He took from his pocket a ball of stout cord and tied the free end to the middle of his pole.

他从衣袋里掏出一团结实的鱼线，把没拴鱼钩的一头拴到鱼竿的中间。

Stubb whistlingly gathers up the coil of the warp in one hand, so as to secure its free end in his grasp, leaving the rest unobstructed.

嗖嗖地把一卷牵索收在一只手里，以便把牵索的一端抓在手里，不让它妨碍牵索的其他部分。

We returned from our visit to The Haven with the hope that one free end of this tangled skein was already in our hands.

我们结束了对避风港的访问， 希望这根缠结的线团的一端已经在我们手中。