Gabriel’s Defiance
When Ahab attempts to pass the letter intended for the deceased Macey to the Jeroboam’s boat via a pole to avoid close contact, Gabriel seizes the letter as soon as it comes within reach, impales it on his boat knife, and hurls it back onto the Pequod’s deck at Ahab’s feet. He then shrieks a warning to Ahab that he is headed for the same fate as Macey, before yelling at his crew to row away at full speed, sending the Jeroboam’s boat rapidly fleeing from the Pequod.
第七十二章 The Monkey-Rope.
The narrator, acting as the bowsman, keeps his harpooneer Queequeg tethered to the ship by a monkey-rope during the perilous work of cutting‑in a whale, a rope that fastens to both men so that if one sinks the other will be dragged down with him. While Queequeg toils on the whale’s back amid rolling seas and circling sharks, the narrator jerks the rope to pull him clear of crushing between the whale and the hull, and two other sailors swing whale‑spades to keep the predators at bay. After the ordeal the steward offers Queequeg a cup of tepid ginger water, provoking an indignant protest from Stubb, who demands proper spirits for the harpooneer; the narrator then retrieves a flask of rum to replace the useless ginger.
The Cutting-In Scene
The chapter opens with a description of the chaotic and mobile nature of the cutting-in operation aboard a whaling vessel. The crew must constantly move about as different tasks require attention at various locations simultaneously. The narrative retraces earlier events, explaining how the blubber-hook gets inserted into the hole cut by the spades of the mates. This duty falls to Queequeg, who must descend onto the whale’s back for this specific purpose.
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