All during the night we sailed after Moby Dick and the next day too. The Captain, from years of experience whaling, knew pretty well where the White Whale would surface again. Everyone on board the Pequod was as excited as Captain Ahab. The wind blew us onward.
That same morning we saw Moby Dick leap from the water in defiance of us. The boats were lowered into the water again. This time, however, Moby Dick did not wait for us to attack – he attacked us. He went straight for the boats in the water, but the men were able to avoid his attack and the harpooners hit him with three harpoons. But the whale raced about and the lines of the harpoons became all tangled. The Captain tried to cut the ropes with his knife, but the whale pulled two of the boats together with such violence that they were shattered into a hundred pieces. Then the whale capsized Ahab’s boat. Once all the boats had been destroyed, Moby Dick moved slowly around and, when he felt anything with his flukes, he would smash it with his great tail. After a minute or two of this game, Moby Dick swam away. The Pequod came near and picked up all the whalers that were still alive.
