Chapter 81 - The Pequod Meets The Virgin Quiz — Moby-Dick; or, The Whale

by Herman Melville

Comprehension Quiz: Chapter 81 - The Pequod Meets The Virgin

Why does Captain Derick De Deer board the Pequod at the beginning of Chapter 81?

  • He has heard rumors of Moby Dick and wants to share intelligence about the White Whale's location
  • He carries a lamp-feeder and oil-can because his ship has run out of oil and he has come to beg for some
  • He wants to propose a joint hunting expedition so both ships can share the profits of the voyage
  • He is delivering a letter from the ship owners in Bremen containing new orders for Captain Ahab

What does the name "Jungfrau" mean, and why does Ishmael say the ship deserves this name?

  • It means "fast runner" in German, fitting because the ship is known for its speed on the open seas
  • It means "Virgin" in German, fitting because the ship is completely clean and empty of any whale oil
  • It means "iron maiden" in German, fitting because the ship's hull is reinforced with iron plating
  • It means "old friend" in German, fitting because the Pequod has encountered this ship on previous voyages

What physical condition makes the old bull whale stand out from the pod of eight whales?

  • He is albino white like Moby Dick, causing both crews to momentarily mistake him for the White Whale
  • He is blind, covered in yellowish incrustations, and missing his starboard fin, trailing far behind the pod
  • He is unusually small for a sperm whale, barely half the size of the others in the group swimming ahead
  • He has a distinctive scar across his back from a previous encounter with a whaling ship's propeller

To what does Ishmael compare the terrified old whale's flight from the whaleboats?

  • A wounded lion circling desperately in an arena, unable to find an escape from the surrounding hunters
  • A bird with clipped wings making affrighted broken circles in the air, trying to escape piratical hawks
  • An aged horse stumbling through a burning stable, too confused and frightened to find the open door
  • A great ship caught in a maelstrom, spinning helplessly as the current drags it toward the center

How does Derick De Deer taunt the Pequod's boats during the competitive chase?

  • He orders his crew to sing a loud German sea shanty to mock the American whalers' slower pace
  • He mockingly shakes the very lamp-feeder that the Pequod had just filled for him moments earlier
  • He stands at the bow of his boat and waves a German flag while laughing at the trailing American boats
  • He throws pieces of hardtack bread at the Pequod's crews to suggest they should give up and eat lunch

What mishap causes Derick's boat to lose the race to the whale?

  • A rogue wave catches his boat broadside, spinning it around and forcing his crew to recover their bearing
  • One of his oarsmen catches a crab, jamming his oar and nearly capsizing the boat while Derick rages
  • His harpooneer accidentally drops the harpoon overboard, forcing the crew to stop and fish it out
  • The German boat runs aground on a hidden sandbar that the more experienced Pequod crews avoided

Which three harpooneers strike the whale at the same moment?

  • Starbuck, Stubb, and Flask — the three mates personally throw their irons to ensure the kill is theirs
  • Queequeg, Tashtego, and Daggoo — they spring to their feet and dart their barbs over the German harpooneer
  • Fedallah, Pip, and the Manxman — Ahab's secret crew who have been waiting for exactly this opportunity
  • Three unnamed sailors from the Jungfrau who switch allegiance to the Pequod during the competitive chase

What does Flask do that provokes the dying whale into a final, violent charge?

  • He beats the whale repeatedly on the head with an oar, trying to speed up the killing process
  • He pierces an ulcerous growth on the whale's flank, causing a jet of diseased matter to erupt violently
  • He pours hot oil from a lantern onto the whale's back, burning its already wounded and sensitive skin
  • He leans over the bow and shouts insults directly into the whale's ear, startling it into a rage

What remarkable ancient artifact is found embedded in the dead whale's flesh?

  • A bronze Roman coin from the era of Julius Caesar, suggesting the whale once swam Mediterranean waters
  • A stone lance-head that may have been thrown by a Native American long before America was discovered
  • A carved ivory talisman from a Polynesian tribe, proving the whale had traveled across the Pacific Ocean
  • A fragment of a Viking longship's iron anchor, dating the whale's earliest injury to the medieval period

What happens when the dead whale's body begins to sink while chained to the Pequod?

  • The crew successfully winches the body aboard using the main capstan before it can pull the ship under
  • The ship tilts so severely that crossing the deck is like walking up a steep gabled roof, nearly capsizing her
  • The chains snap immediately from the strain, and the whale sinks before any damage is done to the ship
  • Ahab orders the crew to abandon ship temporarily, rowing to the Jungfrau until the whale detaches on its own

Who saves the Pequod from capsizing by cutting the fluke-chains?

  • Starbuck, who reluctantly gives the order and uses his own knife to sever the final restraining cable
  • Queequeg, who seizes the carpenter's heavy hatchet and chops through the largest fluke-chains
  • Stubb, who ties a rope around the chains and uses the capstan winch to twist them until they snap
  • Flask, who dives underwater with a saw and cuts through the submerged chains from below the surface

What type of whale does the Jungfrau chase at the end of the chapter?

  • A young sperm whale calf that has separated from its mother and is swimming alone near the surface
  • A Fin-Back whale, a species too fast to catch that only inexperienced whalers would pursue
  • A right whale, which is less valuable than a sperm whale but easier for beginners to harpoon
  • A blue whale, the largest species in the ocean, which Derick mistakes for a pod of smaller whales

What is the meaning of the chapter's closing line: "Many are the Fin-Backs, and many are the Dericks"?

  • The oceans are full of both Fin-Back whales and German whaling captains competing for the same resources
  • There will always be uncatchable goals (Fin-Backs) and naive pursuers (Dericks) who chase them futilely
  • Both Fin-Back whales and captains like Derick are endangered species soon to disappear from the seas
  • The whaling industry relies equally on elusive whales and determined captains to keep the trade profitable

What unique anatomical feature of the sperm whale does Ishmael discuss in connection with the whale's death?

  • The whale's heart has four chambers like a mammal, not two like a fish, causing it to bleed more profusely
  • The whale's blood vessels are entirely non-valvular, so when pierced, blood drains from the whole arterial system
  • The whale's blubber layer acts as a second skin that seals wounds automatically to prevent blood loss
  • The whale's bones are hollow and filled with oil, which leaks out when the skeleton is fractured by harpoons

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