Night Journey

There you stand, lost in the infinite series of the sea, with nothing ruffled but the waves.
The tranced ship indolently rolls; the drowsy trade winds blow; everything resolves you
into languor. For the most part, in this tropic whaling life, a sublime uneventfulness invests
you; you hear no news; read no gazettes; extras with startling accounts of commonplaces
never delude you into unnecessary excitements; you hear of no domestic afflictions;
bankrupt securities; fall of stocks; are never troubled with the thought of what you shall
have for dinner - for all your meals for three years and more are snugly stowed in casks,
and your bill of fare is immutable.
Herman Melville - Moby-Dick
illustration: Night Journey  by Terry Fan