Moby Dick

Chapter 3, "The Spouter Inn"

Melville, or Ishmael, opens this chapter by putting you through the front door of the inn, where a large oil painting is visible on one side. It is weathered to such an extent as to be uninterpretable. Strangest is a large black mass in the center, which might be almost anything, but Ishmael would guess is a whale. His end conclusion of the painting is that it "represents a Cape-Horner in a great hurricane; the half-foundered ship wheltering there with its three dismasted masts alone visible; and an exasperated whale, purposing to spring clean over the craft, is in the enormous act oof impaling himself upon the three mast-heads." Opposite the painting was a large collection of clubs and spears, and rusty old harpoons and whaling lances. Some of these latter "were storied weapons."

 After this, there was the public room, where a bar lies, with a huge whale-jaw hung over it. The man inside, the bartender, was referred to as Jonah. The cups he served from (apparently cylinders, but actually a cone-shape inside) had marks on them, and for each penny, he filled it up to one mark, with the cup full for a shilling.

 Ishmael asked for a room, and was informed that they were full, but if he wished, he could share a bed with a certain harpooner. Though Ishmael should have preferred otherwise, he accepted. He dined shortly after, and learned from the bartender some odd things about the harpooner who was going to be his bedmate, and he began to be suspicious of him. Soon after, the crew of the Grampus, a whaling vessel, arrived. Soon after, they were drunk. One wasn't, though, and he left shortly after, eventually followed by his companions. It was about nine then, and Ishmael came up with a plan to avoid doubling up with the mysterious harpooner, and asked if he could sleep on the bench. However, he found it unbearable, and eventually decided to live with the harpooner. He asked the innkeeper about the harpooner, and, after receiving some confusing answers, he finally demanded a straight answer, and cleared it up. Note: this is one of the funniest sequences in the book, and reads very well. It being midnight by this time, and therefore Sunday, Ishmael went up with the innkeeper, hoping that this fellow shouldn't turn up.

 He found his theoretical bunkmate's gear in the room when he arrived, and some of it was odd. Ishmael went to bed then, and found that the mattress was quite uncomfortable. He eventually dozed off, but was awakened by a heavy tread outside. When the he came into the room, Ishmael was astonished to see that the harpooner body was tattooed all over with odd squares of color, and again astonished when he removed his hat, and his head was bald except for a small scalp-knot. Ishmael was getting quite nervous at this point. Soon after, the harpooner started work on worshipping a small wooden idol. Having seen all this, Ishmael began to plan something to say to the harpooner before he leapt into bed, but he was too late. There was some confusion then, which was resolved by the landlord.

References:
"entry with old-fashioned wainscots": wainscots are wooden panels, paneling
"the New England hags"

"a boggy, soggy, squitchy picture truly"
OED: squitch:couch grass, a weed

"a Hyperborean winter scene": 'borean' would refer to the northern regions, 'hyper' is a Greek prefix meaning above or beyond.

"like another cursed Jonah": a reference to the Jonah who was swallowed by a whale
"specimens of skrimshander" From the dictionary: "scrimshaw, .... , 1. any of various carved or engraved articles made esp. by American whalers, usu. from whalebone or whale ivory"

"I sat down on a old wooden settle": a long seat with a back, a.k.a. a settee
"reported in the offing": the offing, 'part of sea distant from shore'.
"a sovereign cure for all colds and catarrhs whatsoever": catarrh, inflammation of a mucous membrane
"even with the arrantest topers": arrant, notoriously without moderation, toper, one who drinks to excess

"capering about most obstreperously":obstreperous, marked by unruly or aggressive noisyness

"and a chest like a coffer-dam": A coffer dam was a watertight enclosure usually made of two or more piles placed close together, with clay to seal it watertight. The water could be then pumped out, and a dry space provided. They were used to allow for the laying of piers or repairing of ships. Here, the analogy suggests that Bulkington was very muscular, like a body builder.

"now flying into a passion again at this unaccountable farrago of the landlord's": farrago:"a confused collection"
"I'll give ye a glim in a jiffy": glim may be from glimmer, but in this case, he means that he'll light Ishmael's way up
"Folding back the counterpane": Bed cover
"Going to his heavy grego, or wrapall, or dreadnaught"
dreadnought: a warm garment of thick cloth