Introductory material
Reading edition
Your zodiac here is the life of man in one round chapter; and now I’ll read it off, straight out of the book. Come, Almanack! To begin: there’s Aries, or the Ram—lecherous dog, he begets us; then Taurus, or the Bull—he bumps us the first thing; then Gemini, or the Twins—that is Virtue and Vice; we try to reach Virtue when lo! comes Cancer the Crab and drags us back; and here, going from Virtue, Leo, a roaring lion, lies in the path—he gives a few fierce bites and surly dabs with his paw; we escape and hail Virgo, the Virgin; that’s our first love; we marry and think to be happy for aye, when pop comes Libra or the Scales—happiness weighed and found wanting! and while we are very sad about that Lord! how we suddenly jump as Scorpio or the Scorpion stings us in the rear; we are curing the wound when whang come the arrows all round; Sagittarius, or the Archer, is amusing himself. As we pluck the shafts, stand aside! here’s the battering ram, Capricornus or the Goat, full tilt, he comes rushing, and headlong we are tossed; when Aquarius, or the Water-bearer, pours out his whole deluge and drowns us; and to wind up with Pisces or the Fish we sleep.
Moby-Dick.
PROLOGUE