{"id":"01KFNR89N9ZVA89FV25HDCFQ2H","cid":"bafkreidl3yoet5onwoqsbqflxt3qyh537lfb5zacu5oiploqzbowndvdzu","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":14721,"extracted_at":"2026-01-23T15:41:04.760Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 28","source_file":"01KFNR0Z394A878Y5AQ63MQEM2","start_line":14664,"text":"the whole bulk of the leviathan is knit over with a warp and woof of\r\nmuscular fibres and filaments, which passing on either side the loins\r\nand running down into the flukes, insensibly blend with them, and\r\nlargely contribute to their might; so that in the tail the confluent\r\nmeasureless force of the whole whale seems concentrated to a point.\r\nCould annihilation occur to matter, this were the thing to do it.\r\n\r\nNor does this—its amazing strength, at all tend to cripple the graceful\r\nflexion of its motions; where infantileness of ease undulates through a\r\nTitanism of power. On the contrary, those motions derive their most\r\nappalling beauty from it. Real strength never impairs beauty or\r\nharmony, but it often bestows it; and in everything imposingly\r\nbeautiful, strength has much to do with the magic. Take away the tied\r\ntendons that all over seem bursting from the marble in the carved\r\nHercules, and its charm would be gone. As devout Eckerman lifted the\r\nlinen sheet from the naked corpse of Goethe, he was overwhelmed with\r\nthe massive chest of the man, that seemed as a Roman triumphal arch.\r\nWhen Angelo paints even God the Father in human form, mark what\r\nrobustness is there. And whatever they may reveal of the divine love in\r\nthe Son, the soft, curled, hermaphroditical Italian pictures, in which\r\nhis idea has been most successfully embodied; these pictures, so\r\ndestitute as they are of all brawniness, hint nothing of any power, but\r\nthe mere negative, feminine one of submission and endurance, which on\r\nall hands it is conceded, form the peculiar practical virtues of his\r\nteachings.\r\n\r\nSuch is the subtle elasticity of the organ I treat of, that whether\r\nwielded in sport, or in earnest, or in anger, whatever be the mood it\r\nbe in, its flexions are invariably marked by exceeding grace. Therein\r\nno fairy’s arm can transcend it.\r\n\r\nFive great motions are peculiar to it. First, when used as a fin for\r\nprogression; Second, when used as a mace in battle; Third, in sweeping;\r\nFourth, in lobtailing; Fifth, in peaking flukes.\r\n\r\nFirst: Being horizontal in its position, the Leviathan’s tail acts in a\r\ndifferent manner from the tails of all other sea creatures. It never\r\nwriggles. In man or fish, wriggling is a sign of inferiority. To the\r\nwhale, his tail is the sole means of propulsion. Scroll-wise coiled\r\nforwards beneath the body, and then rapidly sprung backwards, it is\r\nthis which gives that singular darting, leaping motion to the monster\r\nwhen furiously swimming. His side-fins only serve to steer by.\r\n\r\nSecond: It is a little significant, that while one sperm whale only\r\nfights another sperm whale with his head and jaw, nevertheless, in his\r\nconflicts with man, he chiefly and contemptuously uses his tail. In\r\nstriking at a boat, he swiftly curves away his flukes from it, and the\r\nblow is only inflicted by the recoil. If it be made in the unobstructed\r\nair, especially if it descend to its mark, the stroke is then simply\r\nirresistible. No ribs of man or boat can withstand it. Your only\r\nsalvation lies in eluding it; but if it comes sideways through the\r\nopposing water, then partly owing to the light buoyancy of the\r\nwhale-boat, and the elasticity of its materials, a cracked rib or a\r\ndashed plank or two, a sort of stitch in the side, is generally the\r\nmost serious result. These submerged side blows are so often received\r\nin the fishery, that they are accounted mere child’s play. Some one\r\nstrips off a frock, and the hole is stopped.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 28"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KFNR84AAHSNQ4BFJ0ASPHB53","peer_label":"76","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KFNR84AAHSNQ4BFJ0ASPHB53","peer_label":"76","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"partOf"},{"peer":"01KFNR81RMVAX2BBMMBW51V97D","peer_label":"Moby Dick; Or, The Whale","peer_type":"novel","predicate":"partOf"},{"peer":"01KFNR0H0Q791Y1SMZWEQ09FGV","peer_label":"Moby Dick","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KFNR89MKDEJKA09CDJ5NVW8T","peer_label":"Chunk 29","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"},{"peer":"01KFNR89QDM431T0E0VGWZSXNJ","peer_label":"Chunk 27","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-23T15:41:05.319Z","ts":"2026-01-23T15:41:17.620Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}