Chapter 138 133．Enemy meet

Captain Ahab's nerves suddenly tensed. He knew in his heart that Moby Dick, his old friend and old enemy, was waiting for him not far ahead. That night, Captain Ahab couldn't sleep. Although he ordered his sailors to closely monitor the sea surface, and his sailors did not dare to neglect, he was still worried. Every once in a while Captain Ahab stepped out of his cabin, went to his turnhole, and looked out to sea. "Why is there no sign of that guy yet?" Each time, Captain Ahab would murmur like this. He was a little impatient. It is conceivable that if the white whale is not found in this voyage, then our Captain Ahab will not be in a normal spirit!

This time, as usual, Captain Ahab got out of the hatch and rushed to the side. Captain Ahab sniffed his nose like a dog as he went the few steps. He was distinguishing the smell from the sea. Suddenly, Captain Ahab's face seemed to be stimulated by something, and he poked his head forward vigorously. It was like a dog being jerked forward by a rope. Captain Ahab stuck his head overboard, sniffing. He recognized the smell in the sea breeze, and he was pleasantly surprised by the smell of the live sperm whale. He inhaled greedily, and immediately, his spirit was stimulated by the smell.

This smell is very rich and strong, definitely not what ordinary sperm whales can emit. "Perhaps this is Moby Dick," thought Captain Ahab. At the same time that Captain Ahab smelled the smell, all the sailors on board also smelled it, and someone came to report it. "Retract the sails, adjust the course, check the compass and the wind signal." Captain Ahab gave the order. At this time, Captain Ahab was like a police dog leading the police on a pursuit mission. The sailors carried out Captain Ahab's orders exactly. At dawn, it was already faintly visible on the sea.

At this time, Captain Ahab's conjecture was confirmed, and a straight and long waterline had appeared on the sea directly ahead. The waterline was smooth and shiny like oil, and there were pleated ripples around it.Apparently, that was the sight of the whale just plowing. "All together." "Go up to the masthead and have a look." Captain Ahab kept issuing orders. The big man took three wooden-handled mallets and beat the forecastle so loudly that it sounded like thunder and woke up all the sailors. Everyone rushed out in a swarm, some of them were ignorant, still holding clothes in their hands.

"Ready to fight!" The big man gave the order for Captain Ahab. "What did you see?" Captain Ahab looked up at the masthead. "Nothing, Captain." "how could be?" Captain Ahab grunted disapprovingly. "Quickly, put on the jib, and pull up the front and rear high and low ones." All the sails were up. Captain Ahab came below the mainmast. The men began hoisting Captain Ahab to the mainmast. When it was two-thirds of the way up, Captain Ahab couldn't wait to look at the sea ahead through the gap between the main topmast and the main topmast.

It didn't matter, Captain Ahab nearly fell off it. Because, he-see-saw-his-enemies! "I see it, I see it, and it's spraying water out front! Thank God, here I am, Ahab! Here we go again! Moby Dick!" At the same time that Captain Ahab cried, two other lookouts on the fore and mizzen saw Moby Dick. They cried out. Everyone on the deck was shocked by the shouts of the three of them. Everyone was excited and rushed to the side, scrambling to see what they had been chasing for so long. The famous whale for which all dreaded. By this time Captain Ahab was on top, several feet above the fore and fore lookouts.

Tustego was just below him, also watching excitedly, with his head just up to Captain Ahab's heels. Captain Ahab could now see the great whale clearly, miles ahead of him, swimming leisurely and leaving a trail of white, churning spray. Its snow-white back peak looms in the waves, shining brightly, and its nostrils shoot fountains into the sky from time to time. Captain Ahab gazed at Moby Dick intently, as if he were admiring a marvelous object. "You guy, you made me look hard, but I finally found you, now let me take a good look at your lively appearance, and soon, you will become the ghost under my javelin."

"Such an exciting colossus, how did you not see it?" Captain Ahab, half proud and half blaming, asked the other two sailors on the fore and aft masts. "I see, I cried with the captain, sir," said Tustego. "Nonsense, how could it be together? It is clear that you only saw it after I called out, and I guided you to see it. Hey, anyway, the gold coin is mine, and the god of fate left it for me. Of course, only I can find Moby Dick." Captain Ahab said proudly. "Look, it's spraying water again, it's spraying water again!" Captain Ahab spoke of Moby Dick as if he was praising a hero, his voice was sonorous, melodious, sonorous, full of rhythm, as if reciting a hymn to a hero.

"No, it's going to go underwater. Hurry up and pull up the jib and get the boat ready. Starbuck, you stay on the big ship as a watchman, and pay attention to sailing against the wind. Don't panic." "Put me down quickly, hurry up, hurry up, that guy is spraying water again, this time it's black water." Just as Captain Ahab was yelling, he had slid onto the deck. "That fellow's gone leeward, and will be gone in a minute," Stubb came up to report. "Get the boat ready, damn it, hurry up!" cried Captain Ahab in exasperation. Then all but Starbuck's boat were launched, Captain Ahab leading the charge, and sailed straight to leeward.

For a moment, all the oars were flying non-stop, and waves of waves arose on the sea. Fedala was on Captain Ahab's ship, ashen-faced, with sunken eyes and biting lips. As far as he is concerned, maybe he has realized that the end is coming, does his spell work? Captain Ahab, commanding three small boats, skimmed quietly across the sea, and galloped towards Moby Dick. All the sailors knew how much this matter weighed on Captain Ahab's heart, and what it meant to the Pequod. Therefore, everyone worked extra hard, and they paddled quickly without daring to neglect. Gradually, they rowed closer to Moby Dick, began to slow down, and followed him quietly.

At this time, the wind is calm and the sea is as smooth and shiny as a large piece of satin, and it is also like a grassland in the afternoon. Moby Dick was playing leisurely in this grassland, and seemed a little lonely. It wandered about, wondering if it didn't see the hunter watching it, or if it did and didn't care. We can see that its head protrudes forward, it is very large, with countless folds, and the milky white forehead is shining. On the water in front of its forehead, there is a white shadow reflected like a mirror, disturbed by ripples from time to time. Behind it alternate flows of blue water flowed into its rolling valley-like clefts, bubbles and foam bubbling about it. What is particularly impressive is that there is a javelin sticking out of Moby Dick's back. The javelin stands proudly on its snow-white back, like a flagpole, attracting seabirds to stop. It must have been plugged in by a previous predator, perhaps the Raj we encountered earlier. In this way, Moby Dick walks comfortably in the tropical ocean, and the waves and waves are its faithful believers. Although sometimes there are many uninterested whalers who come to disturb it, they are all sent away by it impatiently, and sent to the place where they first came to the world. Only those who are frightened by its stalwart and powerful , it is possible to save their own lives. But now it looks so peaceful and alluring, is this its trap? All this alluring scenery was breathtaking, so powerful and peaceful that we didn't find it in other whales, we couldn't help but forget that this was the final goal of our trip. This is what our Captain Ahab seeks with his blood-red eyes, who is therefore the enemy of us all? Moby Dick dived to the bottom of the sea, and we put down our oars, loosened our little sails, and floated on the surface until Moby Dick came out again. The sea was temporarily calm. Captain Ahab stood in his boat like a rooted tree, keeping his eyes fixed on the spot where Moby Dick had dived and the nearby surface of the sea. Time passed by every minute and every second, and the surface of the ocean was foggy. An hour passed without Moby Dick showing himself. At this time, the wind and waves were strong. "Look at those birds!" cried Tustego. Captain Ahab looked in the direction Tassigo pointed. I saw a flock of white seabirds lined up in a long line, flying straight to their own boat, and flew straight to a few yards away from their own boat. After that, they did not leave, and circled in place. "Strange, what are these islands doing here with the boat? They should follow the whale." thought Captain Ahab. Just when Captain Ahab was fruitless, the cheerful and hopeful cry of the seabirds reminded him. "My God! The damn thing!" For a split second, Captain Ahab realized that the fellow was about to emerge from under his boat. He bowed his head and stared at the bottom of the sea carefully. Sure enough, a small white spot the size of a small white mouse was rising very fast. The white spots became bigger and bigger, and in an instant, Captain Ahab could clearly see its huge mouth that had been opened underwater and the two rows of curved and shiny teeth in the huge mouth. Moby Dick was rushing upward from the abyss of crime. For countless people who would hunt Moby Dick, his mouth is the gate of the grave. Instinctively, Captain Ahab swung the oar with his rudder and turned the boat, so that the boat was a little clear of the fellow. Meanwhile Captain Ahab and Fedala changed places, and ran forward, clutching his own javelin. For Captain Ahab turned the bow of the ship so that it faced the head of the whale that was about to emerge. However, Moby Dick saw through Captain Ahab's plot, and tactfully made a bend on the bottom of the sea, so that his big mouth was directly facing Captain Ahab's bow, and rushed out of the ocean with a jump. For a moment, the boat and everyone on board trembled. Moby Dick was lying on his back on the water, with his big jaws on the bow of the skiff, its lower jaw raised high, and a pair of teeth gripping one of the oarlocks of Ahab's boat. Moby Dick bit the bow of the boat with his blue, pearl-like mouth, like a vicious old cat teasing a mouse that would run away at the sight of it. And Captain Ahab's head was now only six inches away from Moby Dick's head. Fedala stared at the big mouth intently, already petrified. The sailors all panicked, hugged and pushed each other, and even stepped on other people's heads and crawled towards the stern. The other boats were stunned watching this scene that happened in an instant, they had no brains about how to kill Moby Dick, they just watched all this in a daze.Including Captain Ahab on the lips of Moby Dick. Captain Ahab was angry and anxious at this moment. He saw his long-awaited enemy approaching him, but he couldn't kill it. Because now not only can it not be pierced with a gun, but the bow of its own boat is also in its mouth. Captain Ahab, with his bare hands, seized Moby Dick's long tooth, and tried frantically to bend it and let the boat escape. But this is undoubtedly futile for Moby Dick. Moby Dick's jaw slid down, and there was a crackling sound, and the mouth like a giant scissors bit the boat in half. Just as the boat was about to break, Captain Ahab made one last effort to push the boat out of Moby Dick's mouth. He kicked up, pushing the boat, trying to use his strength to get the boat out of the guy's mouth. But this time it was even worse. The boat accelerated and slid into the whale's mouth, and then there was a shock, and Captain Ahab was knocked down into Moby Dick's mouth. When he tried to push again, Moby Dick spit it out instead. Captain Ahab fell face up on the sea. Looking at the other sailors, some were still boarding the wrecked boat, while others landed on the sea, thrashing. Moby Dick shut his mouth and swam away. Fragments of the wreck began to sink. Moby Dick wobbled away from its prey and floated not far away. It keeps turning its body, stirring the waves on the sea surface, and spraying water high into the sky. After a while it began to swim back to the spot where it had struck and sank the skiff, darting around and around the terrified sailors, making them make noises of panic. Its large tail stirred the sea viciously. The sea was surging violently. Now, the sailors who were already very troublesome brought many disasters. Fear and anxiety made the brave sailors look so pale and small, without the appearance of heroes at all. Captain Ahab struggled in the water, surrounded by the foam stirred up by Moby Dick, almost smothered. Fedala was on the remaining tip of the boat, watching Captain Ahab struggling in the water with indifferent and calm eyes. None of the other sailors could save themselves, so no one came to save Captain Ahab. Now no one thinks of shooting the white whale anymore. Although they once swore that they would kill it together with Captain Ahab, but now, it was swimming not far from them, but no one dared to approach it. What they thought was: God, may it not hurt us. Moby Dick was still circling the fallen Captain Ahab, at an increasingly faster speed and a smaller radius. Everyone saw it, and saw that the big ship was coming quickly, and was already very close to Captain Ahab. They heard Captain Ahab's cry. "Drive over here and drive that guy away!" cried Captain Ahab. Moby Dick seemed to have heard his cries for help, and it churned harder, and a wave drove Captain Ahab underwater. When Captain Ahab appeared next time, no one expected that he would be on top of the waves. "Quick, space it out!" The ship breaks through Moby Dick's circle and separates Captain Ahab from Moby Dick Moby Dick swam away resentfully. The skiff rowed forward and rescued Captain Ahab. Captain Ahab was hauled into Stubb's dinghy. His eyes were bloodshot, he was out of breath, and his forehead was covered with white foam. From his appearance, it could be seen that he had lost any energy. Captain Ahab lay on his back in Stubb's boat, as if trampled by a wild horse. He cried, unable to tell whether it was because of the catastrophe or anger. However, one of the important reasons why great people are great is that they can quickly get rid of hardship or turn hardship into strength, because they can quickly restore their original strong spirit. What a noble quality this is for man, it enables you to overcome your cowardly soul, and allows you to advance desperately in order to achieve your goals until the moment of your victory. Captain Ahab was such a man. When he returned from his predicament, his first words were: "Javelin, is there anything wrong with my javelin?" "It hasn't been used yet, sir." Stubb hastened to show him the captain's weapons. "Okay, just put it in front of me. Also, check again, is there any loss of manpower?" "No, sir, there are five of them, all here." "That's good, help me stand up, hurry up." Everyone helped Captain Ahab stand up, and Captain Ahab looked forward. "That fellow is still swimming downwind, and look how proud he is, and how high the jet is, huh?" cried Captain Ahab. "Let go of me, set sail, and chase that guy, hurry up!" Ahab gave the order to pursue for the second time. So the remaining two boats rowed desperately toward Moby Dick again. However, Moby Dick was like a god at this time, parading at an extremely fast speed, Captain Ahab and the others couldn't catch up at all. Reluctantly, their two small boats, a two-sectioned boat, and their sailors boarded the "Pequord" again, and the "Pequord" chased after the whale at full speed. Captain Ahab was walking up and down the deck with a compass watch in his hand, and kept asking the masthead: "Anyone got that piece of gold?" Always the same answer: "No, sir." At such times, Captain Ahab would be restless and have him hoisted to the top of the mainmast for a look. Come down disappointed every time. In this way, up and down, the day passed. At dusk, Captain Ahab stood in front of his boat, which had been cut in two by the white whale, with a look of melancholy on his face. Stubb, wanting to show his firmness, stepped forward and, with Captain Ahab, looked at the boat. Stubb cracked a joke. He said in a mocking tone the broken boat in front of him. But instead of making Captain Ahab happy, Stubb made Captain Ahab angry. "I say Stubb, please don't laugh at my boat, it's only a heartless fellow." "If you want to show your bravery without making me think you're a coward, then see you tomorrow!" "But it's a bad omen, sir." Stubb argued. "Omen? What is an omen? If God had anything to say to me, he would have said it to me in an open and honest way. He would never be as eccentric as you and Starbuck. You'd better go away." "I, Ahab, will catch the white ghost myself, and then you will all go to hell." "Captain, it's getting dark, I can't see that guy's spray." The mast reported down. "Where did the white ghost go?" "Downwind, Captain." "Okay, let's follow it. It's getting dark, and it can't swim anymore. Maybe it needs to rest. Let's pay attention, but don't chase it too far." Captain Ahab laid out everything in detail. Afterwards, Captain Ahab walked to his own hatch, and when he arrived, he did not forget to turn around and say: "Don't forget, whoever finds it first will own the gold coin. If I find it again, I will pay you ten times as much." But Captain Ahab did not sleep, he stood all night in his cabin. His eyes were full of humiliation and anxiety.