Lilith

The search engine was working last night, and I found the post by alga (vol.19, 10-22-98) I remembered, where she mentioned Lilith's disinclination for the missionary position. Better yet, I actually have the book she cited as a reference, HEBREW MYTHS, by Robert Graves and Raphael Patai. In it, the authors relate: "Adam and Lilith never found peace together; for when he wished to lie with her, she took offence at the recumbent posture he demanded. 'Why must I lie beneath you?' she asked 'I also was made from dust, and am therefore your equal.' Because Adam tried to compel her obedience by force, Lilith, in a rage, uttered the magic name of God, rose into the air and left him." We know that Wolfe is familiar with Graves, and I think that Jane Doe's "Vhas a groose." and "Aw zay, 'ou vhill nawt neffer grawnt offer mee agan." almost certainly refers to Adam in this Lilith myth. On another tack, has anyone else wondered exactly what Wolfe intended with the last six words of the story: "a mountain ram winded its horns."? Even if Wolfe hadn't been raised in Texas, much less been a former Aggie, he has to know that no animal blows a horn, much less its own. -Roy

The blowing of rams horns brought down the walls of Jherico. So I read that as calamity ensues. And seeing as how the ram's blowing his own the next universe along is a right hum dinger... But being as this is Wolfe that's probably too simple. Matthew