Not P but Moby-Dick (104)

[David Morris]

“No matter” =
“It doesn’t matter”
“In any [either] case”
“Whatever [the reason] might be”
“Despite all the musings of the men”
“All the previous analysis of what/how”

On Sun, Apr 7, 2024 at 11:21 PM Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
wrote:

> From Chapter 130:
>
> Nor, at any time, by night or day could the mariners now step upon the
> deck, unless Ahab was before them; either standing in his pivot-hole, or
> exactly pacing the planks between two undeviating limits,—the main-mast and
> the mizen;  or else they saw him standing in the cabin-scuttle,—his living
> foot advanced upon the deck, as if to step; his hat slouched heavily over
> his eyes; so that however motionless he stood, however the days and nights
> were added on, that he had not swung in his hammock;  yet hidden beneath
> that slouching hat, they could never tell unerringly whether, for all this,
> his eyes were really closed at times: or whether he was still intently
> scanning them; no matter, though he stood so in the scuttle for a whole
> hour on the stretch, and the unheeded night-damp gathered in beads of dew
> upon that stone-carved coat and hat
>
> What does the "no matter" refer to here exactly?
> --
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>