Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Never Trust a Bird

The marvelous Stacy tagged me for "the easiest meme ever" the other day and I figured I could handle it. The rules of the meme are:

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.

Since I'm sitting right next to a couple of my dad's huge bookshelves filled with tons of books I have never read nor do I plan to read, I picked up the first book that I've read. Even if it was a terribly long time ago.

From Gulliver's Travels:

"I cannot tell whether I were more pleased or mortified to observe in those solitary Walks, that the smaller Birds did not appear to be at all afraid of me; but would hop about within a Yard Distance, looking for Worms, and other Food, with as much Indifference and Security as if no Creature at all were near them. I remember a Thrush had the Confidence to snatch out of my Hand with his Bill, a Piece of Cake that Glumdalclitch had just given me for my Breakfast. When I attempted to catch any of these Birds, they would boldly turn against me, endeavouring to pick my Fingers which I durst not venture within their Reach; and then they would hop back unconcerned to hunt for Worms or Snails, as they did before."

Creepy. Clearly I was wrong to assume all of my slightly irrational fears about birds came solely from Hitchcock's movie "The Birds."

And what's with Jonathan Swift's tendency towards capitalizing nouns? A Bit out of Control.

I'm not going to specifically tag anyone, but consider yourself tagged if you want to be :)