Chapter 26 twenty one.board the ship

The next morning, Queequeg and I arrived on the pier early, and it was just dawn, probably not yet six o'clock. "I say Queequeg, there seems to be some sailors ahead rushing towards our ship!" "I think the boat will leave as soon as the sun comes out, hurry up!" "Wait!" A voice came from behind us, and a man put his hands on Queequeg's and mine's shoulders, and squeezed his body between us, Elijah. "Going aboard?" he asked. "You'd better keep your hands off!" I'm not being rude at all. "Go away!" said Queequeg.

"Aren't you on board?" "We are on a boat, what does this have to do with you, don't you think you are a little rude?" "No no, I don't feel that way." Elijah said quietly, looking at both of us with a very strange look. "Okay, Elijah, please get out of the way, we are leaving, don't waste our time." "Are you leaving? Come back before breakfast!" "What a madman! Queequeg, let us go!" "Hi!" I had just walked a few steps when Elijah who was standing behind shouted again. "Ignore him, let's go."

I called to Queequeg. But Elijah followed up quietly again. He patted our shoulders and said mysteriously: "Hey, I said, did you just see some human-like thing walking towards the boat?" "I see, there must be four or five people! But it's vague." I answered him patiently. "Oh, it's blurry, it's blurry! Well, good morning!" We quickened our pace, but he followed up again, asking in a low voice: "Try it, can you still see their shadows?" "What shadow!" "Well, good morning, good morning!" "However, I want to tell you that the frost is heavy today, isn't it? But it doesn't matter, we are our own family, you are welcome. Goodbye!"

"It's been a long time since we've seen each other, though, unless it's in front of a 'grand jury' . . . " He spoke frantically and left. When we boarded the "Pequode", we found that there was no one on board, the hatch was locked, there was a pile of rotten ropes on the deck, and the sea breeze was blowing, a desolate scene. The light came out from the hatch of the small cabin, and we stepped over, only to see an old ropesmith in shabby clothes, lying on his side on two boxes, sleeping soundly. "Well, Queequeg, where are the sailors we saw just now?"

Queequeg did not take my question seriously, for he had seen nothing at all on the shore. "Forget it, let's sit with this old cablesmith for a while!" I said helplessly.Queequeg pressed the old ropemaker's buttocks, as if trying to see if it was soft enough. "Oh, that's a nice seat! I'll sit the way I do back home, and it won't crush his head!" "Okay, look, you're about to wake him up!" Queequeg moved his hip, and seated himself beside the man's head, and lit his pipe-axe. I sat at the man's feet.So the pipe ax straddled the man, and passed it back and forth.

Queequeg told me that, according to their custom, kings and nobles sat on fat servants.The same is true when going out, under the shade of a big tree, call a servant to come, let him lie down on the wet ground, and then he can sit comfortably on the servant's back. Queequeg was telling stories about his hometown, taking the pipe ax from me from time to time, and shaking it over the sleeping man's head. "Queequeg, what are you doing?" "Oh, it's very easy to cut!" He was holding the pipe ax in his natural imagination, and when the ax cut down, the head would fall to the ground.

The smoke increased, and the dreamer muttered something, turned over, and finally sat up. "Hi, you guys, who are you?" "Sailor. When does the boat leave?" "Oh, you are sailors on this ship? The captain got on board last night, and we're sailing today!" "Captain? Captain Ahab?" "Of course, there are no other captains." Just as I was about to continue asking questions, there were footsteps on the deck. "Listen, this is Starbuck, the first mate, and he's a good man, strong and kind. He's up, and I've got to work."

The cablesmith said as he walked onto the deck. The sun rose, and the people on the ship started their last busy work. The first mate, the second mate, and the third mate commanded the sailors to help bring the last batch of household items onto the ship from the shore. The captain still didn't show up, he was in the captain's cabin.