:::Rain::::

＊ Moby Dick

Moby-Dick; or, The Whale (1851) is the sixth book by American writer Herman Melville. The work is an epic sea-story of Captain Ahab's voyage in pursuit of Moby Dick, a great white whale. It initially received mixed reviews and at Melville's death in 1891 was remembered, if at all, as a children's sea adventure, but now is considered one of the Great American Novels and a leading work of American Romanticism.

＊ Movie白鯨記à Call me Ishmal!

The opening line, "Call me Ishmael," is one of the most recognizable opening lines in Western literature. Ishmael then narrates the voyage of thewhaleship Pequod, commanded by Captain Ahab. Ahab has one purpose: revenge on Moby Dick, a ferocious, enigmatic white whale which on a previous voyage destroyed Ahab's ship and severed his leg at the knee. The detailed and realistic descriptions of whale hunting and the process of extracting whale oil, as well as life aboard ship among a culturally diverse crew, are mixed with exploration of class and social status, good and evil, and the existence of God.

＊ Virginia Tech massacre 維吉尼亞血案

The Virginia Tech massacre was a school shooting that took place on April 16, 2007, on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States. Seung-Hui Cho, a senior at Virginia Tech, shot and killed 32 people and wounded 17 others in two separate attacks, approximately two hours apart, before committing suicide (another six people were injured escaping from classroom windows). The massacre is the deadliest shooting incident by a single gunman in U.S. history. Additionally, it was the worst act of mass murder of college students in the US since Syracuse University lost 35 students in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, and thesecond-deadliest act of mass murder at a U.S. school campus, behind the Bath School disaster of 1927.

＊ Bosom friend à知己；摯友

1.      A very close friend.

2.      (slang, euphemistic) A body louse.

＊ Nathaniel Hawthorne

1.      inherited guilt

2.      original sin

＊ The meaning of the number “40” in Moby Dick and western history

                   1.      Moby Dick過世40年

1985年發表的白鯨記是根據 Herman Melville 真實經驗創作. 但這部長達三十萬字的文學巨作第一年只賣出五本的銷量, 業績慘淡. 一直到這本書在美國出版後七十年, 作者去世後四十年, 才慢慢為人所討論, 成為十九世紀第一流的長篇小說, 更因此被改編成電影和多部舞台劇, 用不同的形式繼續流傳和演出, 廣為世人討論, 終於, Herman Melville 這部得意之作, 在死後終於被所有人所肯定.

2.      耶穌在曠野山林

三部福音都提及耶穌在曠野的時期︰40天。40天這數字是個整數；聖經慣用它來為指出一有意義的較長的時期，如梅瑟在西乃山上40天40夜，以色列民族在曠野40年，耶穌復活後40天顯現於門徒等。

3.      摩西出埃及

按照舊約聖經的故事，摩西帶領以色列民族「出埃及」後，曾在西奈沙漠流浪40年，之後才終於進入迦南地定居。

＊ What’s “theme” ?

Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideae explored in a literary work.

＊ The origin of the brand “Starbucks” à from “Starbuck” in Moby Dick

Starbucks此名來自美國作家梅爾維爾（Herman Melville）的名著「白鯨記」（Moby Dick），書中捕鯨船的大副就叫Starbuck，他愛煮咖啡，個性和善。有人說這大副愛好大自然，因此Starbucks這品牌藉此傳達環保理念，我 看不然。「白鯨記」的大海是神秘的。那白鯨如大自然一樣，只是自在的做牠自己，但在船長眼中卻帶有不可測的恐怖。白鯨就叫「莫比敵」（Moby Dick），Dick在俚語裡也有「陰莖」之意。會吃人的神秘白鯨不只是一條大海中龐然巨物，也有象徵意義，譬如巨靈、陽性力量（Dick）等。

因此Starbucks此名有種神秘性，正如它的logo也是。Starbucks的商標其實有一個舊版本，跟現在的相差甚大，那是一幅十六世紀斯堪地那維 亞一艘帆船上的木雕圖案，是原始合夥人之一的藝術家泰瑞．賀克特樂（Terry Heckler）在古老的航海書籍中發掘出的雙尾人魚。老圖中的人魚頭戴著皇冠，不但清晰坦露雙乳，雙手還各抓著兩條魚尾，末端畫得像是兩道噴泉，鱗片歷 歷的魚身也完全露出。

＊ Genecticide (n.) à種族大屠殺

Ex: Hitler, Stalin

＊ Whaling business

The origins of whaling in the United States of America date to the 17th century in New England and peaked in 1846-52. New Bedford, Massachusetts, sent out its last whaler, the John R. Mantra, in 1927.

In 1768, the fishery began a huge expansion that was to culminate just prior to the Revolution. Between 1771 and 1775 the Massachusetts ports alone employed an average of 183 vessels in the northern fishery, and 121 in the southern. The American Revolutionary War brought the trade to a complete standstill which continued throughout the Napoleonic Wars but the industry reached its peak after the Revolution.

＊ Blasphemy 褻瀆神明

Blasphemy is the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for God, to religious or holy persons or things, or toward something considered sacred or inviolable.

Some countries have laws to punish religious blasphemy,[4] while others have laws that allow those who are offended by blasphemy to punish blasphemers. Those laws may condone penalties or retaliation for blasphemy under the labels of blasphemous libel, expression of opposition, or "villification," of religion or of some religious practices, religious insult, or hate speech.