C h a l k A r t
Fishing for Men
YOUNG MAN: Eight o'clock. Two more hours and the sea can have my troubles. God ... I can't go ... I'm not a missionary ... you know that ... you made me. Look at these hands ... they're made to handle fish ... not people. You gave me this love for the sea ... why try to take it from me now? Why God?.....I'm going whaling! Oh, excuse me!
CAPTAIN: Excuse me, lad! The fog's so thick that one can hardly see objects close at hand.
YOUNG MAN: Yes, it is rather thick tonight!
CAPTAIN: It's like a shroud for a man's soul, lad!
YOUNG MAN: A shroud sir?
CAPTAIN: That's what Jonas Hale used to call it ... he was a man with whom I used to sail. Huh, he was a strange man. The whole crew knew he was running from something ... that's why the crew called him Jonah. He would have terrible dreams at night. His shouts would wake the whole ship and scare the watch!
YOUNG MAN: What would he talk about in his sleep?
CAPTAIN: Oh, he'd scream about not going someplace. It haunted him like a ghost. YOUNG MAN: I see...
CAPTAIN: And where are you heading, lad?
YOUNG MAN: Oh, I'm going whaling on the SEA WITCH.
CAPTAIN: First time, too, isn't it?
YOUNG MAN: Why, yes sir. How did you know that?
CAPTAIN: As, the sea tells on a man, lad ... she licks his face with her watery tongue and the salt tans his skin. She fills his veins with brine and puts a stare in his eye like one longing for a sweetheart. You bear none of these marks, lad. That's the way Jonah was when he began whaling ... just like you are now ... young ... strong ... and he was a little unsure of his course. Well, the sea has a part of him now. He gave her quite a keepsake for her fickle love.
YOUNG MAN: What do you mean?
CAPTAIN: It was Jonah's second year out to sea ... he had proven himself a good whaler by then. But the crew knew Jonah was a religious man, though he kept to himself. When going after a whale, he would mutter something about fishing for men. No one ever questioned him about what he meant. YOUNG MAN: "Follow me. And I will make you fishers of men."
CAPTAIN: That's it, lad ... that's what he would say. How do you know it?
YOUNG MAN: What? ... Oh, ... I ... I was just quoting something I've read. That's all. What about this keepsake?
CAPTAIN: Oh ... well, one day when the ship was in whaling waters ... the lookout shouted ... "There she blows, three points off starboard." The men were over the side of the ship and into their boats like a load of slippery fish. As usual, Jonah was the first one over. He always gave the crew spirit. Out there on the sea the whale was pitching and tossing like a ship in a storm. The men were at her side in no time. They filled her full of harpoons. All of a sudden ... she lifts them high in the air and spits them into the sea ... as if something didn't taste good. The men on board the ship worked hard until every man was saved. But the whale had taken Jonah's leg ... ripped it off at the knee, lad. For a while it looked as if the crew would lose it's best whaler. Then one day Jonah stirred and the men started filling his cabin ... waiting to see if he'd regain consciousness. The first thing he said when he came to was, "I'm going fishing for men." Later he told his shipmates how he had been running from God, and that he had been called to preach and wouldn't go. He had run, and run, and run. Finally, God had to make that whale take his leg in order to slow him down. He wouldn't be running any more, lad. Ah, it looks like the fog is beginning to lift. I had better be going. Farewell, lad!
YOUNG MAN: Excuse me sir!
CAPTAIN: Aye, lad?
YOUNG MAN: Is Jonah still alive?
CAPTAIN: Aye, lad, and he's fishing for men!
YOUNG MAN: Well would you tell him "hello" for me when you see him?
CAPTAIN: Aye, lad, I'll tell him when I see him!
YOUNG MAN: And thank you for telling me about him!! ... And thank you, Lord, for sending that man just in time ... Thank you. Well, I'm going fishing for men, too!! ... Hey, that man had a peg leg!!
Fishing for Men
YOUNG MAN: Eight o'clock. Two more hours and the sea can have my troubles. God ... I can't go ... I'm not a missionary ... you know that ... you made me. Look at these hands ... they're made to handle fish ... not people. You gave me this love for the sea ... why try to take it from me now? Why God?.....I'm going whaling! Oh, excuse me!
CAPTAIN: Excuse me, lad! The fog's so thick that one can hardly see objects close at hand.
YOUNG MAN: Yes, it is rather thick tonight!
CAPTAIN: It's like a shroud for a man's soul, lad!
YOUNG MAN: A shroud sir?
CAPTAIN: That's what Jonas Hale used to call it ... he was a man with whom I used to sail. Huh, he was a strange man. The whole crew knew he was running from something ... that's why the crew called him Jonah. He would have terrible dreams at night. His shouts would wake the whole ship and scare the watch!
YOUNG MAN: What would he talk about in his sleep?
CAPTAIN: Oh, he'd scream about not going someplace. It haunted him like a ghost. YOUNG MAN: I see...
CAPTAIN: And where are you heading, lad?
YOUNG MAN: Oh, I'm going whaling on the SEA WITCH.
CAPTAIN: First time, too, isn't it?
YOUNG MAN: Why, yes sir. How did you know that?
CAPTAIN: As, the sea tells on a man, lad ... she licks his face with her watery tongue and the salt tans his skin. She fills his veins with brine and puts a stare in his eye like one longing for a sweetheart. You bear none of these marks, lad. That's the way Jonah was when he began whaling ... just like you are now ... young ... strong ... and he was a little unsure of his course. Well, the sea has a part of him now. He gave her quite a keepsake for her fickle love.
YOUNG MAN: What do you mean?
CAPTAIN: It was Jonah's second year out to sea ... he had proven himself a good whaler by then. But the crew knew Jonah was a religious man, though he kept to himself. When going after a whale, he would mutter something about fishing for men. No one ever questioned him about what he meant. YOUNG MAN: "Follow me. And I will make you fishers of men."
CAPTAIN: That's it, lad ... that's what he would say. How do you know it?
YOUNG MAN: What? ... Oh, ... I ... I was just quoting something I've read. That's all. What about this keepsake?
CAPTAIN: Oh ... well, one day when the ship was in whaling waters ... the lookout shouted ... "There she blows, three points off starboard." The men were over the side of the ship and into their boats like a load of slippery fish. As usual, Jonah was the first one over. He always gave the crew spirit. Out there on the sea the whale was pitching and tossing like a ship in a storm. The men were at her side in no time. They filled her full of harpoons. All of a sudden ... she lifts them high in the air and spits them into the sea ... as if something didn't taste good. The men on board the ship worked hard until every man was saved. But the whale had taken Jonah's leg ... ripped it off at the knee, lad. For a while it looked as if the crew would lose it's best whaler. Then one day Jonah stirred and the men started filling his cabin ... waiting to see if he'd regain consciousness. The first thing he said when he came to was, "I'm going fishing for men." Later he told his shipmates how he had been running from God, and that he had been called to preach and wouldn't go. He had run, and run, and run. Finally, God had to make that whale take his leg in order to slow him down. He wouldn't be running any more, lad. Ah, it looks like the fog is beginning to lift. I had better be going. Farewell, lad!
YOUNG MAN: Excuse me sir!
CAPTAIN: Aye, lad?
YOUNG MAN: Is Jonah still alive?
CAPTAIN: Aye, lad, and he's fishing for men!
YOUNG MAN: Well would you tell him "hello" for me when you see him?
CAPTAIN: Aye, lad, I'll tell him when I see him!
YOUNG MAN: And thank you for telling me about him!! ... And thank you, Lord, for sending that man just in time ... Thank you. Well, I'm going fishing for men, too!! ... Hey, that man had a peg leg!!