《白鲸》是美国浪漫主义作家梅尔维尔的代表作，也是世界文学史上最优秀的小说之一，因描写了海上航行和纷繁的捕鲸生活，而被誉为"捕鲸业的百科全书"，《剑桥文学史》称之为世界文学史上最伟大的海洋传奇小说之一。就其文学价值而言，亦被称为美国的《哈姆莱特》。讲述的是捕鲸船"裴廓德"号船长亚哈一心要捕杀咬掉自己一条腿的凶残聪明的白鲸莫比·迪克，在航行几乎全世界，经历辗转，终于与莫比·迪克遭遇的故事。(Moby Dick is the masterpiece of Melville, an American Romanticist, and also is one of the most classic novel in the history of world literature. Because the book describes the maritime navigation and various whaling, it is praised as the encyclopedia of whale fishery. Cambridge Literature History calls it as one of the greatest maritime legendary novel in the world literature history. In terms of its literature value, it is also called as Hamlet of America. It tells a story that Ahab, the captain of Pequod wants to catch and kill a ferocious and wide white whale Moby Dick, which has bitten off his one leg. After navigating all around the world and experiencing lots of things, he finally encounters Moby Dick.)