With matted beard, and swathed in a bristling1 shark-skin apron2, about mid-day, Perth was standing3 between his forge and anvil4, the latter placed upon an iron-wood log, with one hand holding a pike-head in the coals, and with the other at his forge's lungs, when Captain Ahab came along, carrying in his hand a small rusty-looking leathern bag. While yet a little distance from the forge, moody5 Ahab paused; till at last, Perth, withdrawing his iron from the fire, began hammering it upon the anvil--the red mass sending off the sparks in thick hovering6 flights, some of which flew close to Ahab.
"Are these thy Mother Carey's chickens, Perth? they are always flying in thy wake; birds of good omen7, too, but not to all;--look here, they burn; but thou--thou liv'st among them without a scorch8."
"Because I am scorched9 all over, Captain Ahab," answered Perth, resting for a moment on his hammer; "I am past scorching-, not easily can'st thou scorch a scar."
"Well, well; no more. Thy shrunk voice sounds too calmly, sanely10 woeful to me. In no Paradise myself, I am impatient of all misery11 in others that is not mad. Thou should'st go mad, blacksmith; say, why dost thou not go mad? How can'st thou endure without being mad? Do the heavens yet hate thee, that thou can'st not go mad?-- What wert thou making there?"
"Welding an old pike-head, sir; there were seams and dents12 in it."
"And can'st thou make it all smooth again, blacksmith, after such hard usage as it had?"
"I think so, sir."
"And I suppose thou can'st smoothe almost any seams and dents; never mind how hard the metal, blacksmith?"
"Aye, sir, I think I can; all seams and dents but one."
"Look ye here then," cried Ahab, passionately13 advancing, and leaning with both hands on Perth's shoulders; "look ye here--here--can ye smoothe out a seam like this, blacksmith," sweeping14 one hand across his ribbed brow; "if thou could'st, blacksmith, glad enough would I lay my head upon thy anvil, and feel thy heaviest hammer between my eyes. Answer! Can'st thou smoothe this seam?"
"Oh! that is the one, sir! Said I not all seams and dents but one?"
"Aye, blacksmith, it is the one; aye, man, it is unsmoothable; for though thou only see'st it here in my flesh, it has worked down into the bone of my skull--that is all wrinkles! But, away with child's play; no more gaffs and pikes to-day. Look ye here!" jingling15 the leathern bag, as if it were full of gold coins. "I, too, want a harpoon16 made; one that a thousand yoke17 of fiends could not part, Perth; something that will stick in a whale like his own fin-bone. There's the stuff," flinging the pouch18 upon the anvil. "Look ye, blacksmith, these are the gathered nail-stubbs of the steel shoes of racing19 horses."
"Horse-shoe stubbs, sir? Why, Captain Ahab, thou hast here, then, the best and stubbornest stuff we blacksmiths ever work."
"I know it, old man; these stubbs will weld together like glue from the melted bones of murderers. Quick! forge me the harpoon. And forge me first, twelve rods for its shank; then wind, and twist, and hammer these twelve together like the yarns20 and strands21 of a tow-line. Quick! I'll blow the fire."
When at last the twelve rods were made, Ahab tried them, one by one, by spiralling them, with his own hand, round a long, heavy iron bolt. "A flaw!" rejecting the last one. "Work that over again, Perth."
This done, Perth was about to begin welding the twelve into one, when Ahab stayed his hand, and said he would weld his own iron. As, then, with regular, gasping22 hems23, he hammered on the anvil, Perth passing to him the glowing rods, one after the other, and the hard pressed forge shooting up its intense straight flame, the Parsee passed silently, and bowing over his head towards the fire, seemed invoking24 some curse or some blessing25 on the toil26. But, as Ahab looked up, he slid aside.
"What's that bunch of lucifers dodging27 about there for?" muttered Stubb, looking on from the forecastle. "That Parsee smells fire like a fusee; and smells of it himself, like a hot musket's powder-pan."
At last the shank, in one complete rod, received its final heat; and as Perth, to temper it, plunged28 it all hissing29 into the cask of water near by, the scalding steam shot up into Ahab's bent30 face.
"Would'st thou brand me, Perth?" wincing31 for a moment with the pain; "have I been but forging my own branding-iron, then?"
"Pray God, not that; yet I fear something, Captain Ahab. Is not this harpoon for the White Whale?"
"For the white fiend! But now for the barbs33; thou must make them thyself, man. Here are my razors--the best of steel; here, and make the barbs sharp as the needle-sleet of the Icy Sea."
For a moment, the old blacksmith eyed the razors as though he would fain not use them.
"Take them, man, I have no need for them; for I now neither shave, sup, nor pray till--but here--to work!"
Fashioned at last into an arrowy shape, and welded by Perth to the shank, the steel soon pointed34 the end of the iron; and as the blacksmith was about giving the barbs their final heat, prior to tempering them, he cried to Ahab to place the water-cask near.
"No, no--no water for that; I want it of the true death-temper. Ahoy, there! Tashtego, Queequeg, Daggoo! What say ye, pagans! Will ye give me as much blood as will cover this barb32?" holding it high up. A cluster of dark nods replied, Yes. Three punctures36 were made in the heathen flesh, and the White Whale's barbs were then tempered.
"Ego35 non baptizo te in nomine patris, sed in nomine diaboli!" deliriously37 howled Ahab, as the malignant38 iron scorchingly devoured39 the baptismal blood.
Now, mustering40 the spare poles from below, and selecting one of hickory, with the bark still investing it, Ahab fitted the end to the socket41 of the iron. A coil of new tow-line was then unwound, and some fathoms42 of it taken to the windlass, and stretched to a great tension. Pressing his foot upon it, till the rope hummed like a harp-string, then eagerly bending over it, and seeing no strandings, Ahab exclaimed, "Good! and now for the seizings."
At one extremity43 the rope was unstranded, and the separate spread yarns were all braided and woven round the socket of the harpoon; the pole was then driven hard up into the socket; from the lower end the rope was traced halfway44 along the pole's length, and firmly secured so, with inter-twistings of twine45. This done, pole, iron, and rope--like the Three Fates-- remained inseparable, and Ahab moodily46 stalked away with the weapon; the sound of his ivory leg, and the sound of the hickory pole, both hollowly ringing along every plank47. But ere he entered his cabin, a light, unnatural48, half-bantering, yet most piteous sound was heard. Oh! Pip, thy wretched laugh, thy idle but unresting eye; all thy strange mummeries not unmeaningly blended with the black tragedy of the melancholy49 ship, and mocked it!
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bristling
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| a.竖立的 | |
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apron
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| n.围裙；工作裙 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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anvil
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| n.铁钻 | |
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moody
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| adj.心情不稳的，易怒的，喜怒无常的 | |
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hovering
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| 鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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omen
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| n.征兆，预兆；vt.预示 | |
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scorch
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| v.烧焦，烤焦；高速疾驶；n.烧焦处，焦痕 | |
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scorched
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| 烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦 | |
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sanely
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| ad.神志清楚地 | |
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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dents
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| n.花边边饰；凹痕( dent的名词复数 )；凹部；减少；削弱v.使产生凹痕( dent的第三人称单数 )；损害；伤害；挫伤（信心、名誉等） | |
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passionately
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| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
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sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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jingling
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| 叮当声 | |
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harpoon
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| n.鱼叉；vt.用鱼叉叉，用鱼叉捕获 | |
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yoke
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| n.轭；支配；v.给...上轭，连接，使成配偶 | |
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pouch
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| n.小袋，小包，囊状袋；vt.装...入袋中，用袋运输；vi.用袋送信件 | |
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racing
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| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
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yarns
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| n.纱( yarn的名词复数 )；纱线；奇闻漫谈；旅行轶事 | |
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strands
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| n.（线、绳、金属线、毛发等的）股( strand的名词复数 )；缕；海洋、湖或河的)岸；（观点、计划、故事等的）部份v.使滞留，使搁浅( strand的第三人称单数 ) | |
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gasping
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| adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词 | |
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hems
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| 布的褶边，贴边( hem的名词复数 )； 短促的咳嗽 | |
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invoking
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| v.援引( invoke的现在分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求 | |
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blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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dodging
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| n.避开，闪过，音调改变v.闪躲( dodge的现在分词 )；回避 | |
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plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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hissing
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| n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
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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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wincing
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| 赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的现在分词 ) | |
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barb
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| n.（鱼钩等的）倒钩，倒刺 | |
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barbs
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| 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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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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ego
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| n.自我，自己，自尊 | |
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punctures
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| n.（尖物刺成的）小孔( puncture的名词复数 )；（尤指）轮胎穿孔；（尤指皮肤上被刺破的）扎孔；刺伤v.在（某物）上穿孔( puncture的第三人称单数 )；刺穿（某物）；削弱（某人的傲气、信心等）；泄某人的气 | |
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deliriously
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| adv.谵妄（性）；发狂；极度兴奋/亢奋；说胡话 | |
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malignant
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| adj.恶性的，致命的；恶意的，恶毒的 | |
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devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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mustering
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| v.集合，召集，集结（尤指部队）( muster的现在分词 )；（自他人处）搜集某事物；聚集；激发 | |
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socket
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| n.窝，穴，孔，插座，插口 | |
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42
fathoms
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| 英寻( fathom的名词复数 ) | |
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extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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halfway
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| adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途 | |
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45
twine
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| v.搓，织，编饰；（使）缠绕 | |
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moodily
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| adv.喜怒无常地；情绪多变地；心情不稳地；易生气地 | |
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plank
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| n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目 | |
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unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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