BAMOS
June 2017
Weather in literature quiz
with Matthias Tomczak
The quote from our last issue came from George Bernard
Shaw’s play Heartbreak House, a Fantasia in the Russian Manner
on English Themes. He wrote it in 1919 in the style of Anton
Chekhov as a criticism of the ruling class of the time. The quote
is from Captain Shotover, who works on inventing a weapon of
mass destruction.
Edwina Tanner was the only person to correctly identify the
quote. When asked how she came to the answer, Edwina wrote:
‘I did have an inkling because my daughter is very literary but
admit I had to confirm with Dr Google.’
Realizing that selecting quotes from the English language
literature may just tempt AMOS members to google the answer
I decided to return to my earlier method of offering quotes from
other languages in my own translation. So where would you
find this description of a summer atmosphere? The original is
in Russian.
How refreshing, how excellent is such a summer day
in Little Russia. How languishing and hot are the hours
when the midday shines in stillness, and glow, and the
blue, boundless ocean, hovering like a dome of pleasure
over the earth, completely absorbed in bliss, seems to
sleep, embracing and suffocating the Beauty with its airy
arms! No cloud is on it, not a word is heard in the field.
Email your answer to [email protected]
27