Moby Dick; Or, The Whale cover

Moby Dick; Or, The Whale

Herman Melville (1819-1891)

Original en 207804 words First published 1851 United States

Melville's 1851 whaling epic, the great American novel its own century could not see. Ishmael, the sole survivor of the Pequod, tells the story of Captain Ahab's monomaniacal hunt for the white whale that took his leg — a voyage through the whole world of the whale fishery, from a Nantucket inn to the Pacific, from cetology to metaphysics. Call me Ishmael, it begins; and by the end the hunt has become one of literature's deepest meditations on obsession, nature and fate. This edition preserves the original 1851 text.

Text sourced from Project Gutenberg (public domain in the United States); the Project Gutenberg trademark and license text have been removed on import. Public-domain status determined by the author's death year + 50 years rule.

Table of Contents

  1. 001 CHAPTER 1. Loomings 2190 words
  2. 002 CHAPTER 2. The Carpet-Bag 1416 words
  3. 003 CHAPTER 3. The Spouter-Inn 5783 words
  4. 004 CHAPTER 4. The Counterpane 1640 words
  5. 005 CHAPTER 5. Breakfast 734 words
  6. 006 CHAPTER 6. The Street 807 words
  7. 007 CHAPTER 7. The Chapel 940 words
  8. 008 CHAPTER 8. The Pulpit 943 words
  9. 009 CHAPTER 9. The Sermon 3552 words
  10. 010 CHAPTER 10. A Bosom Friend 1544 words
  11. 011 CHAPTER 11. Nightgown 721 words
  12. 012 CHAPTER 12. Biographical 875 words
  13. 013 CHAPTER 13. Wheelbarrow 1673 words
  14. 014 CHAPTER 14. Nantucket 752 words
  15. 015 CHAPTER 15. Chowder 1178 words
  16. 016 CHAPTER 16. The Ship 5418 words
  17. 017 CHAPTER 17. The Ramadan 2251 words
  18. 018 CHAPTER 18. His Mark 1344 words
  19. 019 CHAPTER 19. The Prophet 1195 words
  20. 020 CHAPTER 20. All Astir 917 words
  21. 021 CHAPTER 21. Going Aboard 1064 words
  22. 022 CHAPTER 22. Merry Christmas 1610 words
  23. 023 CHAPTER 23. The Lee Shore 359 words
  24. 024 CHAPTER 24. The Advocate 1645 words
  25. 025 CHAPTER 25. Postscript 277 words
  26. 026 CHAPTER 26. Knights and Squires 1216 words
  27. 027 CHAPTER 27. Knights and Squires 1660 words
  28. 028 CHAPTER 28. Ahab 1393 words
  29. 029 CHAPTER 29. Enter Ahab; to Him, Stubb 1180 words
  30. 030 CHAPTER 30. The Pipe 287 words
  31. 031 CHAPTER 31. Queen Mab 842 words
  32. 032 CHAPTER 32. Cetology 5107 words
  33. 033 CHAPTER 33. The Specksnyder 962 words
  34. 034 CHAPTER 34. The Cabin-Table 2189 words
  35. 035 CHAPTER 35. The Mast-Head 2531 words
  36. 036 CHAPTER 36. The Quarter-Deck 2769 words
  37. 037 CHAPTER 37. Sunset 498 words
  38. 038 CHAPTER 38. Dusk 388 words
  39. 039 CHAPTER 39. First Night-Watch 254 words
  40. 040 CHAPTER 40. Midnight, Forecastle 1509 words
  41. 041 CHAPTER 41. Moby Dick 3757 words
  42. 042 CHAPTER 42. The Whiteness of the Whale 3601 words
  43. 043 CHAPTER 43. Hark! 295 words
  44. 044 CHAPTER 44. The Chart 2022 words
  45. 045 CHAPTER 45. The Affidavit 3536 words
  46. 046 CHAPTER 46. Surmises 989 words
  47. 047 CHAPTER 47. The Mat-Maker 914 words
  48. 048 CHAPTER 48. The First Lowering 3907 words
  49. 049 CHAPTER 49. The Hyena 830 words
  50. 050 CHAPTER 50. Ahab’s Boat and Crew. Fedallah 1000 words
  51. 051 CHAPTER 51. The Spirit-Spout 1500 words
  52. 052 CHAPTER 52. The Albatross 711 words
  53. 053 CHAPTER 53. The Gam 1601 words
  54. 054 CHAPTER 54. The Town-Ho’s Story 7913 words
  55. 055 CHAPTER 55. Of the Monstrous Pictures of Whales 1876 words
  56. 056 CHAPTER 56. Of the Less Erroneous Pictures of Whales, and the True 1294 words
  57. 057 CHAPTER 57. Of Whales in Paint; in Teeth; in Wood; in Sheet-Iron; in 931 words
  58. 058 CHAPTER 58. Brit 1006 words
  59. 059 CHAPTER 59. Squid 917 words
  60. 060 CHAPTER 60. The Line 1452 words
  61. 061 CHAPTER 61. Stubb Kills a Whale 1944 words
  62. 062 CHAPTER 62. The Dart 564 words
  63. 063 CHAPTER 63. The Crotch 472 words
  64. 064 CHAPTER 64. Stubb’s Supper 2963 words
  65. 065 CHAPTER 65. The Whale as a Dish 980 words
  66. 066 CHAPTER 66. The Shark Massacre 625 words
  67. 067 CHAPTER 67. Cutting In 727 words
  68. 068 CHAPTER 68. The Blanket 1191 words
  69. 069 CHAPTER 69. The Funeral 429 words
  70. 070 CHAPTER 70. The Sphynx 863 words
  71. 071 CHAPTER 71. The Jeroboam’s Story 2231 words
  72. 072 CHAPTER 72. The Monkey-Rope 1617 words
  73. 073 CHAPTER 73. Stubb and Flask kill a Right Whale; and Then Have a Talk 2145 words
  74. 074 CHAPTER 74. The Sperm Whale’s Head—Contrasted View 1619 words
  75. 075 CHAPTER 75. The Right Whale’s Head—Contrasted View 1216 words
  76. 076 CHAPTER 76. The Battering-Ram 863 words
  77. 077 CHAPTER 77. The Great Heidelburgh Tun 630 words
  78. 078 CHAPTER 78. Cistern and Buckets 1628 words
  79. 079 CHAPTER 79. The Prairie 927 words
  80. 080 CHAPTER 80. The Nut 892 words
  81. 081 CHAPTER 81. The Pequod Meets The Virgin 4274 words
  82. 082 CHAPTER 82. The Honor and Glory of Whaling 1142 words
  83. 083 CHAPTER 83. Jonah Historically Regarded 766 words
  84. 084 CHAPTER 84. Pitchpoling 802 words
  85. 085 CHAPTER 85. The Fountain 2052 words
  86. 086 CHAPTER 86. The Tail 1839 words
  87. 087 CHAPTER 87. The Grand Armada 4720 words
  88. 088 CHAPTER 88. Schools and Schoolmasters 1180 words
  89. 089 CHAPTER 89. Fast-Fish and Loose-Fish 1390 words
  90. 090 CHAPTER 90. Heads or Tails 1041 words
  91. 091 CHAPTER 91. The Pequod Meets The Rose-Bud 2477 words
  92. 092 CHAPTER 92. Ambergris 966 words
  93. 093 CHAPTER 93. The Castaway 1596 words
  94. 094 CHAPTER 94. A Squeeze of the Hand 1255 words
  95. 095 CHAPTER 95. The Cassock 494 words
  96. 096 CHAPTER 96. The Try-Works 1807 words
  97. 097 CHAPTER 97. The Lamp 238 words
  98. 098 CHAPTER 98. Stowing Down and Clearing Up 1008 words
  99. 099 CHAPTER 99. The Doubloon 2401 words
  100. 100 CHAPTER 100. Leg and Arm 2647 words
  101. 101 CHAPTER 101. The Decanter 1747 words
  102. 102 CHAPTER 102. A Bower in the Arsacides 1524 words
  103. 103 CHAPTER 103. Measurement of The Whale’s Skeleton 915 words
  104. 104 CHAPTER 104. The Fossil Whale 1411 words
  105. 105 CHAPTER 105. Does the Whale’s Magnitude Diminish?—Will He Perish? 1540 words
  106. 106 CHAPTER 106. Ahab’s Leg 918 words
  107. 107 CHAPTER 107. The Carpenter 1030 words
  108. 108 CHAPTER 108. Ahab and the Carpenter 1543 words
  109. 109 CHAPTER 109. Ahab and Starbuck in the Cabin 896 words
  110. 110 CHAPTER 110. Queequeg in His Coffin 2225 words
  111. 111 CHAPTER 111. The Pacific 415 words
  112. 112 CHAPTER 112. The Blacksmith 922 words
  113. 113 CHAPTER 113. The Forge 1206 words
  114. 114 CHAPTER 114. The Gilder 632 words
  115. 115 CHAPTER 115. The Pequod Meets The Bachelor 866 words
  116. 116 CHAPTER 116. The Dying Whale 507 words
  117. 117 CHAPTER 117. The Whale Watch 462 words
  118. 118 CHAPTER 118. The Quadrant 881 words
  119. 119 CHAPTER 119. The Candles 2511 words
  120. 120 CHAPTER 120. The Deck Towards the End of the First Night Watch 167 words
  121. 121 CHAPTER 121. Midnight.—The Forecastle Bulwarks 614 words
  122. 122 CHAPTER 122. Midnight Aloft.—Thunder and Lightning 44 words
  123. 123 CHAPTER 123. The Musket 1193 words
  124. 124 CHAPTER 124. The Needle 1191 words
  125. 125 CHAPTER 125. The Log and Line 1091 words
  126. 126 CHAPTER 126. The Life-Buoy 1349 words
  127. 127 CHAPTER 127. The Deck 692 words
  128. 128 CHAPTER 128. The Pequod Meets The Rachel 1367 words
  129. 129 CHAPTER 129. The Cabin 570 words
  130. 130 CHAPTER 130. The Hat 1668 words
  131. 131 CHAPTER 131. The Pequod Meets The Delight 414 words
  132. 132 CHAPTER 132. The Symphony 1577 words
  133. 133 CHAPTER 133. The Chase—First Day 3487 words
  134. 134 CHAPTER 134. The Chase—Second Day 3231 words
  135. 135 CHAPTER 135. The Chase.—Third Day 4446 words
  136. 136 Epilogue 266 words