Not P but Moby-Dick (6)

[Mike Jing]

That does make a lot of sense to me. Thanks, Joseph.

And thanks to all for replying.


On Wed, Aug 30, 2023 at 10:50 AM Joseph Tracy <brook7 at sover.net> wrote:

> 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
> >
>
>
>
>