《美国文学史白鲸课堂展示版09.10副本.docVIP

Herman Melville BRIEF SUMMARY OF MOBY DICK Moby Dick is told by a man who identifies himself only as Ishmael. Impelled by an urge to see more of the world and understand more of its mysteries, Ishmael decides to go to sea. He leaves New York and travels to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he spends a night with a South Seas cannibal （食人生番）named Queequeg as a roommate. At first frightened by Queequeg, Ishmael soon finds him likeable enough. While at New Bedford, Ishmael goes to a famous whalemans chapel （捕鲸水手常去的教堂）whose pastor （牧师）, Father Mapple, is widely known in the whaling fleet （捕鲸船队）. Father Mapple preaches a sermon （做布道）which focuses on the story of Jonah and the whale（约拿与鲸鱼）, in which he emphasizes that man must reject his own pride （远离自傲）and be true to God, letting no other force guide him. Ishmael and Queequeg become fast friends at New Bedford, and decide to go to Nantucket Island and sign on the same whaleship together. They take a packet boat （搭乘一条班船）, and on the trip to Nantucket, Queequeg saves an obnoxious lout （智商低下的人）from drowning in the icy waters. (This is the first of a number of scenes in which men are saved from drowning. )At Nantucket, Queequeg tells Ishmael that his god has decided that Ishmael must choose the ship on which they will sail, and Ishmael chooses the Pequod because it is so picturesque （外表漂亮）. Both men sign on, and are told that the ships captain is Ahab, an unusual man but one who has his humanities. （有自己独特的人情味） He is confined at his home because of some mysterious sickness, so Ishmael cannot see him. As Ishmael and Queequeg leave the ship they are accosted by （有人向他们打招呼）a queer old man who drops dark hints about Ahab （暗示了Ahab种种神秘）. The ship sails on a cold, gray Christmas day. As the two men approach the Pequod, they see a group of shadowy figures board the ship before them （看到一伙模模糊糊的人影在前面上了船）. The ship plunges out into the Atlantic and for many days nothing is seen of Ahab. Ishmael presents the three mat