Wednesday, January 4, 2012

ABOARD THE PEQUOD

Honestly, I spotted that white whale probably six times while I was on watch, and I never mentioned it once. I shut my eyes and pretended to be sleeping. If they caught me sleeping, I’d get the lash. If we fought that whale I’d be killed, or worse, maimed. I got a good look at that leg of his once—the flesh where the stump met the peg was always red and inflamed, and at sea it was always damp. My father was a surgeon, I’d seen people eaten away by infection. Ahab was a bastard, but bacteria is a motherfucker.

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