Chapter 123 118．Restless

Our ship continues its voyage across the Sea of ​​Japan. We haven't encountered another whale since. The season is approaching the equator line soon. The heat wave started rolling in and the sun was hanging overhead all day. Everywhere is bright and dazzling, as if to ignite the grassland-like sea. All are steamed. The sky is blue and blue, as if dyed with paint, without a trace of clouds, it continues to the place where the sky and the sea connect. Captain Ahab came out of his cabin with a look of displeasure. He looked up to the sky. He walked to the pinned gold coin. He began to turn his quadrant and observe.

The helmsman pretended to be steering the rudder, but his eyes couldn't help but glance at Captain Ahab's side. All the sailors who could get away ran to the rigging, pushing and huddling together. They stared intently at Captain Ahab. They knew that when Captain Ahab had finished his observations, it was the time, as was customary, for him to give his order, and they were impatient for an order to turn round towards the Equator. This command concerns their fate. A quadrant is an instrument used at sea to observe the sun and determine its orientation. Captain Ahab is now using it to determine the bearing of the Pequod.

Captain Ahab observed the big and poisonous sun in the quadrant. Fortunately, the glass on his quadrant was dyed, which made him dare to look directly at the sun that no one else could hide from. The hull swayed uncontrollably. Captain Ahab leaned over the glass and watched. He was trying to figure out exactly when the sun would move to its correct meridian. While Captain Ahab was leaning over the mirror to watch, Fedala was also kneeling under Captain Ahab's boat. He looked up at the sun, looking a little funny. However, there is no tinted glass in front of his eyes, so he has to squint in the strong sunlight.

After a while, the dumb captain finally finished observing. He picked up a pencil and calculated on his bony legs. He counted for a while, pondered for a while, and looked at the sun again. Obviously, he couldn't figure it out. He said to himself angrily: "Sun, you great sea mark, please tell me where I am now, where should I go? Where is the evil white ghost? Please show me! Show me your guide!" Captain Ahab stared blankly at the quadrant, picked up the parts of the quadrant and looked at them one by one. At last Captain Ahab began to feel dissatisfied with the mystery.

"Science, you are science, go to hell with you, what are you capable of? Ah, you don't even know where that nasty guy is, what capital do you have to laugh at the sun, you damn thing." The more Captain Ahab spoke, the more angry he was, he simply threw the quadrant viciously on the deck: "You're as bad as Moby Dick. I don't need you to show me the way. My compass and range will tell me." Captain Ahab kicked the quadrant viciously, taking turns with his good leg and his bad leg, one foot as heavy as the other, cursing fiercely as he stomped: "You bastard."

The sailors were terrified by the captain's actions, and they crowded and hid in the forecastle to watch the captain vent. Seeing that the situation was not good, Fedala quickly slipped away. Captain Ahab paced up and down the deck, gnashing his teeth. At last Captain Ahab gave the order: "Go to the rigging, turn around and go straight!" Stubb, who had been watching Captain Ahab's every move, murmured: "Old Ahab, you are a gambler now. You live by this gamble, and you will surely die by this gamble."