Showing posts with label Circular. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Circular. Show all posts

Tuesday 2 February 2021

The Crucible









A NOTE ON THE HISTORICAL ACCURACY OF THIS PLAY 

 This play is not history in the sense in which the word is used by the academic 
historian. Dramatic purposes have sometimes required many characters to be fused into 
one; the number of girls involved in the “crying-out” has been reduced; Abigail’s age 
has been raised; while there were several judges of almost equal authority, I have 
symbolized them all in Hathorne and Danforth. 
However, I believe that the reader will 
discover here the essential nature of one of the strangest and most awful chapters in 
human history. 
The fate of each character is exactly that of his historical model, and 
there is no one in the drama who did not play a similar - and in some cases exactly the 
same - role in history. 
As for the characters of the persons, little is known about most of them excepting 
what may be surmised from a few letters, the trial record, certain broadsides written at 
the time, and references to their conduct in sources of varying reliability. 
They may 
therefore be taken as creations of my own, drawn to the best of my ability in conformity 
with their known behaviour, except as indicated in the commentary I have written for this 
text. [ ...Don’t Sue. ]

SOLVE ET COAGULA : Myth is What Remains After When History Meets Narrative
Women are Circular, 
Men are Linear;

Women are more interested in PEOPLE,
Men are more interested by THINGS

This is a study of the Malignant Narcissism, lust and desire to for vengeance of a single individual (a young, non-virginal woman) seizing complete control over the Female Gossip-Gestalt of an entire Society.

This is a pertinent passage felt the need to share from from Arthur Miller’s preface to his original play (w. my Emphasises) :

“The FATE of each character is EXACTLY that of his historical model, and there is no one in the drama who did not play a similar - and in some cases EXACTLY THE SAME - role in history. 

As for the characters of the PERSONS, little is known about most of them excepting what may be surmised from a few letters, the trial record, certain broadsides written at the time, and references to their conduct in sources of varying reliability. 

They may therefore be taken as creations of MY OWN, drawn to the best of my ability in conformity with their known behaviour, except as indicated in the commentary I have written for this text. [e.d.  “Don’t Sue.” ] “

Sunday 13 January 2019

The Favourite



"Let us race Lobsters and then Eat Them."

I think this could be the reason for the Hebrew's prohibition on consuming shellfish -

Batman eats lobster by himself  whilst floating around the Bat-cave

Woody Allen and Annie Hall struggle together valiently against a squad of escaped lobsters which are rampaging through her kitchen; when the situation re-occurs towards the end of the film, with a new girlfriend, who refuses to help, just sits there and smokes, it serves to ultimately underline and finally illustrate to Woody Allen that he has lost something truly special - as this is not a woman he can contend with.

The subterranean inn in Pinocchio where The Fox and The Cat meet The Devil is The Red Lobster Inn - a Red Lobster is by definition a victim, otherwise it wouldn't be red;
It's red because it has been cooked, so not only is it a victim, it's a un-willing victim.

The Virgin (played by Mena Sauvari) in American Beauty, when trying to chat-up and seduce her best friend's father, speaks of weekly family meals at Red Lobster.


Women are Circular,
Men are Linear



“A lobster with high levels of serotonin and low levels of octopamine is a cocky, strutting sort of shellfish, much less likely to back down when challenged. This is because serotonin helps regulate postural flexion. A flexed lobster extends its appendages so that it can look tall and dangerous, like Clint Eastwood in a spaghetti Western. 

When a lobster that has just lost a battle is exposed to serotonin, it will stretch itself out, advance even on former victors, and fight longer and harder.  The drugs prescribed to depressed human beings, which are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, have much the same chemical and behavioural effect. In one of the more staggering demonstrations of the evolutionary continuity of life on Earth, Prozac even cheers up lobsters. 

High serotonin/ low octopamine characterizes the victor. The opposite neurochemical configuration, a high ratio of octopamine to serotonin, produces a defeated-looking, scrunched-up, inhibited, drooping, skulking sort of lobster, very likely to hang around street corners, and to vanish at the first hint of trouble. Serotonin and octopamine also regulate the tail-flick reflex, which serves to propel a lobster rapidly backwards when it needs to escape. 

Less provocation is necessary to trigger that reflex in a defeated lobster. You can see an echo of that in the heightened startle reflex characteristic of the soldier or battered child with post-traumatic stress disorder.”










"Let us race Lobsters and then Eat Them."






































Monday 31 December 2018

The Feast of Steven






I now realise what the second half of this episode was intended to be, what it would have looked like, and how they would have depicted it — Camfield would have just had all his cameras pull back and around the edges of the sets used earlier-on for the Z-Cars spoof in the first half of the episode, shot all the sets from the back (complete with all the scenery, grips, sound and lighting rigs and the normal studio floor stagehands) and, just by representing the Hollywood backlot with a chase sequence passing through and around the sets and studio floor of 

( *checks in First Doctor Handbook* ) 

Studio 3 at BBC Television Centre — he would have achieved, for many of these scenes, results that not only were both visually unique and unprecedented (Spike Milligan’s Q  was still a couple years away, with the first series of Python 5years in the future, at this point, bare in mind — ), but also, most likely, highly entertaining and amusing to a 1965 family audience.

Certainly, what Camfield, Nation, Spooner and co. were attenping (both in serial (V) overall generally, and with Episode 7 in particular, taken on its own merits) was an effort unsurpassed in its scope and originality for its time. 

By breaking all The Rules of Television.

(Which were, at the time, still brand-new — it’s an Erisian Labour of Discord-Sowing Mischief of a relative scale equivalent to that which Orson Welles achieved with his successful abuse of all of the narrative and editorial rules of Cinema (including ALL those which he himself had invented on Citizen Kane 30 years earlier, which was MOST of them) in F for Fake, a documentary film proof of the impossibility of the existence of such a thing as a documentary film....)





http://www.chakoteya.net/DoctorWho/3-3.htm




Episode 7 - The Feast of Steven
(Broadcast on December 25th 1965)
[Street]
(In fact, the poisonous atmosphere is no more than 1960's urban pollution.)
SERGEANT: What in the name of?
(The Tardis looks quite at home outside a Police Station somewhere in the North of England.)
SERGEANT: Who put that there?
(Returning to the station in their car, two police officers are full of seasonal cheer, and singing carols.)
CONSTABLE 1 (the driver) + CONSTABLE 2 (the passenger): When a poor man came inside, gathering winter fuel.
CONSTABLE 1: Here, I reckon we could charm the birds of the trees.
CONSTABLE 2: I'd settle for some from the coffee bars.
CONSTABLE 1: Here, what about 'While Shepherds Watch'? do you think they'd appreciate that?
CONSTABLE 2: Hey, now here's the Sergeant. Come on.
CONSTABLE 1: Oh.
CONSTABLE 2: Hello Sergeant, what you doing out here?
SERGEANT: Hey, come and have a look at this.
(They gather around the Tardis.)
CONSTABLE 2: Well, where did that come from?
SERGEANT: You tell me.
CONSTABLE 1: Oh, perhaps someone sent it to the Inspector as a Christmas box.
SERGEANT: And perhaps you'll both just stay out here and watch it.
CONSTABLE 1: Why? Do you think it's going to fly away?
SERGEANT: Just you stay there and keep an eye on it, right?
[Tardis]
STEVEN: And just why, if it isn't safe for us, is it safe for you?
DOCTOR: Will neither of you understand?
SARA: For heaven's sake, let's go and fix the scanner!
DOCTOR: No! Where you come from, in both places, the air is pure. Outside there is the worst kind of pollution I've met in years.
STEVEN: Right, then you shouldn't go out there, either.
DOCTOR: Ah, my dear boy, I'm used to all sorts of atmospheres. It won't affect me. I shall have to go out and do the repairing myself.
SARA: But suppose something happens to you?
DOCTOR: Then, and only then, can you come out. But you must be very, very careful.
STEVEN: And how are we supposed to know that something has happened to you?
DOCTOR: My dear young man, just give me a few minutes and if all is well, I shall be back inside again to tell you.
STEVEN: And if not, we come out and find you? I seem to have been through all this before.
DOCTOR: Now, look here, my boy. You will do as you're told! Now you just open the doors and remember to close them after I've gone.
STEVEN: Yes, sir!
[Street]
(The Doctor comes face to face with a policeman on guard outside.)
CONSTABLE 1: Good evening.
DOCTOR: Good evening.
CONSTABLE 1: Hey, you!
(The Doctor ducks back inside the Tardis.)
CONSTABLE 2: What's up?
CONSTABLE 1: See that?
CONSTABLE 2: See what?
CONSTABLE 1: That then.
CONSTABLE 2: What when?
CONSTABLE 1: That door,
CONSTABLE 2: That door?
CONSTABLE 1: It opened,
CONSTABLE 2: Did it?
CONSTABLE 1: There's a bloke in there.
CONSTABLE 2: Oh, aye?
CONSTABLE 1: A bloke with long white hair. I just saw him.
CONSTABLE 2: Did you?
CONSTABLE 1: Aye.
CONSTABLE 2: It's locked.
CONSTABLE 1: But I just saw him.
CONSTABLE 2: Oh, aye.
[Tardis]
DOCTOR: No, police. P-O-L-I-C-E.
SARA: Oh, I see. We've landed on your own planet.
DOCTOR: Oh, nonsense, child. We're back on Earth.
SARA: But that's what's written outside the Tardis.
DOCTOR: Oh, never mind. Never mind. I shall have to go outside and try and distract them. Meanwhile, you can stay here for a while then come out and do the scanner.
STEVEN: Yes. But, you said the air out there was so bad, that if we went out
DOCTOR: Never mind what I said, my dear boy. Do as you're told. Now open the doors and remember to shut them after I've gone.
STEVEN: Yes, sir.
[Street]
(The Doctor is about to walk away when two voices stop him in his tracks.)
DOCTOR: Hmm.
CONSTABLE 2: It wouldn't be Father Christmas, would it?
CONSTABLE 1: All right lad. It's a fair cop.
(The Doctor is escorted into the police station.)
[Police station]
(The desk sergeant is dealing with another visitor.)
SERGEANT: All right. What can I do for you?
MAN: I've got a complaint.
SERGEANT: Well, the doctor's just around the corner.
MAN: No, no, no, no. I, I mean, I want to make a complaint.
SERGEANT: Oh, I see. Well, let's have your name then.
MAN: They keep moving me house.
SERGEANT: Moving your what?
MAN: House!
SERGEANT: They keep moving your house?
MAN: Yes. Me greenhouse. It's the rebels.
SERGEANT: The rebels?
CONSTABLE 1: Anyone in CID.?
SERGEANT: Oh, straight through.
CONSTABLE 1: Good. Come on.
DOCTOR: (to the man) Haven't I seen your face before somewhere?
MAN: Where?
DOCTOR: Yes, of course, I remember now, yes. The marketplace at Jaffa.
MAN: Jaffa? The young chap said I should come to see you about.
SERGEANT: Do what?
MAN: About me greenhouse. It's the rebels.
(Having seen the Doctor taken away, Steven emerges from the Tardis intent on trying to rescue him, but he's forced to hide behind the nearby police car when one of the officers reappears.)
[Inspector's office]
(The Doctor is being questioned by CID.)
INSPECTOR: I've heard of a housing shortage, but I never knew it was so bad you'd have to spend Christmas in a Police Box.
DOCTOR: Oh, Christmas. Oh, is it? Of course. Yes, yes, yes, yes. That accounts for the holly in the hall.
INSPECTOR: You mean you didn't know?
DOCTOR: Well, of course I didn't know. I travel about too much.
INSPECTOR: And why is that?
DOCTOR: Well, a quest of knowledge, dear boy. I mean, you have a saying in this country, have you not? Travel broadens the mind?
INSPECTOR: You mean you're not English?
DOCTOR: No. Gracious, no.
INSPECTOR: Scottish?
DOCTOR: No.
INSPECTOR: Are you Welsh, then?
DOCTOR: Oh, you'll have to think in a far bigger way than that. Your ideas are too narrow, too small, too crippled.
INSPECTOR: All right, all right. What are you then?
DOCTOR: Well, I suppose you might say that I am a citizen of the universe, and a gentleman to boot.
CONSTABLE 2: He's having us on a bit, isn't he sir?
INSPECTOR: Now, look lad.
(Outside, the police officer moves and Steven comes out of hiding. He seems unsure how best to proceed, but then spots the tunic of a police uniform on the back seat of the car. Making sure no one is about, Steven opens the car door.)
[Police station]
MAN: And now they've been and gone and moved it again.
SERGEANT: Oh, where to this time?
MAN: I don't know. That's why I came to see you. The young fellow.
SERGEANT: You sure it's not out there along beside the, oh, here, just a minute.
(Steven comes in, now dressed in police uniform.)
STEVEN: Er, excuse me.
SERGEANT: Ah. You must be the new bloke from G Division, come to help us out.
STEVEN: I, I beg your pardon?
SERGEANT: I said you must be the new bloke from G Division.
STEVEN: Must I? Oh! Oh, yes. Yes, that's right. Yes, I've called about the old man.
SERGEANT: Old man? What old man?
STEVEN: Well, he was brought in here a minute ago.
SERGEANT: Oh, he's with the CID. You'd better wait until they've finished with him.
STEVEN: Fine, yeah. Well, I've got to get to him.
SERGEANT: Well, you'll have to wait, lad. He'll be out here again soon. Now wait over there.
MAN: Now what about my greenhouse?
SERGEANT: Oh, yes. Now where was it you said?
MAN: Well, for a start, it's not in me garden.
[Inspector's office]
DOCTOR: I don't think you really understand. That object in the yard out there isn't really a police box.
INSPECTOR: No, no, of course it's not. It's the new Brighton ferry.
DOCTOR: It is a machine for investigating Time and Relative Dimensions in Space.
(The officers draw discreetly to one side.)
CONSTABLE 2: He's a nutter.
INSPECTOR: He's straight from a funny-farm, if you ask me.
DOCTOR: Do I take it that you gentlemen are imputing that I am mentally deranged?
CONSTABLE 2: I told you. He's a nutter.
INSPECTOR: Was he the only bloke in the box?
CONSTABLE 1: Well how should I know?
INSPECTOR: Well didn't you check? There might be a whole army of them in there, living like gypsies in one of Her Majesty's police telephone boxes.
CONSTABLE 2: And just how many people do you expect to come out of one box?
[Street]
(Sara comes out of the Tardis, considering how she might climb up to fix the scanner eye, and rather concerned that the Doctor and Steven have not yet returned. SARA: Where have they got to?
CONSTABLE 1: Hello, Hello. What are you doing hanging around here on Christmas Day?
SARA: Nothing.
CONSTABLE 1: Surprised to see a police box here, I suppose?
SARA: Oh! You think it's yours?
CONSTABLE 1: Well, not mine exactly. Well, let's say it belongs to us, eh? So why don't you leave it where it is and just move along, eh?
SARA: I've got to fix it.
CONSTABLE 1: Fix what?
SARA: The scanner eye.
CONSTABLE 1: The scanner eye?
SARA: Yes.
CONSTABLE 1: Oh, you do?
SARA: Yes.
CONSTABLE 1: Oh. Well, we usually get the jokers around here at Christmas time, but we have to be lenient. So, just move along, eh?
SARA: I can't.
CONSTABLE 1: Oh, yes you can, young lady. That's enough of joking. I'm sure you're going to enjoy yourself at that party you're going to, so why not go down there now.
SARA: I'm not going to a party.
CONSTABLE 1: Well, wherever you are going dressed up in them fancy clothes, you leave now and there won't be no trouble.
SARA: I've got to stay here.
CONSTABLE 1: Now you take my advice, young lady, and leave now. Otherwise, I might have to run you in for loitering or something like that. I wouldn't like to have to do that. We've had a bit of trouble like that already tonight. You see, we don't like people hanging around. But at Christmas time we have to be lenient, and we don't want to be too difficult for you.
SARA: But. Oh, very well.
CONSTABLE 1: Have a, have a, have a swinging time. Funny girl.
SARA: The idiots. They've obviously got themselves into some kind of trouble.
[Police station]
SERGEANT: Why don't you sit down, lad. You're making the place look untidy.
(At that moment, the Doctor is brought out of the interrogation room.)
STEVEN: It's all right?
DOCTOR: Of course, of course. And what are you doing here?
INSPECTOR: Who are you? Do you know this man?
STEVEN: Yes. I, I mean, aye.
SERGEANT: He's the extra bloke from G Division, sir.
STEVEN: Oh, yeah. It's all right. I'll look after him.
INSPECTOR: Well, if you know him, perhaps you can tell us what he's doing in a police box.
STEVEN: A what?
INSPECTOR: That police box across the yard. He claims to live in it.
STEVEN: Hold on, just a minute. It'll be all right. Just a minute. Oh, er, it's all right, er, you see, he's a funny fellow but I know how to handle him. We're used to him down in G Division.
INSPECTOR: Very well. Well, get him out of here, and see that he steers clear of that police box.
STEVEN: Right. I'll do that, sir. Right. Er, come on then, old man.
DOCTOR: Enough of the old man either. What's all this funny accent?
STEVEN: Everybody else is doing it.
SERGEANT: I'll come with you, make sure you can manage.
(Steven makes a great show of manhandling the Doctor out into the street.) 
[Street]
CONSTABLE 2: Hey, you! Hey you, what you playing at?
STEVEN: We've got to reach the Tardis, and hurry.
(Now Sara has been apprehended.
CONSTABLE 2: I don't know what it is about that police box, but first of all, the old bloke comes out of it. Now I catch this lass climbing about on it.
SARA: Please let me go!
STEVEN: It's all right. I know her too.
SERGEANT: Aye. You seem to know all the queer people. Well, who is she?
STEVEN: Well, she's a, she's a friend of the old man's.
SARA: Let me go! Come on, Steven.
(With a well-aimed elbow, Sara struggles free, and she and Steven slip into the Tardis after the Doctor. It dematerialises.)
CONSTABLE 1: Hello. hello. What's up with you? 'ere, 'ere, it's gone.
CONSTABLE 2: What?
CONSTABLE 1: That telephone box, it's gone. Weren't it meant for us? 
[Tardis]
STEVEN: I found this jacket, so they thought I was one of their group. And when you appeared on the scene they were completely mystified.
DOCTOR: Well, even I, dear boy, must admit that I enjoyed myself. Did you fix the scanner?
SARA: I did. And no help from either of you.
DOCTOR: Oh.
STEVEN: At least it's working.
DOCTOR: Have you checked it?
SARA: Of course not. After that man grabbed me I didn't have a chance.
DOCTOR: Never mind, never mind. Is the taranium safe?
STEVEN: Yes. Over there.
SARA: Oh, I'd forgotten about the Daleks.
DOCTOR: Now, that's one thing you mustn't do, my dear. Remember, they have the same type of machines and they can follow us.
STEVEN: Yes. But, they won't have found out about the switch yet.
DOCTOR: No, I sincerely hope not.
SARA: While we have the taranium their plan cannot work.
DOCTOR: I don't think the Daleks will attack the Solar System until they've checked their Time Destructor.
STEVEN: Then what can we do?
DOCTOR: Well, I think we might, perhaps, be able to destroy the taranium before they catch us up.
SARA: I think we've stopped again.
DOCTOR: Yes, we might, we might still be on Earth. Wait a minute.
DOCTOR: Oh, no. The atmosphere has improved considerably. Yes, let's have a look at the scanner. It might tell us something.
(The Tardis appears to have materialised inside a wood mill. A woman screams.)
DOCTOR: The door!
(A tall man in a long dark cape comes into view, dragging a young girl across the barn towards a huge circular saw.) 
[Wood mill film set]
(There's a piano playing in the background.)
BLOSSOM: (screaming) Oh, No! No! No!
TRANTON: And then my secret will be safe forever. Ha, ha, ha, ha.
BLOSSOM: (screaming) No! Help me! Somebody help me!
TRANTON: Your cries cannot be heard. The sawmills are miles from anywhere. Ha, ha.
(Steven, still dressed as a policeman, dashes from the Tardis and attacks the man, knocking him over. Sara rushes forward and unties the girl. But all is not as it seems. The Tardis has landed on a Hollywood movie set in the early days of film.)
BLOSSOM: Oh! Somebody! Oh! Stop! Oh! Stop it, stop it, stop it, stop it, stop it!
GREEN: Cut! Cut! Who let those bums in here?
BLOSSOM: Steinberger, they've ruined my scene! Oh!
GREEN: It's that guy, DeMille. He's trying to sabotage me! Get those bums out of here!
(Several cameramen move in to overpower them. Sara uses her combat skills to decimate the opposition, Steven helping as best he can. In the melee they manage to escape.)
GREEN: Did you see those two? Wait. I want them back here.
BLOSSOM: Oh, Steinberger, what are you going to do about it?
(Steinberger P Green is delighted with their performance, Blossom LeFevre and the leading man less so.)
GREEN: Pipe down now. There's no camera running now. Save it for later.
TRANTON: Steinberger, look at my eye.
GREEN: (to a crewman) Hey you!
TRANTON: Look what they've done to my eye.
GREEN: I want those two back here. He's great!
TRANTON: Am I, or am I not, the star of this picture?
GREEN: bigger than Fairbanks! Well, don't just stand there,
TRANTON: Look what they've done to my eye. Look at my eye! Look at my eye!
GREEN: Go get them!
(And so the hunt was on.)
[Studio corridor]
(Running down the corridor between two studios Steven meets the Doctor.)
DOCTOR: Where's Sara?
STEVEN: I must've lost her. Where are we?
DOCTOR: In here quick.
(They pass a small figure that looks suspiciously like Charlie Chaplin then dive through a door into a vast room full of costumes.)
[Sheik's tent set]
SHEIK: And then I will come to you on my camel, and sweep you away across the desert.
INGMAR: No. No. Terrible!
ASSISTANT: OK, Harry. Cut that at 23 (other words are drowned out as he continues the stage instructions)
INGMAR: You've got to give it more feeling. She's not a sack of potatoes.
VAMP: No. He is the sack of potatoes. Where did you find him, on a rubbish dump?
SHEIK: I resent that!
GREEN: Iggy. Iggy! Did you see them?
INGMAR: Who? Who?
GREEN: A guy and a gal. They just beat the living daylights out of my camera crew. It was great!
INGMAR: Perhaps you like your film interrupted, but I do not. Please do not interrupt me when I am creating.
MAN: Mister Kenoff? Mister Kenoff?
INGMAR: Knopf. Ingmar Knopf.
MAN: Mister Knopf, Professor Webster's here, sir.
INGMAR: Ah, good. Send him to me at once. I need him in this next scene.
MAN: Yes, sir.
GREEN: You should have seen him! He was great! Bigger than Fairbanks! I've got to find a name for him! Something suave!
INGMAR: No please, no please, do whatever you like, but leave me alone! Get off my set! I'm trying to make a film!
(Knopf spots Sara creeping round the back of his set.)
INGMAR: Who is this girl? If she's one of the harem, why is she wearing that extraordinary clothing? Tell her to get them off! Send her to wardrobe!
[Corridor]
(The door from wardrobe to the corridor opens and Steven and the Doctor emerge.)
DOCTOR: No, I must find Sara.
STEVEN: You think she's still in this place?
DOCTOR: I'll try out there first. You wait here.
(An assistant director spots Steven in his police uniform.)
ASSISTANT: Oh, there you are! Everybody's waiting.
STEVEN: No. Not
ASSISTANT: Don't argue. Come on.
(The Assistant Director puts a truncheon into Steven's hand and drags him to the nearby set, a Keystone Kops movie. Steven is horrified.)
STEVEN: I'm nothing to do with your film.
(Steven breaks free and dashes down the passageway closely pursued by two other Kops. A moment later he's carried kicking and shouting back the way they came.)
STEVEN [OC]: Put me down! Put me down!! I have never taken part in a scene I swear.
(Despite his protests, Steven is bundled off into the action and soon finds himself embroiled in a crazy car chase, which ends in rather inevitable disaster. As the dust settles, Steven takes his chance and runs off again.)
ASSISTANT: Now where's he got to? We need him to do that scene again. 
[Sheik's tent]
SHEIK: And then I will come to you. And then I will come to you. And then I will come to you on my camel and I will sweep you away across the desert.
INGMAR: All right. All right. Professor Webster isn't here yet, so please don't exhaust your capabilities.
SHEIK: Now look here, Mister Kenoff!
INGMAR: Knopf. Ingmar Knopf.
SHEIK: Kenerve. You can't talk to me like that. I am an actor!
VAMP: What? He is not an actor. You are a cheap pig.
SHEIK: Get lost, fraulein.
(As the crew ready themselves for the next take, the Doctor appears and enters into the spirit of things by immediately being mistaken for someone else.)
INGMAR: Professor Webster! Where have you been all this time?
DOCTOR: Hmm?
INGMAR: We've been waiting for you. As our expert on Arabian customs we need your help.
DOCTOR: Certainly, certainly. My help? Oh, I shall be delighted. Yes. (speaks arabic).
INGMAR: How very good, Professor.
DOCTOR: Doctor, please.
INGMAR: Oh, Doctor! Now this is a rich Sheik's tent.
DOCTOR: Oh, yes. And who is this?
INGMAR: She is an Arabian princess.
DOCTOR: Nonsense! You put some more clothes on, child. Go along. And what's all this?
(The Doctor raps on a nearly chest. It opens and Sara climbs out.)
INGMAR: What are you doing in there? Please, get out. You are in the next scene, the harem scene, please.
DOCTOR: Come on. To the wardrobe. The wardrobe.
INGMAR: Doctor, where are you going?
(But what has happened to Steven?)
[Corridor]
(Eluding the Assistant Director, Steven takes the precaution of removing the police tunic to avoid any future misunderstandings. He's heading back to the Tardis when - )
STEVEN: Sara, where've you been?
SARA: I don't know, but a strange man kept telling me to take my clothes off.
DOCTOR: Now, come along. We must go back to the Tardis. This is a madhouse. It's all full of Arabs. Come along.
(Meanwhile, all was not well at the old barn.)
[Wood mill film set]
GREEN: Sure, baby, sure. I know it was a bit of a shock.
BLOSSOM: You're trying to get rid of me. You don't want me as your star any more.
GREEN: Of course I do, baby. You're great. I don't want those kids for your kind of a picture.
BLOSSOM: But, you said you were going to make him bigger than Fairbanks. I suppose you're going to make her bigger than (lost under background dialogue)
GREEN: No, honey, no. She's not that kind of a girl. You're the one I'm gonna make great. Now look. You're gonna, you're gonna take one more take, huh? Please?
BLOSSOM: Oh, all right. But this will be the last time.
GREEN: Sure, sure. Quiet everybody! Set up for a take!
MAN: Set up for a take!
VOICES: Set up for a take!
GREEN: Makeup!
MAN: Makeup!
(Suddenly Green spots Steven and Sara trying to sneak around the back of the set towards the Tardis.)
GREEN: Stop! Stop those two!
MAN: Hey, you two! Come back here!
GREEN: Stop those two!
BLOSSOM: No! No, no, no, no. Oh!
(The Chase was on.)
STEVEN: Come on, Sara.
GREEN: Stop those two!
(During the chase, the Doctor finds a dejected looking clown leaning against the Tardis door.)
DOCTOR: Come back, you two!
CLOWN: Typical. When you're new around here, they chase you, but after a while, you're off.
DOCTOR: What's that?
CLOWN: All the time they want something new. New jokes. There aren't any.
DOCTOR: Aren't there? Well, that's a joke in itself.
CLOWN: Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. ha, ha, ha, ha.
(Sara and Steven race down some stairs, once again interrupting the work of the great Ingmar Knopf.) 
[Sheik's tent]
INGMAR: What are you two doing? Get them out of here. And will you please tell those girls to get changed?
AIDE: Ya, ya, Mister Knopf.
(Meanwhile, back at the Tardis)
[Wood mill film set]
CLOWN: Custard pies have been done by Chaplin, so I'm not allowed to.
DOCTOR: Quite, quite. Now would you mind moving
CLOWN: A drink of water, done by Chaplin. Banana skins
CLOWN + DOCTOR: All done by Chaplin. 
[Sheik's tent]
(Knopf is setting up another shot.
CAMERAMAN: Now we start in close, see? And then we'll dolly back down along there.
INGMAR: Hey, where's Webster?
GREEN: Which way did they go?
INGMAR: What are you up to? Please, where's Webster?
GREEN: They came through here! Where did they go?
INGMAR: Two fools rushed over there somewhere.
GREEN: Wait!
INGMAR: Where's Webster? Where's Webster?!
[Wood mill film set]
CLOWN: They They won't even let me do the wallpaper and paste routine. You know why?
DOCTOR: Done by Chaplin.
CLOWN: Yeah.
DOCTOR: Now would you excuse me?
CLOWN: I'll tell you something. That little Englishman has done everything. I think I'll give it up and take to singing.
DOCTOR: Yes.
CLOWN: But who'd use a singer with a name like Bing Crosby?
DOCTOR: Custard pies and Bing Crosby! Ha!
STEVEN: Doctor!
(Sara and Steven finally manage to get back to the Tardis and dash inside, pulling the Doctor in after them. It dematerialises. Neither Steinberger P Green, nor Ingmar Knopf have ever seen an illusion like it.)
BLOSSOM: Steinberger, just when are we going to do my scene, huh?
GREEN: What a great trick! They just disappeared!
INGMAR: Webster! Come back! Come back, Webster! Come back!
GREEN: What a great trick. It's the greatest! How's it done?
(Fighting his way through the confusion, a little Englishman in pebble glasses approaches Knopf.)
GREEN: Hey, come back! Where is it? Come back!
WEBSTER: Excuse me.
INGMAR: What do you want? Can't you see I'm busy?
WEBSTER: I'm Professor Webster.
INGMAR: Who? You?
WEBSTER: Yes, Professor Webster.
INGMAR: Darling!
(And so they all lived happily ever after)
[Tardis]
SARA: Whatever was that place?
STEVEN: Oh, I've no idea. I'm glad we got away.
SARA: What were they doing?
STEVEN: Your guess is as good as mine. Let's hope we never land there again.
SARA: Oh.
DOCTOR: Here we are.
STEVEN: What's this?
DOCTOR: Well, we so rarely get a chance to celebrate, but this time we must.
SARA: Celebrate?
DOCTOR: Yes. It's Christmas.
SARA: Is it?
DOCTOR: Don't you remember? The police station? Christmas?
STEVEN: So it was, yes.
DOCTOR: Here's a toast. A Happy Christmas to all of us.
SARA: Oh.
STEVEN: Same to you, Doctor. Sara.
DOCTOR: (direct to camera) Incidentally, a Happy Christmas to all of you at home!
Episode 8 - Volcano
[Dalek base]
(On the planet Kembel, the Daleks have completed work on the Time Destructor.)
DALEK 1: Inform the Dalek Supreme that the Time Destructor is ready for testing.
DALEK 2: Are all circuits operational?
DALEK 1: Yes, the taranium core has been fitted. 
[Dalek Control room]
CELATION: Having had your contribution to this great weapon stolen, it must be a relief to you now that the Daleks have managed to recover it.
CHEN: Without my help, it is unlikely that they'd have got it back.
TRANTIS: At least that absurd story that it was my people from Trantis who stole the taranium has been discredited.
CELATION: Yes. They were from Earth, I believe.
CHEN: Only two of them and they are under the influence of some creature from another galaxy.
TRANTIS: He looked like an Earth creature.
CHEN: That's only a disguise. The Daleks know of him. He is some kind of time and space traveller.
CELATION: Then he is nothing to do with me. We have not yet conquered the dimension of time.
CHEN: I hear your experiments in that field are progressing, Trantis.
TRANTIS: We have not yet succeeded. Only the Daleks know how to break the time barrier.
CELATION: And this other creature, from wherever he comes.
CHEN: Oh, he's of no importance now. After all, we're here to witness the testing of the Time Destructor, are we not?
BLACK: All is ready?
DALEK: It is.
BLACK: Programme it for testing.
DALEK: All that is needed is a subject.
BLACK: The subject has been selected.
(It looks at Trantis.)
[Tardis]
(The Doctor is viewing the read out on the console with some concern.)
SARA: What do you mean, you don't know?
DOCTOR: My dear, this machine can only tell us we're being followed, ,ot who by.
STEVEN: It must be the Daleks.
DOCTOR: Yes, a hasty conclusion, but possibly right. Although I don't understand how they could have tested that taranium so quickly.
SARA: We must get back to the planet Kembel.
DOCTOR: Oh, nonsense, my dear.
SARA: We must. We've got to destroy the Daleks' invasion fleet.
[Dalek Control room]
(From the observation area, Celation and Chen watch as a petrified Trantis is forced into the test chamber by two Daleks.)
CELATION: I wonder why they chose him?
CHEN: It was his own choice really.
CELATION: What do you mean?
CHEN: He was so eager to make a contribution to the time destructor that they've let him make one. His life.
BLACK: Prepare to activate the time destructor.
DALEK: Are the other two creatures to be present at the destruction?`
BLACK: Yes. Their greed for power is so great that they can be trusted. Activate the machine.
DALEK: I obey.
(The Time Destructor is energised, humming and pulsing into life. Prepared for the worst, Trantis sinks to his knees, his face twisted in terror.)
CHEN: So that's what's supposed to happen. A kind of abject insanity.
CELATION: I do not know, though I always thought Trantis was a little unstable anyway.
CHEN: Nothing's happening to him.
CELATION: The Time Destructor does not work.
CHEN: But that's impossible. It must work. It must.
BLACK: The destructor is having no effect.
DALEK: The mechanism is functioning perfectly. The fault is in the taranium!
(The truth begins to sink in. The Dalek Supreme glides across the control room to confront Chen.)
BLACK: The taranium core has failed.
CHEN: It can't be true. There must be some mistake.
BLACK: The Daleks do not make mistakes. You have lied to us. You have not given us the taranium.
CHEN: Why should I lie? I can only benefit from my alliance with you. I brought you taranium, the real taranium.
BLACK: The core is worthless.
CHEN: No! No, it can't be. It came from Uranus. I know it did.
BLACK: We fitted the core you gave us. It has failed to activate the Time Destructor, therefore it is not taranium.
CHEN: It was the old man, that time-traveller.
CELATION: What?
CHEN: He must have changed it.
CELATION: But it was you who said that what he gave you was the taranium core.
CHEN: I know, but I didn't check. How could I? The old man fooled us. The Daleks should have checked before they fitted it, before they let the old man go.
BLACK: Report to Skaro. They must send a time machine to us immediately.
DALEK: I obey.
BLACK: You will both wait here.
CELATION: But this is nothing to do with me. I was invited as an observer.
BLACK: Very well, you can return to your section. You, Mavic Chen, will wait here for the arrival of the time machine.
CHEN: Yes.
DALEK: What about the subject?
BLACK: The subject? Exterminate him.
(Emerging from the test chamber, Trantis believes for a moment that he's escaped death, before he's ruthlessly destroyed. As Trantis falls to the floor, Chen tries to conceal his horror at this callous demonstration.
[Tardis]
(Steven is monitoring the time curve indicator)
STEVEN: It's still following us.
DOCTOR: Yes, yes.
SARA: When are we going to land?
DOCTOR: Pretty soon, my dear, pretty soon.
SARA: And I thought you knew what you were doing.
DOCTOR: I know full well what I'm doing, child. Now don't get so excited.
STEVEN: They're getting closer, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Hmm? Yes, I see. Yes, I must do something drastic.
SARA: What are you doing?
DOCTOR: Landing, my dear. That's what you wanted, wasn't it?
[Cricket ground]
(At the Oval in South London, a match is in full swing.)
TREVOR: Well, the English batsmen are really fighting against the clock now, Scott.
SCOTT: (Australian) My word, yes. Seventy eight runs in forty five minutes to win.
TREVOR: It really has been an exciting game, hasn't it, Scott?
SCOTT: Very exciting.
TREVOR: Well, let's have a look at the scoreboard, shall we? Now, you'll see. Goodness me, take a look at that, Scott.
(The Tardis materialises on the field.)
SCOTT: Take a look at what, Trev?
TREVOR: There's a police telephone box on the pitch.
SCOTT: My word, yes.
TREVOR: Well this really is extraordinary. You don't remember anything like this happening before, do you, Scott?
SCOTT: No. No.
TREVOR: Well, anyway, Ross is looking through the record books and if there has been anything like it before, I'm sure he'll find it for us.
SCOTT: You know, Trev, this puts a new light on the game.
TREVOR: What light's that, Scott?
SCOTT: Well, I know your ground staff are excellent, but even assuming they get rid of it in say, ten minutes, England will still have to get their seventy eight runs in thirty five minutes.
TREVOR: Yes. Yes, well I think we can safely say this has been a very bad break for England.
SCOTT: A very bad break. Especially as the weather's been holding off so well.
TREVOR: Yes, it has, hasn't it. Been holding off remarkably well. Well, let's have another look at the scoreboard shall we, although not very much has been happening these last few
SCOTT: It's making a funny noise.
TREVOR: What's that, Scott?
SCOTT: A funny noise coming from the police box.
(The Tardis dematerialises.)
SCOTT: It's gone again, Trev.
TREVOR: Yes, so it has. Well, that wasn't too bad was it, Scott?
SCOTT: Two and a half minutes, I make it, Trev.
TREVOR: Yes, well there's the position. England wanting seventy eight runs in forty two and a half minutes to win.
[Tardis]
DOCTOR: Yes, it's definitely some sporting occasion.
SARA: Oh, I hardly think so, Doctor.
STEVEN: Was it on Earth, do you think?
DOCTOR: Oh, possibly, my dear fellow, possibly.
STEVEN: Yes, well, wherever it was, there's still someone on our tail. Here, look at this.
DOCTOR: Yes, my plan hasn't worked. Following us closely.
[Dalek Control room]
(A Dalek time machine materialises.)
DALEK: Your order has been carried out. The time machine is ready to commence operations.
BLACK: Excellent. Organise a task force for the pursuit of the time travellers.
DALEK: I obey.
BLACK: Ascertain their position on the space time scope.
DALEK: I obey.
BLACK: Mavic Chen, you will accompany the task force. You will ensure that the taranium core is returned to Kembel.
CHEN: Of course. I shall do everything in my power.
BLACK: If you fail, or if we find that you have deceived us, you will suffer the same fate as the time travellers. Annihilation!
[Tardis]
(The planet Tigus is riddled with volcanoes, lava running in steaming bubbling rivers. It is here the Tardis materialises on the slopes of a deep volcanic crater.)
SARA: Where are we, Doctor? Do you know?
STEVEN: It doesn't look very pleasant, does it?
DOCTOR: No, we must take off quite soon.
SARA: It's stopped.
STEVEN: What does that mean, Doctor? Have we shaken it off?
DOCTOR: No, my boy, we haven't shaken them off. Whoever it was following us has landed. They've landed out there.
(Not far away, a large boulder stands alone on the uneven volcanic ground. It appears even more odd when a door opens in the side of the boulder and the figure of a man in monk's robes appears. The Monk scans the horizon using a pair of binoculars and is delighted when he spots the Doctor's Tardis a short distance away.) 
[Planet surface]
STEVEN: You know, Doctor, it would help if we knew what we were looking for.
SARA: I still say it was madness to come out here. We should have taken off again or tried to get back to Kembel.
DOCTOR: My dear young girl, what good would it be to run away? The sooner we find who's pursuing us the better.
(Steven sits down on some rocks then stands up again hurriedly.)
STEVEN: Hey! Hey, this is hot.
DOCTOR: Yes, well, I can well imagine that. This is a new planet, my boy. It's cooling down, cooling down. Fascinating. Yes, extremely fascinating. I wonder? I wonder who'd take the time and trouble to follow us? Yes, I think there is an explanation, but unlikely. Possible, very possible.
(As the Doctor and his companions widen their search, The Monk circles round behind them. He manages to avoid being spotted and at last reaches the Doctor's Tardis. Petulantly he kicks at the ship but only succeeds in hurting his foot. It's time for a more scientific approach. The Monk takes a small pencil laser from his tool bag and puts on a pair of dark goggles to protect his eyes. He applies the laser to the Tardis lock. There is no apparent damage to the Tardis, but the Monk seems delighted with his handiwork. Putting his tools away, he sets off back to his own ship.)
DOCTOR: Hello there! Hello! Don't you think we should meet and talk it over?
STEVEN: Doctor, who are we waiting for?
DOCTOR: Oh, you'll see, my boy, you'll see.
STEVEN: Oh, come on, tell us, otherwise you'll say you're right whoever we meet.
DOCTOR: You lack one quality of all the others, my boy, and that is patience.
(On a ridge above them, the Monk comes into view, a large rock raised defensively over his head.)
SARA: Doctor, look!
DOCTOR: Ah, tut, tut, tut, my dear Monk. Now don't be so ridiculous. Put that down at once.
MONK: Well, hello, Doctor. Keeping well?
DOCTOR: Oh, no complaints, no. And you?
MONK: Oh, so so, you know, just so so.
SARA: Who is it?
MONK: Delighted to see you again, young man.
STEVEN: Thanks. I wish I could say the same for you.
DOCTOR: I suppose congratulations for your escape are quite in order.
MONK: Oh, thank you. Most kind of you, Doctor. Yes, it took a bit of time, but I finally managed to bypass the dimensional controller.
DOCTOR: Yes, a very interesting solution, yes, I'm sure, though I think it would make for rather an uncomfortable ride. However, I don't suppose it affected you very much, being an amateur.
MONK: Yes, it was rather uncomfortable, but then, we can't have everything, can we? As for being an amateur, we shall see. Anyway, it was better than 1066.
DOCTOR: Yes, I suppose so.
SARA: What's he talking about, 1066?
STEVEN: It's all right. We've met the Monk once before. I'll explain later.
DOCTOR: And you returned here for one obvious reason, did you not?
MONK: I'm afraid so, Doctor. Revenge is a strange thing, isn't it?
DOCTOR: Yes, yes, quite, quite. Tell me, any plans?
MONK: And all carried out as well. Oh, ho. Doctor, you remember you left me in 1066? Now I've marooned you on the planet Tigus. Look! Oh, it's funny this. Forgive me laughing, Doctor, but I don't seem to be able to control it. Well, goodbye, Doctor. Perhaps I'll come back one day and rescue you.
STEVEN: Hey, wait a minute.
DOCTOR: Don't waste your breath, young man. The most important thing is, is to find out what he's done to the Tardis. Come on.
[Outside the Tardis]
(The Doctor tries to unlock the door but his key will not work.)
DOCTOR: Reset the lock mechanism. He probably used some kind of ray.
SARA: What does that mean?
DOCTOR: That means we cannot get back into the Tardis, child!
(From a safe distance, the Monk watches gleefully as Steven tries picking the lock without success.)
DOCTOR: Oh, you will achieve nothing, dear boy, nothing.
SARA: Yes, perhaps, but it's better than just accepting everything.
DOCTOR: Yes, like I am, I suppose?
STEVEN: Well, you haven't been taking much interest have you, Doctor?
DOCTOR: Oh, and why not, dear boy, why not? Because I am using my brain. I'm trying to solve this problem.
(The Doctor takes off his ring and looks at it thoughtfully.)
DOCTOR: Now just stand back and cover your eyes, please.
(He angles the ring so as to reflect the glare of Tigus' sun onto the lock.)
STEVEN: What does that do?
DOCTOR: Perhaps nothing, perhaps everything. Will you do as you're told at once. Cover your eyes, please.
(Sara tries the door.)
SARA: It hasn't worked.
DOCTOR: Wait a moment, child.
(The Doctor uses his key to unlock the door then stands aside.)
DOCTOR: Now try.
STEVEN: You're a genius, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Yes, I know, my boy. I know.
(The Tardis dematerialises. The Monk can barely believe his eyes.)
MONK: Oh, no, no. Don't think I'm going to leave it at this. You haven't heard the last of me, Doctor. You haven't heard the last of me!
[Tardis]
STEVEN: If you ask me, we haven't heard the last of that monk.
DOCTOR: Quite so, dear boy. He'll be on our trail again as fast as he can get going.
SARA: Yes, but next time we'll be expecting him.
DOCTOR: Exactly, my dear, exactly. Now, Steven, there's something I want you to do. Go to that indicator and let me know the instant the Monk's Tardis registers.
STEVEN: Yes, all right, but first you tell us something. How did you break that lock?
DOCTOR: Oh, that's all very simple, dear boy. You see the sun in that particular galaxy has very unusual powers. I merely reflected its powers through that ring.
SARA: Is there something special about it?
DOCTOR: Yes, it has certain properties. The combined forces of that sun together with the stone in that ring was sufficient enough to correct the Monk's interference.
STEVEN: Yes, but what properties has it?
DOCTOR: Now, I don't want to discuss this anymore. Please, about turn, and do as you're told. Go along.
[Dalek Control room]
(The Dalek's time machine is prepared and ready to leave Kembel. A squad of Daleks files aboard, accompanied by Mavic Chen. The door closes behind them.)
DALEK: The task force is now aboard.
BLACK: Commence count down.
(In the background a Dalek counts down from 100.)
DALEK 2: The enemy ship is preparing to land.
BLACK: Compute their bearing and advise task force. Task force will use the homing beam.
DALEK: Enemy ship located. Space time bearing, planet Earth, London, 1966.
[Tardis]
(The Tardis has materialised in Trafalgar Square just before midnight, New Year's Eve 1966. Not knowing quite what to make of it, Steve observes the boisterous revelry on the scanner.)
STEVEN: Well, you won't be able to carry out your repairs here, Doctor.
DOCTOR: No.
SARA: It's some sort of celebration, isn't it?
DOCTOR: I don't quite know, you just listen, my dear, listen.
(Church bells are pealing.)
[Dalek Control room]
DALEK [OC]: Twenty two, twenty one, twenty, nineteen, eighteen 
[Tardis]
DOCTOR: It's Earth. I've seen that place before.
SARA: What do you think they're celebrating?
DOCTOR: Well, as far as I can remember, I've seen them behave in a fashion like that on a former occasion.
STEVEN: What was that?
DOCTOR: The Relief of Mafeking.
[Dalek Control room]

DALEK [OC]: Four, three, two, one, zero.
(The Dalek time machine dematerialises.)
BLACK: Report to Skaro. Our time machine is now in pursuit. Nothing can match Dalek technology. The universe shall be ours. Conquest is assured.
ALL: Conquest! Conquest! Conquest! Conquest! Conquest!

Thursday 6 December 2018

The Karmic Trickster


A Trickster
who specializes in

Unstuffing stuffed shirts


deflating puffed-up egos,


trivialising the self-important

and 


confusing know-it-alls


The Karmic Trickster 
is normally harmless, even friendly, if left ALONE. 


Once his dignity is dented or his person threatened,
however, it's 
no holds barred — 


The target is in for humiliation, embarrassment and bewilderment. 


ANY tactic is fair game as long as it does not cause actual physical harm to the target. 


Only when the target has surrendered does the Karmic Trickster conclude his vengeance.












Being completely self-centered, the Karmic Trickster normally acts only on his own behalf, but can be convinced to help others — he has a soft spot for babies, innocents, and those who are truly good, and when his sympathy is evoked will go to the 
ENDS OF THE EARTH FOR THEM.

Sometimes he sows chaos for the sake of chaos, but only when he gets carried away in the midst of one of his campaigns. 

Most of the time he simply wants to be left ALONE, and Heaven help whoever messes with him! 

Given all of their righteous retribution, sometimes these characters can exist somewhere between this, 

Screwy Squirrel 
and borderline  




Neutral Evil 

if their self-righteous attitudes end up attacking characters for little more than existing nearby them and can often just seem like 



Comedic Sociopathy 
if our Trickster operates as a  

Designated Hero,

 regardless of where they sit on the
Trickster Archetype scale 
and the only Karmic anything involved about them is being a  

Karma Houdini.

Between them, Karmic Trickster and Screwy Squirrel comprise two-thirds of the classic Trickster Archetype. 

His actions are as much to teach as to gain revenge, where Screwy Squirrel is the embodiment of mischief for mischief's sake.

See also: Karmic Protection.

May masquerade as The Fool,
 or 

vice versa;
whether silly or wise, 

he will always display 
Hidden Depths 
(if only a knack for comedy and Simpleminded Wisdom
whom the audience may laugh at. 

This is not always true of other Tricksters in general, who are sometimes cast as 

cloud cuckoolanders
 
irrepressible agents of chaos

lesser chaos-bringers 
 who are constantly being taught a lesson themselves, 
or 
cosmic butt monkeys. 


Such traits rarely apply here. 

Indeed, the Karmic Trickster 
 is the least vulnerable to  
Hoist by His Own Petard  
or to 

Counter Zany 

 (which he can often turn to Zany Scheme Chicken).

Hares : Not distinguished from rabbits, either in symbolism or in popular superstition. 

In many ancient civilizations the hare is a "lunar animal," because the dark patches (mana, "seas") on the surface of the full MOON suggest leaping hares. 

Thus in ancient Mex- ico, where the hare (wehtli) is also the eighth of 20 day-symbols in the Aztec calendar and a sign of good luck, the animal is represented in the Codices by a U-shaped lunar hiero- glyph; and in ancient China the lunar hare crushes cinnamon sticks in a mortar and is considered a symbol of longevity. In Bud- dhist, Celtic, Hottentot, and ancient Egyp- tian cultures as well, the hare was associated with the moon. Its further symbolic con- notations have to do with its real or legend- ary characteristics, such as vigilance: the animal is said to sleep with its eyes open, and medieval physicians believed that eating its meat led to insomnia. (In classical anti- quity, on the other hand, eating such a meal was believed to make a person beautiful for NINE days.) The hare is widely spoken of as easily frightened (in medieval symbol- ogy an armed man fleeing from a hare is the personification of ignavia, or cowardice; compare the Grimms' tale of "The Seven Swabians"); its excessive fertility rate and and readiness to mate make it a symbol of lust, whereas a WHITE hare, portrayed at the feet of the VIRGIN Mary, is taken as a symbol of the triumph over "the flesh." The Easter hare, along with the EGG of fertility, plays an important role in Central European tra- ditions for the welcoming of spring. The early Christian Physiologus mentions a fur- ther peculiarity of the hare: with its shorter front legs, it can run fastest uphill, eluding its pursuers. "Seek you likewise the rock, when the evil cur, the demon, pursues you. . . . If he sees you running downhill with your heart set on the earthly things of this world, he comes in ready pursuit, aided by the confusion of your thoughts. But let him see that you run along with the will of God, seeking the true ROCK of our Lord Jesus Christ, climbing to the summit of virtue, then the dog will turn back, as David writes in Psalm 34: Those who would do evil unto me must turn back and come to ruin." This Hare undaunted by an uphill run. J. Boschius, 1702 Hare: Holy Trinity symbolized by three hares. Win- dow, Paderborn Cathedral passage may explain the frequency with which the hare appears in Christian iconography. Its defenselessness makes it a natural symbol for .humanity, which must put its trust in God. Hares nibbling grapes (see WINE) ap- parently symbolize souls in HEAVEN, who can safely enjoy the fruits of eternal life. We occasionally see depictions of three hares in a CIRCLE, their EARS forming a TRIAN- GLE-apparently a reminder of the Holy TRINITY, or of the fleeting (circular) course of time. The ancients attributed predominantly positive characteristics to the hare (which was also the symbol of Iberia). Its speed and vigilance, according to Plutarch (A. D. 46- 120), have a "divine" quality. According to Pliny the Elder (A. D. 23-79) this favorite animal of the goddess Aphrodite is highly beneficial to women: its meat makes sterile women fertile, and eating its testicles favors the conception of male offspring. The ma- gician Apollonius of Tyana (first century after Christ) recommended that a hare be carried three times around the bed of a woman in labor to make her delivery easier. The hare is the fourth sign of the ancient Chinese zodiac (see STARS). A picture of SIX boys surrounding a human with the head of a hare symbolizes the wish, expressed at the time of the lunar festival, that the children in the family might rise smoothly in the civil service. Because of its lunar associa- tions, the hare is a YIN animal. The animal plays a special role in Buddhist legend: a hare, sympathizing with the starving Buddha, sprang into the fire to provide food for him, and thus became a symbol of self- headdress and headgear 165 sacrifice and faith in salvation. In the myths of Native Americans the hare represents a hero of the individual nation, such as GlusKabe or Manabozho, the creator of the world in its present state. 

A trickster figure, the hare outwits larger and stronger animals like BEARS and buffaloes. For psychologically oriented symbologists, neither the speed nor the "timidity" of the hare is critical, but rather the rate at which it multiplies: this makes the animal a symbol of fertility and passionate sexuality.