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Very Good, Jeeves
(1930) [VGJ] - Big Money
(1931) [BM] - Doctor Sally
(1932) [DS] - Hot Water
(1932) [HW] - Mulliner Nights
(1933) [MN] - Heavy Weather
(1933) [HvW] - Thank You, Jeeves
(1934) [TYJ] - Right Ho, Jeeves
(1934) [RHJ] - Blandings Castle and Elsewhere
(1935) [BCE] - The Luck of the Bodkins
(1935) [LB] - Young Men in Spats
(1936) [YMS] - Laughing Gas
(1936) [LG] - Lord Emsworth and Others
(1937) [LEO] - Summer Moonshine
(1938) [SM] - The Code of the Woosters
(1938) [CW] - Uncle Fred in the Springtime
(1939) [UFS]
BIG MONEY BM, Chapter 1, section 1 Something of the affectionate approach a conscientious trainer of performing fleas might have shown towards one of his artists who had strayed from the fold. Matthew 18:12 / How think ye? If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? A probable allusion to the parable of the lost sheep. Our chumminess was a silent sermon on Brotherly Love. Romans 12:10 / Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another. Me, old boy! Lazarus in person. Luke 16:19-21 / 19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: 20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores. 21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. BM, Chapter 1, section 2 If the prophet Job had entered the room at that moment, T. Paterson Frisby would have shaken his hand and said, "Old man, I know just how you must have felt." Job is a God-fearing and honest man, who loses his possessions and his children, and whose own body is afflicted with horrible ulcers. The Book of Job chiefly consists of long discussions between Job and three of his friends who, while trying to comfort him, are more trying than comforting. The iron entered pretty deeply into his soul. Psalm 105:18 / Whose feet they hurt in the stocks: the iron entered into his soul (Book of Common Prayer). It'll be like manna in the wilderness. Deuteronomy 8:16 / Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end. John 6:49 / Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. After their flight from Egypt, God provided the Israelites in the desert with a miraculous sort of food, called "manna" (full story in Exodus 16:1-36). BM, Chapter 1, section 4 In this inner shrine they were standing on holy ground. Exodus 3:5 / And he [the Lord] said [to Moses], Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. BM, Chapter 3 He was feeling now as Elijah would have felt in the wilderness if the ravens had suddenly developed cut-throat business methods. 1 Kings 17:4 / And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. During a period of drought and famine, the prophet Elijah was ordered by God to hide in the wadi Cherith, east of the Jordan, where ravens brought him bread in the morning and meat in the evening. You have been wiser in your generation than I in mine, my boy. Luke 16:8 / And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. BM, Chapter 5 Grim and desolate spots where the foot of white man had not trod nor the Gospel been preached. Matthew 4:23 / And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. This is the first time the expression "preaching the gospel" occurs in the New Testament. The "gospel" is the "good news" of the impending coming of the kingdom of God. I consider it practically a Garden of Eden. Genesis 2:8 / And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. The Hebrew word for "garden" was translated as "paradise" in the Greek version of the Old Testament. BM, Chapter 6, section 2 Saved at the eleventh hour Matthew 20:6 / And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? In the "Parable of the vineyard labourers", Jesus tells us of a landowner going out several times a day to hire workers for his vineyard: at daybreak, at the third hour (about 9 a.m.), at the sixth hour (midday), at the ninth hour (3 p.m.) and, surprisingly, even at the eleventh hour (about 5 p.m.)! In the end, those who were hired at the eleventh hour receive the same wages as those who have been working all day. This story thus illustrates God's generosity, which exceeds the human understanding of justice. BM, Chapter 7, section 1 "Oh, sorry, sir!" cried this babe and suckling. Psalm 8:2 / Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. Jesus quotes this verse in Matthew 21:16, to justify the behaviour of the children shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David" in the temple, on the day of his solemn entry in Jerusalem. As the crackling of thorns under a pot, he felt, so is the laughter of a fool. Ecclesiastes 7:6 / For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity. BM, Chapter 7, section 2 There is a time for dreaming, and a time for facing the issues of life in a practical spirit. Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 / 1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted. Possible reminiscence of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, with its repeated mentions of a time to do something, and a time to do the opposite. BM, Chapter 8 To smooth his employer's path Matthew 3:3 / For this is he [John the Baptist] that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Something of this kind was only to be expected in a world in which all flesh was as grass Isaiah 40:6 / The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. 1 Peter 1:24 / For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. I thought it might be Barabbas. John 18:40 / Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber. At the time of Jesus' trial before Pontius Pilate, Barabbas was in custody too. Pilate, feeling himself trapped by the pressure exerted by the Jewish priests, offered to release Jesus in accordance with a custom which allowed him to free one prisoner to popular demand at the feast of the Passover. But the crowd, influenced by the priests, asked for the release of Barabbas instead. Nobody had started the millennium by lynching J.B. Hoke. Revelation 20:4 / And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. The thousand-year period or "millennium" described here in the Book of Revelation, has been explained in different ways throughout the ages. "Millenarianists" are those who interpret these texts literally, and who belief in a future millennium of blessedness, either in heaven or on earth. BM, Chapter 9, section 1 A lonely girl, stranger in a strange land Exodus 2:22 / And she [Zipporah] bare him [Moses] a son, and he called his name Gershon: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land. This is one of the many examples of popular etymology in the Bible, "ger" being the Hebrew word for "stranger". Buzzing about a lot and rejoicing in her youth, I suppose? Ecclesiastes 11:9 / Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment. I was the hart that pants for cooling streams when heated in the chase. Psalm 42:1 / As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. However, the immediate source for this quotation appears to be the hymn "Converting Grace 230", from "A New Version of the Psalms": "As pants the hart for cooling streams / When heated in the chase; / So longs my soul, Oh God, for Thee, / And Thy refreshing grace". BM, Chapter 10, section 1 He has the air of one who would be pretty rough with the widow and the orphan if he got a chance. Exodus 22:21 / You must not be harsh with the widow, or with the orphan; if you are harsh with them, they will surely cry out to me, and be sure I shall hear their cry. (Jerusalem Bible) BM, Chapter 10, section 2 "You Jonah!" "Judas," corrected Mr Hoke. He liked to get these things right. Jonah 1:17 / Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. / 2:10 / And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. The "great fish" has become a "whale" in popular imagination. Matthew 26:14-16 / 14 Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, 15 And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him [Jesus] unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. 16 And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him. BM, Chapter 12, section 2 At the eleventh hour Fate had sent him a man who talked about money See above . BM, Chapter 13, section 3 It was as if a great light had shone upon him. Isaiah 9:2 / The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. BM, Chapter 13, section 4 The scales have fallen from her eyes. Acts 9:18 / And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized. Acts 9:1-19 relate the conversion of Saul, as the apostle Paul was known then. He was travelling to Damascus, in order to persecute Jesus' disciples there, when there came a light from heaven, causing him to fall to the ground, and a voice saying, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" When Saul got up, he could see nothing at all, until a disciple who lived in Damascus, Ananias, laid his hands on him, whereupon the "scales fell away from Saul's eyes". Seething the kid in its mother's milk, is what I call it. Exodus 23:19 / The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk. Back to top DOCTOR SALLY DS, Chapter 2 Lord Tidmouth, during these exchanges, had been directing at his long-lost friend a look in which remorse and brotherly love were nicely blended. Remorse now faded, and brotherly love had the field to itself. Romans 12:10 / Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another. DS, Chapter 3 Bygones be bygones. Let the dead past bury its dead. Matthew 8:21-22 / 21 And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 22 But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead. The actual quotation, however, comes from Longfellow's "A Psalm of Life": "Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant! / Let the dead Past bury its dead! / Act, - act in the living Present! / Heart within, and God o'erhead!" As always on occasions such as this, the air became full of a babel of words. Genesis 11:9 / Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. In Genesis 11:1-9, Babel is the name of the city, where God caused the confusion of languages, in order to put a halt to the presumptuous construction of a tower reaching to heaven. DS, Chapter 4 A bright light shone upon Bill. Isaiah 9:2 / The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. DS, Chapter 6 If one of the more austere of the minor prophets had worn plus-fours he would have looked just as Sir Hugo Drake was looking now. The last twelve books of the Old Testament, all attributed to different prophets, are called the "Minor Prophets", not because they are less important than the "major" prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel), but because their writings are much shorter. They are, in the traditional order, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi. Like that of all prophets, their message is a melange of threat and consolation. In the Wodehouse canon, a Minor Prophet is practically the equivalent of a Scottish elder rebuking sin from the pulpit. DS, Chapter 7 The scales would fall from his eyes, and his infatuation would wither and decay. Acts 9:18 / And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized. Acts 9:1-19 relate the conversion of Saul, as the apostle Paul was known then. He was travelling to Damascus, in order to persecute Jesus' disciples there, when there came a light from heaven, causing him to fall to the ground, and a voice saying, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" When Saul got up, he could see nothing at all, until a disciple who lived in Damascus, Ananias, laid his hands on him, whereupon the "scales fell away from Saul's eyes". DS, Chapter 10 I'm not interested in your soul. My job has to do with what the hymn-book calls your "vile body". Philippians 3:20-21 / 20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. I have not been able to find a hymn containing the words "vile body". Could Sally have been thinking of the Book of Common Prayer? In "The Order for the Burial of the Dead", the priest says the following beautiful prayer, while earth is cast upon the body: "Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God of his great mercy to take unto himself the soul of our dear brother here departed, we therefore commit his body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change our vile body, that it may be like unto his glorious body, according to the mighty working, whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself." In order to appreciate the Bible's positive teaching on the human body, it is essential to note that the word "vile" meant "lowly, humble" at the time the King James Version was published, not "evil" or "worthless"! DS, Chapter 11 "They say," continued Lord Tidmouth earnestly, "that strong drink biteth like a serpent and - if I remember correctly - stingeth like a jolly old adder. Well, all I have to say is - let it! (...) Excuse me for a moment, old man, while I mix myself a stiffish serpent-and-soda." Strong drink might bite like an adder, but soda-water could spout like a geyser. Proverbs 23:31-32 / 31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. 32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. Lord Tidmouth groaned in spirit. John 11:33 / When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled. DS, Chapter 13 Sir Hugo looked like a minor prophet receiving good news about the latest battle with the Philistines. For the minor prophets, see above . The Philistines were among the most bitter enemies of Israel in the Old Testament. Directly you saw this woman in the home of your ancestors, beneath the gaze of the family portraits, the scales fell from your eyes and your infatuation withered and died. See above . DS, Chapter 15 Sir Hugo raised both hands, like a minor prophet blessing the people. Luke 24:50 / And he [Jesus] led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. For the minor prophets, see above . Raising one's hands in prayer or to bestow God's blessing on his people is a very ancient Jewish custom, adopted by the Christians. DS, Chapter 16 He spoke with a loving warmth which would have excited the respectful envy of the author of the Song of Solomon. The "Song of Solomon" or "Song of Songs" (the latter title means "the greatest of all songs") is a collection of love poems. The Jewish and Christian tradition have always interpreted them as an allegory of the loving relationship between God and his people, or between Christ and his Church. Back to top HOT WATER HW, Chapter 1, section 5 It was as if there had been a belt of fog hiding the Promised Land from him Genesis 12:7 / And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him. Hebrews 11:9 / By faith he [Abraham] sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. HW, Chapter 1, section 6 He seemed to be gazing upon the Promised Land. See above . HW, Chapter 2, section 1 It was better to keep the whole subject of the brave old days a sealed book. Isaiah 29:11 / And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed. Revelation 5:1 / And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. The sealed book symbolises God's secret decrees. Only the Lamb (i.e. Jesus Christ) is worthy "to take the scroll and break the seals of it" (Revelation 5:9). HW, Chapter 2, section 2 Undoubtedly a suggestion of Absalom, the son of David. 2 Samuel 14:25-26 / 25 But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him. 26 And when he polled his head, (for it was at every year's end that he polled it: because the hair was heavy on him, therefore he polled it:) he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels after the king's weight. Unfortunately, Absalom's luxurious hair was to be the cause of his death. After having raised a rebellion against his father David, he was caught by the hair in the thick branches of a great oak, while riding a mule, and was left hanging between heaven and earth when the mule went on. Joab, David's general, found him there and stabbed him to death. It was the Old Adam stirring within him once more. Romans 6:6 / Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him [Christ], that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. The "old man" or "old Adam" is man considered as sinful and in want of redemption and re-creation. HW, Chapter 2, section 6 The thought of the poor child having to lean on so weak a reed. Isaiah 36:6 / Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him. HW, Chapter 5 A child could have played with him Isaiah 11:8 / And the suckling child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. Isaiah 11:1-9 is a poem which describes the marvels to be accomplished by the Messiah: the verse quoted here shows that in the messianic era the peace and harmony will be restored which once reigned supreme in Eden. HW, Chapter 6, section 1 He should have been patient and long-suffering with him. Colossians 1:11 / Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness. HW, Chapter 8, section 2 That I have been visiting her - ah - sanctum sanctorum. The Latin words mean "Holy of Holies", i.e. "most holy place" (Exodus 26:34, Authorised Version). In the Temple of Jerusalem, the back room of the building was the most sacred place, because it contained the ark of the covenant; it was therefore called the "Holy of Holies". The high priest alone was allowed to enter this chamber, once a year only. HW, Chapter 12 Mr Gedge a little like Daniel threading his way through the den of lions. Daniel 6:16 / Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said to Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee. The satraps of the kingdom of Darius, resenting Daniel's promotion, had set a trap for him by inducing Darius to sign a decree banning prayer to anyone but the king. When Daniel was seen praying to his God, the king had no choice but to order him to be thrown into a den of lions. Next morning, Daniel was found, unhurt, and his accusers were thrown to the lions instead. HW, Chapter 13, section 1 He looked like one who has passed through the furnace. Isaiah 48:10 / Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. There are many other passages in the Bible which compare chastening experiences to the fire of a furnace. HW, Chapter 13, section 3 Her spectacled face lifted itself, not unlike that of a war-horse sniffing the approaching battle. Job 39:25 / He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting. HW, Chapter 14, section 3 He was about to bring tidings of great joy to Mr Slattery. Luke 2:10-11 / 10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. HW, Chapter 16, section 6 He was far too prone to substitute a left hook to the jaw for that soft answer which the righteous recommend. Matthew 5:39 / But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. Christ forbids his disciples to return evil for evil in the "Eye for eye, tooth for tooth" spirit. His own example in John 18:22-23 shows us that it is not forbidden to resist unjust attacks. HW, Chapter 17, section 1 A sudden falling of scales from the eyes Acts 9:18 / And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized. Acts 9:1-19 relate the conversion of Saul, as the apostle Paul was known then. He was travelling to Damascus, in order to persecute Jesus' disciples there, when there came a light from heaven, causing him to fall to the ground, and a voice saying, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" When Saul got up, he could see nothing at all, until a disciple who lived in Damascus, Ananias, laid his hands on him, whereupon the "scales fell away from Saul's eyes". HW, Chapter 18 We'll just roam about the world together for the rest of our lives, raising Cain hand in hand. See Genesis 4:1-26. Cain is the first son of Adam and Eve, and a tiller of the soil, while his brother Abel was a shepherd. When both made gifts to God of their produce, the Lord accepted the latter's offering, but not the former's. Cain killed Abel and was condemned by God to be "a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth." Making trouble is raising the spirit of Cain. Back to top MULLINER NIGHTS MN, Chapter 2 (The Story of Webster) I should describe this letter as more or less what you might call an olive-branch. Genesis 8:11 / And the dove came in to him [Noah] in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. The olive leaf or branch, heralding the end of the flood, has become the universal symbol of peace and goodwill. At their first meeting he weighed Gladys in the balance and found her wanting. Daniel 5:27 / Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. Belshazzar, whom the book of Daniel calls "king" of Babylon and son of Nebuchadnezzar (he was, in fact, the son of Nabonidus and was never king), was giving a great banquet - one of these "Babylonian orgies" to which the Master periodically refers - when suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the wall: "Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin". Daniel was able to interpret this "writing on the wall", and gave the meaning of the word "tekel": "You have been weighed in the balance and found wanting". That same night, Belshazzar was murdered. Their dear one has been straying in their absence from the straight and narrow path. Matthew 7:14 / Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Having wrenched himself with difficulty from the lair of the Philistines The Philistines were among the most bitter enemies of Israel in the Old Testament. Figuratively speaking, a philistine is an uncultured, prosaic person. With a gesture such as Job might have made on discovering a new boil Job 2:7 / So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown. Job is a God-fearing and honest man, who loses his possessions and his children, and whose own body is afflicted with horrible ulcers. The Book of Job chiefly consists of long discussions between Job and three of his friends who, while trying to comfort him, are more trying than comforting. At the eleventh hour the reprieve had come. Matthew 20:6 / And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? In the "Parable of the vineyard labourers", Jesus tells us of a landowner going out several times a day to hire workers for his vineyard: at daybreak, at the third hour (about 9 a.m.), at the sixth hour (midday), at the ninth hour (3 p.m.) and, surprisingly, even at the eleventh hour (about 5 p.m.)! In the end, those who were hired at the eleventh hour receive the same wages as those who have been working all day. This story thus illustrates God's generosity, which exceeds the human understanding of justice. MN, Chapter 3 (Cats Will Be Cats) It was as if Savonarola or some minor prophet had suddenly been introduced into the carefree, Bohemian atmosphere of the studio. The last twelve books of the Old Testament, all attributed to different prophets, are called the "Minor Prophets", not because they are less important than the "major" prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel), but because their writings are much shorter. They are, in the traditional order, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi. Like that of all prophets, their message is a melange of threat and consolation. In the Wodehouse canon, a Minor Prophet is practically the equivalent of a Scottish elder rebuking sin from the pulpit. Lancelot discovered that the animal (...) had feet of clay Daniel 2:33 / His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. In the second chapter of the Book of Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar has a puzzling dream, which only Daniel is able able to reveal: "Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces" (Daniel 2:31-34). Daniel's interpretation of the dream is too long to be discussed in detail (read Daniel 2:36-45), but we must note the meaning of the "feet of clay": "And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken" (Daniel 2:42). Hence the modern use of the expression "feet of clay" to indicate a flaw in the character of an admired person. I visualise his higher and lower selves warring. Romans 7:21-23 / 21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. "How art thou fallen from Heaven, oh Lucifer, Son of Morning," he seemed to be saying Isaiah 14:12 / How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! Isaiah 14:3-21 is a satire on the king of Babylon's death. The name "Lucifer", Latin for "light-bearer", is used in classical mythology for the planet Venus. The Fathers of the Church saw in the fall of this "morning star" a symbol of that of the devil. That was how "Lucifer" became a synonym for Satan. MN, Chapter 4 (The Knightly Quest of Mervyn) "Then go and buy them, blast you," said Oofy, turning his face to the wall. 2 Kings 20:1-2 / 1 In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live. 2 Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the Lord... He seemed to remember a similar thing having happened to the Israelites in the desert - that time, he reminded me, when they were all saying to each other how well a spot of manna would go down and what a dashed shame it was they hadn't any manna and that was the slipshod way the commissariat department ran things and they wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't a case of graft in high places, and then suddenly out of a blue sky all the manna they could do with and enough over for breakfast next day. Deuteronomy 8:16 / Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end. John 6:49 / Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. After their flight from Egypt, God provided the Israelites in the desert with a miraculous sort of food, called "manna" (full story in Exodus 16:1-36). MN, Chapter 5 (The Voice from the Past) I thought they had to be a hundred years old and seven feet high, with eyes of flame, and long white beards. Revelation 1:14 / His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire. This text is part of a description of a vision in which Christ appears to the author of the Apocalypse. The white hair symbolises his eternity, the eyes of flame his divine knowledge. To me, a headmaster has always been a sort of blend of Epstein's Genesis and something out of the Book of Revelations. The Book of Revelation, or "Apocalypse of John", is the last book of the New Testament and of the entire Bible. Like other apocalyptic literature, its aim is to reveal hidden things, especially what will happen when this world ends. The language used in this sort of writing is highly symbolic, and its visions of horror and destruction should not be taken literally. The true message of the Book of Revelation is a hopeful one: God protects his persecuted Church and will lead her to victory. Manure is a sealed book to me. Isaiah 29:11 / And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed. Revelation 5:1 / And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. The sealed book symbolises God's secret decrees. Only the Lamb (i.e. Jesus Christ) is worthy "to take the scroll and break the seals of it" (Revelation 5:9). Just the sort of goings-on that got the Cities of the Plain so disliked. Genesis 19:29 / And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt. The "cities of the plain" include Sodom and Gomorrah. While she went on Babylonian orgies all over the place Daniel 5:1-4 / 1 Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. 2 Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein. 3 Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them. 4 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. This banquet, given by Belshazzar, in reality son of the last king of Babylon, Nabonidus, may well be the prototype of the "Babylonian orgy" to which Wodehouse periodically refers. It was during this meal that the "writing on the wall" appeared, announcing Belshazzar's downfall. She had given her heart to a mild, sweet-natured, lovable lamb; and the moment she had done so he had suddenly flung off his sheep's clothing and said: "April fool! I'm a wolf!" Matthew 7:15 / Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. MN, Chapter 6 (Open House) "Mulliner," said Orlando Wotherspoon (...), "thou art the man!" 2 Samuel 12:7 / And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. After sleeping with Bathsheba, wife of Uriah, King David had the latter killed by sending him into the front line of battle. Nathan the prophet was sent to David, and told him the (fictitious) story of two men, one rich, the other poor. The poor man had nothing but a "ewe lamb" (see above, chapter 7), "which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter" (2 Samuel 12:3). When a traveller came to stay with the rich man, the latter, refusing to take one of his own, took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for his guest. David's reaction to this tale was as Nathan had foreseen: "As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die". After which Nathan only had to draw the conclusion: "Thou art the man", thus denouncing David's crime, as symbolised by the parable of the ewe lamb. Foolish, mistaken, I may have been, but, as God is my witness, I meant well. Romans 1:9 / For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers. MN, Chapter 7 (Best Seller) It seemed to him that his cup of joy was full. Psalm 23:5 / Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Pie-faced literary agents who (...) wheeze as they enter the editorial sanctum. The Latin word means "holy place" (Exodus 26:33, Authorised Version). In the Temple of Jerusalem, the Holy (Place) was the middle room, between the Porch and the Holy of Holies. MN, Chapter 9 (Gala Night) She was seething with that febrile exasperation which, since the days of Eve, has come upon women who find themselves linked to a cloth-head. Genesis 3:20 / And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. I'm not very well up in these things, but didn't David dance before Saul? Or am I thinking of a couple of other fellows? Anyway, I know that somebody danced before somebody and was extremely highly thought of in consequence. 2 Samuel 6:14 / And David danced before the Lord with all his might: and David was girded with a linen ephod. 1 Samuel 16:23 / And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him. Wodehouse is confusing king David dancing before the ark of God (Saul was dead by then), with the young David relieving king Saul of his depressions by playing the harp. I'm not saying it was David, mind you. It may quite easily have been Samuel. Samuel was the last of the Judges of Israel, who anointed Saul and David as the nation's first two kings. His life is recorded in the First Book of Samuel. Or even Nimshi, the son of Bimshi, or somebody like that. 1 Kings 19:16 / And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. I haven't been able to find any Bimshis in the Bible! He would gladly see me turned into a pillar of salt like Lot's wife, Genesis 19, 26. Genesis 19:26 / But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. When Lot, Abraham's nephew, was summoned by angels to take his wife and his daughters and leave the city of Sodom, which was soon to be destroyed, he was told that they should not look behind them. Lot's wife did, however, with desastrous results. This anecdote is probably a popular explanation of some strangely shaped mass of rock which is still pointed out to tourists near the Dead Sea. The sound of a manly voice trolling the Psalm for the Second Sunday after Septuagesima. A psalm is any of the religious songs and hymns which together form the biblical "Book of Psalms". The prudent man looketh well to his going. Proverbs, 14, 15. Proverbs 14:15 / The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going. Remember, many waters cannot quench love. Song of Solomon, 8, 7. Song of Solomon 8:7 / Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned. A manner more suitable to the Cities of the Plain than to our dear England. See above . Whoopee! How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel! Numbers, 44, 5. Numbers 24:5 / How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel! In Tony Ring's and Geoffrey Jaggard's "The Millennium Wodehouse Concordance", volume 2: "Wodehouse at the Anglers' Rest", at the entry "God, The Word of", one can read: "Correctly quoted in Cosmopolitan and Strand, but incorrectly, as Numbers 44, 5 in the book editions." Your day's toil in the vineyard has earned repose. Matthew 20:1 / For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. The sleep of the labouring man is sweet. Ecclesiastes, 5, 12. Ecclesiastes 5:12 / The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep. Whatsoever thou takest in hand, remember the end and thou shalt never do amiss. Ecclesiastes, 7, 36. Ecclesiasticus 7:36 / Whatsoever thou takest in hand, remember the end and thou shalt never do amiss. The source is Ecclesiasticus , not Ecclesiastes ! In Tony Ring's and Geoffrey Jaggard's "The Millennium Wodehouse Concordance", volume 2: "Wodehouse at the Anglers' Rest", at the entry "God, The Word of", one can read: "Incorrectly attributed to Ecclesiastes 7, 36 in the book editions, and nowhere, it seems, given its true origin! Interestingly, the quotations themselves are excluded from the versions of the story in the magazines (Cosmopolitan and Strand), suggesting that perhaps their editors, who were generally accurate, could not locate the source of the quotation!" They couldn't be more off the poor, unfortunate fish if he were the Scarlet Woman of Babylon. Revelation 17:3-5 / 3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: 5 And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. The "woman in scarlet", also named "the great whore" (Revelation 17:1), symbolises Rome, capital of the empire which is persecuting the infant Church. In the Bible, marital infidelity is often used as a metaphor for idolatry. If I'm not very much mistaken, we have sown the wind and we shall reap the whirlwind. Hosea, 8, 7. Hosea 8:7 / For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up. "A merry heart doeth good like a medecine. Proverbs 17, 22," murmured Augustine. Proverbs 17:22 / A merry heart doeth good like a medecine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones. Back to top HEAVY WEATHER HvW, Chapter 1 Swallowing camels and straining at gnats is what I should call it. Matthew 23:23-24 / 23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. 24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. HvW, Chapter 2 First at the office, last to come away, and solid, selfless service all the time - no clock-watching, no folding of the hands in... Proverbs 6:9-11 / 9 How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? 10 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: 11 So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man. Since you have no heart, no sympathy, no feeling, no bowels - of compassion, I mean 1 John 3:17 / But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? The "bowels" or "entrails" are often used like this in Hebrew (and in the Greek of the New Testament, which was nearly always written by men whose mother tongue was a Semitic language), because they are the source of feelings. A good contemporary translation would say "heart". And a bright light had just flashed upon him. Isaiah 9:2 / The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. HvW, Chapter 3 At a moment when he was drooping his long body over the rail of the Empress's sanctum The Latin word means "holy place" (Exodus 26:33, Authorised Version). In the Temple of Jerusalem, the Holy (Place) was the middle room, between the Porch and the Holy of Holies. HvW, Chapter 5 He must regard the dear old days as a sealed book Isaiah 29:11 / And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed. Revelation 5:1 / And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. The sealed book symbolises God's secret decrees. Only the Lamb (i.e. Jesus Christ) is worthy "to take the scroll and break the seals of it" (Revelation 5:9). What is money? Fairy gold. That's what it is. Dead Sea fruit. Deuteronomy 32:32 / For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter. The vine of Sodom is a thorny plant found around the Dead Sea. It is sometimes called the "apple of Sodom" or "Dead Sea fruit". Its fruit has a bright red skin, but is not edible because it is full of hard black seeds mingled only with silky hairs resembling ashes. Hence its application to attractive looking things with deceiving contents. HvW, Chapter 6 A thrill ran through Lady Constance, such as causes the war-horse to start at the sound of the bugle. See Job 39:25. Curiously enough, this is one of the passages where Wodehouse does not quote the Authorised Version, which he uses elsewhere ("He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha"), but a different translation, in which the war-horse starts at the sound of the bugle. On the internet, I have found only one version that comes close to our text, the so-called "New Living Translation": "It snorts at the sound of the bugle." Unfortunately, this translation was only published in 1996! Could someone help me to identify the version used by Wodehouse? HvW, Chapter 7 Do you recall that hymn about "See the hosts of Midian prowl and prowl around"? Allusion to a hymn by John Mason Neale (1818-1866), first published for congregational use in his Parish Hymn Book (1863): "Christian, dost thou see them / On the holy ground? / How the troops of Midian / Prowl and prowl around? / Christian, up and smite them, / Counting gain but loss; / Smite them by the merit / Of the holy cross." In the Old Testament, the Midianites lived to the south of the Promised Land. Their raids on the neighbourhood lead them to blows with the Hebrews. Judges 6-8 describe how Gideon delivered Israel from their oppression. He put up a good case for himself in extenuation of this resurgence of the Old Adam. Romans 6:6 / Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him [Christ], that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. The "old man" or "old Adam" is man considered as sinful and in want of redemption and re-creation. Groaning in spirit, Lord Tilbury walked on. John 11:33 / When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled. The interior of the shed was of an Egyptian blackness. Exodus 10:21-23 / 21 And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. 22 And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days: 23 They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. This is the ninth of the "Ten Plagues of Egypt", as narrated in Exodus 7-12. If you are willing to let the dead past bury its dead Matthew 8:21-22 / 21 And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 22 But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead. The actual quotation, however, comes from Longfellow's "A Psalm of Life": "Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant! / Let the dead Past bury its dead! / Act, - act in the living Present! / Heart within, and God o'erhead!" Taking me back into the fold Matthew 18:12 / How think ye? If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? A probable allusion to the parable of the lost sheep. Even unto half of my kingdom, I mean to say. Mark 6:22-23 / 22 And when the daughter of the said Herodias came in, she danced, and pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it to thee. 23 And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom. Whereupon, at her mother Herodias' request, the girl asked for the head of John the Baptist, who had denounced Herodias' illegal marriage with Herod Antipas. HvW, Chapter 8 He had fallen, like Lucifer, from heaven to hell. Isaiah 14:12 / How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! Isaiah 14:3-21 is a satire on the king of Babylon's death. The name "Lucifer", Latin for "light-bearer", is used in classical mythology for the planet Venus. The Fathers of the Church saw in the fall of this "morning star" a symbol of that of the devil. That was how "Lucifer" became a synonym for Satan. What he had heard was really tidings of great joy. Luke 2:10-11 / 10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. HvW, Chapter 9 He viewed members of gangs in rather an Old Testament spirit, and believed in their getting treated rough. The Old Testament is, of course, the first half of the Bible, which contains the Jewish Scriptures dealing with the events preceding the birth of Christ. Shropshire (...) was now an earthly Paradise. Genesis 2:8 / And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. The Hebrew word for "garden" was translated as "paradise" in the Greek version of the Old Testament. No Israelite caught in a sudden manna-shower in mid-desert could have felt a greater mixture of surprise and gratification. Deuteronomy 8:16 / Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end. John 6:49 / Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. After their flight from Egypt, God provided the Israelites in the desert with a miraculous sort of food, called "manna" (full story in Exodus 16:1-36). HvW, Chapter 10 Sue (...) seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth. Genesis 6:1 / And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them This is the first verse where the frequent biblical expression "face of the earth/world" occurs. Because if ever there were two women who would descend to the level of the beasts of the field to lay their hooks on it... Daniel 4:32 / And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. Towards the end of his life, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, suffered a form of madness which lead him to believe he was an animal. The author of the book of Daniel considered this a punishment for worshipping the wrong gods. Chapter 4 gives the biblical version of this strange disease. HvW, Chapter 11 Just imagine how quick I should be leaving if Emsworth knew that I was the chap who flung wide the gates. Psalm 24:7 / Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. A passage in Tales of St Austin's proves that Wodehouse is referring to this psalm here, although he does not quote the Authorised Version. Contemporary translations, such as "Today's English Version", read: "Fling wide the gates, open the ancient doors, and the great king will come in". Wodehouse may be quoting from "The Crucifixion", a composition by Sir John Stainer (1840-1901) - words by the Rev. J. Sparrow-Simpson - in which the choir sings: "Fling wide the gates / for the Saviour waits / to tread in His royal way / He has come from above / in His power and love, / to die on this Passion day." HvW, Chapter 12 That broken reed on which he had foolishly supposed that it would be possible to lean. Isaiah 36:6 / Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him. HvW, Chapter 13 He leaned on the rail of the sty and groaned in spirit. See above . The Prodigal Son might have mixed with these animals on a clubby basis, but Percy Pilbeam knew himself to be incapable of imitating him. Luke 15:15-16 / 15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. The "prodigal son" is the name usually given to the younger of two sons in the parable told by Jesus in Luke 15:11-32. Having demanded of his father his share of the estate, he left for a distant country and "wasted his substance with riotous living." Came a famine, and he hired himself out to one of the inhabitants who made him feed his pigs. "And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him." So he decided to go home. Instead of rebuking him, his father clasped him in his arms, kissed him, and ordered his servants to bring out the best clothes and to kill the fatted calf. One of the most beautiful parables of the Gospel, illustrating God's mercy. HvW, Chapter 14 Sir Gregory became aware that he had sown the wind and was reaping the whirlwind. Hosea 8:7 / For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up. Why skip ye so, ye high hills? Psalm 68:16 / Why hop ye so, ye high hills? This is God's hill, in the which it pleaseth him to dwell: yea, the Lord will abide in it for ever (Book of Common Prayer). The psalmist warns other mountains not to be jealous of the hill of Zion, God's dwelling place on earth. HvW, Chapter 15 These wicked men were apparently going to prosper like a couple of bay trees. Psalm 37:35 / I myself have seen the ungodly in great power : and flourishing like a green bay-tree (Book of Common Prayer). But first to spy out the land. Numbers 13:16-17 / 16 These are the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua. 17 And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountain. HvW, Chapter 16 Lady Constance's voice caused a statuette of the young David prophesying before Saul to quiver on its base. (...) This time it was Lord Emsworth's voice that rocked the young David. 1 Samuel 16:23 / And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him. The Bible never shows us David prophesying in presence of king Saul. Wodehouse was probably thinking of the episode of the young David relieving the king of his depressions by playing the harp. Women's voices began to beat upon him like rain upon a roof. Proverbs 27:15 / A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike. Go through fire and water, as you might say. Psalm 66:12 / Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place. HvW, Chapter 17 The voice is the voice of Constance, but you can take the sentiments, Clarence, as representing the views of a syndicate. Genesis 27:22 / And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau. Isaac, old and blind, had sent his oldest son Esau to make a kill for a savoury meal, after which he would give him his blessing before dying. His wife Rebecca, having overheard their conversation, told Esau's younger brother Jacob to go and kill two kids, to take them to his father and to receive his blessing in Esau's place. Esau being hairy and Jacob smooth-skinned, Rebecca clothed the latter in Esau's clothes and covered his hands and neck with the kids' skins. Isaac was thus deceived when speaking the words recorded above and bestowing his blessing on his younger son. When he found out, Esau was not amused. Lord Emsworth stifled a moan, and tried - a task which the deaf adder of Scripture apparently found so easy - to hear nothing Psalm 58:3-5 / 3 The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies. 4 Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear; 5 Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely. These verses are certainly among the Bible texts most often quoted by Wodehouse. "Take that thingummy," said Lord Emsworth, indicating the young David prophesying before Saul, "and if he so much as stirs hit him a good hard bang with it." (...) "Very good, m'lord," said the butler, taking a firmer grip on David's left leg. (...) He put down the young David See above . HvW, Chapter 18 You have fought the good fight, Beach. 2 Timothy 4:7 / I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. The apostle Paul, shortly before his martyrdom in 67, looks back on a well-spent life. Back to top THANK YOU, JEEVES TYJ, Chapter 1 This George was a man who, after a lifetime of doing down the widow and orphan, had begun to feel the strain a bit. Exodus 22:21 / You must not be harsh with the widow, or with the orphan; if you are harsh with them, they will surely cry out to me, and be sure I shall hear their cry. (Jerusalem Bible) "Might I inquire, on my side, if you are aware that Mrs Tinkler-Moulke owns a Pomeranian? (...) This animal yaps all day and not infrequently far into the night. So Mrs Tinkler-Moulke has had the nerve to complain of my banjolele, has she? Ha! Let her first pluck out the Pom which is in her own eye," I said, becoming a bit scriptural. Matthew 7:3-5 / 3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. But since then I had passed through the furnace Isaiah 48:10 / Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. There are many other passages in the Bible which compare chastening experiences to the fire of a furnace. TYJ, Chapter 3 The scales fell from my eyes. Acts 9:18 / And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized. Acts 9:1-19 relate the conversion of Saul, as the apostle Paul was known then. He was travelling to Damascus, in order to persecute Jesus' disciples there, when there came a light from heaven, causing him to fall to the ground, and a voice saying, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" When Saul got up, he could see nothing at all, until a disciple who lived in Damascus, Ananias, laid his hands on him, whereupon the "scales fell away from Saul's eyes". TYJ, Chapter 4 And now that the scales had fallen from my eyes, I could see that what I required for the role of Mrs Bertram Wooster was something rather more on the lines of Janet Gaynor. See above . But, as I was about to remark, if what you say is really so, be prepared for tidings of great joy. Luke 2:10-11 / 10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. TYJ, Chapter 5 And unless old Stoker buys the Hall, Chuffy will continue to be Kid Lazarus, the man without a bean. Luke 16:19-21 / 19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: 20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores. 21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. TYJ, Chapter 8 "Isn't there a sofa downstairs?" "There is. Noah's. He brought it ashore on Mount Ararat. I shall be better off in the car." Genesis 8:4 / And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. Not ten minutes after I had made up my mind that I should never get to sleep again in this world I was off as comfortably as a babe or suckling. Psalm 8:2 / Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. Jesus quotes this verse in Matthew 21:16, to justify the behaviour of the children shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David" in the temple, on the day of his solemn entry in Jerusalem. TYJ, Chapter 9 The light faded from her face, and in its stead there appeared the hurt, bewildered look of a barefoot dancer who, while half-way through The Vision of Salome, steps on a tin tack. See Mark 6:21-29. Although the New Testament does not mention her name, Salome is the girl whose dancing so pleased her stepfather Herod Antipas, that he promised to give her anything she might demand, "unto the half of my kingdom". At her mother Herodias' request, she asked for the head of John the Baptist, who had denounced Herodias' unlawful marriage to Herod Antipas. Wodehouse's immediate source, however, must be Maud Allan (1873-1956), who was a huge success on the London stage, in or about 1908, with a daring number called "Vision of Salome", most probably inspired by Oscar Wilde's "Salome". I now intervened, coming across with the word in season. Proverbs 15:23 / A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good it is! TYJ, Chapter 10 For some little time I had been feeling rather like Daniel in the lions' den. She breathed heavily, and for a moment I experienced a return of that lions' den sensation. Daniel 6:16 / Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said to Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee. The satraps of the kingdom of Darius, resenting Daniel's promotion, had set a trap for him by inducing Darius to sign a decree banning prayer to anyone but the king. When Daniel was seen praying to his God, the king had no choice but to order him to be thrown into a den of lions. Next morning, Daniel was found, unhurt, and his accusers were thrown to the lions instead. TYJ, Chapter 11 "I shall accept his invitation. I regard it as..." "The amende honorable, sir?" "I was going to say olive branch." "Or olive branch. The two terms are virtually synonymous. The French phrase I would be inclined to consider perhaps slightly the more exact in the circumstances - carrying with it, as it does, the implication of remorse, of the desire to make restitution. But if you prefer the expression "olive branch", by all means employ it, sir." (...) "I shall accept his invitation - whether as an olive branch or an amende honorable is wholly immaterial and doesn't matter a single, solitary damn, Jeeves..." Genesis 8:11 / And the dove came in to him [Noah] in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. The olive leaf or branch, heralding the end of the flood, has become the universal symbol of peace and goodwill. TYJ, Chapter 12 It is not pyjamas I need, Jeeves, but the wings of a dove. Psalm 55:6 / And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! For then would I fly away, and be at rest. I turned my face to the wall. This was the end. 2 Kings 20:1-2 / 1 In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live. 2 Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the Lord... TYJ, Chapter 13 Jeeves would be back at the Hall by now. I had only to go and get in touch with him and he would bring out pounds of butter on a lordly dish. Judges 5:24-25 / 24 Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent. 25 He asked water, and she gave him milk; she brought forth butter in a lordly dish. Judges 4:17-22 tells how Jael, one of the Master's all-time favourites, managed to kill Sisera, the commander of the armies of Jabin, king of Canaan. She first assisted the fleeing Sisera in her tent, and when he was fast asleep, drove a nail into his temples. TYJ, Chapter 16 Speaking for myself, I decided to let the dead past bury its dead when I heard that you had been giving little Seabury one or two on the spot indicated. Matthew 8:21-22 / 21 And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 22 But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead. The actual quotation, however, comes from Longfellow's "A Psalm of Life": "Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant! / Let the dead Past bury its dead! / Act, - act in the living Present! / Heart within, and God o'erhead!" The butter situation, I am happy to say, is reasonably bright. We can't get any tonight, but it cometh in the morning, so to speak. Psalm 30:5 / For his anger endureth but a moment: in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. TYJ, Chapter 17 "You really think she loves him still and wishes to extend the amende honorable?" "Or olive branch? Yes sir." See above . TYJ, Chapter 18 I must say I can't see why Jeeves shouldn't go down in legend and song. Daniel did, on the strength of putting in half an hour or so in the lions' den and leaving the dumb chums in a condition of suavity and camaraderie; and if what Jeeves had just done wasn't entitled to rank well above a feat like that, I'm no judge of form. See above . TYJ, Chapter 19 I always maintain that it is by a chap's behaviour on this sort of occasion that you can really weigh him in the balance Daniel 5:27 / Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. Belshazzar, whom the book of Daniel calls "king" of Babylon and son of Nebuchadnezzar (he was, in fact, the son of Nabonidus and was never king), was giving a great banquet - one of these "Babylonian orgies" to which the Master periodically refers - when suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the wall: "Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin". Daniel was able to interpret this "writing on the wall", and gave the meaning of the word "tekel": "You have been weighed in the balance and found wanting". That same night, Belshazzar was murdered. She is handicapped by |