Subject: (urth) The Wonderful Eyeflash of Oz, part 3.5

From: William H. Ansley <wansley at warwick.net>
Date: Tue, 09 Feb 1999 00:09:36 +0000

Before I go on with more Oz material I would like to ask for some help from
the other list members.

At one point in _The Eyeflash Miracles_, Little Tib, Nitty and Mr. Parker
are hitchhiking. No one stops to pick them up and it seems as if no one is
ever going to. Finally, Little Tib prays for someone to stop and his prayer
seems to be answered, in the following passage:

-----------------
   For a long time more no cars stopped. Little Tib thought about a cattle
truck stopping and told God he would ride with the cattle. He thought about
a garbage truck stopping, and told God he would ride on top of the garbage.
Then he heard something old coming down the road. It rattled, and the
engine made a strange, high-pitched noise an engine should not make. "Looks
like a old school bus," Nitty said. "But look at those pictures on the
side."
   "It's stopping," Mr. Parker said, and then Little Tib could hear the
sound the doors made opening.
-----------------

This is what I want help with: I am sure that Little Tib thinking about
riding on a cattle truck and then a garbage truck and then having a vehicle
stop for him is a reference to something that I should know, but I can't
bring anything definite to mind.

If anyone can enlighten me here, I would be grateful.

William Ansley

*More Wolfe info & archive of this list at http://www.urth.net/urth/

---

From: Tony Ellis <tony.ellis at futurenet.co.uk>
Date: Tue, 09 Feb 1999 16:09:45 +0000

> bring anything definite to mind.

It reminds me immediately of the story of Ymar in BOTNS, where he waits
under a tree
while the merchant goes by, and the beautiful woman, and finally follows
the dog.
But that suggests to me in turn that both incidents are allusions to
another,
original, story which stands behind both, and maybe that's the one that
you're
thinking of.

The message of humility makes me think of Christ's teachings, but it
also has the
feel of a Taoist or Buddist parable. Do any of our resident religious
scholars
hear bells ringing?