Quote is from a novella, Benito Cereno, by Herman Melville, an American novelist. It tells the story of a revolt aboard a Spanish slave ship. Its captain, Benito Cereno, is forced by his ex-captives to pretend that all is well on board when the vessel is discovered by Captain Delano after a storm. Delano wonders why Cereno and his crew, whom he has just rescued from potential shipwreck, act so awkwardly and nervously around the slaves who paradoxically show little or no respect for their authority.