- description
- # CHAPTER LXXIV. A Death-Cloud Sweeps By Them, As They Sail
## Overview
This chapter, titled "A Death-Cloud Sweeps By Them, As They Sail," is part of the novel [Mardi: And a Voyage Thither](arke:01KG8AJ8ZNB03D0FWFP362WQEN). It was extracted from the file [mardi_vol2.txt](arke:01KG89J1954N2G0NAERBNJXEX9) and is part of the [Melville Complete Works](arke:01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW) collection. The chapter details a dramatic event at sea where a destructive storm, referred to as a "Death-Cloud," passes by the protagonists' vessel.
## Context
This chapter follows [CHAPTER LXXIII. At Last, The Last Mention Is Made Of Old Bardianna; And His Last Will And Testament Is Recited At Length](arke:01KG8AJVZZ28KPZ6QDRES7J0E6) and precedes [CHAPTER LXXV. They Visit The Palmy King Abrazza](arke:01KG8AJW0186C2NEJ6H76NW8BS). The narrative describes the fear and philosophical reflections of the characters, particularly Babbalanja, as they witness the destructive power of nature and contemplate mortality.
## Contents
The chapter opens with the sighting of a massive, fast-moving cloud that resembles a waterspout. The characters, including Yoomy, Babbalanja, and Media, react with a mix of fear and stoicism. The "Death-Cloud" engulfs a fleet of a thousand other vessels, creating a maelstrom and sinking them. The protagonists' ship narrowly escapes destruction. Following the event, Mohi expresses gratitude for their survival. Babbalanja then delivers a lengthy monologue reflecting on the inevitability of death from various causes, suggesting that life itself is a form of mortality and that escape is ultimately futile. The chapter emphasizes themes of fate, the power of nature, and the human condition.
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- CHAPTER LXXIV. A Death-Cloud Sweeps By Them, As They Sail
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- CHAPTER LXXIV.
A Death-Cloud Sweeps By Them, As They Sail
Next day, a fearful sight!
As in Sooloo’s seas, one vast water-spout will, sudden, form: and
whirling, chase the flying Malay keels; so, before a swift-winged
cloud, a thousand prows sped by, leaving braided, foaming wakes; their
crowded inmates’ arms, in frenzied supplications wreathed; like tangled
forest-boughs.
“See, see,” cried Yoomy, “how the Death-cloud flies! Let us dive down
in the sea.”
“Nay,” said Babbalanja. “All things come of Oro; if we must drown, let
Oro drown us.”
“Down sails: drop paddles,” said Media: “here we float.”
Like a rushing bison, sweeping by, the Death-cloud grazed us with its
foam; and whirling in upon the thousand prows beyond, sudden burst in
deluges; and scooping out a maelstrom, dragged down every plank and
soul.
Long we rocked upon the circling billows, which expanding from that
center, dashed every isle, till, moons after-ward, faint, they laved
all Mardi’s reef.
“Thanks unto Oro,” murmured Mohi, “this heart still beats.”
That sun-flushed eve, we sailed by many tranquil harbors, whence fled
those thousand prows. Serene, the waves ran up their strands; and
chimed around the unharmed stakes of palm, to which the thousand prows
that morning had been fastened.
“Flying death, they ran to meet it,” said Babbalanja. “But tie not that
they fled, they died; for maelstroms, of these harbors, the Death-cloud
might have made. But they died, because they might not longer live.
Could we gain one glimpse of the great calendar of eternity, all our
names would there be found, glued against their dates of death. We die
by land, and die by sea; we die by earthquakes, famines, plagues, and
wars; by fevers, agues; woe, or mirth excessive. This mortal air is one
wide pestilence, that kills us all at last. Whom the Death-cloud
spares, sleeping, dies in silent watches of the night. He whom the
spears of many battles could not slay, dies of a grape-stone, beneath
the vine-clad bower he built, to shade declining years. We die, because
we live. But none the less does Babbalanja quake. And if he flies not,
’tis because he stands the center of a circle; its every point a
leveled dart; and every bow, bent back:—a twang, and Babbalanja dies.”
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- CHAPTER LXXIV. A Death-Cloud Sweeps By Them, As They Sail