The Water-Method Man

'Right!' said Trumper. 'They should have left him alone.'

'That's what I'd do,' Colm said. 'I wouldn't even try to pat him.'

'Right,' Trumper said. 'Anybody who's smart would know that.' And he waited for the refrain ...

'But not Captain Ahab!' Colm said.

You should always tell stories, Trumper knew, in such a way that you make the audience feel good and wise, even a little ahead of you.

'Do the part about the crow's nest,' Colm said.

'High up on the mainmast,' Trumper orated dramatically, 'he could see what looked like a couple of whales, way off ...'

'Ishmael,' Colm corrected him. 'It was Ishmael, right?'

'Right,' said Trumper. 'Only it wasn't two whales, it was one whale ...'

'A very big one.'

'Right,' said Trumper. 'And when the whale spouted, Ishmael yelled ...'

'"Thar she blows!"' yelled Colm, who did not appear very sleepy.

'Then Ishmael noticed there was something funny about this whale.'

'It was white!' Colm said.

'Right,' said Trumper. 'And it had things stuck onto it everywhere ...'

'Harpoons!'

'Barnacles and seaweed and birds!' said Trumper.

'Birds?' said Colm.

'Never mind,' Trumper said. 'It was the biggest damn whale Ishmael had ever seen, and it was white, so he knew who it was.'

'Moby Dick!' Colm screamed.

'Ssshhh,' said Trumper. They calmed down together; they could hear the ocean slapping the rocks outside, creaking the dock, flapping the boats on their moorings. 'Listen,' Trumper whispered. 'Hear the ocean?'

'Yes,' whispered Colm.

'Well, the whaling men hear it just like that, slap, slap against the ship. At night, when they sleep.'

'Right,' Colm whispered.

'And the whales come sniffing around the ships at night.'

'They do?' said Colm.

'Sure,' said Trumper. 'And sometimes they brush against the ship a little, or bump it.'

'Do the men know what it is?'

'The smart ones do,' said Trumper.

'But not Captain Ahab,' Colm said.