登陆注册
36835100000175

第175章

But supposing the invader of domestic bliss to betake himself away at the first rush of the harem's lord, then is it very diverting to watch that lord. Gently he insinuates his vast bulk among them again and revels there awhile, still in tantalizing vicinity to young Lothario, like pious Solomon devoutly worshipping among his thousand concubines. Granting other whales to be in sight, the fisherman will seldom give chase to one of these Grand Turks; for these Grand Turks are too lavish of their strength, and hence their unctuousness is small. As for the sons and daughters they beget, why, those sons and daughters must take care of themselves; at least, with only the maternal help. For like certain other omnivorous roving lovers that might be named, my Lord Whale has no taste for the nursery, however much for the bower; and so, being a great traveller, he leaves his anonymous babies all over the world; every baby an exotic. In good time, nevertheless, as the ardor of youth declines; as years and dumps increase; as reflection lends her solemn pauses; in short, as a general lassitude overtakes the sated Turk; then a love of ease and virtue supplants the love for maidens; our Ottoman enters upon the impotent, repentant, admonitory stage of life, forswears, disbands the harem, and grown to an exemplary, sulky old soul, goes about all alone among the meridians and parallels saying his prayers, and warning each young Leviathan from his amorous errors.

Now, as the harem of whales is called by the fishermen a school, so is the lord and master of that school technically known as the schoolmaster. It is therefore not in strict character, however admirably satirical, that after going to school himself, he should then go abroad inculcating not what he learned there, but the folly of it. His title, schoolmaster, would very naturally seem derived from the name bestowed upon the harem itself, but some have surmised that the man who first thus entitled this sort of Ottoman whale, must have read the memoirs of Vidocq, and informed himself what sort of a country-schoolmaster that famous Frenchman was in his younger days, and what was the nature of those occult lessons he inculcated into some of his pupils.

The same secludedness and isolation to which the schoolmaster whale betakes himself in his advancing years, is true of all aged Sperm Whales. Almost universally, a lone whale- as a solitary Leviathan is called- proves an ancient one. Like venerable moss-bearded Daniel Boone, he will have no one near him but Nature herself; and her he takes to wife in the wilderness of waters, and the best of wives she is, though she keeps so many moody secrets.

The schools composing none but young and vigorous males, previously mentioned, offer a strong contrast to the harem schools.

For while those females are characteristically timid, the young males, or forty-barrel-bulls, as they call them, are by far the most pugnacious of all Leviathans, and proverbially the most dangerous to encounter; excepting those wondrous grey-headed, grizzled whales, sometimes met, and these will fight you like grim fiends exasperated by a penal gout.

The Forty-barrel-bull schools are larger than the harem schools.

Like a mob of young collegians, they are full of fight, fun, and wickedness, tumbling round the world at such a reckless, rollicking rate, that no prudent underwriter would insure them any more than he would a riotous lad at Yale or Harvard. They soon relinquish this turbulence though, and when about three-fourths grown, break up, and separately go about in quest of settlements, that is, harems.

Another point of difference between the male and female schools is still more characteristic of the ***es. Say you strike a Forty-barrel-bull- poor devil! all his comrades quit him. But strike a member of the harem school, and her companions swim around her with every token of concern, sometimes lingering so near her and so long, as themselves to fall a prey.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 来不及学爱

    来不及学爱

    时光太快,快得我们赶不上她的脚步,直到我们错过后才懂得自己错在哪里。例如友情,例如亲情,例如爱情,就像Jay哥里唱的“还来不及仔仔细细写下你的关于,描述我如何爱你,你却微笑地离我而去”。
  • 易经智慧吉祥书

    易经智慧吉祥书

    本书解译了《易经》中启迪人生的道理,从易经来谈吉祥,帮助读者趋吉避凶。
  • 他眠于四季眠时

    他眠于四季眠时

    那年,他身披满身风雪,却将她紧紧护在身后。于她而言,她是他的青梅,他是她的竹马,两小无猜。于他而言,她是冬日的阳光,温暖而神圣,遥遥不可及。一个故事,轮转几个流年?不知曾是谁家少年,眉目间满是笑意,温声道:“温长歌,余生请多指教。”遇见你,我何其有幸。【刚开始混云起还是小白文风或许会苏希望不要介意QQ:1340909245表示是学生汪平时没太多时间更可能会更的少_(:з」∠)_】
  • 浮生劫:错爱冷情郎君

    浮生劫:错爱冷情郎君

    他本是人间的王爷,却英年早逝,堕入冥界,本想着早日投胎转世回人间,可是这阎王的女儿是怎么回事?她身为阎王独女,年轻貌美法力高强,却唯独对这人间王爷有了好感,从此开始了倒追生涯。其实他原本是拒绝的,却不知冰冷表面下心那颗心已经慢慢融化了。她以为有一天他会看到她,可是她却失望了,他深爱的那个女人出现了。魔界少君将她掳走,逼她做他的新娘,他可会来救她?待一切尘埃落定,他们可还能回到从前?
  • 天行

    天行

    号称“北辰骑神”的天才玩家以自创的“牧马冲锋流”战术击败了国服第一弓手北冥雪,被誉为天纵战榜第一骑士的他,却受到小人排挤,最终离开了效力已久的银狐俱乐部。是沉沦,还是再次崛起?恰逢其时,月恒集团第四款游戏“天行”正式上线,虚拟世界再起风云!
  • 我的怪异世界与众不同

    我的怪异世界与众不同

    恐惧会让人丧失勇气,怪异会让人踌躇不前,不过对于我来说,所有非正常的发展都是令我喜悦的经历。我只是一个兴趣使然的“怪物”。——苏宪
  • 王妃深陷霸总套路无法自拔

    王妃深陷霸总套路无法自拔

    壁咚,强吻,随便买说好的拒绝霸总套路,怎么说变就变啊,果然自古套路得人心。
  • 我家祖师太无敌

    我家祖师太无敌

    一场流星雨将李元昊带到了东华国,为了探究一场惊天大秘,得到太初原灵,穿越诸天,君临天下。最终成为玄幻祖师的故事。“什么?!有木有搞错!你是我祖宗!!!”“无量天尊,你是贫道见过最强的祖师!”“神说,要服从祖师。”…………“我的徒子徒孙们,快来向你们的祖师请安吧。”大道生机,唯我祖师独尊!!!
  • 诅咒玫瑰

    诅咒玫瑰

    一次意大利旅游的意外,沐璃遇见了自己生命中缺失的那段记忆的主角。年少时所消除的回忆,再次相见时的痴恋,那传说中的罗马玫瑰,到底是诅咒还是永无止境的杀残?身边的人说的那个名字,渐渐清晰……【Ve,点进来看看啦,其实还是有糖糖哒,只不过玻璃渣还素比较多QAQ】
  • 丧心之罪案

    丧心之罪案

    《丧心》是一部包括了各种犯罪元素的惊心之书。每一次的凶案都让你感觉头皮发麻而又不得其解。真凶也许就在我们的身边,善与恶的殊死角逐背后,充满着绝望、怨恨、嫉妒、贪婪、傲慢……在书中您将与我们的主人公肖羽一起亲临一线犯罪现场,直面最令人恐惧、最沉重难解的人性之恶!