A strange, apostolic whim having seized him, he had left Neskyeuna for Nantucket, where, with that cunning peculiar to craziness, he assumed a steady, common sense exterior, and offered himself as a green-hand candidate for the Jeroboam's whaling voyage. They engaged him; but straightway upon the ship's getting out of sight of land, his insanity broke out in a freshet. He announced himself as the archangel Gabriel, and commanded the captain to jump overboard. He published his manifesto, whereby he set himself forth as the deliverer of the isles of the sea and vicar-general of all Oceanica. The unflinching earnestness with which he declared these things;—the dark, daring play of his sleepless, excited imagination, and all the preternatural terrors of real delirium, united to invest this Gabriel in the minds of the majority of the ignorant crew, with an atmosphere of sacredness. Moreover, they were afraid of him. As such a man, however, was not of much practical use in the ship, especially as he refused to work except when he pleased, the incredulous captain would fain have been rid of him; but apprised that that individual's intention was to land him in the first convenient port, the archangel forthwith opened all his seals and vials—devoting the ship and all hands to unconditional perdition, in case this intention was carried out.
他突然发了一阵使徒式的奇兴，离开了奈斯古威那到南塔开特来，在南塔开特，靠了他那固有的狂妄的技巧，他外表上装成一个稳重的普通人物，自愿参加"耶罗波安号"的捕鲸航行，作一个生手的后备船员。船上雇用了他。但是，等到船只一离开陆地，他的神经症就突然发作起来。他宣称他自己就是迦百列天使长，命令船长跳到海里去。他发表了宣言，自称是海洋上的拯救者，五大洋的代理监督（代理监督——英国国教在宗教诉讼上的代理监督。）。他这样毫无畏缩。煞有介事地宣告了这些事情；加上他那莫名其妙的、大胆耍弄他不睡觉、狂乱的幻想以及一切真正精神错乱的不可思议的恐怖行动，使得大多数无知的水手的心里都把这个迦百列当成个神圣不可侵犯的人物。而且，大家都很怕他。不过，象这样的人，在船上却是派不了多大真用场的，尤其是他干活得趁他自己高兴，否则就不肯干，那个深表怀疑的船长真想把他辞掉；而且通知他说，他个人的意图是，想等船只一驶到第一个便利的港口，就让他上岸，可是，这个天使长却说他立刻就打开他一切的印信和大碗，无条件地把船只和全体水手都给送了终，——如果船长实行他这种意图的话。