“ I'll try a pagan friend, thought I, since Christian kindness has proved but hollow courtesy. ”
Herman Melville, Moby-Dick (1851). copy citation
| Author | Herman Melville |
|---|---|
| Source | Moby-Dick |
| Topic | friendship kindness Christianity |
| Date | 1851 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2701/2701-h/2701-h.htm |
Context
“Wild he was; a very sight of sights to see; yet I began to feel myself mysteriously drawn towards him. And those same things that would have repelled most others, they were the very magnets that thus drew me. I'll try a pagan friend, thought I, since Christian kindness has proved but hollow courtesy. I drew my bench near him, and made some friendly signs and hints, doing my best to talk with him meanwhile. At first he little noticed these advances; but presently, upon my referring to his last night's hospitalities, he made out to ask me whether we were again to be bedfellows.”
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Meaning and analysis
