Moby-Dick, or The Whale is a novel by Herman Melville, first published in 1851. The story follows the obsessive hunt of Ahab, the captain of the whaling ship Pequod, for the white whale Moby Dick. Ahab, who lost a leg to the whale on a previous voyage, becomes fixated on revenge and the pursuit of the creature consumes him entirely.
The novel is narrated by Ishmael, a sailor on the Pequod, who becomes drawn into Ahab's madness as they set out on a dangerous journey to hunt down the whale. Along the way, they encounter a diverse cast of characters, including the harpooner Queequeg, the cabin boy Pip, and the enigmatic prophet Elijah.
Moby-Dick is a complex and layered work that delves into themes of isolation, obsession, and the human condition. Ahab is a tragic figure, driven by his own personal demons and the desire for revenge, and ultimately pays the ultimate price for his pursuit. Ishmael, on the other hand, serves as a foil to Ahab, providing a more measured and introspective perspective on the events of the voyage.
The novel is also notable for its detailed depiction of the whaling industry, and the harsh and often dangerous conditions that sailors faced on the open ocean. Melville's writing is rich and evocative, and he expertly weaves together the various threads of the story to create a powerful and enduring tale.
Moby-Dick remains a classic of American literature, and its themes and characters continue to resonate with readers today. It is a testament to the enduring power of the written word and the human experience.
Moby Dick; : Melville, Herman, 1819
I cherished no malice towards him, though he had been skylarking with me not a little in the matter of my bedfellow. And there they stand—miles of them—leagues. These reflections just here are occasioned by the circumstance that after we were all seated at the table, and I was preparing to hear some good stories about whaling; to my no small surprise nearly every man maintained a profound silence. THIS TABLET Is erected to his Memory BY HIS SISTER. In thoroughfares nigh the docks, any considerable seaport will frequently offer to view the queerest looking nondescripts from foreign parts. I lay there dismally calculating that sixteen entire hours must elapse before I could hope for a resurrection. Ishmael compares the common depiction of whales to his own eyewitness account.
Yes, there is death in this business of whaling—a speechlessly quick chaotic bundling of a man into Eternity. . Cadiz is in Spain; as far by water, from Joppa, as Jonah could possibly have sailed in those ancient days, when the Atlantic was an almost unknown sea. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship. As most young candidates for the pains and penalties of whaling stop at this same New Bedford, thence to embark on their voyage, it may as well be related that I, for one, had no idea of so doing. Wills, I thank you.
Moby Dick, or the Whale : Herman Melville : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
CHAPTER 10 A Bosom Friend Returning to the Spouter-Inn from the Chapel, I found Queequeg there quite alone; he having left the Chapel before the benediction some time. What of it, if some old hunks of a sea-captain orders me to get a broom and sweep down the decks? Elsewhere match that bloom of theirs, ye cannot, save in Salem, where they tell me the young girls breathe such musk, their sailor sweethearts smell them miles off shore, as though they were drawing nigh the odorous Moluccas instead of the Puritanic sands. There is magic in it. Superstition puts the crew on edge. I cherished no malice towards him, though he had been skylarking with me not a little in the matter of my bedfellow.
See ye not then, shipmates, that Jonah sought to flee worldwide from God? Nothing more happened on the passage worthy the mentioning; so, after a fine run, we safely arrived in Nantucket. I want to see the world. Shaking off the sleet from my ice-glazed hat and jacket, I seated myself near the door, and turning sideways was surprised to see Queequeg near me. Let me try to explain them. There is nothing surprising in this. Better sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunken Christian. I am no coward, but what to make of this headpeddling purple rascal altogether passed my comprehension.
Moby Dick by Herman Melville: Read First Chapter Online
The helmsman who steered by that tiller in a tempest, felt like the Tartar, when he holds back his fiery steed by clutching its jaw. When the revelry of his companions had mounted to its height, this man slipped away unobserved, and I saw no more of him till he became my comrade on the sea. It really makes the novel live. Straightway, he now goes on to make a full confession; whereupon the mariners became more and more appalled, but still are pitiful. But, besides the Feegeeans, Tongatobooarrs, Erromanggoans, Pannangians, and Brighggians, and, besides the wild specimens of the whaling-craft which unheeded reel about the streets, you will see other sights still more curious, certainly more comical. A boggy, soggy, squitchy picture truly, enough to drive a nervous man distracted.
How being an anointed pilot-prophet, or speaker of true things, and bidden by the Lord to sound those unwelcome truths in the ears of a wicked Nineveh, Jonah, appalled at the hostility he should raise, fled from his mission, and sought to escape his duty and his God by taking ship at Joppa. The more I pondered over this harpooneer, the more I abominated the thought of sleeping with him. But at that moment he is sprung upon by a panther billow leaping over the bulwarks. You and I must understand one another, and that too without delay. The greenhorn had gone down.
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Moby Dick; Or the Whale, by Herman Melville
His voice at once announced that he was a Southerner, and from his fine stature, I thought he must be one of those tall mountaineers from the Alleghanian Ridge in Virginia. First he takes about a double handful of shavings out of his grego pocket, and places them carefully before the idol; then laying a bit of ship biscuit on top and applying the flame from the lamp, he kindled the shavings into a sacrificial blaze. Look at the crowds of water-gazers there. And there they stand—miles of them—leagues. It is quite as much as I can do to take care of myself, without taking care of ships, barques, brigs, schooners, and what not. All dressed and dusty as he is, Jonah throws himself into his berth, and finds the little state-room ceiling almost resting on his forehead.
Instantly I felt a shock running through all my frame; nothing was to be seen, and nothing was to be heard; but a supernatural hand seemed placed in mine. He was sitting on a bench before the fire, with his feet on the stove hearth, and in one hand was holding close up to his face that little negro idol of his; peering hard into its face, and with a jack-knife gently whittling away at its nose, meanwhile humming to himself in his heathenish way. Such a portentous and mysterious monster roused all my curiosity. Delight is to him, whom all the waves of the billows of the seas of the boisterous mob can never shake from this sure Keel of the Ages. The picture represents a Cape-Horner in a great hurricane; the half-foundered ship weltering there with its three dismantled masts alone visible; and an exasperated whale, purposing to spring clean over the craft, is in the enormous act of impaling himself upon the three mast-heads.
