26 
MOBY DICK; OR 
Seeing, now, that there were no curtains to the window, and that 
the street being very narrow, the house opposite commanded a plain 
view into the room, and observing more and more the indecorous figure 
that Queequeg made, staving about with little else but his hat and boots 
on ; I begged him as well as I could, to accelerate his toilet somewhat, 
and particularly to get into his pantaloons as soon as possible. He 
complied, .and then proceeded to wash himself. At that time in the 
morning any Christian would have washed his face ; but Queequeg, to 
my amazement, contented himself with restricting his ablutions to his 
chest, arms, and hands. He then donned his waistcoat, and taking up 
a piece of hard soap on the washstand centre table, dipped it into water 
and commenced lathering his face. I was watching to see where he 
kept his razor, when lo and behold, he takes the harpoon from the bed 
corner, slips out the long wooden stock, unsheathes the head, whets it 
a little on his boot, and striding up to the bit of mirror against the 
wall, begins a vigorous scraping, or rather harpooning of his cheeks. 
Thinks I, Queequeg, this is using Roger’s best cutlery with a venge- 
ance. Afterwards I wondered the less at this operation when I came 
to know of what fine steel the head of a harpoon is made, and how 
exceedingly sharp the long straight edges are always kept. 
The rest of his toilet was soon achieved, and he proudly marched 
out of the room, wrapped up in his great pilot monkey-jacket, and 
sporting his harpoon like a marshal’s baton. 
CHAPTER V 
BREAKFAST 
I quickly followed suit, and descending into the bar-room accosted 
the grinning landlord very pleasantly. I cherished no malice towards 
him, though he had been skylarking with me not a little in the matter 
of my bedfellow. 
However, a good laugh is a mighty good thing, and rather too scarce 
a good thing; the more’s the pity. So, if any one man, in his own 
proper person, afford stuff for a good joke to anybody, let him not be 
backward, but let him cheerfully allow himself to spend and he spent 
in that way. And the man that has anything bountifully laughable 
