You are Wondering – another episode of what’s on and not at the Pig’s Arms.
Written by Sandshoe.
You personally speaking, I don’t mean. You are the amorphous everybody or nobody in particular or special. You, speaking personally, have no dimension. You who is every person other than myself is meant, reading this episode or not. It is a treat for the Bish and Father O’Way that I am writing this. For you all too, but the Bish and Sandy most especially who could not have the big party they planned as an At Home.
I’m not meaning to exclude. I feel their until now unheralded disappointment. Y’all likely do not know, not yet, how crushing the disappointment was, leastwise unless you are one of ‘em, the neighbours who caterwauled that they, Bish and Sandy, would bring us … you know … undone … having people round. Feared it was whispered later when the authorities intervened they would catch you-know-what over the hedge, carried on a wisp of a breeze if not borne by a cyclonic act of an almighty.
We have not been blessed. By ‘we’ I mean y’all and I. It’s not all plain sailing anywhere much. You would think we could maybe waylay it at a crossroads. Not me exactly, precisely. I could not, I am sure. The organism blunders randomly round riding a breeze, catching a wave for all we know.
There was The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy. I am digressing and addressing you, the unknown and the known, the tried and true, but as well the unidentified you. The Bish turned up at the manse with suitcases to stay. Instead of having a party, the Bish and Sandy did a reading for a select group (sorry Bish, sorry Sandy as well I did not report). Your reading was a resounding success. The parallels were not missed. A reading of the narrative by Emma Magdolna Rozália Mária Jozefa Borbála Orczy de Orci, who is the Baroness Orczy, was fitting. Yes, these old friends read and enacted The Scarlet Pimpernel, by Emmuska Orczy as the Baroness titled herself.
They seek him here, they seek him there
Those Frenchies seek him everywhere
Is he in heaven or is he in hell?
That demned elusive Pimpernel…
Whose blood has not thrilled to the mystery and intrigue surrounding the heroism of the central hero, Sir Percy Blakeney the lead figure of the League of the Pimpernel. What better site for the reading than the Sportsman bar at the Pig’s Arms. Hear the sounds in 1792 of the same friendly although socially distanced hospitality the Pig’s Arms affords patrons.
“No, no,” proclaims Sir Percy in response to commiserations regarding his welfare put to him, “it doesn’t put me out, friend; nothing will put me out, unless that supper is not the very best which Miss Sally can cook, and which has ever been served in ‘The Fisherman’s Rest.’”
“You need have no fear of that, my lord,” said Sally, who all this while had been busy setting the table for supper. And very gay and inviting it looked, with a large bunch of brilliantly coloured dahlias in the centre, and the bright pewter goblets and blue china about.
“How many shall I lay for, my lord?”
“Five places, pretty Sally, but let the supper be enough for ten at least—our friends will be tired, and, I hope, hungry. As for me, I vow I could demolish a baron of beef to-night.”
“Here they are, I do believe,” said Sally, excitedly, as a distant clatter of horses and wheels could now be distinctly heard, drawing rapidly nearer.
The Bish and Sandy, you will not mind my saying so if you are wondering, even aside the argument about the use of the word ‘Frenchies’ was unseemly, your rendition was most appreciated as a contribution in these difficult times.
Footnote: The Scarlet Pimpernel can be found for a read at Gutenberg.
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/60/60-h/60-h.htm
I remember seeing the film but the book had too many big words.
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Like quaff I guess.
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G’day ‘Shoe… nice to see you again. How’ve you been? 🙂
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Oh hiya Asty. I’m all good. Just a little preoccupied at the moment with exams. One to go. I hope you’re good..
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Just saw your response now… sorry for the delay in answering! Good luck with the exams… what exactly are you studying? And yes, I’m okay… more or less… 😉
Are you still living in Bordertown? How’s the radio show going?
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Amazing what one can find on Project Gutenberg… lots of real classics. (And I mean that in the classical, rather than the modern, sense of the word.)
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It’s wonderful as a benefit of the internet, eh. Fancy that. As many books, and as you say classics as anybody can possibly read. It’s the same I think with text messaging. The greatest number of people ever in the world are writing today, every day and all day and that is bloomin’ amazing in my mind. Fancy that. They stand in the street (in the middle needs be in their mind) and do it. Incredible.
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Well, I suppose it IS true that more people are writing than ever… if only the quality had increased as much as the quantity… 😉
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Well I’m just loving this great read from Julian Hill:
“I’ll bet my bottom dollar there’s no doubt that in the next couple of days, he’ll panic, he’s getting desperate. I think even he at some level realises the failure the mess that he’s making. He’ll make some kind of announcement saying, “Oh, well, we’ll build a purpose-built quarantine facility.” Well, he’s had on his desk a report for eight months telling him to do this and he’s done nothing. Jane Halton yesterday called him out for this.
How can anyone trust anything this prime minister says now? Frankly, he’s a bullshit artist.
He told us last year, “Don’t worry. There’ll be 4 million people vaccinated by the end of March.” He said, “Don’t worry, we’ve got aged care.” Well, when this outbreak started in Victoria, we found that 40% – only 40% – of aged care residents had been fully vaccinated; 29 homes they hadn’t even turned up for the first dose; 2% of people in disability care vaccinated.
Now it sounds like I’m getting a bit personal with the prime minister. And, I am. I don’t like him. I don’t trust him. I don’t think he’s good at his job. He is a very cunning politician, but he is a failure – an absolute failure – as a leader. He failed the country on bushfires. He’s failed on hotel quarantine. He’s failing on vaccines. And now he’s failing Victoria. This bullshit artist is abandoning Victoria in our hour of need.”
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So shocking. I read the numbers of people vaccinated in Queensland a couple of days ago. I was so shocked how low the number is. It really got me down having to wait for so long to get a vax and shocking how long eg my lecturer waited who is of very senior years. He has only just had his last weekend. He cannot be replaced. Negligence.
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Zooks hey!
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As Baldrick famously announced. “Yay, it’s the Scarlett Pimpernel….and you killed him!”
That certainly put an end to Mrs Miggin’s seemingly endless permutations of Pimpernel in a Scarlett sauce, etc.
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Whose blood has not thrilled to a well soaked Pimpernel?
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