"The poet only asks to get his head into the heavens. It is the logician who seeks to get the heavens into his head. And it is his head that splits." G.K. Chesterton

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Chance's Revenge

Joseph was known to occasionally bewilder random strangers, mostly those unfortunate enough to travel on the same train as him, by unexpectedly turning to them and reciting some lengthy and arbitrary Latin sentence. This exercise in buffoonery was mostly intended to evoke a laugh from his friends who shared his appreciation for the hilarity of the kaleidoscopic mixture of puzzlement, amusement and horror - all inevitably provided by his victim's faces.

Yesterday morning Joseph, up to his usual mischief did just that - while conversing with his typically extroverted group he suddenly turned around without warning and uttered a preselected Latin phrase to the young woman sitting behind him - "You are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen in my not so quite short life". This time something odd happened however. Whilst uttering this provocative sentence he slowed down half way through and what began as a nonchalant and lively baritone quietened to a quivering whisper, for at that very moment Joseph realized that what he was saying was true. The jest backfired, and Chance took her revenge on him.