{"id":"01KG8AKY568B0YCBZCYZXT4RTH","cid":"bafkreia5ddqi5mdfnrrvdgwu27ofysdankufxtmqkm43cxvgshq2tvzrxa","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":1940,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:18.534Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 1","source_file":"01KG89J1HYC04JWXEK48P07WPK","start_line":1881,"text":"CHAPTER XVIII.\r\nMy Lord Shark And His Pages\r\n\r\n\r\nThere is a fish in the sea that evermore, like a surly lord, only goes\r\nabroad attended by his suite. It is the Shovel-nosed Shark. A clumsy\r\nlethargic monster, unshapely as his name, and the last species of his\r\nkind, one would think, to be so bravely waited upon, as he is. His\r\nsuite is composed of those dainty little creatures called Pilot fish by\r\nsailors. But by night his retinue is frequently increased by the\r\npresence of several small luminous fish, running in advance, and\r\nflourishing their flambeaux like link-boys lighting the monster’s way.\r\nPity there were no ray-fish in rear, page-like, to carry his caudal\r\ntrain.\r\n\r\nNow the relation subsisting between the Pilot fish above mentioned and\r\ntheir huge ungainly lord, seems one of the most inscrutable things in\r\nnature. At any rate, it poses poor me to comprehend. That a monster so\r\nferocious, should suffer five or six little sparks, hardly fourteen\r\ninches long, to gambol about his grim hull with the utmost impunity, is\r\nof itself something strange. But when it is considered, that by a\r\nreciprocal understanding, the Pilot fish seem to act as scouts to the\r\nshark, warning him of danger, and apprising him of the vicinity of\r\nprey; and moreover, in case of his being killed, evincing their anguish\r\nby certain agitations, otherwise inexplicable; the whole thing becomes\r\na mystery unfathomable. Truly marvels abound. It needs no dead man to\r\nbe raised, to convince us of some things. Even my Viking marveled full\r\nas much at those Pilot fish as he would have marveled at the Pentecost.\r\n\r\nBut perhaps a little incident, occurring about this period, will best\r\nillustrate the matter in hand.\r\n\r\nWe were gliding along, hardly three knots an hour, when my comrade, who\r\nhad been dozing over the gunwale, suddenly started to his feet, and\r\npointed out an immense Shovel-nosed Shark, less than a boat’s length\r\ndistant, and about half a fathom beneath the surface. A lance was at\r\nonce snatched from its place; and true to his calling, Jarl was about\r\nto dart it at the fish, when, interested by the sight of its radiant\r\nlittle scouts, I begged him to desist.\r\n\r\nOne of them was right under the shark, nibbling at his ventral fin;\r\nanother above, hovering about his dorsal appurtenance; one on each\r\nflank; and a frisking fifth pranking about his nose, seemingly having\r\nsomething to say of a confidential nature. They were of a bright,\r\nsteel-blue color, alternated with jet black stripes; with glistening\r\nbellies of a silver-white. Clinging to the back of the shark, were four\r\nor five Remoras, or sucking-fish; snaky parasites, impossible to remove\r\nfrom whatever they adhere to, without destroying their lives. The\r\nRemora has little power in swimming; hence its sole locomotion is on\r\nthe backs of larger fish. Leech-like, it sticketh closer than a false\r\nbrother in prosperity; closer than a beggar to the benevolent; closer\r\nthan Webster to the Constitution. But it feeds upon what it clings to;\r\nits feelers having a direct communication with the esophagus.\r\n\r\nThe shark swam sluggishly; creating no sign of a ripple, but ever and,\r\nanon shaking his Medusa locks, writhing and curling with horrible life.\r\nNow and then, the nimble Pilot fish darted from his side—this way and\r\nthat—mostly toward our boat; but previous to taking a fresh start ever\r\nreturning to their liege lord to report progress.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 1"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJQXPXZBGB18678DG9X9S","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1HYC04JWXEK48P07WPK","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AKY56BBJTPNRXRTQ2JY9F","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:20.646Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:26.962Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}