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Sky Piercer
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Ok. So it's not exactly a palindrome. But it's still pretty cool.
I present Crab Canon by Douglas Hoftstadter taken from Godel, Escher, BacH:
Quote:
<p>Tortoise: Good day, Mr. A.
Achilles: Why same to you.
Tortoise: So nice to run into you.
Achilles: That ehoes my thoughts.
Tortoise: And it's a perfect day for a walk. I think I'll be walking home soon
Achilles: Oh, really? I guess there's nothing better for you than walking.
Tortoise: Incidentally, you're looking in very fine fettle these days, I must say
Achilles: Thank you very much.
Tortoise: Not at all. Here, care for one of my cigars?
Achilles: Oh, you are such a philistine. In this area, the Dutch contributions
are of markedly inferior taste, don't you think?
Tortoise: I disagree, in this case. But speaking of taste, I finally saw that
Crab Canon by your favorite artist, M. C. Escher, in a gallery the other
day, and I fully appreciate the beauty and ingenuity with which he
made one single theme mesh with itself going both backwards and
forwards. But I am afraid I will always feel Bach is superior to Escher.
Achilles: I don't know. But one thing for certain is that I don't worry about
arguments of taste. De gustibus non est disputandum.
Tortoise: Tell me, what's it like to be your age? Is it true that one has no
worries at all?
Achilles: To be precise, one has no frets.
Tortoise: Oh, well, it's all the same to me.
Achilles: Fiddle. It makes a big difference, you know.
Tortoise: Say, don't you play the guitar?
Achilles: That's my good friend. He often plays, the fool. But I myself
wouldn't touch a guitar with a ten-foot pole! </p>
<p> (Suddenly, the Crab, appearing from out of nowhere, wanders up ex-
citedly, pointing to a rather prominent black eye.)</p>
<p> Crab: Hallo! Hulloo! What's up? What's new? You see this bump, this
lump? Given to me by a grump. Ho! And on such a fine day. You see I
was just idly loafing about the park when up lumbers this giant fellow
from Warsaw - a colossal bear of a man-playing a lute. He was three
meters tall, if I'm a day. I mosey on up to the chap, reach skyward and
manage to tap him on the knee, saying, "Pardon me, sir, but you are
Pole-luting our park with your mazurkas." But WOW! he had no sense
of humor - not a bit, not a wit - and POW! - he lets loose and belts me
one, smack in the eye! Were it in my nature, I would crap up a storm
but in the time-honored tradition of my species, I backed off. After all
when we walk forwards, we move backwards. It's in our genes, you
know, turning round and round. That reminds me - I've always
wondered, "Which came first - the Crab, or the Gene?" That
is to say, "Which came last - the Gene, or the Crab?" I'm always
turning things round and round, you know. It's in our genes, after
all. When we walk backwards, we move forwards. Ah me, oh my!
I must lope along on my merry way - so off I go on such a fine day.
Sing "ho!" for the life of a Crab! TATA! !Olé!</p>
<p> (And he disappears as suddenly as he arrived.)</p>
<p>Tortoise: That's my good friend. He often plays the fool. But I myself
wouldn't touch a ten-foot Pole with a guitar!
Achilles: Say, don't you play the guitar?
Tortoise: Fiddle. It makes a big difference, you know.
Achilles: Oh, well, it's all the same to me.
Tortoise: To be precise, one has no frets.
Achilles: Tell me, what's it like to be your age? Is it true that one
worries at all?
Tortoise: I don't know. But one thing for certain is that I don't worry
about arguments of taste. Disputandum non est de gustibus.
Achilles: I disagree, in this case. But speaking of taste, I finally heard
that Crab Canon by your favorite composer, J. S. Bach, in a
concert the other day and I fully appreciate the beauty and
ingenuity with which he made one single theme mesh with itself
going both backwards and forwards. But I'm afraid I will always
feel Escher is superior to Bach.
Tortoise: Oh, you are such a philistine. In this area, the Dutch contributions
are of markedly inferior taste, don't you think?
Achilles: Not at all. Here, care for one of my cigars?
Tortoise: Thank you very much.
Achilles: Incidentally, you're looking in very fine fettle these days, I must say.
Tortoise: Oh, really? I guess there's nothing better for you than walking.
Achilles: And it's a perfect day for a walk. I think I'll be walking home soon
Tortoise: That ehoes my thoughts.
Achilles: So nice to run into you.
Tortoise: Why same to you.
Achilles: Good day, Mr. T.</p>
<p></p>
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Last edited by CSflim; 05-04-2004 at 01:55 PM..
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