moby dick by herman melville
chapter one: loomings
call me ishmael, some years ago, nevermind how long precisely, having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, i thought i'd sail about a bit, and explore the watery part of the world, it's a way i have of driving off the spleen and regulating circulation, whenever it's a damp, drizzly november in my soul, whenever i find myself bringing up the rear of every funeral i meet, whenever i find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from stepping to the street and methodically knocking people's hats off
this is all i have memorized so far