Original Story：
Hitherto, in descriptively treating of the Sperm Whale, I have chiefly dwelt upon the marvels of his outer aspect; or separately and in detail upon some few interior structural features. But to a large and thorough sweeping comprehension of him, it behooves me now to unbutton him still further, and untagging the points of his hose, unbuckling his garters, and casting loose the hooks and the eyes of the joints of his innermost bones, set him before you in his ultimatum; that is to say, in his unconditional skeleton.
But how now, Ishmael? How is it, that you, a mere oarsman in the fishery, pretend to know aught about the subterranean parts of the whale? Did erudite Stubb, mounted upon your capstan, deliver lectures on the anatomy of the Cetacea; and by help of the windlass, hold up a specimen rib for exhibition? Explain thyself, Ishmael. Can you land a full-grown whale on your deck for examination, as a cook dishes a roast-pig? Surely not. A veritable witness have you hitherto been, Ishmael; but have a care how you seize the privilege of Jonah alone; the privilege of discoursing upon the joists and beams; the rafters, ridge-pole, sleepers, and under-pinnings, making up the frame-work of leviathan; and belike of the tallow-vats, dairy-rooms, butteries, and cheeseries in his bowels.
I confess, that since Jonah, few whalemen have penetrated very far beneath the skin of the adult whale; nevertheless, I have been blessed with an opportunity to dissect him in miniature. In a ship I belonged to, a small cub Sperm Whale was once bodily hoisted to the deck for his poke or bag, to make sheaths for the barbs of the harpoons, and for the heads of the lances. Think you I let the chance go, without using my boat-hatchet and jack-knife, and breaking the seal and reading all the contents of that young cub?
And as for my exact knowledge of the bones of the leviathan in their gigantic, full grown development, for that rare knowledge I am indebted to my late royal friend Tranque, king of Tranque, one of the Arsacides. For being at Tranque, years ago, when attached to the trading-ship Dey of Algiers, I was invited to spend part of the Arsacidean holidays with the lord of Tranque, at his retired palm villa at Pupella; a sea-side glen not very far distant from what our sailors called Bamboo-Town, his capital.
Among many other fine qualities, my royal friend Tranquo, being gifted with a devout love for all matters of barbaric vertu, had brought together in Pupella whatever rare things the more ingenious of his people could invent; chiefly carved woods of wonderful devices, chiselled shells, inlaid spears, costly paddles, aromatic canoes; and all these distributed among whatever natural wonders, the wonder-freighted, tribute-rendering waves had cast upon his shores.
Chief among these latter was a great Sperm Whale, which, after an unusually long raging gale, had been found dead and stranded, with his head against a cocoa-nut tree, whose plumage-like, tufted droopings seemed his verdant jet. When the vast body had at last been stripped of its fathomdeep enfoldings, and the bones become dust dry in the sun, then the skeleton was carefully transported up the Pupella glen, where a grand temple of lordly palms now sheltered it.
The ribs were hung with trophies; the vertebrae were carved with Arsacidean annals, in strange hieroglyphics; in the skull, the priests kept up an unextinguished aromatic flame, so that the mystic head again sent forth its vapory spout; while, suspended from a bough, the terrific lower jaw vibrated over all the devotees, like the hair-hung sword that so affrighted Damocles.
It was a wondrous sight. The wood was green as mosses of the Icy Glen; the trees stood high and haughty, feeling their living sap; the industrious earth beneath was as a weaver’s loom, with a gorgeous carpet on it, whereof the ground-vine tendrils formed the warp and woof, and the living flowers the figures. All the trees, with all their laden branches; all the shrubs, and ferns, and grasses; the message-carrying air; all these unceasingly were active. Through the lacings of the leaves, the great sun seemed a flying shuttle weaving the unwearied verdure. Oh, busy weaver! unseen weaver!- pause!- one word!- whither flows the fabric? what palace may it deck? wherefore all these ceaseless toilings? Speak, weaver!- stay thy hand!- but one single word with thee! Nay- the shuttle flies- the figures float from forth the loom; the fresher-rushing carpet for ever slides away. The weaver-god, he weaves; and by that weaving is he deafened, that he hears no mortal voice; and by that humming, we, too, who look on the loom are deafened; and only when we escape it shall we hear the thousand voices that speak through it. For even so it is in all material factories. The spoken words that are inaudible among the flying spindles; those same words are plainly heard without the walls, bursting from the opened casements. Thereby have villainies been detected. Ah, mortal! then, be heedful; for so, in all this din of the great world’s loom, thy subtlest thinkings may be overheard afar.
Now, amid the green, life-restless loom of that Arsacidean wood, the great, white, worshipped skeleton lay lounging- a gigantic idler! Yet, as the ever-woven verdant warp and woof intermixed and hummed around him, the mighty idler seemed the sunning weaver; himself all woven over with the vines; every month assuming greener, fresher verdure; but himself a skeleton. Life folded Death; Death trellised Life; the grim god wived with youthful Life, and begat him curly-headed glories.
Now, when with royal Tranquo I visited this wondrous whale, and saw the skull an altar, and the artificial smoke ascending from where the real jet had issued, I marvelled that the king should regard a chapel as an object of vertu. He laughed. But more I marvelled that the priests should swear that smoky jet of his was genuine. To and fro I paced before this skeleton- brushed the vine aside- broke through the ribs- and with a ball of Arsacidean twine, wandered, eddied long amid its many winding, shaded colonnades and arbors. But soon my line was out; and following back, I emerged from the opening where I entered. I saw no living thing within; naught was there but bones.
Cutting me a green measuring-rod, I once more dived within the skeleton. From their arrow-slit in the skull, the priests perceived me taking the altitude of the final rib, “How now!” they shouted; “Dar’st thou measure this our god! That’s for us.” “Aye, priests- well, how long do ye make him, then?” But hereupon a fierce contest rose among them, concerning feet and inches; they cracked each other’s sconces with their yard-sticks- the great skull echoed- and seizing that lucky chance, I quickly concluded my own admeasurements.
These admeasurements I now propose to set before you. But first, be it recorded, that, in this matter, I am not free to utter any fancied measurements I please. Because there are skeleton authorities you can refer to, to test my accuracy. There is a Leviathanic Museum, they tell me, in Hull, England, one of the whaling ports of that country, where they have some fine specimens of fin-backs and other whales. Likewise, have heard that in the museum of Manchester, in New Hampshire, they have what the proprietors call “the only perfect specimen of a Greenland or River Whale in the United States.” Moreover, at a place in Yorkshire, England, Burton Constable by name, a certain Sir Clifford Constable has in his possession the skeleton of a Sperm Whale, but of moderate size, by no means of the full-grown magnitude of my friend King Tranquo’s.
In both cases, the stranded whales to which these two skeletons belonged, were originally claimed by their proprietors upon similar grounds. King Tranquo seizing his because he wanted it; and Sir Clifford, because he was lord of the seignories of those parts. Sir Clifford’s whale has been articulated throughout; so that, like a great chest of drawers, you can open and shut him, in all his bony cavities- spread out his ribs like a gigantic fan- and swing all day upon his lower jaw. Locks are to be put upon some of his trap-doors and shutters; and a footman will show round future visitors with a bunch of keys at his side. Sir Clifford thinks of charging twopence for a peep at the whispering gallery in the spinal column; threepence to hear the echo in the hollow of his cerebellum; and sixpence for the unrivalled view from his forehead.
The skeleton dimensions I shall now proceed to set down are copied verbatim from my right arm, where I had them tattooed; as in my wild wanderings at that period, there was no other secure way of preserving such valuable statistics. But as I was crowded for space, and wished the other parts of my body to remain a blank page for a poem I was then composing- at least, what untattooed parts might remain- I did not trouble myself with the odd inches; nor, indeed, should inches at all enter into a congenial admeasurement of the whale.
Expanded Explanation and Analysis
Summary and Interpretation
This passage is a vivid and imaginative exploration of the Sperm Whale, focusing not just on its external appearance but delving deep into its internal structure, particularly its skeleton. The narrator, Ishmael, humorously questions his own qualifications to describe the whale’s anatomy, acknowledging that most whalemen never see beneath the whale’s skin. However, he recounts a rare opportunity to dissect a young whale and later to study a massive whale skeleton preserved by a king named Tranquo in a tropical land called Arsacidea.
The whale skeleton is described as a magnificent and almost sacred object, surrounded by lush, vibrant nature and revered by local priests. The narrative blends scientific curiosity with poetic imagery, comparing the natural world to a great loom weaving life and death together. The story also touches on the cultural significance of whales and their skeletons as objects of wonder and reverence.
Literary Style and Themes
The writing style is richly descriptive and metaphorical, blending scientific observation with poetic and philosophical reflections. The whale becomes a symbol of nature’s grandeur and mystery, and the skeleton a monument to life’s cycle of death and renewal.
Key themes include:
- The mystery of nature: The whale’s hidden inner structure symbolizes the unknown depths of the natural world.
- Life and death intertwined: The skeleton surrounded by living vines illustrates how life and death coexist and support each other.
- Human curiosity and reverence: The narrator’s fascination and respect for the whale reflect humanity’s quest for knowledge and the awe inspired by nature’s wonders.
Background and Author Introduction
This passage is inspired by Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick, a classic American novel first published in 1851. Melville was a sailor and writer who drew on his own experiences at sea to create a complex narrative about whaling, human nature, and the struggle between man and the natural world.
The character Ishmael serves as the narrator of Moby-Dick, offering both detailed information about whales and philosophical musings. The detailed description of the whale’s skeleton reflects Melville’s deep interest in natural history and his ability to blend fact with fiction.
Educational Insights and Learning Points
From this story, children and students can learn:
- Biology and Anatomy: Basic understanding of whale anatomy, especially the skeletal system.
- Ecology and Environment: The relationship between living organisms and their habitats, symbolized by the whale skeleton intertwined with vines.
- Cultural Studies: How different cultures may revere natural objects, like the whale skeleton, as sacred or symbolic.
- Literary Appreciation: Understanding metaphor, imagery, and narrative voice in storytelling.
- Critical Thinking: Questioning the narrator’s reliability and exploring how knowledge is gained through observation and experience.
Practical Applications and Life Lessons
- Curiosity and Exploration: Encourages students to be curious about the natural world and seek knowledge through direct observation and study.
- Respect for Nature: Teaches respect for animals and ecosystems, highlighting the importance of preserving natural wonders.
- Interdisciplinary Learning: Combines science, history, and literature, showing how different fields connect.
- Measurement and Data Recording: Ishmael’s detailed measurements and the use of tattoos to preserve data illustrate methods of recording scientific information.
Reading Comprehension Exercises
- Who is the narrator of this story, and what is his role?
- What opportunity did Ishmael have to study the whale’s anatomy?
- Describe the setting where the whale skeleton was kept. Why was it significant?
- What does the narrator compare the natural world to, and what does this metaphor mean?
- Why do the priests keep a flame burning in the whale’s skull?
- What lessons about life and death does the narrator draw from the whale skeleton?
- How does the narrator feel about the whale and its skeleton?
- What can children learn from this story about science and nature?
- Explain how the story blends scientific facts with imaginative storytelling.
- What is the importance of measurement in the narrator’s study of the whale?
Answers
- The narrator is Ishmael, a sailor and observer who tells the story and shares his knowledge of whales.
- Ishmael had the chance to dissect a young Sperm Whale cub on his ship, giving him insight into the whale’s internal structure.
- The whale skeleton was kept in a temple-like setting surrounded by palm trees and nature, symbolizing reverence and the blending of life and death.
- The narrator compares the natural world to a great loom weaving a carpet, symbolizing the ongoing creation and interconnection of life.
- The priests keep a flame burning in the skull to symbolize the whale’s spirit and the mystic vapory spout it once emitted.
- The narrator sees life and death as intertwined forces, with death supporting new life, shown by the skeleton covered in living vines.
- Ishmael feels awe, curiosity, and respect for the whale and its skeleton, seeing it as a majestic and mysterious creature.
- Children can learn about whale anatomy, the importance of observation, respect for nature, and how science and imagination can work together.
- The story uses detailed anatomical descriptions alongside poetic and symbolic imagery to create a rich narrative.
- Measurement is crucial for scientific accuracy and understanding the whale’s true size and structure, as shown by Ishmael’s careful recording of data.
This story offers a fascinating blend of science, culture, and poetry, making it a valuable educational resource that can inspire curiosity, respect for nature, and a love of learning in children and students.
