Starbuck’s Plea
Starbuck pleads with Ahab to abandon the chase and return home to Nantucket, where his own wife and child await. He describes the cheerful journey home and tries to convince Ahab they can still turn back.
Fate and the Windlass
Ahab turns away from Starbuck’s plea, comparing human life to a windlass, with Fate as the handspike. He questions what nameless, unearthly thing commands him against his own natural heart. He suggests that like celestial bodies moved by invisible power, he too may be moved by forces beyond his control.
Starbuck’s Departure
Starbuck, blanched to a corpse’s hue with despair, steals away from Ahab, unable to witness any longer.
Fedallah
Ahab crosses the deck and gazes over the other side, but starts at two reflected, fixed eyes in the water—Fedallah is motionlessly leaning over the same rail, having silently appeared.
第一百三十三章 The Chase—First Day.
During the mid-watch, Captain Ahab detects the distinctive odor of a living sperm whale and orders the ship’s course altered and sails shortened. At daybreak, a smooth, oil-like sleek is visible directly ahead.
Mid-Watch Whale Scent Detected, Course Altered
Ahab leaves his pivot-hole and sniffs the sea air like a ship’s dog approaching an isle. Convinced a whale is near, he inspects the compass and dog-vane, determines the bearing of the odor, and rapidly orders the course slightly altered and sails shortened.
Daybreak Reveals Whale Ahead, Lookouts Summoned
At daybreak, the sailors spot a long sleek on the sea directly ahead, smooth as oil with tide-rip markings. Ahab orders all hands to the mast-heads, and Daggoo rouses the sleepers with clubbed handspikes. The lookouts see nothing at first, so Ahab commands t’gallant sails and stunails, then ascends the main-mast.
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