The Pipe

When Stubb had departed, Ahab stood for a while leaning over the bulwarks; and then, as had been usual with him of late, calling a sailor of the watch, he sent him below for his ivory stool, and also his pipe. Lighting the pipe at the binnacle lamp and planting the stool on the weather side of the deck, he sat and smoked.

After Stubb left, Ahab stood leaning over the ship’s railing for a while. Then, as he had often done lately, he called a sailor on watch. He sent the sailor below to fetch his ivory stool and his pipe. Ahab lit the pipe at the compass lamp and placed the stool on the windward side of the deck. He sat down and smoked.

In old Norse times, the thrones of the sea-loving Danish kings were fabricated, saith tradition, of the tusks of the narwhale. How could one look at Ahab then, seated on that tripod of bones, without bethinking him of the royalty it symbolized? For a Khan of the plank, and a king of the sea, and a great lord of Leviathans was Ahab.

In old Norse times, tradition says, the thrones of the sea-loving Danish kings were made from narwhal tusks. How could anyone look at Ahab, seated on that tripod of bones, without thinking of the royalty it symbolized? For Ahab was a Khan of the deck, a king of the sea, and a great lord of Leviathans.

Some moments passed, during which the thick vapor came from his mouth in quick and constant puffs, which blew back again into his face. “How now,” he soliloquized at last, withdrawing the tube, “this smoking no longer soothes. Oh, my pipe! hard must it go with me if thy charm be gone! Here have I been unconsciously toiling, not pleasuring—aye, and ignorantly smoking to windward all the while; to windward, and with such nervous whiffs, as if, like the dying whale, my final jets were the strongest and fullest of trouble. What business have I with this pipe? This thing that is meant for sereneness, to send up mild white vapors among mild white hairs, not among torn iron-grey locks like mine. I’ll smoke no more—”

A few moments passed. Thick smoke came from his mouth in quick, constant puffs and blew back into his face. At last, he took the pipe from his mouth and spoke to himself. “What’s this? Smoking no longer soothes me. Oh, my pipe! Things must be bad with me if your charm is gone! I’ve been working without realizing it, not enjoying myself. And all the while, I’ve been smoking into the wind without knowing it. I’ve been puffing so nervously that, like a dying whale, my last jets seem the strongest and most troubled. What am I doing with this pipe? It’s meant to bring peace, sending up gentle white smoke among gentle white hairs, not torn iron-gray locks like mine. I’ll smoke no more.”

He tossed the still lighted pipe into the sea. The fire hissed in the waves; the same instant the ship shot by the bubble the sinking pipe made. With slouched hat, Ahab lurchingly paced the planks.

He tossed his still burning pipe into the sea. The fire hissed in the waves. At that same moment, the ship sped past the bubble made by the sinking pipe. With his hat pulled low, Ahab paced the deck with a lurching gait.