Chapter II: Epilogue: 359

INDEX 371

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