Next morning, Monday, after disposing of the embalmed1 head to a barber, for a block, I settled my own and comrade's bill; using, however, my comrade's money. The grinning landlord, as well as the boarders, seemed amazingly tickled2 at the sudden friendship which had sprung up between me and Queequeg-- especially as Peter Coffin's cock and bull stories about him had previously3 so much alarmed me concerning the very person whom I now companied with.
We borrowed a wheelbarrow, and embarking4 our things, including my own poor carpet-bag, and Queequeg's canvas sack and hammock, away we went down to "the Moss5," the little Nantucket packet schooner6 moored7 at the wharf8. As we were going along the people stared; not at Queequeg so much-- for they were used to seeing cannibals like him in their streets,-- but at seeing him and me upon such confidential9 terms. But we heeded10 them not, going along wheeling the barrow by turns, and Queequeg now and then stopping to adjust the sheath on his harpoon11 barbs12. I asked him why he carried such a troublesome thing with him ashore13, and whether all whaling ships did not find their own harpoons14. To this, in substance, he replied, that though what I hinted was true enough, yet he had a particular affection for his own harpoon, because it was of assured stuff, well tried in many a mortal combat, and deeply intimate with the hearts of whales. In short, like many inland reapers15 and mowers, who go into the farmer's meadows armed with their own scythes--though in no wise obliged to furnish them-- even so, Queequeg, for his own private reasons, preferred his own harpoon.
Shifting the barrow from my hand to his, he told me a funny story about the first wheelbarrow he had ever seen. It was in Sag16 Harbor. The owners of his ship, it seems, had lent him one, in which to carry his heavy chest to his boarding house. Not to seem ignorant about the thing--though in truth he was entirely17 so, concerning the precise way in which to manage the barrow--Queequeg puts his chest upon it; lashes18 it fast; and then shoulders the barrow and marches up the wharf. "Why," said I, "Queequeg, you might have known better than that, one would think. Didn't the people laugh?"
Upon this, he told me another story. The people of his island of Rokovoko, it seems, at their wedding feasts express the fragrant19 water of young cocoanuts into a large stained calabash like a punchbowl; and this punchbowl always forms the great central ornament20 on the braided mat where the feast is held. Now a certain grand merchant ship once touched at Rokovoko, and its commander--from all accounts, a very stately punctilious21 gentleman, at least for a sea captain-- this commander was invited to the wedding feast of Queequeg's sister, a pretty young princess just turned of ten. Well; when all the wedding guests were assembled at the bride's bamboo cottage, this Captain marches in, and being assigned the post of honor, placed himself over against the punchbowl, and between the High Priest and his majesty22 the King, Queequeg's father. Grace being said,--for those people have their grace as well as we-- though Queequeg told me that unlike us, who at such times look downwards23 to our platters, they, on the contrary, copying the ducks, glance upwards24 to the great Giver of all feasts--Grace, I say, being said, the High Priest opens the banquet by the immemorial ceremony of the island; that is, dipping his consecrated25 and consecrating26 fingers into the bowl before the blessed beverage27 circulates. Seeing himself placed next the Priest, and noting the ceremony, and thinking himself--being Captain of a ship--as having plain precedence over a mere28 island King, especially in the King's own house-- the Captain coolly proceeds to wash his hands in the punch bowl;-- taking it I suppose for a huge finger-glass. "Now," said Queequeg, "what you tink now?--Didn't our people laugh?"
At last, passage paid, and luggage safe, we stood on board the schooner. Hoisting29 sail, it glided30 down the Acushnet river. On one side, New Bedford rose in terraces of streets, their ice-covered trees all glittering in the clear, cold air. Huge hills and mountains of casks on casks were piled upon her wharves31, and side by side the world-wandering whale ships lay silent and safely moored at last; while from others came a sound of carpenters and coopers, with blended noises of fires and forges to melt the pitch, all betokening32 that new cruises were on the start; that one most perilous33 and long voyage ended, only begins a second; and a second ended, only begins a third, and so on, for ever and for aye. Such is the endlessness, yea, the intolerableness of all earthly effort.
Gaining the more open water, the bracing34 breeze waxed fresh; the little Moss tossed the quick foam35 from her bows, as a young colt his snortings. How I snuffed that Tartar air!--how I spurned36 that turnpike earth!-- that common highway all over dented37 with the marks of slavish heels and hoofs38; and turned me to admire the magnanimity of the sea which will permit no records.
At the same foam-fountain, Queequeg seemed to drink and reel with me. His dusky nostrils39 swelled40 apart; he showed his filed and pointed41 teeth. On, on we flew, and our offing gained, the Moss did homage42 to the blast; ducked and dived her bows as a slave before the Sultan. Sideways leaning, we sideways darted43; every ropeyarn tingling44 like a wire; the two tall masts buckling45 like Indian canes46 in land tornadoes47. So full of this reeling scene were we, as we stood by the plunging48 bowsprit, that for some time we did not notice the jeering49 glances of the passengers, a lubber-like assembly, who marvelled50 that two fellow beings should be so companionable; as though a white man were anything more dignified51 than a whitewashed52 negro. But there were some boobies and bumpkins there, who, by their intense greenness, must have come from the heart and centre of all verdure. Queequeg caught one of these young saplings mimicking53 him behind his back. I thought the bumpkin's hour of doom54 was come. Dropping his harpoon, the brawny55 savage56 caught him in his arms, and by an almost miraculous57 dexterity58 and strength, sent him high up bodily into the air; then slightly tapping his stern in mid-somerset, the fellow landed with bursting lungs upon his feet, while Queequeg, turning his back upon him, lighted his tomahawk pipe and passed it to me for a puff59.
"Capting! Capting! yelled the bumpkin, running toward that officer; "Capting, Capting, here's the devil."
"Hallo, you sir," cried the Captain, a gaunt rib60 of the sea, stalking up to Queequeg, "what in thunder do you mean by that? Don't you know you might have killed that chap?"
"What him say?" said Queequeg, as he mildly turned to me.
"He say," said I, "that you came near kill-e that man there," pointing to the still shivering greenhorn.
"Kill-e," cried Queequeg, twisting his tattooed61 face into an unearthly expression of disdain62, "ah! him bevy63 small-e fish-e; Queequeg no kill-e so small-e fish-e; Queequeg kill-e big whale!"
"Look you," roared the Captain, "I'll kill-e you, you cannibal, if you try any more of your tricks aboard here; so mind your eye."
But it so happened just then, that it was high time for the Captain to mind his own eye. The prodigious64 strain upon the main-sail had parted the weather-sheet, and the tremendous boom was now flying from side to side, completely sweeping65 the entire after part of the deck. The poor fellow whom Queequeg had handled so roughly, was swept overboard; all hands were in a panic; and to attempt snatching at the boom to stay it, seemed madness. It flew from right to left, and back again, almost in one ticking of a watch, and every instant seemed on the point of snapping into splinters. Nothing was done, and nothing seemed capable of being done; those on deck rushed toward the bows, and stood eyeing the boom as if it were the lower jaw66 of an exasperated67 whale. In the midst of this consternation68, Queequeg dropped deftly69 to his knees, and crawling under the path of the boom, whipped hold of a rope, secured one end to the bulwarks70, and then flinging the other like a lasso, caught it round the boom as it swept over his head, and at the next jerk, the spar was that way trapped, and all was safe. The schooner was run into the wind, and while the hands were clearing away the stern boat, Queequeg, stripped to the waist, darted from the side with a long living arc of a leap. For three minutes or more he was seen swimming like a dog, throwing his long arms straight out before him, and by turns revealing his brawny shoulders through the freezing foam. I looked at the grand and glorious fellow, but saw no one to be saved. The greenhorn had gone down. Shooting himself perpendicularly71 from the water, Queequeg, now took an instant's glance around him, and seeming to see just how matters were, dived down and disappeared. A few minutes more, and he rose again, one arm still striking out, and with the other dragging a lifeless form. The boat soon picked them up. The poor bumpkin was restored. All hands voted Queequeg a noble trump72; the captain begged his pardon. From that hour I clove73 to Queequeg like a barnacle; yea, till poor Queequeg took his last long dive.
Was there ever such unconsciousness? He did not seem to think that he at all deserved a medal from the Humane74 and Magnanimous Societies. He only asked for water--fresh water--something to wipe the brine off; that done, he put on dry clothes, lighted his pipe, and leaning against the bulwarks, and mildly eyeing those around him, seemed to be saying to himself--"It's a mutual75, joint-stock world, in all meridians76. We cannibals must help these Christians77."
1 embalmed | |
adj.用防腐药物保存(尸体)的v.保存(尸体)不腐( embalm的过去式和过去分词 );使不被遗忘;使充满香气 | |
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2 tickled | |
(使)发痒( tickle的过去式和过去分词 ); (使)愉快,逗乐 | |
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3 previously | |
adv.以前,先前(地) | |
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4 embarking | |
乘船( embark的现在分词 ); 装载; 从事 | |
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5 moss | |
n.苔,藓,地衣 | |
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6 schooner | |
n.纵帆船 | |
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7 moored | |
adj. 系泊的 动词moor的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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8 wharf | |
n.码头,停泊处 | |
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9 confidential | |
adj.秘(机)密的,表示信任的,担任机密工作的 | |
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10 heeded | |
v.听某人的劝告,听从( heed的过去式和过去分词 );变平,使(某物)变平( flatten的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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11 harpoon | |
n.鱼叉;vt.用鱼叉叉,用鱼叉捕获 | |
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12 barbs | |
n.(箭头、鱼钩等的)倒钩( barb的名词复数 );带刺的话;毕露的锋芒;钩状毛 | |
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13 ashore | |
adv.在(向)岸上,上岸 | |
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14 harpoons | |
n.鱼镖,鱼叉( harpoon的名词复数 )v.鱼镖,鱼叉( harpoon的第三人称单数 ) | |
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15 reapers | |
n.收割者,收获者( reaper的名词复数 );收割机 | |
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16 sag | |
v.下垂,下跌,消沉;n.下垂,下跌,凹陷,[航海]随风漂流 | |
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17 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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18 lashes | |
n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 );鞭子;突然猛烈的一击;急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 );煽动;紧系;怒斥 | |
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19 fragrant | |
adj.芬香的,馥郁的,愉快的 | |
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20 ornament | |
v.装饰,美化;n.装饰,装饰物 | |
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21 punctilious | |
adj.谨慎的,谨小慎微的 | |
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22 majesty | |
n.雄伟,壮丽,庄严,威严;最高权威,王权 | |
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23 downwards | |
adj./adv.向下的(地),下行的(地) | |
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24 upwards | |
adv.向上,在更高处...以上 | |
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25 consecrated | |
adj.神圣的,被视为神圣的v.把…奉为神圣,给…祝圣( consecrate的过去式和过去分词 );奉献 | |
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26 consecrating | |
v.把…奉为神圣,给…祝圣( consecrate的现在分词 );奉献 | |
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27 beverage | |
n.(水,酒等之外的)饮料 | |
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28 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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29 hoisting | |
起重,提升 | |
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30 glided | |
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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31 wharves | |
n.码头,停泊处( wharf的名词复数 ) | |
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32 betokening | |
v.预示,表示( betoken的现在分词 ) | |
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33 perilous | |
adj.危险的,冒险的 | |
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34 bracing | |
adj.令人振奋的 | |
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35 foam | |
v./n.泡沫,起泡沫 | |
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36 spurned | |
v.一脚踢开,拒绝接受( spurn的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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37 dented | |
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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38 hoofs | |
n.(兽的)蹄,马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.(兽的)蹄,马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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39 nostrils | |
鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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40 swelled | |
增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 ); 肿胀; (使)凸出; 充满(激情) | |
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41 pointed | |
adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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42 homage | |
n.尊敬,敬意,崇敬 | |
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43 darted | |
v.投掷,投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 );向前冲,飞奔 | |
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44 tingling | |
v.有刺痛感( tingle的现在分词 ) | |
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45 buckling | |
扣住 | |
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46 canes | |
n.(某些植物,如竹或甘蔗的)茎( cane的名词复数 );(用于制作家具等的)竹竿;竹杖 | |
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47 tornadoes | |
n.龙卷风,旋风( tornado的名词复数 ) | |
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48 plunging | |
adj.跳进的,突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降 | |
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49 jeering | |
adj.嘲弄的,揶揄的v.嘲笑( jeer的现在分词 ) | |
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50 marvelled | |
v.惊奇,对…感到惊奇( marvel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51 dignified | |
a.可敬的,高贵的 | |
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52 whitewashed | |
粉饰,美化,掩饰( whitewash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53 mimicking | |
v.(尤指为了逗乐而)模仿( mimic的现在分词 );酷似 | |
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54 doom | |
n.厄运,劫数;v.注定,命定 | |
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55 brawny | |
adj.强壮的 | |
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56 savage | |
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人 | |
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57 miraculous | |
adj.像奇迹一样的,不可思议的 | |
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58 dexterity | |
n.(手的)灵巧,灵活 | |
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59 puff | |
n.一口(气);一阵(风);v.喷气,喘气 | |
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60 rib | |
n.肋骨,肋状物 | |
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61 tattooed | |
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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62 disdain | |
n.鄙视,轻视;v.轻视,鄙视,不屑 | |
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63 bevy | |
n.一群 | |
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64 prodigious | |
adj.惊人的,奇妙的;异常的;巨大的;庞大的 | |
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65 sweeping | |
adj.范围广大的,一扫无遗的 | |
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66 jaw | |
n.颚,颌,说教,流言蜚语;v.喋喋不休,教训 | |
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67 exasperated | |
adj.恼怒的 | |
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68 consternation | |
n.大为吃惊,惊骇 | |
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69 deftly | |
adv.灵巧地,熟练地,敏捷地 | |
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70 bulwarks | |
n.堡垒( bulwark的名词复数 );保障;支柱;舷墙 | |
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71 perpendicularly | |
adv. 垂直地, 笔直地, 纵向地 | |
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72 trump | |
n.王牌,法宝;v.打出王牌,吹喇叭 | |
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73 clove | |
n.丁香味 | |
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74 humane | |
adj.人道的,富有同情心的 | |
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75 mutual | |
adj.相互的,彼此的;共同的,共有的 | |
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76 meridians | |
n.子午圈( meridian的名词复数 );子午线;顶点;(权力,成就等的)全盛时期 | |
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77 Christians | |
n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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