The Coffin Request
When all aboard give Queequeg up for dying, he reveals his final wish. Having seen Nantucket’s dark wood canoes, he desires to be laid in one similar to his native custom—where warriors are embalmed and stretched in their canoes to float away to the starry archipelagoes. He shudders at being buried in his hammock and fed to sharks.
The Carpenter’s Work
The carpenter is commanded to build the coffin from dark, coffin-colored lumber from the Lackaday islands. He takes Queequeg’s measure with great accuracy, chalk-marking the dying man’s person, then transfers the measurements to his vice-bench with notches cut at the extremities before setting to work. When finished, he shoulders the coffin forward, only to have Queequeg demand it brought to him immediately.
Pip and the Tambourine
Pip hovers nearby during these events and approaches Queequeg with soft sobbings, taking his hand while holding his tambourine. Pip delivers a strange, babbling address to the dying man, speaking of sweet Antilles and asking Queequeg to find Pip there and comfort him. Then Pip turns wildly on himself, calling himself a coward for having jumped from a whale-boat, while declaring repeatedly that “Queequeg dies game.”
Queequeg’s Recovery
After lying in his coffin and murmuring his approval (“Rarmai”), Queequeg suddenly rallies and begins to recover. He explains that he recalled a duty left undone ashore, which changed his mind about dying. He declares that if a man makes up his mind to live, mere sickness cannot kill him—only a whale, gale, or violent destroyer. Within days he regains strength and pronounces himself fit for fight.
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