As the novel opens, the narrator, a young man called Ishmael, expresses a yearning to lift his spirits with a sea voyage. Carrying only a change or two of clothing, he leaves his home in Manhattan and arrives in New Bedford, Massachusetts, on a cold Saturday night in December. From there, he hopes to catch a small boat to the historical port of Nantucket in order to sign on with a whaling ship. Unfortunately, there is no passage to Nantucket until Monday so he must find lodging that he can afford. He finally settles on the Spouter-Inn, Peter Coffin proprietor.
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