Upon waking next morning about daylight, I found Queequeg's arm thrown over me in the most loving and affectionate manner. You had almost thought I had been his wife. The counterpane was of patchwork1, full of odd little parti-colored squares and triangles; and this arm of his tattooed2 all over with an interminable Cretan labyrinth3 of a figure, no two parts of which were of one precise shade-- owing I suppose to his keeping his arm at sea unmethodically in sun and shade, his shirt sleeves irregularly rolled up at various times-- this same arm of his, I say, looked for all the world like a strip of that same patchwork quilt. Indeed, partly lying on it as the arm did when I first awoke, I could hardly tell it from the quilt, they so blended their hues4 together; and it was only by the sense of weight and pressure that I could tell that Queequeg was hugging me.
My sensations were strange. Let me try to explain them. When I was a child, I well remember a somewhat similar circumstance that befell me; whether it was a reality or a dream, I never could entirely5 settle. The circumstance was this. I had been cutting up some caper6 or other-- I think it was trying to crawl up the chimney, as I had seen a little sweep do a few days previous; and my stepmother who, somehow or other, was all the time whipping me, or sending me to bed supperless,-- my mother dragged me by the legs out of the chimney and packed me off to bed, though it was only two o'clock in the afternoon of the 21st June, the longest day in the year in our hemisphere. I felt dreadfully. But there was no help for it, so up stairs I went to my little room in the third floor, undressed myself as slowly as possible so as to kill time, and with a bitter sigh got between the sheets.
I lay there dismally7 calculating that sixteen entire hours must elapse before I could hope for a resurrection. Sixteen hours in bed! the small of my back ached to think of it. And it was so light too; the sun shining in at the window, and a great rattling8 of coaches in the streets, and the sound of gay voices all over the house. I felt worse and worse-- at last I got up, dressed, and softly going down in my stockinged feet, sought out my stepmother, and suddenly threw myself at her feet, beseeching9 her as a particular favor to give me a good slippering for my misbehaviour: anything indeed but condemning10 me to lie abed such an unendurable length of time. But she was the best and most conscientious11 of stepmothers, and back I had to go to my room. For several hours I lay there broad awake, feeling a great deal worse than I have ever done since, even from the greatest subsequent misfortunes. At last I must have fallen into a troubled nightmare of a doze12; and slowly waking from it--half steeped in dreams--I opened my eyes, and the before sunlit room was now wrapped in outer darkness. Instantly I felt a shock running through all my frame; nothing was to be seen, and nothing was to be heard; but a supernatural hand seemed placed in mine. My arm hung over the counterpane, and the nameless, unimaginable, silent form or phantom13, to which the hand belonged, seemed closely seated by my bed-side. For what seemed ages piled on ages, I lay there, frozen with the most awful fears, not daring to drag away my hand; yet ever thinking that if I could but stir it one single inch, the horrid14 spell would be broken. I knew not how this consciousness at last glided15 away from me; but waking in the morning, I shudderingly16 remembered it all, and for days and weeks and months afterwards I lost myself in confounding attempts to explain the mystery. Nay17, to this very hour, I often puzzle myself with it.
Now, take away the awful fear, and my sensations at feeling the supernatural hand in mine were very similar, in their strangeness, to those which I experienced on waking up and seeing Queequeg's pagan arm thrown round me. But at length all the past night's events soberly recurred18, one by one, in fixed19 reality, and then I lay only alive to the comical predicament. For though I tried to move his arm-- unlock his bridegroom clasp--yet, sleeping as he was, he still hugged me tightly, as though naught20 but death should part us twain. I now strove to rouse him--"Queequeg!"--but his only answer was a snore. I then rolled over, my neck feeling as if it were in a horse-collar; and suddenly felt a slight scratch. Throwing aside the counterpane, there lay the tomahawk sleeping by the savage21's side, as if it were a hatchet-faced baby. A pretty pickle22, truly, thought I; abed here in a strange house in the broad day, with a cannibal and a tomahawk! "Queequeg!--in the name of goodness, Queequeg, wake!" At length, by dint23 of much wriggling24, and loud and incessant25 expostulations upon the unbecomingness of his hugging a fellow male in that matrimonial sort of style, I succeeded in extracting a grunt26; and presently, he drew back his arm, shook himself all over like a Newfoundland dog just from the water, and sat up in bed, stiff as a pike-staff, looking at me, and rubbing his eyes as if he did not altogether remember how I came to be there, though a dim consciousness of knowing something about me seemed slowly dawning over him. Meanwhile, I lay quietly eyeing him, having no serious misgivings27 now, and bent28 upon narrowly observing so curious a creature. When, at last, his mind seemed made up touching29 the character of his bedfellow, and he became, as it were, reconciled to the fact; he jumped out upon the floor, and by certain signs and sounds gave me to understand that, if it pleased me, he would dress first and then leave me to dress afterwards, leaving the whole apartment to myself. Thinks I, Queequeg, under the circumstances, this is a very civilized30 overture31; but, the truth is, these savages32 have an innate33 sense of delicacy34, say what you will; it is marvellous how essentially35 polite they are. I pay this particular compliment to Queequeg, because he treated me with so much civility and consideration, while I was guilty of great rudeness; staring at him from the bed, and watching all his toilette motions; for the time my curiosity getting the better of my breeding. Nevertheless, a man like Queequeg you don't see every day, he and his ways were well worth unusual regarding.
He commenced dressing36 at top by donning his beaver37 hat, a very tall one, by the by, and then--still minus his trowsers-- he hunted up his boots. What under the heavens he did it for, I cannot tell, but his next movement was to crush himself-- boots in hand, and hat on--under the bed; when, from sundry38 violent gaspings and strainings, I inferred he was hard at work booting himself; though by no law of propriety39 that I ever heard of, is any man required to be private when putting on his boots. But Queequeg, do you see, was a creature in the transition state-- neither caterpillar40 nor butterfly. He was just enough civilized to show off his outlandishness in the strangest possible manner. His education was not yet completed. He was an undergraduate. If he had not been a small degree civilized, he very probably would not have troubled himself with boots at all; but then, if he had not been still a savage, he never would have dreamt of getting under the bed to put them on. At last, he emerged with his hat very much dented41 and crushed down over his eyes, and began creaking and limping about the room, as if, not being much accustomed to boots, his pair of damp, wrinkled cowhide ones-- probably not made to order either--rather pinched and tormented42 him at the first go off of a bitter cold morning.
Seeing, now, that there were no curtains to the window, and that the street being very narrow, the house opposite commanded a plain view into the room, and observing more and more the indecorous figure that Queequeg made, staving about with little else but his hat and boots on; I begged him as well as I could, to accelerate his toilet somewhat, and particularly to get into his pantaloons as soon as possible. He complied, and then proceeded to wash himself. At that time in the morning any Christian43 would have washed his face; but Queequeg, to my amazement44, contented45 himself with restricting his ablutions to his chest, arms, and hands. He then donned his waistcoat, and taking up a piece of hard soap on the wash-stand centre table, dipped it into water and commenced lathering46 his face. I was watching to see where he kept his razor, when lo and behold47, he takes the harpoon48 from the bed corner, slips out the long wooden stock, unsheathes the head, whets49 it a little on his boot, and striding up to the bit of mirror against the wall, begins a vigorous scraping, or rather harpooning50 of his cheeks. Thinks I, Queequeg, this is using Rogers's best cutlery with a vengeance51. Afterwards I wondered the less at this operation when I came to know of what fine steel the head of a harpoon is made, and how exceedingly sharp the long straight edges are always kept.
The rest of his toilet was soon achieved, and he proudly marched out of the room, wrapped up in his great pilot monkey jacket, and sporting his harpoon like a marshal's baton52.
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patchwork
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| n.混杂物；拼缝物 | |
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tattooed
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| v.刺青，文身( tattoo的过去式和过去分词 )；连续有节奏地敲击；作连续有节奏的敲击 | |
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labyrinth
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| n.迷宫；难解的事物；迷路 | |
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hues
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| 色彩( hue的名词复数 )； 色调； 信仰； 观点 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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caper
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| v.雀跃，欢蹦；n.雀跃，跳跃；续随子，刺山柑花蕾；嬉戏 | |
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dismally
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| adv.阴暗地，沉闷地 | |
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rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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beseeching
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| adj.恳求似的v.恳求，乞求（某事物）( beseech的现在分词 ) | |
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condemning
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| v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地 | |
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conscientious
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| adj.审慎正直的，认真的，本着良心的 | |
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doze
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| v.打瞌睡；n.打盹，假寐 | |
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phantom
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| n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的 | |
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horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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shudderingly
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nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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recurred
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| 再发生，复发( recur的过去式和过去分词 )； 治愈 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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naught
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| n.无，零 [=nought] | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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pickle
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| n.腌汁，泡菜；v.腌，泡 | |
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dint
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| n.由于，靠；凹坑 | |
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wriggling
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| v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的现在分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等）；蠕蠕 | |
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incessant
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| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
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grunt
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| v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝 | |
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misgivings
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| n.疑虑，担忧，害怕；疑虑，担心，恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 )；疑惧 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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overture
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| n.前奏曲、序曲，提议，提案，初步交涉 | |
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savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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33
innate
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| adj.天生的，固有的，天赋的 | |
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delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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beaver
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| n.海狸，河狸 | |
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sundry
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| adj.各式各样的，种种的 | |
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propriety
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| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
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caterpillar
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| n.毛虫，蝴蝶的幼虫 | |
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41
dented
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| v.使产生凹痕( dent的过去式和过去分词 )；损害；伤害；挫伤（信心、名誉等） | |
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tormented
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| 饱受折磨的 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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44
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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46
lathering
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| n.痛打，怒骂v.（指肥皂）形成泡沫( lather的现在分词 )；用皂沫覆盖；狠狠地打 | |
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47
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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48
harpoon
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| n.鱼叉；vt.用鱼叉叉，用鱼叉捕获 | |
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49
whets
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| v.（在石头上）磨（刀、斧等）( whet的第三人称单数 )；引起，刺激（食欲、欲望、兴趣等） | |
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50
harpooning
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| v.鱼镖，鱼叉( harpoon的现在分词 ) | |
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51
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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52
baton
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| n.乐队用指挥杖 | |
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