I was in jail for shoplifting. It was so stupid. Really, I must have wanted to get caughte and I was. It was a ring.
But the point of my story is that there was a women in my cell. She was there before I got there. I was afraid she'd been arrested for something heinous.
"Are you acquainted with the Bible?" she asked me.
If I had had something to pull over my head like a hoodie and be concealed I would have, but I didn't.
"I know the Lord's Prayer," I said.
"What about the Book of Q?" she asked.
"There is no Book of Q," I said.
"Vanity, vanity," she said. "All is vanity."
"Oh yes," I said. "That's Ecclesiastes"
"Ecclesiastes just means one who assembles. Qoheleth was the assembler. So it is the Book of Q. Most modern scholars use the untranslated Hebrew name of Qoheleth, who was the writer. I bet you think vanity means pride or conceit, I would bet that."
"Yes," I said. "Sure."
"In the original the word means 'breath,' the merest breath, vapor, something utterly insubstantial and transient. Some translators even suggest the word means futility or absurdity."
"Yes, yes. I don't know," I said.
"The Book of Q invites us to contemplate the fleeting duration of all that we cherish, the brevity of life and the inexorability of death."
Help, help help, I thought. Please.
She stopped talking for a few moments. But still nobody came. Then she said, "Chrysalis is the same as pupa, but the one word is so much more lovely and promising, wouldn't you say?"
Then she seemed to fall asleep and said nothing further. When someone finally did arrive, it was her they came for. they let her go first.
But the point of my story is that there was a women in my cell. She was there before I got there. I was afraid she'd been arrested for something heinous.
"Are you acquainted with the Bible?" she asked me.
If I had had something to pull over my head like a hoodie and be concealed I would have, but I didn't.
"I know the Lord's Prayer," I said.
"What about the Book of Q?" she asked.
"There is no Book of Q," I said.
"Vanity, vanity," she said. "All is vanity."
"Oh yes," I said. "That's Ecclesiastes"
"Ecclesiastes just means one who assembles. Qoheleth was the assembler. So it is the Book of Q. Most modern scholars use the untranslated Hebrew name of Qoheleth, who was the writer. I bet you think vanity means pride or conceit, I would bet that."
"Yes," I said. "Sure."
"In the original the word means 'breath,' the merest breath, vapor, something utterly insubstantial and transient. Some translators even suggest the word means futility or absurdity."
"Yes, yes. I don't know," I said.
"The Book of Q invites us to contemplate the fleeting duration of all that we cherish, the brevity of life and the inexorability of death."
Help, help help, I thought. Please.
She stopped talking for a few moments. But still nobody came. Then she said, "Chrysalis is the same as pupa, but the one word is so much more lovely and promising, wouldn't you say?"
Then she seemed to fall asleep and said nothing further. When someone finally did arrive, it was her they came for. they let her go first.
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