گروه آلباتراس و ساموئل اندربی

CHAPTER 5 The Albatross and the Samuel Enderby

We fought and killed many whales after that first night. But our work didn’t finish when we killed them. We then had to climb down onto the dead whale and cut off ‘the fat. We had to work quickly because sharks came for the whale meat. Sharks could eat a whale in one night, and some of these whales were almost as big as our ship.

We cut oft large squares of fat and pulled these squares onto the ship. I his was a long, hard job. It was also dangerous because sharks swam around us. We then cooked the fat and made oil. When the oil was ready, we put it into barrels.

Oil gave us light and made us warm. We could sell it to people around the world. Oil was our money. But did this make Captain Ahab happy? No. The money wasn’t important to him. He only thought about Moby Dick. I Ie could only hate. He stood for hours on the ship—in the rain, in the snow—and looked at the ocean. When other ships went past, he didn’t ask them, “How are you? Do you want help?” He only asked, “Did you see the white whale?” One day we met the Albatross. It was on its trip home after four long years on the ocean. The ship and its whalers looked ready for home. The men were tired and thin, with large, hungry eyes.

The wind was strong that day, so the Albatross couldn’t come near us. But the captain put his hand up and smiled. Captain Ahab shouted from the Pcquod, “Did you see the white whale?” The captain shouted his answer, but the wind carried his words away. Captain Ahab put his hand behind his ear, but he couldn’t hear the captain.

“Aghhhh! This wind!” he shouted. “Listen! Tell people at home we’re sailing around the world. We’ll bring back the teeth of the devil whale!” Starbuck stood and watched Captain Ahab. “Is he forgetting his wife and child at home?” he said to me.

“Wife and child?” I asked. Did Captain Ahab really have a family?

“Oh, yes. His family is waiting for him,” said Starbuck. “And in)’ family is waiting for me. Every day my wife, Mary, takes our son to the beach. They look at the ocean. They hope that they’ll see our sails one day.” I thought about the other men on our ship. How many of these men had families? What did they leave behind them when they went on the whaling ships? Who waited for them?

“Nobody’s waiting for me.” I thought. “I want a wife and child. I’d like to go home to them.”

♦

Day after day nothing changed. Captain Ahab always asked other ships about the white whale. Some captains knew about Moby Dick. Some laughed at Captain Ahab. “Moby Dick is only a whalers’ story—nothing more!” they said.

Then one day we met the Samuel Emlerby. The ocean was quiet and the captain, Captain Boomer, came onto our ship. He was a friendly man and smiled at us. He only had one arm.

“Did Moby Dick take your arm?” Captain Ahab asked excitedly.

“Yes. I lost my arm to the white whale,” the captain answered.

Captain Ahab’s face lit up. He was happy! “Come with me! The white devil will pay for your arm and my leg!” he shouted happily.

“Oh, no. I can’t do that,” the captain answered. “One arm is better than no arms or legs! I want my life! I think I’ll leave Moby Dick in the ocean.” “Leave him!” shouted Captain Ahab. He turned his back to Captain Boomer for a minute. Then he turned around and shouted at him. “Get off my ship! You’re afraid! I’m not afraid. I’ll find Moby Dick. I’ll look him in the eye! I’ll kill him!”

The smile left Captain Boomer’s face. “I hope—for you and for your men—that you never find Moby Dick.”

And without another word he left our ship.