Dream Wail 1
Here I prospectively ascribe all the honor and the glory to whaling; for a whaleship was my Yale College and my Harvard.
-Herman Melville (Moby Dick)
1
He learned in the water, learned in the air, a sycamore was his teacher – his guidance. Ishmael oiled his education with chowder and gin, oh yes, and gin! Was he loved? Did thoughts of warm nights take away from his whaling institution? Ishmael found himself engulfed, passion’s jaws had him like Jonah. He didn’t have arms sprawled, or legs wrapped. -Queequeg or the companion: You learnee from the moment, from the moment you knowee. Ishmael patted his leg in agreement. Icey waters were the launch of icy lessons, his companion’s a cannibal – a noble savage, what would Hawthorne have to say? 300th lay was a worthy stipend for Ishmael, for education, not of knowledge, but of will. He awaited the sea and its adventure.
