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Moreover : we are to consider , that from the presumed great longevity of whales , their probably attaining the age of a century and more , therefore at any one period of time , several distinct adult generations must be contemporary . And what that is , we may soon gain some idea of , by imagining all the grave - yards , cemeteries , and family vaults of creation yielding up the live bodies of all the men , women , and children who were alive seventy - five years ago ; and adding this countless host to the present human population of the globe . Wherefore , for all these things , we account the whale immortal in his species , however perishable in his individuality . He swam the seas before the continents broke water ; he once swam over the site of the Tuileries , and Windsor Castle , and the Kremlin . In Noah’s flood he despised Noah’s Ark ; and if ever the world is to be again flooded , like the Netherlands , to kill off its rats , then the eternal whale will still survive , and rearing upon the topmost crest of the equatorial flood , spout his frothed defiance to the skies . CHAPTER 106 . Ahab’s Leg . The precipitating manner in which Captain Ahab had quitted the Samuel Enderby of London , had not been unattended with some small violence to his own person . He had lighted with such energy upon a thwart of his boat that his ivory leg had received a half - splintering shock . And when after gaining his own deck , and his own pivot - hole there , he so vehemently wheeled round with an urgent command to the steersman ( it was , as ever , something about his not steering inflexibly enough ) ; then , the already shaken ivory received such an additional twist and wrench , that though it still remained entire , and to all appearances lusty , yet Ahab did not deem it entirely trustworthy . And , indeed , it seemed small matter for wonder , that for all his pervading , mad recklessness , Ahab did at times give careful heed to the condition of that dead bone upon which he partly stood . For it had not been very long prior to the Pequod’s sailing from Nantucket , that he had been found one night lying prone upon the ground , and insensible ; by some unknown , and seemingly inexplicable , unimaginable casualty , his ivory limb having been so violently displaced , that it had stake - wise smitten , and all but pierced his groin ; nor was it without extreme difficulty that the agonizing wound was entirely cured .
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