Monday, February 05, 2007

Of Bees and J.K. Rowling

Of interest to Harry potter fans will be chapter 20 of 'The Mayor of Casterbridge" by Thomas Hardy, that starts with Henchard (the Mayor) chastising his daughter for using country dialect rather than 'proper' town-person words and phrases.

"The sharp reprimand was not lost upon her, and in time it came to pass that for 'fay' she said 'succeed'; that she no longer spoke of 'dumbledores' but of 'humble bees'; ...that she grew to talk of 'greggles' as 'wild hyacinths'; that when she had not slept she did not quaintly tell the servants next morning that she had been 'hagrid' but that she had 'suffered from indigestion'."

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