The Log and Line

While now the fated Pequod had been so long afloat this voyage, the log and line had but very seldom been in use. Owing to a confident reliance upon other means of determining the vessel’s place, some merchantmen, and many whalemen, especially when cruising, wholly neglect to heave the log; though at the same time, and frequently more for form’s sake than anything else, regularly putting down upon the customary slate the course steered by the ship, as well as the presumed average rate of progression every hour. It had been thus with the Pequod. The wooden reel and angular log attached hung, long untouched, just beneath the railing of the after bulwarks. Rains and spray had damped it; sun and wind had warped it; all the elements had combined to rot a thing that hung so idly. But heedless of all this, his mood seized Ahab, as he happened to glance upon the reel, not many hours after the magnet scene, and he remembered how his quadrant was no more, and recalled his frantic oath about the level log and line. The ship was sailing plungingly; astern the billows rolled in riots.

The doomed Pequod had been at sea for a long time on this voyage, yet the log and line had been used very seldom. Some merchant ships and many whaling ships confidently rely on other ways to determine their position. They neglect to heave the log at all, especially while cruising. Yet they regularly record the ship’s course and presumed average speed each hour on the customary slate. Often they do this more for form’s sake than anything else. So it had been on the Pequod. The wooden reel and the angular log attached to it hung just below the stern railing, long untouched. Rain and spray had dampened them. Sun and wind had warped them. All the elements had combined to rot this thing that hung so idle. Not many hours after the magnet scene, Ahab happened to glance at the reel. He remembered that his quadrant was gone and recalled his frantic oath about the level log and line. Then his mood took hold of him, and he paid no attention to the log’s condition. The ship was plunging through the water, and behind it the waves rolled in wild confusion.

“Forward, there! Heave the log!”

“Up front, there! Throw the log overboard!”

Two seamen came. The golden-hued Tahitian and the grizzly Manxman. “Take the reel, one of ye, I’ll heave.”

Two sailors came, the golden-skinned Tahitian and the gray-haired Manxman. “One of you take the reel. I’ll throw.”

They went towards the extreme stern, on the ship’s lee side, where the deck, with the oblique energy of the wind, was now almost dipping into the creamy, sidelong-rushing sea.

They headed to the very back of the ship, on the side sheltered from the wind. There, the wind pushing from an angle had brought the deck almost into the creamy sea rushing past sideways.

The Manxman took the reel, and holding it high up, by the projecting handle-ends of the spindle, round which the spool of line revolved, so stood with the angular log hanging downwards, till Ahab advanced to him.

The Manxman took the reel and held it high by the projecting ends of the spindle. The spool of line revolved around the spindle. He stood holding the reel, with the angular log hanging down, until Ahab came up to him.

Ahab stood before him, and was lightly unwinding some thirty or forty turns to form a preliminary hand-coil to toss overboard, when the old Manxman, who was intently eyeing both him and the line, made bold to speak.

Ahab stood before him, lightly unwinding some thirty or forty turns of line. He was making a coil in his hand to toss overboard. The old Manxman was watching Ahab and the line closely, and he dared to speak.

“Sir, I mistrust it; this line looks far gone, long heat and wet have spoiled it.”

“Sir, I don’t trust it. This line looks badly worn. Heat and damp have damaged it over time.”

“’Twill hold, old gentleman. Long heat and wet, have they spoiled thee? Thou seem’st to hold. Or, truer perhaps, life holds thee; not thou it.”

“It will hold, old gentleman. Have years of heat and wet ruined you? You seem to be holding on. Or perhaps it is truer to say that life holds on to you, not you to life.”

“I hold the spool, sir. But just as my captain says. With these grey hairs of mine ’tis not worth while disputing, ’specially with a superior, who’ll ne’er confess.”

“I hold the spool, sir. But it’s just as my captain says. At my age, it’s not worth arguing, especially with a superior who will never admit he’s wrong.”

“What’s that? There now’s a patched professor in Queen Nature’s granite-founded College; but methinks he’s too subservient. Where wert thou born?”

“What’s that? There’s a patched professor in Queen Nature’s college, built on granite. But I think he’s too subservient. Where were you born?”

“In the little rocky Isle of Man, sir.”

“On the small, rocky Isle of Man, sir.”

“Excellent! Thou’st hit the world by that.”

“Excellent! You’ve captured the world with that.”

“I know not, sir, but I was born there.”

“I don’t know, sir, but I was born there.”

“In the Isle of Man, hey? Well, the other way, it’s good. Here’s a man from Man; a man born in once independent Man, and now unmanned of Man; which is sucked in—by what? Up with the reel! The dead, blind wall butts all inquiring heads at last. Up with it! So.”

“In the Isle of Man, eh? Well, the other way, it’s good. Here’s a man from Man. He was born in Man when it was independent, and now he’s been unmanned of Man. Man has been swallowed up, by what? Pull up the reel! In the end, the dead, blind wall blocks every questioning mind. Pull it up! There.”

The log was heaved. The loose coils rapidly straightened out in a long dragging line astern, and then, instantly, the reel began to whirl. In turn, jerkingly raised and lowered by the rolling billows, the towing resistance of the log caused the old reelman to stagger strangely.

The log was thrown overboard. The loose coils quickly straightened into a long line trailing behind the ship, and the reel immediately began to spin. The rolling waves jerked the log up and down, and its pull made the old reelman stagger strangely.

“Hold hard!”

“Wait!”

Snap! the overstrained line sagged down in one long festoon; the tugging log was gone.

Snap! The overstretched line sagged in one long loop. The log that had been tugging at it was gone.

“I crush the quadrant, the thunder turns the needles, and now the mad sea parts the log-line. But Ahab can mend all. Haul in here, Tahitian; reel up, Manxman. And look ye, let the carpenter make another log, and mend thou the line. See to it.”

“I smash the quadrant, the thunder turns the compass needles, and now the wild sea snaps the log-line. But Ahab can fix everything. Pull it in, Tahitian. Reel it up, Manxman. And listen, have the carpenter make another log, and you mend the line. Make sure it gets done.”

“There he goes now; to him nothing’s happened; but to me, the skewer seems loosening out of the middle of the world. Haul in, haul in, Tahitian! These lines run whole, and whirling out: come in broken, and dragging slow. Ha, Pip? come to help; eh, Pip?”

“There he goes now. Nothing has happened to him. But to me, the skewer seems to be coming loose from the middle of the world. Haul in, haul in, Tahitian! These lines run out whole and spinning. They come back broken and dragging slowly. Ha, Pip? Have you come to help, Pip?”

“Pip? whom call ye Pip? Pip jumped from the whale-boat. Pip’s missing. Let’s see now if ye haven’t fished him up here, fisherman. It drags hard; I guess he’s holding on. Jerk him, Tahiti! Jerk him off; we haul in no cowards here. Ho! there’s his arm just breaking water. A hatchet! a hatchet! cut it off—we haul in no cowards here. Captain Ahab! sir, sir! here’s Pip, trying to get on board again.”

“Pip? Who are you calling Pip? Pip jumped out of the whale-boat. Pip is missing. Let’s see if you’ve fished him up here, fisherman. The line is hard to pull. I guess he’s holding on. Give it a jerk, Tahiti! Jerk him off. We don’t haul in cowards here. Hey! There’s his arm breaking the surface. A hatchet! A hatchet! Cut it off. We don’t haul in cowards here. Captain Ahab! Sir, sir! Here’s Pip, trying to get back on board.”

“Peace, thou crazy loon,” cried the Manxman, seizing him by the arm. “Away from the quarter-deck!”

“Quiet, you crazy fool,” cried the Manxman, grabbing him by the arm. “Get off the quarterdeck!”

“The greater idiot ever scolds the lesser,” muttered Ahab, advancing. “Hands off from that holiness! Where sayest thou Pip was, boy?

“The greater idiot always scolds the lesser one,” muttered Ahab, moving forward. “Hands off that sacred thing! Where did you say Pip was, boy?”

“Astern there, sir, astern! Lo! lo!”

“Behind us, sir, behind us! Look! Look!”

“And who art thou, boy? I see not my reflection in the vacant pupils of thy eyes. Oh God! that man should be a thing for immortal souls to sieve through! Who art thou, boy?”

“And who are you, boy? I don’t see my reflection in the empty pupils of your eyes. Oh God! To think that a man is something immortal souls can pass through like a sieve! Who are you, boy?”

“Bell-boy, sir; ship’s-crier; ding, dong, ding! Pip! Pip! Pip! One hundred pounds of clay reward for Pip; five feet high—looks cowardly—quickest known by that! Ding, dong, ding! Who’s seen Pip the coward?”

“Bellboy, sir. Ship’s crier. Ding, dong, ding! Pip! Pip! Pip! A reward of one hundred pounds of clay for Pip. Five feet tall, looks cowardly. That’s the quickest way to recognize him! Ding, dong, ding! Who’s seen Pip the coward?”

“There can be no hearts above the snow-line. Oh, ye frozen heavens! look down here. Ye did beget this luckless child, and have abandoned him, ye creative libertines. Here, boy; Ahab’s cabin shall be Pip’s home henceforth, while Ahab lives. Thou touchest my inmost centre, boy; thou art tied to me by cords woven of my heart-strings. Come, let’s down.”

“There can be no hearts above the snow line. Oh, frozen heavens, look down here. You brought this unlucky child into the world and abandoned him, you reckless creators. Here, boy, Ahab’s cabin will be Pip’s home from now on, as long as Ahab lives. You touch my very core, boy. You are tied to me by cords woven from my heartstrings. Come, let’s go down.”

“What’s this? here’s velvet shark-skin,” intently gazing at Ahab’s hand, and feeling it. “Ah, now, had poor Pip but felt so kind a thing as this, perhaps he had ne’er been lost! This seems to me, sir, as a man-rope; something that weak souls may hold by. Oh, sir, let old Perth now come and rivet these two hands together; the black one with the white, for I will not let this go.”

“What’s this? Here’s velvet sharkskin,” he said, looking closely at Ahab’s hand and feeling it. “Ah, if poor Pip had only felt something so kind, perhaps he would never have been lost! Sir, this hand seems to me like a rope for a weak soul to hold on to. Oh, sir, let old Perth come and rivet these two hands together, the black one and the white one. For I will not let this hand go.”

“Oh, boy, nor will I thee, unless I should thereby drag thee to worse horrors than are here. Come, then, to my cabin. Lo! ye believers in gods all goodness, and in man all ill, lo you! see the omniscient gods oblivious of suffering man; and man, though idiotic, and knowing not what he does, yet full of the sweet things of love and gratitude. Come! I feel prouder leading thee by thy black hand, than though I grasped an Emperor’s!”

“Oh, boy, I will not leave you either, unless staying with me would drag you into worse horrors than these. Come to my cabin, then. Look, you who believe the gods are all goodness and man is all evil! See how the all-knowing gods ignore suffering man. Yet man, though foolish and unaware of what he does, is full of the sweetness of love and gratitude. Come! I feel prouder leading you by your black hand than I would holding an Emperor’s hand!”

“There go two daft ones now,” muttered the old Manxman. “One daft with strength, the other daft with weakness. But here’s the end of the rotten line—all dripping, too. Mend it, eh? I think we had best have a new line altogether. I’ll see Mr. Stubb about it.”

“There go two crazy ones now,” muttered the old Manxman. “One crazy with strength, the other crazy with weakness. But here’s the end of the rotten line, and it’s dripping wet, too. Mend it? I think we’d better get a new line altogether. I’ll talk to Mr. Stubb about it.”