Vulgar words in The Book of Delight and Other Papers (Page 1)
This book at a glance
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~ ~ ~ Sentence 168 ~ ~ ~
No doubt, at first Marcolf filled a serious, respectable rôle; in course of time, his character degenerated into that of a clown or buffoon.
~ ~ ~ Sentence 613 ~ ~ ~
"Lo, a blockhead on a block," said the passers-by.--"What prayer make you by night?" they asked a sage.
~ ~ ~ Sentence 664 ~ ~ ~
Then follows an extraordinary string of anatomical, medical, scientific, and Talmudic questions about the optic nerves; the teeth; why a man lowers his head when thinking over things he has never known, but raises his head when thinking over what he once knew but has forgotten; the physiology of the digestive organs, the physiology of laughter; why a boy eats more than a man; why it is harder to ascend a hill than to go down; why snow is white; why babies have no teeth; why children's first set of teeth fall out; why saddest tears are saltest; why sea water is heavier than fresh; why hail descends in summer; why the sages said that bastards are mostly clever.
~ ~ ~ Sentence 687 ~ ~ ~
"I am one of the family of Balaam's ass," says the animal.
~ ~ ~ Sentence 707 ~ ~ ~
He shows his goodness in hating the wise and loving fools; he is generous, for he will give a beggar a crust of dry bread, and make him pay for it; he knows medicine, for he can tell that if a man is buried, he either has been sick, or has had an accident; he knows astronomy, for he can tell that it is day when the sun shines, and night when the stars appear; he knows arithmetic, for he can tell that one and one make two; he knows mensuration, for he can tell how many handbreadths his belly measures; he knows music, for he can tell the difference between the barking of a dog and the braying of an ass."
~ ~ ~ Sentence 745 ~ ~ ~
"Coming hither from my house, whom should I meet but thy husband making love to another woman, and such a hideous creature, too!
~ ~ ~ Sentence 1,542 ~ ~ ~
He landed at Gaeta in Italy, where he restored to human form the son of his host, whom a witch had turned into an ass.