It fell at Ahab's feet. Then Gabriel shrieked out to his comrades
to give way with their oars, and in that manner the mutinous
boat rapidly shot away from the Pequod.
As, after this interlude, the seamen resumed their work upon
the jacket of the whale, many strange things were hinted
in reference to this wild affair.
CHAPTER 72
The Monkey-Rope
In the tumultuous business of cutting-in and attending to a whale,
there is much running backwards and forwards among the crew.
Now hands are wanted here, and then again hands are wanted there.
There is no staying in any one place; for at one and the same
time everything has to be done everywhere. It is much
the same with him who endeavors the description of the scene.
We must now retrace our way a little. It was mentioned that upon
first breaking ground in the whale's back, the blubber-hook was
inserted into the original hole there cut by the spades of the mates.
But how did so clumsy and weighty a mass as that same hook get
fixed in that hole? It was inserted there by my particular
friend Queequeg, whose duty it was, as harpooneer, to descend
upon the monster's back for the special purpose referred to.
But in very many cases, circumstances require that the harpooneer
shall remain on the whale till the whole tensing or stripping
operation is concluded.
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