[Magdalen] humorous aside

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

On NET one night, while dinosaurs were browsing outside our home, we
watched BBC show about Henry VIII.  In one scene, members of the court are
telling a joke.

A man has been bragging more and more, and finally he states that his horse
is so smart that he can teach it to talk.
The king happens to hear him, and gets him to promise that within five
years, he will get the horse to tal -- or else.
"Why did you promise to do that?" asked a friend. "You know you cannot do
that."
"Five years is a long time.
In five years, the prince may die.
Or I may die.
Or the horse may die --

Or the horse may talk."

-------------
The joke is a kind of set-up.
Later on, when the King's wife, Jane Seymour has died after giving birth to
a male heir, Henry is devastated. He tries to trivialize things by making
levity, and he actually tries to tell the joke, and he loses all composure
in the middle of it -- a very moving moment.  I have no doubt that's why we
will always remember the line.



James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy