Not P but Moby-Dick (92)

[Michael Bailey]

The puzzling thing is the attribution, to the inanimate fusee, of the
ability to smell fire -


The similitude of which is attributed to the Parsee.


However, what if the notion of “smelling fire” is that a fusee is so
flammable that if a flame is anywhere nearby, it will ignite, as if it
smelled the fire?

True, the Parsee himself won’t ignite (for which all are probably
grateful), so the comparison only goes partway

On Wed, Mar 20, 2024 at 12:19 PM Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
wrote:

> From Chapter 113:
>
> “What’s that bunch of lucifers dodging about there for?” muttered Stubb,
> looking on from the forecastle. “That Parsee smells fire like a fusee; and
> smells of it himself, like a hot musket’s powder-pan.”
>
> What does "smells fire like a fusee" mean here?
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