Moby Dick; Or, The Whale

Ahab Hails the Nantucketer Stranger

Taking advantage of his windward position, Ahab seizes his own trumpet. Recognizing by her appearance that the stranger vessel is a Nantucketer bound for home, he delivers his own hail: announcing the Pequod as bound round the world and instructing that all future letters be addressed to the Pacific Ocean, with instructions to redirect correspondence to this location should he not return within three years.

Shoals of Fish Flee to the Stranger Vessel

As the two wakes cross, small harmless fish that had been placidly swimming alongside the Pequod suddenly dart away with shuddering fins. They range themselves fore and aft along the stranger’s flanks, departing from Ahab’s vessel. While Ahab must have witnessed similar occurrences during his continual voyagings, to his monomaniacal mind, even the veriest trifles carry deep and capricious meanings.

Ahab’s Somber Murmur and Helm Command

Gazing over into the water at the departing fish, Ahab murmurs “Swim away from me, do ye?” The tone of this remark conveys more deep, helpless sadness than the insane old man has ever before displayed. Then, returning to command mode, he cries out to the steersman in his old lion voice, ordering the helm brought up to keep the ship on its course round the world.

Reflection on Circumnavigation Perils

The command to sail round the world evokes complex feelings. While the phrase inspires proud emotions, the narrator questions where such circumnavigation ultimately leads—only through numberless perils back to the very point of departure, where those left behind were all the time secure and before us. Were the world an endless plain with new discoveries awaiting eastward exploration, there would be genuine promise. However, in pursuit of far mysteries or the demon phantom swimming before all human hearts, chasing such goals over this round globe either leads seekers through barren mazes or leaves them whelmed midway.