"...And Saint Attila raised the hand grenade up on high, saying, "O Lord, bless this Thy hand grenade that with it Thou mayest blow Thine enemies to tiny bits, in Thy mercy." And the Lord did grin and the people did feast upon the lambs and sloths and carp and anchovies and orangutans and breakfast cereals, and fruit bats and large...."
I like lamb, carp, anchovies, and fruitbats (not too fond of sloths, orang-utans, or breakfast cereals).
But this is not in reference to a banquet, but to the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, from the Monty Python movie.
The hand-grenade has but the briefest role in the movie, but that scene is probably cited as much as any other part of the tale. The phrase "three shall be the number of the count" can start conversations with complete strangers. The obsession with three, coupled with a killer rabbit and a loopy wizard, seem to have found permanent lodgings in the minds of the truly intelligent.
[The terms nerd and geek are often applied to the truly intelligent. A canard.]
"...then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. "
The quote, as I'm sure everyone realizes, is from the Book of Armaments (Chapter 2, verses 9 through 21).
What few people know is that it is actually a borrowing from the Jewish tradition, and predates much that is Christian. Specifically, it is a borrowing from the Seder.
A fragment recently revealed makes that quite clear.
"Four shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be four. Five shalt thou not count, neither count thou three, excepting that thou then proceed to four. Six is right out! Once the number four, being the fourth number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Haggadah of Peysach towards thy foe, who being apikorsish in my sight, shall snuff it..."
The four sons, the four kashes, the sages reclining at Bnei Brak.......
The connection is obvious.
The three motif is a clearly recognizable Christianization.
Despite the rabbit, it originally has nothing to do with Easter.
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This post is a rif on a recent Dovbear (http://dovbear.blogspot.com/) posting in which he makes mention of Krum as a bagel (http://krumasabagel.blogspot.com/index.html).
This post: http://dovbear.blogspot.com/2007/04/dont-visit-krum.html
And this one: http://krumasabagel.blogspot.com/2007/04/pesach-grinch.html
The caffeine is wearing off now, time for tea. With four lumps of sugar. Not three, save that it lead to four. Four. Four and only four. Four alone, no other numbers. Four, yes four. Four, indeed four. Four, truly four; four are the lumps of sugar. For tea it is fitting, for tea it is right. Four.
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After picking up my refills I mentally calculated how often I've been to that pharmacy. More times than my years of age. Which is not su...
2 comments:
ROFLMAO.
(in a good way)
yes, I'm a nerd.
Hey! what's wrong with Orang's? They're intelligent, filled with gravitas, act well with Clint Eastwood (unlike several blonde actresses)...oh wait...you mean EATING Orangs. No way!
Also, Tim is an enchanter, not actually a wizard.
Too: are you positting a connection between the Killer Bunny, who made Sir Robin soil his armor, which in turn allowed Eric Idle to play the part of the priest who reads from the Book of Armaments, and the Easter Bunny? Interesting.
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