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Table of Contents
Chapter 17
THE RAMADAN
As Queequeg's Ramadan, or
Fasting and Humiliation, was to continue all day, I did not choose to disturb
him till towards night-fall; for I cherish the greatest respect towards
everybody's religious obligations, never mind how comical, and could not find
it in my heart to undervalue even a congregation of ants worshipping a
toad-stool; or those other creatures in certain parts of our earth, who with a
degree of footmanism quite unprecedented in other planets, bow down before the
torso of a deceased landed proprietor merely on account of the inordinate
possessions yet owned and rented in his name. I say, we good Presbyterian
christians should be charitable in these things, and not fancy ourselves so
vastly superior to other mortals, pagans and what not, because of their
half-crazy conceits on these subjects. There was Queequeg, now, certainly
entertaining the most absurd notions about Yojo and his Ramadan; --but what of
that? Queequeg thought he knew what he was about, I suppose; he seemed to be
content; and there let him rest. All our arguing with him would not avail; let
him be, I say: and Heaven have mercy on us all --Presbyterians and Pagans
alike --for we are all somehow dreadfully cracked about the head, and sadly
need mending. Towards evening, when I felt assured that all his performances
and rituals must be over, I went up to his room and knocked at the door; but
no answer. I tried to open it, but it was fastened inside. Queequeg, said I
softly through the key-hole: --all silent. I say, Queequeg! why don't you
speak? It's I--Ishmael. But all remained still as before. I began to grow
alarmed. I had allowed him such abundant time; I thought he might have had an
apoplectic fit. I looked through the key-hole; but the door opening into an
odd corner of the room, the key-hole prospect was but a crooked and sinister
one. I could only see part of the foot-board of the bed and a line of ..
2 the wall, but nothing
more. I was surprised to behold resting against the wall the wooden shaft of
Queequeg's harpoon, which the landlady the evening previous had taken from
him, before our mounting to the chamber. That's strange, thought I; but at any
rate, since the harpoon stands yonder, and he seldom or never goes abroad
without it, therefore he must be inside here, and no possible mistake.
Queequeg! --Queequeg! --all still. Something must have happened. Apoplexy! I
tried to burst open the door; but it stubbornly resisted. Running down stairs,
I quickly stated my suspicions to the first person i met --the chambermaid.
la! la! she cried, i thought something must be the matter. I went to make the
bed after breakfast, and the door was locked; and not a mouse to be heard; and
it's been just so silent ever since. But I thought, may be, you had both gone
off and locked your baggage in for safe keeping. La! La, ma'am! --Mistress!
murder! Mrs. Hussey! apoplexy! --and with these cries, she ran towards the
kitchen, I following. Mrs. Hussey soon appeared, with a mustard-pot in one
hand and a vinegar-cruet in the other, having just broken away from the
occupation of attending to the castors, and scolding her little black boy
meantime. Wood-house! cried I, which way to it? Run for God's sake, and fetch
something to pry open the door --the axe! --the axe! he's had a stroke; depend
upon it! --and so saying I was unmethodically rushing up stairs again
empty-handed, when Mrs. Hussey interposed the mustard-pot and vinegar-cruet,
and the entire castor of her countenance. What's the matter with you, young
man? Get the axe! For God's sake, run for the doctor, some one, while I pry it
open! Look here, said the landlady, quickly putting down the vinegar-cruet, so
as to have one hand free; look here; are you talking about prying open any of
my doors? --and with that she seized my arm. What's the matter with you?
What's the matter with you, shipmate? In as calm, but rapid a manner as
possible, I gave her to understand the whole case. Unconsciously clapping the
vinegar-cruet ..
3 to one side of her
nose, she ruminated for an instant; then exclaimed -- No! I haven't seen it
since I put it there. Running to a little closet under the landing of the
stairs, she glanced in, and returning, told me that Queequeg's harpoon was
missing. He's killed himself, she cried. It's unfort'nate stiggs done over
again --there goes another counterpane --god pity his poor mother! --it will
be the ruin of my house. Has the poor lad a sister? Where's that girl?
--there, Betty, go to Snarles the Painter, and tell him to paint me a sign,
with --"no suicides permitted here, and no smoking in the parlor;"
--might as well kill both birds at once. Kill? The Lord be merciful to his
ghost! What's that noise there? You, young man, avast there! And running up
after me, she caught me as I was again trying to force open the door. I won't
allow it; I won't have my premises spoiled. Go for the locksmith, there's one
about a mile from here. But avast! putting her hand in her side-pocket, here's
a key that'll fit, I guess; let's see. And with that, she turned it in the
lock; but, alas! Queequeg's supplemental bolt remained unwithdrawn within.
Have to burst it open, said I, and was running down the entry a little, for a
good start, when the landlady caught at me, again vowing I should not break
down her premises; but I tore from her, and with a sudden bodily rush dashed
myself full against the mark. With a prodigious noise the door flew open, and
the knob slamming against the wall, sent the plaster to the ceiling; and
there, good heavens! there sat Queequeg, altogether cool and self-collected;
right in the middle of the room; squatting on his hams, and holding Yojo on
top of his head. He looked neither one way nor the other way, but sat like a
carved image with scarce a sign of active life. Queequeg, said I, going up to
him, Queequeg, what's the matter with you? He hain't been a sittin' so all
day, has he? said the landlady. But all we said, not a word could we drag out
of him; I almost felt like pushing him over, so as to change his position, for
it was almost intolerable, it seemed so painfully and unnaturally ..
4 constrained;
especially, as in all probability he had been sitting so for upwards of eight
or ten hours, going too without his regular meals. Mrs. Hussey, said I, he's
alive at all events; so leave us, if you please, and I will see to this
strange affair myself. Closing the door upon the landlady, I endeavored to
prevail upon Queequeg to take a chair; but in vain. There he sat; and all he
could do --for all my polite arts and blandishments --he would not move a peg,
nor say a single word, nor even look at me, nor notice my presence in any the
slightest way. I wonder, thought I, if this can possibly be a part of his
Ramadan; do they fast on their hams that way in his native island. It must be
so; yes, it's part of his creed, I suppose; well, then, let him rest; he'll
get up sooner or later, no doubt. It can't last for ever, thank God, and his
Ramadan only comes once a year; and I don't believe it's very punctual then. I
went down to supper. After sitting a long time listening to the long stories
of some sailors who had just come from a plum-pudding voyage, as they called
it (that is, a short whaling-voyage in a schooner or brig, confined to the
north of the line, in the Atlantic Ocean only); after listening to these plum-puddingers
till nearly eleven o'clock, I went up stairs to go to bed, feeling quite sure
by this time Queequeg must certainly have brought his Ramadan to a
termination. But no; there he was just where I had left him; he had not
stirred an inch. I began to grow vexed with him; it seemed so downright
senseless and insane to be sitting there all day and half the night on his
hams in a cold room, holding a piece of wood on his head. For heaven's sake,
Queequeg, get up and shake yourself; get up and have some supper. You'll
starve; you'll kill yourself, Queequeg. But not a word did he reply.
Despairing of him, therefore, I determined to go to bed and to sleep; and no
doubt, before a great while, he would follow me. But previous to turning in, I
took my heavy bearskin jacket, and threw it over him, as it promised to be a
very cold night; and he had nothing but his ordinary round jacket on. For some
time, do all I would, I could not get into the faintest doze. I had blown out
the candle; and the mere thought of Queequeg-- ..
5 not four feet off
--sitting there in that uneasy position, stark alone in the cold and dark;
this made me really wretched. Think of it; sleeping all night in the same room
with a wide awake pagan on his hams in this dreary, unaccountable Ramadan! But
somehow I dropped off at last, and knew nothing more till break of day; when,
looking over the bedside, there squatted Queequeg, as if he had been screwed
down to the floor. But as soon as the first glimpse of sun entered the window,
up he got, with stiff and grating joints, but with a cheerful look; limped
towards me where I lay; pressed his forehead again against mine; and said his
Ramadan was over. Now, as I before hinted, I have no objection to any person's
religion, be it what it may, so long as that person does not kill or insult
any other person, because that other person don't believe it also. But when a
man's religion becomes really frantic; when it is a positive torment to him;
and, in fine, makes this earth of ours an uncomfortable inn to lodge in; then
I think it high time to take that individual aside and argue the point with
him. And just so I now did with Queequeg. Queequeg, said I, get into bed now,
and lie and listen to me. I then went on, beginning with the rise and progress
of the primitive religions, and coming down to the various religions of the
present time, during which time I labored to show Queequeg that all these
Lents, Ramadans, and prolonged ham-squattings in cold, cheerless rooms were
stark nonsense; bad for the health; useless for the soul; opposed, in short,
to the obvious laws of Hygiene and common sense. I told him, too, that he
being in other things such an extremely sensible and sagacious savage, it
pained me, very badly pained me, to see him now so deplorably foolish about
this ridiculous Ramadan of his. Besides, argued I, fasting makes the body cave
in; hence the spirit caves in; and all thoughts born of a fast must
necessarily be half-starved. This is the reason why most dyspeptic
religionists cherish such melancholy notions about their hereafters. In one
word, Queequeg, said I, rather digressively; hell is an idea first born on an
undigested apple-dumpling; and since then perpetuated through the hereditary
dyspepsias nurtured by Ramadans. ..
6 I then asked Queequeg
whether he himself was ever troubled with dyspepsia; expressing the idea very
plainly, so that he could take it in. He said no; only upon one memorable
occasion. It was after a great feast given by his father the king, on the
gaining of a great battle wherein fifty of the enemy had been killed by about
two o'clock in the afternoon, and all cooked and eaten that very evening. No
more, Queequeg, said I, shuddering; that will do; for I knew the inferences
without his further hinting them. I had seen a sailor who had visited that
very island, and he told me that it was the custom, when a great battle had
been gained there, to barbecue all the slain in the yard or garden of the
victor; and then, one by one, they were placed in great wooden trenchers, and
garnished round like a pilau, with breadfruit and cocoanuts; and with some
parsley in their mouths, were sent round with the victor's compliments to all
his friends, just as though these presents were so many Christmas turkeys.
After all, I do not think that my remarks about religion made much impression
upon Queequeg. Because, in the first place, he somehow seemed dull of hearing
on that important subject, unless considered from his own point of view; and,
in the second place, he did not more than one third understand me, couch my
ideas simply as I would; and, finally, he no doubt thought he knew a good deal
more about the true religion than I did. He looked at me with a sort of
condescending concern and compassion, as though he thought it a great pity
that such a sensible young man should be so hopelessly lost to evangelical
pagan piety. At last we rose and dressed; and Queequeg, taking a prodigiously
hearty breakfast of chowders of all sorts, so that the landlady should not
make much profit by reason of his Ramadan, we sallied out to board the Pequod,
sauntering along, and picking our teeth with halibut bones.
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