Hello everyone. I would like to know what "Noah’s Circle Line" means in the following sentences:
I noticed that she had sorted the appetizers in pairs and placed them in neat little rows around the plate, as though she’d carefully lined them up for Noah’s ark—her way of making up for neglecting the punch, I thought. The tuna-avocado miniature rolls—male and female—the kiwi-tile fish—male and female—the seared scallop with a sprig of mache on a bed of slithered turnips with tamarind jelly and a dab of lemon rind on top—male and female made He them. No sooner had I told her why the extravagant miscellany had made me smile than I realized there was something daring in my remark about the paired appetizers that were about to propagate and fill the earth—except that before I had time to backpedal, I caught something else neighboring this idea that moved me in my stomach as if I’d been buoyed up and let down on a high wave: not male and female, not male and female shifting on the cold banks of the Black Sea, filing up to book passage on Noah’s Circle Line, but male and female as in you and me, you and me, just you and me, Clara, waiting our turn, which turn, whose turn, say something now, Clara, or I’ll speak out of turn and I haven’t had enough to drink to find the courage to say it. I wanted to touch her shoulder, wanted to rub the length of her neck with my lips, kiss her under her right ear and under the left ear and along her breastbone, and thank her for arranging this plate, for knowing what I’d think, for thinking it with me, even if none of it had crossed her mind.
- André Aciman, Eight White Nights, First Night
This is a novel published in the United States of America in 2010. The protagonist meets Clara at a New year's eve party. Here, Clara brought the protagonist some appetizers, instead of the fruit punch she had promised to bring. The appetizers are square fragments in pairs. So the protagonist is thinking about the paired animals in Noah's ark.
In this part, I wonder what the underlined expression means.
I am guessing that it is referring to Noah's ark in the Bible, but I am not sure what "Circle Line" (capitalized) might mean.
I have a feeling that, by "Circle Line," the ship was operated on a regular basis... though I am not sure.
I would very much appreciate your help.
I noticed that she had sorted the appetizers in pairs and placed them in neat little rows around the plate, as though she’d carefully lined them up for Noah’s ark—her way of making up for neglecting the punch, I thought. The tuna-avocado miniature rolls—male and female—the kiwi-tile fish—male and female—the seared scallop with a sprig of mache on a bed of slithered turnips with tamarind jelly and a dab of lemon rind on top—male and female made He them. No sooner had I told her why the extravagant miscellany had made me smile than I realized there was something daring in my remark about the paired appetizers that were about to propagate and fill the earth—except that before I had time to backpedal, I caught something else neighboring this idea that moved me in my stomach as if I’d been buoyed up and let down on a high wave: not male and female, not male and female shifting on the cold banks of the Black Sea, filing up to book passage on Noah’s Circle Line, but male and female as in you and me, you and me, just you and me, Clara, waiting our turn, which turn, whose turn, say something now, Clara, or I’ll speak out of turn and I haven’t had enough to drink to find the courage to say it. I wanted to touch her shoulder, wanted to rub the length of her neck with my lips, kiss her under her right ear and under the left ear and along her breastbone, and thank her for arranging this plate, for knowing what I’d think, for thinking it with me, even if none of it had crossed her mind.
- André Aciman, Eight White Nights, First Night
This is a novel published in the United States of America in 2010. The protagonist meets Clara at a New year's eve party. Here, Clara brought the protagonist some appetizers, instead of the fruit punch she had promised to bring. The appetizers are square fragments in pairs. So the protagonist is thinking about the paired animals in Noah's ark.
In this part, I wonder what the underlined expression means.
I am guessing that it is referring to Noah's ark in the Bible, but I am not sure what "Circle Line" (capitalized) might mean.
I have a feeling that, by "Circle Line," the ship was operated on a regular basis... though I am not sure.
I would very much appreciate your help.
