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The Korean Automotive Industry Volume 1 Beginnings To 1996 A J Jacobs Full Chapter
The Korean Automotive Industry Volume 1 Beginnings To 1996 A J Jacobs Full Chapter
The Korean
Automotive Industry,
Volume 1
Beginnings to 1996
The Korean Automotive Industry, Volume 1
A. J. Jacobs
The Korean
Automotive Industry,
Volume 1
Beginnings to 1996
A. J. Jacobs
Department of Sociology
East Carolina University
Greenville, NC, USA
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer
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Acknowledgments
I would like to dedicate this book to my friend Dr. Seongjin Jeong, whose
invitation to present a paper at Gyeongsang National University in Jinju,
South Korea, sparked the writing of this book. I also would like to give
special thanks to Letizia Imbres and Thorsten Wiechmann at the Tech-
nische Universitat Dortmund for including me in their special “Traveling
Conference Ulsan” in November 2019.
Next, I would like to acknowledge: Hyung-Je Jo of the University of
Ulsan for helping me better understand Korean automakers; Jennifer E.
Jones of East Carolina University’s Joyner library for her relentless pursuit
of interlibrary loan materials on my behalf (during a pandemic no less);
Minzy Koh for organizing my travel to Jinju; and Scott Jacobs for his
review of two chapters.
I also would like to recognize: Marcus Ballenger at Palgrave for his
continued confidence in my work (three books and counting); June
Thomas for introducing my research to Dr. Imbres; and Richard Child
Hill for preparing me to write such a book. Dr. Hill introduced me to the
auto industry in the 1980s and Korean political economy in the 1990s. I
also met Dr. Jeong in his course.
Finally, I am eternally grateful to my daughter, Ruiko Mei Kimura
Jacobs, for her stellar proofreading of this manuscript.
v
Contents
vii
viii CONTENTS
Index 409
About the Author
ix
Abbreviations
xi
xii ABBREVIATIONS
xvii
List of Tables
xix
xx LIST OF TABLES
Introduction
In 1962, the Republic of Korea (South Korea or Korea) assembled just
1167 new motor vehicles. This total slowly increased to 49,545 in 1975,
then jumped to 378,162 in 1985, before soaring to 2,812,714 in 1996.
In the latter year, the Hyundai Motor Group produced 1,341,990 of
these vehicles, the Kia Motor Group 756,773, and Daewoo Motors
632,674. This growth transformed Korea from the globe’s 15th ranked
vehicle producing nation in 1985 into the seventh largest in 1996.1
Hyundai and Kia would internationalize their production bases, merge
in 1998 in the aftermath of the Asian Financial Crisis, and finally together
become the world’s fifth largest automotive group during the 2010s. In
the process, Korea’s vehicle plants would go on to assemble 3,950,614
vehicles in 2019, retaining the nation’s position as the world’s seventh
largest producer in that year. South Korea also ranked fifth among all
nations in terms of vehicles assembled per capita in 2019, at 78 per 1000
inhabitants. At that time, it trailed only the small countries of Slovakia,
Czechia, and Slovenia, and the mighty Japan.2
3 For some fine English-language dissertations on the topic, see: Lew (1992), Lee
(1993, 1997), Chae (1999), Hong (2000), Lee (2001, 2002). The six books are: Kirk
(1994), Steers (1999), Hyun (2003), Jeong (2004), Lansbury et al. (2007), Chung
(2019).
1 INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW: THE RISE OF THE KOREAN … 5
4 I deliberately do not get into the scholarly argument here as to whether Korea had a
developmental-state or not. This is discussed to some degree in Chapter 2. For some of
the many important examples of this scholarship in English, see Kim and Roemer (1981),
Deyo (1987), Petri (1988), Amsden (1989), Haggard (1990), Lee and Yamazawa (1990),
Song (1990), Wade (1990), Cho and Kim (1991), Vogel (1991), Woo (1991), Woronoff
(1992), World Bank (1993), Kohli (1994), Shin (1996), Leipziger (1997), Sakong and
Koh (2010), and Kim and Vogel (2011).
6 A. J. JACOBS
5 For more on this, see: Kim and Lee (1983), KAMA (1990–2018), Green (1992),
Lew (1992), Lee (1993, 1997), Watanabe (1993), Kirk (1994), Rhee (1994), McDermott
(1995), Stern et al. (1995), Hong (2000), Chung (1998, 2003, 2009), Lee (2001, 2002),
Jeong (2004), Lansbury et al. (2007), Jacobs (2016), Lee and Mah (2017), and Hyun
(2020).
6 Ibid. While similar in name, these four stages are not meant to match Rostow’s
(1960) five stages of economic growth.
1 INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW: THE RISE OF THE KOREAN … 7
acquiring technology and knowhow from the far more advanced foreign
firms.7
Phase two began with the dissolution of the Shinjin–Toyota and
Hyundai–Ford alliances and their replacement by more extensive part-
nerships between Shinjin and General Motors of America in 1972, and
Hyundai and Mitsubishi in 1973. It was propelled by the promulgation
of President Park’s Long-Term Plan for the Development of Heavy and
Chemical Industry (HCI Plan), which supplied the framework for the
country’s rapid export-led economic growth of the 1970s and 1980s.8
Among the policies evolving concurrent to the HCI initiative and
the subsequent Long-Term Development Plan for the Auto Industry of
1974, were the government’s pronouncements that the nation would
build 500,000 cars per year by 1980 and export 75,000 vehicles annu-
ally by 1981. Related to this, MTI directed domestic automakers to focus
their efforts on developing an affordable/$2000 “People’s Car,” of which
they were to produce 50,000 units per year and equip with 95% domestic
content. This was an ambitious agenda considering the country assem-
bled only 26,314 vehicles in 1973, none of which were exported abroad
during that year.9
To foster the achievement of these milestones, the Korean Govern-
ment waived import tariffs on raw materials utilized to create domestically
produced parts and offered special financing and greater access to foreign
loans to automakers directly investing in the native parts sector. In addi-
tion, MTI began cultivating a core group of Tier-I, II, and III automotive
suppliers that could work closely with vehicle manufacturers. Finally,
between 1978 and 1979, it set a new production target of two million
vehicles in 1986, selected the automotive industry as one of its ten
strategic export industries eligible for special government assistance, and
introduced a new plan promoting the development of locally designed
mid-size sedans by 1982.10
The Korean auto industry’s periphery phase lasted through 1982, with
annual output during this stage hitting a zenith of 204,447 in 1979.
7 Ibid. For other discussions of periphery stage auto production, see Ellingstad (1997),
Pavlinek (1998, 2002, 2017), and Humphrey et al. (2000).
8 Ibid.
9 Ibid.
10 Ibid.
8 A. J. JACOBS
11 Ibid.
12 Jacobs (2016).
13 Ward’s (1972–2020), Hyun and Lee (1989), Lee (1993), and Jacobs (2016).
1 INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW: THE RISE OF THE KOREAN … 9
14 KAMA (1990–2018).
15 Hyun and Lee (1989), Chung (1998, 2003), and Jacobs (2016).
16 Ibid.
10 A. J. JACOBS
Festiva and LeMans both were imported to the U.S. and Canada duty-
free, keeping their costs down as compared with competitor imports (see
Chapters 5–7).17
Over the remaining four years of the takeoff stage, finished vehi-
cles assembled in Korea expanded to more than one million in 1988,
before ballooning to nearly 1.5 million in 1991. Meanwhile, domestic
sales peaked at 1,104,184 in the latter year. In contrast, after soaring
to 576,134 in 1988, including 480,119 units shipped to America and
407,719 delivered by Hyundai, vehicle exports fell to 342,372 in 1991.18
Trade friction, stemming from Korea’s nearly $9 billion trade surpluses
with the U.S. in both 1988 and 1989, put the brakes on the growth.
More than half of this imbalance was generated by the automotive
industry, particularly related to the 288,895 U.S. dealer sales of the Excel
and Precis in 1988. Hyundai’s stalled and then sputtering launch of its
first overseas plant in Quebec did not help matters. Conversely, to support
the Canadian factory, Hyundai became the first Korean automaker to
export KD kits of its own designed cars in 1989. This advancement,
coupled with expanding exports to Europe, would help nudge the Korean
auto industry toward its next stage of development.19
In the fourth, early maturation and internationalization stage, Korea’s
domestic vehicle sales continued their upward trajectory, export desti-
nations began to diversify significantly, and native automakers made
substantial financial commitments to expand their production footprints
both at home and abroad. This stage began in 1992, when finished
vehicle exports rebounded to 417,708 and deliveries to Western Europe
surpassed 100,000 for the first time. The following November, Korea’s
six existing automakers—Hyundai and its affiliate Hyundai Precision
Industries, Kia and its subsidiary Asia Motors, Daewoo, and Ssangyong—
separately announced plans to invest a combined $20 billion and double
annual domestic capacity to 6.5 million in 2000.20
In addition to their declared greenfield projects at home, Hyundai
and Kia planned to launch a series of small foreign KD joint ventures
21 Ibid.
22 Hong (2000), Lee (2001, 2002), Ravenhill (2003), Jeong (2004), and Lee and Lee
(2007).
23 Ibid.
12 A. J. JACOBS
start of 1997 that the Korean auto industry’s drive to maturity would be
led by the country’s three of largest conglomerates, Hyundai, Samsung,
and Daewoo. That was until something called the Asian Fiscal Crisis got
in the way.
Overview of Book
The remainder of this introduction provides an overview of its ten
proceeding chapters. As outlined in the Table of Contents, this volume
is presented in three parts: I. The Rise of South Korea’s Auto Industry:
Beginnings to 1996; II. Korean Carmaker Stories, 1962 to 1996; and
III. Volume 1—Conclusion and Summary. The body of the book and
Part I begins with Chapter 2, “The State and Development in South
Korea: From Yi to Early Park.” This essay provides a cursory histor-
ical outline of South Korea’s context for development through 1972. It
begins with brief discussions of its Koryo (936–1392) and Chosun/Yi
(1392–1910) periods, before introducing some of the pivotal events
connecting the Japanese colonization period (1910–1945) and the Rhee
Regime (1945–1960) with South Korea’s post-World War II economic
growth. Chapter 2 then concludes with some commentary regarding the
rapid transformation of the Korean economy during the early Park Era
(1961–1972). This sets the stage for the discussions in Chapters 3 and 4
reviewing the State’s role in the creation and development of a domestic
automobile industry.
Chapter 3, “Park’s Engineering of a South Korean Auto Industry:
Beginnings to 1979,” chronicles the emergence of the Korean auto
industry from its beginnings to 1979. It opens with a brief review of
the industry’s embryonic phase up until the Rhee Regime (1948–1960).
This is followed by two sections that discuss the Park Government’s
forging of the foundation for a domestic automobile industry (1961–
1967) and subsequent weaning of its native automakers (1967–1972).
The essay next examines Korea’s development of a gukmincha (“People’s
Car”) under the direction of Park’s Heavy and Chemical Industrial Drive
or HCI Plan (1973–1979). It then closes with a summary of the rise
of the Korean auto industry under Park. Chapter 3 also provides some
concluding thoughts regarding the development context at the end of
Park’s reign in 1979.
Serving as a continuation of the prior essay, Chapter 4, “The Korean
Auto Industry’s Post-Park Emergence between Crises: 1980 to 1996,”
1 INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW: THE RISE OF THE KOREAN … 13
examines the plight of the Korean auto industry from the second
global energy crisis through the end of 1996/just months prior to the
1997 Asian Financial Crisis. It begins with an overview of the political-
economic context for the auto industry’s development during the Chun
Regime (1980–1988). This includes discussions of the Park to Chun tran-
sition period, how growing trade friction between Japanese automakers
and Western nations created an opening for Korean exports, particu-
larly from Hyundai, and of the tumultuous end to the Chun Regime.
These sections are followed by brief examinations of the evolving context
under the Roh (1988–1993) and Young-sam Kim (1993–1996) Regimes.
During the former period, auto industry growth slowed, as Korean
vehicle exports began to confront trade friction of their own from North
America. In contrast, during the latter period, Korean automakers expe-
rienced a second takeoff, as Kim’s liberalization policies fueled capacity
expansions at home and abroad. This resulted in a more than doubling
of exports. Chapter 4 closes with a summary of the essay’s key points and
offers a look at the status of the Korean auto industry at the start of 1997.
Part II begins with Chapter 5, “Daewoo, Shinjin, and the Forerun-
ners of GM Korea: Beginnings to 1996.” The first of six case-study
essays, this chapter outlines the history of Daewoo Motors between 1937
and 1996. It begins with a section discussing the automaker’s nascent
period (1937–1966), when National Motors became Saenara Motors and
then was taken over by Shinjin Industries. This is followed by sections
reviewing Shinjin’s alliance with Toyota of Japan (1967–1972), Shinjin’s
failed alliance with GM (1972–1979), and GM’s early partnership with
the Daewoo Group (1979–1987). The chapter then offers sections chron-
icling Daewoo Motors’ divorce from GM and then blossoming during the
late 1980s and early 1990s (1987–1992), leading to its aggressive inter-
nationalization under the Daewoo Vision 2000 plan (1993–1996). The
latter strategy sought to turn the firm into one of the world’s ten largest
automakers. The chapter concludes with a summary of the automaker’s
history and status at the start of 1997.
Chapter 6, “Kia Motors, From Bikes to Cars: Beginnings to 1996,”
outlines the history of Kia Motors between 1944 and 1996. It begins with
a section discussing the firm’s early years as a maker of bicycles, licensed
Honda motorcycles, and then Mazda-based, three-wheel trucks (1937–
1971). This is followed by two sections that chronicle the launch of Kia
Industries’ Sohari vehicle plant and its first passenger car (1972–1976),
and that examine the firm’s takeover of Asia Motors and temporary loss of
14 A. J. JACOBS
The latter included a brief review of Daewoo’s entrance into the U.S.
market in the 1990s, followed by its takeover by GM in 2002.25
The auto FDI book on North America was followed by research for
the author’s Automotive FDI in Emerging Europe: Shifting Locales in
the Motor Vehicle Industry. Published in 2017, this 350-page manuscript
examined foreign transplants in emerging Central-Eastern Europe and
contained two original chapters on the Czech and Slovak auto indus-
tries. These essays included commentary on the Hyundai Nosovice Plant
in Czechia and Kia Zilina in Slovakia that was gleaned from the author’s
field work in the two nations and documents detailing the histories of
both factories.26
Finally, just prior to attending a conference in Ulsan in 2019,
the author completed an invited presentation at Gyeongsang National
University in Jinju, South Korea, entitled “A Short History of Korean
Carmakers, at Home and in North America.” One of the many high-
lights of this trip was a factory tour of Hyundai Motor’s massive, 1.5
million-capacity Ulsan complex. This was to lead to a second presenta-
tion in Jinju in 2020, “A Brief History of Korea’s Other Automakers:
Ssangyong Motor and Renault Samsung,” which was postponed due to
COVID-19. The historical data analysis and field work data completed
for the 2019 and postponed 2020 papers ultimately set the outline for
this book and the second volume to come in 2022.27
25 Jacobs (2016).
26 Jacobs (2017).
27 Jacobs (2019, 2020).
18 A. J. JACOBS
figures were checked against daily respective exchange rates and some-
times revised slightly to maintain consistency throughout the manuscript.
The sources for exchange rates are cited in the footnotes and references
of each chapter.
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CHAPTER 2
Introduction
Situated on a peninsula between the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan
(East Sea), the Republic of Korea, or South Korea, was established on
August 15, 1948. Exactly three years prior, the peninsula had been liber-
ated after four decades years of Japanese occupation and split in two at the
38th parallel. The Allied forces then initially governed the south and the
Soviets the area that would become known as the Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea or North Korea. It was within such a precarious geo-
political context—bordered on the north by an ideological adversary, on
three sides by the sea but just 120 miles West of Japan, and in the
crosshairs of multiple rival superpowers—that South Korea created its
so-called Economic “Miracle of the Han.”
This chapter offers a cursory historical outline of South Korea’s context
for development through 1972. It begins with a brief summary of the
peninsula’s Koryo (936–1392) and Yi Dynasty/Chosun (1392–1910)
periods. It then introduces some of the links between the Japanese colo-
nization period (1910–1945) and South Korea’s post-WW-II economic
growth. This is followed by sections that highlight some of the pivotal
political-economic events occurring during the Rhee (1945–1960) and
early Park (1961–1972) Regimes. The chapter concludes with addi-
tional commentary regarding the rapid transformation of the Korean
economy during early Park. This then sets the stage for Chapters 3 and 4,
1 Sunoo (1970), Lee (1984), Nahm (1988), and Cumings (2005). For more on
the McCune-Reichauser and contemporary Korean transliterationsfor Korean place and
prominent family names, see Chapter 1.
2 Sunoo (1970), Lee (1984), Nahm (1988), and Cumings (2005). It was not until
1945 that the area became known as Seoul. It was then officially chartered as a home-rule
city on August 15, 1946, before being re-classified as the Seoul Metropolitan Government
on August 15, 1949, see Seoul (2021).
2 THE STATE AND DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH KOREA … 27
3 Sunoo (1970), Lee (1984), Nahm (1988), Eckert et al. (1990), Eckert (1991), and
Cumings (2005).
4 Ibid.
5 Ibid.
28 A. J. JACOBS
6 Sunoo (1970), Morishima (1982), Lee (1984), Nahm (1988), and Bridges (1993),
the area’s represent today’s Gyeongsang-do, Busan, and Yeompo.
7 Sunoo (1970), Suh (1978), Lee (1984), Nahm (1988), Eckert et al. (1990), and
Cumings (2005).
8 Noble (1929), Sunoo (1970), Suh (1978), Kim and Roemer (1981), Lee (1984),
Nahm (1988), Eckert et al. (1990), Cumings (2005), and Meyer (2009), Kangwha is
written as Ganghwa and Inch’on as Incheon under contemporary Korean Romanization.
Pusan was known as Fuzan, Wonsan as Genzan, Chemulpo as Saimoppo, and Inch’on as
Jinsen under Japanese colonial rule. Wonsan is in today’s Kangwon Province of North
Korean. The Port of Chemulpo or Jemulpo is now known as the Port of Incheon.
2 THE STATE AND DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH KOREA … 29
was now badly exposed to Russian military forces encroaching from the
north, Japanese troops infringing on the south, and Chinese diplomats
and merchants reasserting themselves in the center.9
By July 1894, China and Japan had responded to peasant uprisings in
Chosun by going to war with each other over the peninsula. The more
technologically equipped Japanese would prevail, and thereby, flip the
balance of power in East Asia on its head. This shift was formalized on
April 17, 1895, when the Treaty of Shimonoseki was signed, ending the
First Sino-Japanese War. Japan’s victory released Chosun from its tribu-
tary relationship with China (the armistice also ceded Taiwan to Japan).
This was made official on October 13, 1897, when the sovereign nation
of Daehan Jeguk (the Great Korean Empire) was constituted.10
Independence lasted only eight years, however, as by then Japan also
had beaten back Russia. Japan’s triumph in the Russo-Japanese War was
formalized in the Treaty of Portsmouth on September 5, 1905, which
among other things, led to Korea becoming a protectorate on November
17, 1905. Twenty months later, on July 24, 1907, the Japanese Resident-
General was effectively made ruler of Korea, and Japanese nationals were
appointed as the heads of all of Korea’s central ministries and provincial
and city administrations. The final step in the fait accompli culminated
on August 29, 1910, when Korea’s Emperor was forced to yield his
throne and his country to Japan. To add insult to injury, the capital
city of Hansong (today’s Seoul) was renamed Keijo by the Japanese or
Kyongsong in Korean.11
9 Rhee (1922), Sunoo (1970), Lee (1984), Nahm (1988), Eckert et al. (1990), Chung
(2006), and Meyer (2009).
10 Ibid.
11 Ibid.; in modern Romanization, Kyongsong is written as Gyeongseong (i.e., Seoul).
30 A. J. JACOBS
12 Sunoo (1970, 1994), Suh (1978), Kim and Roemer (1981), Cumings (1984),
Lee (1984), Nahm (1988), Amsden (1989), Steinberg (1989), Eckert et al. (1990),
McNamara (1990), Eckert (1991), Kohli (1994, 2004), and Chung (2006).
13 Koh (1970), Suh (1978), Kim and Roemer (1981), Lee (1984), McNamara (1990),
Woo (1991), Kohli (1994), Cumings (2005), and Chung (2006). These companies were
known in Japanese, respectively, as: Toyo Takushoku Kabusha Kaisha, or literally, the
Oriental Colonialization Development Joint-Stock Company; Chosen Ginko; and Chosen
Shokusan Ginko. The Bank of Chosun was originally known as the Bank of Korea, with
its name changed after Japan’s annexation of the country in 1910, see Koh (1970), Lee
(1984), and McNamara (1990).
14 Ibid.
2 THE STATE AND DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH KOREA … 31
LA MINE
Je n’ai jamais connu, sur mer, un équipage plus gai, plus vaillant,
plus allant, depuis le dernier des novices jusqu’au commandant, qui
disait aux passagères inquiètes : « Mais non, mesdames, ils ne nous
couleront pas ! Nous sommes trop petits !… Quoique ça, ne quittez
pas vos ceintures de sauvetage, et dormez sur le pont ! »
C’était pendant la guerre, en 1917, et ils ont tous été noyés, les
pauvres diables, noyés comme des rats, par un sous-marin
allemand, un mois plus tard, entre Corfou et Brindisi, dans
l’Adriatique. Je n’avais passé que trois jours avec eux, et ça me fait
peine encore, quand j’y pense, une vraie peine, comme si on m’avait
tué de très vieux, de très sûrs amis.
C’était un tout petit vapeur, qui s’appelait l’Édouard-Corbière, du
nom de son ancien propriétaire, père du poète Tristan Corbière. Ce
vieux capitaine au long cours, qui fut corsaire, négrier, journaliste,
romancier et même poète, était un homme d’entreprise : il avait créé,
entre je ne sais plus quel port d’Armorique et l’Angleterre, une petite
ligne de navigation dont le fret le plus habituel se composait de
cochons engraissés en France et destinés à la nourriture des
insulaires de Grande-Bretagne. Les vieux matelots du bord
rappelaient en riant cette époque de paix et de tranquillité. Ces gens
qui chaque jour attendaient la mort — et qui l’ont reçue — étaient
d’une sublime et magnifique insouciance. Chaque jour ils prenaient
leurs repas de l’après-midi en plein air, devant le poste d’équipage,
sur un prélart qui couvrait l’entrée de la cale, tout près du hublot de
ma cabine. Ils ne me voyaient point, ignoraient ma présence et
causaient librement. J’ai entendu là, de leur bouche, sans qu’ils s’en
pussent douter, les plus belles histoires, presque toutes fausses.
Les marins sont comme les enfants : ils ne demandent jamais
« si c’est arrivé » ; ils lisent peu, ou pas du tout ; leur âme ingénue et
malicieuse à la fois a besoin pourtant de romans : ils inventent des
romans parlés. Toutes les races de nos côtes étaient représentées
parmi ces condamnés à mort, et qui le savaient sans doute, si
simplement et joyeusement braves : les mokos de la rive
méditerranéenne, les pêcheurs du golfe de Gascogne, les Bordelais,
les Vendéens, les Bretons, les Normands de Granville et de Saint-
Malo, les gens de Boulogne, de Calais, de Dunkerque. Il y en avait
— c’était le plus grand nombre — qui ne faisaient qu’écouter et rire,
ou s’émouvoir, mais rire le plus souvent. Par réaction contre le
danger, ils semblaient, en effet, préférer le rire aux larmes. Ils
goûtaient mieux, par un sentiment populaire, instinctif, l’aventure qui
finit bien ; ils aimaient aussi celle qui réserve une surprise à la fin, et
déconcerte. A leur manière, ils avaient le goût aiguisé, ils étaient des
amateurs difficiles. Et celui qui contait le mieux ce que nos voisins
d’Angleterre nomment le yarn, ce que nos compatriotes du Midi
appellent la galéjade, n’était point, chose surprenante, de Toulon ou
de Marseille : un Flamand de Bray-Dunes, pêcheur à l’Islande, puis
marin à l’État. Je me souviens de son nom, un nom de mon pays :
Bogaërt. Ça se prononce « Bogart », en faisant sonner le t. Il était
lourd, rond, puissant, musculeux et gras, avec un air d’assurance
pour affirmer les choses les plus invraisemblables ; il filait le conte
comme un curé son prêche, si sérieusement qu’on y était toujours
pris. Voilà une de ses histoires. Je vais m’efforcer de la dire autant
que possible telle que je l’ai entendue :
… Il se pouvait que celle-là ne fût pas seule, qu’elle fît partie d’un
chapelet. Le grand paquebot ralentit sa marche. Il n’avança plus
qu’avec prudence, comme à tâtons. Les vagues poussèrent à sa
rencontre de larges lambeaux de chair, de l’huile, de la graisse qui
surnageaient.
— Pauvre bête ! dit un passager en frissonnant.
— J’aime mieux que ce soit elle que nous, répondit un autre : elle
nous a rendu un fier service !
A vingt milles de là, les cachalots étaient remontés à la surface.
Une femelle se rapprocha d’un vieux mâle, un pacha fier de son
harem ; sa carapace de lard était toute couturée de cicatrices,
nobles traces des batailles d’amour qu’il avait livrées.
— Qu’est-ce que c’était que ça, dit-elle, Qu’est-ce que ça veut
dire ?…
— Une mine ! grogna le vieux mâle. C’est honteux ! Ça ne nous
regarde pas, ces choses-là, ce n’est pas pour nous !