Forging a New Needle
Ahab’s motives include reviving the crew’s spirits through his subtile skill in a wondrous matter. He addresses the crew, declaring that though thunder turned his needles, he can make one of his own from steel that will point true. With the top-maul, he knocks off the lance’s steel head, then repeatedly strikes the upper end of the iron rod. He places the sail-needle endwise on top and hammers it blunt end. He performs mysterious motions over it, then suspends the needle horizontally by its middle over one compass card.
Ahab’s Triumph
The steel needle initially quivers and vibrates at both ends but finally settles pointing true. Ahab steps back, pointing at it triumphantly to declare that Ahab is lord of the level loadstone, and the sun is east with the compass swearing it. The sailors exchange glances of servile wonder and one by one peer in to witness the miracle before slinking away. In his fiery eyes of scorn and triumph, Ahab stands in all his fatal pride.
第一百二十五章 The Log and Line.
The log and line had seen little use throughout the voyage, as reliance on other navigation methods led many whalemen to neglect this traditional practice. The weathered equipment hung forgotten beneath the after bulwarks.
Pequod’s Long-Unused Log and Line
Captain Ahab glances at the neglected reel following the destruction of his quadrant in the magnet scene. He remembers his earlier oath to rely upon the level log and line as a failsafe navigation method.
Ahab Recalls His Quadrant Oath
With the ship sailing roughly through heavy seas, Ahab commands two seamen—the Tahitian and the Manxman—to prepare the log for heaving at the stern on the ship’s lee side.
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