Belike
you slew great number of his people.
-Sebastian
Twelfth Night Act
III, scene iii, line 29
I’ve got a few things to talk about this morning. To start
with, I watched a 1970 production of Twelfth Night two nights ago. It was with
Ralph Richardson, Alec Guinness, and Joan Plowright, the latter playing twins
Viola and Sebastian. It was pretty entertaining and the first time I’d ever
seen any production of this play. So it’s always good to see one for the first
time, and it really pulls together all those lines that I’ve looked at over the
past four years.
The word ‘belike’ means probably, presumably, or perhaps; just in case you were wondering. Sebastian
and Antonio are strangers in town, and Antonio says that he has to be careful
because in the past he’s fought in some battles against the Count of this town,
and he doesn’t want to be recognized. Today’s Totally Random line is Sebastian responding
to that.
But the funniest thing about today’s line comes actually a
few lines earlier. These two guys have just arrived in the town, they’re
deciding what they should do, and Sebastian wants to go sightseeing. Shall
we go see the reliques of this town? And then,
I pray you, let us satisfy our
eyes
With the memorials and the things of fame
That do renown this city.
I dunno, I just thought that was humorous. I guess I think of sightseeing as a
modern thing, but apparently it’s not. I guess I needed Will to remind me of
yet another thing that hasn’t changed in the last four hundred years.
I think I managed to find the perfect pic for today. It's a picture of me at the Gettysburg military cemetery; the same place Abe gave his famous address. Memorial Day, sightseeing; yup, I think I've got all the bases covered.