Month: March 2022

While the previous two proverbs both had a serious aspect to them, the following proverb have not, and therefore get its own post. “It is the first pancake that taste like the pan” was found in the margins of the Clerks own notebook, when he reflected over his first writings as a clerk. Surely, it must mean that his early writing style was heavily influenced by his supervisor or that he was naive to the situation and let the context influence his texts.

As a side note, I remember once as a ph.d. student, I entered my professors office and looked at his wall full of bookshelves and books. I sighed and asked, “did you really read all these books?”. He had a very friendly nature, and said with a little laughter, “you don’t need to eat the whole apple to know it is rotten”. When I look back, it is so obvious how my first scientific studies was influenced by my senior supervisors, and I cannot but take my hat for the Chartagonian proverb. Of course, this also applies to children growing up, and what they learn. Over time we will find our own ways in lift, but the first pancake will taste like the pan.

We have not been able to find many proverbs from Chartagon, but they undoubtly existed, just like they do in society today. However, the Clerk documented a short phrase that was scribbled on one of the sills within the Storm Post lighthouse: “hunger is meaning“.

We believe this inscription was made by the Lighthouse keeper’s Daughter, but it’s meaning is here ambigous. It could either mean that they were really starving, and fighting to survive. This was not uncommon, and it is easy to imagine parents telling their children to keep their spirit up. Hunger is meaning. In the case of the Daughter, it is also possible that she was starving for company and was longing for someone (i.e. the Constructor). This proverb hints at how human drives and motivation stems from basic instincts, and that higher order meaning can emerge from the need to satisfy basic needs. In that sense, all meaning can be seen as a kind of hunger.

The second proverb was found in a drawing of the Queen’s upper floor library entrance, where one can read above the large double doors: “no one is normal but some are different“. Our interpretation is that it urges us to think about who we are and what we can do. Human characteristics differ in so many ways, so no there is no such thing as “normal”. Everybody has something that distinguish her from everybody else. On the other hand, we also have many similarities with each other in most dimensions. If one person deviates in many dimensions (mental or physical strength, temperament, beliefs, etc) from the closest people, that person may be regarded as or feel different. These people can do extraordinary things, and define the boundary for what “normal” is. Notice that the proverb is neither positively nor negatively valenced, and in the library context, we think it promts for reflection: who are you that enter, what information will you seek and for what purpose, and who are you when you leave?

The third proverb was found in at least thee transcript of the Queen’s audiences. Most of these text are lost, but sections where the Queen or someone said “you have not done your best if you have not asked for help” (or fragments of this sentence) has been found several times. The interpretation is easy: asking for help is something positive, and asking for help is a human superpower.