{"id":"01KG8ANJ17SX1F29R3X8H9E628","cid":"bafkreiecr7nav2tanctihkcwqrelwyyukhd2p3mlrpxu6spn2jsy47wx7y","type":"subsection","properties":{"description":"# Thirdly:\n\n## Overview\nThis subsection, titled \"Thirdly:\", is part of Chapter 45 of \"Moby Dick; or, The Whale.\" It is a textual segment extracted from the file `moby_dick.txt` and belongs to the larger collection \"Melville Complete Works.\" The text recounts an anecdote involving a Commodore and a sperm whale.\n\n## Context\nThis subsection is situated within [Chapter 45. The Affidavit.](arke:01KG8AM7BAM0HY3MVSS1XZFHJB), which is part of the larger work [Moby Dick; or, The Whale](arke:01KG89J198KE6FY8WPVJQQRCZ6). The entire work is organized under the [Melville Complete Works](arke:01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW) collection. This section follows the subsection titled [Secondly:](arke:01KG8ANJ17G6CF8GXM74GXMHM6) and precedes the next subsection.\n\n## Contents\nThe text details an encounter between an American Commodore and a sperm whale approximately eighteen to twenty years prior to the narration. The Commodore, initially skeptical of the strength attributed to whales, had a ship damaged by a sperm whale after dismissing the claims of whaling captains. The anecdote serves to illustrate the formidable power of the sperm whale, drawing a parallel to the conversion of Saul of Tarsus.","description_generated_at":"2026-01-30T20:51:00.946Z","description_model":"gemini-2.5-flash-lite","description_title":"Thirdly:","end_line":8395,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:49:12.946Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Thirdly:","source_file":"01KG89J198KE6FY8WPVJQQRCZ6","start_line":8378,"text":"Thirdly: Some eighteen or twenty years ago Commodore J——, then\r\ncommanding an American sloop-of-war of the first class, happened to be\r\ndining with a party of whaling captains, on board a Nantucket ship in\r\nthe harbor of Oahu, Sandwich Islands. Conversation turning upon whales,\r\nthe Commodore was pleased to be sceptical touching the amazing strength\r\nascribed to them by the professional gentlemen present. He peremptorily\r\ndenied for example, that any whale could so smite his stout\r\nsloop-of-war as to cause her to leak so much as a thimbleful. Very\r\ngood; but there is more coming. Some weeks after, the Commodore set\r\nsail in this impregnable craft for Valparaiso. But he was stopped on\r\nthe way by a portly sperm whale, that begged a few moments’\r\nconfidential business with him. That business consisted in fetching the\r\nCommodore’s craft such a thwack, that with all his pumps going he made\r\nstraight for the nearest port to heave down and repair. I am not\r\nsuperstitious, but I consider the Commodore’s interview with that whale\r\nas providential. Was not Saul of Tarsus converted from unbelief by a\r\nsimilar fright? I tell you, the sperm whale will stand no nonsense.\r\n\r","title":"Thirdly:"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AM7BAM0HY3MVSS1XZFHJB","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J198KE6FY8WPVJQQRCZ6","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8ANJ17G6CF8GXM74GXMHM6","peer_type":"subsection","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8ANJ119EYGHR6V6RE15SYS","peer_type":"subsection","predicate":"next"}],"ver":3,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:49:13.767Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:51:01.132Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF5C36SQEVDHC9CBNZZJH9K"}}