Moby Dick

[Old Thunder]

His own person was the exact embodiment of his utilitarian character.

 

[Old Thunder]

On his long, gaunt body, he carried no spare flesh, no superfluous beard, his chin having a soft, economical nap to it, like the worn nap of his broad-brimmed hat.

 

[Old Thunder]

Such, then, was the person that I saw seated on the transom when I followed Captain Peleg down into the cabin.

 

[Old Thunder]

The space between the decks was small; and there, bolt-upright, sat old Bildad, who always sat so, and never leaned, and this to save his coat tails.

 

[Old Thunder]

His broad-brim was placed beside him; his legs were stiffly crossed; his drab vesture was buttoned up to his chin; and spectacles on nose, he seemed absorbed in reading from a ponderous volume.

 

[Old Thunder]

"Bildad," cried Captain Peleg, "at it again, Bildad, eh? Ye have been studying those Scriptures, now, for the last thirty years, to my certain knowledge. How far ye got, Bildad?"

 

[Old Thunder]

As if long habituated to such profane talk from his old shipmate, Bildad, without noticing his present irreverence, quietly looked up, and seeing me, glanced again inquiringly towards Peleg.

 

[Old Thunder]

"He says he's our man, Bildad," said Peleg, "he wants to ship."

 

[Old Thunder]

"Dost thee?" said Bildad, in a hollow tone, and turning round to me.

 

[Old Thunder]

"I dost," said I unconsciously, he was so intense a Quaker.