Cutting Blanket-Piece Blubber
A harpooneer armed with a boarding-sword slices a hole in the lower part of the swaying blubber mass, into which a second tackle is hooked to maintain grip. After warning all hands to stand clear, the swordsman makes a series of desperate sidelong cuts, severing the mass completely into two portions. The shorter lower section remains fast while the longer upper strip, called the “blanket-piece,” swings clear and is lowered through the main hatchway.
Blubber-Room Processing
The blanket-piece descends into an unfurnished parlor called the blubber-room, where nimble hands coil the massive blubber as if it were “a great live mass of plaited serpents.” The simultaneous operation continues with both tackles hoisting and lowering, the whale and windlass heaving, the heavers singing, the mates scarfing, the ship straining, and all hands occasionally swearing to relieve the tension of their coordinated labor.
第六十八章 The Blanket.
In this chapter, the narrator examines the question of what constitutes the whale’s skin, arguing that the thick blubber layer—which ranges from eight to fifteen inches in thickness and yields up to one hundred barrels of oil in large sperm whales—should be considered the whale’s true skin rather than the thin, transparent isinglass-like membrane that merely overlays it. The chapter describes the sperm whale’s distinctive linear markings, which appear to be engraved upon the body itself rather than the outer membrane, bearing an resemblance to hieroglyphics or the mysterious characters found on Indian rocks along the Upper Mississippi. The narrator explains that these markings are often partially obscured by irregular scratches, likely resulting from encounters with other whales, particularly among mature bulls. The chapter draws an extended metaphor comparing the whale’s blubber to a blanket or poncho that enables the creature to maintain warmth and survive in frigid Arctic waters where human sailors have been known to freeze solid. Concluding with an aspirational reflection, the narrator suggests that humans should admire and emulate the whale’s remarkable vitality, urging readers to remain warm among ice, cool at the equator, and fluid at the Pole, though observing that few indeed possess the domed stability of St. Peter’s or the vastness of the whale.
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