted away in those few + long-lingering days, till there seemed but little left of him but his + frame and tattooing. But as all else in him thinned, and his + cheek-bones grew sharper, his eyes, nevertheless, seemed growing fuller + and fuller; they became of a strange softness of lustre; and mildly but + deeply looked out at you there from his sickness, a wondrous testimony + to that immortal health in him which could not die, or be weakened. And + like circles on the water, which, as they grow fainter, expand; so his + eyes seemed rounding and rounding, like the rings of Eternity. An awe + that cannot be named would steal over you as you sat by the side of + this waning savage, and saw as strange things in his face, as any + beheld who were bystanders when Zoroaster died. For whatever is truly + wondrous and fearful in man, never yet was put into words or books. And + the drawing near of Death, which alike levels all, alike impresses all + with a last revelation, which only an author from the dead could + adequately tell. So that—let us say it again— no dying Chaldee or Greek + had higher and holier thoughts than those, whose mysterious shades you + saw creeping over the face of poor Queequeg, as he quietly lay in his + swaying hammock, and the rolling sea seemed gently rocking him to his + final rest, and the ocean's invisible flood-tide lifted him higher and + higher towards his destined heaven. + + Not a man of the crew but gave him up; and, as for Queequeg himself, + what he thought of his case was forcibly shown by a curious favor he + asked. He called one to him in the grey morning watch, when the day was + just breaking, and taking his hand, said that while in Nantucket he had + chanced to see certain little canoes of dark wood, like the rich + war-wood of his native isle; and upon inquiry, he had learned that all + whalemen who died in Nantucket, were laid in those same dark canoes, + and that the fancy of being so laid had much pleased him; for it was + not unlike the custom of his own race, who, after embalming a dead + warrior, stretched him out in his canoe, and so left him to be floated + away to the starry archipelagoes; for not only do they believe that the + stars are isles, but that far beyond all visible horizons, their own + mild, uncontinented seas, interflow with the blue heavens; and so form + the white breakers of the milky way. He added, that he shuddered at the + thought of being buried in his hammock, according to the usual + sea-custom, tossed like something vile to the death-devouring sharks. + No: he desired a canoe like those of Nantucket, all the more congenial + to him, being a whaleman, that like a whale-boat these coffin-canoes + were without a keel; though that involved but uncertain steering, and + much lee-way adown the dim ages. + + Now, when this strange circumstance was made known aft, the carpenter + was at once commanded to do Queequeg's bidding, whatever it might + include. There was some heathenish, coffin-colored old lumber aboard, + which, upon a long previous voyage, had been cut from the aboriginal + groves of the Lackaday islands, and from these dark planks the coffin + was recommended to be made. No sooner was the carpenter apprised of the + order, than taking his rule, he forthwith with all the indifferent + promptitude of his character, proceeded into the forecastle and took + Queequeg's measure with great accuracy, regularly chalking Queequeg's + person as he shifted the rule. + + "Ah! poor fellow! he'll have to die now," ejaculated the + Long Island sailor. + + Going to his vice-bench, the carpenter for convenience sake and general + reference, now transferringly measured on it the exact length the + coffin was to be, and then made the transfer permanent by cutting two + notches at its extremities. This done, he marshalled the planks and his + tools, and to work. + + When the last nail was driven, and the lid duly planed and fitted, he + lightly shouldered the coffin and went forward with it, inquiring + whether they were ready for it yet in that direction. + + Overhearing the indignant but half-humorous cries with which the people + on deck began to drive the coffin away, Queequeg, to every one's + consternation, commanded that the thing should be instantly brought to + him, nor was there any denying him; seeing that, of all mortals, some + dying men are the most tyrannical; and certainly, since they will + shortly trouble us so little for evermore, the poor fellows ought to be + indulged. + + Leaning over in his hammock, Queequeg long regarded the coffin with an + attentive eye. He then called for his harpoon, had the wooden stock + drawn from it, and then had the iron part placed in the coffin along + with one of the paddles of his boat. All by his own request, also, + biscuits were then ranged round the sides within; a flask of fresh + water was placed at the head, and a small bag of woody earth scraped up + in the hold at the foot; and a piece of sail-cloth being rolled up for + a pillow, Queequeg now entreated to be lifted into his final bed, that + he might make trial of its comforts, if any it had. He lay without + moving a few minutes, then told one to go to his bag and bring out his + little god, Yojo. Then crossing his arms on his breast with Yojo + between, he called for the coffin lid (hatch he called it) to be placed + over him. The head part turned over with a leather hinge, and there lay + Queequeg in his coffin with little but his composed countenance in + view. "Rarmai" (it will do; it is easy), he murmured at last, and + signed to be replaced in his hammock. + + But ere this was done, Pip, who had been slily hovering near by all the + while, drew nigh to him where he lay, and with soft sobbings, took him + by the hand; in the other, holding his tambourine. + + "Poor rover! will ye never have done with all this weary roving? Where + go ye now? But if the currents carry ye to those sweet Antilles where + the beaches are only beat with water-lilies, will ye do one little + errand for me? Seek out one Pip, who's now been missing long: I think + he's in those far Antilles. If ye find him, then comfort him; for he + must be very sad; for look! he's left his tambourine behind;— I found + it. Rig-a-dig, dig, dig! Now, Queequeg, die; and I'll beat ye your + dying march." + + "I have heard," murmured Starbuck, gazing down the scuttle, "that in + violent fevers, men, all ignorance, have talked in ancient tongues; and + that when the mystery is probed, it turns out always that in their + wholly forgotten childhood those ancient tongues had been really spoken + in their hearing by some lofty scholars. So, to my fond faith, poor + Pip, in this strange sweetness of his lunacy, brings heavenly vouchers + of all our heavenly homes. Where learned he that, but there?—Hark! he + speaks again; but more wildly now." + + "Form two and two! Let's make a General of him! Ho, where's his + harpoon? Lay it across here.—Rig-a-dig, dig, dig! huzza! Oh for a game + cock now to sit upon his head and crow! Queequeg dies game!—mind ye + that; Queequeg dies game!— take ye good heed of that; Queequeg dies + game! I say; game, game, game! but base little Pip, he died a coward; + died all a'shiver;—out upon Pip! Hark ye; if ye find Pip, tell all the + Antilles he's a runaway; a coward, a coward, a coward! Tell them he + jumped from a whale-boat! I'd never beat my tambourine over base Pip, + and hail him General, if he were once more dying here. No, no! shame + upon all cowards— shame upon them! Let'em go drown like Pip, that + jumped from a whale-boat. Shame! shame!" + + During all this, Queequeg lay with closed eyes, as if in a dream. + Pip was led away, and the sick man was replaced in his hammock. + + But now that he had apparently made every preparation for death; now + that his coffin was proved a good fit, Queequeg suddenly rallied; soon + there seemed no need of the carpenter's box; and thereupon, when some + expressed their delighted surprise, he, in substance, said, that the + cause of his sudden convalescence was this;— at a critical moment, he + had just recalled a little duty ashore, which he was leaving undone; + and therefore had changed his mind about dying: he could not die yet, + he averred. They asked him, then, whether to live or die was a matter + of his own sovereign will and pleasure. He answered, certainly. In a + word, it was Queequeg's conceit, that if a man made up his mind to + live, mere sickness could not kill him: nothing but a whale, or a gale, + or some violent, ungovernable, unintelligent destroyer of that sort. + + Now, there is this noteworthy difference between savage and civilized; + that while a sick, civilized man may be six months convalescing, + generally speaking, a sick savage is almost half-well again in a day. + So, in good time my Queequeg gained strength; and at length after + sitting on the windlass for a few indolent days (but eating with a + vigorous appetite) he suddenly leaped to his feet, threw out his arms + and legs, gave himself a good stretching, yawned a little bit, and then + springing into the head of his hoisted boat, and poising a harpoon, + pronounced himself fit for a fight. + + With a wild whimsiness, he now used his coffin for a sea-chest; and + emptying into it his canvas bag of clothes, set them in order there. + Many spare hours he spent, in carving the lid with all manner of + grotesque figures and drawings; and it seemed that hereby he was + striving, in his rude way, to copy parts of the twisted tattooing on + his body. And this tattooing had been the work of a departed prophet + and seer of his island, who, by those hieroglyphic marks, had written + out on his body a complete theory of the heavens and the earth, and a + mystical treatise on the art of attaining truth; so that Queequeg in + his own proper person was a riddle to unfold; a wondrous work in one + volume; but whose mysteries not even himself could read, though his own + live heart beat against them; and these mysteries were therefore + destined in the end to moulder away with the living parchment whereon + they were inscribed, and so be unsolved to the last. And this thought + it must have been which suggested to Ahab that wild exclamation of his, + when one morning turning away from surveying poor Queequeg—"Oh, + devilish tantalization of the gods!" + + + + + CHAPTER 111 + + + The Pacific + + When gliding by the Bashee isles we emerged at last upon the great + South Sea; were it not for other things I could have greeted my dear + Pacific with uncounted thanks, for now the long supplication of my + youth was answered; that serene ocean rolled eastwards from me a + thousand leagues of blue. + + There is, one knows not what sweet mystery about this sea, whose gently + awful stirrings seems to speak of some hidden soul beneath; like those + fabled undulations of the Ephesian sod over the buried Evangelist St. + John. And meet it is, that over these sea-pastures, wide-rolling watery + prairies and Potters' Fields of all four continents, the waves should + rise and fall, and ebb and flow unceasingly; for here, millions of + mixed shades and shadows, drowned dreams, somnambulisms, reveries; all + that we call lives and souls, lie dreaming, dreaming, still; tossing + like slumberers in their beds; the ever-rolling waves but made so by + their restlessness. + + To any meditative Magian rover, this serene Pacific, once beheld, must + ever after be the sea of his adoption. It rolls the midmost waters of + the world, the Indian ocean and Atlantic being but its arms. The same + waves wash the moles of the new-built California towns, but yesterday + planted by the recentest race of men and lave the faded but still + gorgeous skirts of Asiatic lands, older than Abraham; while all between + float milky-ways of coral isles, and low-lying, endless, unknown + Archipelagoes, and impenetrable Japans. Thus this mysterious, divine + Pacific zones the world's whole bulk about; makes all coasts one bay to + it; seems the tide-beating heart of earth. Lifted by those eternal + swells, you needs must own the seductive god, bowing your head to Pan. + + But few thoughts of Pan stirred Ahab's brain, as standing, like an iron + statue at his accustomed place beside the mizen rigging, with one + nostril he unthinkingly snuffed the sugary musk from the Bashee isles + (in whose sweet woods mild lovers must be walking), and with the other + consciously inhaled the salt breath of the new found sea; that sea in + which the hated White Whale must even then be swimming. Launched at + length upon these almost final waters, and gliding towards the Japanese + cruising-ground, the old man's purpose intensified itself. His firm + lips met like the lips of a vice; the Delta of his forehead's veins + swelled like overladen brooks; in his very sleep, his ringing cry ran + through the vaulted hull, "Stern all! the White Whale spouts thick + blood!" + + + + + CHAPTER 112 + + + The Blacksmith + + Availing himself of the mild, summer-cool weather that now reigned in + these latitudes, and in preparation for the peculiarly active pursuits + shortly to be anticipated, Perth, the begrimed, blistered old + blacksmith, had not removed his portable forge to the hold again, after + concluding his contributory work for Ahab's leg, but still retained it + on deck, fast lashed to ringbolts by the foremast; being now almost + incessantly invoked by the headsmen, and harpooneers, and bowsmen to do + some little job for them; altering, or repairing, or new shaping their + various weapons and boat furniture. Often he would be surrounded by an + eager circle, all waiting to be served; holding boat-spades, pikeheads, + harpoons, and lances, and jealously watching his every sooty movement, + as he toiled. Nevertheless, this old man's was a patient hammer wielded + by a patient arm. No murmur, no impatience, no petulance did come from + him. Silent, slow, and solemn; bowing over still further his + chronically broken back, he toiled away, as if toil were life itself, + and the heavy beating of his hammer the heavy beating of his heart. And + so it was.—Most miserable! + + A peculiar walk in this old man, a certain slight but painful appearing + yawing in his gait, had at an early period of the voyage excited the + curiosity of the mariners. And to the importunity of their persisted + questionings he had finally given in; and so it came to pass that every + one now knew the shameful story of his wretched fate. + + Belated, and not innocently, one bitter winter's midnight, on the road + running between two country towns, the blacksmith half-stupidly felt + the deadly numbness stealing over him, and sought refuge in a leaning, + dilapidated barn. The issue was, the loss of the extremities of both + feet. Out of this revelation, part by part, at last came out the four + acts of the gladness, and the one long, and as yet uncatastrophied + fifth act of the grief of his life's drama. + + He was an old man, who, at the age of nearly sixty, had postponedly + encountered that thing in sorrow's technicals called ruin. He had been + an artisan of famed excellence, and with plenty to do; owned a house + and garden; embraced a youthful, daughter-like, loving wife, and three + blithe, ruddy children; every Sunday went to a cheerful-looking church, + planted in a grove. But one night, under cover of darkness, and further + concealed in a most cunning disguisement, a desperate burglar slid into + his happy home, and robbed them all of everything. And darker yet to + tell, the blacksmith himself did ignorantly conduct this burglar into + his family's heart. It was the Bottle Conjuror! Upon the opening of + that fatal cork, forth flew the fiend, and shrivelled up his home. Now, + for prudent, most wise, and economic reasons, the blacksmith's shop was + in the basement of his dwelling, but with a separate entrance to it; so + that always had the young and loving healthy wife listened with no + unhappy nervousness, but with vigorous pleasure, to the stout ringing + of her young-armed old husband's hammer; whose reverberations, muffled + by passing through the floors and walls, came up to her, not unsweetly, + in her nursery; and so, to stout Labor's iron lullaby, the blacksmith's + infants were rocked to slumber. + + Oh, woe on woe! Oh, Death, why canst thou not sometimes be timely? + Hadst thou taken this old blacksmith to thyself ere his full ruin came + upon him, then had the young widow had a delicious grief, and her + orphans a truly venerable, legendary sire to dream of in their after + years; and all of them a care-killing competency. But Death plucked + down some virtuous elder brother, on whose whistling daily toil solely + hung the responsibilities of some other family, and left the worse than + useless old man standing, till the hideous rot of life should make him + easier to harvest. + + Why tell the whole? The blows of the basement hammer every day grew + more and more between; and each blow every day grew fainter than the + last; the wife sat frozen at the window, with tearless eyes, + glitteringly gazing into the weeping faces of her children; the bellows + fell; the forge choked up with cinders; the house was sold; the mother + dived down into the long church-yard grass; her children twice followed + her thither; and the houseless, familyless old man staggered off a + vagabond in crape; his every woe unreverenced; his grey head a scorn to + flaxen curls! + + Death seems the only desirable sequel for a career like this; but Death + is only a launching into the region of the strange Untried; it is but + the first salutation to the possibilities of the immense Remote, the + Wild, the Watery, the Unshored; therefore, to the death-longing eyes of + such men, who still have left in them some interior compunctions + against suicide, does the all-contributed and all-receptive ocean + alluringly spread forth his whole plain of unimaginable, taking + terrors, and wonderful, new-life adventures; and from the hearts of + infinite Pacifics, the thousand mermaids sing to them—"Come hither, + broken-hearted; here is another life without the guilt of intermediate + death; here are wonders supernatural, without dying for them. Come + hither! bury thyself in a life which, to your now equally abhorred and + abhorring, landed world, is more oblivious than death. Come hither! put + up thy grave-stone, too, within the churchyard, and come hither, till + we marry thee!" + + Hearkening to these voices, East and West, by early sunrise, and by + fall of eve, the blacksmith's soul responded, Aye, I come! And so Perth + went a-whaling. + + + + + CHAPTER 113 + + + The Forge + + With matted beard, and swathed in a bristling shark-skin apron, about + mid-day, Perth was standing between his forge and anvil, the latter + placed upon an iron-wood log, with one hand holding a pike-head in the + coals, and with the other at his forge's lungs, when Captain Ahab came + along, carrying in his hand a small rusty-looking leathern bag. While + yet a little distance from the forge, moody Ahab paused; till at last, + Perth, withdrawing his iron from the fire, began hammering it upon the + anvil—the red mass sending off the sparks in thick hovering flights, + some of which flew close to Ahab. + + "Are these thy Mother Carey's chickens, Perth? they are always flying + in thy wake; birds of good omen, too, but not to all;—look here, they + burn; but thou—thou liv'st among them without a scorch." + + "Because I am scorched all over, Captain Ahab," answered Perth, resting + for a moment on his hammer; "I am past scorching-, not easily can'st + thou scorch a scar." + + "Well, well; no more. Thy shrunk voice sounds too calmly, sanely woeful + to me. In no Paradise myself, I am impatient of all misery in others + that is not mad. Thou should'st go mad, blacksmith; say, why dost thou + not go mad? How can'st thou endure without being mad? Do the heavens + yet hate thee, that thou can'st not go mad?— What wert thou making + there?" + + "Welding an old pike-head, sir; there were seams and dents in it." + + "And can'st thou make it all smooth again, blacksmith, after such hard + usage as it had?" + + "I think so, sir." + + "And I suppose thou can'st smoothe almost any seams and dents; never + mind how hard the metal, blacksmith?" + + "Aye, sir, I think I can; all seams and dents but one." + + "Look ye here then," cried Ahab, passionately advancing, and leaning + with both hands on Perth's shoulders; "look ye here—here—can ye smoothe + out a seam like this, blacksmith," sweeping one hand across his ribbed + brow; "if thou could'st, blacksmith, glad enough would I lay my head + upon thy anvil, and feel thy heaviest hammer between my eyes. Answer! + Can'st thou smoothe this seam?" + + "Oh! that is the one, sir! Said I not all seams and dents but one?" + + "Aye, blacksmith, it is the one; aye, man, it is unsmoothable; for + though thou only see'st it here in my flesh, it has worked down into + the bone of my skull—that is all wrinkles! But, away with child's play; + no more gaffs and pikes to-day. Look ye here!" jingling the leathern + bag, as if it were full of gold coins. "I, too, want a harpoon made; + one that a thousand yoke of fiends could not part, Perth; something + that will stick in a whale like his own fin-bone. There's the stuff," + flinging the pouch upon the anvil. "Look ye, blacksmith, these are the + gathered nail-stubbs of the steel shoes of racing horses." + + "Horse-shoe stubbs, sir? Why, Captain Ahab, thou hast here, then, the + best and stubbornest stuff we blacksmiths ever work." + + "I know it, old man; these stubbs will weld together like glue from the + melted bones of murderers. Quick! forge me the harpoon. And forge me + first, twelve rods for its shank; then wind, and twist, and hammer + these twelve together like the yarns and strands of a tow-line. Quick! + I'll blow the fire." + + When at last the twelve rods were made, Ahab tried them, one by one, by + spiralling them, with his own hand, round a long, heavy iron bolt. "A + flaw!" rejecting the last one. "Work that over again, Perth." + + This done, Perth was about to begin welding the twelve into one, when + Ahab stayed his hand, and said he would weld his own iron. As, then, + with regular, gasping hems, he hammered on the anvil, Perth passing to + him the glowing rods, one after the other, and the hard pressed forge + shooting up its intense straight flame, the Parsee passed silently, and + bowing over his head towards the fire, seemed invoking some curse or + some blessing on the toil. But, as Ahab looked up, he slid aside. + + "What's that bunch of lucifers dodging about there for?" muttered + Stubb, looking on from the forecastle. "That Parsee smells fire like a + fusee; and smells of it himself, like a hot musket's powder-pan." + + At last the shank, in one complete rod, received its final heat; and as + Perth, to temper it, plunged it all hissing into the cask of water near + by, the scalding steam shot up into Ahab's bent face. + + "Would'st thou brand me, Perth?" wincing for a moment with the pain; + "have I been but forging my own branding-iron, then?" + + "Pray God, not that; yet I fear something, Captain Ahab. Is not this + harpoon for the White Whale?" + + "For the white fiend! But now for the barbs; thou must make them + thyself, man. Here are my razors—the best of steel; here, and make the + barbs sharp as the needle-sleet of the Icy Sea." + + For a moment, the old blacksmith eyed the razors as though he would + fain not use them. + + "Take them, man, I have no need for them; for I now neither shave, sup, + nor pray till—but here—to work!" + + Fashioned at last into an arrowy shape, and welded by Perth to the + shank, the steel soon pointed the end of the iron; and as the + blacksmith was about giving the barbs their final heat, prior to + tempering them, he cried to Ahab to place the water-cask near. + + "No, no—no water for that; I want it of the true death-temper. Ahoy, + there! Tashtego, Queequeg, Daggoo! What say ye, pagans! Will ye give me + as much blood as will cover this barb?" holding it high up. A cluster + of dark nods replied, Yes. Three punctures were made in the heathen + flesh, and the White Whale's barbs were then tempered. + + "Ego non baptizo te in nomine patris, sed in nomine diaboli!" + deliriously howled Ahab, as the malignant iron scorchingly devoured the + baptismal blood. + + Now, mustering the spare poles from below, and selecting one of + hickory, with the bark still investing it, Ahab fitted the end to the + socket of the iron. A coil of new tow-line was then unwound, and some + fathoms of it taken to the windlass, and stretched to a great tension. + Pressing his foot upon it, till the rope hummed like a harp-string, + then eagerly bending over it, and seeing no strandings, Ahab exclaimed, + "Good! and now for the seizings." + + At one extremity the rope was unstranded, and the separate spread yarns + were all braided and woven round the socket of the harpoon; the pole + was then driven hard up into the socket; from the lower end the rope + was traced halfway along the pole's length, and firmly secured so, with + inter-twistings of twine. This done, pole, iron, and rope—like the + Three Fates— remained inseparable, and Ahab moodily stalked away with + the weapon; the sound of his ivory leg, and the sound of the hickory + pole, both hollowly ringing along every plank. But ere he entered his + cabin, a light, unnatural, half-bantering, yet most piteous sound was + heard. Oh! Pip, thy wretched laugh, thy idle but unresting eye; all thy + strange mummeries not unmeaningly blended with the black tragedy of the + melancholy ship, and mocked it! + + + + + CHAPTER 114 + + + The Gilder + + Penetrating further and further into the heart of the Japanese cruising + ground the Pequod was soon all astir in the fishery. Often, in mild, + pleasant weather, for twelve, fifteen, eighteen, and twenty hours on + the stretch, they were engaged in the boats, steadily pulling, or + sailing, or paddling after the whales, or for an interlude of sixty or + seventy minutes calmly awaiting their uprising; though with but small + success for their pains. + + At such times, under an abated sun; afloat all day upon smooth, slow + heaving swells; seated in his boat, light as a birch canoe; and so + sociably mixing with the soft waves themselves, that like hearth-stone + cats they purr against the gunwale; these are the times of dreamy + quietude, when beholding the tranquil beauty and brilliancy of the + ocean's skin, one forgets the tiger heart that pants beneath it; and + would not willingly remember, that this velvet paw but conceals a + remorseless fang. + + These are the times, when in his whale-boat the rover softly feels a + certain filial, confident, land-like feeling towards the sea; that he + regards it as so much flowery earth; and the distant ship revealing + only the tops of her masts, seems struggling forward, not through high + rolling waves, but through the tall grass of a rolling prairie: as when + the western emigrants' horses only show their erected ears, while their + hidden bodies widely wade through the amazing verdure. + + The long-drawn virgin vales; the mild blue hill-sides; as over these + there steals the hush, the hum; you almost swear that play-wearied + children lie sleeping in these solitudes, in some glad May-time, when + the flowers of the woods are plucked. And all this mixes with your most + mystic mood; so that fact and fancy, half-way meeting, interpenetrate, + and form one seamless whole. + + Nor did such soothing scenes, however temporary, fail of at least as + temporary an effect on Ahab. But if these secret golden keys did seem + to open in him his own secret golden treasuries, yet did his breath + upon them prove but tarnishing. + + Oh, grassy glades! oh ever vernal endless landscapes in the soul; in + ye,—though long parched by the dead drought of the earthly life,— in + ye, men yet may roll, like young horses in new morning clover; and for + some few fleeting moments, feel the cool dew of the life immortal on + them. Would to God these blessed calms would last. But the mingled, + mingling threads of life are woven by warp and woof: calms crossed by + storms, a storm for every calm. There is no steady unretracing progress + in this life; we do not advance through fixed gradations, and at the + last one pause:— through infancy's unconscious spell, boyhood's + thoughtless faith, adolescence' doubt (the common doom), then + scepticism, then disbelief, resting at last in manhood's pondering + repose of If. But once gone through, we trace the round again; and are + infants, boys, and men, and Ifs eternally. Where lies the final harbor, + whence we unmoor no more? In what rapt ether sails the world, of which + the weariest will never weary? Where is the foundling's father hidden? + Our souls are like those orphans whose unwedded mothers die in bearing + them: the secret of our paternity lies in their grave, and we must + there to learn it. + + And that same day, too, gazing far down from his boat's side into that + same golden sea, Starbuck lowly murmured:— + + "Loveliness unfathomable, as ever lover saw in his young bride's eyes!— + Tell me not of thy teeth-tiered sharks, and thy kidnapping cannibal + ways. + Let faith oust fact; let fancy oust memory; I look deep down + and do believe." + + And Stubb, fish-like, with sparkling scales, leaped up in that same + golden light:— + + "I am Stubb, and Stubb has his history; but here Stubb takes oaths that + he has always been jolly!" + + + + + CHAPTER 115 + + + The Pequod Meets The Bachelor + + And jolly enough were the sights and the sounds that came bearing down + before the wind, some few weeks after Ahab's harpoon had been welded. + + It was a Nantucket ship, the Bachelor, which had just wedged in her + last cask of oil, and bolted down her bursting hatches; and now, in + glad holiday apparel, was joyously, though somewhat vain-gloriously, + sailing round among the widely-separated ships on the ground, previous + to pointing her prow for home. + + The three men at her mast-head wore long streamers of narrow red + bunting at their hats; from the stern, a whale-boat was suspended, + bottom down; and hanging captive from the bowsprit was seen the long + lower jaw of the last whale they had slain. Signals, ensigns, and jacks + of all colors were flying from her rigging, on every side. Sideways + lashed in each of her three basketed tops were two barrels of sperm; + above which, in her top-mast cross-trees, you saw slender breakers of + the same precious fluid; and nailed to her main truck was a brazen + lamp. + + As was afterwards learned, the Bachelor had met with the most + surprising success; all the more wonderful, for that while cruising in + the same seas numerous other vessels had gone entire months without + securing a single fish. Not only had barrels of beef and bread been + given away to make room for the far more valuable sperm, but additional + supplemental casks had been bartered for, from the ships she had met; + and these were stowed along the deck, and in the captain's and + officers' state-rooms. Even the cabin table itself had been knocked + into kindling-wood; and the cabin mess dined off the broad head of an + oil-butt, lashed down to the floor for a centrepiece. In the + forecastle, the sailors had actually caulked and pitched their chests, + and filled them; it was humorously added, that the cook had clapped a + head on his largest boiler, and filled it; that the steward had plugged + his spare coffee-pot and filled it; that the harpooneers had headed the + sockets of their irons and filled them; that indeed everything was + filled with sperm, except the captain's pantaloons pockets, and those + he reserved to thrust his hands into, in self-complacent testimony of + his entire satisfaction. + + As this glad ship of good luck bore down upon the moody Pequod, the + barbarian sound of enormous drums came from her forecastle; and drawing + still nearer, a crowd of her men were seen standing round her huge + try-pots, which, covered with the parchment-like poke or stomach skin + of the black fish, gave forth a loud roar to every stroke of the + clenched hands of the crew. On the quarter-deck, the mates and + harpooneers were dancing with the olive-hued girls who had eloped with + them from the Polynesian Isles; while suspended in an ornamented boat, + firmly secured aloft between the foremast and mainmast, three Long + Island negroes, with glittering fiddle-bows of whale ivory, were + presiding over the hilarious jig. Meanwhile, others of the ship's + company were tumultuously busy at the masonry of the try-works, from + which the huge pots had been removed. You would have almost thought + they were pulling down the cursed Bastille, such wild cries they + raised, as the now useless brick and mortar were being hurled into the + sea. + + Lord and master over all this scene, the captain stood erect on the + ship's elevated quarter-deck, so that the whole rejoicing drama was + full before him, and seemed merely contrived for his own individual + diversion. + + And Ahab, he too was standing on his quarter-deck, shaggy and black, + with a stubborn gloom; and as the two ships crossed each other's wakes— + one all jubilations for things passed, the other all forebodings as to + things to come—their two captains in themselves impersonated the whole + striking contrast of the scene. + + "Come aboard, come aboard!" cried the gay Bachelor's commander, lifting + a glass and a bottle in the air. + + "Hast seen the White Whale?" gritted Ahab in reply. + + "No; only heard of him; but don't believe in him at all," said the + other good-humoredly. "Come aboard!" + + "Thou art too damned jolly. Sail on. Hast lost any men?" + + "Not enough to speak of—two islanders, that's all;—but come aboard, old + hearty, come along. I'll soon take that black from your brow. Come + along, will ye (merry's the play); a full ship and homeward-bound." + + "How wondrous familiar is a fool!" muttered Ahab; then aloud, "Thou art + a full ship and homeward bound, thou sayest; well, then, call me an + empty ship, and outward-bound. So go thy ways, and I will mine. Forward + there! Set all sail, and keep her to the wind!" + + And thus, while the one ship went cheerily before the breeze, the other + stubbornly fought against it; and so the two vessels parted; the crew + of the Pequod looking with grave, lingering glances towards the + receding Bachelor; but the Bachelor's men never heeding their gaze for + the lively revelry they were in. And as Ahab, leaning over the + taffrail, eyed the homewardbound craft, he took from his pocket a small + vial of sand, and then looking from the ship to the vial, seemed + thereby bringing two remote associations together, for that vial was + filled with Nantucket soundings. + + + + + CHAPTER 116 + + + The Dying Whale + + Not seldom in this life, when, on the right side, fortune's favorites + sail close by us, we, though all adroop before, catch somewhat of the + rushing breeze, and joyfully feel our bagging sails fill out. So seemed + it with the Pequod. For next day after encountering the gay Bachelor, + whales were seen and four were slain; and one of them by Ahab. + + It was far down the afternoon; and when all the spearings of the + crimson fight were done; and floating in the lovely sunset sea and sky, + sun and whale both stilly died together; then, such a sweetness and + such plaintiveness, such inwreathing orisons curled up in that rosy + air, that it almost seemed as if far over from the deep green convent + valleys of the Manilla isles, the Spanish land-breeze, wantonly turned + sailor, had gone to sea, freighted with these vesper hymns. + + Soothed again, but only soothed to deeper gloom, Ahab, who had sterned + off from the whale, sat intently watching his final wanings from the + now tranquil boat. For that strange spectacle observable in all sperm + whales dying—the turning sunwards of the head, and so expiring— that + strange spectacle, beheld of such a placid evening, somehow to Ahab + conveyed a wondrousness unknown before. + + "He turns and turns him to it,—how slowly, but how steadfastly, his + homage-rendering and invoking brow, with his last dying motions. He too + worships fire; most faithful, broad, baronial vassal of the sun!— Oh + that these too-favoring eyes should see these too-favoring sights. + Look! here, far water-locked; beyond all hum of human weal or woe; in + these most candid and impartial seas; where to traditions no rocks + furnish tablets; where for long Chinese ages, the billows have still + rolled on speechless and unspoken to, as stars that shine upon the + Niger's unknown source; here, too, life dies sunwards full of faith, + but see! no sooner dead, than death whirls round the corpse, and it + heads some other way. + + "Oh, thou dark Hindoo half of nature, who of drowned bones hast builded + thy separate throne somewhere in the heart of these unverdured seas; + thou art an infidel, thou queen, and too truly speakest to me in the + wide-slaughtering Typhoon, and the hushed burial of its after calm. Nor + has this thy whale sunwards turned his dying head, and then gone round + again, without a lesson to me. + + "Oh, trebly hooped and welded hip of power! Oh, high aspiring, + rainbowed jet!—that one strivest, this one jettest all in vain! In + vain, oh whale, dost thou seek intercedings with yon all-quickening + sun, that only calls forth life, but gives it not again. Yet dost thou + darker half, rock me with a prouder, if a darker faith. All thy + unnamable imminglings float beneath me here; I am buoyed by breaths of + once living things, exhaled as air, but water now. + + "Then hail, for ever hail, O sea, in whose eternal tossings the wild + fowl finds his only rest. Born of earth, yet suckled by the sea; though + hill and valley mothered me, ye billows are my foster-brothers!" + + + + + CHAPTER 117 + + + The Whale Watch + + The four whales slain that evening had died wide apart; one, far to + windward; one less distant, to leeward; one ahead; one astern. These + last three were brought alongside ere nightfall; but the windward one + could not be reached till morning; and the boat that had killed it lay + by its side all night; and that boat was Ahab's. + + The waif-pole was thrust upright into the dead whale's spout-hole; and + the lantern hanging from its top, cast a troubled flickering glare upon + the black, glossy back, and far out upon the midnight waves, which + gently chafed the whale's broad flank, like soft surf upon a beach. + + Ahab and all his boat's crew seemed asleep but the Parsee; who + crouching in the bow, sat watching the sharks, that spectrally played + round the whale, and tapped the light cedar planks with their tails. A + sound like the moaning in squadrons over Asphaltites of unforgiven + ghosts of Gomorrah, ran shuddering through the air. + + Started from his slumbers, Ahab, face to face, saw the Parsee; and + hooped round by the gloom of the night they seemed the last men in a + flooded world. "I have dreamed it again," said he. + + "Of the hearses? Have I not said, old man, that neither hearse nor + coffin can be thine?" + + "And who are hearsed that die on the sea?" + + "But I said, old man, that ere thou couldst die on this voyage, two + hearses must verily be seen by thee on the sea; the first not made by + mortal hands; and the visible wood of the last one must be grown in + America." + + "Aye, aye! a strange sight that, Parsee!—a hearse and its plumes + floating over the ocean with the waves for the pall-bearers. Ha! Such a + sight we shall not soon see." + + "Believe it or not, thou canst not die till it be seen, old man." + + "And what was that saying about thyself?" + + "Though it come to the last, I shall still go before thee thy pilot." + + "And when thou art so gone before—if that ever befall—then ere + I can follow, thou must still appear to me, to pilot me still?— + Was it not so? Well, then, did I believe all ye say, oh my pilot! + I have here two pledges that I shall yet slay Moby Dick and survive + it." + + "Take another pledge, old man," said the Parsee, as his eyes lighted up + like fire-flies in the gloom—"Hemp only can kill thee." + + "The gallows, ye mean.—I am immortal then, on land and on sea," cried + Ahab, with a laugh of derision;—"Immortal on land and on sea!" + + Both were silent again, as one man. The grey dawn came on, and the + slumbering crew arose from the boat's bottom, and ere noon the dead + whale was brought to the ship. + + + + + CHAPTER 118 + + + The Quadrant + + The season for the Line at length drew near; and every day when Ahab, + coming from his cabin cast his eyes aloft, the vigilant helmsman would + ostentatiously handle his spokes, and the eager mariners quickly run to + the braces, and would stand there with all their eyes centrally fixed + on the nailed doubloon; impatient for the order to point the ship's + prow for the equator. In good time the order came. It was hard upon + high noon; and Ahab, seated in the bows of his high-hoisted boat, was + about taking his wonted daily observation of the sun to determine his + latitude. + + Now, in that Japanese sea, the days in summer are as freshets of + effulgences. That unblinkingly vivid Japanese sun seems the blazing + focus of the glassy ocean's immeasurable burning-glass. The sky looks + lacquered; clouds there are none; the horizon floats; and this + nakedness of unrelieved radiance is as the insufferable splendors of + God's throne. Well that Ahab's quadrant was furnished with colored + glasses, through which to take sight of that solar fire. So, swinging + his seated form to the roll of the ship, and with his + astrological-looking instrument placed to his eye, he remained in that + posture for some moments to catch the precise instant when the sun + should gain its precise meridian. Meantime while his whole attention + was absorbed, the Parsee was kneeling beneath him on the ship's deck, + and with face thrown up like Ahab's, was eyeing the same sun with him; + only the lids of his eyes half hooded their orbs, and his wild face was + subdued to an earthly passionlessness. At length the desired + observation was taken; and with his pencil upon his ivory leg, Ahab + soon calculated what his latitude must be at that precise instant. Then + falling into a moment's revery, he again looked up towards the sun and + murmured to himself: "Thou seamark! thou high and mighty Pilot! thou + tellest me truly where I am—but canst thou cast the least hint where I + shall be? Or canst thou tell where some other thing besides me is this + moment living? Where is Moby Dick? This instant thou must be eyeing + him. These eyes of mine look into the very eye that is even now + beholding him; aye, and into the eye that is even now equally beholding + the objects on the unknown, thither side of thee, thou sun!" + + Then gazing at his quadrant, and handling, one after the other, its + numerous cabalistical contrivances, he pondered again, and muttered: + "Foolish toy! babies' plaything of haughty Admirals, and Commodores, + and Captains; the world brags of thee, of thy cunning and might; but + what after all canst thou do, but tell the poor, pitiful point, where + thou thyself happenest to be on this wide planet, and the hand that + holds thee: no! not one jot more! Thou canst not tell where one drop of + water or one grain of sand will be to-morrow noon; and yet with thy + impotence thou insultest the sun! Science! Curse thee, thou vain toy; + and cursed be all the things that cast man's eyes aloft to that heaven, + whose live vividness but scorches him, as these old eyes are even now + scorched with thy light, O sun! Level by nature to this earth's horizon + are the glances of man's eyes; not shot from the crown of his head, as + if God had meant him to gaze on his firmament. Curse thee, thou + quadrant!" dashing it to the deck, "no longer will I guide my earthly + way by thee; the level ship's compass, and the level deadreckoning, by + log and by line; these shall conduct me, and show me my place on the + sea. Aye," lighting from the boat to the deck, "thus I trample on thee, + thou paltry thing that feebly pointest on high; thus I split and + destroy thee!" + + As the frantic old man thus spoke and thus trampled with his live and + dead feet, a sneering triumph that seemed meant for Ahab, and a + fatalistic despair that seemed meant for himself— these passed over the + mute, motionless Parsee's face. Unobserved he rose and glided away; + while, awestruck by the aspect of their commander, the seamen clustered + together on the forecastle, till Ahab, troubledly pacing the deck, + shouted out—"To the braces! Up helm!—square in!" + + In an instant the yards swung round; and as the ship half-wheeled upon + her heel, her three firm-seated graceful masts erectly poised upon her + long, ribbed hull, seemed as the three Horatii pirouetting on one + sufficient steed. + + Standing between the knight-heads, Starbuck watched the Pequod's + tumultuous way, and Ahab's also, as he went lurching along the deck. + + "I have sat before the dense coal fire and watched it all aglow, full + of its tormented flaming life; and I have seen it wane at last, down, + down, to dumbest dust. Old man of oceans! of all this fiery life of + thine, what will at length remain but one little heap of ashes!" + + "Aye," cried Stubb, "but sea-coal ashes—mind ye that, Mr. Starbuck— + sea-coal, not your common charcoal. Well, well! I heard Ahab mutter, + 'Here some one thrusts these cards into these old hands of mine; swears + that I must play them, and no others.' And damn me, Ahab, but thou + actest right; live in the game, and die in it!" + + + + + CHAPTER 119 + + + The Candles + + Warmest climes but nurse the cruellest fangs: the tiger of Bengal + crouches in spiced groves of ceaseless verdure. Skies the most + effulgent but basket the deadliest thunders: gorgeous Cuba knows + tornadoes that never swept tame northern lands. So, too, it is, that in + these resplendent Japanese seas the mariner encounters the direst of + all storms, the Typhoon. It will sometimes burst from out that + cloudless sky, like an exploding bomb upon a dazed and sleepy town. + + Towards evening of that day, the Pequod was torn of her canvas, and + bare-poled was left to fight a Typhoon which had struck her directly + ahead. When darkness came on, sky and sea roared and split with the + thunder, and blazed with the lightning, that showed the disabled mast + fluttering here and there with the rags which the first fury of the + tempest had left for its after sport. + + Holding by a shroud, Starbuck was standing on the quarter-deck; at + every flash of the lightning glancing aloft, to see what additional + disaster might have befallen the intricate hamper there; while Stubb + and Flask were directing the men in the higher hoisting and firmer + lashing of the boats. But all their pains seemed naught. Though lifted + to the very top of the cranes, the windward quarter boat (Ahab's) did + not escape. A great rolling sea, dashing high up against the reeling + ship's high teetering side, stove in the boat's bottom at the stern, + and left it again, all dripping through like a sieve. + + "Bad work, bad work! Mr. Starbuck," said Stubb, regarding the wreck, + "but the sea will have its way. Stubb, for one, can't fight it. You + see, Mr. Starbuck, a wave has such a great long start before it leaps, + all round the world it runs, and then comes the spring! But as for me, + all the start I have to meet it, is just across the deck here. But + never mind; it's all in fun: so the old song says;"—(sings.) + + Oh! jolly is the gale, + And a joker is the whale, + A' flourishin' his tail,— + Such a funny, sporty, gamy, jesty, joky, hoky-poky + lad, is the Ocean, oh! + The scud all a flyin', + That's his flip only foamin'; + When he stirs in the spicin',— + Such a funny, sporty, gamy, jesty, joky, hoky-poky + lad, is the Ocean, oh! + Thunder splits the ships, + But he only smacks his lips, + A tastin' of this flip,— + Such a funny, sporty, gamy, jesty, joky, hoky-poky + lad, is the Ocean, oh! + + "Avast Stubb," cried Starbuck, "let the Typhoon sing, and strike his + harp here in our rigging; but if thou art a brave man thou wilt hold + thy peace." + + "But I am not a brave man; never said I was a brave man; I am a coward; + and I sing to keep up my spirits. And I tell you what it is, Mr. + Starbuck, there's no way to stop my singing in this world but to cut my + throat. And when that's done, ten to one I sing ye the doxology for a + wind-up." + + "Madman! look through my eyes if thou hast none of thine own." + + "What! how can you see better of a dark night than anybody else, never + mind how foolish?" + + "Here!" cried Starbuck, seizing Stubb by the shoulder, and pointing his + hand towards the weather bow, "markest thou not that the gale comes + from the eastward, the very course Ahab is to run for Moby Dick? the + very course he swung to this day noon? now mark his boat there; where + is that stove? In the stern-sheets, man; where he is wont to stand— his + stand-point is stove, man! Now jump overboard, and sing away, if thou + must! + + "I don't half understand ye: what's in the wind?" + + "Yes, yes, round the Cape of Good Hope is the shortest way to + Nantucket," soliloquized Starbuck suddenly, heedless of Stubb's + question. "The gale that now hammers at us to stave us, we can turn it + into a fair wind that will drive us towards home. Yonder, to windward, + all is blackness of doom; but to leeward, homeward—I see it lightens up + there; but not with the lightning." + + At that moment in one of the intervals of profound darkness, following + the flashes, a voice was heard at his side; and almost at the same + instant a volley of thunder peals rolled overhead. + + "Who's there?" + + "Old Thunder!" said Ahab, groping his way along the bulwarks to his + pivot-hole; but suddenly finding his path made plain to him by elbowed + lances of fire. + + Now, as the lightning rod to a spire on shore is intended to carry off + the perilous fluid into the soil; so the kindred rod which at sea some + ships carry to each mast, is intended to conduct it into the water. But + as this conductor must descend to considerable depth, that its end may + avoid all contact with the hull; and as moreover, if kept constantly + towing there, it would be liable to many mishaps, besides interfering + not a little with some of the rigging, and more or less impeding the + vessel's way in the water; because of all this, the lower parts of a + ship's lightning-rods are not always overboard; but are generally made + in long slender links, so as to be the more readily hauled up into the + chains outside, or thrown down into the sea, as occasion may require. + + "The rods! the rods!" cried Starbuck to the crew, suddenly admonished + to vigilance by the vivid lightning that had just been darting + flambeaux, to light Ahab to his post. "Are they overboard? drop them + over, fore and aft. Quick!" + + "Avast!" cried Ahab; "let's have fair play here, though we be the + weaker side. Yet I'll contribute to raise rods on the Himmalehs and + Andes, that all the world may be secured; but out on privileges! Let + them be, sir." + + "Look aloft!" cried Starbuck. "The corpusants! the corpusants! + + All the yard-arms were tipped with a pallid fire; and touched at each + tri-pointed lightning-rod-end with three tapering white flames, each of + the three tall masts was silently burning in that sulphurous air, like + three gigantic wax tapers before an altar. + + "Blast the boat! let it go!" cried Stubb at this instant, as a swashing + sea heaved up under his own little craft so that its gunwale violently + jammed his hand, as he was passing a lashing. "Blast it!"—but slipping + backward on the deck, his uplifted eyes caught the flames; and + immediately shifting his tone he cried—"The corpusants have mercy on us + all!" + + To sailors, oaths are household words; they will swear in the trance of + the calm, and in the teeth of the tempest; they will imprecate curses + from the topsail-yard-arms, when most they teeter over to a seething + sea; but in all my voyagings, seldom have I heard a common oath when + God's burning finger has been laid on the ship; when His "Mene, Mene, + Tekel Upharsin" has been woven into the shrouds and the cordage. + + While this pallidness was burning aloft, few words were heard from the + enchanted crew; who in one thick cluster stood on the forecastle, all + their eyes gleaming in that pale phosphorescence, like a faraway + constellation of stars. Relieved against the ghostly light, the + gigantic jet negro, Daggoo, loomed up to thrice his real stature, and + seemed the black cloud from which the thunder had come. The parted + mouth of Tashtego revealed his shark-white teeth, which strangely + gleamed as if they too had been tipped by corpusants; while lit up by + the preternatural light, Queequeg's tattooing burned like Satanic blue + flames on his body. + + The tableau all waned at last with the pallidness aloft; and once more + the Pequod and every soul on her decks were wrapped in a pall. A moment + or two passed, when Starbuck, going forward, pushed against some one. + It was Stubb. "What thinkest thou now, man; I heard thy cry; it was not + the same in the song." + + "No, no, it wasn't; I said the corpusants have mercy on us all; and I + hope they will, still. But do they only have mercy on long faces?—have + they no bowels for a laugh? And look ye, Mr. Starbuck—but it's too dark + to look. Hear me, then; I take that mast-head flame we saw for a sign + of good luck; for those masts are rooted in a hold that is going to be + chock a' block with sperm-oil, d'ye see; and so, all that sperm will + work up into the masts, like sap in a tree. Yes, our three masts will + yet be as three spermaceti candles— that's the good promise we saw." + + At that moment Starbuck caught sight of Stubb's face slowly beginning + to glimmer into sight. Glancing upwards, he cried: "See! see!" and once + more the high tapering flames were beheld with what seemed redoubled + supernaturalness in their pallor. + + "The corpusants have mercy on us all," cried Stubb, again. + + At the base of the main-mast, full beneath the doubloon and the flame, + the Parsee was kneeling in Ahab's front, but with his head bowed away + from him; while near by, from the arched and overhanging rigging, where + they had just been engaged securing a spar, a number of the seamen, + arrested by the glare, now cohered together, and hung pendulous, like a + knot of numbed wasps from a drooping, orchard twig. In various + enchanted attitudes like the standing, or stepping, or running + skeletons in Herculaneum, others remained rooted to the deck; but all + their eyes upcast. + + "Aye, aye, men!" cried Ahab. "Look up at it; mark it well; the white + flame but lights the way to the White Whale! Hand me those mainmast + links there; I would fain feel this pulse, and let mine beat against + it; blood against fire! So." + + Then turning—the last link held fast in his left hand, he put his foot + upon the Parsee; and with fixed upward eye, and high-flung right arm, + he stood erect before the lofty tri-pointed trinity of flames. + + "Oh! thou clear spirit of clear fire, whom on these seas I as Persian + once did worship, till in the sacramental act so burned by thee, that + to this hour I bear the scar; I now know thee, thou clear spirit, and I + now know that thy right worship is defiance. To neither love nor + reverence wilt thou be kind; and e'en for hate thou canst but kill; and + all are killed. No fearless fool now fronts thee. I own thy speechless, + placeless power; but to the last gasp of my earthquake life will + dispute its unconditional, unintegral mastery in me. In the midst of + the personified impersonal, a personality stands here. Though but a + point at best; whenceso'er I came; whereso'er I go; yet while I earthly + live, the queenly personality lives in me, and feels her royal rights. + But war is pain, and hate is woe. Come in thy lowest form of love, and + I will kneel and kiss thee; but at thy highest, come as mere supernal + power; and though thou launchest navies of full-freighted worlds, + there's that in here that still remains indifferent. Oh, thou clear + spirit, of thy fire thou madest me, and like a true child of fire, I + breathe it back to thee." + + [Sudden, repeated flashes of lightning; the nine flames leap lengthwise + to thrice their previous height; Ahab, with the rest, closes his eyes, + his right hand pressed hard upon them.] + + "I own thy speechless, placeless power; said I not so? Nor was it wrung + from me; nor do I now drop these links. Thou canst blind; but I can + then grope. Thou canst consume; but I can then be ashes. Take the + homage of these poor eyes, and shutter-hands. I would not take it. The + lightning flashes through my skull; mine eyeballs ache and ache; my + whole beaten brain seems as beheaded, and rolling on some stunning + ground. Oh, oh! Yet blindfold, yet will I talk to thee. Light though + thou be, thou leapest out of darkness; but I am darkness leaping out of + light, leaping out of thee! The javelins cease; open eyes; see, or not? + There burn the flames! Oh, thou magnanimous! now do I do glory in my + genealogy. But thou art but my fiery father; my sweet mother, I know + not. Oh, cruel! what hast thou done with her? There lies my puzzle; but + thine is greater. Thou knowest not how came ye, hence callest thyself + unbegotten; certainly knowest not thy beginning, hence callest thyself + unbegun. I know that of me, which thou knowest not of thyself, oh, thou + omnipotent. There is some unsuffusing thing beyond thee, thou clear + spirit, to whom all thy eternity is but time, all thy creativeness + mechanical. Through thee, thy flaming self, my scorched eyes do dimly + see it. Oh, thou foundling fire, thou hermit immemorial, thou too hast + thy incommunicable riddle, thy unparticipated grief. Here again with + haughty agony, I read my sire. Leap! leap up, and lick the sky! I leap + with thee; I burn with thee; would fain be welded with thee; defyingly + I worship thee!" + + "The boat! the boat!" cried Starbuck, "look at thy boat, old man!" + + Ahab's harpoon, the one forged at Perth's fire, remained firmly lashed + in its conspicuous crotch, so that it projected beyond his whale-boat's + bow; but the sea that had stove its bottom had caused the loose leather + sheath to drop off; and from the keen steel barb there now came a + levelled flame of pale, forked fire. As the silent harpoon burned there + like a serpent's tongue, Starbuck grasped Ahab by the arm—"God, God is + against thee, old man; forbear! 't is an ill voyage! ill begun, ill + continued; let me square the yards, while we may, old man, and make a + fair wind of it homewards, to go on a better voyage than this." + + Overhearing Starbuck, the panic-stricken crew instantly ran to the + braces—though not a sail was left aloft. For the moment all the aghast + mate's thoughts seemed theirs; they raised a half mutinous cry. But + dashing the rattling lightning links to the deck, and snatching the + burning harpoon, Ahab waved it like a torch among them; swearing to + transfix with it the first sailor that but cast loose a rope's end. + Petrified by his aspect, and still more shrinking from the fiery dart + that he held, the men fell back in dismay, and Ahab again spoke:— + + "All your oaths to hunt the White Whale are as binding as mine; and + heart, soul, and body, lungs and life, old Ahab is bound. And that ye + may know to what tune this heart beats: look ye here; thus I blow out + the last fear!" And with one blast of his breath he extinguished the + flame. + + As in the hurricane that sweeps the plain, men fly the neighborhood of + some lone, gigantic elm, whose very height and strength but render it + so much the more unsafe, because so much the more a mark for + thunderbolts; so at those last words of Ahab's many of the mariners did + run from him in a terror of dismay. + + + + + CHAPTER 120 + + + The Deck Toward the End of the First Night Watch + + Ahab standing by the helm. Starbuck approaching him. + + We must send down the main-top-sail yard, sir. The band is working + loose and the lee lift is half-stranded. Shall I strike it, sir?" + + "Strike nothing; lash it. If I had sky-sail poles, I'd sway them up + now." + + "Sir!—in God's name!—sir?" + + "Well." + + "The anchors are working, sir. Shall I get them inboard?" + + "Strike nothing, and stir nothing but lash everything. The wind rises, + but it has not got up to my table-lands yet. Quick, and see to it.— By + masts and keels! he takes me for the hunchbacked skipper of some + coasting smack. Send down my main-top-sail yard! Ho, gluepots! Loftiest + trucks were made for wildest winds, and this brain-truck of mine now + sails amid the cloud-scud. Shall I strike that? Oh, none but cowards + send down their brain-trucks in tempest time. What a hooroosh aloft + there! I would e'en take it for sublime, did I not know that the colic + is a noisy malady. Oh, take medicine, take medicine!" + + + + + CHAPTER 121 + + + Midnight - The Forecastle Bulwarks + + Stubb and Flask mounted on them, and passing additional lashings over + the anchors there hanging. + + No, Stubb; you may pound that knot there as much as you please, but you + will never pound into me what you were just now saying. And how long + ago is it since you said the very contrary? Didn't you once say that + whatever ship Ahab sails in, that ship should pay something extra on + its insurance policy, just as though it were loaded with powder barrels + aft and boxes of lucifers forward? Stop, now; didn't you say so?" + + "Well, suppose I did? What then! I've part changed my flesh since that + time, why not my mind? Besides, supposing we are loaded with powder + barrels aft and lucifers forward; how the devil could the lucifers get + afire in this drenching spray here? Why, my little man, you have pretty + red hair, but you couldn't get afire now. Shake yourself; you're + Aquarius, or the water-bearer, Flask; might fill pitchers at your coat + collar. Don't you see, then, that for these extra risks the Marine + Insurance companies have extra guarantees? Here are hydrants, Flask. + But hark, again, and I'll answer ye the other thing. First take your + leg off from the crown of the anchor here, though, so I can pass the + rope; now listen. What's the mighty difference between holding a mast's + lightning-rod in the storm, and standing close by a mast that hasn't + got any lightning-rod at all in a storm? Don't you see, you + timber-head, that no harm can come to the holder of the rod, unless the + mast is first struck? What are you talking about, then? Not one ship in + a hundred carries rods, and Ahab,—aye, man, and all of us,—were in no + more danger then, in my poor opinion, than all the crews in ten + thousand ships now sailing the seas. Why, you King-Post, you, I suppose + you would have every man in the world go about with a small + lightning-rod running up the corner of his hat, like a militia + officer's skewered feather, and trailing behind like his sash. Why + don't ye be sensible, Flask? it's easy to be sensible; why don't ye, + then? any man with half an eye can be sensible." + + "I don't know that, Stubb. You sometimes find it rather hard." + + "Yes, when a fellow's soaked through, it's hard to be sensible, that's + a fact. And I am about drenched with this spray. Never mind; catch the + turn there, and pass it. Seems to me we are lashing down these anchors + now as if they were never going to be used again. Tying these two + anchors here, Flask, seems like tying a man's hands behind him. And + what big generous hands they are, to be sure. These are your iron + fists, hey? What a hold they have, too! I wonder, Flask, whether the + world is anchored anywhere; if she is, she swings with an uncommon long + cable, though. There, hammer that knot down, and we've done. So; next + to touching land, lighting on deck is the most satisfactory. I say, + just wring out my jacket skirts, will ye? Thank ye. They laugh at + long-togs so, Flask; but seems to me, a long-tailed coat ought always + to be worn in all storms afloat. The tails tapering down that way, + serve to carry off the water, d'ye see. Same with cocked hats; the + cocks form gable-end eave-troughs, Flask. No more monkey-jackets and + tarpaulins for me; I must mount a swallow-tail, and drive down a + beaver; so. Halloa! whew! there goes my tarpaulin overboard; Lord, + Lord, that the winds that come from heaven should be so unmannerly! + This is a nasty night, lad." + + + + + CHAPTER 122 + + + Midnight Aloft.—Thunder and Lightning + + The Main-top-sail yard - Tashtego passing new lashings around it. + + "Um, um, um. Stop that thunder! Plenty too much thunder up here. What's + the use of thunder? Um, um, um. We don't want thunder; we want rum; + give us a glass of rum. Um, um, um!" + + + + + CHAPTER 123 + + + The Musket + + During the most violent shocks of the Typhoon, the man at the Pequod's + jaw-bone tiller had several times been reelingly hurled to the deck by + its spasmodic motions even though preventer tackles had been attached + to it— for they were slack—because some play to the tiller was + indispensable. + + In a severe gale like this, while the ship is but a tossed shuttlecock + to the blast, it is by no means uncommon to see the needles in the + compasses, at intervals, go round and round. It was thus with the + Pequod's; at almost every shock the helmsman had not failed to notice + the whirling velocity with which they revolved upon the cards; it is a + sight that hardly anyone can behold without some sort of unwonted + emotion. + + Some hours after midnight, the Typhoon abated so much, that through the + strenuous exertions of Starbuck and Stubb— one engaged forward and the + other aft—the shivered remnants of the jib and fore and main-top-sails + were cut adrift from the spars, and went eddying away to leeward, like + the feathers of an albatross, which sometimes are cast to the winds + when that storm-tossed bird is on the wing. + + The three corresponding new sails were now bent and reefed, and a + storm-trysail was set further aft; so that the ship soon went through + the water with some precision again; and the course— for the present, + East-south-east—which he was to steer, if practicable, was once more + given to the helmsman. For during the violence of the gale, he had only + steered according to its vicissitudes. But as he was now bringing the + ship as near her course as possible, watching the compass meanwhile, + lo! a good sign! the wind seemed coming round astern; aye, the foul + breeze became fair! + + Instantly the yards were squared, to the lively song of "Ho! the fair + wind! oh-ye-ho cheerly, men!" the crew singing for joy, that so + promising an event should so soon have falsified the evil portents + preceding it. + + In compliance with the standing order of his commander— to report + immediately, and at any one of the twenty-four hours, any decided + change in the affairs of the deck,—Starbuck had no sooner trimmed the + yards to the breeze—however reluctantly and gloomily,—than he + mechanically went below to apprise Captain Ahab of the circumstance. + + Ere knocking at his state-room, he involuntarily paused before it a + moment. The cabin lamp—taking long swings this way and that— was + burning fitfully, and casting fitful shadows upon the old man's bolted + door,—a thin one, with fixed blinds inserted, in place of upper panels. + The isolated subterraneousness of the cabin made a certain humming + silence to reign there, though it was hooped round by all the roar of + the elements. The loaded muskets in the rack were shiningly revealed, + as they stood upright against the forward bulkhead. Starbuck was an + honest, upright man; but out of Starbuck's heart, at that instant when + he saw the muskets, there strangely evolved an evil thought; but so + blent with its neutral or good accompaniments that for the instant he + hardly knew it for itself. + + "He would have shot me once," he murmured, "yes, there's the very + musket that he pointed at me;—that one with the studded stock; let me + touch it—lift it. Strange, that I, who have handled so many deadly + lances, strange, that I should shake so now. Loaded? I must see. Aye, + aye; and powder in the pan;— that's not good. Best spill it?—wait. I'll + cure myself of this. I'll hold the musket boldly while I think.—I come + to report a fair wind to him. But how fair? Fair for death and doom,— + that's fair for Moby Dick. It's a fair wind that's only fair for that + accursed fish.—The very tube he pointed at me!—the very one; this one—I + hold it here; he would have killed me with the very thing I handle + now.—Aye and he would fain kill all his crew. Does he not say he will + not strike his spars to any gale? Has he not dashed his heavenly + quadrant? and in these same perilous seas, gropes he not his way by + mere dead reckoning of the error-abounding log? and in this very + Typhoon, did he not swear that he would have no lightning-rods? But + shall this crazed old man be tamely suffered to drag a whole ship's + company down to doom with him?—Yes, it would make him the wilful + murderer of thirty men and more, if this ship come to any deadly harm; + and come to deadly harm, my soul swears this ship will, if Ahab have + his way. If, then, he were this instant— put aside, that crime would + not be his. Ha! is he muttering in his sleep? Yes, just there,—in + there, he's sleeping. Sleeping? aye, but still alive, and soon awake + again. I can't withstand thee, then, old man. Not reasoning; not + remonstrance; not entreaty wilt thou hearken to; all this thou + scornest. Flat obedience to thy own flat commands, this is all thou + breathest. Aye, and say'st the men have vow'd thy vow; say'st all of us + are Ahabs. Great God forbid!— But is there no other way? no lawful + way?—Make him a prisoner to be taken home? What! hope to wrest this old + man's living power from his own living hands? Only a fool would try it. + Say he were pinioned even; knotted all over with ropes and hawsers; + chained down to ring-bolts on this cabin floor; he would be more + hideous than a caged tiger, then. I could not endure the sight; could + not possibly fly his howlings; all comfort, sleep itself, inestimable + reason would leave me on the long intolerable voyage. What, then, + remains? The land is hundreds of leagues away, and locked Japan the + nearest. I stand alone here upon an open sea, with two oceans and a + whole continent between me and law.—Aye, aye, 'tis so.— Is heaven a + murderer when its lightning strikes a would-be murderer in his bed, + tindering sheets and skin together?— And would I be a murderer, then, + if"—and slowly, stealthily, and half sideways looking, he placed the + loaded musket's end against the door. + + "On this level, Ahab's hammock swings within; his head this way. A + touch, and Starbuck may survive to hug his wife and child again.— Oh + Mary! Mary!—boy! boy! boy!—But if I wake thee not to death, old man, + who can tell to what unsounded deeps Starbuck's body this day week may + sink, with all the crew! Great God, where art Thou? Shall I? shall + I?—The wind has gone down and shifted, sir; the fore and main topsails + are reefed and set! she heads her course." + + "Stern all! Oh Moby Dick, I clutch thy heart at last!" + + Such were the sounds that now came hurtling from out the old man's + tormented sleep, as if Starbuck's voice had caused the long dumb dream + to speak. + + The yet levelled musket shook like a drunkard's arm against the panel; + Starbuck seemed wrestling with an angel, but turning from the door, he + placed the death-tube in its rack, and left the place. + + "He's too sound asleep, Mr. Stubb; go thou down, and wake him, and tell + him. I must see to the deck here. Thou know'st what to say." + + + + + CHAPTER 124 + + + The Needle + + Next morning the not-yet-subsided sea rolled in long slow billows of + mighty bulk, and striving in the Pequod's gurgling track, pushed her on + like giants' palms outspread. The strong unstaggering breeze abounded + so, that sky and air seemed vast outbellying sails; the whole world + boomed before the wind. Muffled in the full morning light, the + invisible sun was only known by the spread intensity of his place; + where his bayonet rays moved on in stacks. Emblazonings, as of crowned + Babylonian kings and queens, reigned over everything. The sea was as a + crucible of molten gold, that bubblingly leaps with light and heat. + + Long maintaining an enchanted silence, Ahab stood apart; and every time + the teetering ship loweringly pitched down her bowsprit, he turned to + eye the bright sun's rays produced ahead; and when she profoundly + settled by the stern, he turned behind, and saw the sun's rearward + place, and how the same yellow rays were blending with his undeviating + wake. + + "Ha, ha, my ship! thou mightest well be taken now for the sea-chariot + of the sun. Ho, ho! all ye nations before my prow, I bring the sun to + ye! Yoke on the further billows; hallo! a tandem, I drive the sea!" + + But suddenly reined back by some counter thought, he hurried towards + the helm, huskily demanding how the ship was heading. + + "East-sou-east, sir," said the frightened steersman. + + "Thou liest!" smiting him with his clenched fist. + "Heading East at this hour in the morning, and the sun astern?" + + Upon this every soul was confounded; for the phenomenon just then + observed by Ahab had unaccountably escaped every one else; but its very + blinding palpableness must have been the cause. + + Thrusting his head half-way into the binnacle, Ahab caught one glimpse + of the compasses; his uplifted arm slowly fell; for a moment he almost + seemed to stagger. Standing behind him Starbuck looked, and lo! the two + compasses pointed East, and the Pequod was as infallibly going West. + + But ere the first wild alarm could get out abroad among the crew, the + old + man with a rigid laugh exclaimed, "I have it! It has happened before. + Mr. Starbuck, last night's thunder turned our compasses—that's all. + Thou hast before now heard of such a thing, I take it." + + "Aye; but never before has it happened to me, sir," said the pale mate, + gloomily. + + Here, it must needs be said, that accidents like this have in more than + one case occurred to ships in violent storms. The magnetic energy, as + developed in the mariner's needle, is, as all know, essentially one + with the electricity beheld in heaven; hence it is not to be much + marvelled at, that such things should be. In instances where the + lightning has actually struck the vessel, so as to smite down some of + the spars and rigging, the effect upon the needle has at times been + still more fatal; all its loadstone virtue being annihilated, so that + the before magnetic steel was of no more use than an old wife's + knitting needle. But in either case, the needle never again, of itself, + recovers the original virtue thus marred or lost; and if the binnacle + compasses be affected, the same fate reaches all the others that may be + in the ship; even were the lowermost one inserted into the kelson. + + Deliberately standing before the binnacle, and eyeing the transpointed + compasses, the old man, with the sharp of his extended hand, now took + the precise bearing of the sun, and satisfied that the needles were + exactly inverted, shouted out his orders for the ship's course to be + changed accordingly. The yards were hard up; and once more the Pequod + thrust her undaunted bows into the opposing wind, for the supposed fair + one had only been juggling her. + + Meanwhile, whatever were his own secret thoughts, Starbuck said + nothing, but quietly he issued all requisite orders; while Stubb and + Flask—who in some small degree seemed then to be sharing his + feelings—likewise unmurmuringly acquiesced. As for the men, though some + of them lowly rumbled, their fear of Ahab was greater than their fear + of Fate. But as ever before, the pagan harpooneers remained almost + wholly unimpressed; or if impressed, it was only with a certain + magnetism shot into their congenial hearts from inflexible Ahab's. + + For a space the old man walked the deck in rolling reveries. But + chancing to slip with his ivory heel, he saw the crushed copper + sight-tubes of the quadrant he had the day before dashed to the deck. + + "Thou poor, proud heaven-gazer and sun's pilot! yesterday I wrecked + thee, and to-day the compasses would fain have wrecked me. So, so. But + Ahab is lord over the level loadstone yet. Mr. Starbuck—a lance without + the pole; a top-maul, and the smallest of the sail-maker's needles. + Quick!" + + Accessory, perhaps, to the impulse dictating the thing he was now about + to do, were certain prudential motives, whose object might have been to + revive the spirits of his crew by a stroke of his subtile skill, in a + matter so wondrous as that of the inverted compasses. Besides, the old + man well knew that to steer by transpointed needles, though clumsily + practicable, was not a thing to be passed over by superstitious + sailors, without some shudderings and evil portents. + + "Men," said he, steadily turning upon the crew, as the mate handed him + the things he had demanded, "my men, the thunder turned old Ahab's + needles; but out of this bit of steel Ahab can make one of his own, + that will point as true as any." + + Abashed glances of servile wonder were exchanged by the sailors, as + this was said; and with fascinated eyes they awaited whatever magic + might follow. But Starbuck looked away. + + With a blow from the top-maul Ahab knocked off the steel head of the + lance, and then handing to the mate the long iron rod remaining, bade + him hold it upright, without its touching the deck. Then, with the + maul, after repeatedly smiting the upper end of this iron rod, he + placed the blunted needle endwise on the top of it, and less strongly + hammered that, several times, the mate still holding the rod as before. + Then going through some small strange motions with it—whether + indispensable to the magnetizing of the steel, or merely intended to + augment the awe of the crew, is uncertain— he called for linen thread; + and moving to the binnacle, slipped out the two reversed needles there, + and horizontally suspended the sail-needle by its middle, over one of + the compass cards. At first, the steel went round and round, quivering + and vibrating at either end; but at last it settled to its place, when + Ahab, who had been intently watching for this result, stepped frankly + back from the binnacle, and pointing his stretched arm towards it, + exclaimed,—"Look ye, for yourselves, if Ahab be not the lord of the + level loadstone! The sun is East, and that compass swears it!" + + One after another they peered in, for nothing but their own eyes could + persuade such ignorance as theirs, and one after another they slunk + away. + + In his fiery eyes of scorn and triumph, you then saw Ahab in all his + fatal pride. + + + + + CHAPTER 125 + + + The Log and Line + + While now the fated Pequod had been so long afloat this voyage, the log + and line had but very seldom been in use. Owing to a confident reliance + upon other means of determining the vessel's place, some merchantmen, + and many whalemen, especially when cruising, wholly neglect to heave + the log; though at the same time, and frequently more for form's sake + than anything else, regularly putting down upon the customary slate the + course steered by the ship, as well as the presumed average rate of + progression every hour. It had been thus with the Pequod. The wooden + reel and angular log attached hung, long untouched, just beneath the + railing of the after bulwarks. Rains and spray had damped it; the sun + and wind had warped it; all the elements had combined to rot a thing + that hung so idly. But heedless of all this, his mood seized Ahab, as + he happened to glance upon the reel, not many hours after the magnet + scene, and he remembered how his quadrant was no more, and recalled his + frantic oath about the level log and line. The ship was sailing + plungingly; astern the billows rolled in riots. + + "Forward, there! Heave the log!" + + Two seamen came. The golden-hued Tahitian and the grizzly Manxman. + "Take the reel, one of ye, I'll heave." + + They went towards the extreme stern, on the ship's lee side, where the + deck, with the oblique energy of the wind, was now almost dipping into + the creamy, sidelong-rushing sea. + + The Manxman took the reel, and holding it high up, by the projecting + handle-ends of the spindle, round which the spool of line revolved, so + stood with the angular log hanging downwards, till Ahab advanced to + him. + + Ahab stood before him, and was lightly unwinding some thirty or forty + turns to form a preliminary hand-coil to toss overboard, when the old + Manxman, who was intently eyeing both him and the line, made bold to + speak. + + "Sir, I mistrust it; this line looks far gone, long heat and wet have + spoiled it." + + "'Twill hold, old gentleman. Long heat and wet, have they spoiled thee? + Thou seem'st to hold. Or, truer perhaps, life holds thee; not thou it." + + "I hold the spool, sir. But just as my captain says. With these grey + hairs of mine 'tis not worth while disputing, 'specially with a + superior, who'll ne'er confess." + + "What's that? There now's a patched professor in Queen Nature's + granite-founded College; but methinks he's too subservient. Where wert + thou born?" + + "In the little rocky Isle of Man, sir." + + "Excellent! Thou'st hit the world by that." + + "I know not, sir, but I was born there." + + "In the Isle of Man, hey? Well, the other way, it's good. + Here's a man from Man; a man born in once independent Man, and now + unmanned of Man; which is sucked in—by what? Up with the reel! + The dead, blind wall butts all inquiring heads at last. + Up with it! So." + + The log was heaved. The loose coils rapidly straightened out in a long + dragging line astern, and then, instantly, the reel began to whirl. In + turn, jerkingly raised and lowered by the rolling billows, the towing + resistance of the log caused the old reelman to stagger strangely. + + "Hold hard!" + + Snap! the overstrained line sagged down in one long festoon; the + tugging log was gone. + + "I crush the quadrant, the thunder turns the needles, and now the mad + sea parts the log-line. But Ahab can mend all. Haul in here, Tahitian; + reel up, Manxman. And look ye, let the carpenter make another log, and + mend thou the line. See to it." + + "There he goes now; to him nothing's happened; but to me, the skewer + seems loosening out of the middle of the world. Haul in, haul in, + Tahitian! These lines run whole, and whirling out: come in broken, and + dragging slow. Ha, Pip? come to help; eh, Pip?" + + "Pip? whom call ye Pip? Pip jumped from the whaleboat. Pip's missing. + Let's see now if ye haven't fished him up here, fisherman. It drags + hard; I guess he's holding on. Jerk him, Tahiti! Jerk him off we haul + in no cowards here. Ho! there's his arm just breaking water. A hatchet! + a hatchet! cut it off—we haul in no cowards here. Captain Ahab! sir, + sir! here's Pip, trying to get on board again." + + "Peace, thou crazy loon," cried the Manxman, seizing him by the arm. + "Away from the quarter-deck!" + + "The greater idiot ever scolds the lesser," muttered Ahab, advancing. + "Hands off from that holiness! Where sayest thou Pip was, boy? + + "Astern there, sir, astern! Lo! lo!" + + "And who art thou, boy? I see not my reflection in the vacant pupils of + thy eyes. Oh God! that man should be a thing for immortal souls to + sieve through! Who art thou, boy?" + + "Bell-boy, sir; ship's-crier; ding, dong, ding! Pip! Pip! Pip! One + hundred pounds of clay reward for Pip; five feet high—looks cowardly— + quickest known by that! Ding, dong, ding! Who's seen Pip the coward?" + + "There can be no hearts above the snow-line. Oh, ye frozen heavens! + look down here. Ye did beget this luckless child, and have abandoned + him, ye creative libertines. Here, boy; Ahab's cabin shall be Pip's + home henceforth, while Ahab lives. Thou touchest my inmost centre, boy; + thou art tied to me by cords woven of my heart-strings. Come, let's + down." + + "What's this? here's velvet shark-skin," intently gazing at Ahab's + hand, and feeling it. "Ah, now, had poor Pip but felt so kind a thing + as this, perhaps he had ne'er been lost! This seems to me, sir, as a + man-rope; something that weak souls may hold by. Oh, sir, let old Perth + now come and rivet these two hands together; the black one with the + white, for I will not let this go." + + "Oh, boy, nor will I thee, unless I should thereby drag thee to worse + horrors than are here. Come, then, to my cabin. Lo! ye believers in + gods all goodness, and in man all ill, lo you! see the omniscient gods + oblivious of suffering man; and man, though idiotic, and knowing not + what he does, yet full of the sweet things of love and gratitude. Come! + I feel prouder leading thee by thy black hand, than though I grasped an + Emperor's!" + + "There go two daft ones now," muttered the old Manxman. + "One daft with strength, the other daft with weakness. + But here's the end of the rotten line—all dripping, too. + Mend it, eh? I think we had best have a new line altogether. + I'll see Mr. Stubb about it." + + + + + CHAPTER 126 + + + The Life-Buoy + + Steering now south-eastward by Ahab's levelled steel, and her progress + solely determined by Ahab's level log and line; the Pequod held on her + path towards the Equator. Making so long a passage through such + unfrequented waters, descrying no ships, and ere long, sideways + impelled by unvarying trade winds, over waves monotonously mild; all + these seemed the strange calm things preluding some riotous and + desperate scene. + + At last, when the ship drew near to the outskirts, as it were, of the + Equatorial fishing-ground, and in the deep darkness that goes before + the dawn, was sailing by a cluster of rocky islets; the watch—then + headed by Flask—was startled by a cry so plaintively wild and + unearthly—like half-articulated wailings of the ghosts of all Herod's + murdered Innocents—that one and all, they started from their reveries, + and for the space of some moments stood, or sat, or leaned all + transfixed by listening, like the carved Roman slave, while that wild + cry remained within hearing. The Christian or civilized part of the + crew said it was mermaids, and shuddered; but the pagan harpooneers + remained unappalled. Yet the grey Manxman—the oldest mariner of + all—declared that the wild thrilling sounds that were heard, were the + voices of newly drowned men in the sea. + + Below in his hammock, Ahab did not hear of this till grey dawn, when he + came to the deck; it was then recounted to him by Flask, not + unaccompanied with hinted dark meanings. He hollowly laughed, and thus + explained the wonder. + + Those rocky islands the ship had passed were the resort of great + numbers of seals, and some young seals that had lost their dams, or + some dams that had lost their cubs, must have risen nigh the ship and + kept company with her, crying and sobbing with their human sort of + wail. But this only the more affected some of them, because most + mariners cherish a very superstitious feeling about seals, arising not + only from their peculiar tones when in distress, but also from the + human look of their round heads and semi-intelligent faces, seen + peeringly uprising from the water alongside. In the sea, under certain + circumstances, seals have more than once been mistaken for men. + + But the bodings of the crew were destined to receive a most plausible + confirmation in the fate of one of their number that morning. At + sun-rise this man went from his hammock to his mast-head at the fore; + and whether it was that he was not yet half waked from his sleep (for + sailors sometimes go aloft in a transition state), whether it was thus + with the man, there is now no telling; but, be that as it may, he had + not been long at his perch, when a cry was heard—a cry and a + rushing—and looking up, they saw a falling phantom in the air; and + looking down, a little tossed heap of white bubbles in the blue of the + sea. + + The life-buoy—a long slender cask—was dropped from the stern, where it + always hung obedient to a cunning spring; but no hand rose to seize it, + and the sun having long beat upon this cask it had shrunken, so that it + slowly filled, and the parched wood also filled at its every pore; and + the studded iron-bound cask followed the sailor to the bottom, as if to + yield him his pillow, though in sooth but a hard one. + + And thus the first man of the Pequod that mounted the mast to look out + for the White Whale, on the White Whale's own peculiar ground; that man + was swallowed up in the deep. But few, perhaps, thought of that at the + time. Indeed, in some sort, they were not grieved at this event, at + least as a portent; for they regarded it, not as a fore-shadowing of + evil in the future, but as the fulfilment of an evil already presaged. + They declared that now they knew the reason of those wild shrieks they + had heard the night before. But again the old Manxman said nay. + + The lost life-buoy was now to be replaced; Starbuck was directed to see + to it; but as no cask of sufficient lightness could be found, and as in + the feverish eagerness of what seemed the approaching crisis of the + voyage, all hands were impatient of any toil but what was directly + connected with its final end, whatever that might prove to be; + therefore, they were going to leave the ship's stern unprovided with a + buoy, when by certain strange signs and inuendoes Queequeg hinted a + hint concerning his coffin. + + "A life-buoy of a coffin!" cried Starbuck, starting. + + "Rather queer, that, I should say," said Stubb. + + "It will make a good enough one," said Flask, "the carpenter here can + arrange it easily." + + "Bring it up; there's nothing else for it," said Starbuck, after a + melancholy pause. "Rig it, carpenter; do not look at me so— the coffin, + I mean. Dost thou hear me? Rig it." + + "And shall I nail down the lid, sir?" moving his hand as with a hammer. + + "Aye." + + "And shall I caulk the seams, sir?" moving his hand as with a + caulking-iron. + + "Aye." + + "And shall I then pay over the same with pitch, sir?" moving his hand + as with a pitch-pot. + + Away! What possesses thee to this? Make a life-buoy of the coffin, and + no more.—Mr. Stubb, Mr. Flask, come forward with me." + + "He goes off in a huff. The whole he can endure; at the parts he + baulks. Now I don't like this. I make a leg for Captain Ahab, and he + wears it like a gentleman; but I make a bandbox for Queequeg, and he + won't put his head into it. Are all my pains to go for nothing with + that coffin? And now I'm ordered to make a life-buoy of it. It's like + turning an old coat; going to bring the flesh on the other side now. I + don't like this cobbling sort of business— I don't like it at all; it's + undignified; it's not my place. Let tinkers' brats do tinkerings; we + are their betters. I like to take in hand none but clean, virgin, + fair-and-square mathematical jobs, something that regularly begins at + the beginning, and is at the middle when midway, and comes to an end at + the conclusion; not a cobbler's job, that's at an end in the middle, + and at the beginning at the end. It's the old woman's tricks to be + giving cobbling jobs. Lord! what an affection all old women have for + tinkers. I know an old woman of sixty-five who ran away with a + bald-headed young tinker once. And that's the reason I never would work + for lonely widow old women ashore when I kept my job-shop in the + Vineyard; they might have taken it into their lonely old heads to run + off with me. But heigh-ho! there are no caps at sea but snow-caps. Let + me see. Nail down the lid; caulk the seams; pay over the same with + pitch; batten them down tight, and hang it with the snap-spring over + the ship's stern. Were ever such things done before with a coffin? Some + superstitious old carpenters, now, would be tied up in the rigging, ere + they would do the job. But I'm made of knotty Aroostook hemlock; I + don't budge. Cruppered with a coffin! Sailing about with a grave-yard + tray! But never mind. We workers in woods make bridal bedsteads and + card-tables, as well as coffins and hearses. We work by the month, or + by the job, or by the profit; not for us to ask the why and wherefore + of our work, unless it be too confounded cobbling, and then we stash it + if we can. Hem! I'll do the job, now, tenderly. I'll have me—let's + see—how many in the ship's company, all told? But I've forgotten. Any + way, I'll have me thirty separate, Turk's-headed life-lines, each three + feet long hanging all round to the coffin. Then, if the hull go down, + there'll be thirty lively fellows all fighting for one coffin, a sight + not seen very often beneath the sun! Come hammer, caulking-iron, + pitch-pot, and marling-spike! Let's to it." + + + + + CHAPTER 127 + + + The Deck + + The coffin laid upon two line-tubs, between the vice-bench and the open + hatchway; the Carpenter caulking its seams; the string of twisted oakum + slowly unwinding from a large roll of it placed in the bosom of his + frock.—Ahab comes slowly from the cabin-gangway, and hears Pip + following him. + + Back lad; I will be with ye again presently. He goes! + Not this hand complies with my humor more genially than that boy.— + Middle aisle of a church! What's here?" + + "Life-buoy, sir. Mr. Starbuck's orders. Oh, look, sir! + Beware the hatchway!" + + "Thank ye, man. Thy coffin lies handy to the vault." + + "Sir? The hatchway? oh! So it does, sir, so it does." + + "Art not thou the leg-maker? Look, did not this stump come from thy + shop?" + + "I believe it did, sir; does the ferrule stand, sir?" + + "Well enough. But art thou not also the undertaker?" + + "Aye, sir; I patched up this thing here as a coffin for Queequeg; but + they've set me now to turning it into something else." + + "Then tell me; art thou not an arrant, all-grasping, intermeddling, + monopolizing, heathenish old scamp, to be one day making legs, and the + next day coffins to clap them in, and yet again life-buoys out of those + same coffins? Thou art as unprincipled as the gods, and as much of a + jack-of-all-trades." + + "But I do not mean anything, sir. I do as I do." + + "The gods again. Hark ye, dost thou not ever sing working about a + coffin? The Titans, they say, hummed snatches when chipping out the + craters for volcanoes; and the grave-digger in the play sings, spade in + hand. Dost thou never?" + + "Sing, sir? Do I sing? Oh, I'm indifferent enough, sir, for that; but + the reason why the grave-digger made music must have been because there + was none in his spade, sir. But the caulking mallet is full of it. Hark + to it." + + "Aye, and that's because the lid there's a sounding-board; and what in + all things makes the sounding-board is this— there's naught beneath. + And yet, a coffin with a body in it rings pretty much the same, + Carpenter. Hast thou ever helped carry a bier, and heard the coffin + knock against the churchyard gate, going in? + + "Faith, sir, I've-" + + "Faith? What's that?" + + "Why, faith, sir, it's only a sort of exclamation-like— that's all, + sir." + + "Um, um; go on." + + "I was about to say, sir, that-" + + "Art thou a silk-worm? Dost thou spin thy own shroud out of thyself? + Look at thy bosom! Despatch! and get these traps out of sight." + + "He goes aft. That was sudden, now; but squalls come sudden in hot + latitudes. I've heard that the Isle of Albermarle, one of the + Gallipagos, is cut by the Equator right in the middle. Seems to me some + sort of Equator cuts yon old man, too, right in his middle. He's always + under the Line—fiery hot, I tell ye! He's looking this way—come, oakum; + quick. Here we go again. This wooden mallet is the cork, and I'm the + professor of musical glasses—tap, tap!" + + (Ahab to himself) + + "There's a sight! There's a sound! The greyheaded wood-pecker tapping + the hollow tree! Blind and dumb might well be envied now. See! that + thing rests on two line-tubs, full of tow-lines. A most malicious wag, + that fellow. Rat-tat! So man's seconds tick! Oh! how immaterial are all + materials! What things real are there, but imponderable thoughts? Here + now's the very dreaded symbol of grim death, by a mere hap, made the + expressive sign of the help and hope of most endangered life. A + life-buoy of a coffin! Does it go further? Can it be that in some + spiritual sense the coffin is, after all, but an immortality-preserver! + I'll think of that. But no. So far gone am I in the dark side of earth, + that its other side, the theoretic bright one, seems but uncertain + twilight to me. Will ye never have done, Carpenter, with that accursed + sound? I go below; let me not see that thing here when I return again. + Now, then, Pip, we'll talk this over; I do suck most wondrous + philosophies from thee! Some unknown conduits from the unknown worlds + must empty into thee!" + + + + + CHAPTER 128 + + + The Pequod Meets The Rachel + + Next day, a large ship, the Rachel, was descried, bearing directly down + upon the Pequod, all her spars thickly clustering with men. At the time + the Pequod was making good speed through the water; but as the + broad-winged windward stranger shot nigh to her, the boastful sails all + fell together as blank bladders that are burst, and all life fled from + the smitten hull. + + "Bad news; she brings bad news," muttered the old Manxman. But ere her + commander, who, with trumpet to mouth, stood up in his boat; ere he + could hopefully hail, Ahab's voice was heard. + + "Hast seen the White Whale?" + + "Aye, yesterday. Have ye seen a whale-boat adrift?" + + Throttling his joy, Ahab negatively answered this unexpected question; + and would then have fain boarded the stranger, when the stranger + captain himself, having stopped his vessel's way, was seen descending + her side. A few keen pulls, and his boat-hook soon clinched the + Pequod's main-chains, and he sprang to the deck. Immediately he was + recognized by Ahab for a Nantucketer he knew. But no formal salutation + was exchanged. + + "Where was he?—not killed!—not killed!" cried Ahab, closely advancing. + "How was it?" + + It seemed that somewhat late on the afternoon of the day previous, + while three of the stranger's boats were engaged with a shoal of + whales, which had led them some four or five miles from the ship; and + while they were yet in swift chase to windward, the white hump and head + of Moby Dick had suddenly loomed up out of the blue water, not very far + to leeward; whereupon, the fourth rigged boat— a reserved one—had been + instantly lowered in chase. After a keen sail before the wind, this + fourth boat—the swiftest keeled of all—seemed to have succeeded in + fastening—at least, as well as the man at the mast-head could tell + anything about it. In the distance he saw the diminished dotted boat; + and then a swift gleam of bubbling white water; and after that nothing + more; whence it was concluded that the stricken whale must have + indefinitely run away with his pursuers, as often happens. There was + some apprehension, but no positive alarm, as yet. The recall signals + were placed in the rigging; darkness came on; and forced to pick up her + three far to windward boats—ere going in quest of the fourth one in the + precisely opposite direction— the ship had not only been necessitated + to leave that boat to its fate till near midnight, but, for the time, + to increase her distance from it. But the rest of her crew being at + last safe aboard, she crowded all sail—stunsail on stunsail— after the + missing boat; kindling a fire in her try-pots for a beacon; and every + other man aloft on the look-out. But though when she had thus sailed a + sufficient distance to gain the presumed place of the absent ones when + last seen; though she then paused to lower her spare boats to pull all + around her; and not finding anything, had again dashed on; again + paused, and lowered her boats; and though she had thus continued doing + till daylight; yet not the least glimpse of the missing keel had been + seen. + + The story told, the stranger Captain immediately went on to reveal his + object in boarding the Pequod. He desired that ship to unite with his + own in the search; by sailing over the sea some four or five miles + apart, on parallel lines, and so sweeping a double horizon, as it were. + + "I will wager something now," whispered Stubb to Flask, "that some one + in that missing boat wore off that Captain's best coat; mayhap, his + watch— he's so cursed anxious to get it back. Who ever heard of two + pious whale-ships cruising after one missing whale-boat in the height + of the whaling season? See, Flask, only see how pale he looks— pale in + the very buttons of his eyes—look—it wasn't the coat— it must have been + the-" + + "My boy, my own boy is among them. For God's sake—I beg, I conjure"— + here exclaimed the stranger Captain to Ahab, who thus far had but icily + received his petition. "For eight-and-forty hours let me charter your + ship—I will gladly pay for it, and roundly pay for it— if there be no + other way—for eight-and-forty hours only—only that— you must, oh, you + must, and you shall do this thing." + + "His son!" cried Stubb, "oh, it's his son he's lost! I take back the + coat and watch—what says Ahab? We must save that boy." + + "He's drowned with the rest on 'em, last night," said the old Manx + sailor standing behind them; "I heard; all of ye heard their spirits." + + Now, as it shortly turned out, what made this incident of the Rachel's + the more melancholy, was the circumstance, that not only was one of the + Captain's sons among the number of the missing boat's crew; but among + the number of the other boats' crews, at the same time, but on the + other hand, separated from the ship during the dark vicissitudes of the + chase, there had been still another son; as that for a time, the + wretched father was plunged to the bottom of the cruellest perplexity; + which was only solved for him by his chief mate's instinctively + adopting the ordinary procedure of a whaleship in such emergencies, + that is, when placed between jeopardized but divided boats, always to + pick up the majority first. But the captain, for some unknown + constitutional reason, had refrained from mentioning all this, and not + till forced to it by Ahab's iciness did he allude to his one yet + missing boy; a little lad, but twelve years old, whose father with the + earnest but unmisgiving hardihood of a Nantucketer's paternal love, had + thus early sought to initiate him in the perils and wonders of a + vocation almost immemorially the destiny of all his race. Nor does it + unfrequently occur, that Nantucket captains will send a son of such + tender age away from them, for a protracted three or four years' voyage + in some other ship than their own; so that their first knowledge of a + whaleman's career shall be unenervated by any chance display of a + father's natural but untimely partiality, or undue apprehensiveness and + concern. + + Meantime, now the stranger was still beseeching his poor boon of Ahab; + and Ahab still stood like an anvil, receiving every shock, but without + the least quivering of his own. + + "I will not go," said the stranger, "till you say aye to me. Do to me + as you would have me do to you in the like case. For you too have a + boy, Captain Ahab—though but a child, and nestling safely at home now—a + child of your old age too— Yes, yes, you relent; I see it—run, run, + men, now, and stand by to square in the yards." + + "Avast," cried Ahab—"touch not a rope-yarn"; then in a voice that + prolongingly moulded every word—"Captain Gardiner, I will not do it. + Even now I lose time, Good-bye, good-bye. God bless ye, man, and may I + forgive myself, but I must go. Mr. Starbuck, look at the binnacle + watch, and in three minutes from this present instant warn off all + strangers; then brace forward again, and let the ship sail as before." + + Hurriedly turning, with averted face, he descended into his cabin, + leaving the strange captain transfixed at this unconditional and utter + rejection of his so earnest suit. But starting from his enchantment, + Gardiner silently hurried to the side; more fell than stepped into his + boat, and returned to his ship. + + Soon the two ships diverged their wakes; and long as the strange vessel + was in view, she was seen to yaw hither and thither at every dark spot, + however small, on the sea. This way and that her yards were swung + around; starboard and larboard, she continued to tack; now she beat + against a head sea; and again it pushed her before it; while all the + while, her masts and yards were thickly clustered with men, as three + tall cherry trees, when the boys are cherrying among the boughs. + + But by her still halting course and winding, woeful way, you plainly + saw that this ship that so wept with spray, still remained without + comfort. She was Rachel, weeping for her children, because they were + not. + + + + + CHAPTER 129 + + + The Cabin + + (Ahab moving to go on deck; Pip catches him by the hand to follow.) + + Lad, lad, I tell thee thou must not follow Ahab now. The hour is coming + when Ahab would not scare thee from him, yet would not have thee by + him. There is that in thee, poor lad, which I feel too curing to my + malady. Like cures like; and for this hunt, my malady becomes my most + desired health. Do thou abide below here, where they shall serve thee, + as if thou wert the captain. Aye, lad, thou shalt sit here in my own + screwed chair; another screw to it, thou must be." + + "No, no, no! ye have not a whole body, sir; do ye but use poor me for + your one lost leg; only tread upon me, sir; I ask no more, so I remain + a part of ye." + + "Oh! spite of million villains, this makes me a bigot in the fadeless + fidelity of man!—and a black! and crazy!—but methinks like-cures-like + applies to him too; he grows so sane again." + + "They tell me, sir, that Stubb did once desert poor little Pip, whose + drowned bones now show white, for all the blackness of his living skin. + But I will never desert ye, sir, as Stubb did him. Sir, I must go with + ye." + + "If thou speakest thus to me much more, Ahab's purpose keels up in him. + I tell thee no; it cannot be." + + "Oh good master, master, master! + + "Weep so, and I will murder thee! have a care, for Ahab too is mad. + Listen, and thou wilt often hear my ivory foot upon the deck, and still + know that I am there. And now I quit thee. Thy hand!—Met! True art + thou, lad, as the circumference to its centre. So: God for ever bless + thee; and if it come to that,— God for ever save thee, let what will + befall." + + (Ahab goes; Pip steps one step forward.) + + "Here he this instant stood, I stand in his air,—but I'm alone. Now + were even poor Pip here I could endure it, but he's missing. Pip! Pip! + Ding, dong, ding! Who's seen Pip? He must be up here; let's try the + door. What? neither lock, nor bolt, nor bar; and yet there's no opening + it. It must be the spell; he told me to stay here: Aye, and told me + this screwed chair was mine. Here, then, I'll seat me, against the + transom, in the ship's full middle, all her keel and her three masts + before me. Here, our old sailors say, in their black seventy-fours + great admirals sometimes sit at table, and lord it over rows of + captains and lieutenants. Ha! what's this? epaulets! epaulets! the + epaulets all come crowding. Pass round the decanters; glad to see ye; + fill up, monsieurs! What an odd feeling, now, when a black boy's host + to white men with gold lace upon their coats!—Monsieurs, have ye seen + one Pip?— a little negro lad, five feet high, hang-dog look, and + cowardly! Jumped from a whale-boat once;—seen him? No! Well then, fill + up again, captains, and let's drink shame upon all cowards! I name no + names. Shame upon them! Put one foot upon the table. Shame upon all + cowards.—Hist! above there, I hear ivory— Oh, master! master! I am + indeed down-hearted when you walk over me. But here I'll stay, though + this stern strikes rocks; and they bulge through; and oysters come to + join me." + + + + + CHAPTER 130 + + + The Hat + + And now that at the proper time and place, after so long and wide a + preliminary cruise, Ahab,—all other whaling waters swept— seemed to + have chased his foe into an oceanfold, to slay him the more securely + there; now, that he found himself hard by the very latitude and + longitude where his tormenting wound had been inflicted; now that a + vessel had been spoken which on the very day preceding had actually + encountered Moby Dick;— and now that all his successive meetings with + various ships contrastingly concurred to show the demoniac indifference + with which the white whale tore his hunters, whether sinning or sinned + against; now it was that there lurked a something in the old man's + eyes, which it was hardly sufferable for feeble souls to see. As the + unsetting polar star, which through the livelong, arctic, six months' + night sustains its piercing, steady, central gaze; so Ahab's purpose + now fixedly gleamed down upon the constant midnight of the gloomy crew. + It domineered above them so, that all their bodings, doubts, + misgivings, fears, were fain to hide beneath their souls, and not + sprout forth a single spear or leaf. + + In this foreshadowing interval, too, all humor, forced or natural, + vanished. Stubb no more strove to raise a smile; Starbuck no more + strove to check one. Alike, joy and sorrow, hope and fear, seemed + ground to finest dust, and powdered, for the time, in the clamped + mortar of Ahab's iron soul. Like machines, they dumbly moved about the + deck, ever conscious that the old man's despot eye was on them. + + But did you deeply scan him in his more secret confidential hours when + he thought no glance but one was on him; then you would have seen that + even as Ahab's eyes so awed the crew's, the inscrutable Parsee's glance + awed his; or somehow, at least, in some wild way, at times affected it. + Such an added, gliding strangeness began to invest the thin Fedallah + now; such ceaseless shudderings shook him; that the men looked dubious + at him; half uncertain, as it seemed, whether indeed he were a mortal + substance, or else a tremulous shadow cast upon the deck by some unseen + being's body. And that shadow was always hovering there. For not by + night, even, had Fedallah ever certainly been known to slumber, or go + below. He would stand still for hours: but never sat or leaned; his wan + but wondrous eyes did plainly say— We two watchmen never rest. + + Nor, at any time, by night or day could the mariners now step upon the + deck, unless Ahab was before them; either standing in his pivot-hole, + or exactly pacing the planks between two undeviating limits,—the + main-mast and the mizen; or else they saw him standing in the + cabin-scuttle,—his living foot advanced upon the deck, as if to step; + his hat slouched heavily over his eyes; so that however motionless he + stood, however the days and nights were added on, that he had not swung + in his hammock; yet hidden beneath that slouching hat, they could never + tell unerringly whether, for all this, his eyes were really closed at + times; or whether he was still intently scanning them; no matter, + though he stood so in the scuttle for a whole hour on the stretch, and + the unheeded night-damp gathered in beads of dew upon that stone-carved + coat and hat. The clothes that the night had wet, the next day's + sunshine dried upon him; and so, day after day, and night after night; + he went no more beneath the planks; whatever he wanted from the cabin + that thing he sent for. + + He ate in the same open air; that is, his two only meals,— breakfast + and dinner: supper he never touched; nor reaped his beard; which darkly + grew all gnarled, as unearthed roots of trees blown over, which still + grow idly on at naked base, though perished in the upper verdure. But + though his whole life was now become one watch on deck; and though the + Parsee's mystic watch was without intermission as his own; yet these + two never seemed to speak—one man to the other—unless at long intervals + some passing unmomentous matter made it necessary. Though such a potent + spell seemed secretly to join the twain; openly, and to the awe-struck + crew, they seemed pole-like asunder. If by day they chanced to speak + one word; by night, dumb men were both, so far as concerned the + slightest verbal interchange. At times, for longest hours, without a + single hail, they stood far parted in the starlight; Ahab in his + scuttle, the Parsee by the main-mast; but still fixedly gazing upon + each other; as if in the Parsee Ahab saw his forethrown shadow, in Ahab + the Parsee his abandoned substance. + + And yet, somehow, did Ahab—in his own proper self, as daily, hourly, + and every instant, commandingly revealed to his subordinates,— Ahab + seemed an independent lord; the Parsee but his slave. Still again both + seemed yoked together, and an unseen tyrant driving them; the lean + shade siding the solid rib. For be this Parsee what he may, all rib and + keel was solid Ahab. + + At the first faintest glimmering of the dawn, his iron voice was heard + from aft,—"Man the mast-heads!"—and all through the day, till after + sunset and after twilight, the same voice every hour, at the striking + of the helmsman's bell, was heard—"What d'ye see?— sharp! sharp! + sharp!" + + But when three or four days had slided by, after meeting the + children-seeking Rachel; and no spout had yet been seen; the monomaniac + old man seemed distrustful of his crew's fidelity; at least, of nearly + all except the Pagan harpooneers; he seemed to doubt, even, whether + Stubb and Flask might not willingly overlook the sight he sought. But + if these suspicions were really his, he sagaciously refrained from + verbally expressing them, however his actions might seem to hint them. + + "I will have the first sight of the whale myself,"— he said. "Aye! Ahab + must have the doubloon! and with his own hands he rigged a nest of + basketed bowlines; and sending a hand aloft, with a single sheaved + block, to secure to the mainmast head, he received the two ends of the + downwardreeved rope; and attaching one to his basket prepared a pin for + the other end, in order to fasten it at the rail. This done, with that + end yet in his hand and standing beside the pin, he looked round upon + his crew, sweeping from one to the other; pausing his glance long upon + Daggoo, Queequeg, Tashtego; but shunning Fedallah; and then settling + his firm relying eye upon the chief mate, said,—"Take the rope, sir—I + give it into thy hands, Starbuck." Then arranging his person in the + basket, he gave the word for them to hoist him to his perch, Starbuck + being the one who secured the rope at last; and afterwards stood near + it. And thus, with one hand clinging round the royal mast, Ahab gazed + abroad upon the sea for miles and miles,—ahead astern, this side, and + that,—within the wide expanded circle commanded at so great a height. + + When in working with his hands at some lofty almost isolated place in + the rigging, which chances to afford no foothold, the sailor at sea is + hoisted up to that spot, and sustained there by the rope; under these + circumstances, its fastened end on deck is always given in strict + charge to some one man who has the special watch of it. Because in such + a wilderness of running rigging, whose various different relations + aloft cannot always be infallibly discerned by what is seen of them at + the deck; and when the deck-ends of these ropes are being every few + minutes cast down from the fastenings, it would be but a natural + fatality, if, unprovided with a constant watchman, the hoisted sailor + should by some carelessness of the crew be cast adrift and fall all + swooping to the sea. So Ahab's proceedings in this matter were not + unusual; the only strange thing about them seemed to be, that Starbuck, + almost the one only man who had ever ventured to oppose him with + anything in the slightest degree approaching to decision— one of those + too, whose faithfulness on the look-out he had seemed to doubt + somewhat; it was strange, that this was the very man he should select + for his watchman; freely giving his whole life into such an otherwise + distrusted person's hands. + + Now, the first time Ahab was perched aloft; ere he had been there ten + minutes; one of those red-billed savage sea-hawks which so often fly + incommodiously close round the manned mast-heads of whalemen in these + latitudes; one of these birds came wheeling and screaming round his + head in a maze of untrackably swift circlings. Then it darted a + thousand feet straight up into the air; then spiralized downwards, and + went eddying again round his head. + + But with his gaze fixed upon the dim and distant horizon, Ahab seemed + not to mark this wild bird; nor, indeed, would any one else have marked + it much, it being no uncommon circumstance; only now almost the least + heedful eye seemed to see some sort of cunning meaning in almost every + sight. + + "Your hat, your hat, sir!" suddenly cried the Sicilian seaman, who + being posted at the mizen-mast-head, stood directly behind Ahab, though + somewhat lower than his level, and with a deep gulf of air dividing + them. + + But already the sable wing was before the old man's eyes; the long + hooked bill at his head: with a scream, the black hawk darted away with + his prize. + + An eagle flew thrice round Tarquin's head, removing his cap to replace + it, and thereupon Tanaquil, his wife, declared that Tarquin would be + king of Rome. But only by the replacing of the cap was that omen + accounted good. Ahab's hat was never restored; the wild hawk flew on + and on with it; far in advance of the prow: and at last disappeared; + while from the point of that disappearance, a minute black spot was + dimly discerned, falling from that vast height into the sea. + + + + + CHAPTER 131 + + + The Pequod Meets The Delight + + The intense Pequod sailed on; the rolling waves and days went by; the + life-buoy-coffin still lightly swung; and another ship, most miserably + misnamed the Delight, was descried. As she drew nigh, all eyes were + fixed upon her broad beams, called shears, which, in some + whaling-ships, cross the quarter-deck at the height of eight or nine + feet; serving to carry the spare, unrigged, or disabled boats. + + Upon the stranger's shears were beheld the shattered, white ribs, and + some few splintered planks, of what had once been a whale-boat; but you + now saw through this wreck, as plainly as you see through the peeled, + half-unhinged, and bleaching skeleton of a horse. + + "Hast seen the White Whale?" + + "Look!" replied the hollow-cheeked captain from his taffrail; and with + his trumpet he pointed to the wreck. + + "Hast killed him?" + + "The harpoon is not yet forged that will ever will do that," answered + the other, sadly glancing upon a rounded hammock on the deck, whose + gathered sides some noiseless sailors were busy in sewing together. + + "Not forged!" and snatching Perth's levelled iron from the crotch, Ahab + held it out, exclaiming—"Look ye, Nantucketer; here in this hand I hold + his death! Tempered in blood, and tempered by lightning are these + barbs; and I swear to temper them triply in that hot place behind the + fin, where the White Whale most feels his accursed life!" + + "Then God keep thee, old man—see'st thou that"— pointing to the + hammock—"I bury but one of five stout men, who were alive only + yesterday; but were dead ere night. Only that one I bury; the rest were + buried before they died; you sail upon their tomb." Then turning to his + crew—"Are ye ready there? place the plank then on the rail, and lift + the body; so, then—Oh! God"—advancing towards the hammock with uplifted + hands—"may the resurrection and the life-" + + "Brace forward! Up helm!" cried Ahab like lightning to his men. + + But the suddenly started Pequod was not quick enough to escape the + sound of the splash that the corpse soon made as it struck the sea; not + so quick, indeed, but that some of the flying bubbles might have + sprinkled her hull with their ghostly baptism. + + As Ahab now glided from the dejected Delight, the strange life-buoy + hanging at the Pequod's stern came into conspicuous relief. + + "Ha! yonder! look yonder, men!" cried a foreboding voice in her wake. + "In vain, oh, ye strangers, ye fly our sad burial; ye but turn us your + taffrail to show us your coffin!" + + + + + CHAPTER 132 + + + The Symphony + + It was a clear steel-blue day. The firmaments of air and sea were + hardly separable in that all-pervading azure; only, the pensive air was + transparently pure and soft, with a woman's look, and the robust and + man-like sea heaved with long, strong, lingering swells, as Samson's + chest in his sleep. + + Hither, and thither, on high, glided the snow-white wings of small, + unspeckled birds; these were the gentle thoughts of the feminine air; + but to and fro in the deeps, far down in the bottomless blue, rushed + mighty leviathans, sword-fish, and sharks; and these were the strong, + troubled, murderous thinkings of the masculine sea. + + But though thus contrasting within, the contrast was only in shades and + shadows without; those two seemed one; it was only the sex, as it were, + that distinguished them. + + Aloft, like a royal czar and king, the sun seemed giving this gentle + air to this bold and rolling sea; even as bride to groom. And at the + girdling line of the horizon, a soft and tremulous motion— most seen + here at the Equator—denoted the fond, throbbing trust, the loving + alarms, with which the poor bride gave her bosom away. + + Tied up and twisted; gnarled and knotted with wrinkles; haggardly firm + and unyielding; his eyes glowing like coals, that still glow in the + ashes of ruin; untottering Ahab stood forth in the clearness of the + morn; lifting his splintered helmet of a brow to the fair girl's + forehead of heaven. + + Oh, immortal infancy, and innocency of the azure! Invisible winged + creatures that frolic all round us! Sweet childhood of air and sky! how + oblivious were ye of old Ahab's close-coiled woe! But so have I seen + little Miriam and Martha, laughing-eyed elves, heedlessly gambol around + their old sire; sporting with the circle of singed locks which grew on + the marge of that burnt-out crater of his brain. + + Slowly crossing the deck from the scuttle, Ahab leaned over the side + and watched how his shadow in the water sank and sank to his gaze, the + more and the more that he strove to pierce the profundity. But the + lovely aromas in that enchanted air did at last seem to dispel, for a + moment, the cankerous thing in his soul. That glad, happy air, that + winsome sky, did at last stroke and caress him; the step-mother world, + so long cruel—forbidding—now threw affectionate arms round his stubborn + neck, and did seem to joyously sob over him, as if over one, that + however wilful and erring, she could yet find it in her heart to save + and to bless. From beneath his slouched hat Ahab dropped a tear into + the sea; nor did all the Pacific contain such wealth as that one wee + drop. + + Starbuck saw the old man; saw him, how he heavily leaned over the side; + and he seemed to hear in his own true heart the measureless sobbing + that stole out of the centre of the serenity around. Careful not to + touch him, or be noticed by him, he yet drew near to him, and stood + there. + + Ahab turned. + + "Starbuck!" + + "Sir." + + "Oh, Starbuck! it is a mild, mild wind, and a mild looking sky. On such + a day—very much such a sweetness as this—I struck my first whale—a + boy-harpooneer of eighteen! Forty—forty— forty years ago!—ago! Forty + years of continual whaling! forty years of privation, and peril, and + storm-time! forty years on the pitiless sea! for forty years has Ahab + forsaken the peaceful land, for forty years to make war on the horrors + of the deep! Aye and yes, Starbuck, out of those forty years I have not + spent three ashore. When I think of this life I have led; the + desolation of solitude it has been; the masoned, walled-town of a + Captain's exclusiveness, which admits but small entrance to any + sympathy from the green country without—oh, weariness! heaviness! + Guinea-coast slavery of solitary command!—when I think of all this; + only half-suspected, not so keenly known to me before— and how for + forty years I have fed upon dry salted fare— fit emblem of the dry + nourishment of my soul!—when the poorest landsman has had fresh fruit + to his daily hand, and broken the world's fresh bread to my mouldy + crusts—away, whole oceans away, from that young girl-wife I wedded past + fifty, and sailed for Cape Horn the next day, leaving but one dent in + my marriage pillow— wife? wife?—rather a widow with her husband alive? + Aye, I widowed that poor girl when I married her, Starbuck; and then, + the madness, the frenzy, the boiling blood and the smoking brow, with + which, for a thousand lowerings old Ahab has furiously, foamingly + chased his prey—more a demon than a man!—aye, aye! what a forty years' + fool—fool—old fool, has old Ahab been! Why this strife of the chase? + why weary, and palsy the arm at the oar, and the iron, and the lance? + how the richer or better is Ahab now? Behold. Oh, Starbuck! is it not + hard, that with this weary load I bear, one poor leg should have been + snatched from under me? Here, brush this old hair aside; it blinds me, + that I seem to weep. Locks so grey did never grow but from out some + ashes! But do I look very old, so very, very old, Starbuck? I feel + deadly faint, bowed, and humped, as though I were Adam, staggering + beneath the piled centuries since Paradise. God! God! God!—crack my + heart!—stave my brain!— mockery! mockery! bitter, biting mockery of + grey hairs, have I lived enough joy to wear ye; and seem and feel thus + intolerably old? Close! stand close to me, Starbuck; let me look into a + human eye; it is better than to gaze into sea or sky; better than to + gaze upon God. By the green land; by the bright hearthstone! this is + the magic glass, man; I see my wife and my child in thine eye. No, no; + stay on board, on board!—lower not when I do; when branded Ahab gives + chase to Moby Dick. That hazard shall not be thine. No, no! not with + the far away home I see in that eye!" + + "Oh, my Captain! my Captain! noble soul! grand old heart, after all! + why should any one give chase to that hated fish! Away with me! let us + fly these deadly waters! let us home! Wife and child, too, are + Starbuck's—wife and child of his brotherly, sisterly, play-fellow + youth; even as thine, sir, are the wife and child of thy loving, + longing, paternal old age! Away! let us away!—this instant let me alter + the course! How cheerily, how hilariously, O my Captain, would we bowl + on our way to see old Nantucket again! I think, sir, they have some + such mild blue days, even as this, in Nantucket." + + "They have, they have. I have seen them—some summer days in the + morning. About this time—yes, it is his noon nap now— the boy + vivaciously wakes; sits up in bed; and his mother tells him of me, of + cannibal old me; how I am abroad upon the deep, but will yet come back + to dance him again." + + "'Tis my Mary, my Mary herself! She promised that my boy, every + morning, should be carried to the hill to catch the first glimpse of + his father's sail! Yes, yes! no more! it is done! we head for + Nantucket! Come, my Captain, study out the course, and let us away! + See, see! the boy's face from the window! the boy's hand on the hill!" + + But Ahab's glance was averted; like a blighted fruit tree he shook, and + cast his last, cindered apple to the soil. + + "What is it, what nameless, inscrutable, unearthly thing is it; what + cozening, hidden lord and master, and cruel, remorseless emperor + commands me; that against all natural lovings and longings, I so keep + pushing, and crowding, and jamming myself on all the time; recklessly + making me ready to do what in my own proper, natural heart, I durst not + so much as dare? Is Ahab, Ahab? Is it I, God, or who, that lifts this + arm? But if the great sun move not of himself; but is as an errand-boy + in heaven; nor one single star can revolve, but by some invisible + power; how then can this one small heart beat; this one small brain + think thoughts; unless God does that beating, does that thinking, does + that living, and not I. By heaven, man, we are turned round and round + in this world, like yonder windlass, and Fate is the handspike. And all + the time, lo! that smiling sky, and this unsounded sea! Look! see yon + Albicore! who put it into him to chase and fang that flying-fish? Where + do murderers go, man! Who's to doom, when the judge himself is dragged + to the bar? But it is a mild, mild wind, and a mild looking sky; and + the airs smells now, as if it blew from a far-away meadow; they have + been making hay somewhere under the slopes of the Andes, Starbuck, and + the mowers are sleeping among the new-mown hay. Sleeping? Aye, toil we + how we may, we all sleep at last on the field. Sleep? Aye, and rust + amid greenness; as last year's scythes flung down, and left in the + half-cut swarths—Starbuck!" + + But blanched to a corpse's hue with despair, the Mate had stolen away. + + Ahab crossed the deck to gaze over on the other side; but started at + two reflected, fixed eyes in the water there, Fedallah was motionlessly + leaning over the same rail. + + + + + CHAPTER 133 + + + The Chase - First Day + + That night, in the mid-watch when the old man—as his wont at + intervals—stepped forth from the scuttle in which he leaned, and went + to his pivot-hole, he suddenly thrust out his face fiercely, snuffing + up the sea air as a sagacious ship's dog will, in drawing nigh to some + barbarous isle. He declared that a whale must be near. Soon that + peculiar odor, sometimes to a great distance given forth by the living + sperm whale, was palpable to all the watch; nor was any mariner + surprised when, after inspecting the compass, and then the dog-vane, + and then ascertaining the precise bearing of the odor as nearly as + possible, Ahab rapidly ordered the ship's course to be slightly + altered, and the sail to be shortened. + + The acute policy dictating these movements was sufficiently vindicated + at daybreak, by the sight of a long sleek on the sea directly and + lengthwise ahead, smooth as oil, and resembling in the pleated watery + wrinkles bordering it, the polished metallic-like marks of some swift + tide-rip, at the mouth of a deep, rapid stream. + + "Man the mast-heads! Call all hands!" + + Thundering with the butts of three clubbed handspikes on the forecastle + deck, Daggoo roused the sleepers with such judgment claps that they + seemed to exhale from the scuttle, so instantaneously did they appear + with their clothes in their hands. + + "What d'ye see?" cried Ahab, flattening his face to the sky. + + "Nothing, nothing sir!" was the sound hailing down in reply. + + "T'gallant sails!—stunsails! alow and aloft, and on both sides!" + + All sail being set, he now cast loose the life-line, reserved for + swaying him to the main royal-mast head; and in a few moments they were + hoisting him thither, when, while but two thirds of the way aloft, and + while peering ahead through the horizontal vacancy between the + main-top-sail and top-gallant-sail, he raised a gull-like cry in the + air. "There she blows!—there she blows! A hump like a snow-hill! It is + Moby Dick!" + + Fired by the cry which seemed simultaneously taken up by the three + look-outs, the men on deck rushed to the rigging to behold the famous + whale they had so long been pursuing. Ahab had now gained his final + perch, some feet above the other look-outs, Tashtego standing just + beneath him on the cap of the top-gallant-mast, so that the Indian's + head was almost on a level with Ahab's heel. From this height the whale + was now seen some mile or so ahead, at every roll of the sea revealing + his high sparkling hump, and regularly jetting his silent spout into + the air. To the credulous mariners it seemed the same silent spout they + had so long ago beheld in the moonlit Atlantic and Indian Oceans. + + "And did none of ye see it before?" cried Ahab, hailing the perched men + all around him. + + "I saw him almost that same instant, sir, that Captain Ahab did, and I + cried out," said Tashtego. + + "Not the same instant; not the same—no, the doubloon is mine, Fate + reserved the doubloon for me. I only; none of ye could have raised the + White Whale first. There she blows! there she blows!— there she + blows!—there she blows! There again!—there again!" he cried, in + long-drawn, lingering, methodic tones, attuned to the gradual + prolongings of the whale's visible jets. "He's going to sound! In + stunsails! Down top-gallant-sails! Stand by three boats. Mr. Starbuck, + remember, stay on board, and keep the ship. Helm there! Luff, luff a + point! So; steady, man, steady! There go flukes! No, no; only black + water! All ready the boats there? Stand by, stand by! Lower me, Mr. + Starbuck; lower, lower,—quick, quicker!" and he slid through the air to + the deck. + + "He is heading straight to leeward, sir," cried Stubb, "right away from + us; cannot have seen the ship yet." + + "Be dumb, man! Stand by the braces! Hard down the helm!—brace up! + Shiver her!—shiver her!—So; well that! Boats, boats!" + + Soon all the boats but Starbuck's were dropped; all the boat-sails set— + all the paddles plying; with rippling swiftness, shooting to leeward; + and Ahab heading the onset. A pale, death-glimmer lit up Fedallah's + sunken eyes; a hideous motion gnawed his mouth. + + Like noiseless nautilus shells, their light prows sped through the sea; + but only slowly they neared the foe. As they neared him, the ocean grew + still more smooth; seemed drawing a carpet over its waves; seemed a + noon-meadow, so serenely it spread. At length the breathless hunter + came so nigh his seemingly unsuspecting prey, that his entire dazzling + hump was distinctly visible, sliding along the sea as if an isolated + thing, and continually set in a revolving ring of finest, fleecy, + greenish foam. He saw the vast, involved wrinkles of the slightly + projecting head beyond. Before it, far out on the soft Turkish-rugged + waters, went the glistening white shadow from his broad, milky + forehead, a musical rippling playfully accompanying the shade; and + behind, the blue waters interchangeably flowed over into the moving + valley of his steady wake; and on either hand bright bubbles arose and + danced by his side. But these were broken again by the light toes of + hundreds of gay fowls softly feathering the sea, alternate with their + fitful flight; and like to some flag-staff rising from the painted hull + of an argosy, the tall but shattered pole of a recent lance projected + from the white whale's back; and at intervals one of the cloud of + soft-toed fowls hovering, and to and fro skimming like a canopy over + the fish, silently perched and rocked on this pole, the long tail + feathers streaming like pennons. + + A gentle joyousness—a mighty mildness of repose in swiftness, invested + the gliding whale. Not the white bull Jupiter swimming away with + ravished Europa clinging to his graceful horns; his lovely, leering + eyes sideways intent upon the maid; with smooth bewitching fleetness, + rippling straight for the nuptial bower in Crete; not Jove, not that + great majesty Supreme! did surpass the glorified White Whale as he so + divinely swam. + + On each soft side—coincident with the parted swell, that but once + leaving him then flowed so wide away—on each bright side, the whale + shed off enticings. No wonder there had been some among the hunters who + namelessly transported and allured by all this serenity, had ventured + to assail it; but had fatally found that quietude but the vesture of + tornadoes. Yet calm, enticing calm, oh, whale! thou glidest on, to all + who for the first time eye thee, no matter how many in that same way + thou mayst have bejuggled and destroyed before. + + And thus, through the serene tranquillities of the tropical sea, among + waves whose hand-clappings were suspended by exceeding rapture, Moby + Dick moved on, still withholding from sight the full terrors of his + submerged trunk, entirely hiding the wrenched hideousness of his jaw. + But soon the fore part of him slowly rose from the water; for an + instant his whole marbleized body formed a high arch, like Virginia's + Natural Bridge, and warningly waving his bannered flukes in the air, + the grand god revealed himself, sounded and went out of sight. + Hoveringly halting, and dipping on the wing, the white sea-fowls + longingly lingered over the agitated pool that he left. + + With oars apeak, and paddles down, the sheets of their sails adrift, + the three boats now stilly floated, awaiting Moby Dick's reappearance. + + "An hour," said Ahab, standing rooted in his boat's stern; and he gazed + beyond the whale's place, towards the dim blue spaces and wide wooing + vacancies to leeward. It was only an instant; for again his eyes seemed + whirling round in his head as he swept the watery circle. The breeze + now freshened; the sea began to swell. + + "The birds!—the birds!" cried Tashtego. + + In long Indian file, as when herons take wing, the white birds were now + all flying towards Ahab's boat; and when within a few yards began + fluttering over the water there, wheeling round and round, with joyous, + expectant cries. Their vision was keener than man's; Ahab could + discover no sign in the sea. But suddenly as he peered down and down + into its depths, he profoundly saw a white living spot no bigger than a + white weasel, with wonderful celerity uprising, and magnifying as it + rose, till it turned, and then there were plainly revealed two long + crooked rows of white, glistening teeth, floating up from the + undiscoverable bottom. It was Moby Dick's open mouth and scrolled jaw; + his vast, shadowed bulk still half blending with the blue of the sea. + The glittering mouth yawned beneath the boat like an open-doored marble + tomb; and giving one sidelong sweep with his steering oar, Ahab whirled + the craft aside from this tremendous apparition. Then, calling upon + Fedallah to change places with him, went forward to the bows, and + seizing Perth's harpoon, commanded his crew to grasp their oars and + stand by to stern. + + Now, by reason of this timely spinning round the boat upon its axis, + its bow, by anticipation, was made to face the whale's head while yet + under water. But as if perceiving this stratagem, Moby Dick, with that + malicious intelligence ascribed to him, sidelingly transplanted + himself, as it were, in an instant, shooting his pleated head + lengthwise beneath the boat. + + Through and through; through every plank and each rib, it thrilled for + an instant, the whale obliquely lying on his back, in the manner of a + biting shark slowly and feelingly taking its bows full within his + mouth, so that the long, narrow, scrolled lower jaw curled high up into + the open air, and one of the teeth caught in a row-lock. The bluish + pearl-white of the inside of the jaw was within six inches of Ahab's + head, and reached higher than that. In this attitude the White Whale + now shook the slight cedar as a mildly cruel cat her mouse. With + unastonished eyes Fedallah gazed, and crossed his arms; but the + tiger-yellow crew were tumbling over each other's heads to gain the + uttermost stern. + + And now, while both elastic gunwales were springing in and out, as the + whale dallied with the doomed craft in this devilish way; and from his + body being submerged beneath the boat, he could not be darted at from + the bows, for the bows were almost inside of him, as it were; and while + the other boats involuntarily paused, as before a quick crisis + impossible to withstand, then it was that monomaniac Ahab, furious with + this tantalizing vicinity of his foe, which placed him all alive and + helpless in the very jaws he hated; frenzied with all this, he seized + the long bone with his naked hands, and wildly strove to wrench it from + its gripe. As now he thus vainly strove, the jaw slipped from him; the + frail gunwales bent in, collapsed, and snapped, as both jaws, like an + enormous shears, sliding further aft, bit the craft completely in + twain, and locked themselves fast again in the sea, midway between the + two floating wrecks. These floated aside, the broken ends drooping, the + crew at the stern-wreck clinging to the gunwales, and striving to hold + fast to the oars to lash them across. + + At that preluding moment, ere the boat was yet snapped, Ahab, the first + to perceive the whale's intent, by the crafty upraising of his head, a + movement that loosed his hold for the time; at that moment his hand had + made one final effort to push the boat out of the bite. But only + slipping further into the whale's mouth, and tilting over sideways as + it slipped, the boat had shaken off his hold on the jaw; spilled him + out of it, as he leaned to the push; and so he fell flat-faced upon the + sea. + + Ripplingly withdrawing from his prey, Moby Dick now lay at a little + distance, vertically thrusting his oblong white head up and down in the + billows; and at the same time slowly revolving his whole spindled body; + so that when his vast wrinkled forehead rose— some twenty or more feet + out of the water—the now rising swells, with all their confluent waves, + dazzlingly broke against it; vindictively tossing their shivered spray + still higher into the air.* So, in a gale, the but half baffled Channel + billows only recoil from the base of the Eddystone, triumphantly to + overleap its summit with their scud. + + *This motion is peculiar to the sperm whale. It receives its + designation (pitchpoling) from its being likened to that preliminary + up-and-down poise of the whale-lance, in the exercise called + pitchpoling, previously described. By this motion the whale must best + and most comprehensively view whatever objects may be encircling him. + + But soon resuming his horizontal attitude, Moby Dick swam swiftly round + and round the wrecked crew; sideways churning the water in his vengeful + wake, as if lashing himself up to still another and more deadly + assault. The sight of the splintered boat seemed to madden him, as the + blood of grapes and mulberries cast before Antiochus's elephants in the + book of Maccabees. Meanwhile Ahab half smothered in the foam of the + whale's insolent tail, and too much of a cripple to swim,—though he + could still keep afloat, even in the heart of such a whirlpool as that; + helpless Ahab's head was seen, like a tossed bubble which the least + chance shock might burst. From the boat's fragmentary stern, Fedallah + incuriously and mildly eyed him; the clinging crew, at the other + drifting end, could not succor him; more than enough was it for them to + look to themselves. For so revolvingly appalling was the White Whale's + aspect, and so planetarily swift the ever-contracting circles he made, + that he seemed horizontally swooping upon them. And though the other + boats, unharmed, still hovered hard by; still they dared not pull into + the eddy to strike, lest that should be the signal for the instant + destruction of the jeopardized castaways, Ahab and all; nor in that + case could they themselves hope to escape. With straining eyes, then, + they remained on the outer edge of the direful zone, whose centre had + now become the old man's head. + + Meantime, from the beginning all this had been descried from the ship's + mast heads; and squaring her yards, she had borne down upon the scene; + and was now so nigh, that Ahab in the water hailed her!—"Sail on the"— + but that moment a breaking sea dashed on him from Moby Dick, and + whelmed him for the time. But struggling out of it again, and chancing + to rise on a towering crest, he shouted,—"Sail on the whale!—Drive him + off!" + + The Pequod's prows were pointed-, and breaking up the charmed circle, + she effectually parted the white whale from his victim. As he sullenly + swam off, the boats flew to the rescue. + + Dragged into Stubb's boat with blood-shot, blinded eyes, the white + brine caking in his wrinkles; the long tension of Ahab's bodily + strength did crack, and helplessly he yielded to his body's doom for a + time, lying all crushed in the bottom of Stubb's boat, like one trodden + under foot of herds of elephants. Far inland, nameless wails came from + him, as desolate sounds from out ravines. + + But this intensity of his physical prostration did but so much the more + abbreviate it. In an instant's compass, great hearts sometimes condense + to one deep pang, the sum total of those shallow pains kindly diffused + through feebler men's whole lives. And so, such hearts, though summary + in each one suffering; still, if the gods decree it, in their life-time + aggregate a whole age of woe, wholly made up of instantaneous + intensities; for even in their pointless centres, those noble natures + contain the entire circumferences of inferior souls. + + "The harpoon," said Ahab, half way rising, and draggingly leaning on + one bended arm—"is it safe?" + + "Aye, sir, for it was not darted; this is it," said Stubb, showing it. + + "Lay it before me;—any missing men?" + + "One, two, three, four, five;—there were five oars, sir, and here are + five men." + + "That's good.—Help me, man; I wish to stand. So, so, I see him! + there! there! going to leeward still; what a leaping spout!— + Hands off from me! The eternal sap runs up in Ahab's bones again! + Set the sail; out oars; the helm!" + + It is often the case that when a boat is stove, its crew, being picked + up by another boat, help to work that second boat; and the chase is + thus continued with what is called double-banked oars. It was thus now. + But the added power of the boat did not equal the added power of the + whale, for he seemed to have treble-banked his every fin; swimming with + a velocity which plainly showed, that if now, under these + circumstances, pushed on, the chase would prove an indefinitely + prolonged, if not a hopeless one; nor could any crew endure for so long + a period, such an unintermitted, intense straining at the oar; a thing + barely tolerable only in some one brief vicissitude. The ship itself, + then, as it sometimes happens, offered the most promising intermediate + means of overtaking the chase. Accordingly, the boats now made for her, + and were soon swayed up to their cranes—the two parts of the wrecked + boat having been previously secured by her—and then hoisting everything + to her side, and stacking her canvas high up, and sideways + outstretching it with stunsails, like the double-jointed wings of an + albatross; the Pequod bore down in the leeward wake of Moby Dick. At + the well known, methodic intervals, the whale's glittering spout was + regularly announced from the manned mast-heads; and when he would be + reported as just gone down, Ahab would take the time, and then pacing + the deck, binnacle-watch in hand, so soon as the last second of the + allotted hour expired, his voice was heard.—"Whose is the doubloon now? + D'ye see him?" and if the reply was No, sir! straightway he commanded + them to lift him to his perch. In this way the day wore on; Ahab, now + aloft and motionless; anon, unrestingly pacing the planks. + + As he was thus walking, uttering no sound, except to hail the men + aloft, or to bid them hoist a sail still higher, or to spread one to a + still greater breadth—thus to and fro pacing, beneath his slouched hat, + at every turn he passed his own wrecked boat, which had been dropped + upon the quarter-deck, and lay there reversed; broken bow to shattered + stern. At last he paused before it; and as in an already over-clouded + sky fresh troops of clouds will sometimes sail across, so over the old + man's face there now stole some such added gloom as this. + + Stubb saw him pause; and perhaps intending, not vainly, though, to + evince his own unabated fortitude, and thus keep up a valiant place in + his Captain's mind, he advanced, and eyeing the wreck exclaimed— "The + thistle the ass refused; it pricked his mouth too keenly, sir; ha! ha! + ha!" + + "What soulless thing is this that laughs before a wreck? + Man, man! did I not know thee brave as fearless fire + (and as mechanical) I could swear thou wert a poltroon. + Groan nor laugh should be heard before a wreck." + + "Aye, sir," said Starbuck drawing near, "'tis a solemn sight; an omen, + and an ill one." + + "Omen? omen?—the dictionary! If the gods think to speak outright to + man, they will honorably speak outright; not shake their heads, and + give an old wives' darkling hint.—Begone! Ye two are the opposite poles + of one thing; Starbuck is Stubb reversed, and Stubb is Starbuck; and ye + two are all mankind; and Ahab stands alone among the millions of the + peopled earth, nor gods nor men his neighbors! Cold, cold—I shiver!—How + now? Aloft there! D'ye see him? Sing out for every spout, though he + spout ten times a second!" + + The day was nearly done; only the hem of his golden robe was rustling. + Soon it was almost dark, but the look-out men still remained unset. + + "Can't see the spout now, sir;—too dark"—cried a voice from the air. + + "How heading when last seen?" + + "As before, sir,—straight to leeward." + + "Good! he will travel slower now 'tis night. Down royals and + top-gallant stunsails, Mr. Starbuck. We must not run over him before + morning; he's making a passage now, and may heave-to a while. Helm + there! keep her full before the wind!—Aloft! come down!— Mr. Stubb, + send a fresh hand to the fore-mast head, and see it manned till + morning."—Then advancing towards the doubloon in the main-mast—"Men, + this gold is mine, for I earned it; but I shall let it abide here till + the White Whale is dead; and then, whosoever of ye first raises him, + upon the day he shall be killed, this gold is that man's; and if on + that day I shall again raise him, then, ten times its sum shall be + divided among all of ye! Away now! the deck is thine, sir!" + + And so saying, he placed himself half way within the scuttle, and + slouching his hat, stood there till dawn, except when at intervals + rousing himself to see how the night wore on. + + + + + CHAPTER 134 + + + The Chase - Second Day + + At day-break, the three mast-heads were punctually manned afresh. + + "D'ye see him?" cried Ahab after allowing a little space for the light + to spread. + + "See nothing, sir." + + "Turn up all hands and make sail! he travels faster than I thought + for;— the top-gallant sails!—aye, they should have been kept on her all + night. But no matter—'tis but resting for the rush." + + Here be it said, that this pertinacious pursuit of one particular + whale, continued through day into night, and through night into day, is + a thing by no means unprecedented in the South sea fishery. For such is + the wonderful skill, prescience of experience, and invincible + confidence acquired by some great natural geniuses among the Nantucket + commanders; that from the simple observation of a whale when last + descried, they will, under certain given circumstances, pretty + accurately foretell both the direction in which he will continue to + swim for a time, while out of sight, as well as his probable rate of + progression during that period. And, in these cases, somewhat as a + pilot, when about losing sight of a coast, whose general trending he + well knows, and which he desires shortly to return to again, but at + some further point; like as this pilot stands by his compass, and takes + the precise bearing of the cape at present visible, in order the more + certainly to hit aright the remote, unseen headland, eventually to be + visited: so does the fisherman, at his compass, with the whale; for + after being chased, and diligently marked, through several hours of + daylight, then, when night obscures the fish, the creature's future + wake through the darkness is almost as established to the sagacious + mind of the hunter, as the pilot's coast is to him. So that to this + hunter's wondrous skill, the proverbial evanescence of a thing writ in + water, a wake, is to all desired purposes well nigh as reliable as the + steadfast land. And as the mighty iron Leviathan of the modern railway + is so familiarly known in its every pace, that, with watches in their + hands, men time his rate as doctors that of a baby's pulse; and lightly + say of it, the up train or the down train will reach such or such a + spot, at such or such an hour; even so, almost, there are occasions + when these Nantucketers time that other Leviathan of the deep, + according to the observed humor of his speed; and say to themselves, so + many hours hence this whale will have gone two hundred miles, will have + about reached this or that degree of latitude or longitude. But to + render this acuteness at all successful in the end, the wind and the + sea must be the whaleman's allies; for of what present avail to the + becalmed or wind-bound mariner is the skill that assures him he is + exactly ninety-three leagues and a quarter from his port? Inferable + from these statements, are many collateral subtile matters touching the + chase of whales. + + The ship tore on; leaving such a furrow in the sea as when a + cannonball, missent, becomes a plough-share and turns up the level + field. + + "By salt and hemp!" cried Stubb, "but this swift motion of the deck + creeps up one's legs and tingles at the heart. This ship and I are two + brave fellows!—Ha, ha! Some one take me up, and launch me, spine-wise, + on the sea,—for by live-oaks! my spine's a keel. Ha, ha! we go the gait + that leaves no dust behind!" + + "There she blows—she blows!—she blows!—right ahead!" was now the + mast-head cry. + + "Aye, aye!" cried Stubb, "I knew it—ye can't escape—blow on and split + your spout, O whale! the mad fiend himself is after ye! blow your + trump— blister your lungs!—Ahab will dam off your blood, as a miller + shuts his watergate upon the stream!" + + And Stubb did but speak out for well nigh all that crew. The frenzies + of the chase had by this time worked them bubblingly up, like old wine + worked anew. Whatever pale fears and forebodings some of them might + have felt before; these were not only now kept out of sight through the + growing awe of Ahab, but they were broken up, and on all sides routed, + as timid prairie hares that scatter before the bounding bison. The hand + of Fate had snatched all their souls; and by the stirring perils of the + previous day; the rack of the past night's suspense; the fixed, + unfearing, blind, reckless way in which their wild craft went plunging + towards its flying mark; by all these things, their hearts were bowled + along. The wind that made great bellies of their sails, and rushed the + vessel on by arms invisible as irresistible; this seemed the symbol of + that unseen agency which so enslaved them to the race. + + They were one man, not thirty. For as the one ship that held them all; + though it was put together of all contrasting things—oak, and maple, + and pine wood; iron, and pitch, and hemp—yet all these ran into each + other in the one concrete hull, which shot on its way, both balanced + and directed by the long central keel; even so, all the individualities + of the crew, this man's valor, that man's fear; guilt and guiltiness, + all varieties were welded into oneness, and were all directed to that + fatal goal which Ahab their one lord and keel did point to. + + The rigging lived. The mast-heads, like the tops of tall palms, were + outspreadingly tufted with arms and legs. Clinging to a spar with one + hand, some reached forth the other with impatient wavings; others, + shading their eyes from the vivid sunlight, sat far out on the rocking + yards; all the spars in full bearing of mortals, ready and ripe for + their fate. Ah! how they still strove through that infinite blueness to + seek out the thing that might destroy them! + + "Why sing ye not out for him, if ye see him?" cried Ahab, when, after + the lapse of some minutes since the first cry, no more had been heard. + "Sway me up, men; ye have been deceived; not Moby Dick casts one odd + jet that way, and then disappears." + + It was even so; in their headlong eagerness, the men had mistaken some + other thing for the whale-spout, as the event itself soon proved; for + hardly had Ahab reached his perch; hardly was the rope belayed to its + pin on deck, when he struck the key-note to an orchestra, that made the + air vibrate as with the combined discharge of rifles. The triumphant + halloo of thirty buckskin lungs was heard, as— much nearer to the ship + than the place of the imaginary jet, less than a mile ahead—Moby Dick + bodily burst into view! For not by any calm and indolent spoutings; not + by the peaceable gush of that mystic fountain in his head, did the + White Whale now reveal his vicinity; but by the far more wondrous + phenomenon of breaching. Rising with his utmost velocity from the + furthest depths, the Sperm Whale thus booms his entire bulk into the + pure element of air, and piling up a mountain of dazzling foam, shows + his place to the distance of seven miles and more. In those moments, + the torn, enraged waves he shakes off, seem his mane; in some cases, + this breaching is his act of defiance. + + "There she breaches! there she breaches!" was the cry, as in his + immeasurable bravadoes the White Whale tossed himself salmon-like to + Heaven. So suddenly seen in the blue plain of the sea, and relieved + against the still bluer margin of the sky, the spray that he raised, + for the moment, intolerably glittered and glared like a glacier; and + stood there gradually fading and fading away from its first sparkling + intensity, to the dim mistiness of an advancing shower in a vale. + + "Aye, breach your last to the sun, Moby Dick!" cried Ahab, "thy hour + and thy harpoon are at hand!—Down! down all of ye, but one man at the + fore. The boats!—stand by!" + + Unmindful of the tedious rope-ladders of the shrouds, the men, like + shooting stars, slid to the deck, by the isolated backstays and + halyards; while Ahab, less dartingly, but still rapidly was dropped + from his perch. + + "Lower away," he cried, so soon as he had reached his boat—a spare one, + rigged the afternoon previous. "Mr. Starbuck, the ship is thine— keep + away from the boats, but keep near them. Lower, all!" + + As if to strike a quick terror into them, by this time being the first + assailant himself, Moby Dick had turned, and was now coming for the + three crews. Ahab's boat was central; and cheering his men, he told + them he would take the whale head-and-head,— that is, pull straight up + to his forehead,—a not uncommon thing; for when within a certain limit, + such a course excludes the coming onset from the whale's sidelong + vision. But ere that close limit was gained, and while yet all three + boats were plain as the ship's three masts to his eye; the White Whale + churning himself into furious speed, almost in an instant as it were, + rushing among the boats with open jaws, and a lashing tail, offered + appalling battle on every side; and heedless of the irons darted at him + from every boat, seemed only intent on annihilating each separate plank + of which those boats were made. But skilfully manoeuvred, incessantly + wheeling like trained chargers in the field; the boats for a while + eluded him; though, at times, but by a plank's breadth; while all the + time, Ahab's unearthly slogan tore every other cry but his to shreds. + + But at last in his untraceable evolutions, the White Whale so crossed + and recrossed, and in a thousand ways entangled the slack of the three + lines now fast to him, that they foreshortened, and, of themselves, + warped the devoted boats towards the planted irons in him; though now + for a moment the whale drew aside a little, as if to rally for a more + tremendous charge. Seizing that opportunity, Ahab first paid out more + line; and then was rapidly hauling and jerking in upon it again— hoping + that way to disencumber it of some snarls—when lo!— a sight more savage + than the embattled teeth of sharks! + + Caught and twisted—corkscrewed in the mazes of the line, loose harpoons + and lances, with all their bristling barbs and points, came flashing + and dripping up to the chocks in the bows of Ahab's boat. Only one + thing could be done. Seizing the boat-knife, he critically reached + within—through—and then, without—the rays of steel; dragged in the line + beyond, passed it, inboard, to the bowsman, and then, twice sundering + the rope near the chocks—dropped the intercepted fagot of steel into + the sea; and was all fast again. That instant, the White Whale made a + sudden rush among the remaining tangles of the other lines; by so + doing, irresistibly dragged the more involved boats of Stubb and Flask + towards his flukes; dashed them together like two rolling husks on a + surf-beaten beach, and then, diving down into the sea, disappeared in a + boiling maelstrom, in which, for a space, the odorous cedar chips of + the wrecks danced round and round, like the grated nutmeg in a swiftly + stirred bowl of punch. + + While the two crews were yet circling in the waters, reaching out after + the revolving line-tubs, oars, and other floating furniture, while + aslope little Flask bobbed up and down like an empty vial, twitching + his legs upwards to escape the dreaded jaws of sharks; and Stubb was + lustily singing out for some one to ladle him up; and while the old + man's line—now parting—admitted of his pulling into the creamy pool to + rescue whom he could;— in that wild simultaneousness of a thousand + concreted perils,— Ahab's yet unstricken boat seemed drawn up towards + Heaven by invisible wires,—as, arrow-like, shooting perpendicularly + from the sea, the White Whale dashed his broad forehead against its + bottom, and sent it turning over and over, into the air; till it fell + again— gunwale downwards—and Ahab and his men struggled out from under + it, like seals from a sea-side cave. + + The first uprising momentum of the whale—modifying its direction as he + struck the surface—involuntarily launched him along it, to a little + distance from the centre of the destruction he had made; and with his + back to it, he now lay for a moment slowly feeling with his flukes from + side to side; and whenever a stray oar, bit of plank, the least chip or + crumb of the boats touched his skin, his tail swiftly drew back, and + came sideways smiting the sea. But soon, as if satisfied that his work + for that time was done, he pushed his pleated forehead through the + ocean, and trailing after him the intertangled lines, continued his + leeward way at a traveller's methodic pace. + + As before, the attentive ship having descried the whole fight, again + came bearing down to the rescue, and dropping a boat, picked up the + floating mariners, tubs, oars, and whatever else could be caught at, + and safely landed them on her decks. Some sprained shoulders, wrists, + and ankles; livid contusions; wrenched harpoons and lances; + inextricable intricacies of rope; shattered oars and planks; all these + were there; but no fatal or even serious ill seemed to have befallen + any one. As with Fedallah the day before, so Ahab was now found grimly + clinging to his boat's broken half, which afforded a comparatively easy + float; nor did it so exhaust him as the previous day's mishap. + + But when he was helped to the deck, all eyes were fastened upon him; as + instead of standing by himself he still half-hung upon the shoulder of + Starbuck, who had thus far been the foremost to assist him. His ivory + leg had been snapped off, leaving but one short sharp splinter. + + "Aye, aye, Starbuck, 'tis sweet to lean sometimes, be the leaner who he + will; and would old Ahab had leaned oftener than he has." + + "The ferrule has not stood, sir," said the carpenter, now coming up; + I put good work into that leg." + + "But no bones broken, sir, I hope," said Stubb with true concern. + + "Aye! and all splintered to pieces, Stubb!—d'ye see it.— But even with + a broken bone, old Ahab is untouched; and I account no living bone of + mine one jot more me, than this dead one that's lost. Nor white whale, + nor man, nor fiend, can so much as graze old Ahab in his own proper and + inaccessible being. Can any lead touch yonder floor, any mast scrape + yonder roof?— Aloft there! which way?" + + "Dead to leeward, sir." + + "Up helm, then; pile on the sail again, ship keepers! down the rest of + the spare boats and rig them—Mr. Starbuck away, and muster the boat's + crews." + + "Let me first help thee towards the bulwarks, sir." + + "Oh, oh, oh! how this splinter gores me now! Accursed fate! that the + unconquerable captain in the soul should have such a craven mate!" + + "Sir?" + + "My body, man, not thee. Give me something for a cane—there, that + shivered lance will do. Muster the men. Surely I have not seen him yet. + By heaven it cannot be!—missing?—quick! call them all." + + The old man's hinted thought was true. Upon mustering the company, the + Parsee was not there. + + "The Parsee!" cried Stubb—"he must have been caught in-" + + "The black vomit wrench thee!—run all of ye above, alow, cabin, + forecastle—find him—not gone—not gone!" + + But quickly they returned to him with the tidings that the Parsee was + nowhere to be found. + + "Aye, sir," said Stubb—"caught among the tangles of your line— + I thought I saw him dragging under." + + "My line! my line? Gone?—gone? What means that little word?— What + death-knell rings in it, that old Ahab shakes as if he were the belfry. + The harpoon, too!—toss over the litter there,— d'ye see it?—the forged + iron, men, the white whale's—no, no, no,— blistered fool; this hand did + dart it!—'tis in the fish!—Aloft there! Keep him nailed-Quick!—all + hands to the rigging of the boats— collect the oars—harpooneers! the + irons, the irons!—hoist the royals higher—a pull on all the + sheets!—helm there! steady, steady for your life! I'll ten times girdle + the unmeasured globe; yea and dive straight through it, but I'll slay + him yet! + + "Great God! but for one single instant show thyself," cried Starbuck; + "never, never wilt thou capture him, old man— In Jesus' name no more of + this, that's worse than devil's madness. Two days chased; twice stove + to splinters; thy very leg once more snatched from under thee; thy evil + shadow gone—all good angels mobbing thee with warnings:—what more + wouldst thou have?— Shall we keep chasing this murderous fish till he + swamps the last man? Shall we be dragged by him to the bottom of the + sea? Shall we be towed by him to the infernal world? Oh, oh,— Impiety + and blasphemy to hunt him more!" + + "Starbuck, of late I've felt strangely moved to thee; ever since that + hour we both saw—thou know'st what, in one another's eyes. But in this + matter of the whale, be the front of thy face to me as the palm of this + hand—a lipless, unfeatured blank. Ahab is for ever Ahab, man. This + whole act's immutably decreed. 'Twas rehearsed by thee and me a billion + years before this ocean rolled. Fool! I am the Fates' lieutenant; I act + under orders. Look thou, underling! that thou obeyest mine.—Stand round + men, men. Ye see an old man cut down to the stump; leaning on a + shivered lance; propped up on a lonely foot. 'Tis Ahab—his body's part; + but Ahab's soul's a centipede, that moves upon a hundred legs. I feel + strained, half-stranded, as ropes that tow dismasted frigates in a + gale; and I may look so. But ere I break, yell hear me crack; and till + ye hear that, know that Ahab's hawser tows his purpose yet. Believe ye, + men, in the things called omens? Then laugh aloud, and cry encore! For + ere they drown, drowning things will twice rise to the surface; then + rise again, to sink for evermore. So with Moby Dick—two days he's + floated—to-morrow will be the third. Aye, men, he'll rise once + more,—but only to spout his last! D'ye feel brave men, brave?" + + "As fearless fire," cried Stubb. + + "And as mechanical," muttered Ahab. Then as the men went forward, he + muttered on: "The things called omens! And yesterday I talked the same + to Starbuck there, concerning my broken boat. Oh! how valiantly I seek + to drive out of others' hearts what's clinched so fast in mine!— The + Parsee—the Parsee!—gone, gone? and he was to go before:— but still was + to be seen again ere I could perish—How's that?— There's a riddle now + might baffle all the lawyers backed by the ghosts of the whole line of + judges:—like a hawk's beak it pecks my brain. I'll, I'll solve it, + though!" + + When dusk descended, the whale was still in sight to leeward. + + So once more the sail was shortened, and everything passed nearly as on + the previous night; only, the sound of hammers, and the hum of the + grindstone was heard till nearly daylight, as the men toiled by + lanterns in the complete and careful rigging of the spare boats and + sharpening their fresh weapons for the morrow. Meantime, of the broken + keel of Ahab's wrecked craft the carpenter made him another leg; while + still as on the night before, slouched Ahab stood fixed within his + scuttle; his hid, heliotrope glance anticipatingly gone backward on its + dial; sat due eastward for the earliest sun. + + + + + CHAPTER 135 + + + The Chase - Third Day + + The morning of the third day dawned fair and fresh, and once more the + solitary night-man at the fore-mast-head was relieved by crowds of the + daylight look-outs, who dotted every mast and almost every spar. + + "D'ye see him?" cried Ahab; but the whale was not yet in sight. + + "In his infallible wake, though; but follow that wake, that's all. Helm + there; steady, as thou goest, and hast been going. What a lovely day + again! were it a new-made world, and made for a summer-house to the + angels, and this morning the first of its throwing open to them, a + fairer day could not dawn upon that world. Here's food for thought, had + Ahab time to think; but Ahab never thinks; he only feels, feels, feels; + that's tingling enough for mortal man! to think's audacity. God only + has that right and privilege. Thinking is, or ought to be, a coolness + and a calmness; and our poor hearts throb, and our poor brains beat too + much for that. And yet, I've sometimes thought my brain was very calm— + frozen calm, this old skull cracks so, like a glass in which the + contents turned to ice, and shiver it. And still this hair is growing + now; this moment growing, and heat must breed it; but no, it's like + that sort of common grass that will grow anywhere, between the earthy + clefts of Greenland ice or in Vesuvius lava. How the wild winds blow + it; they whip it about me as the torn shreds of split sails lash the + tossed ship they cling to. A vile wind that has no doubt blown ere this + through prison corridors and cells, and wards of hospitals, and + ventilated them, and now comes blowing hither as innocent as fleeces. + Out upon it!—it's tainted. Were I the wind, I'd blow no more on such a + wicked, miserable world. I'd crawl somewhere to a cave, and slink + there. And yet, 'tis a noble and heroic thing, the wind! who ever + conquered it? In every fight it has the last and bitterest blow. Run + tilting at it, and you but run through it. Ha! a coward wind that + strikes stark naked men, but will not stand to receive a single blow. + Even Ahab is a braver thing—a nobler thing than that. Would now the + wind but had a body; but all the things that most exasperate and + outrage mortal man, all these things are bodiless, but only bodiless as + objects, not as agents. There's a most special, a most cunning, oh, a + most malicious difference! And yet, I say again, and swear it now, that + there's something all glorious and gracious in the wind. These warm + Trade Winds, at least, that in the clear heavens blow straight on, in + strong and steadfast, vigorous mildness; and veer not from their mark, + however the baser currents of the sea may turn and tack, and mightiest + Mississippies of the land swift and swerve about, uncertain where to go + at last. And by the eternal Poles! these same Trades that so directly + blow my good ship on; these Trades, or something like them—something so + unchangeable, and full as strong, blow my keeled soul along! To it! + Aloft there! What d'ye see?" + + "Nothing, sir." + + "Nothing! and noon at hand! The doubloon goes a-begging! See the sun! + Aye, aye, it must be so. I've over-sailed him. How, got the start? Aye, + he's chasing me now; not I, him— that's bad; I might have known it, + too. Fool! the lines— the harpoons he's towing. Aye, aye, I have run + him by last night. About! about! Come down, all of ye, but the regular + look outs! Man the braces!" + + Steering as she had done, the wind had been somewhat on the Pequod's + quarter, so that now being pointed in the reverse direction, the braced + ship sailed hard upon the breeze as she rechurned the cream in her own + white wake. + + "Against the wind he now steers for the open jaw," murmured Starbuck to + himself, as he coiled the new-hauled main-brace upon the rail. "God + keep us, but already my bones feel damp within me, and from the inside + wet my flesh. I misdoubt me that I disobey my God in obeying him!" + + "Stand by to sway me up!" cried Ahab, advancing to the hempen basket. + "We should meet him soon." + + "Aye, aye, sir," and straightway Starbuck did Ahab's bidding, and once + more Ahab swung on high. + + A whole hour now passed; gold-beaten out to ages. Time itself now held + long breaths with keen suspense. But at last, some three points off the + weather bow, Ahab descried the spout again, and instantly from the + three mast-heads three shrieks went up as if the tongues of fire had + voiced it. + + "Forehead to forehead I meet thee, this third time, Moby Dick! On deck + there!—brace sharper up; crowd her into the wind's eye. He's too far + off to lower yet, Mr. Starbuck. The sails shake! Stand over that + helmsman with a top-maul! So, so; he travels fast, and I must down. But + let me have one more good round look aloft here at the sea; there's + time for that. An old, old sight, and yet somehow so young; aye, and + not changed a wink since I first saw it, a boy, from the sand-hills of + Nantucket! The same—the same!— the same to Noah as to me. There's a + soft shower to leeward. Such lovely leewardings! They must lead + somewhere— to something else than common land, more palmy than the + palms. Leeward! the white whale goes that way; look to windward, then; + the better if the bitterer quarter. But good bye, good bye, old + mast-head! What's this?—green? aye, tiny mosses in these warped cracks. + No such green weather stains on Ahab's head! There's the difference now + between man's old age and matter's. But aye, old mast, we both grow old + together; sound in our hulls, though are we not, my ship? Aye, minus a + leg, that's all. By heaven this dead wood has the better of my live + flesh every way. I can't compare with it; and I've known some ships + made of dead trees outlast the lives of men made of the most vital + stuff of vital fathers. What's that he said? he should still go before + me, my pilot; and yet to be seen again? But where? Will I have eyes at + the bottom of the sea, supposing I descend those endless stairs? and + all night I've been sailing from him, wherever he did sink to. Aye, + aye, like many more thou told'st direful truth as touching thyself, O + Parsee; but, Ahab, there thy shot fell short. Good bye, mast-head—keep + a good eye upon the whale, the while I'm gone. We'll talk to-morrow, + nay, to-night, when the white whale lies down there, tied by head and + tail." + + He gave the word; and still gazing round him, was steadily lowered + through the cloven blue air to the deck. + + In due time the boats were lowered; but as standing in his shallop's + stern, Ahab just hovered upon the point of the descent, he waved to the + mate,—who held one of the tackle—ropes on deck— and bade him pause. + + "Starbuck!" + + "Sir?" + + "For the third time my soul's ship starts upon this voyage, Starbuck." + + "Aye, sir, thou wilt have it so." + + "Some ships sail from their ports, and ever afterwards are missing, + Starbuck!" + + "Truth, sir: saddest truth." + + "Some men die at ebb tide; some at low water; some at the full of the + flood;—and I feel now like a billow that's all one crested comb, + Starbuck. I am old;—shake hands with me, man." + + Their hands met; their eyes fastened; Starbuck's tears the glue. + + "Oh, my captain, my captain!—noble heart—go not—go not!—see, it's a + brave man that weeps; how great the agony of the persuasion then!" + + "Lower away!"-cried Ahab, tossing the mate's arm from him. + "Stand by for the crew!" + + In an instant the boat was pulling round close under the stern. + + "The sharks! the sharks!" cried a voice from the low cabin-window + there; + "O master, my master, come back!" + + But Ahab heard nothing; for his own voice was high-lifted then; and the + boat leaped on. + + Yet the voice spake true; for scarce had he pushed from the ship, when + numbers of sharks, seemingly rising from out the dark waters beneath + the hull, maliciously snapped at the blades of the oars, every time + they dipped in the water; and in this way accompanied the boat with + their bites. It is a thing not uncommonly happening to the whale-boats + in those swarming seas; the sharks at times apparently following them + in the same prescient way that vultures hover over the banners of + marching regiments in the east. But these were the first sharks that + had been observed by the Pequod since the White Whale had been first + descried; and whether it was that Ahab's crew were all such + tiger-yellow barbarians, and therefore their flesh more musky to the + senses of the sharks— a matter sometimes well known to affect + them,—however it was, they seemed to follow that one boat without + molesting the others. + + "Heart of wrought steel!" murmured Starbuck gazing over the side, and + following with his eyes the receding boat—"canst thou yet ring boldly + to that sight?—lowering thy keel among ravening sharks, and followed by + them, open-mouthed to the chase; and this the critical third day?—For + when three days flow together in one continuous intense pursuit; be + sure the first is the morning, the second the noon, and the third the + evening and the end of that thing—be that end what it may. Oh! my God! + what is this that shoots through me, and leaves me so deadly calm, yet + expectant,—fixed at the top of a shudder! Future things swim before me, + as in empty outlines and skeletons; all the past is somehow grown dim. + Mary, girl; thou fadest in pale glories behind me; boy! I seem to see + but thy eyes grown wondrous blue. Strangest problems of life seem + clearing; but clouds sweep between—Is my journey's end coming? My legs + feel faint; like his who has footed it all day. Feel thy heart,—beats + it yet? Stir thyself, Starbuck!— stave it off—move, move! speak + aloud!—Mast-head there! See ye my boy's hand on the hill?—Crazed; aloft + there!— keep thy keenest eye upon the boats:—mark well the whale!— Ho! + again!—drive off that hawk! see! he pecks—he tears the vane"— pointing + to the red flag flying at the main-truck—"Ha, he soars away with + it!—Where's the old man now? see'st thou that sight, oh Ahab!—shudder, + shudder!" + + The boats had not gone very far, when by a signal from the mast-heads— + a downward pointed arm, Ahab knew that the whale had sounded; but + intending to be near him at the next rising, he held on his way a + little sideways from the vessel; the becharmed crew maintaining the + profoundest silence, as the head-bent waves hammered and hammered + against the opposing bow. + + "Drive, drive in your nails, oh ye waves! to their uttermost heads + drive them in! ye but strike a thing without a lid; and no coffin and + no hearse can be mine:—and hemp only can kill me! Ha! ha!" + + Suddenly the waters around them slowly swelled in broad circles; then + quickly upheaved, as if sideways sliding from a submerged berg of ice, + swiftly rising to the surface. A low rumbling sound was heard; a + subterraneous hum; and then all held their breaths; as bedraggled with + trailing ropes, and harpoons, and lances, a vast form shot lengthwise, + but obliquely from the sea. Shrouded in a thin drooping veil of mist, + it hovered for a moment in the rainbowed air; and then fell swamping + back into the deep. Crushed thirty feet upwards, the waters flashed for + an instant like heaps of fountains, then brokenly sank in a shower of + flakes, leaving the circling surface creamed like new milk round the + marble trunk of the whale. + + "Give way!" cried Ahab to the oarsmen, and the boats darted forward to + the attack; but maddened by yesterday's fresh irons that corroded in + him, Moby Dick seemed combinedly possessed by all the angels that fell + from heaven. The wide tiers of welded tendons overspreading his broad + white forehead, beneath the transparent skin, looked knitted together; + as head on, he came churning his tail among the boats; and once more + flailed them apart; spilling out the irons and lances from the two + mates' boats, and dashing in one side of the upper part of their bows, + but leaving Ahab's almost without a scar. + + While Daggoo and Queequeg were stopping the strained planks; and as the + whale swimming out from them, turned, and showed one entire flank as he + shot by them again; at that moment a quick cry went up. Lashed round + and round to the fish's back; pinioned in the turns upon turns in + which, during the past night, the whale had reeled the involutions of + the lines around him, the half torn body of the Parsee was seen; his + sable raiment frayed to shreds; his distended eyes turned full upon old + Ahab. + + The harpoon dropped from his hand. + + "Befooled, befooled!"—drawing in a long lean breath—"Aye, Parsee! I see + thee again.—Aye, and thou goest before; and this, this then is the + hearse that thou didst promise. But I hold thee to the last letter of + thy word. Where is the second hearse? Away, mates, to the ship! those + boats are useless now; repair them if ye can in time, and return to me; + if not, Ahab is enough to die—Down, men! the first thing that but + offers to jump from this boat I stand in, that thing I harpoon. Ye are + not other men, but my arms and my legs; and so obey me.— Where's the + whale? gone down again?" + + But he looked too nigh the boat; for as if bent upon escaping with the + corpse he bore, and as if the particular place of the last encounter + had been but a stage in his leeward voyage, Moby Dick was now again + steadily swimming forward; and had almost passed the ship,—which thus + far had been sailing in the contrary direction to him, though for the + present her headway had been stopped. He seemed swimming with his + utmost velocity, and now only intent upon pursuing his own straight + path in the sea. + + "Oh! Ahab," cried Starbuck, "not too late is it, even now, the third + day, to desist. See! Moby Dick seeks thee not. It is thou, thou, that + madly seekest him!" + + Setting sail to the rising wind, the lonely boat was swiftly impelled + to leeward, by both oars and canvas. And at last when Ahab was sliding + by the vessel, so near as plainly to distinguish Starbuck's face as he + leaned over the rail, he hailed him to turn the vessel about, and + follow him, not too swiftly, at a judicious interval. Glancing upwards + he saw Tashtego, Queequeg, and Daggoo, eagerly mounting to the three + mast-heads; while the oarsmen were rocking in the two staved boats + which had but just been hoisted to the side, and were busily at work in + repairing them. One after the other, through the port-holes, as he + sped, he also caught flying glimpses of Stubb and Flask, busying + themselves on deck among bundles of new irons and lances. As he saw all + this; as he heard the hammers in the broken boats; far other hammers + seemed driving a nail into his heart. But he rallied. And now marking + that the vane or flag was gone from the main-mast-head, he shouted to + Tashtego, who had just gained that perch, to descend again for another + flag, and a hammer and nails, and so nail it to the mast. + + Whether fagged by the three days' running chase, and the resistance to + his swimming in the knotted hamper he bore; or whether it was some + latent deceitfulness and malice in him: whichever was true, the White + Whale's way now began to abate, as it seemed, from the boat so rapidly + nearing him once more; though indeed the whale's last start had not + been so long a one as before. And still as Ahab glided over the waves + the unpitying sharks accompanied him; and so pertinaciously stuck to + the boat; and so continually bit at the plying oars, that the blades + became jagged and crunched, and left small splinters in the sea, at + almost every dip. + + "Heed them not! those teeth but give new rowlocks to your oars. + Pull on! 'tis the better rest, the sharks' jaw than the yielding + water." + + "But at every bite, sir, the thin blades grow smaller and smaller!" + + "They will last long enough! pull on!—But who can tell"— he + muttered—"whether these sharks swim to feast on the whale or on + Ahab?—But pull on! Aye, all alive, now—we near him. The helm! take the + helm! let me pass,"—and so saying two of the oarsmen helped him forward + to the bows of the still flying boat. + + At length as the craft was cast to one side, and ran ranging along with + the White Whale's flank, he seemed strangely oblivious of its + advance—as the whale sometimes will—and Ahab was fairly within the + smoky mountain mist, which, thrown off from the whale's spout, curled + round his great Monadnock hump; he was even thus close to him; when, + with body arched back, and both arms lengthwise high-lifted to the + poise, he darted his fierce iron, and his far fiercer curse into the + hated whale. As both steel and curse sank to the socket, as if sucked + into a morass, Moby Dick sideways writhed; spasmodically rolled his + nigh flank against the bow, and, without staving a hole in it, so + suddenly canted the boat over, that had it not been for the elevated + part of the gunwale to which he then clung, Ahab would once more have + been tossed into the sea. As it was, three of the oarsmen—who foreknew + not the precise instant of the dart, and were therefore unprepared for + its effects— these were flung out; but so fell, that, in an instant two + of them clutched the gunwale again, and rising to its level on a + combing wave, hurled themselves bodily inboard again; the third man + helplessly dropping astern, but still afloat and swimming. + + Almost simultaneously, with a mighty volition of ungraduated, + instantaneous swiftness, the White Whale darted through the weltering + sea. But when Ahab cried out to the steersman to take new turns with + the line, and hold it so; and commanded the crew to turn round on their + seats, and tow the boat up to the mark; the moment the treacherous line + felt that double strain and tug, it snapped in the empty air! + + "What breaks in me? Some sinew cracks!—'tis whole again; oars! oars! + Burst in upon him!" + + Hearing the tremendous rush of the sea-crashing boat, the whale wheeled + round to present his blank forehead at bay; but in that evolution, + catching sight of the nearing black hull of the ship; seemingly seeing + in it the source of all his persecutions; bethinking it—it may be—a + larger and nobler foe; of a sudden, he bore down upon its advancing + prow, smiting his jaws amid fiery showers of foam. + + Ahab staggered; his hand smote his forehead. "I grow blind; hands! + stretch out before me that I may yet grope my way. Is't night?" + + "The whale! The ship!" cried the cringing oarsmen. + + "Oars! oars! Slope downwards to thy depths, O sea that ere it be for + ever too late, Ahab may slide this last, last time upon his mark! I + see: the ship! the ship! Dash on, my men! Will ye not save my ship?" + + But as the oarsmen violently forced their boat through the + sledge-hammering seas, the before whale-smitten bow-ends of two planks + burst through, and in an instant almost, the temporarily disabled boat + lay nearly level with the waves; its half-wading, splashing crew, + trying hard to stop the gap and bale out the pouring water. + + Meantime, for that one beholding instant, Tashtego's mast-head hammer + remained suspended in his hand; and the red flag, half-wrapping him as + with a plaid, then streamed itself straight out from him, as his own + forward-flowing heart; while Starbuck and Stubb, standing upon the + bowsprit beneath, caught sight of the down-coming monster just as soon + as he. + + "The whale, the whale! Up helm, up helm! Oh, all ye sweet powers of + air, now hug me close! Let not Starbuck die, if die he must, in a + woman's fainting fit. Up helm, I say—ye fools, the jaw! the jaw! Is + this the end of all my bursting prayers? all my life-long fidelities? + Oh, Ahab, Ahab, lo, thy work. Steady! helmsman, steady. Nay, nay! Up + helm again! He turns to meet us! Oh, his unappeasable brow drives on + towards one, whose duty tells him he cannot depart. My God, stand by me + now!" + + "Stand not by me, but stand under me, whoever you are that will now + help Stubb; for Stubb, too, sticks here. I grin at thee, thou grinning + whale! Who ever helped Stubb, or kept Stubb awake, but Stubb's own + unwinking eye? And now poor Stubb goes to bed upon a mattrass that is + all too soft; would it were stuffed with brushwood! I grin at thee, + thou grinning whale! Look ye, sun, moon, and stars! I call ye assassins + of as good a fellow as ever spouted up his ghost. For all that, I would + yet ring glasses with ye, would ye but hand the cup! Oh, oh! oh, oh! + thou grinning whale, but there'll be plenty of gulping soon! Why fly ye + not, O Ahab! For me, off shoes and jacket to it; let Stubb die in his + drawers! A most mouldy and over salted death, though;—cherries! + cherries! cherries! Oh, Flask, for one red cherry ere we die!" + + "Cherries? I only wish that we were where they grow. Oh, Stubb, I hope + my poor mother's drawn my part-pay ere this; if not, few coppers will + now come to her, for the voyage is up." + + From the ship's bows, nearly all the seamen now hung inactive; hammers, + bits of plank, lances, and harpoons, mechanically retained in their + hands, just as they had darted from their various employments; all + their enchanted eyes intent upon the whale, which from side to side + strangely vibrating his predestinating head, sent a broad band of + overspreading semicircular foam before him as he rushed. Retribution, + swift vengeance, eternal malice were in his whole aspect, and spite of + all that mortal man could do, the solid white buttress of his forehead + smote the ship's starboard bow, till men and timbers reeled. Some fell + flat upon their faces. Like dislodged trucks, the heads of the + harpooneers aloft shook on their bull-like necks. Through the breach, + they heard the waters pour, as mountain torrents down a flume. + + "The ship! The hearse!—the second hearse!" cried Ahab from the boat; + "its wood could only be American!" + + Diving beneath the settling ship, the whale ran quivering along its + keel; but turning under water, swiftly shot to the surface again, far + off the other bow, but within a few yards of Ahab's boat, where, for a + time, he lay quiescent. + + "I turn my body from the sun. What ho, Tashtego! Let me hear thy + hammer. Oh! ye three unsurrendered spires of mine; thou uncracked keel; + and only god-bullied hull; thou firm deck, and haughty helm, and + Pole-pointed prow,—death—glorious ship! must ye then perish, and + without me? Am I cut off from the last fond pride of meanest + shipwrecked captains? Oh, lonely death on lonely life! Oh, now I feel + my topmost greatness lies in my topmost grief. Ho, ho! from all your + furthest bounds, pour ye now in, ye bold billows of my whole foregone + life, and top this one piled comber of my death! Towards thee I roll, + thou all-destroying but unconquering whale; to the last I grapple with + thee; from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last + breath at thee. Sink all coffins and all hearses to one common pool! + and since neither can be mine, let me then tow to pieces, while still + chasing thee, though tied to thee, thou damned whale! Thus, I give up + the spear!" + + The harpoon was darted; the stricken whale flew forward; with igniting + velocity the line ran through the grooves;—ran foul. Ahab stooped to + clear it; he did clear it; but the flying turn caught him round the + neck, and voicelessly as Turkish mutes bowstring their victim, he was + shot out of the boat, ere the crew knew he was gone. Next instant, the + heavy eye-splice in the rope's final end flew out of the stark-empty + tub, knocked down an oarsman, and smiting the sea, disappeared in its + depths. + + For an instant, the tranced boat's crew stood still; then turned. "The + ship? Great God, where is the ship?" Soon they through dim, bewildering + mediums saw her sidelong fading phantom, as in the gaseous Fata + Morgana; only the uppermost masts out of water; while fixed by + infatuation, or fidelity, or fate, to their once lofty perches, the + pagan harpooneers still maintained their sinking look-outs on the sea. + And now, concentric circles seized the lone boat itself, and all its + crew, and each floating oar, and every lancepole, and spinning, animate + and inanimate, all round and round in one vortex, carried the smallest + chip of the Pequod out of sight. + + But as the last whelmings intermixingly poured themselves over the + sunken head of the Indian at the mainmast, leaving a few inches of the + erect spar yet visible, together with long streaming yards of the flag, + which calmly undulated, with ironical coincidings, over the destroying + billows they almost touched;—at that instant, a red arm and a hammer + hovered backwardly uplifted in the open air, in the act of nailing the + flag faster and yet faster to the subsiding spar. A sky-hawk that + tauntingly had followed the main-truck downwards from its natural home + among the stars, pecking at the flag, and incommoding Tashtego there; + this bird now chanced to intercept its broad fluttering wing between + the hammer and the wood; and simultaneously feeling that etherial + thrill, the submerged savage beneath, in his death-gasp, kept his + hammer frozen there; and so the bird of heaven, with archangelic + shrieks, and his imperial beak thrust upwards, and his whole captive + form folded in the flag of Ahab, went down with his ship, which, like + Satan, would not sink to hell till she had dragged a living part of + heaven along with her, and helmeted herself with it. + + Now small fowls flew screaming over the yet yawning gulf; a sullen + white surf beat against its steep sides; then all collapsed, and the + great shroud of the sea rolled on as it rolled five thousand years ago. + + Epilogue + + "AND I ONLY AM ESCAPED ALONE TO TELL THEE" + Job. + + The drama's done. Why then here does any one step forth?— + Because one did survive the wreck. + + It so chanced, that after the Parsee's disappearance, I was he whom the + Fates ordained to take the place of Ahab's bowsman, when that bowsman + assumed the vacant post; the same, who, when on the last day the three + men were tossed from out of the rocking boat, was dropped astern. So, + floating on the margin of the ensuing scene, and in full sight of it, + when the halfspent suction of the sunk ship reached me, I was then, but + slowly, drawn towards the closing vortex. When I reached it, it had + subsided to a creamy pool. Round and round, then, and ever contracting + towards the button-like black bubble at the axis of that slowly + wheeling circle, like another Ixion I did revolve. Till, gaining that + vital centre, the black bubble upward burst; and now, liberated by + reason of its cunning spring, and, owing to its great buoyancy, rising + with great force, the coffin life-buoy shot lengthwise from the sea, + fell over, and floated by my side. Buoyed up by that coffin, for almost + one whole day and night, I floated on a soft and dirgelike main. The + unharming sharks, they glided by as if with padlocks on their mouths; + the savage sea-hawks sailed with sheathed beaks. On the second day, a + sail drew near, nearer, and picked me up at last. It was the + devious-cruising Rachel, that in her retracing search after her missing + children, only found another orphan. + + ETYMOLOGY + + + (Supplied by a Late Consumptive Usher to a Grammar School) + + The pale Usher—threadbare in coat, heart, body, and brain; I see him + now. He was ever dusting his old lexicons and grammars, with a queer + handkerchief, mockingly embellished with all the gay flags of all the + known nations of the world. He loved to dust his old grammars; it + somehow mildly reminded him of his mortality. + + "While you take in hand to school others, and to teach them by what + name a whale-fish is to be called in our tongue leaving out, through + ignorance, the letter H, which almost alone maketh the signification of + the word, you deliver that which is not true." —HACKLUYT + + "WHALE. … Sw. and Dan. hval. This animal is named from roundness + or rolling; for in Dan. hvalt is arched or vaulted." + —WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY + + "WHALE. … It is more immediately from the Dut. and Ger. + Wallen; A.S. Walw-ian, to roll, to wallow." + —RICHARDSON'S DICTIONARY + + KETOS, Greek. + CETUS, Latin. + WHOEL, Anglo-Saxon. + HVALT, Danish. + WAL, Dutch. + HWAL, Swedish. + WHALE, Icelandic. + WHALE, English. + BALEINE, French. + BALLENA, Spanish. + PEKEE-NUEE-NUEE, Fegee. + PEKEE-NUEE-NUEE, Erromangoan. + + EXTRACTS + (Supplied by a Sub-Sub-Librarian) + + It will be seen that this mere painstaking burrower and grub-worm of a + poor devil of a Sub-Sub appears to have gone through the long Vaticans + and street-stalls of the earth, picking up whatever random allusions to + whales he could anyways find in any book whatsoever, sacred or profane. + therefore you must not, in every case at least, take the + higgledy-piggledy whale statements, however authentic, in these + extracts, for veritable gospel cetology. Far from it. As touching the + ancient authors generally, as well as the poets here appearing, these + extracts are solely valuable or entertaining, as affording a glancing + bird's eye view of what has been promiscuously said, thought, fancied, + and sung of Leviathan, by many nations and generations, including our + own. + + So fare thee well, poor devil of a Sub-Sub, whose commentator I am. + Thou belongest to that hopeless, sallow tribe which no wine of this + world will ever warm; and for whom even Pale Sherry would be too + rosy-strong; but with whom one sometimes loves to sit, and feel + poor-devilish, too; and grow convivial upon tears; and say to them + bluntly, with full eyes and empty glasses, and in not altogether + unpleasant sadness— Give it up, Sub-Subs! For by how much more pains ye + take to please the world, by so much the more shall ye for ever go + thankless! Would that I could clear out Hampton Court and the Tuileries + for ye! But gulp down your tears and hie aloft to the royal-mast with + your hearts; for your friends who have gone before are clearing out the + seven-storied heavens, and making refugees of long pampered Gabriel, + Michael, and Raphael, against your coming. Here ye strike but + splintered hearts together—there, ye shall strike unsplinterable + glasses! + + "And God created great whales." + —GENESIS. + + "Leviathan maketh a path to shine after him; + One would think the deep to be hoary." + —JOB. + + "Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah." + —JONAH. + + "There go the ships; there is that Leviathan whom thou hast made + to play therein." + —PSALMS. + + "In that day, the Lord with his sore, and great, and strong sword, + shall punish Leviathan the piercing serpent, even Leviathan that + crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea." + —ISAIAH + + "And what thing soever besides cometh within the chaos of this + monster's mouth, be it beast, boat, or stone, down it goes all + incontinently that foul great swallow of his, and perisheth in the + bottomless gulf of his paunch." —HOLLAND'S PLUTARCH'S MORALS. + + "The Indian Sea breedeth the most and the biggest fishes that are: + among which the Whales and Whirlpooles called Balaene, take up as much + in length as four acres or arpens of land." + —HOLLAND'S PLINY. + + "Scarcely had we proceeded two days on the sea, when about sunrise a + great many Whales and other monsters of the sea, appeared. Among the + former, one was of a most monstrous size. … This came towards us, + open-mouthed, raising the waves on all sides, and beating the sea + before him into a foam." —TOOKE'S LUCIAN. "THE TRUE HISTORY." + + "He visited this country also with a view of catching horse-whales, + which had bones of very great value for their teeth, of which he + brought some to the king. … The best whales were catched in his own + country, of which some were forty-eight, some fifty yards long. He said + that he was one of six who had killed sixty in two days." —OTHER OR + OCTHER'S VERBAL NARRATIVE TAKEN DOWN FROM HIS MOUTH BY KING ALFRED, + A.D. 890. + + "And whereas all the other things, whether beast or vessel, that enter + into the dreadful gulf of this monster's (whale's) mouth, are + immediately lost and swallowed up, the sea-gudgeon retires into it in + great security, and there sleeps." —MONTAIGNE. - APOLOGY FOR RAIMOND + SEBOND. + + "Let us fly, let us fly! Old Nick take me if is not Leviathan + described by the noble prophet Moses in the life of patient Job." + —RABELAIS. + + "This whale's liver was two cartloads." + —STOWE'S ANNALS. + + "The great Leviathan that maketh the seas to seethe like boiling + pan." + —LORD BACON'S VERSION OF THE PSALMS. + + "Touching that monstrous bulk of the whale or ork we have received + nothing certain. They grow exceeding fat, insomuch that an + incredible quantity of oil will be extracted out of one whale." + —IBID. "HISTORY OF LIFE AND DEATH." + + "The sovereignest thing on earth is parmacetti for an inward + bruise." + —KING HENRY. + + "Very like a whale." + —HAMLET. + + "Which to secure, no skill of leach's art + Mote him availle, but to returne againe + To his wound's worker, that with lowly dart, + Dinting his breast, had bred his restless paine, + Like as the wounded whale to shore flies thro' the maine." + —THE FAERIE QUEEN. + + "Immense as whales, the motion of whose vast bodies can in a + peaceful calm trouble the ocean til it boil." + —SIR WILLIAM DAVENANT. PREFACE TO GONDIBERT. + + "What spermacetti is, men might justly doubt, since the learned + Hosmannus in his work of thirty years, saith plainly, Nescio quid + sit." + —SIR T. BROWNE. OF SPERMA CETI AND THE SPERMA CETI WHALE. VIDE HIS V. + E. + + + "Like Spencer's Talus with his modern flail + He threatens ruin with his ponderous tail. + … + Their fixed jav'lins in his side he wears, + And on his back a grove of pikes appears." + —WALLER'S BATTLE OF THE SUMMER ISLANDS. + + "By art is created that great Leviathan, called a Commonwealth or + State—(in Latin, Civitas) which is but an artificial man." + —OPENING SENTENCE OF HOBBES'S LEVIATHAN. + + "Silly Mansoul swallowed it without chewing, as if it had been a + sprat in the mouth of a whale." + —PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. + + "That sea beast + Leviathan, which God of all his works + Created hugest that swim the ocean stream." + —PARADISE LOST. + + "There Leviathan, + Hugest of living creatures, in the deep + Stretched like a promontory sleeps or swims, + And seems a moving land; and at his gills + Draws in, and at his breath spouts out a sea." + —IBID. + + "The mighty whales which swim in a sea of water, and have a sea of + oil swimming in them." + —FULLLER'S PROFANE AND HOLY STATE. + + "So close behind some promontory lie + The huge Leviathan to attend their prey, + And give no chance, but swallow in the fry, + Which through their gaping jaws mistake the way." + —DRYDEN'S ANNUS MIRABILIS. + + "While the whale is floating at the stern of the ship, they cut + off his head, and tow it with a boat as near the shore as it will + come; but it will be aground in twelve or thirteen feet water." + —THOMAS EDGE'S TEN VOYAGES TO SPITZBERGEN, IN PURCHAS. + + "In their way they saw many whales sporting in the ocean, and in + wantonness fuzzing up the water through their pipes and vents, which + nature has placed on their shoulders." + —SIR T. HERBERT'S VOYAGES INTO ASIA AND AFRICA. HARRIS COLL. + + "Here they saw such huge troops of whales, that they were forced + to proceed with a great deal of caution for fear they should run their + ship upon them." + —SCHOUTEN'S SIXTH CIRCUMNAVIGATION. + + "We set sail from the Elbe, wind N. E. in the ship called The + Jonas-in-the-Whale. … + Some say the whale can't open his mouth, but that is a fable. … + They frequently climb up the masts to see whether they can see a + whale, for the first discoverer has a ducat for his pains. … + I was told of a whale taken near Shetland, that had above a barrel + of herrings in his belly. … + One of our harpooneers told me that he caught once a whale in + Spitzbergen that was white all over." + —A VOYAGE TO GREENLAND, A.D. 1671 HARRIS COLL. + + "Several whales have come in upon this coast (Fife) Anno 1652, one + eighty feet in length of the whale-bone kind came in, which (as I was + informed), besides a vast quantity of oil, did afford 500 weight of + baleen. The jaws of it stand for a gate in the garden of Pitferren." + —SIBBALD'S FIFE AND KINROSS. + + "Myself have agreed to try whether I can master and kill this + Sperma-ceti whale, for I could never hear of any of that sort that was + killed by any man, such is his fierceness and swiftness." + —RICHARD STRAFFORD'S LETTER FROM THE BERMUDAS. PHIL. TRANS. A.D. + 1668. + + "Whales in the sea + God's voice obey." + —N. E. PRIMER. + + "We saw also abundance of large whales, there being more in those + southern seas, as I may say, by a hundred to one; than we have to + the northward of us." + —CAPTAIN COWLEY'S VOYAGE ROUND THE GLOBE, A.D. 1729. + + "… and the breath of the whale is frequendy attended with + such an insupportable smell, as to bring on a disorder of the brain." + —ULLOA'S SOUTH AMERICA. + + "To fifty chosen sylphs of special note, + We trust the important charge, the petticoat. + Oft have we known that seven-fold fence to fail, + Tho' stuffed with hoops and armed with ribs of whale." + —RAPE OF THE LOCK. + + "If we compare land animals in respect to magnitude, with those that + take up their abode in the deep, we shall find they will appear + contemptible in the comparison. The whale is doubtless the largest + animal in creation." —GOLDSMITH, NAT. HIST. + + "If you should write a fable for little fishes, you would make + them speak like great wales." + —GOLDSMITH TO JOHNSON. + + "In the afternoon we saw what was supposed to be a rock, but it was + found to be a dead whale, which some Asiatics had killed, and were then + towing ashore. They seemed to endeavor to conceal themselves behind the + whale, in order to avoid being seen by us." —COOK'S VOYAGES. + + "The larger whales, they seldom venture to attack. They stand in so + great dread of some of them, that when out at sea they are afraid to + mention even their names, and carry dung, lime-stone, juniper-wood, and + some other articles of the same nature in their boats, in order to + terrify and prevent their too near approach." —UNO VON TROIL'S LETTERS + ON BANKS'S AND SOLANDER'S VOYAGE TO ICELAND IN 1772. + + "The Spermacetti Whale found by the Nantuckois, is an active, fierce + animal, and requires vast address and boldness in the fishermen." + —THOMAS JEFFERSON'S WHALE MEMORIAL TO THE FRENCH MINISTER IN 1778. + + "And pray, sir, what in the world is equal to it?" + —EDMUND BURKE'S REFERENCE IN PARLIAMENT TO THE NANTUCKET + WHALE-FISHERY. + + "Spain—a great whale stranded on the shores of Europe." + —EDMUND BURKE. (SOMEWHERE.) + + "A tenth branch of the king's ordinary revenue, said to be grounded on + the consideration of his guarding and protecting the seas from pirates + and robbers, is the right to royal fish, which are whale and sturgeon. + And these, when either thrown ashore or caught near the coast, are the + property of the king." —BLACKSTONE. + + "Soon to the sport of death the crews repair: + Rodmond unerring o'er his head suspends + The barbed steel, and every turn attends." + —FALCONER'S SHIPWRECK. + + "Bright shone the roofs, the domes, the spires, + And rockets blew self driven, + To hang their momentary fire + Around the vault of heaven. + + "So fire with water to compare, + The ocean serves on high, + Up-spouted by a whale in air, + To express unwieldy joy." + —COWPER, ON THE QUEEN'S VISIT TO LONDON. + + "Ten or fifteen gallons of blood are thrown out of the heart at a + stroke, with immense velocity." + —JOHN HUNTER'S ACCOUNT OF THE DISSECTION OF A WHALE. (A SMALL SIZED + ONE.) + + + "The aorta of a whale is larger in the bore than the main pipe of the + water-works at London Bridge, and the water roaring in its passage + through that pipe is inferior in impetus and velocity to the blood + gushing from the whale's heart." —PALEY'S THEOLOGY. + + "The whale is a mammiferous animal without hind feet." + —BARON CUVIER. + + "In 40 degrees south, we saw Spermacetti Whales, but did not take + any till the first of May, the sea being then covered with them." + —COLNETT'S VOYAGE FOR THE PURPOSE OF EXTENDING THE SPERMACETI + WHALE FISHERY. + + "In the free element beneath me swam, + Floundered and dived, in play, in chace, in battle, + Fishes of every color, form, and kind; + Which language cannot paint, and mariner + Had never seen; from dread Leviathan + To insect millions peopling every wave: + Gather'd in shoals immense, like floating islands, + Led by mysterious instincts through that waste + And trackless region, though on every side + Assaulted by voracious enemies, + Whales, sharks, and monsters, arm'd in front or jaw, + With swords, saws, spiral horns, or hooked fangs." + —MONTGOMERY'S WORLD BEFORE THE FLOOD. + + "Io! Paean! Io! sing. + To the finny people's king. + Not a mightier whale than this + In the vast Atlantic is; + Not a fatter fish than he, + Flounders round the Polar Sea." + —CHARLES LAMB'S TRIUMPH OF THE WHALE. + + "In the year 1690 some persons were on a high hill observing the whales + spouting and sporting with each other, when one observed: + there—pointing to the sea—is a green pasture where our children's + grand-children will go for bread." —OBED MACY'S HISTORY OF NANTUCKET. + + "I built a cottage for Susan and myself and made a gateway in the + form of a Gothic Arch, by setting up a whale's jaw bones." + —HAWTHORNE'S TWICE TOLD TALES. + + "She came to bespeak a monument for her first love, who had been + killed by a whale in the Pacific ocean, no less than forty years ago." + —IBID. + + "No, Sir, 'tis a Right Whale," answered Tom; "I saw his sprout; he + threw up a pair of as pretty rainbows as a Christian would wish to + look at. He's a raal oil-butt, that fellow!" + —COOPER'S PILOT. + + "The papers were brought in, and we saw in the Berlin Gazette that + whales had been introduced on the stage there." + —ECKERMANN'S CONVERSATIONS WITH GOETHE. + + "My God! Mr. Chace, what is the matter?" I answered, "we have been + stove by a whale." + —"NARRATIVE OF THE SHIPWRECK OF THE WHALE SHIP ESSEX OF + NANTUCKET, WHICH WAS ATTACKED AND FINALLY DESTROYED BY + A LARGE SPERM WHALE IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN." BY OWEN + CHACE OF NANTUCKET, FIRST MATE OF SAID VESSEL. NEW + YORK, 1821. + + "A mariner sat in the shrouds one night, + The wind was piping free; + Now bright, now dimmed, was the moonlight pale, + And the phospher gleamed in the wake of the whale, + As it floundered in the sea." + —ELIZABETH OAKES SMITH. + + "The quantity of line withdrawn from the boats engaged in the capture + of this one whale, amounted altogether to 10,440 yards or nearly six + English miles. … + + "Sometimes the whale shakes its tremendous tail in the air, which, + cracking like a whip, resounds to the distance of three or four + miles." + —SCORESBY. + + "Mad with the agonies he endures from these fresh attacks, the + infuriated Sperm Whale rolls over and over; he rears his enormous head, + and with wide expanded jaws snaps at everything around him; he rushes + at the boats with his head; they are propelled before him with vast + swiftness, and sometimes utterly destroyed. … It is a matter of great + astonishment that the consideration of the habits of so interesting, + and, in a commercial point of view, so important an animal (as the + Sperm Whale) should have been so entirely neglected, or should have + excited so little curiosity among the numerous, and many of them + competent observers, that of late years, must have possessed the most + abundant and the most convenient opportunities of witnessing their + habitudes." —THOMAS BEALE'S HISTORY OF THE SPERM WHALE, 1839. + + "The Cachalot" (Sperm Whale) "is not only better armed than the True + Whale" (Greenland or Right Whale) "in possessing a formidable weapon at + either extremity of its body, but also more frequently displays a + disposition to employ these weapons offensively and in manner at once + so artful, bold, and mischievous, as to lead to its being regarded as + the most dangerous to attack of all the known species of the whale + tribe." —FREDERICK DEBELL BENNETT'S WHALING VOYAGE ROUND THE GLOBE, + 1840. + + October 13. "There she blows," was sung out from the mast-head. + "Where away?" demanded the captain. + "Three points off the lee bow, sir." + "Raise up your wheel. Steady!" + "Steady, sir." + "Mast-head ahoy! Do you see that whale now?" + "Ay ay, sir! A shoal of Sperm Whales! There she blows! There she + breaches!" + "Sing out! sing out every time!" + "Ay Ay, sir! There she blows! there—there—thar she blows -bowes + -bo-o-os!" + "How far off?" + "Two miles and a half." + "Thunder and lightning! so near! Call all hands." + —J. ROSS BROWNE'S ETCHINGS OF A WHALING CRUIZE. 1846. + + "The Whale-ship Globe, on board of which vessel occurred the + horrid transactions we are about to relate, belonged to the island + of Nantucket." + —"NARRATIVE OF THE GLOBE," BY LAY AND HUSSEY SURVIVORS. A.D. 1828. + + Being once pursued by a whale which he had wounded, he parried the + assault for some time with a lance; but the furious monster at length + rushed on the boat; himself and comrades only being preserved by + leaping into the water when they saw the onset was inevitable." + —MISSIONARY JOURNAL OF TYERMAN AND BENNETT. + + "Nantucket itself," said Mr. Webster, "is a very striking and peculiar + portion of the National interest. There is a population of eight or + nine thousand persons living here in the sea, adding largely every year + to the National wealth by the boldest and most persevering industry." + —REPORT OF DANIEL WEBSTER'S SPEECH IN THE U. S. SENATE, ON THE + APPLICATION FOR THE ERECTION OF A BREAKWATER AT NANTUCKET. 1828. + + "The whale fell directly over him, and probably killed him in a + moment." + —"THE WHALE AND HIS CAPTORS, OR THE WHALEMAN'S + ADVENTURES AND THE WHALE'S BIOGRAPHY, GATHERED ON THE + HOMEWARD CRUISE OF THE COMMODORE PREBLE." + BY REV. HENRY T. CHEEVER. + + "If you make the least damn bit of noise," replied Samuel, "I will + send you to hell." + —LIFE OF SAMUEL COMSTOCK (THE MUTINEER), BY HIS + BROTHER, WILLIAM COMSTOCK. ANOTHER VERSION OF THE + WHALE-SHIP GLOBE NARRATIVE. + + "The voyages of the Dutch and English to the Northern Ocean, in order, + if possible, to discover a passage through it to India, though they + failed of their main object, laid-open the haunts of the whale." + —MCCULLOCH'S COMMERCIAL DICTIONARY. + + "These things are reciprocal; the ball rebounds, only to bound forward + again; for now in laying open the haunts of the whale, the whalemen + seem to have indirectly hit upon new clews to that same mystic + North-West Passage." —FROM "SOMETHING" UNPUBLISHED. + + "It is impossible to meet a whale-ship on the ocean without being + struck by her near appearance. The vessel under short sail, with + look-outs at the mast-heads, eagerly scanning the wide expanse around + them, has a totally different air from those engaged in regular + voyage." —CURRENTS AND WHALING. U. S. EX. EX. + + "Pedestrians in the vicinity of London and elsewhere may recollect + having seen large curved bones set upright in the earth, either to form + arches over gateways, or entrances to alcoves, and they may perhaps + have been told that these were the ribs of whales." —TALES OF A WHALE + VOYAGER TO THE ARCTIC OCEAN. + + "It was not till the boats returned from the pursuit of these + whales, that the whites saw their ship in bloody possession of the + savages enrolled among the crew." + —NEWSPAPER ACCOUNT OF THE TAKING AND RETAKING OF THE WHALE-SHIP + HOBOMACK. + + + "It is generally well known that out of the crews of Whaling vessels + (American) few ever return in the ships on board of which they + departed." + —CRUISE IN A WHALE BOAT. + + "Suddenly a mighty mass emerged from the water, and shot up + perpendicularly into the air. It was the while." + —MIRIAM COFFIN OR THE WHALE FISHERMAN. + + "The Whale is harpooned to be sure; but bethink you, how you would + manage a powerful unbroken colt, with the mere appliance of a rope + tied to the root of his tail." + —A CHAPTER ON WHALING IN RIBS AND TRUCKS. + + "On one occasion I saw two of these monsters (whales) probably male and + female, slowly swimming, one after the other, within less than a + stone's throw of the shore" (Terra Del Fuego), "over which the beech + tree extended its branches." —DARWIN'S VOYAGE OF A NATURALIST. + + "'Stern all!' exclaimed the mate, as upon turning his head, he saw the + distended jaws of a large Sperm Whale close to the head of the boat, + threatening it with instant destruction;—'Stern all, for your lives!'" + —WHARTON THE WHALE KILLER. + + "So be cheery, my lads, let your hearts never fail, + While the bold harpooneer is striking the whale!" + —NANTUCKET SONG. + + "Oh, the rare old Whale, mid storm and gale + In his ocean home will be + A giant in might, where might is right, + And King of the boundless sea." + —WHALE SONG.