Lupine Humor: A Challenge

Dan'l Danehy-Oakes · 07 May 2002, 21:53 · from urth-v0205.mbox · original

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From: "Dan'l Danehy-Oakes" <ddanehy at siebel.com>
Subject: RE: (urth) Lupine Humor: A Challenge
Date: Tue, 7 May 2002 14:53:35 -0700
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POSSIBLE SPOILERS for "Under Hill" if you haven't read it yet.

Nacre counterchallenged:

> There appear to be at least three jokes in
> "Under Hill"; as it's brand new, I leave it
> to you all to find them.

Well, there's some pretty sad Chinese-name-jokes of the=20
level of the infamous "How Hi is a Chinaman".

(I'd have guess that "Gifflet le Fils de Do" was something=20
similar but nothing came to mind and a quick search turned
up this from the Prose Merlin:

	And Kay served at tables as was reson, and two yonge=20
	knyghtes of grete prowesse and were sones to two=20
	casteleins -- that oon was cleped Lucas the Boteler,=20
	and that other Gifflet, the sone of Doo of Cardoell,=20
	which hadde be maister forester to Uterpendragon.=20

And he also turns up in Percivale and other old Arthurian
texts, so that's just a straightforward name reference.)

I'd be willing to bet that there was something funny hiding
here:

	The princess lowered her eyes in shame. "There is=20
	also my chop - my seal, perhaps? Has this humble=20
	one committed some risible error, my lord?"

but I'm darned if I can figure it out.

	my name's 12BFW-CY-, by the way, and I come=20
	from the remote future.

H'mmm. That's a Gernsbackian joke -- a reference to "Ralph=20
124C41+" The "+" in Ralph's name was a reference to his=20
exceptionally high intelligence, wasn't it? Not sure what=20
to make of the mid-name -; possibly doubleyou minus cee would
be tee, so 12BFTY-. Not much better...=20

At any rate, looking at the story as a while, we see a smug,
Gernsbackian superscientist is being outwitted by a "man of
the Dark Ages who show[s] a glimmer of intelligence," which=20
I think is kind of nice. It's not one of Wolfe's masterpieces
by a long shot, but I like it.

--Blattid

--=20

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