Chapter 89 84．drinking song

The encounter with the "Virgin" and the mysterious sinking of the giant sperm whale brought unhappiness to the "Pequode". This unhappiness once enveloped the whole ship. But it didn't take long for the matter to pass. The "Pequode" regained its calm, and was again painstakingly looking for new opportunities. That day, Queequeg was up early in the morning, and began to oil his boat. Because the boat was hanging on the side, he got under the boat. He rubbed and scrubbed harder than usual, as if trying to grow something on the bare bottom of the skiff. As any whaler knows, oil and water are absolutely incompatible, and a good rubbing of oil on the bottom of a skiff will do great good.

In this way, the friction between the bottom of the boat and the sea water is reduced, and the boat will go faster. "Hey, Queequeg, why are you working so hard? Don't you smell the sperm whale?" The buddy was joking. "I have a hunch that sperm whales are about to appear." Queequeg said aloud as he oiled himself. Sure enough, when it was almost noon, with a loud cry from the topmast, they found the whale again. Queequeg and his boat sailed swiftly past. When the whales saw a whaling ship approaching, they turned around in fright, trying to sneak away before they arrived.

For a while, the whales scrambled to escape, and the scene was a mess. The boat followed the whales in pursuit. After a while, Tustego hit one of them. The struck whale did not sink as usual, but continued to swim on the surface. Due to the increased speed, the javelin head stuck on it was in danger of being thrown off by the big whale at any time. If the leader of the javelin was really thrown off by the big whale, then all previous efforts would come to naught. The outcome may be the same as the last encounter. "Now it's time to give him a shot." Stubb stood in the bow, calm and self-possessed, taking one of the throwing poles as he spoke humorously.

The throwing rod mentioned here is not the javelin we mentioned earlier, and the two are different from production to use. The throwing-rod was of steel for the tip and lighter pine for the shaft, and the whole was ten or twelve feet long. Regardless of its length, its weight is much lighter than that of a javelin. The thrower is specially designed to deal with whales that are running wildly after being shot like this, so they are far away from the boat. Its tail is tied with a thin and long rope so that it can be retracted and tied again after being tied. Stubb stood at the bow of the galloping skiff, erect, with the throwing pole at his waist.

He aimed at the large whale flying forty feet ahead as if fleeing for his life, and took aim with the throwing rod in his hand. After that, he shot very quickly. The thrower took the rope and pierced the sky shining brightly, making an arc change in the sky. Afterwards, the head went down and stabbed accurately on the back of the big whale. Bright red blood spurted from the whale's back. "Look at the spurt of blood, how intoxicating it is, like opening old whiskey." "Come on, boys, come on, row to that fellow, and let's have a drink to our mouths!" Stubb yelled and yelled loudly like this, which made everyone around him feel extremely excited.

Again and again Stubb threw the pitcher, brought it back, threw it again, brought it back again. It was as if he was commanding an extremely vicious wolfhound, attacking again and again, biting the big whale until the whole body was bleeding. "Look, there's not only wine from Orleans, but also wine from Ohio and Panama. Go up there!" In Stubb's howl of triumph, the whale was finished.