Moby Dick; Or, The Whale

CHAPITRE 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.

Spouter-Inn Entry Description

Spouter-Inn Entry Description The narrator enters the gable-ended Spouter-Inn and finds a wide, low, straggling entryway lined with old-fashioned wainscots reminiscent of a condemned old ship’s bulwarks.

Mysterious Entry Oil Painting

Mysterious Entry Oil Painting A large, heavily smoke-damaged oil painting hangs on one side of the entry. Its meaning is difficult to discern, though it features a dark central mass hovering over three blue perpendicular lines. After much study, the narrator and others conclude it depicts a Cape-Horner in a hurricane, with a half-foundered ship and a whale impaling itself on the three masts.

Whaling Weapons Wall Display

Whaling Weapons Wall Display The opposite wall displays a heathenish array of monstrous clubs and spears—some with ivory-toothed edges, others tufted with human hair or sickle-shaped—alongside rusty old whaling lances and harpoons. Among them are storied weapons, including a lance that killed fifteen whales in one day and a harpoon that traveled forty feet inside a whale before being recovered.

Public Room Interior Description

Public Room Interior Description Beyond the entry, the narrator passes through a low-arched passage (once a great central chimney) and enters a dark public room with heavy ceiling beams and creaking old planks that suggest a rocking ship’s cockpit. A long shelf-like table holds cracked glass cases filled with dusty curiosities gathered from remote corners of the world.

Inn Bar Description

Inn Bar Description The bar is built into a dark den resembling a right whale’s head, with the vast arched jawbone wide enough for a coach to pass beneath. Inside, shabby shelves hold old decanters and bottles while a withered old barkeeper—called Jonah—serves sailors. The tumblers taper deceptively, with etched lines encouraging patrons to keep drinking for the Cape Horn measure.

Skrimshander Display

Skrimshander Display Upon entering, the narrator finds a number of young seamen gathered around a table, examining by dim light various specimens of scrimshaw.

Harpooneer Lodging Offer

Harpooneer Lodging Offer The narrator requests a room and is told the inn is full, but the landlord offers the alternative of sharing a harpooneer’s blanket, assuming the narrator is going whaling. The narrator reluctantly agrees, hoping the harpooneer will not be objectionable.

Supper with Seamen

Supper with Seamen The narrator is summoned to supper in a cold adjoining room warmed only by tallow candles. The substantial meal includes meat, potatoes, and dumplings. A young man in a green box coat devours the dumplings in such a direful manner that the landlord warns him of certain nightmares. The narrator learns the harpooneer is a dark-complexioned man who eats only rare steaks, and begins to feel suspicious about sharing a bed with him.

Bulkington Introduction

Bulkington Introduction After supper, a riotous crew from the Grampus arrives, and the landlord serves them drinks. Among them, one large, deeply browned, and powerfully built man stands somewhat aloof with a sober face. This Southern mountaineer from the Alleghanian Ridge, with noble shoulders and a coffer-dam chest, slips away unnoticed and is searched for in vain by his shipmates calling “Bulkington! Bulkington!”

Harpooneer Bed Dilemma

Harpooneer Bed Dilemma The narrator wrestles with his strong distaste for sleeping in the same bed as a stranger, especially a harpooneer. He briefly considers sleeping on a bench, and the landlord planes it down for him, but the resulting draft and unsuitable arrangement prove impossible. The narrator contemplates locking the harpooneer out, decides against it, and waits, but the harpooneer does not appear.