Moby Dick; Or, The Whale

第二章 The Carpet-Bag.

Ishmael packs a carpet-bag with shirts and departs from New York for Cape Horn and the Pacific, arriving in New Bedford on a Saturday night in December only to discover that the Nantucket packet has already sailed. He decides to wait two nights for the next departure, expressing a firm preference for sailing on a Nantucket vessel because of his admiration for the island’s storied whaling heritage. After checking his meager funds, he walks through dark, cold streets past expensive-looking inns, eventually wandering toward the cheaper waterfront establishments. He mistakenly enters a negro church during a fiery sermon about damnation, then finally discovers “The Spouter Inn” run by Peter Coffin—a dilapidated building on a bleak corner that promises both cheap lodging and hot coffee.

Arrival and Delay in New Bedford

The narrator packs a carpet-bag and sets out from New York toward Cape Horn and the Pacific, arriving in New Bedford on a Saturday night in December. He learns that the packet boat to Nantucket has already departed, and he cannot reach his destination until Monday. Since he must spend two nights in New Bedford, he must find lodging.

The Superiority of Nantucket

The narrator explains his insistence on sailing only on a Nantucket vessel, despite New Bedford having largely monopolized the whaling industry. He romanticizes Nantucket as the original source of American whaling—the “Tyre of this Carthage”—the place where the first American whale was stranded and where Native Americans first hunted whales in canoes. He also recounts the legendary story of the first adventurous sloop that put out from Nantucket, loaded with cobblestones to throw at whales to determine proximity.