From lockyert@mweb.co.za Sun Sep 2 02:54:54 2001 Received: from mxu103.u.washington.edu (mxu103.u.washington.edu [140.142.33.14]) by lists.u.washington.edu (8.11.2+UW01.01/8.11.2+UW01.04) with ESMTP id f829sm015054 for ; Sun, 2 Sep 2001 02:54:50 -0700 Received: from mxu3.u.washington.edu (mxu3.u.washington.edu [140.142.33.7]) by mxu103.u.washington.edu (8.11.2+UW01.01/8.11.2+UW01.04) with SMTP id f829sln17744 for ; Sun, 2 Sep 2001 02:54:48 -0700 Received: FROM mono.mweb.co.za BY mxu3.u.washington.edu ; Sun Sep 02 02:54:43 2001 -0700 Received: from [196.30.238.210] (helo=al40) by mono.mweb.co.za with smtp (Exim 3.22 #2) id 15dTtN-0001Y7-00 for classics@u.washington.edu; Sun, 02 Sep 2001 11:50:13 +0200 Message-ID: <001701c13395$08abb920$d2ee1ec4@al40> From: "Terrence Lockyer" To: "Classics List" Subject: Of llamas and other animals Date: Sun, 2 Sep 2001 11:51:49 +0200 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4133.2400 X-MIMEOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4133.2400 On Sat, 01 Sep 2001, Marcelo Rinesi wrote : PS: For whatever is worth, I have heard : something very similar passed as a "common : saying" for medieval Arabs --- something : along the lines of "For procreation, a woman. : For pleasure, a boy. But for real extasis, an : swan". This, especially in connection with limericks, reminds me of a piece by Gavin Ewart that is printed in - John Whitworth (ed.), *The Faber Book of Blue Verse* (London and Boston : Faber and Faber 1990), p. 203 [I bought it on a sale for the classical pieces (versions of Theocritus, Catullus and Martial). Honest.] Anyway, here is the piece I am thinking of: The Semantic Limerick According to the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (1933) There existed an adult male person who had lived a relatively short time, belonging or pertaining to St John's,* who desired to commit sodomy with the large web-footed swimming birds of the genus Cygnus or subfamily Cygninae of the family Anatidae, characterized by a long and gracefully curved neck and a majestic motion when swimming. So he moved into the presence of the person employed to carry burdens, who declared: 'Hold or possess as something at your disposal my female child! The large web-footed swimming-birds of the genus Cygnus or subfamily Cygninae of the family Anatidae, characterized by a long and gracefully curved neck and a majestic motion when swimming, are set apart, specially retained for the Head, Fellows and Tutors of the College!' * A College of Cambridge University. The Semantic Limerick According to Dr Johnson's Dictionary (Edition of 1765) There exifted a person, not a woman or a boy, being in the firft part of life, not old, of St John's,* who wifhed to - the large water-fowl, that have a long and very ftraight neck, and are very white, excepting when they are young (their legs and feet being black, as are their bills, which are like that of a goofe, but fomething rounder, and a little hooked at the lower ends, the two fides below their eyes being black and fhining like ebony). In confequence of this he moved ftep by ftep to the one that had charge of the gate, who pronounced: 'Poffefs and enjoy my female offspring! The large water-fowl, that have a long and very ftraight neck, and are very white, excepting when they are young (their legs and feet being black, as are their bills, which are like that of a goofe, but fomething rounder, and a little hooked at the lower ends, the two fides below their eyes being black and fhining like ebony), are kept in ftore, laid up for a future time, for the fake of the gentlemen with Spanish titles.' * A College of Cambridge University. - Swans also feature once or twice in Sade's *Hundred and Twenty Days of Sodom*. I think this is in the third part ("Criminal Passions"), but am not sure. This appears to be a truly multicultural preoccupation, in which the ancient Greeks themselves were not above taking the Leda (see Apollodoros 3.10.7). Terrence Lockyer Johannesburg, South Africa .