The Sphinx

It should not have been omitted that previous to completely stripping the body of the leviathan, he was beheaded. Now, the beheading of the Sperm Whale is a scientific anatomical feat, upon which experienced whale surgeons very much pride themselves: and not without reason.

I should have mentioned that the leviathan was beheaded before its body was completely stripped. Beheading a Sperm Whale is a scientific anatomical feat. Experienced whale surgeons take great pride in it, and with good reason.

Consider that the whale has nothing that can properly be called a neck; on the contrary, where his head and body seem to join, there, in that very place, is the thickest part of him. Remember, also, that the surgeon must operate from above, some eight or ten feet intervening between him and his subject, and that subject almost hidden in a discoloured, rolling, and oftentimes tumultuous and bursting sea. Bear in mind, too, that under these untoward circumstances he has to cut many feet deep in the flesh; and in that subterraneous manner, without so much as getting one single peep into the ever-contracting gash thus made, he must skilfully steer clear of all adjacent, interdicted parts, and exactly divide the spine at a critical point hard by its insertion into the skull. Do you not marvel, then, at Stubb’s boast, that he demanded but ten minutes to behead a sperm whale?

Consider that a whale has nothing that can properly be called a neck. On the contrary, the place where its head and body seem to join is its thickest part. Remember, too, that the surgeon must operate from above, some eight or ten feet away from the whale. The whale is almost hidden in a discolored, rolling sea, often turbulent and breaking into waves. Bear in mind, too, that under these difficult conditions, the surgeon must cut many feet deep into the flesh. Working so deep, he cannot get even a single look inside the gash, which keeps closing around his blade. Yet he must skillfully avoid all the nearby parts he must not cut. He must also sever the spine at a precise point close to where it joins the skull. Do you not marvel, then, at Stubb’s boast that he needed only ten minutes to behead a sperm whale?

When first severed, the head is dropped astern and held there by a cable till the body is stripped. That done, if it belong to a small whale it is hoisted on deck to be deliberately disposed of. But, with a full grown leviathan this is impossible; for the sperm whale’s head embraces nearly one third of his entire bulk, and completely to suspend such a burden as that, even by the immense tackles of a whaler, this were as vain a thing as to attempt weighing a Dutch barn in jewellers’ scales.

Once severed, the head is dropped behind the ship and held there by a cable until the body is stripped. Once that is done, the head of a small whale is hoisted onto the deck for careful disposal. But this is impossible with a fully grown leviathan. The sperm whale’s head makes up nearly one third of its entire bulk. Even with a whaling ship’s immense tackle, trying to lift such a burden clear would be futile. It would be like trying to weigh a Dutch barn on a jeweler’s scales.

The Pequod’s whale being decapitated and the body stripped, the head was hoisted against the ship’s side—about half way out of the sea, so that it might yet in great part be buoyed up by its native element. And there with the strained craft steeply leaning over to it, by reason of the enormous downward drag from the lower mast-head, and every yard-arm on that side projecting like a crane over the waves; there, that blood-dripping head hung to the Pequod’s waist like the giant Holofernes’s from the girdle of Judith.

After the Pequod’s whale was decapitated and its body stripped, the head was hoisted against the ship’s side. It was lifted about halfway out of the sea, so that the water could still support much of its weight. The enormous downward pull from the lower masthead strained the ship and made it lean sharply toward the head. Every yardarm on that side projected over the waves like a crane. There, the blood-dripping head hung against the Pequod’s side like the giant Holofernes’s head from Judith’s belt.

When this last task was accomplished it was noon, and the seamen went below to their dinner. Silence reigned over the before tumultuous but now deserted deck. An intense copper calm, like a universal yellow lotus, was more and more unfolding its noiseless measureless leaves upon the sea.

When the last task was finished, it was noon, and the sailors went below for dinner. The deck, once full of commotion, was now deserted and silent. A deep, copper-colored calm spread across the sea, like a vast yellow lotus slowly unfolding its silent, boundless leaves.

A short space elapsed, and up into this noiselessness came Ahab alone from his cabin. Taking a few turns on the quarter-deck, he paused to gaze over the side, then slowly getting into the main-chains he took Stubb’s long spade—still remaining there after the whale’s decapitation—and striking it into the lower part of the half-suspended mass, placed its other end crutch-wise under one arm, and so stood leaning over with eyes attentively fixed on this head.

A short time passed, and Ahab came alone from his cabin into the silence. He walked a few times across the quarterdeck, then stopped to look over the side. Slowly, he climbed into the main-chains and picked up Stubb’s long spade. It was still there after the whale’s head had been cut off. He drove the spade into the lower part of the half-suspended head and tucked the other end under one arm like a crutch. He stood leaning over, his eyes fixed intently on the head.

It was a black and hooded head; and hanging there in the midst of so intense a calm, it seemed the Sphynx’s in the desert. “Speak, thou vast and venerable head,” muttered Ahab, “which, though ungarnished with a beard, yet here and there lookest hoary with mosses; speak, mighty head, and tell us the secret thing that is in thee. Of all divers, thou hast dived the deepest. That head upon which the upper sun now gleams, has moved amid this world’s foundations. Where unrecorded names and navies rust, and untold hopes and anchors rot; where in her murderous hold this frigate earth is ballasted with bones of millions of the drowned; there, in that awful water-land, there was thy most familiar home. Thou hast been where bell or diver never went; hast slept by many a sailor’s side, where sleepless mothers would give their lives to lay them down. Thou saw’st the locked lovers when leaping from their flaming ship; heart to heart they sank beneath the exulting wave; true to each other, when heaven seemed false to them. Thou saw’st the murdered mate when tossed by pirates from the midnight deck; for hours he fell into the deeper midnight of the insatiate maw; and his murderers still sailed on unharmed—while swift lightnings shivered the neighboring ship that would have borne a righteous husband to outstretched, longing arms. O head! thou hast seen enough to split the planets and make an infidel of Abraham, and not one syllable is thine!”

It was a black, hooded head. Hanging there in the intense calm, it looked like the Sphynx’s head in the desert. “Speak, you vast and venerable head,” Ahab muttered. “Though you have no beard, patches of moss make you look gray with age. Speak, mighty head, and tell us the secret within you. Of all divers, you have dived the deepest. This head, now gleaming in the sunlight, has traveled among the foundations of the world. Names that were never recorded and navies rust there, and countless hopes and anchors rot. There, in its murderous hold, the frigate earth is weighed down with the bones of millions of drowned people. That terrible underwater world was your familiar home. “You have been where no diving bell or diver ever went. You have slept beside many a sailor, where sleepless mothers would give their lives to lie down. You saw the lovers locked in each other’s arms as they leaped from their burning ship. Heart to heart, they sank beneath the rejoicing wave, true to each other when heaven seemed false to them. You saw the murdered mate when pirates threw him from the deck at midnight. For hours he fell into the deeper midnight of the ocean’s insatiable maw. His murderers sailed on unharmed, while swift lightning shattered the nearby ship that would have carried a righteous husband to outstretched, longing arms. Oh, head! You have seen enough to split the planets and make Abraham lose his faith, yet you have not a single word to say!”

“Sail ho!” cried a triumphant voice from the main-mast-head.

“Ship in sight!” a triumphant voice shouted from the top of the mainmast.

“Aye? Well, now, that’s cheering,” cried Ahab, suddenly erecting himself, while whole thunder-clouds swept aside from his brow. “That lively cry upon this deadly calm might almost convert a better man.—Where away?”

“Really? Well, that’s encouraging,” cried Ahab, suddenly straightening up as the storm clouds cleared from his brow. “That lively cry in this deadly calm might almost convert a better man. Which direction?”

“Three points on the starboard bow, sir, and bringing down her breeze to us!

“Three points off the starboard bow, sir, and bringing her wind down to us!

“Better and better, man. Would now St. Paul would come along that way, and to my breezelessness bring his breeze! O Nature, and O soul of man! how far beyond all utterance are your linked analogies! not the smallest atom stirs or lives on matter, but has its cunning duplicate in mind.”

“Better and better, man. I wish St. Paul would come along that way and bring his breeze to my stillness! Oh, Nature, and oh, human soul! The connections between you are far beyond words! Not even the smallest atom moves or lives in the material world without having its ingenious counterpart in the mind.”