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So , cutting the lashing of the waterproof match keg , after many failures Starbuck contrived to ignite the lamp in the lantern ; then stretching it on a waif pole , handed it to Queequeg as the standard - bearer of this forlorn hope . There , then , he sat , holding up that imbecile candle in the heart of that almighty forlornness . There , then , he sat , the sign and symbol of a man without faith , hopelessly holding up hope in the midst of despair . Wet , drenched through , and shivering cold , despairing of ship or boat , we lifted up our eyes as the dawn came on . The mist still spread over the sea , the empty lantern lay crushed in the bottom of the boat . Suddenly Queequeg started to his feet , hollowing his hand to his ear . We all heard a faint creaking , as of ropes and yards hitherto muffled by the storm . The sound came nearer and nearer ; the thick mists were dimly parted by a huge , vague form . Affrighted , we all sprang into the sea as the ship at last loomed into view , bearing right down upon us within a distance of not much more than its length . Floating on the waves we saw the abandoned boat , as for one instant it tossed and gaped beneath the ship’s bows like a chip at the base of a cataract ; and then the vast hull rolled over it , and it was seen no more till it came up weltering astern . Again we swam for it , were dashed against it by the seas , and were at last taken up and safely landed on board . Ere the squall came close to , the other boats had cut loose from their fish and returned to the ship in good time . The ship had given us up , but was still cruising , if haply it might light upon some token of our perishing , — an oar or a lance pole . CHAPTER 49 . The Hyena . There are certain queer times and occasions in this strange mixed affair we call life when a man takes this whole universe for a vast practical joke , though the wit thereof he but dimly discerns , and more than suspects that the joke is at nobody’s expense but his own . However , nothing dispirits , and nothing seems worth while disputing . He bolts down all events , all creeds , and beliefs , and persuasions , all hard things visible and invisible , never mind how knobby ; as an ostrich of potent digestion gobbles down bullets and gun flints . And as for small difficulties and worryings , prospects of sudden disaster , peril of life and limb ; all these , and death itself , seem to him only sly , good - natured hits , and jolly punches in the side bestowed by the unseen and unaccountable old joker . That odd sort of wayward mood I am speaking of , comes over a man only in some time of extreme tribulation ; it comes in the very midst of his earnestness , so that what just before might have seemed to him a thing most momentous , now seems but a part of the general joke . There is nothing like the perils of whaling to breed this free and easy sort of genial , desperado philosophy ; and with it I now regarded this whole voyage of the Pequod , and the great White Whale its object .
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