Warm Weather’s Subtle Softening of Ahab’s Grim Demeanor
Ere long, the warm, warbling persuasiveness of pleasant holiday weather seems gradually to charm Ahab from his mood. The narrator draws an analogy: as when April and May trip home to the wintry, misanthropic woods, even the barest, ruggedest, most thunder-cloven old oak will send forth green sprouts to welcome such glad-hearted visitants—so Ahab does, in the end, respond a little to the playful allurings of that girlish air. More than once he puts forth the faint blossom of a look, which in any other man would have soon flowered out in a smile. This subtle softening in Ahab’s grim demeanor suggests the beginning of a thaw in his formidable exterior as the voyage progresses into warmer waters.
第二十九章 Enter Ahab; to Him, Stubb.
This chapter follows the Pequod as it sails through the bright, mild Quito spring of the tropics after leaving ice and icebergs astern. It details Captain Ahab’s unusual habit of spending nearly all his time on deck at night rather than in his cabin, and recounts his sharp, hostile confrontation with second mate Stubb that leaves Stubb deeply unsettled and confused by the captain’s volatile, enigmatic demeanor.
Pequod’s Passage Through Quito Spring and Weather’s Influence on Ahab
After clearing the ice and icebergs trailing behind the Pequod, the ship sails through the bright, warm Quito spring that nearly perpetually reigns on the threshold of the tropical August. The vivid, perfumed days and starry, stately nights cast an enchanting spell over the crew, but their most pronounced effect is on Captain Ahab: the quiet evening hours stir his memories, and the subtle atmospheric influences wear increasingly on his already troubled inner state.
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