Not P but Moby-Dick (6)

[Joseph Tracy]

It sounds to my ear more like a contrast where driving down the hat would mean more firmly affix it to your head and by implication resist  honoring the distant authority of the czar versus  taking it off in respect for a man who is a celebrated harpooner of whales. This would fit a revolutionary american ideal of resisting kings and honoring those who take the risks to fuel a new world. ( of course Melville brings that sentiment into question making the question a central theme as the story unfolds)



> On Aug 28, 2023, at 3:39 PM, Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> The following excerpt is from Chapter 24:
> 
> No dignity in whaling? The dignity of our calling the very heavens attest.
> Cetus is a constellation in the South! No more! Drive down your hat in
> presence of the Czar, and take it off to Queequeg!
> 
> What does "drive down" mean here? Some of the previous translations
> interpreted it as "remove", which doesn't seem right.
> --
> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>