{"id":"01KJNXJQVCCVFYJP1NEWKAD1ZE","cid":"bafkreigrvnewpnxjg4ifjeefgq3vb6iacetdft3hizue67lybxnjphkhzu","type":"text_chunk","properties":{"char_end":171949,"char_start":163966,"chunk_index":23,"chunk_total":178,"estimated_tokens":1996,"source_file_key":"moby-dick","text":"Hosea, as he called him, was famous for his chowders. In short, he\r\nplainly hinted that we could not possibly do better than try pot-luck\r\nat the Try Pots. But the directions he had given us about keeping a\r\nyellow warehouse on our starboard hand till we opened a white church to\r\nthe larboard, and then keeping that on the larboard hand till we made a\r\ncorner three points to the starboard, and that done, then ask the first\r\nman we met where the place was: these crooked directions of his very\r\nmuch puzzled us at first, especially as, at the outset, Queequeg\r\ninsisted that the yellow warehouse—our first point of departure—must be\r\nleft on the larboard hand, whereas I had understood Peter Coffin to say\r\nit was on the starboard. However, by dint of beating about a little in\r\nthe dark, and now and then knocking up a peaceable inhabitant to\r\ninquire the way, we at last came to something which there was no\r\nmistaking.\r\n\r\nTwo enormous wooden pots painted black, and suspended by asses’ ears,\r\nswung from the cross-trees of an old top-mast, planted in front of an\r\nold doorway. The horns of the cross-trees were sawed off on the other\r\nside, so that this old top-mast looked not a little like a gallows.\r\nPerhaps I was over sensitive to such impressions at the time, but I\r\ncould not help staring at this gallows with a vague misgiving. A sort\r\nof crick was in my neck as I gazed up to the two remaining horns; yes,\r\n_two_ of them, one for Queequeg, and one for me. It’s ominous, thinks\r\nI. A Coffin my Innkeeper upon landing in my first whaling port;\r\ntombstones staring at me in the whalemen’s chapel; and here a gallows!\r\nand a pair of prodigious black pots too! Are these last throwing out\r\noblique hints touching Tophet?\r\n\r\nI was called from these reflections by the sight of a freckled woman\r\nwith yellow hair and a yellow gown, standing in the porch of the inn,\r\nunder a dull red lamp swinging there, that looked much like an injured\r\neye, and carrying on a brisk scolding with a man in a purple woollen\r\nshirt.\r\n\r\n“Get along with ye,” said she to the man, “or I’ll be combing ye!”\r\n\r\n“Come on, Queequeg,” said I, “all right. There’s Mrs. Hussey.”\r\n\r\nAnd so it turned out; Mr. Hosea Hussey being from home, but leaving\r\nMrs. Hussey entirely competent to attend to all his affairs. Upon\r\nmaking known our desires for a supper and a bed, Mrs. Hussey,\r\npostponing further scolding for the present, ushered us into a little\r\nroom, and seating us at a table spread with the relics of a recently\r\nconcluded repast, turned round to us and said—“Clam or Cod?”\r\n\r\n“What’s that about Cods, ma’am?” said I, with much politeness.\r\n\r\n“Clam or Cod?” she repeated.\r\n\r\n“A clam for supper? a cold clam; is _that_ what you mean, Mrs. Hussey?”\r\nsays I, “but that’s a rather cold and clammy reception in the winter\r\ntime, ain’t it, Mrs. Hussey?”\r\n\r\nBut being in a great hurry to resume scolding the man in the purple\r\nShirt, who was waiting for it in the entry, and seeming to hear nothing\r\nbut the word “clam,” Mrs. Hussey hurried towards an open door leading\r\nto the kitchen, and bawling out “clam for two,” disappeared.\r\n\r\n“Queequeg,” said I, “do you think that we can make out a supper for us\r\nboth on one clam?”\r\n\r\nHowever, a warm savory steam from the kitchen served to belie the\r\napparently cheerless prospect before us. But when that smoking chowder\r\ncame in, the mystery was delightfully explained. Oh, sweet friends!\r\nhearken to me. It was made of small juicy clams, scarcely bigger than\r\nhazel nuts, mixed with pounded ship biscuit, and salted pork cut up\r\ninto little flakes; the whole enriched with butter, and plentifully\r\nseasoned with pepper and salt. Our appetites being sharpened by the\r\nfrosty voyage, and in particular, Queequeg seeing his favourite fishing\r\nfood before him, and the chowder being surpassingly excellent, we\r\ndespatched it with great expedition: when leaning back a moment and\r\nbethinking me of Mrs. Hussey’s clam and cod announcement, I thought I\r\nwould try a little experiment. Stepping to the kitchen door, I uttered\r\nthe word “cod” with great emphasis, and resumed my seat. In a few\r\nmoments the savoury steam came forth again, but with a different\r\nflavor, and in good time a fine cod-chowder was placed before us.\r\n\r\nWe resumed business; and while plying our spoons in the bowl, thinks I\r\nto myself, I wonder now if this here has any effect on the head? What’s\r\nthat stultifying saying about chowder-headed people? “But look,\r\nQueequeg, ain’t that a live eel in your bowl? Where’s your harpoon?”\r\n\r\nFishiest of all fishy places was the Try Pots, which well deserved its\r\nname; for the pots there were always boiling chowders. Chowder for\r\nbreakfast, and chowder for dinner, and chowder for supper, till you\r\nbegan to look for fish-bones coming through your clothes. The area\r\nbefore the house was paved with clam-shells. Mrs. Hussey wore a\r\npolished necklace of codfish vertebra; and Hosea Hussey had his account\r\nbooks bound in superior old shark-skin. There was a fishy flavor to the\r\nmilk, too, which I could not at all account for, till one morning\r\nhappening to take a stroll along the beach among some fishermen’s\r\nboats, I saw Hosea’s brindled cow feeding on fish remnants, and\r\nmarching along the sand with each foot in a cod’s decapitated head,\r\nlooking very slip-shod, I assure ye.\r\n\r\nSupper concluded, we received a lamp, and directions from Mrs. Hussey\r\nconcerning the nearest way to bed; but, as Queequeg was about to\r\nprecede me up the stairs, the lady reached forth her arm, and demanded\r\nhis harpoon; she allowed no harpoon in her chambers. “Why not?” said I;\r\n“every true whaleman sleeps with his harpoon—but why not?” “Because\r\nit’s dangerous,” says she. “Ever since young Stiggs coming from that\r\nunfort’nt v’y’ge of his, when he was gone four years and a half, with\r\nonly three barrels of _ile_, was found dead in my first floor back,\r\nwith his harpoon in his side; ever since then I allow no boarders to\r\ntake sich dangerous weepons in their rooms at night. So, Mr. Queequeg”\r\n(for she had learned his name), “I will just take this here iron, and\r\nkeep it for you till morning. But the chowder; clam or cod to-morrow\r\nfor breakfast, men?”\r\n\r\n“Both,” says I; “and let’s have a couple of smoked herring by way of\r\nvariety.”\r\n\r\n\r\nCHAPTER 16. The Ship.\r\n\r\nIn bed we concocted our plans for the morrow. But to my surprise and no\r\nsmall concern, Queequeg now gave me to understand, that he had been\r\ndiligently consulting Yojo—the name of his black little god—and Yojo\r\nhad told him two or three times over, and strongly insisted upon it\r\neveryway, that instead of our going together among the whaling-fleet in\r\nharbor, and in concert selecting our craft; instead of this, I say,\r\nYojo earnestly enjoined that the selection of the ship should rest\r\nwholly with me, inasmuch as Yojo purposed befriending us; and, in order\r\nto do so, had already pitched upon a vessel, which, if left to myself,\r\nI, Ishmael, should infallibly light upon, for all the world as though\r\nit had turned out by chance; and in that vessel I must immediately ship\r\nmyself, for the present irrespective of Queequeg.\r\n\r\nI have forgotten to mention that, in many things, Queequeg placed great\r\nconfidence in the excellence of Yojo’s judgment and surprising forecast\r\nof things; and cherished Yojo with considerable esteem, as a rather\r\ngood sort of god, who perhaps meant well enough upon the whole, but in\r\nall cases did not succeed in his benevolent designs.\r\n\r\nNow, this plan of Queequeg’s, or rather Yojo’s, touching the selection\r\nof our craft; I did not like that plan at all. I had not a little\r\nrelied upon Queequeg’s sagacity to point out the whaler best fitted to\r\ncarry us and our fortunes securely. But as all my remonstrances\r\nproduced no effect upon Queequeg, I was obliged to acquiesce; and\r\naccordingly prepared to set about this business with a determined\r\nrushing sort of energy and vigor, that should quickly settle that\r\ntrifling little affair."},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KJNXEDHZCC8DR4EPSQD0QP4P","peer_label":"moby-dick","peer_type":"text","predicate":"derived_from"},{"peer":"01KJNXECF9R1EZKS5Z7J8A8ZSB","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KJNXM2RGA1C0QD3RV43KE6DC","peer_label":"mrs hussey","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T00:02:08.214Z"}},{"peer":"01KJNXKXNCK8G0E519GPWTEATV","peer_label":"ishmael","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T00:02:08.214Z"}},{"peer":"01KJNXKXNA6Q7NV244AJQKVXKZ","peer_label":"queequeg","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T00:02:08.214Z"}},{"peer":"01KJNXM1JY61FTG36E9HP0Z97S","peer_label":"peter coffin","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T00:02:08.214Z"}},{"peer":"01KJNXKXH2GMRN3K01DR56AKFQ","peer_label":"harpoon","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"weapon","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T00:02:08.214Z"}},{"peer":"01KJNXM4Q3CGWZHSGQMPRAGDB2","peer_label":"stiggs","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T00:02:08.214Z"}},{"peer":"01KJNXM4EVRV8HH0FFVFH15QGB","peer_label":"clam chowder","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"dish","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T00:02:08.214Z"}},{"peer":"01KJNXM4DJ62KH22YF8JX56H1V","peer_label":"hosea hussey","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T00:02:08.214Z"}},{"peer":"01KJNXM4GGKGWA6A6DJY9RA4SF","peer_label":"cod chowder","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"dish","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T00:02:08.214Z"}},{"peer":"01KJNXM567K79TSZV8F949N82D","peer_label":"brindled cow","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"animal","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T00:02:08.214Z"}},{"peer":"01KJNXM5FN17E7PAJ560ZC67TK","peer_label":"fish remnants","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"object_group","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T00:02:08.214Z"}},{"peer":"01KJNXM53NKWEJ4GR0WPQG0VAH","peer_label":"yojo","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"deity","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T00:02:08.214Z"}},{"peer":"01KJNXM5HBR1H473SSEESKR242","peer_label":"ship selection","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"concept","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T00:02:08.214Z"}},{"peer":"01KJNXM5CDC6BF69NZVCX6SX5H","peer_label":"chapter 16 the ship","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"document_section","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T00:02:08.214Z"}},{"peer":"01KJNXM4G8GZQ0YDY3TYCP3Q1R","peer_label":"man in purple woollen shirt","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T00:02:08.214Z"}},{"peer":"01KJNXM4E1D0FTVVZCXDTX7WYT","peer_label":"try pots","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"inn","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T00:02:08.214Z"}},{"peer":"01KJNXM6FPP072C79EVQDRF2FE","peer_label":"whaling ship","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"ship","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T00:02:08.214Z"}},{"peer":"01KJNXM5WH7P3XA22TACC255J4","peer_label":"smoked herring","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"food_item","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T00:02:08.214Z"}},{"peer":"01KJNXM6EF5WT5A64PB7BFHDS2","peer_label":"whaling fleet","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"group_of_ships","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T00:02:08.214Z"}}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-03-02T00:01:15.628Z","ts":"2026-03-02T00:02:09.572Z","edited_by":{"method":"system","user_id":"01KJ60XQBHJ0GBGTP9X8HXAPPM"}}