CHAPTER SIX The Big Whale Hunt KAPITEL SECHS Die große Waljagd 第六章 大きなクジラ狩り 6장 큰 고래 사냥 CAPÍTULO SEIS A grande caça à baleia 第六章 大鯨魚狩獵

CHAPTER SIX

The Big Whale Hunt Большая охота на китов

Life can be very lonely at sea. Weeks go by and you don’t see anyone other than the members of the crew. Passano le settimane e non si vede nessuno oltre ai membri dell'equipaggio. But every now and then we were lucky enough to meet another ship. Ma ogni tanto avevamo la fortuna di incontrare un'altra nave. Но время от времени нам везло, и мы встречали другой корабль.

One day, southeast of the Cape of Good Hope, we saw another whaler, the Albatross, which was sailing towards home. Everything about the Albatross showed she had spent too many months at sea, too much rough weather, too much sea and salt. She had been away whaling for four years. And her crew looked weathered too. E anche il suo equipaggio aveva un'aria consumata dalle intemperie. И ее экипаж тоже выглядел обветренным. The captains of both ships normally stop and talk with one another, and this is called a "gam". I capitani di entrambe le navi normalmente si fermano a parlare tra loro, e questo si chiama "gam". Капитаны обоих судов обычно останавливаются и разговаривают друг с другом, и это называется "гам". The gam is a time when the two captains and their crews can exchange a few friendly words and find out about their whaling. Il gioco è un momento in cui i due capitani e i loro equipaggi possono scambiare qualche parola amichevole e informarsi sulla loro caccia alle balene. Гам - это время, когда оба капитана и их экипажи могут обменяться несколькими дружескими словами и узнать о своем китобойном промысле.

But Ahab didn’t like gams because they took time away from hunting Moby Dick - his only thought.

So when we saw the Albatross, he shouted, "Ahoy! لذلك عندما رأينا الباتروس ، صاح: "أهوي! Have you seen the white whale? " The captain of the other ship wanted to answer but his trumpet fell into the sea so that was the end of the gam. Il capitano dell'altra nave voleva rispondere, ma la sua tromba cadde in mare e la partita finì lì. The crew was not happy about this because the men needed to see and talk to other sailors. لم يكن الطاقم سعيدًا بهذا لأن الرجال كانوا بحاجة إلى رؤية البحارة الآخرين والتحدث معهم.

As time went on the white whale began to obsess our minds too - we started seeing it everywhere. مع مرور الوقت ، بدأ الحوت الأبيض يستحوذ على عقولنا أيضًا - بدأنا نشاهده في كل مكان. Со временем белуха стала занимать и наши умы - мы стали видеть ее повсюду.

One clear blue morning the Pequod was sailing towards Java through a bright yellow area of plankton. Una mattina limpida e azzurra, il Pequod stava navigando verso Giava attraverso un'area gialla e brillante di plancton. Daggoo thought he saw Moby Dick and shouted, "There! There he is! Right ahead - the white whale! " Captain Ahab and everyone else rushed to take a look. But to everyone’s disappointment, particularly Ahab’s, the enormous creature of the sea was a giant squid. Ma con grande delusione di tutti, in particolare di Achab, l'enorme creatura del mare era un calamaro gigante. This amazing creature was a soft mass of cream-colored flesh with innumerable long arms that grew out of its body and curled and twisted. Questa creatura straordinaria era una massa morbida di carne color crema con innumerevoli braccia lunghe che uscivano dal corpo e si arricciavano e si contorcevano. It slowly disappeared into the deep sea again.

"What was it?" asked Flask.

"It was the great squid, the biggest creature in the universe. Few whaling ships have ever seen it... and it’s an evil omen," said Starbuck, his eyes wide with horror. Poche navi baleniere l'hanno vista... ed è un cattivo presagio", disse Starbuck, con gli occhi spalancati dall'orrore. But Queequeg didn’t agree.

"No," he said. "When you see giant squid, then you quick see whales." Ahab had already gone back to his cabin. The giant squid was not remarkable to him: nothing held interest for him, only the white whale. Nothing touched his soul, only Moby Dick.

The next day it was extremely hot and still. It was my turn to stand watch. And all was still in that part of the Indian Ocean. E tutto era fermo in quella parte dell'Oceano Indiano. I had been on the masthead for hours and I was growing sleepy. Suddenly I saw a gigantic sperm whale, its shiny body rolling in the water like an overturned ship. It seemed to be as sleepy as I was.

Could it be Moby Dick? I observed it carefully. No, it wasn’t white. It wasn’t Moby Dick, but it was a majestic creature.

"There she blows!" a sailor cried and the sleepy ship came to life.

"Lower the boats!" cried Ahab.

I climbed into Stubb’s boat this time and was excited about this new whaling adventure. Questa volta sono salito sulla barca di Stubb ed ero entusiasta di questa nuova avventura baleniera. Today I could hunt my first whale!

The sudden cries of the crew and the movement of the boats probably scared the gigantic creature and he started swimming away. He spouted majestically a few times and then suddenly he lifted his tail forty feet into the air and sank into the deep water. Ha emesso un paio di getti maestosi e poi, all'improvviso, ha sollevato la coda di quaranta piedi in aria e si è inabissato nell'acqua profonda.

"There he goes under!" "Ecco che va sotto!". cried Stubb, with his pipe in his mouth. gridò Stubb, con la pipa in bocca. "Don’t hurry! Take it slowly, we’re almost on him now." We rowed with all of our strength.

"Stand up, Tashtego!" cried Stubb. "Give it to him now! " Tashtego’s muscular arm threw the harpoon and it struck the whale perfectly. Il braccio muscoloso di Tashtego lanciò l'arpione che colpì perfettamente la balena. The harpoon was attached to a long rope on the bottom of the boat, and the rope started flying out of the boat, following the harpoon. It burned as it passed through our hands.

Stubb stood up and held the rope. "Wet the rope! " "Bagnate la corda!" he cried. "Wet the rope!" Now we were attached to the whale, and our boat flew through the water as he swam away, desperately trying to get free. Ora eravamo attaccati alla balena e la nostra barca volava nell'acqua mentre lui nuotava via, cercando disperatamente di liberarsi. Each man held tightly to his seat. Ognuno si tenne stretto al proprio posto.

Then Tashtego and Stubb took their harpoons. We got closer to the whale and Stubb threw his first harpoon at the whale and then a second one and then another. The whale swam more slowly now and we brought the boat closer. La balena nuotava più lentamente e noi ci siamo avvicinati alla barca.

The whale’s life was almost over, but he tried to escape and survive with all the strength he had left. La vita della balena era quasi finita, ma cercò di fuggire e di sopravvivere con tutte le forze che le rimanevano. Stubb threw harpoon after harpoon into the whale’s side. Blood began to shoot out and it covered all of us. I had never seen so much blood in my life.

The whale blew the last huge spouts of spray at us and fought until the end. La balena ha soffiato gli ultimi enormi spruzzi verso di noi e ha lottato fino alla fine. What a strange and tragic sight! A great life was ending before my eyes. На моих глазах заканчивалась великая жизнь. The sea around the boat turned red with the whale’s blood. Stubb brought the boat closer to the whale and pushed his lance deep into it, piercing his heart. Stubb avvicinò la barca alla balena e spinse la sua lancia in profondità, trapassandole il cuore.

"He’s dead, Mr Stubb," said Tashtego. "Yes," said Stubb, taking the pipe out of his mouth and shaking the ashes over the sea. "Sì", disse Stubb, togliendosi la pipa dalla bocca e scuotendo la cenere sul mare. He stood there thoughtfully looking at the huge body. Он стоял и задумчиво смотрел на огромное тело.