Chapter 76 71．bad omen

While Captain Ahab was brooding over the head of the sperm whale, from the mainmasthead came the loud cry of the watchman. "There is a boat!" "Uh, is it?" Captain Ahab turned back from his contemplation. "where?" "It's three directions ahead to the right, Mr. Captain." The mast answered. "Quick, lean up." Captain Ahab couldn't help feeling a surge of joy, and he walked towards the bow while giving orders. "That's a good thing." cried Captain Ahab joyfully. The news of the approaching ship lifted the spirits of the whole ship.

Captain Ahab saw the strange ship through the telescope. He saw her skiff and the sailors at the masthead, and decided that it was a whaler like himself. But the boat didn't know whether it saw them or not, and didn't stop to wait for them to approach, but seemed to be sailing to another place. "Quick, signal and see if you can get in touch." Captain Ahab ordered. In order to facilitate maritime communication, each American whaling ship has its own private signal, and all of them are public. All captains have a signal book, just like the navy. At last the ship answered the Pequod's signal and made contact.

The boat sailed straight for the Pequod, and stopped not far away. A boat was lowered from that boat. The boat sailed straight under the side of the Pequod. However, its captain, Mr. Manshew, did not climb up the ladder laid down by the Pequod. It turned out that their ship was also an American whaling ship from Nantucket, called "Safe Voyage". Two days before, the sailors on their ship had contracted an epidemic disease. Captain Manti was afraid of infecting his colleagues, although neither he nor the sailors who came with him were infected. So Captain Ahab and Captain Manti began to converse awkwardly, separated by several yards.

Since the big ship and the small boat have to keep parallel in the wind and waves, the conversation is very strenuous and unavoidable. However, I can barely understand it. While the two captains were talking across the boat, Stubb was looking at a sailor who had come with Captain Manhue. The sailor was very characteristic. He was young, short, with yellow hair, freckles, sunken eyes, and a sort of demented look, which was never forgotten. "That's him, that's the man." Stubb looked at the strange face and suddenly remembered that he had heard a story about this man. This person grew up in a god-religion environment, and even in that god-religion-like insanity, he is a famous god-man, which shows the extent of his madness.

Not long ago, on a whim, he pretended to be a prudent ordinary person and enlisted to board the "Safe Voyage" in Nantucket, serving as a backup crew member for Captain Manhuo who was talking to Captain Ahab. It was calm at first. But when the ship reached the far sea, this guy began to show his demonic true colors. He claims to be the Archangel, the acting overseer of the five oceans, who has come to save the oceans. After publishing the manifesto, the guy began his incredible deranged behavior. He stayed up day and night, talking nonsense, playing tricks, and even asked the captain to jump into the sea.

As a result, the general crew on the ship began to be afraid of him and regarded him as a sacrosanct figure, and this guy became more and more marketable, and they simply ignored the captain, first mate, and second mate. The captain was so disgusted with the fellow that he let out the wind and sent him off as soon as the ship reached the first shore. It was so terrible that almost all the sailors of the "Safe Voyage" ran to the captain. They told the captain that if the captain let the guy go, they would quit too. The captain gave in. This time, that guy is even more rampant.

After the epidemic, the guy actually claimed that the plague was in his hands, and when it would end would depend on his mood. As a result, the sailors were even more afraid of this guy, and some even showed great hospitality. While Stubb was thinking about the fellow, the two captains were talking. "Come on, my friend, I'm not afraid of your contagion." Captain Ahab sincerely invited Captain Manti. Captain Manti hasn't spoken yet, that guy, now telling you his name is Gabriel, jumped up. "That disease is very serious. Think about it, cold and fever, it makes people turn yellow all over. You have to be careful, don't let this disease spread to your ship!"

Gabriel yelled. "Gabriel, please don't interrupt our conversation." Captain Manti to Gabriel. Captain Ahab hated this guy, ignored him, and went on to talk about other things with Captain Manti. "Hey friends, have you ever seen a white whale?" Before Captain Manti could answer, Gabriel approached again: "Don't mess with the white whale, don't mess with it, or it will smash your boat to pieces, or it will swallow you all up, be careful!" "Gabriel." Captain Manti prevented the lunatic from saying the most taboo words of these whalers.

A wave hit, and the conversation between the two sides was stopped. The legend of Moby Dick the White Whale has circulated to a considerable extent among the whaling fleet. The crew of the "Safe Voyage" had already heard. Not only that, but I have personally tasted its power. In these legends about Moby Dick, the white whale, Moby Dick, the villain in Captain Ahab's view, is depicted as huge, powerful, evil, and uncapturable. With the mutual announcement, its power was exaggerated several times invisibly, so that when whalers and sailors heard the name of Moby Dick, they unconsciously felt helpless, powerless, and even It is daunting to listen to, let alone catch it.

Gabriel took advantage of the fear that Moby Dick had instilled in the crew and began to play tricks. He told the captain that this white whale is the incarnation of God, and he must not attack it, otherwise, there is only a dead end. But the road to the enemy is narrow, and more than a year later, the "Sail Road" encountered Moby Dick. First mate Mansell volunteered and took five sailors to hunt it down. It was with great difficulty that he persuaded these five sailors. The captain would have liked them to kill the guy, to hit Gabriel hard. Mansell and his family finally took a shot at Moby Dick after exhausting their efforts.

Gabriel climbed to the top of the mainmast, yelling. He said that if Mansell and the others don't come back, the wise gods will repay them. At this time the first mate Mansell was standing in the bow. He mustered up his strength and prepared to shoot a second shot. Suddenly, a huge white shadow jumped out of the water, its tail like a hill swung rapidly. The first officer hadn't woken up yet, and was thrown into the air by the big tail. The mate's body made a wide arc in the air and landed fifty yards away. Sailor Gate fled back like a ghost. Mansell stayed there forever. Thus, the "Sailing Voyage" was terrified of Moby Dick. Gabriel's divine power is at its peak. Captain Manti What happened to them interested Captain Ahab. He kept asking Captain Manshew about Moby Dick. "Why, are you going to hunt this guy down!" Captain Manti asked in surprise. "of course." Captain Ahab replied. Before Captain Ahab finished speaking, Gabriel jumped up. "You are looking for death, think of our first mate Mansell, he died right here." He pointed to the sea. Captain Ahab ignored this guy and said something else to Captain Manti. "I remember we have a letter for your ship, it seems to be addressed to Mr. Mansell." "Quick, Starbucks, go get it." Captain Ahab called to the mate. Captain Manti let out a long sigh. "Poor Mansell, his wife is still waiting for him to come back." The letter passed from the Pequod just landed on Gabriel's side. He picked it up, and threw it back on board the Pequod without thinking as if the letter had burned his hand. The letter just fell back to Captain Ahab's feet. "It's better for you to keep it, anyway, you will soon see that dead Mansell, we will not go to him!" After Gabriel finished speaking, he urged the sailors on their boat to row away desperately. An ominous premonition struck Captain Ahab's heart.