Моби Дик/Moby Dick (Герман Мелвилл). Страница 219 из 297

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"

No

,

thank

you

,

Bunger

,

"

said

the

English

Captain

,

"

he

's

welcome

to

the

arm

he

has

,

since

I

ca

n't

help

it

,

and

did

n't

know

him

then

;

but

not

to

another

one

.

No

more

White

Whales

for

me

;

I

've

lowered

for

him

once

,

and

that

has

satisfied

me

.

There

would

be

great

glory

in

killing

him

,

I

know

that

;

and

there

is

a

ship-load

of

precious

sperm

in

him

,

but

,

hark

ye

,

he

's

best

let

alone

;

do

n't

you

think

so

,

Captain

?

"

--

glancing

at

the

ivory

leg

.

"

He

is

.

But

he

will

still

be

hunted

,

for

all

that

.

What

is

best

let

alone

,

that

accursed

thing

is

not

always

what

least

allures

.

He

's

all

a

magnet

!

How

long

since

thou

sawist

him

last

?

Which

way

heading

?

"

"

Bless

my

soul

,

and

curse

the

foul

fiend

's

,

"

cried

Bunger

,

stoopingly

walking

round

Ahab

,

and

like

a

dog

,

strangely

snuffing

;

"

this

man

's

blood

--

bring

the

thermometer

!

--

it

's

at

the

boiling

point

!

--

his

pulse

makes

these

planks

beat

!

--

sir

!

"

--

taking

a

lancet

from

his

pocket

,

and

drawing

near

to

Ahab

's

arm

.

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"

Avast

!

"

roared

Ahab

,

dashing

him

against

the

bulwarks

--

"

Man

the

boat

!

Which

way

heading

?

"

"

Good

God

!

"

cried

the

English

Captain

,

to

whom

the

question

was

put

.

"

What

's

the

matter

?

He

was

heading

east

,

I

think

.

--

Is

your

Captain

crazy

?

"

whispering

Fedallah

But

Fedallah

,

putting

a

finger

on

his

lip

,

slid

over

the

bulwarks

to

take

the

boat

's

steering

oar

,

and

Ahab

,

swinging

the

cutting-tackle

towards

him

commanded

the

ship

's

sailors

to

stand

by

to

lower

.

In

a

moment

he

was

standing

in

the

boat

's

stern

,

and

the

Manilla

men

were

springing

to

their

oars

.

In

vain

the

English

Captain

hailed

him

.

With

back

to

the

stranger

ship

,

and

face

set

like

a

flint

to

his

own

,

Ahab

stood

upright

till

alongside

of

the

Pequod

.

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Ere

the

English

ship

fades

from

sight

be

it

set

down

here

,

that

she

hailed

from

London

,

and

was

named

after

the

late

Samuel

Enderby

,

merchant

of

that

city

,

the

original

of

the

famous

whaling

house

of

Enderby

&

Sons

;

a

house

which

in

my

poor

whaleman

's

opinion

,

comes

not

far

behind

the

united

royal

houses

of

the

Tudors

and

Bourbons

,

in

point

of

real

historical

interest

.

How

long

,

prior

to

the

year

of

our

Lord

1775

,

this

great

whaling

house

was

in

existence

,

my

numerous

fish-documents

do

not

make

plain

;

but

in

that

year

(

1775

)

it

fitted

out

the

first

English

ships

that

ever

regularly

hunted

the

Sperm

Whale

;

though

for

some

score

of

years

previous

(

ever

since

1726

)

our

valiant

Coffins

and

Maceys

of

Nantucket

and

the

Vineyard

had

in

large

fleets

pursued

the

Leviathan

,

but

only

in

the

North

and

South

Atlantic

:

not

elsewhere

.

Be

it

distinctly

recorded

here

,

that

the

Nantucketers

were

the

first

among

mankind

to

harpoon

with

civilized

steel

the

great

Sperm

Whale

;

and

that

for

half

a

century

they

were

the

only

people

of

the

whole

globe

who

so

harpooned

him

.

In

1778

,

a

fine

ship

,

the

Amelia

,

fitted

out

for

the

express

purpose

,

and

at

the

sole

charge

of

the

vigorous

Enderbys

,

boldly

rounded

Cape

Horn

,

and

was

the

first

among

the

nations

to

lower

a

whale-boat

of

any

sort

in

the

great

South

Sea

.

The

voyage

was

a

skilful

and

lucky

one

;

and

returning

to

her

berth

with

her

hold

full

of

the

precious

sperm

,

the

Amelia

's

example

was

soon

followed

by

other

ships

,

English

and

American

,

and

thus

the

vast

Sperm

Whale

grounds

of

the

Pacific

were

thrown

open

.

But

not

content

with

this

good

deed

,

the

indefatigable

house

again

bestirred

itself

:

Samuel

and

all

his

Sons

--

how

many

,

their

mother

only

knows

--

and

under

their

immediate

auspices

,

and

partly

,

I

think

,

at

their

expense

,

the

British

government

was

induced

to

send

the

sloop-of-war

Rattler

on

a

whaling

voyage

of

discovery

into

the

South

Sea

.

Commanded

by

a

naval

Post-Captain

,

the

Rattler

made

a

rattling

voyage

of

it

,

and

did

some

service

;

how

much

does

not

appear

.

But

this

is

not

all

.

In

1819

,

the

same

house

fitted

out

a

discovery

whale

ship

of

their

own

,

to

go

on

a

tasting

cruise

to

the

remote

waters

of

Japan

.

That

ship

--

well

called

the

"

Syren

"

--

made

a

noble

experimental

cruise

;

and

it

was

thus

that

the

great

Japanese

Whaling

Ground

first

became

generally

known

.

The

Syren

in

this

famous

voyage

was

commanded

by

a

Captain

Coffin

,

a

Nantucketer

.

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