"His Father's Sword He Hath Girded On..."

[psalm_onethirtyone]

My second day doing capoeira. I'm learning in a group, which as it turns out is a really good way for me to learn. There's also a degree of humility involved--besides the fact that you get knocked over a lot, I was doing jenga with Gabby and I kept hitting her because she wouldn't hit me, and I stopped and told her just to go ahead, I wouldn't mind if she hit me, just do it, and Charlie leaned over from where he was doing it with Liz and slapped me in the face. Which I deserved, because I left myself open, and I was getting over-confident because Gabby wouldn't hit me.

After that we did a lot better. She kicked me and I kicked her and we both got really good at dodging each other and at falling back into the jenga after we'd kicked. I felt like we were really finding a rhythm in it. Which felt wonderful.

Also, I'm learning to stand on my head! Maybe someday I will even get to be any good at it.

The copy of Port Eternity I bought as a gift to myself came to-day! I will get to it as soon as I finish the reading for my historiographic report. Or maybe I will give up on having time for it until I'm home. Still, I'm going to read it within the next month. That is my vow.

For my report, I am reading Helen Waddel's translations of Beasts and Saints and her teeny little book Poetry in the Dark Ages. I've only started the former so far, but it's awfully fun. Basically they are tiny, tiny little fables of saints doing stuff with animals, often with a little moral, but sometimes not, sometimes just kind of "oh look how awesome these saints were, look what they could do!"

My favourite so far is The Unsociable Lion, which I will reproduce for you here in full.

There was a certain old man, a solitary, who lived near the river Jordan: and going into a cave because of the heat he found there a lion: and the lion began to gnash his teeth and to roar. To whom the old man said, "What is annoying thee? There is room enough here to hold both me and thee. And if thou likest it not, arise and go hence." But the lion, not taking it well, left and went outside.

Most of them are in this vein. Best. Project. Evar.

Comments

[azurai.livejournal.com]

That is the best little fable I have ever heard.

[rainbowjehan.livejournal.com]

It is very typical of the style. Very brief and to the point!