In tempestuous times like these, after everything above and aloft has been secured, nothing more can be done but passively to await the issue of the gale. Then Captain and crew become practical fatalists. So, with his ivory leg inserted into its accustomed hole, and with one hand firmly grasping a shroud, Ahab for hours and hours would stand gazing dead to windward, while an occasional squall of sleet or snow would all but congeal his very eyelashes together. Meantime, the crew driven from the forward part of the ship by the perilous seas that burstingly broke over its bows, stood in a line along the bulwarks in the waist; and the better to guard against the leaping waves, each man had slipped himself into a sort of bowline secured to the rail, in which he swung as in a loosened belt. Few or no words were spoken; and the silent ship, as if manned by painted sailors inwax, day after day tore on through all the swift madness and gladness of the demoniac waves. By night the samemuteness of humanity before the shrieks of the ocean prevailed; still in silence the men swung in the bowlines; still wordless Ahab stood up to the blast.Even when wearied nature seemed demanding repose he would not seekthat repose in his hammock.
在这样大风暴的时分，甲板和桅顶等上上下下的事情都已安排停当，除了消极地等待风息以外，是再也没有什么事情可做了。于是，船长和水手们实际上都变成了宿命论者。亚哈把他的牙腿插在那原来的镟孔里，一只手紧抓着护桅索，便这样一个钟头过一个钟头地站在那里，死瞪着上风，不时刮起的一阵夹着雪雹的大风，把他的眼睫毛也给凝在一起。这时，从船头上突然冲来一阵险恶的浪潮，把那些水手都冲得顺着船腰的舷墙边的栏索站住了。为了抵挡那翻腾的浪涛，每人都套上一根绑在栏杆上的帆脚索，大家就拴着绳索，晃来倒去，象是腰带松了那般。大家都很少甚至没有说话；这艘静悄悄的船，好象由一些蜡塑的水手掌握着，一天过一天地冲过那又发狂又高兴的着魔似的雄涛前进。到了夜里，在怒号的海洋面前，仍然是阒无人声，拴着帆脚索摇来晃去的人仍然是不声不响，亚哈还是一言不发地顶着暴风站在那里。甚至到了疲劳的体力似乎在要求休息的时候，他还是不到吊铺上去找寻那种休息。