we had been sitting in this crouching manner for some time, when all at once i thought i would open my eyes; for when between sheets, whether by day or by night, and whether asleep or awake, i have a way of always keeping my eyes shut, in order the more to concentrate the snugness of being in bed. because no man can ever feel his own identity aright except his eyes be closed; as if darkness were indeed the proper element of our essences, though light be more congenial to our clayey part. upon opening my eyes then, and coming out of my own pleasant and self-created darkness into the imposed and coarse outer gloom of the unilluminated twelve-o’clock-at-night, i experienced a disagreeable revulsion. nor did i at all object to the hint from queequeg that perhaps it were best to strike a light, seeing that we were so wide awake; and besides he felt a strong desire to have a few quiet puffs from his tomahawk. be it said, that though i had felt such a strong repugnance to his smoking in the bed the night before, yet see how elastic our stiff prejudices grow when love once comes to bend them.