Moby Dick; Or, The Whale

Arrival and Delay in New Bedford

The narrator packs a carpet-bag and sets out from New York toward Cape Horn and the Pacific, arriving in New Bedford on a Saturday night in December. He learns that the packet boat to Nantucket has already departed, and he cannot reach his destination until Monday. Since he must spend two nights in New Bedford, he must find lodging.

The Superiority of Nantucket

The narrator explains his insistence on sailing only on a Nantucket vessel, despite New Bedford having largely monopolized the whaling industry. He romanticizes Nantucket as the original source of American whaling—the “Tyre of this Carthage”—the place where the first American whale was stranded and where Native Americans first hunted whales in canoes. He also recounts the legendary story of the first adventurous sloop that put out from Nantucket, loaded with cobblestones to throw at whales to determine proximity.

The Search for Cheap Lodging

Facing a cold, dark December night with little money, the narrator determines to find the cheapest possible lodging. He carries his carpet-bag through dreary, nearly deserted streets, reminding himself to inquire about prices and not to be too particular about accommodations.

Passing The Crossed Harpoons and The Sword-Fish Inn

The narrator passes two establishments: “The Crossed Harpoons,” which appears too expensive and jolly, and the “Sword-Fish Inn,” whose bright windows and warmth have melted the ice from the street before it. He observes his own worn-out boots and moves on toward the waterfront, believing the cheapest inns would be located near the docks.

Mistaking a Negro Church for an Inn

Entering a smoky, invitingly open building that he assumes is a public inn, the narrator stumbles over an ash-box in the porch. To his dismay, he discovers it is actually a negro church in the midst of a service, with a preacher delivering a sermon on “the blackness of darkness.” He retreats hastily, muttering about “wretched entertainment.”

Discovering the Spouter Inn

The narrator eventually finds “The Spouter Inn” near the docks, marked by a swinging sign depicting a jet of spray. The name “Peter Coffin” strikes him as ominous, though he reasons it is a common Nantucket surname. The dilapidated, leaning wooden building and its poverty-stricken appearance convince him this is the ideal spot for cheap lodgings and “the best of pea coffee.”

The Exterior of the Spouter Inn and the Euroclydon Wind

The Spouter Inn is described as a gable-ended, partially collapsed old house on a bleak corner, battered by the tempestuous wind called Euroclydon—the same wind that tossed Paul’s craft. The narrator reflects on an old writer’s observation that experiencing such a wind differs greatly depending on whether one observes it from inside a warm window or from outside in the cold. The universe, he muses, is already finished; it is too late for improvements.

A Digression on the Rich Man Dives and the Beggar Lazarus

The narrator digresses into a comparison between the rich man Dives, who enjoys warmth and comfort while admiring the frosty night and northern lights from his ice palace, and Lazarus, who lies shivering on the curbstone with nothing but rags and a corn-cob for warmth. Though Lazarus would rather be in Sumatra or even the fiery pit than endure such cold, Dives—who despite being a temperance society president drinks only “the tepid tears of orphans”—remains oblivious to his suffering. The narrator then sets aside this moral meditation, reminding the reader that whaling lies ahead and there is plenty of that yet to come.

CAPÍTULO 3. The Spouter-Inn.

CHAPTER 3. The Spouter-Inn. The narrator enters a peculiar gable-ended inn and explores its strange interior, including a baffling oil painting, a wall of whaling weapons, a dark public room with a bar built into a whale’s jaw, and a sparse supper. The chapter introduces the mystery of an absent harpooneer whom the narrator is assigned to share a bed with, and concludes with a comic exchange about the harpooneer allegedly selling his head. This chapter is set at the Spouter-Inn in New Bedford, where the narrator is assigned to share a bed with a mysterious, heavily tattooed harpooneer from the South Seas. After the landlord explains the harpooneer’s delayed arrival due to his trade selling embalmed human heads, the narrator inspects their shared bedroom, tries on the harpooneer’s unusual shaggy coat, and is later startled by the harpooneer’s entrance, strange pagan rituals, and intimidating appearance, leading to a brief tense standoff before the two agree to share the bed for the night.