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Table of Contents
Chapter 61
STUBB KILLS A
WHALE
If to Starbuck the
apparition of the Squid was a thing of portents, to Queequeg it was quite a
different object. When you see him 'quid, said the savage, honing his harpoon
in the bow of his hoisted boat, then you quick see him 'parm whale. The next
day was exceedingly still and sultry, and with nothing special to engage them,
the Pequod's crew could hardly resist the spell of sleep induced by such a
vacant sea. For this part of the Indian Ocean through which we then were
voyaging is not what whalemen call a lively ground; that is, it affords fewer
glimpses of porpoises, dolphins, flying-fish, and other vivacious denizens of
more stirring waters, than those off the Rio de la Plata, or the in-shore
ground off Peru. It was my turn to stand at the foremast-head; and with my
shoulders leaning against the slackened royal shrouds, to and ..
2 fro I idly swayed in
what seemed an enchanted air. No resolution could withstand it; in that dreamy
mood losing all consciousness, at last my soul went out of my body; though my
body still continued to sway as a pendulum will, long after the power which
first moved it is withdrawn. Ere forgetfulness altogether came over me, I had
noticed that the seamen at the main and mizen mast-heads were already drowsy.
So that at last all three of us lifelessly swung from the spars, and for every
swing that we made there was a nod from below from the slumbering helmsman.
The waves, too, nodded their indolent crests; and across the wide trance of
the sea, east nodded to west, and the sun over all. Suddenly bubbles seemed
bursting beneath my closed eyes; like vices my hands grasped the shrouds; some
invisible, gracious agency preserved me; with a shock I came back to life. And
lo! close under our lee, not forty fathoms off, a gigantic Sperm Whale lay
rolling in the water like the capsized hull of a frigate, his broad, glossy
back, of an Ethiopian hue, glistening in the sun's rays like a mirror. But
lazily undulating in the trough of the sea, and ever and anon tranquilly
spouting his vapory jet, the whale looked like a portly burgher smoking his
pipe of a warm afternoon. But that pipe, poor whale, was thy last. As if
struck by some enchanter's wand, the sleepy ship and every sleeper in it all
at once started into wakefulness; and more than a score of voices from all
parts of the vessel, simultaneously with the three notes from aloft, shouted
forth the accustomed cry, as the great fish slowly and regularly spouted the
sparkling brine into the air. clear away the boats! luff! cried Ahab. And
obeying his own order, he dashed the helm down before the helmsman could
handle the spokes. The sudden exclamations of the crew must have alarmed the
whale; and ere the boats were down, majestically turning, he swam away to the
leeward, but with such a steady tranquillity, and making so few ripples as he
swam, that thinking after all he might not as yet be alarmed, Ahab gave orders
that not an oar should be used, and no man must speak but in whispers. So
seated like Ontario Indians on the gunwales of the boats, ..
3 we swiftly but
silently paddled along; the calm not admitting of the noiseless sails being
set. Presently, as we thus glided in chase, the monster perpendicularly
flitted his tail forty feet into the air, and then sank out of sight like a
tower swallowed up. There go flukes! was the cry, an announcement immediately
followed by Stubb's producing his match and igniting his pipe, for now a
respite was granted. After the full interval of his sounding had elapsed, the
whale rose again, and being now in advance of the smoker's boat, and much
nearer to it than to any of the others, Stubb counted upon the honor of the
capture. It was obvious, now, that the whale had at length become aware of his
pursuers. All silence of cautiousness was therefore no longer of use. Paddles
were dropped, and oars came loudly into play. And still puffing at his pipe,
Stubb cheered on his crew to the assault. Yes, a mighty change had come over
the fish. All alive to his jeopardy, he was going head out; that part
obliquely projecting from the mad yeast which he brewed. Start her, start her,
my men! Don't hurry yourselves; take plenty of time --but start her; start her
like thunder-claps, that's all, cried Stubb, spluttering out the smoke as he
spoke. start her, now; give 'em the long and strong stroke, tashtego. Start
her, Tash, my boy --start her, all; but keep cool, keep cool-- cucumbers is
the word --easy, easy --only start her like grim death and grinning devils,
and raise the buried dead perpendicular out of their graves, boys --that's
all. Start her! Woo-hoo! Wa-hee! screamed the Gay-Header in reply, raising
some old war-whoop to the skies; as every oarsman in the strained boat
involuntarily bounced forward with the one tremendous leading stroke which the
eager Indian gave. ..
4 But his wild screams
were answered by others quite as wild. Kee-hee! Kee-hee! yelled Daggoo,
straining forwards and backwards on his seat, like a pacing tiger in his cage.
Ka-la! Koo-loo! howled Queequeg, as if smacking his lips over a mouthful of
Grenadier's steak. And thus with oars and yells the keels cut the sea.
Meanwhile, Stubb retaining his place in the van, still encouraged his men to
the onset, all the while puffing the smoke from his mouth. Like desperadoes
they tugged and they strained, till the welcome cry was heard -- Stand up,
Tashtego! --give it to him! The harpoon was hurled. Stern all! The oarsmen
backed water; the same moment something went hot and hissing along every one
of their wrists. It was the magical line. An instant before, Stubb had swiftly
caught two additional turns with it round the loggerhead, whence, by reason of
its increased rapid circlings, a hempen blue smoke now jetted up and mingled
with the steady fumes from his pipe. As the line passed round and round the
loggerhead; so also, just before reaching that point, it blisteringly passed
through and through both of Stubb's hands, from which the hand-cloths, or
squares of quilted canvas sometimes worn at these times, had accidentally
dropped. It was like holding an enemy's sharp two-edged sword by the blade,
and that enemy all the time striving to wrest it out of your clutch. Wet the
line! wet the line! cried stubb to the tub oarsman (him seated by the tub)
who, snatching off his hat, dashed the sea-water into it. More turns were
taken, so that the line began holding its place. The boat now flew through the
boiling water like a shark all fins. Stubb and Tashtego here changed places --
stem for stern --a staggering business truly in that rocking commotion. From
the vibrating line extending the entire length of the upper part of the boat,
and from its now being more tight than a harpstring, you would have thought
the craft had two keels -- one cleaving the water, the other the air --as the
boat churned ..
5 on through both
opposing elements at once. A continual cascade played at the bows; a ceaseless
whirling eddy in her wake; and, at the slightest motion from within, even but
of a little finger, the vibrating, cracking craft canted over her spasmodic
gunwale into the sea. Thus they rushed; each man with might and main clinging
to his seat, to prevent being tossed to the foam; and the tall form of
Tashtego at the steering oar crouching almost double, in order to bring down
his centre of gravity. Whole Atlantics and Pacifics seemed passed as they shot
on their way, till at length the whale somewhat slackened his flight. Haul in
--haul in! cried Stubb to the bowsman! and, facing round towards the whale,
all hands began pulling the boat up to him, while yet the boat was being towed
on. Soon ranging up by his flank, Stubb, firmly planting his knee in the
clumsy cleat, darted dart after dart into the flying fish; at the word of
command, the boat alternately sterning out of the way of the whale's horrible
wallow, and then ranging up for another fling. The red tide now poured from
all sides of the monster like brooks down a hill. His tormented body rolled
not in brine but in blood, which bubbled and seethed for furlongs behind in
their wake. The slanting sun playing upon this crimson pond in the sea, sent
back its reflection into every face, so that they all glowed to each other
like red men. And all the while, jet after jet of white smoke was agonizingly
shot from the spiracle of the whale, and vehement puff after puff from the
mouth of the excited headsman; as at every dart, hauling in upon his crooked
lance (by the line attached to it), Stubb straightened it again and again, by
a few rapid blows against the gunwale, then again and again sent it into the
whale. Pull up --pull up! he now cried to the bowsman, as the waning whale
relaxed in his wrath. Pull up! --close to! and the boat ranged along the
fish's flank. When reaching far over the bow, Stubb slowly churned his long
sharp lance into the fish, and kept it there, carefully churning and churning,
as if cautiously seeking to feel after some gold watch that the whale might
have swallowed, and which he was fearful of breaking ere he could hook it out.
But that gold watch he sought was the innermost life of the fish. And now it
is struck; for, starting ..
6 from his trance into
that unspeakable thing called his flurry, the monster horribly wallowed in his
blood, over-wrapped himself in impenetrable, mad, boiling spray, so that the
imperilled craft, instantly dropping astern, had much ado blindly to struggle
out from that phrensied twilight into the clear air of the day. And now
abating in his flurry, the whale once more rolled out into view; surging from
side to side; spasmodically dilating and contracting his spout-hole, with
sharp, cracking, agonized respirations. At last, gush after gush of clotted
red gore, as if it had been the purple lees of red wine, shot into the
frighted air; and falling back again, ran dripping down his motionless flanks
into the sea. His heart had burst! He's dead, Mr. Stubb, said Daggoo. Yes;
both pipes smoked out! and withdrawing his own from his mouth, Stubb scattered
the dead ashes over the water; and, for a moment, stood thoughtfully eyeing
the vast corpse he had made. ..
7 It will be seen in
some other place of what a very light substance the entire interior of the
sperm whale's enormous head consists. Though apparently the most massive, it
is by far the most buoyant part about him. So that with ease he elevates it in
the air, and invariably does so when going at his utmost speed. Besides, such
is the breadth of the upper part of the front of his head, and such the
tapering cut-water formation of the lower part, that by obliquely elevating
his head, he thereby may be said to transform himself from a bluff-bowed
sluggish galliot into a sharp-pointed New York pilot-boat. ..
8 Partly to show the
indispensableness of this act, it may here be stated, that, in the old Dutch
fishery, a mop was used to dash the running line with water; in many other
ships, a wooden piggin, or bailer, is set apart for that purpose. Your hat,
however, is the most convenient. ..
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