Chapter 113 108．Captain Ahab's Speech to the Carpenters

Location: Deck When: First Night Shift (The smelting furnace emits a raging fire, reflecting the figure of the blacksmith at work. At the same time, the carpenter next to the iron furnace is also nervously completing the task assigned by Captain Ahab. He was busy filing a bone by the light of two lanterns. This bone was used for the foot and is now being clamped by the carpenter in his powerful vise. Beside the carpenter is a large mass of things with which he does his work: bones, belts, gussets, screws, and various tools. ) The carpenter kept chattering while working. If you look carefully, you can hear that he is cursing everything that has something to do with him now.

"Damn it, how can this hateful file be so soft, how can this hateful bone be so hard." "It should be soft, it should be hard, it's too difficult, what's going on?" "Forget it, why do you have to use this incisor bone and tibia to make it, this guy is too hard to file, let's find another piece." "Hey, this piece is much easier to use. It depends on how fast the file is. It's just, ah, the dust from the file, ah, there are too many sneezes, and I, ah, can't even speak. Ah sneeze." "No wonder no one is willing to use, ah, this old bone, this ash is simply unbearable, ah, unbearable."

"If you sawed down a living tree, there would be no such ash, and if you cut down a living bone, it wouldn't be like this, alas." "Hey, I said blacksmith." The old carpenter called to the furnace. "Prepare the small iron hoop and the turning nail, I, ah, I will use it soon." "This time it's really easy. I only need to make a shin bone. Oh, it's hard to make a knee bone. Oh, I hope it can be done quickly." "In a little while, I can make him a neat foot, ahh." "Then he can put his right foot back in the living room and give his wife a nice salute, ahem."

"I don't know, would someone like Captain Ahab salute, would he salute to his wife?" "Look, how beautiful this is. It's much better than the ones in the shop windows. It's been soaked in water. Oh, I'm going to have rheumatism. If that's the case, I have to go, I want to see a doctor." "I'm going to ask the captain now, and compare the dimensions, and see where to cut, and make no mistake." The old carpenter is going to Captain Ahab. There was a sound of footsteps. "If he's coming, that'd be great. I don't want to be in his cabin."

"Or is it someone else?" Captain Ahab approached the carpenter. The carpenter was still sneezing. "How about it, Master, are you ready?" Captain Ahab asked the carpenter. "Mr. Captain, you came just in time. I was just looking for you. Let me measure the length and make a mark." "Measuring a foot? Well, it's not the first time." Captain Ahab asked the old carpenter to measure his foot. He saw the vise. "Hey, what a great vise you have here, let me try its grip, how about it, how big is it?" "It can crush a man's bones, so be careful."

The old carpenter said humbly. "What are you afraid of? I like guys with strong pincers. I like guys who can pinch as soon as I touch them." Captain Ahab asked the old carpenter as he tested the force of the vise. "Prometheus, I mean the blacksmith. What is he doing at the forge?" "Sir, he must be hammering nails." "Oh, he's working with you, and look how well he's burning his fire!" "Yes, sir, you can't do the turning job without such a bright white fire." "Yes, I think that Prometheus in ancient Greece must have worked as a blacksmith before creating human beings. Otherwise, how could the human beings he created be so angry?"

The old carpenter couldn't answer. Captain Ahab went on. "Look how high the smoke rises. That's what hell might be like, and everything that's made of fire might be like that." "Let him hit a pair of steel shoulder blades. There is still a merchant on board, and his burden is almost overwhelming him." Captain Ahab told the old carpenter to send a message to the blacksmith. "But, sir?" The old carpenter was dumbfounded, unable to understand what Captain Ahab was talking about. "Don't contradict me, it's not over yet, let the blacksmith build me an iron man as I like while he's still busy, I want the whole one, fifty feet high, three feet long with arms and wrists, chest Like the Thames Tunnel, with a forehead as large as a quarter of an acre, and made of steel."

"Also, the feet need to take root and be fixed in one place." "As for whether to give it a pair of eyes, well, let me think about it, no need, just open a skylight on top of its head to illuminate the inside." "Okay, that's it, my request is over, go over quickly, and convey my order!" "My God, is he talking to me? What is he talking about, I can't figure it out." The old carpenter seemed stupid. "Only the most incompetent architect would design something like a roof, just like the skylight on the head of the Iron Man just mentioned, no, I need a lantern."

"Is it this thing? Sir, I have two here. I don't need so many. One is enough for me." "What's the matter with you, why did you stick the lantern straight in my face, you know, it's worse than pointing a gun at someone." "Excuse me, sir, are you talking to the carpenter?" "Carpenter? Why not? Don't you think it's a very neat and elegant job? Wouldn't you rather be a mason?" "To deal with the mud? No, no, let the men who dig the sewers do it." "What's the matter with you bastard? Why do you keep sneezing all the time?"

"Saw the bones to dust, sir." "Then when you die, don't be buried in the face of the living." "Yes, sir, I think so." "Listen, carpenter, you may think that you are a decent and capable person, and you even think that as soon as I step on this artificial leg you made for me, you can let others see your ability ,right?" "But how do you know, my former legs and feet are flesh and blood, how can I replace them with these dry bones." "Yes, sir, as the old saying goes, when a mast is broken, and a new one is replaced, the old one is never forgotten, and he grieves over the old one forever."

"That's right, that's what it means. Although you put this fake guy on me now, I don't think it's a pair in my heart. When I look at the fake guy, what I think in my heart is what I lost. This is what life gives me. My thrill." "That's a puzzling question, sir." "Listen, carpenter, although I don't feel my leg hurt anymore, but inside I always feel it hurts, it hurts, and this feeling will never go away." "Of course, the reason why I say this is because our physical bodies still exist. If our physical bodies were gone, I don't think we would be afraid of the existence of hell." "Then I'll have to think about it, sir. It never occurred to me before." "Hmph, I think it's also playing the piano with the cow. Let's get to the point, how long will it take to finish?" "An hour more, sir." "Well, never mind, please get it done quickly and bring it to me." Captain Ahab turned away from the old carpenter, sighing loudly as he walked: "Oh, my proud life, why do I have to use a bone to support it? It's like I owe someone a debt, and I won't pay it off in this life." "How much I want to be free, it's like air, but I really can't do anything about it." "Let's jump into a cauldron, and I'll melt myself down." After Captain Ahab left, the old carpenter couldn't help crying out in a low voice. "My God, what did he say? He looks like he's crazy, like someone's possessed." "No wonder Stubb says he's a monster. Stubb sees him better than anyone, it seems." "He's such a monster, maybe it's all because of his leg." "That leg is his most faithful companion, his wife, and he sleeps with it every day." "This Captain Ahab has lost one leg and is still fighting with the other. Who knows what will happen to him." "But what about me? Although I have two legs, I'm short and small, and I don't want to follow the captain into deep water." "If that's the case, the sea water will soon lose my head, and it's useless for me to shout for help." "Hey, I said blacksmith, quickly pass over the screws you made, I'm about to finish the job." "Hurry up, don't let that old man hurry up, he's already getting impatient, how can he have no legs?" "Look, what a beautiful leg it is, and how like a real leg!" "Starting tomorrow, this beautiful leg belongs to the captain."