Gruel and Unusual Punishment
Modern persons are so accustomed to criminals being mollycoddled they believe responding feebly to crime is natural. The etching below is a reminder that, in days of yore, the application of justice was swift and terrible.
In the upper left (D), a trio of thieves are thrown down a well for stealing rutabagas.
On the right a pundit is punished for repeatedly expressing erroneous opinions, abusing logic, and proud ignorance of obvious facts. His face has been removed, and while he waits his turn at the well he must endure being sneered at by a man (A) dressed in an obnoxious hat and ridiculous pantaloons.
For impudently displaying an erection in the presence of noblewoman a horse (C) is forced to eat stale gruel from the hollowed out corpse of a duplicitous used oxcart salesman.
And that’s how it was, in days of yore.
In the upper left (D), a trio of thieves are thrown down a well for stealing rutabagas.
On the right a pundit is punished for repeatedly expressing erroneous opinions, abusing logic, and proud ignorance of obvious facts. His face has been removed, and while he waits his turn at the well he must endure being sneered at by a man (A) dressed in an obnoxious hat and ridiculous pantaloons.
For impudently displaying an erection in the presence of noblewoman a horse (C) is forced to eat stale gruel from the hollowed out corpse of a duplicitous used oxcart salesman.
And that’s how it was, in days of yore.
it is interesting and informative that after being de-faced the pundit's countenance has assumed the expression of Rush Limburgh.
ReplyDeleteEerie.
ReplyDeleteI notice now no one in the picture seems to be wearing shoes.
I imagine after the punishing was over they were all a bit parched, and then it hit them the well was full of corpses.
I think you need to be reminded, Carter, that this is a DRAWING of one scene only. It didn't really happen, and so there is no future moment when anything "hit" anyone. Get it? Nobody EVER gets shoes, and so on. Or do you think this is a documentary of some type, and a true record of the ongoing scene? You do seem to be informed of the horse "impudently displaying, etc", not in evidence here. Were did you get this outrageous drawing, anyway!
ReplyDeleteIn days of yore artists would race to the scene of exciting events and accurately sketch them really fast. This skill was lost with the advent of photography, similiar to how the ability to memorize eroded with the advance of technologies to write things down/look things up.
ReplyDeleteDays of yore, eh? I've heard of them there days of yore! Let me look that up here in my . . . whoops, I forgot what I was saying.
ReplyDelete