Chapter 107 102．Xanadu

I looked at her affectionately, and at the same time gently unbuttoned her, took off her pantyhose, and removed the suspenders between her crotch, so that her full armor was only a pair of copper wires on her chest. Hooked up. When I tremblingly opened the copper wire hook, she also trembled and said to me: "I surrender, I give everything to you unconditionally." But the next thing is not to be intoxicated with the spring breeze. You ask why, it's very simple, what I'm facing is not a woman, but--a--a-whale, a small whale. Your interest in listening will not disappear immediately, will it?Don't even think about it, from the beginning to the present, there has never been a woman on our ship.

If we have women on board, needless to say, as long as there is one, then it is not a question of whether we can catch whales, but whether we will all die. Then why are you making such a fuss?You will be unhappy to ask. In fact, I just want to make a metaphor. We have already learned a lot about the appearance of the sperm whale. The next step is to understand all her secrets like a woman you love. You can't do whatever you want with a whale like you can with your own woman, or coax her into doing what you want with passionate words. Otherwise, even the most ignorant people will say that you are bragging.

Not only me, I dare say, since Jonah, no one has been able to see clearly what is inside the belly of a whale. Fortunately, I ran into an opportunity to dissect a calf. That time it was to take the swim bladder of the whale to make a javelin hook and a whale gun head cover, so they hoisted a whole calf on the deck. Of course I would not give up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and volunteered to conduct a comprehensive dissection of the calf. To say that the first time I fully understood the structure of whales, to be precise, the knowledge of whale bone structure, should be in the south of the Solomon Islands, on a small archipelago named Assassiti.

I was there many years ago with a merchant ship from Algiers, and spent an unforgettable holiday of a few days there. I got to know its former local king, and I spent my holidays in his retired villa. The former king's name is Dulango, and he has an excellent character. And he also has a hobby that interests me a lot, which is collecting all kinds of antiques. It's just that the antiques he collects are different from ordinary antique collectors, they are all weird things with local folk customs. Inexplicable wood carvings, engraved shells, inlaid spears, luxuriously decorated oars, canoes made of fragrant wood, etc., are all the contents of his collection.

Among the things in his collection, there are many natural treasures, most of which were washed by the waves on his territory. Among these natural treasures, many are the giant sperm whales that we are now catching. One of these sperm whales died after being stranded on the beach in a hurricane. When people found it, its head was holding a big coconut tree, and there was a tuft of feathers hanging from its mouth. People stripped it of its flesh and dried its huge skeleton. After that, the skeleton was moved to the place where Durango lived in seclusion, which is his museum. The large skeleton was placed under a majestic large palm tree, and was sheltered by the thick shade of the large palm tree.

When I walked into this green shade with the members of Dulango's family, I couldn't help being deeply attracted. This is really a fairyland-like paradise, all the trees stand proudly, straight into the blue sky, as green as moss in the Ice Valley of Massachusetts, so dense that one cannot see the sky. The ground is also full of green plants and flowers, like a carpet of green patterns. A breeze blows, the branches shake and the shadows move, and the fragrance hits people, refreshing the eyes. The sun flickers between the leaves on the top of the tree, like a weaving shuttle, constantly busy.

This large area of ​​thick shade is probably woven by the industrious weaver, the sun, who is simply the god of weaving! The huge whale skeleton is located in the green shade of this Assassin. Looking from a distance, it once stirred up the sky and the sea and called the waves, but now it looks very leisurely. It just stayed there quietly, without making a sound, so that the emerald green vines had unknowingly woven all over its body, as if it had been covered with a new green dress. New life attaches itself to the body of death and develops vigorously. Together with the people who came with me, I turned around this huge antique, admiring the amazing landscape.

I pushed aside the vines and got into the ribs of the whale skeleton. It's like getting into a private garden with winding corridors. It is absolutely impossible to get into the belly of a big whale, unless you are on the way to die. I went in with a ball of locally sourced twine in my hand, and I let it out as I walked forward. But after a while, the line was finished, and I had no choice but to come out along the rope again.Then I made a crutch and ruler and got in again. I used my measuring tool to measure the ribs of the big whale and recorded its height, but this aroused the dissatisfaction of the monks watching:

"How dare you measure this great god? Aren't you afraid of retribution if you offend it? We should measure it!" Just when they were displeased with my behavior and talked about it, which eventually led to arguments and even fights between them, I had already completed my scheduled work and got out of it. At this time, the monks outside were beating each other's heads with measuring tools, that is, wooden poles. There are many places in the world that have specimens of various whales, or simply say that there are skeletons of various whales. There is a whale museum in the port of Hull, UK, which contains fine specimens of fin whales and other whales.

The Munchster Museum in New Hampshire also has specimens of a Greenland whale and a river whale. There is a Sir Clift Constable in Yorkshire, England, who has a specimen of a sperm whale in his home. Therefore, since there are so many specimens, there must be countless experts on whales. Because on these occasions, a large group of seemingly educated people usually circle around a whale skeleton. Therefore, I was a little hesitant when I originally planned to tell you the data I measured. It seems that it is obviously impossible to talk nonsense. This is because I am afraid that it will be ridiculous, although my concerns may be unnecessary.

But I declare: the specimens of these whales mentioned above, or in other words, these whales were definitely not as big as the whale I mentioned in Assasi before they were alive. In terms of their volume, they are probably much worse! I wrote on my right arm the measurements of the ribs of the whale I had measured, and other data about the skull of the whale. Later, just to be on the safe side, I simply tattooed these numbers on my right arm. Because in my wandering life, there is really no better way to preserve these precious materials. It now appears that I was fortunate to have done so, otherwise these things would have remained in the sea forever, like many of my friends on the Pequod. But I didn't tattoo my whole body with these data, I left some blank spaces. Since I'm still working on a poem, these places are reserved for that.