A Charitable Lady
- In a somber mood, Grey-and-white heads into the ladies' saloon and sits by a pleasant-looking woman—a widow—in clothes that indicate she's just coming out of mourning. She's been reading the Bible.
- Specifically, this lady's been reading 1 Corinthians 13. This is the uber-famous love is patient, love is kind section that gets used during many a wedding in the U.S.
- Really quick, though: the edition of the Bible that Melville probably has in mind when writing in the 1800s would have had "charity" in place of "love." In fact, the lines our guy wrote on his slate in chapter one about charity are taken straight out of this section. What a coincidence.
- Anyway, the woman notices Grey-and-white but doesn't say anything. Grey-and-white notices her and does say a thing: "May I ask, are you a sister of the church?" (8.5). Smooth.
- The lady stammers because it's an odd question. Grey-and-white jumps into a spiel about how he can't really connect with anyone outside the church, and she seemed like she might be, you know, one of his kind.
- There's more stammering on the lady's part, when Grey-and-white interrupts her again. He goes on and on about whether or not she could believe in him.
- But you're a stranger.
- Grey-and-white guilts the lady into saying she has confidence in him.
- Prove it, Grey-and-white demands. Give me twenty bucks. That amount of money would be close to $365 today. Translation: he's asking a lot. (Source.)
- The lady asks Grey-and-white to at least tell her why he needs the money. He brings up the widows and orphans charity, and she readily hands over the money.
- Grey-and-white quotes a different passage from Corinthians back at the lady. It's about having confidence. Go figure.