Moby Dick
The days and weeks passed. The wind filled our sails and pulled our ship across miles and miles of the world's great oceans. I stayed busy with my sailor's tasks. There was always something to be done. As I worked with the others, whether it was scrubbing decks, mending nets, or keeping watch for whales, I kept my ears open to the stories they told. I was most interested in the tales about Moby Dick.
Most of what I heard seemed to be nothing but gossip and rumors. At the same time, some of the things must have been true because more than one sailor often repeated the same facts. For instance, I was told that Moby Dick was larger than even the largest sperm whales anyone had ever seen. He had a white, wrinkled forehead and a crooked lower jaw. And, according to most accounts, he carried in his side several harpoons left there by past efforts to catch him. Whether it was because of these Harpoon sticking in him, or whether it was just Moby Dick's own nature, I do not know, but every sailor swore he was an angry, vicious murderer who would attack ships and men hunting him.
Missing Sailors, however, also said there was a strange Beauty and mystery about him. Some even said that Moby Dick had been sighted and two different oceans at the same time. It was almost as though there were things both real and unreal about him-things both good and evil. But everybody agreed on one thing: it was this well, this Moby Dick, that had attacked Captain Ahab and chewed his leg from him.
These stories that I heard during my days stayed with me and do my nights. I tossed and turned and could not sleep.
(Done!)
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Moby Dick by Herman Melville
AdventureHold on to your hats and harpoons, ye landlubbers, and set your sails for the greatest sea yarn since Jonah. * A tale of daring, devils, and death, Moby Dick is one whale story! Come aboard the Pequod, hoist the anchor, and r...
