NABOKV-L post 0010291, Thu, 19 Aug 2004 08:52:16 -0700

EDNOTE. In reply to Akiko below: I seem to recall the "poem", at least sometimes
times, has Turkish associations. The variant I recall for the third
line--recommends a chicken -- beheaded at the crucial moment.


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----- Forwarded message from a-nakata@courante.plala.or.jp -----
Date: Thu, 19 Aug 2004 11:04:16 +0900
From: Akiko Nakata <a-nakata@courante.plala.or.jp>
Reply-To: Akiko Nakata <a-nakata@courante.plala.or.jp>
Subject: Re: TT-10 a boy for pleasure
To: chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu


---------------------------
> 31.27f "he wants _A Boy for Pleasure_ but would settle for
> the _The Slender Slut_"


> This is the "middle line" of the old proverb
>
> A wife to bear you children
> A boy for pleasure
> A goat for ecstasy
> (last line varies)
>
>John

There was a hit for a variant:

A woman for duty,
A boy for pleasure,
But a melon for ecstasy.
- Old Turkish proverb

Is the proverb known as a Turkish one or just well known also in the West?
If it is considered originally Turkish, it could be associated with the
Othello-strangling theme.

Akiko

----- End forwarded message -----