Moby Dick; Or, The Whale

The Monkey-Rope

The narrator, serving as Queequeg’s bowsman, holds his position by a monkey-rope, a line attached to a strip of canvas belted around Queequeg’s waist. Just as Italian organ-boys hold dancing-apes by long cords, the narrator holds Queequeg steady from the ship’s steep side. This arrangement proves both humorous and perilous for both parties involved.

The Siamese Connexion

The monkey-rope is fastened at both ends—to Queequeg’s broad canvas belt and to the narrator’s narrow leather belt. This creates what the narrator describes as an elongated Siamese ligature, wedging them together for better or worse. Honor and custom demand that if Queequeg sinks, the narrator should be dragged down rather than cutting the cord. Queequeg becomes the narrator’s inseparable twin brother.

Metaphysical Reflections

The narrator contemplates the metaphysical implications of this bond. His individuality seems merged into a joint stock company of two, his free will wounded, and another’s misfortune threatening his own welfare. He perceives this as an interregnum in Providence, yet ponders further that every mortal shares such Siamese connexions with others—if a banker breaks, you break; if an apothecary poisons you, you die.

The Shark Peril

Despite the night’s massacre, sharks return in greater numbers, lured by the blood flowing from the carcass. The rabid creatures swarm around the whale like bees. Queequeg stands amid these predators, pushing them aside with his floundering feet. Though sharks attracted by a dead whale seldom touch a man, their presence demands vigilant watchfulness.

Whale-Spade Protection

Suspended in a stage over the ship’s side, Tashtego and Daggoo wield keen whale-spades over Queequeg’s head, slashing at any sharks within reach. This benevolent but hasty protection comes with risks—during the blood-muddled chaos, their indiscriminate strikes nearly amputate a leg rather than a tail. Queequeg can only pray to Yojo and surrender his life to his gods.

Queequeg’s Return

After surviving sharks and spades in what the narrator terms “a sad pickle and peril,” Queequeg finally climbs the chains and stands trembling over the side, blue-lipped and bloodshot-eyed from exhaustion. The steward advances with benevolent intentions to offer him refreshment after his ordeal.

The Ginger Dispute

The steward offers Queequeg not hot Cognac, but a cup of tepid ginger and water. Stubb approaches suspiciously, sniffing the cup and questioning the virtue of ginger. He demands to know why the steward offers this inadequate remedy to a shivering harpooneer who has just risked his life. Stubb accuses the steward of practicing secret Temperance Society principles.

Stubb’s Rebuke

Stubb continues his tirade, demanding whether the steward is an apothecary dispensing bitter medicine to a half-drowned man. Starbuck agrees it is “poor stuff enough.” Stubb threatens to teach the steward not to drug harpooneers, though the steward protests the ginger was Aunt Charity’s doing. Starbuck finally instructs Stubb to descend and fetch what he actually wants. Stubb returns with strong spirits for Queequeg, while Aunt Charity’s ginger-jub is thrown to the waves.

KAPITEL 73. Stubb and Flask kill a Right Whale; and Then Have a Talk

The Pequod had drifted into waters marked by patches of yellow brit, signaling the presence of Right Whales, which the crew typically disdained as inferior quarry. When Stubb and Flask spotted spouts to leeward, they detached in pursuit, eventually harpooning a Right Whale that threatened to drag both boats beneath the ship’s hull before diving under the keel; the men barely managed to cut the lines in time to avoid a deadly collision. After a fierce battle around the ship while sharks gathered to drink the blood, the whale turned upon its back dead, and during the process of securing it, the two headsmen entered into a rambling conversation speculating that the mysterious Fedallah was actually the devil in disguise, with Stubb declaring his intention to seize the Parsee by the neck and forcibly extract his hidden tail should he prove treacherous toward Captain Ahab.

Sperm Whale Head Remains Hung on Pequod’s Side

The Sperm Whale’s enormous head continues hanging from the Pequod’s side, and the crew can only hope the tackles hold until they have time to properly attend to it. Other matters demand immediate attention.