Towards the Equator
The ship continues through monotonous waters, driven by trade winds, approaching the outskirts of the Equatorial fishing-ground.
The Unearthly Cry
In the darkness before dawn, sailing past rocky islets, the watch is startled by a cry so plaintively wild and unearthly that all stand transfixed, listening like carved figures. The sound resembles the wailings of ghosts.
Crew Superstitions
The Christian sailors believe it was mermaids and shudder. The pagan harpooneers remain unafraid, while the old Manxman declares the sounds are the voices of newly drowned men. The crew cherishes superstitious feelings about seals due to their human-like wails and semi-intelligent faces.
Ahab’s Explanation
When Ahab learns of the cries at grey dawn, he hollowly laughs and explains that the nearby rocky islands host many seals, and young seals separated from their dams must have been crying alongside the ship. He notes that mariners have often mistaken seals for men in the sea.
The Fallen Sailor
At sunrise, a sailor climbs to the fore mast-head, perhaps still half-asleep. A cry and rushing sound is heard, and the man falls from the mast, landing in the sea as a tossed heap of white bubbles.
The Lost Life-Buoy
The life-buoy—hung at the stern—was dropped, but no hand seized it. The cask, shrunk from long sun exposure, slowly filled with water through its pores, and the iron-bound buoy sank after the sailor, as if offering him a pillow.
An Omen Fulfilled
The crew regards this death not as foreshadowing evil, but as fulfillment of evil already presaged by the night’s shrieks. They believe they now know the reason for those sounds. The old Manxman, however, disagrees.
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