From: "Dan'l Danehy-Oakes" 
Subject: RE: (urth) Lupine Humor: A Challenge
Date: Tue, 7 May 2002 14:53:35 -0700

POSSIBLE SPOILERS for "Under Hill" if you haven't read it yet.








Nacre counterchallenged:

> There appear to be at least three jokes in
> "Under Hill"; as it's brand new, I leave it
> to you all to find them.

Well, there's some pretty sad Chinese-name-jokes of the 
level of the infamous "How Hi is a Chinaman".

(I'd have guess that "Gifflet le Fils de Do" was something 
similar but nothing came to mind and a quick search turned
up this from the Prose Merlin:

	And Kay served at tables as was reson, and two yonge 
	knyghtes of grete prowesse and were sones to two 
	casteleins -- that oon was cleped Lucas the Boteler, 
	and that other Gifflet, the sone of Doo of Cardoell, 
	which hadde be maister forester to Uterpendragon. 

And he also turns up in Percivale and other old Arthurian
texts, so that's just a straightforward name reference.)

I'd be willing to bet that there was something funny hiding
here:

	The princess lowered her eyes in shame. "There is 
	also my chop - my seal, perhaps? Has this humble 
	one committed some risible error, my lord?"

but I'm darned if I can figure it out.

	my name's 12BFW-CY-, by the way, and I come 
	from the remote future.

H'mmm. That's a Gernsbackian joke -- a reference to "Ralph 
124C41+" The "+" in Ralph's name was a reference to his 
exceptionally high intelligence, wasn't it? Not sure what 
to make of the mid-name -; possibly doubleyou minus cee would
be tee, so 12BFTY-. Not much better... 

At any rate, looking at the story as a while, we see a smug,
Gernsbackian superscientist is being outwitted by a "man of
the Dark Ages who show[s] a glimmer of intelligence," which 
I think is kind of nice. It's not one of Wolfe's masterpieces
by a long shot, but I like it.

--Blattid



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