"There's something ever egotistical in mountain-tops and towers, and all other grand and lofty things; look here,-three peaks as proud as Lucifer. The firm tower, that is Ahab; the volcano, that is Ahab; the courageous, the undaunted, and victorious fowl, that, too, is Ahab; all are Ahab; and this round gold is but the image of the rounder globe, which, like a magician's glass, to each and every man in turn but mirrors back his own mysterious self. "
Musing: We are back to Ahab now and rushing toward the end of the novel. Ahab hangs a gold coin from the mast of the ship. Whoever spots Moby-Dick first will win the coin. But before he nails the coin, Ahab reflects on the meaning behind it. The coin is from Ecuador and features an image of mountains on its face. Ahab reads the image and sees himself as the three peaks. He decides that we all see ourselves in money. What money means to us is what we are. Think about that, friends!!