Moby-Dick; or, The Whale by Herman Melville (reader novel txt) š
- Author: Herman Melville
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āNow, three to three, ye stand. Commend the murderous chalices! Bestow them, ye who are now made parties to this indissoluble league. Ha! Starbuck! but the deed is done! Yon ratifying sun now waits to sit upon it. Drink, ye harpooneers! drink and swear, ye men that man the deathful whaleboatās bowāDeath to Moby Dick! God hunt us all, if we do not hunt Moby Dick to his death!ā The long, barbed steel goblets were lifted; and to cries and maledictions against the white whale, the spirits were simultaneously quaffed down with a hiss. Starbuck paled, and turned, and shivered. Once more, and finally, the replenished pewter went the rounds among the frantic crew; when, waving his free hand to them, they all dispersed; and Ahab retired within his cabin.
SUNSET
The cabin; by the stern windows; Ahab sitting alone, and gazing out.
I leave a white and turbid wake; pale waters, paler cheeks, whereāer I sail. The envious billows sidelong swell to whelm my track; let them; but first I pass.
Yonder, by the ever-brimming gobletās rim, the warm waves blush like wine. The gold brow plumbs the blue. The diver sunāslow dived from noon,āgoes down; my soul mounts up! she wearies with her endless hill. Is, then, the crown too heavy that I wear? This Iron Crown of Lombardy. Yet is it bright with many a gem; I, the wearer, see not its far flashings; but darkly feel that I wear that, that dazzlingly confounds. āTis ironāthat I knowānot gold. āTis split, tooāthat I feel; the jagged edge galls me so, my brain seems to beat against the solid metal; aye, steel skull, mine; the sort that needs no helmet in the most brain-battering fight!
Dry heat upon my brow? Oh! time was, when as the sunrise nobly spurred me, so the sunset soothed. No more. This lovely light, it lights not me; all loveliness is anguish to me, since I can neāer enjoy. Gifted with the high perception, I lack the low, enjoying power; damned, most subtly and most malignantly! damned in the midst of Paradise! Good nightāgood night! (waving his hand, he moves from the window.)
āTwas not so hard a task. I thought to find one stubborn, at the least; but my one cogged circle fits into all their various wheels, and they revolve. Or, if you will, like so many ant-hills of powder, they all stand before me; and I their match. Oh, hard! that to fire others, the match itself must needs be wasting! What Iāve dared, Iāve willed; and what Iāve willed, Iāll do! They think me madāStarbuck does; but Iām demoniac, I am madness maddened! That wild madness thatās only calm to comprehend itself! The prophecy was that I should be dismembered; andāAye! I lost this leg. I now prophesy that I will dismember my dismemberer. Now, then, be the prophet and the fulfiller one. Thatās more than ye, ye great gods, ever were. I laugh and hoot at ye, ye cricket-players, ye pugilists, ye deaf Burkes and blinded Bendigoes! I will not say as school-boys do to bullies,āTake some one of your own size; donāt pommel me! No, yeāve knocked me down, and I am up again; but ye have run and hidden. Come forth from behind your cotton bags! I have no long gun to reach ye. Come, Ahabās compliments to ye; come and see if ye can swerve me. Swerve me? ye cannot swerve me, else ye swerve yourselves! man has ye there. Swerve me? The path to my fixed purpose is laid with iron rails, whereon my soul is grooved to run. Over unsounded gorges, through the rifled hearts of mountains, under torrentsā beds, unerringly I rush! Naughtās an obstacle, naughtās an angle to the iron way!
DUSK
By the Mainmast; Starbuck leaning against it.
My soul is more than matched; sheās overmanned; and by a madman! Insufferable sting, that sanity should ground arms on such a field! But he drilled deep down, and blasted all my reason out of me! I think I see his impious end; but feel that I must help him to it. Will I, nill I, the ineffable thing has tied me to him; tows me with a cable I have no knife to cut. Horrible old man! Whoās over him, he cries;āaye, he would be a democrat to all above; look, how he lords it over all below! Oh! I plainly see my miserable office,āto obey, rebelling; and worse yet, to hate with touch of pity! For in his eyes I read some lurid woe would shrivel me up, had I it. Yet is there hope. Time and tide flow wide. The hated whale has the round watery world to swim in, as the small gold-fish has its glassy globe. His heaven-insulting purpose, God may wedge aside. I would up heart, were it not like lead. But my whole clockās run down; my heart the all-controlling weight, I have no key to lift again.
[A burst of revelry from the forecastle.]
Oh, God! to sail with such a heathen crew that have small touch of human mothers in them! Whelped somewhere by the sharkish sea. The white whale is their demigorgon. Hark! the infernal orgies! that revelry is forward! mark the unfaltering silence aft! Methinks it pictures life. Foremost through the sparkling sea shoots on the gay, embattled, bantering bow, but only to drag dark Ahab after it, where he broods within his sternward cabin, builded over the dead water of the wake, and further on, hunted by its wolfish gurglings. The long howl thrills me through! Peace! ye revellers, and set the watch! Oh, life! ātis in an hour like this, with soul beat down and held to knowledge,āas wild, untutored things are forced to feedāOh, life! ātis now that I do feel the latent horror in thee! but ātis not me! that horrorās out of me! and with the soft feeling of the human in me, yet will I try to fight ye, ye grim, phantom futures! Stand by me, hold me, bind me, O ye blessed influences!
FIRST NIGHT-WATCH
FORE-TOP
(Stubb solus, and mending a brace.)
Ha! ha! ha! ha! hem! clear my throat!āIāve been thinking over it ever since, and that ha, haās the final consequence. Why so? Because a laughās the wisest, easiest answer to all thatās queer; and come what will, one comfortās always leftāthat unfailing comfort is, itās all predestinated. I heard not all his talk with Starbuck; but to my poor eye Starbuck then looked something as I the other evening felt. Be sure the old Mogul has fixed him, too. I twigged it, knew it; had had the gift, might readily have prophesied itāfor when I clapped my eye upon his skull I saw it. Well, Stubb, wise Stubbāthatās my titleāwell, Stubb, what of it, Stubb? Hereās a carcase. I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, Iāll go to it laughing. Such a waggish leering as lurks in all your horribles! I feel funny. Fa, la! lirra, skirra! Whatās my juicy little pear at home doing now? Crying its eyes out?āGiving a party to the last arrived harpooneers, I dare say, gay as a frigateās pennant, and so am Iāfa, la! lirra, skirra! Ohā
Weāll drink to-night with hearts as light,
To love, as gay and fleeting
As bubbles that swim, on the beakerās brim,
And break on the lips while meeting.
A brave stave thatāwho calls? Mr. Starbuck? Aye, aye, sirā(Aside) heās my superior, he has his too, if Iām not mistaken.āAye, aye, sir, just through with this jobācoming.
MIDNIGHT, FORECASTLE
HARPOONERS AND SAILORS.
(Foresail rises and discovers the watch standing, lounging, leaning, and lying in various attitudes, all singing in chorus.)
Farewell and adieu to you, Spanish ladies!
Farewell and adieu to you, ladies of Spain!
Our captainās commanded.ā
1ST NANTUCKET SAILOR.
Oh, boys, donāt be sentimental; itās bad for the digestion! Take a tonic, follow me!
(Sings, and all follow.)
Our captain stood upon the deck,
A spy-glass in his hand,
A viewing of those gallant whales
That blew at every strand.
Oh, your tubs in your boats, my boys,
And by your braces stand,
And weāll have one of those fine whales,
Hand, boys, over hand!
So, be cheery, my lads! may your hearts never fail!
While the bold harpooneer is striking the whale!
MATEāS VOICE FROM THE QUARTER-DECK.
Eight bells there, forward!
2ND NANTUCKET SAILOR.
Avast the chorus! Eight bells there! dāye hear, bell-boy? Strike the bell eight, thou Pip! thou blackling! and let me call the watch. Iāve the sort of mouth for thatāthe hogshead mouth. So, so, (thrusts his head down the scuttle,) Starāboāl-e-e-n-s, a-h-o-y! Eight bells there below! Tumble up!
DUTCH SAILOR.
Grand snoozing to-night, maty; fat night for that. I mark this in our old Mogulās wine; itās quite as deadening to some as filliping to others. We sing; they sleepāaye, lie down there, like ground-tier butts. At āem again! There, take this copper-pump, and hail āem through it. Tell āem to avast dreaming of their lasses. Tell āem itās the resurrection; they must kiss their last, and come to judgment. Thatās the wayāthatās it; thy throat aināt spoiled with eating Amsterdam butter.
FRENCH SAILOR.
Hist, boys! letās have a jig or two before we ride to anchor in Blanket Bay. What say ye? There comes the other watch. Stand by all legs! Pip! little Pip! hurrah with your tambourine!
PIP.
(Sulky and sleepy.)
Donāt know where it is.
FRENCH SAILOR.
Beat thy belly, then, and wag thy ears. Jig it, men, I say; merryās the word; hurrah! Damn me, wonāt you dance? Form, now, Indian-file, and gallop into the double-shuffle? Throw yourselves! Legs! Legs!
ICELAND SAILOR.
I donāt like your floor, maty; itās too springy to my taste. Iām used to ice-floors. Iām sorry to throw cold water on the subject; but excuse me.
MALTESE SAILOR.
Me too; whereās your girls? Who but a fool would take his left hand by his right, and say to himself, how dāye do? Partners! I must have partners!
SICILIAN SAILOR.
Aye; girls and a green!āthen Iāll hop with ye; yea, turn grasshopper!
LONG-ISLAND SAILOR.
Well, well, ye sulkies, thereās plenty more of us. Hoe corn when you may, I say. All legs go to harvest soon. Ah! here comes the music; now for it!
AZORE SAILOR.
(Ascending, and pitching the tambourine up the scuttle.)
Here you are, Pip; and thereās the windlass-bitts; up you mount! Now, boys!
(The half of them dance to the tambourine; some go below; some sleep or lie among the coils of rigging. Oaths a-plenty.)
AZORE SAILOR.
(Dancing.)
Go it, Pip! Bang it, bell-boy! Rig it, dig it, stig it, quig it, bell-boy; Make fire-flies; break the jinglers!
PIP.
Jinglers, you say?āthere goes another, dropped off; I pound it so.
CHINA SAILOR.
Rattle thy teeth, then, and pound away; make a pagoda of thyself.
FRENCH SAILOR.
Merry-mad! Hold up thy hoop, Pip, till I jump through it! split jibs! tear yourselves!
TASHTEGO.
(Quietly smoking.)
Thatās a white man; he calls that fun: humph! I save my sweat.
OLD MANX SAILOR.
I wonder whether those jolly lads bethink them of what they are dancing over. Iāll dance over your grave, I willāthatās the bitterest threat of your night-women, that beat head-winds round corners. O Christ! to think of the green navies and the green-skulled crews! Well, well; belike the whole worldās a ball, as you scholars have it; and so ātis right to make one ballroom of it. Dance on, lads, youāre young; I was once.
3D NANTUCKET SAILOR.
Spell oh!āwhew! this is worse than pulling after whales in a calmāgive us a whiff, Tash.
(They cease dancing, and gather in clusters. Meantime the sky darkensāthe wind rises.)
LASCAR SAILOR.
By Brahma! boys, itāll be douse sail soon. The sky-born, high-tide Ganges turned to wind! Thou showest thy black brow, Seeva!
MALTESE SAILOR.
(Reclining and shaking his cap.)
Itās the wavesāthe snowās caps turn to jig it now. Theyāll shake their tassels soon. Now would all the waves were women, then Iād go drown, and chassee with them evermore! Thereās naught so sweet on earthāheaven may not match it!āas those swift glances of warm, wild bosoms in the dance, when the over-arboring arms hide such ripe, bursting grapes.
SICILIAN SAILOR.
(Reclining.)
Tell me not of it! Hark ye, ladāfleet interlacings of the limbsālithe swayingsācoyingsāflutterings! lip! heart! hip! all graze: unceasing touch and go! not taste, observe ye, else come satiety. Eh, Pagan? (Nudging.)
TAHITAN SAILOR.
(Reclining on a mat.)
Hail, holy nakedness of our dancing girls!āthe Heeva-Heeva! Ah! low veiled, high palmed Tahiti! I still rest me on thy mat, but the soft soil has slid! I saw thee woven in the wood, my mat! green the first day I brought ye thence; now worn and wilted quite. Ah me!ānot thou nor I can bear the change! How then, if so be transplanted to yon sky?
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