Literature Clue April 14th - Solved

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 14 Apr 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Minderwiz	14 Apr 2004
'A new (figure) appeared...it was waving a potato on a string. It stopped when it saw Death and then, to Death's amazement, turned to look behind it. This had never happened before. Most people on coming face to face with Death ceased worrying about anything behind them. 'Is there anyone after me? Can you seen anyone?' 'ER...NO. WHERE YOU EXPECTING ANYONE?' 'Oh right, No one eh? Right!,...Yeah! Hah! Look I've got my potato!' Death blinked, and then took an hourglass out of his robe. 'MR PIN, AH THE OTHER ONE. I'VE BEEN EXPECTING YOU 'That's me and I've got my potato, look, and I'm very sorry about everything'. Mr Pin was feeling calm now. The mountains of madness have little plateaux of sanity. Death stared into the madly smiling face. 'YOU ARE VERY SORRY?' 'Oh yes!' 'ABOUT EVERYTHING?' 'Yep!' 'AT THIS TIME? IN THIS PLACE? YOU DECLARE YOU ARE SORRY 'That's right. You got it. You're bright. So if you'll just show me how to get back-' 'YOU WOULD NOT LIKE TO RECONSIDER?' 'No arguing. I want what's due...I've got my potato. Look' Death reached into his robe and pulled out...the Death of Rats 'SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND' The Death of Rats reached out and snatched the potato 'Hey-' 'DO NOT PUT ALL YOUR TRUST IN ROOT VEGETABLES. WHAT THINGS SEEM MAY NOT BE WHAT THEY ARE. YET LET NO ONE SAY I DO NOT HONOUR THE LAW' He smapped his fingers 'RETURN THEN TO WHERE YOU SHOULD GO......' Blue light flickered around the astonished Pin and then he vanished. edited to add: Quoted from Terry Pratchett - 'The Truth' (A Discworld Novel) What card am I

jmd	14 Apr 2004
...bloody hell!!!!... ..........errrr....... let me check my root vegetable oracle... nooo... well, how about... ......noooo, can't beeee... errr... [font=papyrus] the Devil ? [/font]

Minderwiz	14 Apr 2004
No, it's not the Devil (but the Root Vegetable Oracle may be a help, if not a clue)

jmd	14 Apr 2004
...OK... simply for the sake of the imagery, how about the Page of Coins ?

Minderwiz	14 Apr 2004
No - unless he's wearing a potato on a string around his neck :)

jmd	14 Apr 2004
Last try for the night... ...how about the Moon?

CreativeFire	14 Apr 2004
Well, unfortunately I don't have a Root Vegetable Oracle handy and even my trusty herb books didn't give me any inspiration either ;) I will have to try my luck with "The Tower". CreativeFire

Minderwiz	14 Apr 2004
Well the Moon was one card that I seriously considered for this quote and it end up third on the list of possibilities but no, it's not the Moon The Tower I did not consider - though thinking about it there's shocks and destruction of value systems here. But no, it's not the Tower. I think the Root Vegetable Tarot or the Marseilles Vegetable Market Tarot might reveal useful insights, though waving a potato will not get you anywhere.

gloria	14 Apr 2004
Justice?....settling old accounts and debts. Justice is also upholder of The Truth!!

ncefafn	14 Apr 2004
I don't have the Marseilles Vegetable Market Tarot . . . rats! Ooh, er, sorry. Looking at the regular Marseilles, I see a guy with a sac on a stick, rather than a potato on the string, but what the hey . . . The Fool?

Minderwiz	14 Apr 2004
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's the fool - Le Fou, madness and complete naivety - who else would think they could cheat death with a potato but a fool Well done ncefafn and over to you BTW the other card I had seriously considered was The Wheel Of Fortune - because there is an element of Karma in this situation - especially as the sins of the past life had just caught up with him!

ncefafn	14 Apr 2004
Gee whiz! And I was just being silly. How foolish of me. ba-rump-bump! But seriously, folks, I'll go hit the books and be back in a little while. Minderwiz has inspired me to seek out something in my own collection of Pratchett. Hmmm . . . maybe Carpe Jugulum . . . Kim

jmd	14 Apr 2004
Well done... the Wheel of Fortune was the first which came to my mind, but could not reconcile it with the potato man... How wonderful to be able to re-read the quote once one knows the card!

The Literature Clue April 14th - Solved thread was originally posted on 14 Apr 2004 in the Tarot Games & Fun board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Tarot Games & Fun, or read more archived threads.