Chapter two of Jonah isn't very interesting -- just a turgid prayer from inside the fish, and then our hero gets barfed up. This whole thing is ridiculous, of course, but I wondered if a human ever has been swallowed by a whale. The answer seems to be, not exactly. There have been a few instances of humans being engulfed in a humpback whale's mouth, like this one from a few years ago off Cape Cod. However, the whale did not actually swallow the guy, nor could it. Humpbacks feed on plankton and small fish, and they can't swallow something as big as a human. They'll spit it out after a few seconds.
The Cape Cod Times also reported on a story from the 1800s of a man from Hyannis who was ostensibly in the mouth of a sperm whale. "The whale closed his mouth upon the captain's legs, tearing the bones, and dived under the water. He soon found he had too large a mouthful, and was glad to release his unbidden guest." Again, the whale did not swallow the man. I'm struck by this story because the guy's name was Peleg, and Captain Peleg was one of the co-owners of the Pequod. So, obviously, this would likely have been part of Melville's inspiration. The story does not give the date that this happened, however. Moby Dick was published in 1851, at which time Peleg would have been 34 years old, so it's certainly plausible. Anyway, neither of them was in the whale's mouth long enough to say this prayer.
2 1 [a]From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. 2 He said:
“In my distress I called to the Lord,
and he answered me.
From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help,
and you listened to my cry.
3 You hurled me into the depths,
into the very heart of the seas,
and the currents swirled about me;
all your waves and breakers
swept over me.
4 I said, ‘I have been banished
from your sight;
yet I will look again
toward your holy temple.’
5 The engulfing waters threatened me,[b]
the deep surrounded me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.
6 To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you, Lord my God,
brought my life up from the pit.7 “When my life was ebbing away,
I remembered you, Lord,
and my prayer rose to you,
to your holy temple.8 “Those who cling to worthless idols
turn away from God’s love for them.
9 But I, with shouts of grateful praise,
will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’”10 And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
No comments:
Post a Comment