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- Герман Мелвилл
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- Моби Дик
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- Стр. 145/297
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A
word
concerning
an
incident
in
the
last
chapter
.
According
to
the
invariable
usage
of
the
fishery
,
the
whale-boat
pushes
off
from
the
ship
,
with
the
headsman
or
whale-killer
as
temporary
steersman
,
and
the
harpooneer
or
whale-fastener
pulling
the
foremost
oar
,
the
one
known
as
the
harpooneer-oar
.
Now
it
needs
a
strong
,
nervous
arm
to
strike
the
first
iron
into
the
fish
;
for
often
,
in
what
is
called
a
long
dart
,
the
heavy
implement
has
to
be
flung
to
the
distance
of
twenty
or
thirty
feet
.
But
however
prolonged
and
exhausting
the
chase
,
the
harpooneer
is
expected
to
pull
his
oar
meanwhile
to
the
uttermost
;
indeed
,
he
is
expected
to
set
an
example
of
superhuman
activity
to
the
rest
,
not
only
by
incredible
rowing
,
but
by
repeated
loud
and
intrepid
exclamations
;
and
what
it
is
to
keep
shouting
at
the
top
of
one
's
compass
,
while
all
the
other
muscles
are
strained
and
half
started
--
what
that
is
none
know
but
those
who
have
tried
it
.
For
one
,
I
can
not
bawl
very
heartily
and
work
very
recklessly
at
one
and
the
same
time
.
In
this
straining
,
bawling
state
,
then
,
with
his
back
to
the
fish
,
all
at
once
the
exhausted
harpooneer
hears
the
exciting
cry
--
"
Stand
up
,
and
give
it
to
him
!
"
He
now
has
to
drop
and
secure
his
oar
,
turn
round
on
his
centre
half
way
,
seize
his
harpoon
from
the
crotch
,
and
with
what
little
strength
may
remain
,
he
essays
to
pitch
it
somehow
into
the
whale
.
No
wonder
,
taking
the
whole
fleet
of
whalemen
in
a
body
,
that
out
of
fifty
fair
chances
for
a
dart
,
not
five
are
successful
;
no
wonder
that
so
many
hapless
harpooneers
are
madly
cursed
and
disrated
;
no
wonder
that
some
of
them
actually
burst
their
blood-vessels
in
the
boat
;
no
wonder
that
some
sperm
whalemen
are
absent
four
years
with
four
barrels
;
no
wonder
that
to
many
ship
owners
,
whaling
is
but
a
losing
concern
;
for
it
is
the
harpooneer
that
makes
the
voyage
,
and
if
you
take
the
breath
out
of
his
body
how
can
you
expect
to
find
it
there
when
most
wanted
!
Again
,
if
the
dart
be
successful
,
then
at
the
second
critical
instant
,
that
is
,
when
the
whale
starts
to
run
,
the
boatheader
and
harpooneer
likewise
start
to
running
fore
and
aft
,
to
the
imminent
jeopardy
of
themselves
and
every
one
else
.
It
is
then
they
change
places
;
and
the
headsman
,
the
chief
officer
of
the
little
craft
,
takes
his
proper
station
in
the
bows
of
the
boat
.
Now
,
I
care
not
who
maintains
the
contrary
,
but
all
this
is
both
foolish
and
unnecessary
.
The
headsman
should
stay
in
the
bows
from
first
to
last
;
he
should
both
dart
the
harpoon
and
the
lance
,
and
no
rowing
whatever
should
be
expected
of
him
,
except
under
circumstances
obvious
to
any
fisherman
.
I
know
that
this
would
sometimes
involve
a
slight
loss
of
speed
in
the
chase
;
but
long
experience
in
various
whalemen
of
more
than
one
nation
has
convinced
me
that
in
the
vast
majority
of
failures
in
the
fishery
,
it
has
not
by
any
means
been
so
much
the
speed
of
the
whale
as
the
before
described
exhaustion
of
the
harpooneer
that
has
caused
them
To
insure
the
greatest
efficiency
in
the
dart
,
the
harpooneers
of
this
world
must
start
to
their
feet
from
out
of
idleness
,
and
not
from
out
of
toil
.
Out
of
the
trunk
,
the
branches
grow
;
out
of
them
,
the
twigs
.
So
,
in
productive
subjects
,
grow
the
chapters
.
The
crotch
alluded
to
on
a
previous
page
deserves
independent
mention
.
It
is
a
notched
stick
of
a
peculiar
form
,
some
two
feet
in
length
,
which
is
perpendicularly
inserted
into
the
starboard
gunwale
near
the
bow
,
for
the
purpose
of
furnishing
a
rest
for
the
wooden
extremity
of
the
harpoons
,
whose
other
naked
,
barbed
end
sloping
projects
from
the
prow
.
Thereby
the
weapon
is
instantly
at
hand
to
its
hurler
,
who
snatches
it
up
as
readily
from
its
rest
as
a
backwoodsman
swings
his
rifle
from
the
wall
.
It
is
customary
to
have
two
harpoons
reposing
in
the
crotch
,
respectively
called
the
first
and
second
irons
.
But
these
two
harpoons
,
each
by
its
own
cord
,
are
both
connected
with
the
line
;
the
object
being
this
:
to
dart
them
both
,
if
possible
,
one
instantly
after
the
other
into
the
same
whale
;
so
that
if
,
in
the
coming
drag
,
one
should
draw
out
,
the
other
may
still
retain
a
hold
.
It
is
a
doubling
of
the
chances
.
But
it
very
often
happens
that
owing
to
the
instantaneous
,
violent
,
convulsive
running
of
the
whale
upon
receiving
the
first
iron
,
it
becomes
impossible
for
the
harpooneer
,
however
lightning-like
in
his
movements
,
to
pitch
the
second
iron
into
him
.
Nevertheless
,
as
the
second
iron
is
already
connected
with
the
line
,
and
the
line
is
running
,
hence
that
weapon
must
,
at
all
events
,
be
anticipatingly
tossed
out
of
the
boat
,
somehow
and
somewhere
;
else
the
most
terrible
jeopardy
would
involve
all
hands
Tumbled
into
the
water
,
it
accordingly
is
in
such
cases
;
the
spare
coils
of
box
line
(
mentioned
in
a
preceding
chapter
)
making
this
feat
,
in
most
instances
,
prudently
practicable
.
But
this
critical
act
is
not
always
unattended
with
the
saddest
and
most
fatal
casualties
.
