Chapter 21 of Herman Melville’s classic – Moby Dick. Read along with us and discuss this chapter or the book as a whole in the comments. Visit this page for the complete collection to date: Finding Melville’s Whale.
Going Aboard
“Avast!” cries the prophet as Queequeg and
Ishmael, make their way towards the Pequod.
“Go with those grim ghosts aboard that vessel,I shall see you soon enough, when at last
the Grand Jury convenes.” On board, stillness
as both timber and crew rest at the dock.Finding a crew member sleeping in his bunk,
Queequeg sits upon him and lights his pipe.
A convenient use for a lesser man.And still, in the quiet of the cabin,
among exile, savage, and sleeping man,
none have lain eyes on the ghostly Ahab.