Seamen Have A Custom, When They Meet A Whale, To Fling Him Out An
Empty Tub By Way Of Amusement, To Divert Him From Laying Violent Hands
Upon The Ship.
Seamen have a custom, when they meet a whale, to fling him out an
empty tub by way of amusement, to divert him from laying violent hands
upon the ship.
-- Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)
-- Tale of a Tub, Preface