436 
MOBY DICK; OR 
“Look ye, pudding-heads should never- grant premises — How long 
before the leg is done?” 
“Perhaps an hour, sir.” 
“Bungle away at it then, and bring it to me ( turns to go ). Oh, 
Life, here I am, proud as Greek god, and yet standing debtor to this 
blockhead for a bone to stand on! Cursed be that mortal interin- 
debtedness which will not do away with ledgers. I would be free as 
air ; and I’m down in the whole world’s books. I am so rich, I could 
have given bid for bid with the wealthiest Praetorians at the auction 
of the Roman empire (which was the world’s) ; and yet I owe for the 
flesh in the tongue I brag with. By heavens ! I’ll get a crucible, and 
into it, and dissolve myself down to one small, compendious vertebra. 
So.” 
carpenter ( resuming his work). 
“Well, well, well ! Stuhb knows him best of all, and Stubb always 
says he’s queer ; says nothing but that one sufficient little word queer ; 
he’s queer, says Stubb; he’s queer — queer, queer; and keeps dinning 
it into Mr. Starbuck all the time — queer, sir — queer, queer, very queer. 
And here’s his leg! Yes, now that I think of it, here’s his bedfellow! 
has a stick of whale’s jawbone for a wife! And this is his leg; he’ll 
stand on this. What was that now about one leg standing in three 
places, and all three places standing in one hell — how was that ? Oh ! 
I don’t wonder he looked so scornful at me! I am a sort of strange- 
thoughted sometimes, they say; but that’s only haphazard-like. Then, 
a short, little old body like me, should never undertake to wade out into 
deep waters with tall, heron-built captains; the water chucks you un- 
der the chin pretty quick, and there’s a great cry for lifeboats. And 
here’s the heron’s leg! long and slim, sure enough! How, for most 
folks one pair of legs lasts a lifetime, and that must be because they 
use them mercifully, as a tender-hearted old lady uses her roly-poly 
old coach-horses. But Ahab; oh, he’s a hard driver. Look, driven 
one leg to death, and spavined the other for life, and now wears out 
bone legs by the cord. Halloa, there, you, Smut! bear a hand there 
with those screws, and let’s finish it! What a leg this is! It looks 
like a real live leg, filed down to nothing but the core ; he’ll be standing 
