Moby Dick; Or, The Whale

The Search for Cheap Lodging

Facing a cold, dark December night with little money, the narrator determines to find the cheapest possible lodging. He carries his carpet-bag through dreary, nearly deserted streets, reminding himself to inquire about prices and not to be too particular about accommodations.

Passing The Crossed Harpoons and The Sword-Fish Inn

The narrator passes two establishments: “The Crossed Harpoons,” which appears too expensive and jolly, and the “Sword-Fish Inn,” whose bright windows and warmth have melted the ice from the street before it. He observes his own worn-out boots and moves on toward the waterfront, believing the cheapest inns would be located near the docks.

Mistaking a Negro Church for an Inn

Entering a smoky, invitingly open building that he assumes is a public inn, the narrator stumbles over an ash-box in the porch. To his dismay, he discovers it is actually a negro church in the midst of a service, with a preacher delivering a sermon on “the blackness of darkness.” He retreats hastily, muttering about “wretched entertainment.”

Discovering the Spouter Inn

The narrator eventually finds “The Spouter Inn” near the docks, marked by a swinging sign depicting a jet of spray. The name “Peter Coffin” strikes him as ominous, though he reasons it is a common Nantucket surname. The dilapidated, leaning wooden building and its poverty-stricken appearance convince him this is the ideal spot for cheap lodgings and “the best of pea coffee.”

The Exterior of the Spouter Inn and the Euroclydon Wind

The Spouter Inn is described as a gable-ended, partially collapsed old house on a bleak corner, battered by the tempestuous wind called Euroclydon—the same wind that tossed Paul’s craft. The narrator reflects on an old writer’s observation that experiencing such a wind differs greatly depending on whether one observes it from inside a warm window or from outside in the cold. The universe, he muses, is already finished; it is too late for improvements.