Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. TITELBLATT

2. IMPRESSUM

3. ETYMOLOGY

4. EXTRACTS

5. MOBY DICK

6. 1 — LOOMINGS

7. 2 — THE CARPET-BAG

8. 3 — THE SPOUTER-INN

9. 4 — THE COUNTERPANE

10. 5 — BREAKFAST

11. 6 — THE STREET

12. 7 — THE CHAPEL

13. 8 — THE PULPIT

14. 9 — THE SERMON

15. 10 — A BOSOM FRIEND

16. 11 — NIGHTGOWN

17. 12 — BIOGRAPHICAL

18. 13 — WHEELBARROW

19. 14 — NANTUCKET

20. 15 — CHOWDER

21. 16 — THE SHIP

22. 17 — THE RAMADAN

23. 18 — HIS MARK

24. 19 — THE PROPHET

25. 20 — ALL ASTIR

26. 21 — GOING ABOARD

27. 22 — MERRY CHRISTMAS

28. 23 — THE LEE SHORE

29. 24 — THE ADVOCATE

30. 25 — POSTSCRIPT

31. 26 — KNIGHTS AND SQUIRES

32. 27 — KNIGHTS AND SQUIRES

33. 28 — AHAB

34. 29 — ENTER AHAB; TO HIM, STUBB

35. 30 — THE PIPE

36. 31 — QUEEN MAB

37. 32 — CETOLOGY

38. 33 — THE SPECKSYNDER

39. 34 — THE CABIN-TABLE

40. 35 — THE MAST-HEAD

41. 36 — THE QUARTER-DECK

42. 37 — SUNSET

43. 38 — DUSK

44. 39 — FIRST NIGHT-WATCH

45. 40 — MIDNIGHT, FORECASTLE

46. 41 — MOBY DICK

47. 42 — THE WHITENESS OF THE WHALE

48. 43 — HARK!

49. 44 — THE CHART

50. 45 — THE AFFIDAVIT

51. 46 — SURMISES

52. 47 — THE MAT-MAKER

53. 48 — THE FIRST LOWERING

54. 49 — THE HYENA

55. 50 — AHAB’S BOAT AND CREW — FEDALLAH

56. 51 — THE SPIRIT-SPOUT

57. 52 — THE ALBATROSS

58. 53 — THE GAM

59. 54 — THE TOWN-HO’S STORY

60. 55 — OF THE MONSTROUS PICTURES OF WHALES

61. 56 — OF THE LESS ERRONEOUS PICTURES OF WHALES, AND THE TRUE PICTURES OF WHALING SCENES

62. 57 — OF WHALES IN PAINT; IN TEETH; IN WOOD; IN SHEET-IRON; IN STONE; IN MOUNTAINS; IN STARS

63. 58 — BRIT

64. 59 — SQUID

65. 60 — THE LINE

66. 61 — STUBB KILLS A WHALE

67. 62 — THE DART

68. 63 — THE CROTCH

69. 64 — STUBB’S SUPPER

70. 65 — THE WHALE AS A DISH

71. 66 — THE SHARK MASSACRE

72. 67 — CUTTING IN

73. 68 — THE BLANKET

74. 69 — THE FUNERAL

75. 70 — THE SPHYNX

76. 71 — THE JEROBOAM’S STORY

77. 72 — THE MONKEY-ROPE

78. 73 — STUBB AND FLASK KILL A RIGHT WHALE; AND THEN HAVE A TALK OVER HIM

79. 74 — THE SPERM WHALE’S HEAD — CONTRASTED VIEW

80. 75 — THE RIGHT WHALE’S HEAD — CONTRASTED VIEW

81. 76 — THE BATTERING-RAM

82. 77 — THE GREAT HEIDELBURGH TUN

83. 78 — CISTERN AND BUCKETS

84. 79 — THE PRAIRIE

85. 80 — THE NUT

86. 81 — THE PEQUOD MEETS THE VIRGIN

87. 82 — THE HONOR AND GLORY OF WHALING

88. 83 — JONAH HISTORICALLY REGARDED

89. 84 — PITCHPOLING

90. 85 — THE FOUNTAIN

91. 86 — THE TAIL

92. 87 — THE GRAND ARMADA

93. 88 — SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS

94. 89 — FAST-FISH AND LOOSE-FISH

95. 90 — HEADS OR TAILS

96. 91 — THE PEQUOD MEETS THE ROSE-BUD

97. 92 — AMBERGRIS

98. 93 — THE CASTAWAY

99. 94 — A SQUEEZE OF THE HAND

100. 95 — THE CASSOCK

101. 96 — THE TRY-WORKS

102. 97 — THE LAMP

103. 98 — STOWING DOWN AND CLEARING UP

104. 99 — THE DOUBLOON

105. 100 — LEG AND ARM

106. 101 — THE DECANTER

107. 102 — A BOWER IN THE ARSACIDES

108. 103 — MEASUREMENT OF THE WHALE’S SKELETON

109. 104 — THE FOSSIL WHALE

110. 105 — DOES THE WHALE’S MAGNITUDE DIMINISH? — WILL HE PERISH?

111. 106 — AHAB’S LEG

112. 107 — THE CARPENTER

113. 108 — AHAB AND THE CARPENTER

114. 109 — AHAB AND STARBUCK IN THE CABIN

115. 110 — QUEEQUEG IN HIS COFFIN

116. 111 — THE PACIFIC

117. 112 — THE BLACKSMITH

118. 113 — THE FORGE

119. 114 — THE GILDER

120. 115 — THE PEQUOD MEETS THE BACHELOR

121. 116 — THE DYING WHALE

122. 117 — THE WHALE WATCH

123. 118 — THE QUADRANT

124. 119 — THE CANDLES

125. 120 — THE DECK TOWARDS THE END OF THE FIRST NIGHT WATCH

126. 121 — MIDNIGHT — THE FORECASTLE BULWARKS

127. 122 — MIDNIGHT ALOFT — THUNDER AND LIGHTNING

128. 123 — THE MUSKET

129. 124 — THE NEEDLE

130. 125 — THE LOG AND LINE

131. 126 — THE LIFE-BUOY

132. 127 — THE DECK

133. 128 — THE PEQUOD MEETS THE RACHEL

134. 129 — THE CABIN

135. 130 — THE HAT

136. 131 — THE PEQUOD MEETS THE DELIGHT

137. 132 — THE SYMPHONY

138. 133 — THE CHASE — FIRST DAY

139. 134 — THE CHASE — SECOND DAY

140. 135 — THE CHASE — THIRD DAY

141. EPILOGUE

142. MOBY-DICK; OR, THE WHALE (ENGLISCH)

Herman Melville
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale / Moby-Dick oder Der Wal
Zweisprachige Ausgabe
Übersetzt von Alice und Hans Seiffert

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Die Übersetzung erschien erstmals 1956 als Band 190 der Sammlung Dieterich, Leipzig. Sammlung Dieterich ist eine Marke der Aufbau Verlag GmbH & Co. KG.
Übersetzung © Aufbau Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin 1956, 2008

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IN TOKEN OF MY ADMIRATION FOR HIS GENIUS,
THIS BOOK IS INSCRIBED TO NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE.

Zum Zeichen meiner Bewunderung für seinen Genius
ist dieses Buch Nathaniel Hawthorne gewidmet

ETYMOLOGY

ETYMOLOGIE

(Supplied by a Late Consumptive Usher to a Grammar School.)

(Zusammengestellt von einem inzwischen an der Auszehrung gestorbenen Hilfslehrer an einer Lateinschule)

THE pale Usher — threadbare in coat, heart, body, and brain; I see him now. He was ever dusting his old lexicons and grammars,

Ich sehe ihn noch vor mir, den blassen Hilfslehrer – fadenscheinig an Rock und Geist, an Leib und Seele. Immer war er geschäftig, seine alten Wörterbücher und Grammatiken abzustauben,

with a queer handkerchief, mockingly embellished with all the gay flags of all the known nations of the world.

mit einem sonderbaren Taschentuch, das wie zum Hohn mit den bunten Flaggen aller Herren Länder geschmückt war.

He loved to dust his old grammars; it somehow mildly reminded him of his mortality.

Er liebte diese Beschäftigung; irgendwie mahnte sie ihn sanft an seine eigene Vergänglichkeit.

ETYMOLOGY

ETYMOLOGIE

“While you take in hand to school others, and to teach them by what name a whale-fish is to be called in our tongue,

»Wenn du dich unterfängst, andere zu lehren und sie zu unterweisen, mit welchem Namen in unserer Sprache der Walfisch (whale) zu benennen sei,

leaving out, through ignorance, the letter H, which almost alone maketh up the signification of the word, you deliver that which is not true.”

lässest aber, da du selber unwissend bist, den Buchstaben h aus, der allein dem Wort erst seinen rechten Sinn gibt, so lehrest du, was nicht richtig ist.«

Hackluyt.

“WHALE. * * * Sw. and Dan. hval. This animal is named from roundness or rolling; for in Dan. hvalt is arched or vaulted.”

»Wal: schwed. und dän. hval. Der Name dieses Tieres kommt von Rundung oder rollen; denn das dänische Wort hvalt bedeutet bogenförmig, gewölbt.«

Webster’s Dictionary.

“WHALE. * * * It is more immediately from the Dut. and Ger. Wallen; A.S. Walw-ian, to roll, to wallow.”

»Wal: hängt noch enger mit dem holländischen und deutschen wallen zusammen; angelsächsisch walw-ian: rollen, sich wälzen.«

Richardson’s Dictionary.

תז Hebrew.

תז Hebräisch.

κητοϛ Greek.

κητοϛ Griechisch.

CETUS, Latin.

CETUS Lateinisch.

WHŒL, Anglo-Saxon.

WHOEL Angelsächsisch.

HVALT, Danish.

HVALT Dänisch.

WAL, Dutch.

WAL Holländisch.

HWAL, Swedish.

HWAL Schwedisch.

HVALUR, Icelandic.

HVALÚR Isländisch.

WHALE, English.

WHALE Englisch.

BALEINE, French.

BALEINE Französisch.

BALLENA, Spanish.

BALLENA Spanisch.

PEKEE-NUEE-NUEE, Fegee.

PIKI-NUI-NUI Fidschi.

PEHEE-NUEE-NUEE, Erromangoan.

PIHI-NUI-NUI Eromanganisch.

EXTRACTS

AUSZÜGE

(Supplied by a Sub-Sub-Librarian.)

(Zusammengestellt von einem Unter-Unterbibliothekar)

IT will be seen that this mere painstaking burrower and grub-worm of a poor devil of a Sub-Sub

Wie man sehen wird, hat dieser arme Teufel von einem Unter-Unter, dieser emsige Maulwurf und Bücherwurm und sonst nichts,

appears to have gone through the long Vaticans and street-stalls of the earth,

anscheinend die weiten Räume der Bibliotheken und die Bücherstände aller Welt durchstöbert

picking up whatever random allusions to whales he could anyways find in any book whatsoever, sacred or profane.

und jede noch so zufällige Erwähnung des Walfisches aufgelesen, die er irgendwie und irgendwo in irgendeinem Buch, sei es geistlich oder weltlich, finden konnte.

Therefore you must not, in every case at least, take the higgledy-piggledy whale statements, however authentic, in these extracts, for veritable gospel cetology. Far from it.

Daher darf man nicht, zum mindesten nicht in jedem Fall, was hier ziemlich kunterbunt, wenn auch in getreuer Wiedergabe, über Wale geschrieben steht, für das reine Evangelium der Walkunde halten. Das wäre weit gefehlt.

As touching the ancient authors generally, as well as the poets here appearing, these extracts are solely valuable or entertaining,

Die hier zitierten Dichter und Schriftsteller wie die alten Autoren überhaupt erscheinen in diesen Auszügen nur deshalb schätzenswert und ergötzlich,

as affording a glancing bird’s eye view of what has been promiscuously said, thought, fancied, and sung of Leviathan, by many nations and generations, including our own.

weil sie aus der Vogelperspektive einen flüchtigen Blick auf all das gewähren, was viele Völker und Geschlechter, wir selber nicht ausgenommen, über den Leviathan gesagt und gedacht, von ihm geträumt und gesungen haben.

So fare thee well, poor devil of a Sub-Sub, whose commentator I am.

So fahr denn wohl, du armer Teufel von Unter-Unter, den ich so kritisch kommentiere!

Thou belongest to that hopeless, sallow tribe which no wine of this world will ever warm;

Du bist vom Stamme jener hoffnungslosen stubenblassen Seelen, die kein Wein dieser Welt je erwärmt,

and for whom even Pale Sherry would be too rosy-strong;

denen weißer Sherry noch zu goldenrot und feurig ist.

but with whom one sometimes loves to sit, and feel poor-devilish, too; and grow convivial upon tears;

Und doch – zuweilen sitzt man gern einmal mit euresgleichen zusammen und fühlt sich auch wie einer von euch armen Teufeln, man lächelt unter Tränen

and say to them bluntly, with full eyes and empty glasses, and in not altogether unpleasant sadness — Give it up, Sub-Subs!

und sagt dann – und der Schmerz dabei tut beinah wohl – mit feuchtem Auge und trockenem Becher ganz frei heraus: »Gebt’s auf, ihr Unter-Unter!

For by how much the more pains ye take to please the world, by so much the more shall ye for ever go thankless!

Denn je mehr ihr euch müht, der Welt zu dienen, um so weniger Dank wird sie euch jemals wissen!

Would that I could clear out Hampton Court and the Tuileries for ye!

Ich wollte, ich könnte euch Hampton Court und die Tuilerien zur Wohnung geben!

But gulp down your tears and hie aloft to the royal-mast with your hearts;

Doch schluckt eure Tränen hinunter und schwingt die Herzen hinan zum höchsten Mast;

for your friends who have gone before are clearing out the seven-storied heavens,

denn eure Freunde, die vor euch dahingegangen sind, schaffen Platz in allen sieben Himmeln

and making refugees of long-pampered Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael, against your coming.

und schicken in Erwartung eurer Ankunft die Erzengel Gabriel, Michael und Raphael, die allzulange im Überfluß gelebt, in die Fremde.

Here ye strike but splintered hearts together — there, ye shall strike unsplinterable glasses!

Hienieden stoßt ihr nur mit gebrochenen Herzen an – dort oben dereinst mit unzerbrechlichen Schalen!«

EXTRACTS

AUSZÜGE

“And God created great whales.”

»Und Gott schuf große Walfische.«

Genesis.

1. Moses, 1,21

“Leviathan maketh a path to shine after him;
One would think the deep to be hoary.”

»Nach ihm, Leviathan, leuchtet der Weg;
er macht die Tiefe ganz grau.«

Job.

Hiob 41,24

“Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah.”

»Aber der Herr verschaffte einen großen Fisch, Jona zu verschlingen.«

Jonah.

Jona 2,1

“There go the ships; there is that Leviathan whom thou hast made to play therein.”

»Daselbst gehen die Schiffe; da sind Walfische, die du gemacht hast, daß sie darin spielen.«

Psalms.

Psalm 104,26

“In that day, the Lord with his sore, and great, and strong sword, shall punish Leviathan the piercing serpent, even Leviathan that crooked serpent;

»Zu der Zeit wird der Herr heimsuchen mit seinem harten, großen und starken Schwert beide, den Leviathan, der eine flüchtige Schlange, und den Leviathan, der eine gewundene Schlange ist,

and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.”

und wird den Drachen im Meer erwürgen.«

Isaiah.

Jesaja 27,1

“And what thing soever besides cometh within the chaos of this monster’s mouth, be it beast, boat, or stone,

»Und was sonst auch immer in den Strudel im Rachen dieses Ungeheuers gerät, sei es Tier, Boot oder Stein,

down it goes all incontinently that foul great swallow of his, and perisheth in the bottomless gulf of his paunch.”

alsogleich fährt es den ekeln Schlund hinab und kommt um in des Wanstes bodenlosem Abgrund.«

Holland’s Plutarch’s Morals.

Plutarch, »Moralia« (nach der Übersetzung von Holland)

“The Indian Sea breedeth the most and the biggest fishes that are:

»Das Indische Meer bringt die meisten und die größten Fische hervor, die es gibt,

among which the Whales and Whirlpooles called Balænæ, take up as much in length as four acres or arpens of land.”

darunter die Walfische, Balaenae genannt: sie sind so lang wie vier Morgen Landes.«

Holland’s Pliny.

Plinius (nach der Übersetzung von Holland)

“Scarcely had we proceeded two days on the sea, when about sunrise a great many Whales and other monsters of the sea, appeared.

»Kaum waren wir zwei Tage auf dem Meere gesegelt, da zeigten sich bei Sonnenuntergang eine große Menge Wale und andere Seeungetüme.

Among the former, one was of a most monstrous size.

Unter den ersteren war einer von ganz ungeheurer Größe.

* * This came towards us, open-mouthed, raising the waves on all sides, and beating the sea before him into a foam.”

– Dieser kam mit offenem Rachen auf uns zu, wobei er zu allen Seiten die Wogen aufwühlte und das Meer vor sich her zu Schaum schlug.«

Tooke’s Lucian. “The True History.”

Lukian, »Die wahre Geschichte« (nach der Übersetzung von Tooke)

“He visited this country also with a view of catching horse-whales,

»Er kam ebenfalls nach England, um hier Walrosse zu fangen,

which had bones of very great value for their teeth, of which he brought some to the king. * * *

deren Zähne aus sehr wertvollem Bein bestehen; von diesen brachte er dem König einige mit …

The best whales were catched in his own country, of which some were forty-eight, some fifty yards long.

Die besten Wale wurden in seinem Vaterlande gefangen, manche achtundvierzig, manche fünfzig Ellen lang.

He said that he was one of six who had killed sixty in two days.”

Er sagte, er sei einer von den sechs Männern, die in zwei Tagen sechzig Wale erschlagen hätten.«

Other or Octher’s verbal narrative taken down from his mouth by King Alfred. A.D. 890.

Nach Ohtheres oder Octhers mündlichem Bericht, niedergeschrieben von König Alfred A. D. 890

“And whereas all the other things, whether beast or vessel, that enter into the dreadful gulf of this monster’s (whale’s) mouth, are immediately lost and swallowed up,

»Und während alles andere, ob Tier oder Schiff, das in den furchtbaren Abgrund dieses ungeheuren Walrachens gerät, sogleich zugrunde geht und verschlungen wird,

the sea-gudgeon retires into it in great security, and there sleeps.”

zieht sich die Meergrundel in aller Sicherheit dorthin zurück und schläft daselbst.«

MONTAIGNE. — Apology for Raimond Sebond.

Montaigne, »Apologie für Raymond Sebond«

“Let us fly, let us fly! Old Nick take me if it is not Leviathan described by the noble prophet Moses in the life of patient Job.”

»Flieht! Flieht! Der Teufel soll mich holen, wenn das nicht Leviathan ist, wie ihn der hohe Prophet Moses in der Lebensgeschichte des Dulders Hiob beschrieben hat.«

Rabelais.

“This whale’s liver was two cart-loads.”

»Die Leber dieses Wals war zwei Fuder schwer.«

Stowe’s Annals.

Stowes Annalen

“The great Leviathan that maketh the seas to seethe like boiling pan.”

»Der große Leviathan, der die Meere aufwallen läßt wie einen siedenden Topf.«

Lord Bacon’s Version of the Psalms.

Lord Bacons Psalmenübertragung

“Touching that monstrous bulk of the whale or work we have received nothing certain.

»Über die ungeheure Größe des Wals oder Schwertfisches wissen wir nichts Genaues.

They grow exceeding fat, insomuch that an incredible quantity of oil will be extracted out of one whale.”

Sie werden überaus fett, so daß man von einem einzigen Wal eine unglaubliche Menge Öl gewinnt.«

Ibid. “History of Life and Death.”

Ibid, »Geschichte vom Leben und Tod«

“The sovereignest thing on earth is parmacetti for an inward bruise.”

»… für innre Schäden komme nichts auf der Welt dem Walratöle gleich.«

King Henry.

Shakespeare, »König Heinrich IV.«

“Very like a whale.”

»Ganz wie ein Wal.«

Hamlet.

Shakespeare, »Hamlet«

“Which to recure, no skill of leach’s art
Mote him availle, but to returne againe

»Kein Tränklein von des Arztes kund’ger Hand
Kann helfen, so er nicht zurückekehrt

To his wound’s worker, that with lovely dart,
Dinting his breast, had bred his restless paine,

Zu jenem Schützen, der den Pfeil entsandt
Und ihm die Brust mit ew’ger Qual versehrt –

Like as the wounded whale to shore flies from the maine.”

Gleich wie der wunde Wal durchs Meer zum Strande fährt.«

The Fairie Queen.

Spenser, »Die Feenkönigin«

“Immense as whales, the motion of whose vast bodies can in a peaceful calm trouble the ocean till it boil.”

»Riesenhaft wie Walfische, deren mächtige Leiber bei friedlicher Windstille das Meer bis zum Kochen aufwühlen können.«

Sir William Davenant. Preface to Gondibert.

Sir William Davenant, Vorwort zu »Gondibert«

“What spermacetti is, men might justly doubt, since the learned Hosmannus in his work of thirty years, saith plainly, Nescio quid sit.”

»Was Walrat ist, läßt sich kaum sagen, da sogar der gelehrte Hosmannus nach dreißigjähriger Forschung in seinem Werk offen zugibt: Nescio quid sit (Ich weiß es nicht).«

Sir T. Browne. Of Sperma Ceti and the Sperma Ceti Whale. Vide his V.E.

Sir T. Browne, »Von Walrat und vom Pottwal« (aus seiner Abhandlung »über verbreitete Irrtümer«)

“Like Spencer’s Talus with his iron flail
He threatens ruin with his ponderous tail.
* * * * * *

»Wie Spensers Talus mit der Keule droht,
So dräut der Wal mit wucht’gem Schweif den Tod.
* * * * * *

Their fixed jav’lins in his side he wears,
And on his back a grove of pikes appears.”

In seinen Flanken Speere eingepflanzt,
Im Rücken ihm ein Wald von Spießen tanzt.«

Waller’s Battle of the Summer Islands.

Waller, »Schlacht bei den Sommer-Inseln«

“By art is created that great Leviathan, called a Commonwealth or State

»Künstlich erschaffen ist jener gewaltige Leviathan, den man Gemeinwesen oder Staat

— (in Latin, Civitas) which is but an artificial man.”

(lateinisch civitas) nennt und der nichts anderes ist als ein künstlicher Mensch.«

Opening sentence of Hobbes’s Leviathan.

Erster Satz von Hobbes’ »Leviathan«

“Silly Mansoul swallowed it without chewing, as if it had been a sprat in the mouth of a whale.”

»Der törichte Mansoul verschlang es, ohne zu kauen, als wär’s eine Sprotte im Maul eines Wales.«

Pilgrim’s Progress.

Bunyan, »Des Pilgers Wanderschaft«

“That sea beast
Leviathan, which God of all his works
Created hugest that swim the ocean stream.”

»… Der Riese
Leviathan, den der Herr zum Größten schuf
Von allem, das im Ozean sich regt.«

Paradise Lost.

Milton, »Das Verlorene Paradies«

— “There Leviathan,
Hugest of living creatures, in the deep
Stretched like a promontory sleeps or swims,

»… Leviathan,
Der Größte der Erschaffnen, wie ein Berg
Schläft er dort in der Tiefe; wenn er schwimmt,

And seems a moving land; and at his gills
Draws in, and at his trunk spouts out a sea.”

Scheint er ein treibend Land; sein Kiemen saugt
Ein Meer, und mit dem Odem speit er’s aus.«

Ibid.

Ebenda

“The mighty whales which swim in a sea of water, and have a sea of oil swimming in them.”

Die mächtigen Walfische, die in einem Meer von Wasser schwimmen und ein Meer von Öl in sich schwimmen haben.«

Fuller’s Profane and Holy State.

Fuller, »Der weltliche und der geistliche Stand«

“So close behind some promontory lie
The huge Leviathans to attend their prey,

»So liegt dort in der Flut, dicht hinterm Kap,
Leviathan wartend, daß ihm Beute wird;

And give no chance, but swallow in the fry,
Which through their gaping jaws mistake the way.”

Er jagt die Fischlein nicht, schlingt nur hinab,
Was in sein klaffend Maul sich hat verirrt.«

Dryden’s Annus Mirabilis.

Dryden, »Annus Mirabilis«

“While the whale is floating, at the stern of the ship, they cut off his head, and tow it with a boat as near the shore as it will come;

»Während der Wal am Heck des Schiffes treibt, schneidet man ihm den Kopf ab und schleppt diesen so nahe wie möglich an den Strand;

but it will be aground in twelve or thirteen feet water.”

aber bei zwölf bis dreizehn Fuß Tiefe gerät er auf Grund.«

Thomas Edge’s Ten Voyages to Spitzbergen, in Purchass.

Thomas Edge, »Zehn Reisen nach Spitzbergen« (bei Purchass)

“In their way they saw many whales sporting in the ocean, and in wantonness fuzzing up the water through their pipes and vents,

»Unterwegs sahen sie viele Walfische, die sich im Meere tummelten und durch die Rohre und Spundlöcher, welche die Natur in ihrer Schulter angebracht hat,

which nature has placed on their shoulders.”

das Wasser im Übermut hoch aufsprühen ließen.«

Sir T. Herbert’s Voyages into Asia and Africa. Harris Coll.

Sir T. Herbert, »Reisen nach Asien und Afrika« (Sammlung Harris)

“Here they saw such huge troops of whales, that they were forced to proceed with a great deal of caution

»Hier erblickten sie so gewaltige Scharen von Walfischen, daß sie nur mit größter Vorsicht weiterfahren konnten,

for fear they should run their ship upon them.”

um nicht mit ihrem Schiff auf die Tiere aufzulaufen.«

Schouten’s Sixth Circumnavigation.

Schouten, »Sechste Weltumseglung«

“We set sail from the Elbe, wind N. E. in the ship called The Jonas-in-the-Whale. * * *

»An Bord des ›Jonas im Walfisch‹ gingen wir bei Nordostwind von der Elbe aus in See …

Some say the whale can’t open his mouth, but that is a fable. * * *

Manche Leute behaupten, der Walfisch könne sein Maul nicht aufmachen, aber das ist eine Fabel …

They frequently climb up the masts to see whether they can see a whale, for the first discoverer has a ducat for his pains. * * *

Zu often Malen steigen sie auf den Mast, um nach Walfischen Ausschau zu halten; denn wer zuerst einen sieht, bekommt einen Dukaten als Belohnung …

I was told of a whale taken near Shetland, that had above a barrel of herrings in his belly. * * *

Bei den Shetlandinseln soll ein Walfisch gefangen worden sein, der ein Faß Heringe oder mehr im Bauch hatte …

One of our harpooneers told me that he caught once a whale in Spitzbergen that was white all over.”

Einer unserer Harpuniere erzählte mir, bei Spitzbergen habe er einmal einen Walfisch erlegt, der sei ganz weiß gewesen.«

A Voyage to Greenland, A.D. 1671. Harris Coll.

»Eine Reise nach Grönland«, A. D. 1671 (Sammlung Harris)

“Several whales have come in upon this coast (Fife).

»Hier an der Küste von Fife sind mehrere Walfische gestrandet.

Anno 1652, one eighty feet in length of the whale-bone kind came in, which, (as I was informed)

Anno 1652 war es ein achtzig Fuß langer von der Fischbein-Art, der, wie mir berichtet wurde,

beside a vast quantity of oil, did afford 500 weight of baleen. The jaws of it stand for a gate in the garden of Pitferren.”

außer einer gewaltigen Menge Öl noch fünfhundert Weight Fischbein geliefert haben soll. Seine Kiefer stehen als Gartentor in Pitferren.«

Sibbald’s Fife and Kinross.

Sibbald »Fife und Kinross«

“Myself have agreed to try whether I can master and kill this Spermaceti whale, for I could never hear of any of

»Ich hatte mir vorgesetzt, zu versuchen, ob ich selber wohl solch eines Spermaceti-Wales Herr werden und denselben erlegen könnte, denn niemalen habe ich vernommen,

that sort that was killed by any man, such is his fierceness and swiftness.”

daß irgendein Mensch einen von jener Art zur Strecke gebracht hätte, so gar wild und schnell ist er.«

Richard Strafford’s Letter from the Bermudas. Phil. Trans. A.D. 1668.

Richard Strafford, »Brief von den Bermuda-Inseln«. Textkritische Übersetzung A. D. 1668

“Whales in the sea
God’s voice obey.”

»Die Wale in den Meeren
Auf Gottes Stimme hören.«

N. E. Primer.

Neu-England-Fibel

“We saw also abundance of large whales, there being more in those southern seas, as I may say, by a hundred to one; than we have to the northward of us.”

»Wir sahen auch große Wale die Menge, deren es, wie ich behaupten möchte, in jenen südlichen Meeren wohl hundertmal mehr gibt als in unsern Nordmeeren.«

Captain Cowley’s Voyage round the Globe. A.D. 1.729.

Kapitän Cowley, »Reise um die Erde«, A. D. 1729

* * * * * “and the breath of the whale is frequently attended with such an insupportable smell, as to bring on a disorder of the brain.”

»… und der Atem des Walfischs geht häufig mit einem so unerträglichen Gestank einher, daß schwere Übel im Gehirn daraus entstehen können.«

Ulloa’s South America.

Ulloa, »Süd-Amerika«

“To fifty chosen sylphs of special note,
We trust the important charge, the petticoat.

»Erwählten Sylphen, fünfzig an der Zahl,
Vertraun wir nun den Unterrock zumal:

Oft have we known that seven-fold fence to fail,
Tho’ stuffed with hoops and armed with ribs of whale.”

Schon oft ward siebenfacher Schutz versehrt,
Obwohl mit Reif und Walbein wohlbewehrt.«

Rape of the Lock.

Pope, »Der Lockenraub«

“If we compare land animals in respect to magnitude, with those that take up their abode in the deep, we shall find they will appear contemptible in the comparison.

»Vergleichen wir Landtiere hinsichtlich ihrer Größe mit den Bewohnern der Wassertiefe, so erscheinen sie verächtlich daneben.

The whale is doubtless the largest animal in creation.”

Der Walfisch ist ohne Zweifel das größte Tier der Schöpfung.«

Goldsmith, Nat. Hist.

Goldsmith, »Naturgeschichte«

“If you should write a fable for little fishes, you would make them speak like great whales.”

»Wenn Sie eine Fabel für kleine Fische schrieben, Sie ließen sie reden wie große Wale.«

Goldsmith to Johnson.

Goldsmith an Johnson

In the afternoon we saw what was supposed to be a rock,

»Am Nachmittag erblickten wir etwas, was wir für einen Felsen hielten;

but it was found to be a dead whale, which some Asiatics had killed, and were then towing ashore.

es erwies sich aber als ein toter Walfisch, den ein paar Asiaten erlegt hatten und nun an Land schleppten.

They seemed to endeavor to conceal themselves behind the whale, in order to avoid being seen by us.”

Sie schienen sich hinter dem Wal verstecken zu wollen, um nicht von uns gesehen zu werden.«

Cook’s Voyages.

Cook, »Reisen«

“The larger whales, they seldom venture to attack.

»Sie wagen selten, größere Wale anzugreifen.

They stand in so great dread of some of them, that when out at sea they are afraid to mention even their names,

Vor manchen haben sie so große Angst, daß sie sich auf hoher See sogar scheuen, sie bei Namen zu nennen,

and carry dung, lime-stone, juniper-wood, and some other articles of the same nature in their boats, in order to terrify and prevent their too near approach.”

und Mist, Kalk, Wacholder und ähnliches mit in ihre Boote nehmen, um sie zu erschrecken und nicht zu nahe herankommen zu lassen.«

Uno Von Troil’s Letters on Banks’s and Solander’s Voyage to Iceland in 1772.

Uno von Troil, »Briefe über Banks’ und Solanders Reise nach Island im Jahre 1772«

“The Spermacetti Whale found by the Nantuckois, is an active, fierce animal, and requires vast address and boldness in the fishermen.”

»Der Spermaceti-Wal, dem die Nantuckois nachstellen, ist ein schnelles und grimmiges Tier; die Jagd erfordert größte Geschicklichkeit und Kühnheit.«

Thomas Jefferson’s Whale Memorial to the French minister in 1778.

Thomas Jeffersons Denkschrift über den Wal an den französischen Minister, 1778

“And pray, sir, what in the world is equal to it?”

»Ich bitte Sie, Sir, was auf der Welt kommt ihr gleich?«

Edmund Burke’s reference in Parliament to the Nantucket Whale-Fishery.

Edmund Burke, Bemerkung im Parlament über die Nantucketer Walfischerei

“Spain — a great whale stranded on the shores of Europe.”

»Spanien – ein großer Walfisch, gestrandet an der Küste Europas.«

Edmund Burke. (somewhere.)

Edmund Burke (irgendwo)

“A tenth branch of the king’s ordinary revenue, said to be grounded on the consideration of his guarding and protecting the seas from pirates and robbers,

»Zehntens gehört zu den ordentlichen Einkünften des Königs, und zwar offenbar in Hinsicht auf sein Amt als Hüter und Beschützer der Meere vor Piraten und Räubern,

is the right to royal fish, which are whale and sturgeon.

das Recht auf die ›königlichen Fische‹, das heißt auf Wal und Stör.

And these, when either thrown ashore or caught near the coast, are the property of the king.”

Wenn ein solcher Fisch strandet oder in der Nähe der Küste gefangen wird, so ist er Eigentum des Königs.«

Blackstone.

“Soon to the sport of death the crews repair:
Rodmond unerring o’er his head suspends
The barbed steel, and every turn attends.”

»Schon gehn die Männer an ihr tödlich Spiel:
Hoch überm Haupt schwingt Rodmonds sichre Hand
Den Hakenspeer, dem Ziele zugewandt.«

Falconer’s Shipwreck.

Falconer, »Schiffbruch«

“Bright shone the roofs, the domes, the spires,
And rockets blew self driven,
To hang their momentary fire
Around the vault of heaven.

»Hell strahlen Kuppeln, Turm und Dach,
Raketen aufwärts zischen,
Ihr flüchtig Licht in blaue Nacht
Des Sternendoms zu mischen.

“So fire with water to compare,
The ocean serves on high,
Up-spouted by a whale in air,
To express unwieldy joy.”

Zum Wettstreit mit dem Feuer ruft
Der Ozean die Flut:
Ein Wal versprüht sie in die Luft
In plumpem Übermut.«

Cowper, on the Queen’s Visit to London.

Cowper, »Auf den Besuch der Königin in London«

“Ten or fifteen gallons of blood are thrown out of the heart at a stroke, with immense velocity.”

»Zehn bis fünfzehn Gallonen Blut werden bei jedem Pulsschlag mit ungeheurer Geschwindigkeit aus dem Herzen ausgestoßen.«

John Hunter’s account of the dissection of a whale. (A small sized one.)

John Hunter, Bericht über die Sektion eines kleineren Wals

“The aorta of a whale is larger in the bore than the main pipe of the water-works at London Bridge,

»Die Aorta eines Wales hat einen größeren Durchmesser als das Hauptrohr des Wasserwerks bei der London Bridge,

and the water roaring in its passage through that pipe is inferior in impetus and velocity to the blood gushing from the whale’s heart.”

und das Wasser, das durch dieses Rohr braust, hat weniger Druck und Geschwindigkeit als das Blut, das dem Herzen des Wals entströmt.«

Paley’s Theology.

Paley, »Theologie«

“The whale is a mammiferous animal without hind feet.”

»Der Wal ist ein Säugetier ohne Hinterbeine.«

Baron Cuvier.

“In 40 degrees south, we saw Spermacetti Whales, but did not take any till the first of May, the sea being then covered with them.”

»Auf vierzig Grad südlicher Breite sichteten wir Pottwale, erlegten aber keinen bis zum ersten Mai: da wimmelte die See von ihnen.«

Colnett’s Voyage for the Purpose of Extending the Spermacetti Whale Fishery.

Colnett, »Reise zur Ausbreitung der Pottwalfischerei«

“In the free element beneath me swam,
Floundered and dived, in play, in chace, in battle,

»Und unter mir im freien Element,
Da schwammen, tauchten, jagten sich und spielten

Fishes of every color, form, and kind;
Which language cannot paint, and mariner

Die Fische jeder Farbe, Form und Art,
Wie Worte sie nicht schildern, wie kein Seemann

Had never seen; from dread Leviathan
To insect millions peopling every wave:

Sie je geschaut, vom grausen Leviathan
Zum Kleinsten, davon jede Woge wimmelt:

Gather’d in shoals immense, like floating islands,
Led by mysterious instincts through that waste

In Riesenschwärmen, gleich lebend’gen Inseln,
Führt sie ein dunkler Trieb durchs pfadlos Öde,

And trackless region, though on every side
Assaulted by voracious enemies,

Durch Wasserwüsten, wo von allen Seiten
Gefräß’ge Feinde stürmen auf sie ein –

Whales, sharks, and monsters, arm’d in front or jaw,
With swords, saws, spiral horns, or hooked fangs.”

Wal, Hai und andre, Stirn und Maul bewehrt
Mit Schwertern, Sägen, Horn und krummem Zahn.«

Montgomery’s World before the Flood.

Montgomery, »Die Welt vor der Sintflut«

“Io! Pæan! Io! sing,
To the finny people’s king.

»Hei, stimmt an die Siegesweis’!
Flossenvolkes König Preis!

Not a mightier whale than this
In the vast Atlantic is;

Keinen Wal so groß wie ihn
Sieht man im Antlantik ziehn,

Not a fatter fish than he,
Flounders round the Polar Sea.”

Und kein fettrer Fisch als er
Schwimmt im Eismeer kreuz und quer.«

Charles Lamb’s Triumph of the Whale.

Charles Lamb, »Triumph des Wales«

“In the year 1690 some persons were on a high hill observing the whales spouting and sporting with each other, when one observed;

»Im Jahre 1690 standen einige Leute auf einem hohen Berge und beobachteten die Walfische, wie sie ihre Fontänen in die Luft bliesen und miteinander spielten;

there — pointing to the sea — is a green pasture where our children’s grand-children will go for bread.”

da bemerkte einer, indem er auf die See hinauswies: Dort ist eine grüne Weide, wo unsere Kindeskinder ihr Brot verdienen werden.«

Obed Macy’s History of Nantucket.

Obed Macy, »Geschichte von Nantucket«

“I built a cottage for Susan and myself and made a gateway in the form of a Gothic Arch, by setting up a whale’s jaw bones.”

»Ich baute ein Häuschen für Susanna und mich und stellte ein Tor auf in Form eines gotischen Spitzbogens – errichtet aus den Kieferknochen eines Wales.«

Hawthorne’s Twice Told Tales.

Hawthorne, »Zweimal erzählte Geschichten«

“She came to bespeak a monument for her first love,

»Sie kam, um einen Grabstein für ihren ersten Schatz zu bestellen,

who had been killed by a whale in the Pacific ocean, no less than forty years ago.”

der vor nicht weniger als vierzig Jahren im Stillen Ozean durch einen Walfisch umgekommen war.«

Ibid.

Ebenda

“No, Sir, ’tis a Right Whale,” answered Tom;

»›Nein, Sir, ’s ist ein Blauwal‹, antwortete Tom;

“I saw his spout; he threw up a pair of as pretty rainbows as a Christian would wish to look at.

›ich hab ihn blasen sehen; ein Paar Regenbogen schoß er in die Luft, so hübsch, wie ein Christenmensch sie sich nur wünschen kann.

He’s a raal oil-butt, that fellow!”

Der Bursche ist so ’n richtiges Ölfaß!‹«

Cooper’s Pilot.

Cooper, »Pilot«

“The papers were brought in, and we saw in the Berlin Gazette that whales had been introduced on the stage there.”

»Es kommen verschiedene Zeitungen, und wir sehen in den Berliner Theaternachrichten, daß man Seeungeheuer und Walfische auf die dortige Bühne gebracht.«

Eckermann’s Conversations with Goethe.

Eckermann, »Gespräche mit Goethe« (31. Januar 1830)

“My God! Mr. Chace, what is the matter?” I answered, “we have been stove by a whale.”

»›Mein Gott, Mr. Chace, was ist geschehen?‹ Ich antwortete: ›Ein Wal hat uns das Schiff leckgeschlagen.‹«

“Narrative of the Shipwreck of the Whale Ship Essex of Nantucket,

»Bericht über den Schiffbruch des Walfängers ›Essex‹ aus Nantucket,

which was attacked and finally destroyed by a large Sperm Whale in the Pacific Ocean.”

der im Stillen Ozean von einem großen Pottwal angegriffen und schließlich zertrümmert wurde«,

By Owen Chace of Nantucket, first mate of said vessel. New York. 1821.

von Owen Chace aus Nantucket, dem Ersten Steuermann des genannten Schiffes. New York 1821

“A mariner sat in the shrouds one night,
The wind was piping free;

»Ein Matrose saß in den Wanten zur Nacht,
Wild pfiff der Wind daher;

Now bright, now dimmed, was the moonlight pale,
And the phospher gleamed in the wake of the whale,
As it floundered in the sea.”

Bald leuchtet der Mond, bald glimmt er nur,
Und wie Phosphor erschimmert des Wales Spur,
Der da zieht durch das dunkle Meer.«

Elizabeth Oakes Smith.

“The quantity of line withdrawn from the different boats engaged in the capture of this one whale, amounted altogether to 10,440 yards or nearly six English miles.” * * *

»Aus den verschiedenen Booten, die am Fang dieses einen Wals beteiligt waren, sind insgesamt 10440 Yard Leine ausgelaufen, das sind fast sechs englische Meilen …

“Sometimes the whale shakes its tremendous tail in the air, which, cracking like a whip, resounds to the distance of three or four miles.”

Mitunter schwenkt der Wal seinen riesigen Schwanz durch die Luft; das klingt wie Peitschenknall und ist drei bis vier Meilen weit zu hören.«

Scoresby.

“Mad with the agonies he endures from these fresh attacks, the infuriated Sperm Whale rolls over and over;

»Durch die Schmerzen, die ihm diese erneuten Angriffe zufügen, zur Raserei gebracht, wälzt sich der wütende Pottwal von einer Seite zur andern;

he rears his enormous head, and with wide expanded jaws snaps at everything around him;

er hebt das gewaltige Haupt und beißt mit weit aufgerissenem Rachen um sich;

he rushes at the boats with his head; they are propelled before him with vast swiftness, and sometimes utterly destroyed.

mit dem Kopf wirft er sich gegen die Boote: sie werden mit ungeheurer Geschwindigkeit vor ihm hergetrieben und manchmal völlig zertrümmert.

* * * It is a matter of great astonishment that the consideration of the habits of so interesting,

* * * Man muß sich sehr wundern, daß die Lebensgewohnheiten eines derart merkwürdigen

and, in a commercial point of view, of so important an animal (as the Sperm Whale) should have been so entirely neglected, or should have excited so little curiosity

und vom wirtschaftlichen Gesichtspunkt aus wichtigen Tieres wie des Pottwals bisher so gut wie gar nicht erforscht worden sind, oder daß sie so wenig Interesse erregt haben sollten

among the numerous, and many of them competent observers, that of late years must have possessed the most abundant and the most convenient opportunities of witnessing their habitudes.”

bei den zahlreichen und vielfach sachverständigen Beobachtern, die in den letzten Jahren überaus häufig und bequem Gelegenheit dazu hatten.«

Thomas Beale’s History of the Sperm Whale, 1839.

Thomas Beale, »Geschichte des Pottwals«, 1839

“The Cachalot” (Sperm Whale) “is not only better armed than the True Whale” (Greenland or Right Whale) “in possessing a formidable weapon at either extremity of its body,

»Der Cachalot (Pottwal) ist, da er an beiden Enden seines Körpers furchtbare Waffen besitzt, nicht allein besser gerüstet als der Echte Wal (Grönland- oder Blauwal):

but also more frequently displays a disposition to employ these weapons offensively, and in a manner at once so artful, bold, and mischievous,

er zeigt auch häufiger die Neigung, sie zum Angriff zu benutzen, und zwar auf eine zugleich so schlaue, verwegene und bösartige Weise,

as to lead to its being regarded as the most dangerous to attack of all the known species of the whale tribe.”

daß die Jagd auf ihn für gefährlicher gilt als die auf alle anderen bekannten Gattungen der Wale.«

Frederick Debell Bennett’s Whaling Voyage Round the Globe. 1840.

Frederick Debell Bennet, »Walfangreise um die Erde«, 1840

October 13. “There she blows,” was sung out from the masthead.

»13. Oktober. ›Wal! Wal!‹ rief es vom Topp.

“Where away?” demanded the captain.

›Wo?‹ fragte der Kapitän.

“Three points off the lee bow, sir.”

›Drei Strich leewärts, Sir.‹

“Raise up your wheel. Steady!”

›Abfallen! … Fest!‹

“Steady, sir.”

›Fest, Sir.‹

“Mast-head ahoy! Do you see that whale now?”

›Ausguck! Siehst du ihn noch?‹

“Ay ay, sir! A shoal of Sperm Whales! There she blows! There she breaches!”

›Jawohl, Sir, ein Rudel Pottwale! Da bläst er! Da taucht er auf!‹

“Sing out! sing out every time!”

›Sing aus! Sing aus, jedesmal!‹

“Ay ay, sir! There she blows! there — there — thar she blows — bowes — bo-o-o-s!”

›Jawohl, Sir. Da bläst er! Da – da – daaa – bläst – bl – äää – st er!‹

“How far off?”

›Wie weit ab?‹

“Two miles and a half.”

›Zweieinhalb Meilen.‹

“Thunder and lightning! so near! Call all hands!”

›Potz Donner! So dicht bei! Alle Mann an Deck!‹

J. Ross Browne’s Etchings of a Whaling Cruize. 1846.

J. Ross Browne, »Skizzen von einer Walfangfahrt«, 1846

“The Whale-ship Globe, on board of which vessel occurred the horrid transactions we are about to relate, belonged to the island of Nantucket.”

»Der Walfänger ›Globus‹, auf dem sich die grauenhaften Begebenheiten zutrugen, von denen hier berichtet werden soll, war beheimatet auf der Insel Nantucket.«

“Narrative of the Globe Mutiny,” by Lay and Hussey, survivors. A.D. 1828.

Bericht über die Meuterei auf der »Globus«, von zwei Überlebenden, Lay und Hussey, A, D. 1828

“Being once pursued by a whale which he had wounded, he parried the assault for some time with a lance;

»Als er einst von einem Wal verfolgt wurde, den er verwundet hatte, wehrte er den Angreifer eine Zeitlang mit der Lanze ab;

but the furious monster at length rushed on the boat;

schließlich aber stürzte sich das wütende Ungeheuer auf das Boot,

himself and comrades only being preserved by leaping into the water when they saw the onset was inevitable.”

und er und seine Kameraden retteten ihr Leben nur dadurch, daß sie ins Wasser sprangen, als sie sahen, daß dem Ansturm nicht mehr auszuweichen war.«

Missionary Journal of Tyerman and Bennett.

Aus dem Missionstagebuch von Tyerman und Bennett

“Nantucket itself,” said Mr. Webster, “is a very striking and peculiar portion of the National interest.

»›Nantucket selbst‹, sagte Mr. Webster, ›ist ein ganz besonderer und sehr bedeutender Posten im Nationaleinkommen.

There is a population of eight or nine thousand persons, living here in the sea, adding largely every year to the National wealth by the boldest and most persevering industry.”

Eine Bevölkerung von acht- bis neuntausend Seelen lebt dort im Meer und trägt durch kühnste und zäheste Arbeit alljährlich ein Beträchtliches zum Wohlstand der Nation bei.‹«

Report of Daniel Webster’s Speech in the U.S. Senate, on the application for the Erection of a Breakwater at Nantucket. 1828.

Protokoll von Daniel Websters Rede im Senat über den Antrag, auf Nantucket einen Wellenbrecher zu bauen, 1828

“The whale fell directly over him, and probably killed him in a moment.”

»Der Wal fiel genau über ihn und hat ihn wohl augenblicklich getötet.«

“The Whale and his Captors, or The Whaleman’s Adventures and the Whale’s Biography,

»Der Wal und seine Jäger, oder Abenteuer des Walfischers und Lebensgeschichte des Wals,

gathered on the Homeward Cruise of the Commodore Preble.” By Rev. Henry T. Cheever.

gesammelt auf der Heimreise des Commodore Preble«, von Reverend Henry T. Cheever

“If you make the least damn bit of noise,” replied Samuel, “I will send you to hell.”

»›Beim geringsten Laut schick ich dich zur Hölle!‹ erwiderte Samuel.«

Life of Samuel Comstock (the mutineer), by his brother, William Comstock.

Das Leben Samuel Comstocks (des Meuterers)«, von seinem Bruder William Comstock.

Another Version of the whale-ship Globe narrative.

Eine andere Darstellung der Geschichte des Walfängers »Globus«

“The voyages of the Dutch and English to the Northern Ocean, in order, if possible, to discover a passage through it to India,

»Die Reisen der Holländer und Engländer in das Nordmeer, die zu dem Zwecke unternommen wurden, wenn möglich eine nördliche Durchfahrt nach Indien zu entdecken,

though they failed of their main object, laid open the haunts of the whale.”

haben zwar dieses eigentliche Ziel nicht erreicht, dafür aber die Tummelplätze des Wals erschlossen.«

McCulloch’s Commercial Dictionary.

McCulloch, »Wörterbuch des Handels«

“These things are reciprocal; the ball rebounds, only to bound forward again;

»Zwischen diesen Dingen besteht eine Wechselwirkung: der Ball prallt zurück, nur um wieder vorzufliegen;

for now in laying open the haunts of the whale, the whalemen seem to have indirectly hit upon new clews to that same mystic North-West Passage.”

und so scheint es jetzt, daß die Walfänger, indem sie die Tummelplätze des Wals aufgefunden haben, dabei auch auf neue Anhaltspunkte für jene geheimnisvolle Nordwest-Passage gestoßen sind.«

From “Something” unpublished.

Aus »Etwas«, unveröffentlicht

“It is impossible to meet a whale-ship on the ocean without being struck by her near appearance.

»Es ist unmöglich, einem Walfänger auf hoher See zu begegnen, ohne daß er einem auffällt.

The vessel under short sail, with look-outs at the mast-heads, eagerly scanning the wide expanse around them,

Mit seinen gerefften Segeln, in jedem Topp einen Ausguck, der gespannt die Meeresweite ringsum durchforscht,

has a totally different air from those engaged in a regular voyage.”

bietet er einen ganz anderen Anblick als ein Schiff, das sich auf normaler Fahrt befindet.«

Currents and Whaling. U.S. Ex. Ex.

»Strömungen und Walfang«, Bericht einer amerikanischen Forschungsexpedition

“Pedestrians in the vicinity of London and elsewhere may recollect having seen large curved bones set upright in the earth,

»Der Wanderer wird sich erinnern, in der Umgegend von London und anderswo mächtige gekrümmte Knochen gesehen zu haben, die, senkrecht in die Erde gerammt,

either to form arches over gateways, or entrances to alcoves, and they may perhaps have been told that these were the ribs of whales.”

als Torbogen oder als Eingang zu einer Laube dienten; vielleicht hat er auch gehört, daß es Walrippen sind.«

Tales of a Whale Voyager to the Arctic Ocean.

»Geschichten von einer Walfangreise ins Polarmeer«

“It was not till the boats returned from the pursuit of these whales, that the whites saw their ship in bloody possession of the savages enrolled among the crew.”

»Erst als die Boote von der Verfolgung der Wale zurückkamen, sahen die Weißen ihr Schiff im Besitz der Wilden, die unter der Mannschaft angeheuert waren.«

Newspaper Account of the Taking and Retaking of the Whale-ship Hobomack.

Zeitungsbericht von Wegnahme und Wiedergewinnung des Walfängers »Hobomack«

“It is generally well known that out of the crews of Whaling vessels (American) few ever return in the ships on board of which they departed.”

»Es ist allgemein bekannt, daß von den Mannschaften der (amerikanischen) Walfänger immer nur wenige an Bord desselben Schiffes heimkehren, auf dem sie ausgefahren sind.«

Cruise in a Whale Boat.

»Reise auf einem Walfänger«

“Suddenly a mighty mass emerged from the water, and shot up perpendicularly into the air. It was the whale.”

»Plötzlich tauchte eine gewaltige Masse aus dem Wasser empor und schoß senkrecht in die Luft. Es war der Wal.«

Miriam Coffin or the Whale Fishermen.

»Mirjam Coffin oder der Waljäger«

“The Whale is harpooned to be sure; but bethink you, how you would manage a powerful unbroken colt,

»Gewiß, der Wal wird harpuniert, aber stellen Sie sich einmal vor, Sie sollten mit einem unzugerittenen, kräftigen Fohlen fertig werden

with the mere appliance of a rope tied to the root of his tail.”

und hätten dazu weiter nichts als einen Strick, der ihm um den Schwanz gebunden ist.«

A Chapter on Whaling in Ribs and Trucks.

Ein Kapitel über den Walfang in »Allerlei Kleinkram«

“On one occasion I saw two of these monsters (whales) probably male and female, slowly swimming, one after the other,

»Einmal sah ich zwei solche Ungetüme (Wale), wahrscheinlich ein männliches und ein weibliches Tier, langsam hintereinander herschwimmen,

within less than a stone’s throw of the shore” (Terra Del Fuego), “over which the beech tree extended its branches.”

weniger als einen Steinwurf von der mit breitästigen Buchen bestandenen (feuerländischen) Küste entfernt.«

Darwin’s Voyage of a Naturalist.

Darwin, »Seereise eines Naturforschers«

“‘Stern all!’ exclaimed the mate, as upon turning his head,

»›Streicht die Riemen!‹ rief der Steuermann, als er sich umsah

he saw the distended jaws of a large Sperm Whale close to the head of the boat, threatening it with instant destruction; — ‘Stern all, for your lives!’”

und dicht vor dem Vordersteven den aufgesperrten Rachen eines großen Pottwals erblickte, der dem Boot augenblickliche Vernichtung drohte – ›streicht überall, es geht ums Leben!‹«

Wharton the Whale Killer.

»Wharton, der Waltöter«

“So be cheery, my lads, let your hearts never fail,
While the bold harpooneer is striking the whale!”

»Drum lustig drauflos, Jungs, die Herzen wie Stahl!
Und kühn, Harpunier, triff den grimmigen Wal!«

Nantucket Song.

Nantucketer Lied

“Oh, the rare old Whale, mid storm and gale
In his ocean home will be
A giant in might, where might is right,
And King of the boundless sea.”

»Und der Wal uralt, in Sturmesgewalt
Und wilder Woge ruht,
Aus Riesengeschlecht, dem Macht ist Recht –
Der König der weiten Flut.«

Whale Song.

Waljägerlied

MOBY DICK

1 — LOOMINGS

1 – AUSBLICK

CALL me Ishmael. Some years ago — never mind how long precisely — having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore,

Nennt mich Ismael. Vor einigen Jahren – wie viele es sind, tut nichts zur Sache –, als mein Beutel so gut wie leer war und an Land mich nichts Besonderes hielt,

I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world.

kam mir der Gedanke, ich könnte ein bißchen zur See fahren und mir den wässerigen Teil der Welt besehen.

It is a way I have of driving off the spleen, and regulating the circulation.

Das ist so meine Art, den Trübsinn zu verjagen und die Säfte wieder in Fluß zu bringen.

Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul;

Immer wenn ich merke, daß ich grämliche Falten um den Mund bekomme, immer wenn müder, nieselnder November meine Seele erfüllt,

whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet;

wenn ich mich dabei ertappe, wie ich unwillkürlich vor Sargmagazinen stehenbleibe und hinter jedem Leichenzug hertrotte, der mir begegnet;

and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street,

ganz besonders aber, wenn Gift und Galle in mir so überhandnehmen, daß ich alle meine moralischen Grundsätze aufbieten muß, um nicht auf die Straße hinauszulaufen

and methodically knocking people’s hats off — then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.

und den Leuten mit vollem Bedacht die Hüte herunterzuschlagen – dann halte ich’s für die allerhöchste Zeit, zur See zu gehen, und zwar sofort.

This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship.

Das ersetzt mir den Pistolenschuß. Mit einer schwungvollen philosophischen Tirade stürzt Cato sich in sein Schwert; ich begebe mich still an Bord.

There is nothing surprising in this. If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me.

Dabei ist durchaus nichts Absonderliches. Unbewußt hegen fast alle Menschen, jeder auf seine Weise, zuweilen ähnliche Empfindungen für das Meer wie ich.

There now is your insular city of the Manhattoes, belted round by wharves as Indian isles by coral reefs — commerce surrounds it with her surf.

Da liegt eure Inselstadt Manhattan, mit Docks umgürtet wie eine Südseeinsel mit Korallenriffen – Handel brandet rings um ihr Gestade.

Right and left, the streets take you waterward.

Rechts und links führen die Straßen wasserwärts.

Its extreme down-town is the Battery, where that noble mole is washed by waves, and cooled by breezes,

Das äußerste Ende der Stadt ist die Battery, wo diese stolze Mole von Wellen bespült und von Lüften gefächelt wird,

which a few hours previous were out of sight of land. Look at the crowds of water-gazers there.

die sich ein paar Stunden zuvor noch weit draußen auf dem offenen Meere tummelten. Seht euch die Scharen von Menschen an, die dort aufs Wasser hinausstarren.

Circumambulate the city of a dreamy Sabbath afternoon. Go from Corlears Hook to Coenties Slip, and from thence, by Whitehall, northward.

Wandert an einem müßigen Sonntagnachmittag um die Stadt. Geht vom Corlears Hook zum Coenties Slip und von da durch die Whitehall nordwärts.

What do you see? — Posted like silent sentinels all around the town, stand thousands upon thousands of mortal men fixed in ocean reveries.

Was seht ihr? Wie schweigende Schildwachen stehen da Tausende und aber Tausende aus Adams Geschlecht, in Meeresträumereien versunken.

Some leaning against the spiles; some seated upon the pier-heads;

Manche lehnen an den dicken Pfählen auf dem Hafendamm, andere sitzen auf den Molenköpfen;

some looking over the bulwarks of ships from China; some high aloft in the rigging, as if striving to get a still better seaward peep.

sie schauen über die Reling der Chinafahrer, sie hängen oben im Takelwerk, um noch besseren Ausblick auf die See zu gewinnen.

But these are all landsmen; of week days pent up in lath and plaster —

Und alle sind Landratten, sechs Werktage lang zwischen ihren vier Wänden eingepfercht:

tied to counters, nailed to benches, clinched to desks.

an Ladentische gefesselt, an die Werkbank geschmiedet, ans Schreibpult gebannt.

How then is this? Are the green fields gone? What do they here?

Wie soll man das erklären? Locken die grünen Felder nicht mehr? Was wollen sie hier?

But look! here come more crowds, pacing straight for the water, and seemingly bound for a dive.

Seht, da kommen neue Scharen; geradenwegs streben sie auf das Wasser zu, als wollten sie sich kopfüber hineinstürzen.

Strange! Nothing will content them but the extremest limit of the land;

Sonderbar! Sie sind erst zufrieden, wenn sie den äußersten Saum des Landes erreicht haben;

loitering under the shady lee of yonder warehouses will not suffice.

weiter hinten im schützenden Schatten der Lagerhäuser umherzuschlendern genügt ihnen nicht.

No. They must get just as nigh the water as they possibly can without falling in. And there they stand — miles of them — leagues.

Nein, sie müssen so nahe ans Wasser, wie sie irgend können, ohne hineinzufallen. Und da stehen sie, Meilen um Meilen.

Inlanders all, they come from lanes and alleys, streets and avenues — north, east, south, and west. Yet here they all unite.

Lauter binnenländisches Volk: sie kommen aus Gassen und Gäßchen, aus Straßen und Alleen, von Nord und Ost und Süd und West. Doch hier strömt alles zusammen.

Tell me, does the magnetic virtue of the needles of the compasses of all those ships attract them thither?

Ist es vielleicht die magnetische Kraft der Kompaßnadeln auf all den Schiffen, die sie hierherzieht?

Once more. Say, you are in the country; in some high land of lakes.

Oder etwas anderes. Stellt euch vor, ihr wäret irgendwo auf dem Lande, zwischen Hügeln und Seen.

Take almost any path you please, and ten to one it carries you down in a dale, and leaves you there by a pool in the stream. There is magic in it.

Welchen Pfad ihr auch einschlagt, er führt euch zehn gegen eins ins Tal hinab, wo ein Bach sich zur stillen Wasserfläche weitet. Ein geheimnisvoller Zauber ist da im Spiel.

Let the most absent-minded of men be plunged in his deepest reveries — stand that man on his legs, set his feet a-going,

Der größte Träumer in seiner tiefsten Versunkenheit – stellt ihn auf die Füße und laßt ihn gehen:

and he will infallibly lead you to water, if water there be in all that region.

er wird unfehlbar zum Wasser finden, wenn es in der Gegend überhaupt welches gibt.

Should you ever be athirst in the great American desert, try this experiment, if your caravan happen to be supplied with a metaphysical professor.

Macht die Probe aufs Exempel, falls ihr einmal in der weiten amerikanischen Steppe vom Durst geplagt sein solltet und zufällig ein Professor der Metaphysik sich bei eurer Karawane befindet.

Yes, as every one knows, meditation and water are wedded for ever.

Jedermann weiß ja: Wasser und betrachtender Geist sind auf ewig miteinander verbunden.

But here is an artist. He desires to paint you the dreamiest, shadiest, quietest, most enchanting bit of romantic landscape in all the valley of the Saco.

Und hier ist ein Künstler. Das verträumteste, schattigste, stillste, das bezauberndste Fleckchen der romantischen Landschaft im Tal des Saco möchte er euch malen.

What is the chief element he employs? There stand his trees, each with a hollow trunk, as if a hermit and a crucifix were within;

Was ist das wichtigste auf seinem Bilde? Da stehen die Bäume, alle hohl, als hauste in jedem ein Einsiedler mit seinem Kruzifix;

and here sleeps his meadow, and there sleep his cattle; and up from yonder cottage goes a sleepy smoke.

hier schlafen die grünen Matten, dort schläft die Herde, und aus der Hütte drüben steigt schläfriger Rauch.

Deep into distant woodlands winds a mazy way, reaching to overlapping spurs of mountains bathed in their hill-side blue.

Ein gewundener Pfad zieht tief in die fernen Wälder, bis dahin, wo die Ausläufer der Berge sich hintereinanderschieben und die Hänge im blauen Dunst verschwimmen.

But though the picture lies thus tranced, and though this pine-tree shakes down its sighs like leaves upon this shepherd’s head,

Doch wenn auch das Bild so still entrückt vor uns liegt, wenn auch die Kiefer dort ihre Seufzer sacht wie fallende Nadeln auf des Hirten Haupt herniederrieseln läßt –

yet all were vain, unless the shepherd’s eye were fixed upon the magic stream before him.

alles wäre eitel, schaute nicht sein Auge auf das zauberische Wasser des Flusses zu seinen Füßen.

Go visit the Prairies in June, when for scores on scores of miles you wade knee-deep among Tiger-lilies — what is the one charm wanting?

Geht einmal im Juni in die Prärie, wenn man Meilen und Meilen weit bis über die Knie in Feuerlilien watet – was ist das einzige Glück, das fehlt?

— Water — there is not a drop of water there! Were Niagara but a cataract of sand, would you travel your thousand miles to see it?

Wasser! Es gibt keinen Tropfen Wasser dort! Wäre der Niagara nur eine stürzende Sandflut: würdet ihr tausend Meilen weit reisen, um ihn zu sehen?

Why did the poor poet of Tennessee, upon suddenly receiving two handfuls of silver,

Warum überlegte der arme Dichter aus Tennessee, als er unverhofft ein paar Silberlinge in die Hand bekam –

deliberate whether to buy him a coat, which he sadly needed, or invest his money in a pedestrian trip to Rockaway Beach?

warum überlegte er, ob er sich den Rock, den er bitter nötig hatte, kaufen oder für sein Geld lieber nach Rockaway Beach an den Meeresstrand pilgern solle?

Why is almost every robust healthy boy with a robust healthy soul in him, at some time or other crazy to go to sea?

Warum ist fast jeder Junge mit gesundem Leib und gesunder Seele irgendwann einmal darauf versessen, zur See zu gehen?

Why upon your first voyage as a passenger, did you yourself feel such a mystical vibration,

Warum verspürtet ihr selber bei eurer ersten Seereise solch ein geheimnisvolles Erschauern,

when first told that you and your ship were now out of sight of land?

als zum ersten Male für euch das Land unter den Horizont versank?

Why did the old Persians hold the sea holy?

Warum war den alten Persern das Meer heilig?

Why did the Greeks give it a separate deity, and own brother of Jove? Surely all this is not without meaning.

Warum gaben ihm die Griechen einen eigenen Gott, den leiblichen Bruder des Zeus? Sicher hat das alles einen Sinn.

And still deeper the meaning of that story of Narcissus, who because he could not grasp the tormenting,

Aber tiefer noch ist der Sinn jener Geschichte von Narziß, der im Quell sein schmerzvoll liebliches Bild erblickte:

mild image he saw in the fountain, plunged into it and was drowned.

weil seine Hände es nicht fassen konnten, stürzte er sich hinab und ertrank.

But that same image, we ourselves see in all rivers and oceans.

Und das gleiche Bild sehen wir selber in allen Strömen und Meeren.

It is the image of the ungraspable phantom of life; and this is the key to it all.

Das nie zu fassende Trugbild des Lebens schaut uns an, und das ist der Schlüssel zu allem.

Now, when I say that I am in the habit of going to sea whenever I begin to grow hazy about the eyes, and begin to be over conscious of my lungs,

Wenn ich nun sage, daß ich die Gewohnheit habe, zur See zu gehen, sobald mir’s diesig vor den Augen wird und ich zuviel an meine Lunge denke,

I do not mean to have it inferred that I ever go to sea as a passenger.

so sollt ihr nicht etwa meinen, ich führe als Passagier.

For to go as a passenger you must needs have a purse, and a purse is but a rag unless you have something in it.

Um als Passagier zu reisen, braucht man nämlich unbedingt einen Geldbeutel, und wenn man nichts drin hat, ist er bloß ein Fetzen Stoff.

Besides, passengers get sea-sick — grow quarrelsome — don’t sleep of nights —

Außerdem werden Passagiere seekrank, sie suchen Zank und Streit, können nachts nicht schlafen,

do not enjoy themselves much, as a general thing — no, I never go as a passenger;

fühlen sich überhaupt nicht recht wohl in ihrer Haut – nein, als Passagier fahre ich nicht;

nor, though I am something of a salt, do I ever go to sea as a Commodore, or a Captain, or a Cook.

auch nicht, obwohl ich ein ganz leidlicher Seemann bin, als Kommodore, als Kapitän oder als Koch.

I abandon the glory and distinction of such offices to those who like them.

Ruhm und Würde solcher Ämter überlasse ich denen, die so etwas gern haben.

For my part, I abominate all honorable respectable toils, trials, and tribulations of every kind whatsoever.

Mir für mein Teil ist diese ganze hochachtbare und ehrenvolle Rackerei und Plackerei mit ihrem ewigen Verdruß ein Greuel.

It is quite as much as I can do to take care of myself, without taking care of ships, barques, brigs, schooners, and what not.

Ich habe schon genug mit mir selber zu tun, auch ohne daß ich für Vollschiffe, Barken, Briggs, Schoner und was noch alles zu sorgen habe.

And as for going as cook,— though I confess there is considerable glory in that, a cook being a sort of officer on ship-board

Und als Koch? Gut, ich gebe zu, das ist ein feiner Posten: an Bord ist der Koch ja eine Art Offizier

— yet, somehow, I never fancied broiling fowls —

– doch der Gedanke, ein Federvieh braten zu sollen, war mir, ich weiß nicht, warum, niemals angenehm,

though once broiled, judiciously buttered, and judgmatically salted and peppered,

obwohl von so einem Huhn, wenn es erst einmal gebraten, klug mit Butter beträufelt und verständig gesalzen und gepfeffert ist,

there is no one who will speak more respectfully, not to say reverentially, of a broiled fowl than I will.

keiner mit mehr Hochachtung, um nicht zu sagen Ehrfurcht, sprechen wird als ich.

It is out of the idolatrous dotings of the old Egyptians upon broiled ibis and roasted river horse,

Der abgöttischen Schwärmerei der alten Ägypter für gebratenen Ibis und Flußpferd vom Rost haben wir es zu danken,

that you see the mummies of those creatures in their huge bake-houses the pyramids.

daß die Mumien dieser Tiere noch heute in ihren riesigen Backhäusern, den Pyramiden, zu sehen sind.

No, when I go to sea, I go as a simple sailor, right before the mast, plumb down into the forecastle, aloft there to the royal masthead.

Nein, wenn ich zur See gehe, dann fahre ich als gewöhnlicher Matrose, vor dem Mast: drunten im Mannschaftslogis, droben im höchsten Ausguck.

True, they rather order me about some, and make me jump from spar to spar, like a grasshopper in a May meadow.

Gewiß, sie jagen mich ziemlich herum; ich muß von Rahe zu Rahe springen wie ein Grashüpfer auf einer Maienwiese.

And at first, this sort of thing is unpleasant enough.

Zuerst ist das alles andere als ein Vergnügen.

It touches one’s sense of honor, particularly if you come of an old established family in the land, the Van Rensselaers, or Randolphs, or Hardicanutes.

Es geht einem gegen die Ehre, besonders wenn man aus einer alten Familie stammt, von den van Rensselaers, den Randolphs oder Hardicanutes.

And more than all, if just previous to putting your hand into the tar-pot,

Ganz besonders aber, wenn man eben noch ein Landschulmeister war,

you have been lording it as a country schoolmaster, making the tallest boys stand in awe of you.

und nun soll dieselbe Hand den Teerquast schwingen, die vorher den größten Jungen heilsamen Respekt einflößte.

The transition is a keen one, I assure you, from a schoolmaster to a sailor, and requires a strong decoction of Seneca

Der Übergang vom Schulmeister zum Matrosen ist bitter, das steht fest, und es erfordert eine starke Dosis Gelassenheit, aus Seneca

and the Stoics to enable you to grin and bear it. But even this wears off in time.

und den Stoikern zusammengebraut, um gute Miene zum bösen Spiel zu machen. Aber mit der Zeit gibt sich auch das.

What of it, if some old hunks of a sea-captain orders me to get a broom and sweep down the decks?

Was ist schon dabei, wenn so ein alter Knicker von Kapitän mir befiehlt, einen Besen zu holen und das Deck zu schrubben?

What does that indignity amount to, weighed, I mean, in the scales of the New Testament?

Was bedeutet dieser Schimpf, gewogen auf der Waage des Neuen Testaments?

Do you think the archangel Gabriel thinks anything the less of me,

Meint ihr, der Erzengel Gabriel denkt im mindesten schlechter von mir,

because I promptly and respectfully obey that old hunks in that particular instance? Who aint a slave? Tell me that.

weil ich dem Alten in diesem besonderen Fall pünktlich und ergebenst gehorche? Wer ist kein Sklave? Sagt mir das.

Well, then, however the old sea-captains may order me about — however they may thump and punch me about,

Wie die Herren Schiffskapitäne mich also auch herumkommandieren mögen, wie sie mich auch puffen und knuffen mögen –

I have the satisfaction of knowing that it is all right;

ich habe die beruhigende Gewißheit, daß dies der Lauf der Welt ist,

that everybody else is one way or other served in much the same way — either in a physical or metaphysical point of view, that is;

daß jeder andere so oder so in ungefähr derselben Weise sein Teil bekommt, physisch oder metaphysisch:

and so the universal thump is passed round, and all hands should rub each other’s shoulder-blades, and be content.

der Knuff wandert reihum über Land und Meer, und einer sollte dem anderen den Buckel reiben und zufrieden sein.

Again, I always go to sea as a sailor, because they make a point of paying me for my trouble,

Außerdem gehe ich als Matrose zur See, weil sie sich’s angelegen sein lassen, mich für meine Mühe zu bezahlen,

whereas they never pay passengers a single penny that I ever heard of.

während ich noch nie gehört habe, daß Passagiere auch nur einen Penny bekommen.

On the contrary, passengers themselves must pay. And there is all the difference in the world between paying and being paid.

Im Gegenteil, Passagiere müssen ihrerseits zahlen. Und zwischen Bezahlen und Bezahltwerden ist ein himmelweiter Unterschied.

The act of paying is perhaps the most uncomfortable infliction that the two orchard thieves entailed upon us.

Das Zahlen ist vielleicht das Unerfreulichste von allem, was uns die beiden Apfeldiebe im Paradies eingebrockt haben.

But being paid,— what will compare with it?

Dagegen Bezahltwerden – was käme dem gleich?

The urbane activity with which a man receives money is really marvellous, considering that we so earnestly believe

Die verbindliche Geschäftigkeit, mit der ein Mann Geld in Empfang nimmt, ist kaum zu fassen – wenn man bedenkt, daß wir doch in vollem Ernst glauben,

money to be the root of all earthly ills, and that on no account can a monied man enter heaven.

Geld sei die Wurzel alles irdischen Übels und ein Reicher könne um keinen Preis ins Himmelreich kommen.

Ah! how cheerfully we consign ourselves to perdition!

Ach, wie frohgemut überliefern wir uns selber der ewigen Verdammnis!

Finally, I always go to sea as a sailor, because of the wholesome exercise and pure air of the forecastle deck.

Endlich aber fahre ich stets als Matrose zur See wegen der gesunden körperlichen Ausarbeitung und wegen der reinen Luft auf dem Vorderdeck.

For as in this world, head winds are far more prevalent than winds from astern (that is, if you never violate the Pythagorean maxim),

Auf dieser Welt bläst ja der Wind, sofern man nicht die Regel des Pythagoras außer acht läßt, viel häufiger von vorn als von achtern;

so for the most part the Commodore on the quarter-deck gets his atmosphere at second hand from the sailors on the forecastle.

deshalb bekommt der Kommodore auf dem Achterdeck seine Luft meistens aus zweiter Hand von den Matrosen auf dem Vorschiff.

He thinks he breathes it first; but not so.

Er bildet sich ein, sie als erster zu atmen; doch da ist er im Irrtum.

In much the same way do the commonalty lead their leaders in many other things, at the same time that the leaders little suspect it.

Ganz ähnlich führt der kleine Mann auch in anderen Dingen seine Führer, und gerade dann, wenn die Führer es am wenigsten vermuten.

But wherefore it was that after having repeatedly smelt the sea as a merchant sailor, I should now take it into my head to go on a whaling voyage;

Weshalb ich mir’s aber damals in den Kopf setzte, auf einen Walfänger zu gehen, nachdem ich mir zuvor nur auf Kauffahrern den Salzwind hatte um die Nase wehen lassen –

this the invisible police officer of the Fates, who has the constant surveillance of me,

das müßt ihr den unsichtbaren Schutzmann fragen, den mir die Parzen beigesellt haben, damit er mich ständig überwacht,

and secretly dogs me, and influences me in some unaccountable way — he can better answer than any one else.

mir im geheimen nachspürt und meine Schritte lenkt, ohne daß ich’s merke: er kann euch besser Bescheid geben als sonst jemand.

And, doubtless, my going on this whaling voyage, formed part of the grand programme of Providence that was drawn up a long time ago.

Sicherlich stand meine Walfangreise schon längst auf dem Riesenprogramm der Vorsehung,

It came in as a sort of brief interlude and solo between more extensive performances.

als eine Art Solo und kurzes Zwischenspiel zwischen anderen, größeren Darbietungen.

I take it that this part of the bill must have run something like this:

Ich denke mir, dieser Teil des Theaterzettels dürfte etwa so gelautet haben:

“Grand Contested Election for the Presidency of the United States.

Heißer Präsidentschaftswahlkampf in den USA

“WHALING VOYAGE BY ONE ISHMAEL.
“BLOODY BATTLE IN AFFGHANISTAN.”

Ein gewisser Ismael geht auf Walfang
Blutige Schlacht in Afghanistan

Though I cannot tell why it was exactly that those stage managers, the Fates, put me down for this shabby part of a whaling voyage,

Obwohl ich nicht weiß, warum eigentlich die Parzen, die Regisseure des großen Welttheaters, mich gerade mit der kümmerlichen Rolle des Waljägers bedachten,

when others were set down for magnificent parts in high tragedies,

während sie andere als Helden in der hohen Tragödie glänzen ließen,

and short and easy parts in genteel comedies, and jolly parts in farces — though I cannot tell why this was exactly;

wieder anderen nette, harmlose Rollen im gepflegten Lustspiel oder die Rolle der komischen Person im Schwank zuteilten

yet, now that I recall all the circumstances, I think I can see a little into the springs

– obwohl ich das nicht genau weiß, meine ich jetzt, wenn ich mir alle Begleitumstände ins Gedächtnis rufe, doch einen kleinen Blick hinter die Kulissen tun zu können

and motives which being cunningly presented to me under various disguises, induced me to set about performing the part I did,

und die Beweggründe etwas zu durchschauen, die in mancherlei listiger Verkleidung mich dahin brachten, daß ich meine Rolle übernahm

besides cajoling me into the delusion that it was a choice resulting from my own unbiased freewill and discriminating judgment.

und mich sogar noch in dem Wahne wiegte, dieser Entschluß sei meinem eigenen freien Willen und reiflichem Erwägen entsprungen.

Chief among these motives was the overwhelming idea of the great whale himself. Such a portentous and mysterious monster roused all my curiosity.

Der Hauptgrund war der überwältigende Gedanke an den großen Wal selber. Solch ein geheimnisvoll drohendes Ungeheuer weckte meine ganze Neugier.

Then the wild and distant seas where he rolled his island bulk; the undeliverable, nameless perils of the whale;

Dazu lockten die fernen wilden Meere, durch die er seinen Riesenleib wälzt wie eine schwimmende Insel, die unausdenkbaren, namenlosen Gefahren des Walfangs,

these, with all the attending marvels of a thousand Patagonian sights and sounds, helped to sway me to my wish.

die tausend farbigen und tönenden Wunder der Weite – das alles bestärkte mich noch in meinem Wunsch.

With other men, perhaps, such things would not have been inducements;

Für andere hätten solche Dinge vielleicht nichts Verführerisches gehabt;

but as for me, I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts.

mich aber stachelt ein ewiges Verlangen nach den fernsten Fernen. Ich liebe es, verbotene Meere zu befahren und an Barbarenküsten zu landen.

Not ignoring what is good, I am quick to perceive a horror, and could still be social with it — would they let me —

Wohl weiß ich, was gut ist, gehe aber auch dem Grauen nicht aus dem Wege und könnte mich, wenn ich’s dürfte, gar mit ihm befreunden;

since it is but well to be on friendly terms with all the inmates of the place one lodges in.

denn man soll auf gutem Fuße mit allem leben, was mit einem auf dieser Erde wohnt.

By reason of these things, then, the whaling voyage was welcome; the great flood-gates of the wonder-world swung open,

Aus diesen Gründen also war mir die Walreise willkommen; die großen Schleusentore der Wunderwelt taten sich auf,

and in the wild conceits that swayed me to my purpose,

und mit den abenteuerlichen Bildern der Phantasie, die mich auf meine Bahn drängten,

two and two there floated into my inmost soul, endless processions of the whale,

fluteten Paar um Paar endlose Züge von Walen in meine innerste Seele hinein –

and, mid most of them all, one grand hooded phantom, like a snow hill in the air.

in ihrer aller Mitte aber das eine verhüllte Trugbild, gewaltig wie ein Schneegipfel im Ätherblau.

IN TOKEN OF MY ADMIRATION FOR HIS GENIUS,
THIS BOOK IS INSCRIBED TO NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE.

ETYMOLOGY
(Supplied by a Late Consumptive Usher to a Grammar School.)

THE pale Usher — threadbare in coat, heart, body, and brain; I see him now. He was ever dusting his old lexicons and grammars, with a queer handkerchief, mockingly embellished with all the gay flags of all the known nations of the world. He loved to dust his old grammars; it somehow mildly reminded him of his mortality.

ETYMOLOGY

“While you take in hand to school others, and to teach them by what name a whale-fish is to be called in our tongue, leaving out, through ignorance, the letter H, which almost alone maketh up the signification of the word, you deliver that which is not true.”

Hackluyt.

“WHALE. * * * Sw. and Dan. hval. This animal is named from roundness or rolling; for in Dan. hvalt is arched or vaulted.”

Webster’s Dictionary.

“WHALE. * * * It is more immediately from the Dut. and Ger. Wallen; A.S. Walw-ian, to roll, to wallow.”

Richardson’s Dictionary.

תז Hebrew.

κητοϛ Greek.

CETUS, Latin.

WHŒL, Anglo-Saxon.

HVALT, Danish.

WAL, Dutch.

HWAL, Swedish.

HVALUR, Icelandic.

WHALE, English.

BALEINE, French.

BALLENA, Spanish.

PEKEE-NUEE-NUEE, Fegee.

PEHEE-NUEE-NUEE, Erromangoan.

EXTRACTS
(Supplied by a Sub-Sub-Librarian.)

IT will be seen that this mere painstaking burrower and grub-worm of a poor devil of a Sub-Sub appears to have gone through the long Vaticans and street-stalls of the earth, picking up whatever random allusions to whales he could anyways find in any book whatsoever, sacred or profane. Therefore you must not, in every case at least, take the higgledy-piggledy whale statements, however authentic, in these extracts, for veritable gospel cetology. Far from it. As touching the ancient authors generally, as well as the poets here appearing, these extracts are solely valuable or entertaining, as affording a glancing bird’s eye view of what has been promiscuously said, thought, fancied, and sung of Leviathan, by many nations and generations, including our own.

So fare thee well, poor devil of a Sub-Sub, whose commentator I am. Thou belongest to that hopeless, sallow tribe which no wine of this world will ever warm; and for whom even Pale Sherry would be too rosy-strong; but with whom one sometimes loves to sit, and feel poor-devilish, too; and grow convivial upon tears; and say to them bluntly, with full eyes and empty glasses, and in not altogether unpleasant sadness — Give it up, Sub-Subs! For by how much the more pains ye take to please the world, by so much the more shall ye for ever go thankless! Would that I could clear out Hampton Court and the Tuileries for ye! But gulp down your tears and hie aloft to the royal-mast with your hearts; for your friends who have gone before are clearing out the seven-storied heavens, and making refugees of long-pampered Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael, against your coming. Here ye strike but splintered hearts together — there, ye shall strike unsplinterable glasses!

EXTRACTS

“And God created great whales.”

Genesis.

“Leviathan maketh a path to shine after him;
One would think the deep to be hoary.”

Job.

“Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah.”

Jonah.

“There go the ships; there is that Leviathan whom thou hast made to play therein.”

Psalms.

“In that day, the Lord with his sore, and great, and strong sword, shall punish Leviathan the piercing serpent, even Leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.”

Isaiah.

“And what thing soever besides cometh within the chaos of this monster’s mouth, be it beast, boat, or stone, down it goes all incontinently that foul great swallow of his, and perisheth in the bottomless gulf of his paunch.”

Holland’s Plutarch’s Morals.

“The Indian Sea breedeth the most and the biggest fishes that are: among which the Whales and Whirlpooles called Balænæ, take up as much in length as four acres or arpens of land.”

Holland’s Pliny.

“Scarcely had we proceeded two days on the sea, when about sunrise a great many Whales and other monsters of the sea, appeared. Among the former, one was of a most monstrous size. * * This came towards us, open-mouthed, raising the waves on all sides, and beating the sea before him into a foam.”

Tooke’s Lucian. “The True History.”

“He visited this country also with a view of catching horse-whales, which had bones of very great value for their teeth, of which he brought some to the king. * * * The best whales were catched in his own country, of which some were forty-eight, some fifty yards long. He said that he was one of six who had killed sixty in two days.”

Other or Octher’s verbal narrative taken down from his mouth by King Alfred. A.D. 890.

“And whereas all the other things, whether beast or vessel, that enter into the dreadful gulf of this monster’s (whale’s) mouth, are immediately lost and swallowed up, the sea-gudgeon retires into it in great security, and there sleeps.”

MONTAIGNE. — Apology for Raimond Sebond.

“Let us fly, let us fly! Old Nick take me if it is not Leviathan described by the noble prophet Moses in the life of patient Job.”

Rabelais.

“This whale’s liver was two cart-loads.”

Stowe’s Annals.

“The great Leviathan that maketh the seas to seethe like boiling pan.”

Lord Bacon’s Version of the Psalms.

“Touching that monstrous bulk of the whale or work we have received nothing certain. They grow exceeding fat, insomuch that an incredible quantity of oil will be extracted out of one whale.”

Ibid. “History of Life and Death.”

“The sovereignest thing on earth is parmacetti for an inward bruise.”

King Henry.

“Very like a whale.”

Hamlet.

“Which to recure, no skill of leach’s art
Mote him availle, but to returne againe

To his wound’s worker, that with lovely dart,
Dinting his breast, had bred his restless paine,

Like as the wounded whale to shore flies from the maine.”

The Fairie Queen.

“Immense as whales, the motion of whose vast bodies can in a peaceful calm trouble the ocean till it boil.”

Sir William Davenant. Preface to Gondibert.

“What spermacetti is, men might justly doubt, since the learned Hosmannus in his work of thirty years, saith plainly, Nescio quid sit.”

Sir T. Browne. Of Sperma Ceti and the Sperma Ceti Whale. Vide his V.E.

“Like Spencer’s Talus with his iron flail
He threatens ruin with his ponderous tail.
* * * * * *

Their fixed jav’lins in his side he wears,
And on his back a grove of pikes appears.”

Waller’s Battle of the Summer Islands.

“By art is created that great Leviathan, called a Commonwealth or State — (in Latin, Civitas) which is but an artificial man.”

Opening sentence of Hobbes’s Leviathan.

“Silly Mansoul swallowed it without chewing, as if it had been a sprat in the mouth of a whale.”

Pilgrim’s Progress.

“That sea beast
Leviathan, which God of all his works
Created hugest that swim the ocean stream.”

Paradise Lost.

— “There Leviathan,
Hugest of living creatures, in the deep
Stretched like a promontory sleeps or swims,

And seems a moving land; and at his gills
Draws in, and at his trunk spouts out a sea.”

Ibid.

“The mighty whales which swim in a sea of water, and have a sea of oil swimming in them.”

Fuller’s Profane and Holy State.

“So close behind some promontory lie
The huge Leviathans to attend their prey,

And give no chance, but swallow in the fry,
Which through their gaping jaws mistake the way.”

Dryden’s Annus Mirabilis.

“While the whale is floating, at the stern of the ship, they cut off his head, and tow it with a boat as near the shore as it will come; but it will be aground in twelve or thirteen feet water.”

Thomas Edge’s Ten Voyages to Spitzbergen, in Purchass.

“In their way they saw many whales sporting in the ocean, and in wantonness fuzzing up the water through their pipes and vents, which nature has placed on their shoulders.”

Sir T. Herbert’s Voyages into Asia and Africa. Harris Coll.

“Here they saw such huge troops of whales, that they were forced to proceed with a great deal of caution for fear they should run their ship upon them.”

Schouten’s Sixth Circumnavigation.

“We set sail from the Elbe, wind N. E. in the ship called The Jonas-in-the-Whale. * * *

Some say the whale can’t open his mouth, but that is a fable. * * *

They frequently climb up the masts to see whether they can see a whale, for the first discoverer has a ducat for his pains. * * *

I was told of a whale taken near Shetland, that had above a barrel of herrings in his belly. * * *

One of our harpooneers told me that he caught once a whale in Spitzbergen that was white all over.”

A Voyage to Greenland, A.D. 1671. Harris Coll.

“Several whales have come in upon this coast (Fife). Anno 1652, one eighty feet in length of the whale-bone kind came in, which, (as I was informed) beside a vast quantity of oil, did afford 500 weight of baleen. The jaws of it stand for a gate in the garden of Pitferren.”

Sibbald’s Fife and Kinross.

“Myself have agreed to try whether I can master and kill this Spermaceti whale, for I could never hear of any of that sort that was killed by any man, such is his fierceness and swiftness.”

Richard Strafford’s Letter from the Bermudas. Phil. Trans. A.D. 1668.

“Whales in the sea
God’s voice obey.”

N. E. Primer.

“We saw also abundance of large whales, there being more in those southern seas, as I may say, by a hundred to one; than we have to the northward of us.”

Captain Cowley’s Voyage round the Globe. A.D. 1.729.

* * * * * “and the breath of the whale is frequently attended with such an insupportable smell, as to bring on a disorder of the brain.”

Ulloa’s South America.

“To fifty chosen sylphs of special note,
We trust the important charge, the petticoat.

Oft have we known that seven-fold fence to fail,
Tho’ stuffed with hoops and armed with ribs of whale.”

Rape of the Lock.

“If we compare land animals in respect to magnitude, with those that take up their abode in the deep, we shall find they will appear contemptible in the comparison. The whale is doubtless the largest animal in creation.”

Goldsmith, Nat. Hist.

“If you should write a fable for little fishes, you would make them speak like great whales.”

Goldsmith to Johnson.

In the afternoon we saw what was supposed to be a rock, but it was found to be a dead whale, which some Asiatics had killed, and were then towing ashore. They seemed to endeavor to conceal themselves behind the whale, in order to avoid being seen by us.”

Cook’s Voyages.

“The larger whales, they seldom venture to attack. They stand in so great dread of some of them, that when out at sea they are afraid to mention even their names, and carry dung, lime-stone, juniper-wood, and some other articles of the same nature in their boats, in order to terrify and prevent their too near approach.”

Uno Von Troil’s Letters on Banks’s and Solander’s Voyage to Iceland in 1772.

“The Spermacetti Whale found by the Nantuckois, is an active, fierce animal, and requires vast address and boldness in the fishermen.”

Thomas Jefferson’s Whale Memorial to the French minister in 1778.

“And pray, sir, what in the world is equal to it?”

Edmund Burke’s reference in Parliament to the Nantucket Whale-Fishery.

“Spain — a great whale stranded on the shores of Europe.”

Edmund Burke. (somewhere.)

“A tenth branch of the king’s ordinary revenue, said to be grounded on the consideration of his guarding and protecting the seas from pirates and robbers, is the right to royal fish, which are whale and sturgeon. And these, when either thrown ashore or caught near the coast, are the property of the king.”

Blackstone.

“Soon to the sport of death the crews repair:
Rodmond unerring o’er his head suspends
The barbed steel, and every turn attends.”

Falconer’s Shipwreck.

“Bright shone the roofs, the domes, the spires,
And rockets blew self driven,
To hang their momentary fire
Around the vault of heaven.

“So fire with water to compare,
The ocean serves on high,
Up-spouted by a whale in air,
To express unwieldy joy.”

Cowper, on the Queen’s Visit to London.

“Ten or fifteen gallons of blood are thrown out of the heart at a stroke, with immense velocity.”

John Hunter’s account of the dissection of a whale. (A small sized one.)

“The aorta of a whale is larger in the bore than the main pipe of the water-works at London Bridge, and the water roaring in its passage through that pipe is inferior in impetus and velocity to the blood gushing from the whale’s heart.”

Paley’s Theology.

“The whale is a mammiferous animal without hind feet.”

Baron Cuvier.

“In 40 degrees south, we saw Spermacetti Whales, but did not take any till the first of May, the sea being then covered with them.”

Colnett’s Voyage for the Purpose of Extending the Spermacetti Whale Fishery.

“In the free element beneath me swam,
Floundered and dived, in play, in chace, in battle,

Fishes of every color, form, and kind;
Which language cannot paint, and mariner

Had never seen; from dread Leviathan
To insect millions peopling every wave:

Gather’d in shoals immense, like floating islands,
Led by mysterious instincts through that waste

And trackless region, though on every side
Assaulted by voracious enemies,

Whales, sharks, and monsters, arm’d in front or jaw,
With swords, saws, spiral horns, or hooked fangs.”

Montgomery’s World before the Flood.

“Io! Pæan! Io! sing,
To the finny people’s king.

Not a mightier whale than this
In the vast Atlantic is;

Not a fatter fish than he,
Flounders round the Polar Sea.”

Charles Lamb’s Triumph of the Whale.

“In the year 1690 some persons were on a high hill observing the whales spouting and sporting with each other, when one observed; there — pointing to the sea — is a green pasture where our children’s grand-children will go for bread.”

Obed Macy’s History of Nantucket.

“I built a cottage for Susan and myself and made a gateway in the form of a Gothic Arch, by setting up a whale’s jaw bones.”

Hawthorne’s Twice Told Tales.

“She came to bespeak a monument for her first love, who had been killed by a whale in the Pacific ocean, no less than forty years ago.”

Ibid.

“No, Sir, ’tis a Right Whale,” answered Tom; “I saw his spout; he threw up a pair of as pretty rainbows as a Christian would wish to look at. He’s a raal oil-butt, that fellow!”

Cooper’s Pilot.

“The papers were brought in, and we saw in the Berlin Gazette that whales had been introduced on the stage there.”

Eckermann’s Conversations with Goethe.

“My God! Mr. Chace, what is the matter?” I answered, “we have been stove by a whale.”

“Narrative of the Shipwreck of the Whale Ship Essex of Nantucket, which was attacked and finally destroyed by a large Sperm Whale in the Pacific Ocean.” By Owen Chace of Nantucket, first mate of said vessel. New York. 1821.

“A mariner sat in the shrouds one night,
The wind was piping free;

Now bright, now dimmed, was the moonlight pale,
And the phospher gleamed in the wake of the whale,
As it floundered in the sea.”

Elizabeth Oakes Smith.

“The quantity of line withdrawn from the different boats engaged in the capture of this one whale, amounted altogether to 10,440 yards or nearly six English miles.” * * *

“Sometimes the whale shakes its tremendous tail in the air, which, cracking like a whip, resounds to the distance of three or four miles.”

Scoresby.

“Mad with the agonies he endures from these fresh attacks, the infuriated Sperm Whale rolls over and over; he rears his enormous head, and with wide expanded jaws snaps at everything around him; he rushes at the boats with his head; they are propelled before him with vast swiftness, and sometimes utterly destroyed.

* * * It is a matter of great astonishment that the consideration of the habits of so interesting, and, in a commercial point of view, of so important an animal (as the Sperm Whale) should have been so entirely neglected, or should have excited so little curiosity among the numerous, and many of them competent observers, that of late years must have possessed the most abundant and the most convenient opportunities of witnessing their habitudes.”

Thomas Beale’s History of the Sperm Whale, 1839.

“The Cachalot” (Sperm Whale) “is not only better armed than the True Whale” (Greenland or Right Whale) “in possessing a formidable weapon at either extremity of its body, but also more frequently displays a disposition to employ these weapons offensively, and in a manner at once so artful, bold, and mischievous, as to lead to its being regarded as the most dangerous to attack of all the known species of the whale tribe.”

Frederick Debell Bennett’s Whaling Voyage Round the Globe. 1840.

October 13. “There she blows,” was sung out from the masthead.

“Where away?” demanded the captain.

“Three points off the lee bow, sir.”

“Raise up your wheel. Steady!”

“Steady, sir.”

“Mast-head ahoy! Do you see that whale now?”

“Ay ay, sir! A shoal of Sperm Whales! There she blows! There she breaches!”

“Sing out! sing out every time!”

“Ay ay, sir! There she blows! there — there — thar she blows — bowes — bo-o-o-s!”

“How far off?”

“Two miles and a half.”

“Thunder and lightning! so near! Call all hands!”

J. Ross Browne’s Etchings of a Whaling Cruize. 1846.

“The Whale-ship Globe, on board of which vessel occurred the horrid transactions we are about to relate, belonged to the island of Nantucket.”

“Narrative of the Globe Mutiny,” by Lay and Hussey, survivors. A.D. 1828.

“Being once pursued by a whale which he had wounded, he parried the assault for some time with a lance; but the furious monster at length rushed on the boat; himself and comrades only being preserved by leaping into the water when they saw the onset was inevitable.”

Missionary Journal of Tyerman and Bennett.

“Nantucket itself,” said Mr. Webster, “is a very striking and peculiar portion of the National interest. There is a population of eight or nine thousand persons, living here in the sea, adding largely every year to the National wealth by the boldest and most persevering industry.”

Report of Daniel Webster’s Speech in the U.S. Senate, on the application for the Erection of a Breakwater at Nantucket. 1828.

“The whale fell directly over him, and probably killed him in a moment.”

“The Whale and his Captors, or The Whaleman’s Adventures and the Whale’s Biography, gathered on the Homeward Cruise of the Commodore Preble.” By Rev. Henry T. Cheever.

“If you make the least damn bit of noise,” replied Samuel, “I will send you to hell.”

Life of Samuel Comstock (the mutineer), by his brother, William Comstock. Another Version of the whale-ship Globe narrative.

“The voyages of the Dutch and English to the Northern Ocean, in order, if possible, to discover a passage through it to India, though they failed of their main object, laid open the haunts of the whale.”

McCulloch’s Commercial Dictionary.

“These things are reciprocal; the ball rebounds, only to bound forward again; for now in laying open the haunts of the whale, the whalemen seem to have indirectly hit upon new clews to that same mystic North-West Passage.”

From “Something” unpublished.

“It is impossible to meet a whale-ship on the ocean without being struck by her near appearance. The vessel under short sail, with look-outs at the mast-heads, eagerly scanning the wide expanse around them, has a totally different air from those engaged in a regular voyage.”

Currents and Whaling. U.S. Ex. Ex.

“Pedestrians in the vicinity of London and elsewhere may recollect having seen large curved bones set upright in the earth, either to form arches over gateways, or entrances to alcoves, and they may perhaps have been told that these were the ribs of whales.”

Tales of a Whale Voyager to the Arctic Ocean.

“It was not till the boats returned from the pursuit of these whales, that the whites saw their ship in bloody possession of the savages enrolled among the crew.”

Newspaper Account of the Taking and Retaking of the Whale-ship Hobomack.

“It is generally well known that out of the crews of Whaling vessels (American) few ever return in the ships on board of which they departed.”

Cruise in a Whale Boat.

“Suddenly a mighty mass emerged from the water, and shot up perpendicularly into the air. It was the whale.”

Miriam Coffin or the Whale Fishermen.

“The Whale is harpooned to be sure; but bethink you, how you would manage a powerful unbroken colt, with the mere appliance of a rope tied to the root of his tail.”

A Chapter on Whaling in Ribs and Trucks.

“On one occasion I saw two of these monsters (whales) probably male and female, slowly swimming, one after the other, within less than a stone’s throw of the shore” (Terra Del Fuego), “over which the beech tree extended its branches.”

Darwin’s Voyage of a Naturalist.

“‘Stern all!’ exclaimed the mate, as upon turning his head, he saw the distended jaws of a large Sperm Whale close to the head of the boat, threatening it with instant destruction; — ‘Stern all, for your lives!’”

Wharton the Whale Killer.

“So be cheery, my lads, let your hearts never fail,
While the bold harpooneer is striking the whale!”

Nantucket Song.

“Oh, the rare old Whale, mid storm and gale
In his ocean home will be
A giant in might, where might is right,
And King of the boundless sea.”

Whale Song.

MOBY DICK

1 — LOOMINGS

CALL me Ishmael. Some years ago — never mind how long precisely — having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen, and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people’s hats off — then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship. There is nothing surprising in this. If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me.

There now is your insular city of the Manhattoes, belted round by wharves as Indian isles by coral reefs — commerce surrounds it with her surf. Right and left, the streets take you waterward. Its extreme down-town is the Battery, where that noble mole is washed by waves, and cooled by breezes, which a few hours previous were out of sight of land. Look at the crowds of water-gazers there.

Circumambulate the city of a dreamy Sabbath afternoon. Go from Corlears Hook to Coenties Slip, and from thence, by Whitehall, northward. What do you see? — Posted like silent sentinels all around the town, stand thousands upon thousands of mortal men fixed in ocean reveries. Some leaning against the spiles; some seated upon the pier-heads; some looking over the bulwarks of ships from China; some high aloft in the rigging, as if striving to get a still better seaward peep. But these are all landsmen; of week days pent up in lath and plaster — tied to counters, nailed to benches, clinched to desks. How then is this? Are the green fields gone? What do they here?

But look! here come more crowds, pacing straight for the water, and seemingly bound for a dive. Strange! Nothing will content them but the extremest limit of the land; loitering under the shady lee of yonder warehouses will not suffice. No. They must get just as nigh the water as they possibly can without falling in. And there they stand — miles of them — leagues. Inlanders all, they come from lanes and alleys, streets and avenues — north, east, south, and west. Yet here they all unite. Tell me, does the magnetic virtue of the needles of the compasses of all those ships attract them thither?

Once more. Say, you are in the country; in some high land of lakes. Take almost any path you please, and ten to one it carries you down in a dale, and leaves you there by a pool in the stream. There is magic in it. Let the most absent-minded of men be plunged in his deepest reveries — stand that man on his legs, set his feet a-going, and he will infallibly lead you to water, if water there be in all that region. Should you ever be athirst in the great American desert, try this experiment, if your caravan happen to be supplied with a metaphysical professor. Yes, as every one knows, meditation and water are wedded for ever.

But here is an artist. He desires to paint you the dreamiest, shadiest, quietest, most enchanting bit of romantic landscape in all the valley of the Saco. What is the chief element he employs? There stand his trees, each with a hollow trunk, as if a hermit and a crucifix were within; and here sleeps his meadow, and there sleep his cattle; and up from yonder cottage goes a sleepy smoke. Deep into distant woodlands winds a mazy way, reaching to overlapping spurs of mountains bathed in their hill-side blue. But though the picture lies thus tranced, and though this pine-tree shakes down its sighs like leaves upon this shepherd’s head, yet all were vain, unless the shepherd’s eye were fixed upon the magic stream before him. Go visit the Prairies in June, when for scores on scores of miles you wade knee-deep among Tiger-lilies — what is the one charm wanting? — Water — there is not a drop of water there! Were Niagara but a cataract of sand, would you travel your thousand miles to see it? Why did the poor poet of Tennessee, upon suddenly receiving two handfuls of silver, deliberate whether to buy him a coat, which he sadly needed, or invest his money in a pedestrian trip to Rockaway Beach? Why is almost every robust healthy boy with a robust healthy soul in him, at some time or other crazy to go to sea? Why upon your first voyage as a passenger, did you yourself feel such a mystical vibration, when first told that you and your ship were now out of sight of land? Why did the old Persians hold the sea holy? Why did the Greeks give it a separate deity, and own brother of Jove? Surely all this is not without meaning. And still deeper the meaning of that story of Narcissus, who because he could not grasp the tormenting, mild image he saw in the fountain, plunged into it and was drowned. But that same image, we ourselves see in all rivers and oceans. It is the image of the ungraspable phantom of life; and this is the key to it all.

Now, when I say that I am in the habit of going to sea whenever I begin to grow hazy about the eyes, and begin to be over conscious of my lungs, I do not mean to have it inferred that I ever go to sea as a passenger. For to go as a passenger you must needs have a purse, and a purse is but a rag unless you have something in it. Besides, passengers get sea-sick — grow quarrelsome — don’t sleep of nights — do not enjoy themselves much, as a general thing — no, I never go as a passenger; nor, though I am something of a salt, do I ever go to sea as a Commodore, or a Captain, or a Cook. I abandon the glory and distinction of such offices to those who like them. For my part, I abominate all honorable respectable toils, trials, and tribulations of every kind whatsoever. It is quite as much as I can do to take care of myself, without taking care of ships, barques, brigs, schooners, and what not. And as for going as cook,— though I confess there is considerable glory in that, a cook being a sort of officer on ship-board — yet, somehow, I never fancied broiling fowls — though once broiled, judiciously buttered, and judgmatically salted and peppered, there is no one who will speak more respectfully, not to say reverentially, of a broiled fowl than I will. It is out of the idolatrous dotings of the old Egyptians upon broiled ibis and roasted river horse, that you see the mummies of those creatures in their huge bake-houses the pyramids.

No, when I go to sea, I go as a simple sailor, right before the mast, plumb down into the forecastle, aloft there to the royal masthead. True, they rather order me about some, and make me jump from spar to spar, like a grasshopper in a May meadow. And at first, this sort of thing is unpleasant enough. It touches one’s sense of honor, particularly if you come of an old established family in the land, the Van Rensselaers, or Randolphs, or Hardicanutes. And more than all, if just previous to putting your hand into the tar-pot, you have been lording it as a country schoolmaster, making the tallest boys stand in awe of you. The transition is a keen one, I assure you, from a schoolmaster to a sailor, and requires a strong decoction of Seneca and the Stoics to enable you to grin and bear it. But even this wears off in time.

What of it, if some old hunks of a sea-captain orders me to get a broom and sweep down the decks? What does that indignity amount to, weighed, I mean, in the scales of the New Testament? Do you think the archangel Gabriel thinks anything the less of me, because I promptly and respectfully obey that old hunks in that particular instance? Who aint a slave? Tell me that. Well, then, however the old sea-captains may order me about — however they may thump and punch me about, I have the satisfaction of knowing that it is all right; that everybody else is one way or other served in much the same way — either in a physical or metaphysical point of view, that is; and so the universal thump is passed round, and all hands should rub each other’s shoulder-blades, and be content.

Again, I always go to sea as a sailor, because they make a point of paying me for my trouble, whereas they never pay passengers a single penny that I ever heard of. On the contrary, passengers themselves must pay. And there is all the difference in the world between paying and being paid. The act of paying is perhaps the most uncomfortable infliction that the two orchard thieves entailed upon us. But being paid,— what will compare with it? The urbane activity with which a man receives money is really marvellous, considering that we so earnestly believe money to be the root of all earthly ills, and that on no account can a monied man enter heaven. Ah! how cheerfully we consign ourselves to perdition!

Finally, I always go to sea as a sailor, because of the wholesome exercise and pure air of the forecastle deck. For as in this world, head winds are far more prevalent than winds from astern (that is, if you never violate the Pythagorean maxim), so for the most part the Commodore on the quarter-deck gets his atmosphere at second hand from the sailors on the forecastle. He thinks he breathes it first; but not so. In much the same way do the commonalty lead their leaders in many other things, at the same time that the leaders little suspect it. But wherefore it was that after having repeatedly smelt the sea as a merchant sailor, I should now take it into my head to go on a whaling voyage; this the invisible police officer of the Fates, who has the constant surveillance of me, and secretly dogs me, and influences me in some unaccountable way — he can better answer than any one else. And, doubtless, my going on this whaling voyage, formed part of the grand programme of Providence that was drawn up a long time ago. It came in as a sort of brief interlude and solo between more extensive performances. I take it that this part of the bill must have run something like this:

“Grand Contested Election for the Presidency of the United States.
“WHALING VOYAGE BY ONE ISHMAEL.
“BLOODY BATTLE IN AFFGHANISTAN.”

Though I cannot tell why it was exactly that those stage managers, the Fates, put me down for this shabby part of a whaling voyage, when others were set down for magnificent parts in high tragedies, and short and easy parts in genteel comedies, and jolly parts in farces — though I cannot tell why this was exactly; yet, now that I recall all the circumstances, I think I can see a little into the springs and motives which being cunningly presented to me under various disguises, induced me to set about performing the part I did, besides cajoling me into the delusion that it was a choice resulting from my own unbiased freewill and discriminating judgment.

Chief among these motives was the overwhelming idea of the great whale himself. Such a portentous and mysterious monster roused all my curiosity. Then the wild and distant seas where he rolled his island bulk; the undeliverable, nameless perils of the whale; these, with all the attending marvels of a thousand Patagonian sights and sounds, helped to sway me to my wish. With other men, perhaps, such things would not have been inducements; but as for me, I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts. Not ignoring what is good, I am quick to perceive a horror, and could still be social with it — would they let me — since it is but well to be on friendly terms with all the inmates of the place one lodges in.

By reason of these things, then, the whaling voyage was welcome; the great flood-gates of the wonder-world swung open, and in the wild conceits that swayed me to my purpose, two and two there floated into my inmost soul, endless processions of the whale, and, mid most of them all, one grand hooded phantom, like a snow hill in the air.