Moby Dick; Or, The Whale

The Crotch

The crotch is a notched wooden device, approximately two feet long, perpendicularly inserted into the starboard gunwale near the bow of the whaling boat. Its purpose is to provide a readily accessible rest for harpoons, allowing the harpooneer to grab the weapon as quickly as a backwoodsman would swing a rifle from the wall.

The Two Harpoons

Two harpoons typically rest in the crotch, called the first and second irons. Both are connected to the same line by their own separate cords. The strategic advantage is that if one harpoon draws out during the violent drag of a caught whale, the other may still maintain a hold—effectively doubling the chances of successfully retaining the whale.

The Second Iron Overboard

When a whale moves with such sudden, violent convulsions upon receiving the first harpoon that the harpooneer cannot pitch the second iron, the connected weapon must be tossed overboard to prevent fatal danger to the crew. This loose second iron becomes a dangerous, skittish object that tangles and cuts lines around both boat and whale, and generally cannot be secured again until the whale is captured.

Four Boats Engaging One Whale

In scenarios where four boats engage an unusually strong, active, and cunning whale, numerous loose second irons may be simultaneously dangling about. Since each boat carries several harpoons as backup, ten or more loose irons may be creating chaos—an intricate and perilous situation that the narrative promises to illuminate in subsequent scenes.

第六十四章 Stubb’s Supper.

This chapter follows the aftermath of Stubb’s successful whale kill, covering the labor to tow the massive carcass to the Pequod, the crew’s work to moor the whale alongside the ship for the night, Stubb’s celebratory whale-steak supper, his humorous exchange with the elderly ship’s cook Fleece, and the chaotic shark feast surrounding the dead leviathan.