Hi, All!


In Russian folklore we have a beast with three heads. In England there are probably ones which have head and three bodies:

Three Men in a Boat - Jerome K. Jerome
-----Beginning of the citation-----
The day has been so full of fret and care, and our hearts have been so
full of evil and of bitter thoughts, and the world has seemed so hard
and wrong to us. Then Night, like some great loving mother, gently lays
her hand upon our fevered head, and turns our little tear-stained faces
up to hers, and smiles; and, though she does not speak, we know what she
would say, and lay our hot flushed cheek against her bosom, and the pain
is gone.
----- The end of the citation -----

...our hearts have been so full of evil and of bitter thoughts
...Then Night, like some great loving mother, gently lays her hand upon our fevered head
...and lay our hot flushed cheek against her bosom

;)

Bye, All!
Alexander Koryagin

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* Origin: nntp://news.fidonet.fi (2:221/360.0)

Hi Alexander,

Mon 13 Jan 2025 at 11:08, you wrote to All:

In Russian folklore we have a beast with three heads. In England there
are probably ones which have head and three bodies:

"...which have one head and..."

The day has been so full of fret and care, and our hearts have been so full of evil and of bitter thoughts, and the world has seemed so hard
and wrong to us. Then Night, like some great loving mother, gently
lays her hand upon our fevered head, and turns our little tear-stained faces up to hers, and smiles; and, though she does not speak, we know
what she would say, and lay our hot flushed cheek against her bosom,
and the pain is gone.
[...]

This short passage feels quite like a piece of poetry, you may think of it this way. However, there seems to be a certain logic to that: only one head at a time that she'd lay her hand on, hence a singular "our head".

The same with "our cheek", too, probably.

As with turning "our little tear-stained faces up to hers", it is an immediate action that can be performed simultaneously by all of the partakers, no matter how many or few. Well, assuming it's not a single-head-multi-face type of monster.


... Error #00D: Unable to exit windows. Try the door
--- dED+/ˆ‚– 1.1.5
* Origin: Microspoof, Inc. (2:5023/24.4222)

Hi, Alexander -- on Jan 13 2025 at 11:08, you wrote:

In Russian folklore we have a beast with three heads. In England
there are probably ones which have head and three bodies:

Three Men in a Boat - Jerome K. Jerome

Unlikely -- the title clearly shows there are 3 separate individuals.

Cheers... Dallas

--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
* Origin: The BandMaster, Vancouver, CANADA (1:153/7715)

Hi, Gleb -- on Jan 15 2025 at 09:25, you wrote:

This short passage feels quite like a piece of poetry, you may think
of it this way. However, there seems to be a certain logic to that:
only one head at a time that she'd lay her hand on, hence a singular
"our head".

True. And it is very poetic writing. In fact, Wikipedia (and other sources) describe it as "a humorous novel", and was originally intended to be a serious travel guide describing a 2-week boating holiday on the Thames river.


Cheers... Dallas

--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
* Origin: The BandMaster, Vancouver, CANADA (1:153/7715)

Hi Dallas,

Tue 14 Jan 2025 at 23:38, you wrote to Alexander Koryagin:

In Russian folklore we have a beast with three heads. In England
there are probably ones which have head and three bodies:
Three Men in a Boat - Jerome K. Jerome

Unlikely -- the title clearly shows there are 3 separate individuals.

Shouldn't there be a dog too? Sadly enough, they decided to say nothing about it. :-)

... Error #033: Erroneous error. Nothing wrong
--- dED+/ˆ‚– 1.1.5
* Origin: Microstuff, Inc. (2:5023/24.4222)

Hi, Gleb -- on Jan 15 2025 at 13:45, you wrote:

Shouldn't there be a dog too? Sadly enough, they decided to say
nothing about it. :-)

I think it would have ruined the title!

Cheers... Dallas

--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
* Origin: The BandMaster, Vancouver, CANADA (1:153/7715)

Hi, Gleb Hlebov!
I read your message from 15.01.2025 12:25

In Russian folklore we have a beast with three heads. In England
there are probably ones which have head and three bodies:

"... which have one head and..."

The day has been so full of fret and care, and our hearts have
been so full of evil and of bitter thoughts, and the world has
seemed so hard and wrong to us. Then Night, like some great loving
mother, gently lays her hand upon our fevered head, and turns our
little tear-stained faces up to hers, and smiles; and, though she
does not speak, we know what she would say, and lay our hot
flushed cheek against her bosom, and the pain is gone. [...]

This short passage feels quite like a piece of poetry, you may
think of it this way. However, there seems to be a certain logic to
that: only one head at a time that she'd lay her hand on, hence a
singular "our head".

The same with "our cheek", too, probably.

As with turning "our little tear-stained faces up to hers", it is
an immediate action that can be performed simultaneously by all of
the partakers, no matter how many or few. Well, assuming it's not a single-head-multi-face type of monster.

The author should had been consistent -- he should had written "and turns our little tear-stained FACE and SMILE up to hers" ;-) .


Bye, Gleb!
Alexander Koryagin
english_tutor 2025

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* Origin: news://news.fidonet.fi (2:221/360.0)