Consider the subtleness of the sea; how its most dreaded
creatures glide under water, unapparent for the most part,
and treacherously hidden beneath the loveliest tints of azure.
Consider also the devilish brilliance and beauty of many of
its most remorseless tribes, as the dainty embellished shape
of many species of sharks. Consider once more, the universal
cannibalism of the sea; all whose creatures prey upon each other,
carrying on eternal war since the world began.
Consider all this; and then turn to this green, gentle, and most
docile earth; consider them both, the sea and the land;
and do you not find a strange analogy to something in yourself?
For as this appalling ocean surrounds the verdant land, so in the soul
of man there lies one insular Tahiti, full of peace and joy,
but encompassed by all the horrors of the half known life.
God keep thee! Push not off from that isle, thou canst never return!
CHAPTER 59
Squid
Slowly wading through the meadows of brit, the Pequod still
held on her way north-eastward towards the island of Java;
a gentle air impelling her keel, so that in the surrounding
serenity her three tall tapering masts mildly waved
to that languid breeze, as three mild palms on a plain.
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