And jolly enough were the sights and the sounds that came bearing down before the wind, some few weeks after Ahab's harpoon1 had been welded.
It was a Nantucket ship, the Bachelor, which had just wedged in her last cask of oil, and bolted down her bursting hatches; and now, in glad holiday apparel, was joyously2, though somewhat vain-gloriously, sailing round among the widely-separated ships on the ground, previous to pointing her prow3 for home.
The three men at her mast-head wore long streamers of narrow red bunting at their hats; from the stern, a whale-boat was suspended, bottom down; and hanging captive from the bowsprit was seen the long lower jaw4 of the last whale they had slain5. Signals, ensigns, and jacks6 of all colors were flying from her rigging, on every side. Sideways lashed7 in each of her three basketed tops were two barrels of sperm8; above which, in her top-mast cross-trees, you saw slender breakers of the same precious fluid; and nailed to her main truck was a brazen9 lamp.
As was afterwards learned, the Bachelor had met with the most surprising success; all the more wonderful, for that while cruising in the same seas numerous other vessels10 had gone entire months without securing a single fish. Not only had barrels of beef and bread been given away to make room for the far more valuable sperm, but additional supplemental casks had been bartered11 for, from the ships she had met; and these were stowed along the deck, and in the captain's and officers' state-rooms. Even the cabin table itself had been knocked into kindling-wood; and the cabin mess dined off the broad head of an oil-butt, lashed down to the floor for a centrepiece. In the forecastle, the sailors had actually caulked12 and pitched their chests, and filled them; it was humorously added, that the cook had clapped a head on his largest boiler13, and filled it; that the steward14 had plugged his spare coffee-pot and filled it; that the harpooneers had headed the sockets15 of their irons and filled them; that indeed everything was filled with sperm, except the captain's pantaloons pockets, and those he reserved to thrust his hands into, in self-complacent testimony16 of his entire satisfaction.
As this glad ship of good luck bore down upon the moody17 Pequod, the barbarian18 sound of enormous drums came from her forecastle; and drawing still nearer, a crowd of her men were seen standing19 round her huge try-pots, which, covered with the parchment-like poke20 or stomach skin of the black fish, gave forth21 a loud roar to every stroke of the clenched22 hands of the crew. On the quarter-deck, the mates and harpooneers were dancing with the olive-hued girls who had eloped with them from the Polynesian Isles23; while suspended in an ornamented24 boat, firmly secured aloft between the foremast and mainmast, three Long Island negroes, with glittering fiddle-bows of whale ivory, were presiding over the hilarious25 jig26. Meanwhile, others of the ship's company were tumultuously busy at the masonry27 of the try-works, from which the huge pots had been removed. You would have almost thought they were pulling down the cursed Bastille, such wild cries they raised, as the now useless brick and mortar28 were being hurled29 into the sea.
Lord and master over all this scene, the captain stood erect30 on the ship's elevated quarter-deck, so that the whole rejoicing drama was full before him, and seemed merely contrived31 for his own individual diversion.
And Ahab, he too was standing on his quarter-deck, shaggy and black, with a stubborn gloom; and as the two ships crossed each other's wakes-- one all jubilations for things passed, the other all forebodings as to things to come--their two captains in themselves impersonated the whole striking contrast of the scene.
"Come aboard, come aboard!" cried the gay Bachelor's commander, lifting a glass and a bottle in the air.
"Hast seen the White Whale?" gritted32 Ahab in reply.
"No; only heard of him; but don't believe in him at all," said the other good-humoredly. "Come aboard!"
"Thou art too damned jolly. Sail on. Hast lost any men?"
"Not enough to speak of--two islanders, that's all;--but come aboard, old hearty33, come along. I'll soon take that black from your brow. Come along, will ye (merry's the play); a full ship and homeward-bound."
"How wondrous34 familiar is a fool!" muttered Ahab; then aloud, "Thou art a full ship and homeward bound, thou sayest; well, then, call me an empty ship, and outward-bound. So go thy ways, and I will mine. Forward there! Set all sail, and keep her to the wind!"
And thus, while the one ship went cheerily before the breeze, the other stubbornly fought against it; and so the two vessels parted; the crew of the Pequod looking with grave, lingering glances towards the receding35 Bachelor; but the Bachelor's men never heeding36 their gaze for the lively revelry they were in. And as Ahab, leaning over the taffrail, eyed the homewardbound craft, he took from his pocket a small vial of sand, and then looking from the ship to the vial, seemed thereby37 bringing two remote associations together, for that vial was filled with Nantucket soundings.
1 harpoon | |
n.鱼叉;vt.用鱼叉叉,用鱼叉捕获 | |
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2 joyously | |
ad.快乐地, 高兴地 | |
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3 prow | |
n.(飞机)机头,船头 | |
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4 jaw | |
n.颚,颌,说教,流言蜚语;v.喋喋不休,教训 | |
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5 slain | |
杀死,宰杀,杀戮( slay的过去分词 ); (slay的过去分词) | |
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6 jacks | |
n.抓子游戏;千斤顶( jack的名词复数 );(电)插孔;[电子学]插座;放弃 | |
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7 lashed | |
adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 );煽动;紧系;怒斥 | |
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8 sperm | |
n.精子,精液 | |
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9 brazen | |
adj.厚脸皮的,无耻的,坚硬的 | |
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10 vessels | |
n.血管( vessel的名词复数 );船;容器;(具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的)人 | |
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11 bartered | |
v.作物物交换,以货换货( barter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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12 caulked | |
v.堵(船的)缝( caulk的过去式和过去分词 );泥…的缝;填塞;使不漏水 | |
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13 boiler | |
n.锅炉;煮器(壶,锅等) | |
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14 steward | |
n.乘务员,服务员;看管人;膳食管理员 | |
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15 sockets | |
n.套接字,使应用程序能够读写与收发通讯协定(protocol)与资料的程序( Socket的名词复数 );孔( socket的名词复数 );(电器上的)插口;托座;凹穴 | |
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16 testimony | |
n.证词;见证,证明 | |
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17 moody | |
adj.心情不稳的,易怒的,喜怒无常的 | |
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18 barbarian | |
n.野蛮人;adj.野蛮(人)的;未开化的 | |
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19 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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20 poke | |
n.刺,戳,袋;vt.拨开,刺,戳;vi.戳,刺,捅,搜索,伸出,行动散慢 | |
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21 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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22 clenched | |
v.紧握,抓紧,咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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23 isles | |
岛( isle的名词复数 ) | |
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24 ornamented | |
adj.花式字体的v.装饰,点缀,美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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25 hilarious | |
adj.充满笑声的,欢闹的;[反]depressed | |
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26 jig | |
n.快步舞(曲);v.上下晃动;用夹具辅助加工;蹦蹦跳跳 | |
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27 masonry | |
n.砖土建筑;砖石 | |
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28 mortar | |
n.灰浆,灰泥;迫击炮;v.把…用灰浆涂接合 | |
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29 hurled | |
v.猛投,用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 );大声叫骂 | |
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30 erect | |
n./v.树立,建立,使竖立;adj.直立的,垂直的 | |
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31 contrived | |
adj.不自然的,做作的;虚构的 | |
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32 gritted | |
v.以沙砾覆盖(某物),撒沙砾于( grit的过去式和过去分词 );咬紧牙关 | |
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33 hearty | |
adj.热情友好的;衷心的;尽情的,纵情的 | |
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34 wondrous | |
adj.令人惊奇的,奇妙的;adv.惊人地;异乎寻常地;令人惊叹地 | |
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35 receding | |
v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 );向后倾斜;自原处后退或避开别人的注视;尤指问题 | |
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36 heeding | |
v.听某人的劝告,听从( heed的现在分词 ) | |
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37 thereby | |
adv.因此,从而 | |
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