Friday, June 01, 2007

Jester

JESTER, n. An officer formerly attached to a king's household, whose business it was to amuse the court by ludicrous actions and utterances, the absurdity being attested by his motley costume. The king himself being attired with dignity, it took the world some centuries to discover that his own conduct and decrees were sufficiently ridiculous for the amusement not only of his court but of all mankind. The jester was commonly called a fool, but the poets and romancers have ever delighted to represent him as a singularly wise and witty person. In the circus of to-day the melancholy ghost of the court fool effects the dejection of humbler audiences with the same jests wherewith in life he gloomed the marble hall, panged the patrician sense of humor and tapped the tank of royal tears.

The widow-queen of Portugal
Had an audacious jester
Who entered the confessional
Disguised, and there confessed her.

"Father," she said, "thine ear bend down —
My sins are more than scarlet:
I love my fool — blaspheming clown,
And common, base-born varlet."

"Daughter," the mimic priest replied,
"That sin, indeed, is awful:
The church's pardon is denied
To love that is unlawful.

"But since thy stubborn heart will be
For him forever pleading,
Thou'dst better make him, by decree,
A man of birth and breeding."

She made the fool a duke, in hope
With Heaven's taboo to palter;
Then told a priest, who told the Pope,
Who damned her from the altar!
—Barel Dort

2007 Update: The acrobat within a chivalrous court or a wordsmith in a regime of instant messaging.

Rabbit! Rabbit!

35 comments:

Anonymous said...

I thougt you were commenting on the selection process for US attorneys in the Bush administration

The Old Mule said...

Jester: the scarecrow with a heart.

Anonymous said...

and, I was first

mireille said...

heh. κουνέλι, κουνέλι! xoxo

G said...

Jester - now here's the word I was looking for yesterday - jest her (or me).

That was bad, I'll try again later.

G said...

Oh! Rabbit Rabbit!

Anonymous said...

Jester: Could be anybody in government. We're the Jestee.

TLP said...

Rabbit rabbit.

I agree with Al about us being Jestees. If there were any justice, we wouldn't have a Jester for President.

TLP said...

Mireille, please explain that to me. I'm just a fool here.

Doug The Una said...

Pop, being first on this here blog is a higher standard.

Pretty good for a flying mule, Mule.

Ha, Mireille.

Rabbit, rabbit, G. We'll look forward to your second draft but you get a bell for that one.

Al, that's the price of government by, for and of the people.

TLP, see above. I think what Mireille is saying is Rabbit Rabbit! in the language of Diogenes.

Anonymous said...

jester n. aka 5th grade students; usually male in gender, however, the inferequent female class-clowns are much more aggressive and vocal. )

Anonymous said...

heh. this word makes me think of an old Woody Allen movie -- the one about, um, Sex:

The Queen: Ah, 'tis the chastity belt that the jealous King hath fastened upon me that no one but he shalst have the goods of the body.
The Fool: Yeah, it's a pretty bad break for all of us at the Palace.

and, am i the only one who remembers the fine and funny tale you did about a jester -- featuring our beloved Village Idiot? (who's so NOT around anymore that someone else has his old blog address. sigh)

Anonymous said...

oh yeah -- and Rabbit, Rabbit! ; )

The Old Mule said...

conejo, congrejo...

TLP said...

ارنب, أرنب, أرنب صغيرة, فرو اّرنب

In that case. (I hope that's PG 13. I have not idea what it says.)

Doug The Una said...

That's why everyone loves the fool, Neva. If they can. Rabbit rabbit.

Conejo conejo, Mule.

TLP, خرگوش خرگوش

javajazz said...

well, what a delight...Doug's Dad (DD)
you've got yourself one bright puppy there....
Dry Dog (DD) is nothing but impressive, Pop.
of course, i've always had a weakness
for bright brains...(bb)
xo (xo)
(wabbit wabbit)
ps i'm the first one in the Universe
who remembered rabbit rabbit today
and you know it. (see terrys bloggie)
ps its a full moon and this moon child
cannot be held responsible....

Jamie Dawn said...

My MIL and SIL are here until tomorrow. I don't have time to think of anything witty or smart.

I DID get a chuckle from your dad's comment.

My brother played a court jester in a play when he was in third grade. He stole the show!

Anonymous said...

yeah -- just ask my husband. ; )

Lapin, Lapin?

Anonymous said...

ehhhh .... what's up, doc?

in im u r fool 4 thinkng ...

damned dropped calls. where's the regime change when we really need it?

JESTER, n. New employees of the 50th state seeking to be paid, to the bureaucrats who control the paychecks. Speaking of dry fools, Bill ... (If you're coming here, be warned: bring money. But, you knew that.)

Nessa said...

There once was a man named Jester.
His love for the Princess did fester;
In his heart it lived mad,
But in life was just sad,
Being joke to the court not just Her.

Doug The Una said...

Quilly, sorry for skipping you before. I guess you weren't loud and aggressive enough.

JJ, then you'll have the best luck of all.

JD, nothing like a jester or a hood to attract attention.

Neva, I think I'll take your word for it.

Amoeba, what kind of fool goes to Hawai'i without a sockful of cash?

Nessa! Back and with a limerick, too. You sure know how to cheer a fella.

Anonymous said...

One of the many varieties...

The Court Jester - See MESSRS Ito, Darden, Shapiro, Clark, Bailey, Seidlin, etc., etc...

dddragon said...

rabbit rabbit bunny hare jest.

Minka said...

jester,n. a verbose mime, dipped into a paint set

Lila said...

Rabbit, rabbit!

"... the Jester played for the king and queen in a coat he borrowed from James Dean..."

Doug The Una said...

Joel, that was a pretty fine circus, wasn't it? I'm proud to say I only knew three of the names.

Sister Dddragon, hearing from you might be the best thing to happen to me today. Been a spell. Rabbit Rabbit!

Minka, that's hilarious. Well done.

And a voice that came from you and AP3?

Actonbell, you got it and ring my bell any old time.

Anonymous said...

ap3 took mine.

I want to know why you now have to do guest questions, mr. famous person/dog?

eh - kiss me you fool.

Tom & Icy said...

Waking Witty Wordsmith

Ariel the Thief said...

what is a "witty wordsmith" ?

Anonymous said...

And my poor fool is dead.

Anonymous said...

In a metaphysical landscape, the reliever of bleakness.

Doug The Una said...

Cooper, Californians do the work New Yorkers won't do. *pop*

Icy, try biting his toes. They're good.

Ariel, it's like a unicorn, but the point comes out of the mouth and everyone thinks they've seen one.

Your highness, would you give your kingdom for him?

Weirsdo, is it even possible to relieve the bleakness in a metaphysical landscape?

Unknown said...

One employed to induce laughter by an audience while cloaking his laughter at them.

Anonymous said...

Not in LEAR. At this point there's no kingdom left.