That whale of Stubb's, so dearly purchased, was duly brought to the Pequod's side, where all those cutting and hoisting1 operations previously2 detailed3, were regularly gone through, even to the baling of the Heidelburgh Tun, or Case.
While some were occupied with this latter duty, others were employed in dragging away the larger tubs, so soon as filled with the sperm4; and when the proper time arrived, this same sperm was carefully manipulated ere going to the try-works, of which anon.
It had cooled and crystallized to such a degree, that when, with several others, I sat down before a large Constantine's bath of it, I found it strangely concreted into lumps, here and there rolling about in the liquid part. It was our business to squeeze these lumps back into fluid. A sweet and unctuous6 duty! No wonder that in old times this sperm was such a favorite cosmetic7. Such a clearer! such a sweetener! such a softener8; such a delicious mollifier! After having my hands in it for only a few minutes, my fingers felt like eels9, and began, as it were, to serpentine10 and spiralize.
As I sat there at my ease, cross-legged on the deck; after the bitter exertion11 at the windlass; under a blue tranquil12 sky; the ship under indolent sail, and gliding13 so serenely14 along; as I bathed my hands among those soft, gentle globules of infiltrated15 tissues, woven almost within the hour; as they richly broke to my fingers, and discharged all their opulence16, like fully5 ripe grapes their wine; as. I snuffed up that uncontaminated aroma,-- literally17 and truly, like the smell of spring violets; I declare to you, that for the time I lived as in a musky meadow; I forgot all about our horrible oath; in that inexpressible sperm, I washed my hands and my heart of it; I almost began to credit the old Paracelsan superstition18 that sperm is of rare virtue19 in allaying20 the heat of anger; while bathing in that bath, I felt divinely free from all ill-will, or petulance21, or malice22, of any sort whatsoever23.
Squeeze! squeeze! squeeze! all the morning long; I squeezed that sperm till I myself almost melted into it; I squeezed that sperm till a strange sort of insanity24 came over me; and I found myself unwittingly squeezing my co-laborers' hands in it, mistaking their hands for the gentle globules. Such an abounding26, affectionate, friendly, loving feeling did this avocation27 beget28; that at last I was continually squeezing their hands, and looking up into their eyes sentimentally29; as much as to say,--Oh! my dear fellow beings, why should we longer cherish any social acerbities, or know the slightest ill-humor or envy! Come; let us squeeze hands all round; nay30, let us all squeeze ourselves into each other; let us squeeze ourselves universally into the very milk and sperm of kindness.
Would that I could keep squeezing that sperm for ever! For now, since by many prolonged, repeated experiences, I have perceived that in all cases man must eventually lower, or at least shift, his conceit31 of attainable32 felicity; not placing it anywhere in the intellect or the fancy; but in the wife, the heart, the bed, the table, the saddle, the fire-side; the country; now that I have perceived all this, I am ready to squeeze case eternally. In thoughts of the visions of the night, I saw long rows of angels in paradise, each with his hands in a jar of spermaceti.
Now, while discoursing33 of sperm it behooves34 to speak of other things akin25 to it, in the business of preparing the sperm whale for the try-works.
First comes white-horse, so called, which is obtained from the tapering35 part of the fish, and also from the thicker portions of his flukes. It is tough with congealed36 tendons--a wad of muscle--but still contains some oil. After being severed37 from the whale, the white-horse is first cut into portable oblongs ere going to the mincer38. They look much like blocks of Berkshire marble.
Plum-pudding is the term bestowed39 upon certain fragmentary parts of the whale's flesh, here and there adhering to the blanket of blubber, and often participating to a considerable degree in its unctuousness40. It is a most refreshing41, convivial42, beautiful object to behold43. As its name imports, it is of an exceedingly rich, mottled tint44, with a bestreaked snowy and golden ground, dotted with spots of the deepest crimson45 and purple. It is plums of rubies46, in pictures of citron. Spite of reason, it is hard to keep yourself from eating it. I confess, that once I stole behind the foremast to try it. It tasted something as I should conceive a royal cutlet from the thigh47 of Louis le Gros might have tasted, supposing him to have been killed the first day after the venison season, and that particular venison season contemporary with an unusually fine vintage of the vineyards of Champagne48.
There is another substance, and a very singular one, which turns up in the course of this business, but which I feel it to be very puzzling adequately to describe. It is called slobgollion; an appellation49 original with the whalemen, and even so is the nature of the substance. It is an ineffably50 oozy51, stringy affair, most frequently found in the tubs of sperm, after a prolonged squeezing, and subsequent decanting52. I hold it to be the wondrously53 thin, ruptured54 membranes55 of the case, coalescing56.
Gurry, so called, is a term properly belonging to right whalemen, but sometimes incidentally used by the sperm fishermen. It designates the dark, glutinous57 substance which is scraped off the back of the Greenland or right whale, and much of which covers the decks of those inferior souls who hunt that ignoble58 Leviathan.
Nippers. Strictly59 this word is not indigenous60 to the whale's vocabulary. But as applied61 by whalemen, it becomes so. A whaleman's nipper is a short firm strip of tendinous stuff cut from the tapering part of Leviathan's tail: it averages an inch in thickness, and for the rest, is about the size of the iron part of a hoe. Edgewise moved along the oily deck, it operates like a leathern squilgee; and by nameless blandishments, as of magic, allures62 along with it all impurities63.
But to learn all about these recondite64 matters, your best way is at once to descend65 into the blubber-room, and have a long talk with its inmates66. This place has previously been mentioned as the receptacle for the blanket-pieces, when stript and hoisted67 from the whale. When the proper time arrives for cutting up its contents, this apartment is a scene of terror to all tyros68, especially by night. On one side, lit by a dull lantern, a space has been left clear for the workmen. They generally go in pairs,--a pike-and-gaffman and a spade-man. The whaling-pike is similar to a frigate's boarding-weapon of the same name. The gaff is something like a boat-hook. With his gaff, the gaffman hooks on to a sheet of blubber, and strives to hold it from slipping, as the ship pitches and lurches about. Meanwhile, the spade-man stands on the sheet itself, perpendicularly69 chopping it into the portable horse-pieces. This spade is sharp as hone can make it; the spademan's feet are shoeless; the thing he stands on will sometimes irresistibly70 slide away from him, like a sledge71. If he cuts off one of his own toes, or one of his assistants', would you be very much astonished? Toes are scarce among veteran blubber-room men.
1 hoisting | |
起重,提升 | |
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2 previously | |
adv.以前,先前(地) | |
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3 detailed | |
adj.详细的,详尽的,极注意细节的,完全的 | |
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4 sperm | |
n.精子,精液 | |
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5 fully | |
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
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6 unctuous | |
adj.油腔滑调的,大胆的 | |
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7 cosmetic | |
n.化妆品;adj.化妆用的;装门面的;装饰性的 | |
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8 softener | |
n.起软化作用的东西,软化剂,柔软剂 | |
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9 eels | |
abbr. 电子发射器定位系统(=electronic emitter location system) | |
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10 serpentine | |
adj.蜿蜒的,弯曲的 | |
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11 exertion | |
n.尽力,努力 | |
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12 tranquil | |
adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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13 gliding | |
v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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14 serenely | |
adv.安详地,宁静地,平静地 | |
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15 infiltrated | |
adj.[医]浸润的v.(使)渗透,(指思想)渗入人的心中( infiltrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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16 opulence | |
n.财富,富裕 | |
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17 literally | |
adv.照字面意义,逐字地;确实 | |
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18 superstition | |
n.迷信,迷信行为 | |
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19 virtue | |
n.德行,美德;贞操;优点;功效,效力 | |
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20 allaying | |
v.减轻,缓和( allay的现在分词 ) | |
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21 petulance | |
n.发脾气,生气,易怒,暴躁,性急 | |
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22 malice | |
n.恶意,怨恨,蓄意;[律]预谋 | |
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23 whatsoever | |
adv.(用于否定句中以加强语气)任何;pron.无论什么 | |
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24 insanity | |
n.疯狂,精神错乱;极端的愚蠢,荒唐 | |
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25 akin | |
adj.同族的,类似的 | |
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26 abounding | |
adj.丰富的,大量的v.大量存在,充满,富于( abound的现在分词 ) | |
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27 avocation | |
n.副业,业余爱好 | |
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28 beget | |
v.引起;产生 | |
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29 sentimentally | |
adv.富情感地 | |
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30 nay | |
adv.不;n.反对票,投反对票者 | |
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31 conceit | |
n.自负,自高自大 | |
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32 attainable | |
a.可达到的,可获得的 | |
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33 discoursing | |
演说(discourse的现在分词形式) | |
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34 behooves | |
n.利益,好处( behoof的名词复数 )v.适宜( behoove的第三人称单数 ) | |
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35 tapering | |
adj.尖端细的 | |
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36 congealed | |
v.使凝结,冻结( congeal的过去式和过去分词 );(指血)凝结 | |
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37 severed | |
v.切断,断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 );断,裂 | |
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38 mincer | |
n.粉碎机 | |
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39 bestowed | |
赠给,授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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40 unctuousness | |
油性 | |
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41 refreshing | |
adj.使精神振作的,使人清爽的,使人喜欢的 | |
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42 convivial | |
adj.狂欢的,欢乐的 | |
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43 behold | |
v.看,注视,看到 | |
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44 tint | |
n.淡色,浅色;染发剂;vt.着以淡淡的颜色 | |
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45 crimson | |
n./adj.深(绯)红色(的);vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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46 rubies | |
红宝石( ruby的名词复数 ); 红宝石色,深红色 | |
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47 thigh | |
n.大腿;股骨 | |
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48 champagne | |
n.香槟酒;微黄色 | |
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49 appellation | |
n.名称,称呼 | |
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50 ineffably | |
adv.难以言喻地,因神圣而不容称呼地 | |
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51 oozy | |
adj.软泥的 | |
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52 decanting | |
n.滗析(手续)v.将(酒等)自瓶中倒入另一容器( decant的现在分词 ) | |
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53 wondrously | |
adv.惊奇地,非常,极其 | |
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54 ruptured | |
v.(使)破裂( rupture的过去式和过去分词 );(使体内组织等)断裂;使(友好关系)破裂;使绝交 | |
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55 membranes | |
n.(动物或植物体内的)薄膜( membrane的名词复数 );隔膜;(可起防水、防风等作用的)膜状物 | |
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56 coalescing | |
v.联合,合并( coalesce的现在分词 ) | |
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57 glutinous | |
adj.粘的,胶状的 | |
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58 ignoble | |
adj.不光彩的,卑鄙的;可耻的 | |
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59 strictly | |
adv.严厉地,严格地;严密地 | |
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60 indigenous | |
adj.土产的,土生土长的,本地的 | |
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61 applied | |
adj.应用的;v.应用,适用 | |
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62 allures | |
诱引,吸引( allure的第三人称单数 ) | |
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63 impurities | |
不纯( impurity的名词复数 ); 不洁; 淫秽; 杂质 | |
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64 recondite | |
adj.深奥的,难解的 | |
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65 descend | |
vt./vi.传下来,下来,下降 | |
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66 inmates | |
n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 ) | |
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67 hoisted | |
把…吊起,升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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68 tyros | |
n.初学者,新手,生手( tyro的名词复数 ) | |
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69 perpendicularly | |
adv. 垂直地, 笔直地, 纵向地 | |
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70 irresistibly | |
adv.无法抵抗地,不能自持地;极为诱惑人地 | |
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71 sledge | |
n.雪橇,大锤;v.用雪橇搬运,坐雪橇往 | |
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