Moby Dick; Or, The Whale

The Death

The whale abates in its flurry and rolls out into view once more, surging from side to side with spasmodic, cracking, agonized respirations. Gush after gush of clotted red gore shoots into the frighted air, then falls dripping down the whale’s motionless flanks into the sea. The whale’s heart has burst.

Stubb’s Ashes

Daggoo announces “He’s dead, Mr. Stubb.” Stubb confirms “Both pipes smoked out!” and withdrawing his own pipe from his mouth, scatters the dead ashes over the water. For a moment he stands thoughtfully, eyeing the vast corpse he has made.

第六十二章 The Dart.

The chapter criticizes the standard whaling practice of requiring the harpooneer to perform the exhausting double duty of rowing vigorously while also being poised to throw his harpoon at a moment’s notice. Ishmael describes how the harpooneer must strain at the oar, shout loudly to inspire the crew, then suddenly pivot, drop his oar, and cast his heavy iron at the whale, often from a distance of twenty or thirty feet. The author argues that this system results in abysmal success rates, noting that out of fifty fair chances to dart, not more than five succeed, and that many harpooneers burst blood vessels, get cursed and demoted, or cause their ships to lose money. He contends that the headsman should remain stationary in the bows from beginning to end, darting both harpoon and lance without being expected to row, maintaining that exhaustion rather than the whale’s speed causes most failures in the fishery.

The Invariable Usage of the Fishery

According to the established customs of the whaling industry, when a whale-boat pushes off from the mother ship, the headsman or whale-killer serves as the temporary steersman while the harpooneer or whale-fastener takes the foremost oar, known as the harpooneer-oar. This arrangement has been followed consistently across the fleet.