Моби Дик/Moby Dick (Герман Мелвилл). Страница 71 из 297

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Be

it

known

that

,

waiving

all

argument

,

I

take

the

good

old

fashioned

ground

that

the

whale

is

a

fish

,

and

call

upon

holy

Jonah

to

back

me

.

This

fundamental

thing

settled

,

the

next

point

is

,

in

what

internal

respect

does

the

whale

differ

from

other

fish

.

Above

,

Linnaeus

has

given

you

those

items

.

But

in

brief

they

are

these

:

lungs

and

warm

blood

;

whereas

,

all

other

fish

are

lungless

and

cold

blooded

.

Next

:

how

shall

we

define

the

whale

,

by

his

obvious

externals

,

so

as

conspicuously

to

label

him

for

all

time

to

come

.

To

be

short

,

then

,

a

whale

is

a

spouting

fish

with

a

horizontal

tail

.

There

you

have

him

.

However

contracted

,

that

definition

is

the

result

of

expanded

meditation

.

A

walrus

spouts

much

like

a

whale

,

but

the

walrus

is

not

a

fish

,

because

he

is

amphibious

.

But

the

last

term

of

the

definition

is

still

more

cogent

,

as

coupled

with

the

first

.

Almost

any

one

must

have

noticed

that

all

the

fish

familiar

to

landsmen

have

not

a

flat

,

but

a

vertical

,

or

up-and-down

tail

.

Whereas

,

among

spouting

fish

the

tail

,

though

it

may

be

similarly

shaped

,

invariably

assumes

a

horizontal

position

.

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By

the

above

definition

of

what

a

whale

is

,

I

do

by

no

means

exclude

from

the

leviathanic

brotherhood

any

sea

creature

hitherto

identified

with

the

whale

by

the

best

informed

Nantucketers

;

nor

,

on

the

other

hand

,

link

with

it

any

fish

hitherto

authoritatively

regarded

as

alien

.

Hence

,

all

the

smaller

,

spouting

and

horizontal

tailed

fish

must

be

included

in

this

ground-plan

of

cetology

.

Now

,

then

,

come

the

grand

divisions

of

the

entire

whale

host

.

First

:

According

to

magnitude

I

divide

the

whales

into

three

primary

BOOKS

(

subdivisible

into

CHAPTERS

)

,

and

these

shall

comprehend

them

all

,

both

small

and

large

.

I

.

THE

FOLIO

WHALE

;

II

.

the

OCTAVO

WHALE

;

III

.

the

DUODECIMO

WHALE

.

As

the

type

of

the

FOLIO

I

present

the

Sperm

Whale

;

of

the

OCTAVO

,

the

Grampus

;

of

the

DUODECIMO

,

the

Porpoise

.

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FOLIOS

.

Among

these

I

here

include

the

following

chapters

:

--

I

.

The

Sperm

Whale

;

II

.

the

Right

Whale

;

III

.

the

Fin

Back

Whale

;

IV

.

the

Humpbacked

Whale

;

V.

the

Razor

Back

Whale

;

VI

.

the

Sulphur

Bottom

Whale

.

BOOK

I.

(

Folio

)

,

CHAPTER

I.

(

Sperm

Whale

)

.

--

This

whale

,

among

the

English

of

old

vaguely

known

as

the

Trumpa

whale

and

the

Physeter

whale

,

and

the

Anvil

Headed

whale

,

is

the

present

Cachalot

of

the

French

,

and

the

Pottsfich

of

the

Germans

,

and

the

Macrocephalus

of

the

Long

Words

.

He

is

,

without

doubt

,

the

largest

inhabitant

of

the

globe

;

the

most

formidable

of

all

whales

to

encounter

;

the

most

majestic

in

aspect

;

and

lastly

,

by

far

the

most

valuable

in

commerce

;

he

being

the

only

creature

from

which

that

valuable

substance

,

spermaceti

,

is

obtained

.

All

his

peculiarities

will

,

in

many

other

places

,

be

enlarged

upon

.

It

is

chiefly

with

his

name

that

I

now

have

to

do

.

Philologically

considered

,

it

is

absurd

.

Some

centuries

ago

,

when

the

sperm

whale

was

almost

wholly

unknown

in

his

own

proper

individuality

,

and

when

his

oil

was

only

accidentally

obtained

from

the

stranded

fish

;

in

those

days

spermaceti

,

it

would

seem

,

was

popularly

supposed

to

be

derived

from

a

creature

identical

with

the

one

then

known

in

England

as

the

Greenland

or

Right

Whale

.

It

was

the

idea

also

,

that

this

same

spermaceti

was

that

quickening

humor

of

the

Greenland

Whale

which

the

first

syllable

of

the

word

literally

expresses

.

In

those

times

,

also

,

spermaceti

was

exceedingly

scarce

,

not

being

used

for

light

,

but

only

as

an

ointment

and

medicament

.

It

was

only

to

be

had

from

the

druggists

as

you

nowadays

buy

an

ounce

of

rhubarb

.

When

,

as

I

opine

,

in

the

course

of

time

,

the

true

nature

of

spermaceti

became

known

,

its

original

name

was

still

retained

by

the

dealers

;

no

doubt

to

enhance

its

value

by

a

notion

so

strangely

significant

of

its

scarcity

.

And

so

the

appellation

must

at

last

have

come

to

be

bestowed

upon

the

whale

from

which

this

spermaceti

was

really

derived

.

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