Juvenilia
Possibly my earliest recorded foray into the Calliopean art is a dubious hand-written novel, Death Upon A Kiss, reproduced in its entirety here for your edification:
(Cover designed by self. I'm not certain of the identity of the object rearing from the tombstone - a crucifix with a flower stuck on top? Or a stick figure observer of the tragic scene?) It all started when lady pegaso came. lord antino fell in love with lady pegaso. they were almost always side by side. then it happened to the king. a terrible disease came to him and he died. a new (unknown to be mean) king was chosen. he raised the taxes to 100 sovereigns a year. both lady pegaso and lord antino hated him. then, when lord antino couldn't bear it, he ran into lady pegaso's room. there was lady pegaso lying on her bed. the lord took up a cushion. she yelled, "no!" but he smothered her. he kissed her, and said: "death upon a kiss." so saying he stabbed himself and died.END
I'm not sure exactly how old I was when I made this brief but memorable excursion into the world of economics and palace intrigue - six? eight? What's always puzzled me is: where on earth did I get such macabre ideas? Looking at the original ms today, it's suddenly struck me that I must have managed to catch the end of Othello on TV. Steal from the best.
I must say, though, that Othello's motivations are more comprehensible than Lord Antino's, whose aggression seems somewhat misdirected. Was the king moved to mend his mean ways by the tragedy? Why was he chosen rather than succeeding the old king, and why did whoever did the choosing fail to notice his meanness? What were Lady Pegaso's opinions on the hike in taxes? Just how large a percentage increase was 100 sovereigns anyway? (Clearly Antino and Pegaso, as members of the nobility, retained enough income to keep themselves in cushions and daggers, but apparently not enough to get married.) Sadly, these questions seem likely to remain unanswered forever.
(Cover designed by self. I'm not certain of the identity of the object rearing from the tombstone - a crucifix with a flower stuck on top? Or a stick figure observer of the tragic scene?) It all started when lady pegaso came. lord antino fell in love with lady pegaso. they were almost always side by side. then it happened to the king. a terrible disease came to him and he died. a new (unknown to be mean) king was chosen. he raised the taxes to 100 sovereigns a year. both lady pegaso and lord antino hated him. then, when lord antino couldn't bear it, he ran into lady pegaso's room. there was lady pegaso lying on her bed. the lord took up a cushion. she yelled, "no!" but he smothered her. he kissed her, and said: "death upon a kiss." so saying he stabbed himself and died.END
I'm not sure exactly how old I was when I made this brief but memorable excursion into the world of economics and palace intrigue - six? eight? What's always puzzled me is: where on earth did I get such macabre ideas? Looking at the original ms today, it's suddenly struck me that I must have managed to catch the end of Othello on TV. Steal from the best.
I must say, though, that Othello's motivations are more comprehensible than Lord Antino's, whose aggression seems somewhat misdirected. Was the king moved to mend his mean ways by the tragedy? Why was he chosen rather than succeeding the old king, and why did whoever did the choosing fail to notice his meanness? What were Lady Pegaso's opinions on the hike in taxes? Just how large a percentage increase was 100 sovereigns anyway? (Clearly Antino and Pegaso, as members of the nobility, retained enough income to keep themselves in cushions and daggers, but apparently not enough to get married.) Sadly, these questions seem likely to remain unanswered forever.