Ahab Welds The Harpoon Shank
When Perth is ready to weld the twelve rods into a single shank, Ahab insists on performing the welding himself. He hammers the glowing rods passed to him by Perth as the forge shoots up an intense straight flame.
The Parsee Observes The Forging
As Ahab hammers the shank, the Parsee passes silently, bows over Ahab’s head toward the fire as if invoking a curse or blessing on the work, then slips aside when Ahab looks up.
Stubb Mocks The Parsee’s Fire Obsession
Stubb, watching the scene from the forecastle, mocks the Parsee for his obsession with fire, comparing him to a fusee (fire-lighting device) and saying he smells of fire like a hot musket’s powder-pan.
Tempering The Harpoon Shank
Once the shank is forged into a single complete rod and given its final heat, Perth plunges it hissing into a nearby cask of water to temper it, sending scalding steam into Ahab’s bent face. Ahab winces and jokes that he may have forged his own branding iron.
Perth Reluctantly Forges Harpoon Barbs
Ahab next orders Perth to make sharp harpoon barbs, handing him razors forged from the finest steel. Perth hesitates briefly at the sight of the razors, but Ahab insists, noting he no longer needs to shave, eat, or pray until his quest is complete. Perth fashions the barbs into an arrowy shape and welds them to the shank.
Tempering Harpoon Barbs With Crew Blood
Before tempering the barbs, Perth asks Ahab to move the water cask nearby, but Ahab refuses, insisting the barbs be tempered with “true death-temper” instead. He calls on the pagan crew members Tashtego, Queequeg, and Daggoo to provide blood for the tempering; the three allow small punctures in their flesh, and their blood is used to temper the heated barbs. Ahab deliriously chants a Latin phrase, baptizing the barbs in the name of the devil rather than God.
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