Considered one of the great American novels, Moby-Dick is a sea adventure based on the author’s own experiences, research
+
research:
investigación
and the real-life sinking
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sinking:
hundimiento
of a whaling boat
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whaling boat:
ballenero
, the Essex, by a sperm whale
+
sperm whale:
cachalote
in 1820. Moby-Dick, Melville’s magnum opus, is a compelling eight-hundred-plus-page
+
eight-hundred-plus-page:
de más de 800 páginas
tale
+
tale:
historia
about destiny, the nature of good and evil
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evil:
mal
, and the power and mystery of the ocean.
FORBIDDEN SEAS
An epic novel full of humour and philosophy, Moby-Dick includes elements of stage-play
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stage-play:
obra teatral
, poetry and song. It tells the story of Ahab, a whaling captain who is obsessed with a mythical white sperm whale that had bitten off
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to bite off:
arrancar de un mordisco
his leg in a previous encounter. The narrator is Ishmael, who joins Ahab’s whaling boat the Pequod, and discovers that this is no ordinary voyage
+
voyage:
viaje
.
“I, Ishmail, was one of that crew; my shouts had gone up with the rest; my oath had been welded with theirs [...] A wild, mystical, sympathetical feeling was in me; Ahab’s quenchless feud seemed mine. With greedy ears I learned of the history of that murderous monster against whom I and all the others had taken our oaths of violence and revenge.”
“Yo, Ismael, era uno de esa tripulación; mis gritos se habían elevado con los de los demás, mi juramento se había fundido con los suyos [...] Había en mí un loco sentimiento místico de compenetración: el inextinguible agravio de Ahab parecía mío. Con ávidos oídos supe la historia de aquel monstruo asesino contra el cual habíamos prestado, yo y todos los demás, nuestros juramentos de violencia y venganza”.
FEARS AND SUPERSITITIONS
For three years the Pequod journeys
+
journeys:
viajes
in pursuit
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pursuit:
persecución
of the “murderous
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murderous:
asesino
monster” Moby Dick. Meanwhile, Ishmail describes life at sea and the larger-than-life
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larger-than-life:
extraordinario
characters on board
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on board:
a bordo
the whaling ship. He explains their fears and superstitions, and they crew
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crew:
tripulación
's belief
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belief:
creencia
in the supernatural power of the whales they hunt
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to hunt:
cazar
:
“[I]n maritime life, far more than in that of terra firma, wild rumors abound, wherever there is any adequate reality for them to cling to. And as the sea surpasses the land in this matter, so the whale fishery surpasses every other sort of maritime life, in the wonderfulness and fearfulness of the rumors which sometimes circulate there.”
“[E]n la vida marítima abundan los rumores desatados mucho más que en tierra firme, dondequiera que haya cualquier realidad apropiada para adherirse. Y lo mismo que el mar sobrepasa a la tierra en este asunto, así la pesca de ballenas sobrepasa a cualquier otra clase de vida marítima en lo prodigioso y terrible de los rumores que a veces circulan por ella”.
PRODUCT
Moby-Dick is filled
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to fill:
llenar
with detailed descriptions of whaling and cetology. Ishmail describes creatures that are sensitive
+
sensitive:
sensible
and intelligent, though
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though:
si bien
also dangerous. He has great respect for life beneath
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beneath:
bajo
the surface of the water. However, brutally slaughtered
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to slaughter:
masacrar
, the whales become a product whose blubber
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blubber:
sebo
helps to fuel
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to fuel:
alimentar
the industrial revolution back home
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back home:
en casa
:
“Every sailor a butcher [...] the hook is inserted, and the main body of the crew striking up a wild chorus, now commence heaving... as the blubber envelops the whale precisely as the rind does an orange, so it is stripped off from the body precisely as an orange is sometimes stripped by spiralizing it.”
“Cada marinero un matarife [...] se inserta el gancho, y la mayor parte de los tripulantes, entonando un salvaje coro, empiezan a izar, densamente agolpados en el cabrestante[...] Ahora, dado que la grasa envuelve a la ballena exactamente igual que la cáscara a una naranja, se arranca del cuerpo exactamente igual que a veces se pelan las naranjas, mondándolas en espiral”.
BATTLE
Melville describes the final chase
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chase:
persecución
and deadly battle
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deadly battle:
lucha a muerte
between the harpoons
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harpoons:
arpones
of the humans and the power and ferocity of the whale. Driven
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to drive:
impulsar
by Ahab’s madness, there is no turning back
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there is no turning back:
no hay vuelta atrás
, as the whale surfaces
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to surface:
emerger, salir a la superficie
and the novel reaches
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to reach:
alcanzar
its dramatic conclusion:
“‘Aye, breach your last to the sun, Moby Dick!’ cried Ahab, ‘thy hour and thy harpoon are at hand!–Down! down all of ye, but one man at the fore. The boats!–stand by! [...] As if to strike a quick terror into them... Moby Dick had turned, and was now coming for the three crews.”
“—¡Sí, salta al sol por última vez, Moby Dick! —gritó Ahab—: ¡ya están a mano tu hora y tu arpón! ¡Abajo, abajo todos vosotros, un solo hombre en el palo de trinquete! ¡Las lanchas! ¡Preparados! [...] Como para infundirles un vivo terror [...] Moby Dick se había vuelto y ahora se dirigía contra las tres tripulaciones”.
CRITICS
Melville’s first two books, Typee (1846) and Omoo (1847), established his reputation as an adventure travel writer. Moby-Dick, however, confused critics with its scale, biblical symbolism and cross-genre
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cross-genre:
heterogéneo, que mezcla estilos
style. His books sold badly and in his final years Melville turned to writing poetry. He died in 1891, and it took until the 20th century for his ambition and genius to be recognised. Moby-Dick has since been adapted for screen many times, most famously in 1956 in a John Huston film starring Gregory Peck as Captain Ahab.
Traducción de José María Valverde, Editorial Planeta, Barcelona, 2000.
