more Kenny
Продолжу развлечение для оксфордских коллег.
Начало см. http://www.livejournal.com/users/kantor/17168.html
Череп Декарта:
On a visit to Paris ... I remembered reading that Descartes' skull was exhibited in the Musée d'Homme. <...> I visited the museum and made my way to the place where the guidebook led one to believe it was to be found. There was indeed a glass case containing three skulls. One was labelled as Boileau's, the others bore names which meant nothing to me. A rather sleepy guide seemed surprised that Descartes' skull was no longer on view. He pointed out that the case bore the title 'Skulls of geniuses and of criminals'. I demanded to see the museum's director and was eventually shown to his office.
The director received me genially in a room full of filing cabinets and bric-à-brac. It was a scandal, I complained, if scholars travelling from foreign countries to view the great man's skull found it missing from its appropriate place. 'Ah, monsieur,' he said, 'you have seen the case from which we removed it. It did not seem decent for the great Descartes to be displayed between two thieves -- in spite, you understand, of the illustrious precedent.' 'So where it is now?' I asked. He went over to a filing cabinet labelled C-D, drew out a skull, and laid it in my lap. 'Voici, monsieur: le crâne de M. Descartes.' The most striking feature of the skull was that it was scribbled over with Latin verses: inscribed, I learnt, by admirers during its sojourn in Sweden. I did not quite know how to react to the relic: should I kiss it, or kneel before it? I handed it back to the curator, asking whether it had any special characteristics. 'Non,' he said sadly, 'le crâne tout à fait normal.'
Застольный этикет:
There had never, in my time, been enough napkin rings for all the Fellows, so that possession of one was a prized mark of seniority. A colleague told me that he was surprised one day at lunch to find a ring beside his place. He pointed out to our Spanish butler that he was not yet sufficiently senior, and must have been given someone else's ring by mistake. 'Is quite all right, sir,' was the answer; 'Professor of Surgery, he drop dead eleven-thirty this morning'.
Рассел Мейггз, знаменитый оксфордский античник:
A shrewd judge of character, who took pains to inform himself about the lives of his colleagues and pupils, Russell never indulged in malicious gossip. The unkindest thing I ever heard him say about anyone was, 'That man never looked a tree in the face in his life.'
Обсуждение письма из правительства об отказе преподавателю в визе:
'Whoever wrote that letter,' boomed Lord Goodman, Master of University College, 'is a certifiable idiot.' 'I'm afraid it is not just a letter from a civil cervant,' I explained; 'this one is from the Minister himself.' 'I do not wish to alter either the noun or the adjective,' was the response.
Начало см. http://www.livejournal.com/users/kantor/17168.html
Череп Декарта:
On a visit to Paris ... I remembered reading that Descartes' skull was exhibited in the Musée d'Homme. <...> I visited the museum and made my way to the place where the guidebook led one to believe it was to be found. There was indeed a glass case containing three skulls. One was labelled as Boileau's, the others bore names which meant nothing to me. A rather sleepy guide seemed surprised that Descartes' skull was no longer on view. He pointed out that the case bore the title 'Skulls of geniuses and of criminals'. I demanded to see the museum's director and was eventually shown to his office.
The director received me genially in a room full of filing cabinets and bric-à-brac. It was a scandal, I complained, if scholars travelling from foreign countries to view the great man's skull found it missing from its appropriate place. 'Ah, monsieur,' he said, 'you have seen the case from which we removed it. It did not seem decent for the great Descartes to be displayed between two thieves -- in spite, you understand, of the illustrious precedent.' 'So where it is now?' I asked. He went over to a filing cabinet labelled C-D, drew out a skull, and laid it in my lap. 'Voici, monsieur: le crâne de M. Descartes.' The most striking feature of the skull was that it was scribbled over with Latin verses: inscribed, I learnt, by admirers during its sojourn in Sweden. I did not quite know how to react to the relic: should I kiss it, or kneel before it? I handed it back to the curator, asking whether it had any special characteristics. 'Non,' he said sadly, 'le crâne tout à fait normal.'
Застольный этикет:
There had never, in my time, been enough napkin rings for all the Fellows, so that possession of one was a prized mark of seniority. A colleague told me that he was surprised one day at lunch to find a ring beside his place. He pointed out to our Spanish butler that he was not yet sufficiently senior, and must have been given someone else's ring by mistake. 'Is quite all right, sir,' was the answer; 'Professor of Surgery, he drop dead eleven-thirty this morning'.
Рассел Мейггз, знаменитый оксфордский античник:
A shrewd judge of character, who took pains to inform himself about the lives of his colleagues and pupils, Russell never indulged in malicious gossip. The unkindest thing I ever heard him say about anyone was, 'That man never looked a tree in the face in his life.'
Обсуждение письма из правительства об отказе преподавателю в визе:
'Whoever wrote that letter,' boomed Lord Goodman, Master of University College, 'is a certifiable idiot.' 'I'm afraid it is not just a letter from a civil cervant,' I explained; 'this one is from the Minister himself.' 'I do not wish to alter either the noun or the adjective,' was the response.