So in Absent Classic news, I am working on Volume Number Three, which I think will be the best one, because it is a compilation of folk tales. And what makes it funny (I think) is that each story ends with a proverb. A really stupid, pointless, idiotic proverb. What’s funnier than one of those?

 

However, it turns out that it’s harder to write a stupid proverb than it is to write a good one. Take this little baby, which I was fighting with all day yesterday: He who would argue upon a full stomach would give himself nightmares as well. Is it funny? I thought it was when I wrote it, but then I got to thinking about it, and I remembered that if you have an argument just after dinner – particularly one of those long, drawn-out, discussion-ey ones that married people tend to have every so often – you are liable to have trouble sleeping afterwards. So now my funny proverb is profound and meaningful, when it’s supposed to be stupid.

 

And this one: A man who walks by himself in the wilderness would be wise to carry extra shoes. Is that one funny? I like the idea of a bold hero setting off for the horizon with a pair of spare Nikes tied on top of his monster-slaying weaponry – but then, honestly, anyone who’s ever tried to walk barefoot in the woods would see at once that this proverb is not only not-stupid, it is downright sensible. What can I say? I’m a mom.

 

One more: He who weeps all day at the bottom of a well will only achieve self-drowning. Ha! But, wait – isn’t it true that if you sit around crying all day nothing gets done? Even if you’re not trapped in a well? Plus, isn’t it understandable to cry if you’re trapped in a well? It’s a sad situation. And, as we all know, sad usually equals unfunny.

 

But, anyway, the illustrations are coming along nicely, so that’s something.

 

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