Difference between revisions of "Why do I am alook alike a poss of porter pease?"
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The riddle sounds like: ''Why do I and a poss of porter look as alike as two peas in a pod?'' | The riddle sounds like: ''Why do I and a poss of porter look as alike as two peas in a pod?'' | ||
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| + | The riddle could also be something to the effect of: ''Why am I like a pot of pease porridge?'' The answer being that she is both ''hot'' (angry for being left outside) and ''cold''. | ||
Revision as of 07:10, 1 February 2020
- to look as like as two peas in a pod: (phrase) to appear identical → the two peas could be used to represent the twins Shem and Shaun
- peascod → cf. the custom of placing a peascod with nine peas in it on the door-lintel to attract a husband
- Alike: (Greek) Alice → Alice Pleasance Liddell, the girl who inspired Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass; → Alice and her image in the looking glass, or mirror, look alike → ALP
- poss: to wash (clothes) in a poss-tub
- a pot of porter: porter is the type of alcoholic drink of which Guinness is the best known example
- porter: a door-keeper
- Piesporter: wine from Piesport in Germany
- P's
- pees: HCE's crime often involves urination
- please
- pease: (nursery rhyme) Pease porridge hot, Pease porridge cold, Pease porridge in the pot Nine days old. Spell me that without a P, And a clever scholar you will be → the answer, of course, is THAT
Commentary
This is the first of the Prankquean's 3 riddles. Here are the riddles in order:
1. Mark the wans, why do I am alook alike a poss of porterpease?
2. Mark the Twy, why do I am alook alike two poss of porterpease?
3. Mark the Tris, why do I am alook alike three poss of porter pease?
The threefold form of the riddles (wans, twy, tris) is a charm motif that is used elsewhere in FW (e.g. in the tales How Kerrse Made A Suit of Clothes for the Norwegian Captain and How Buckley Shot the Russian General). It is used in "the fairytale pattern of three tries and a magic opening" (Margeret C. Solomon, Eternal Geomater).
The Prankquean (ALP) seems to Jarl van Hoother (HCE) a riddle; at the same time she asks him for a drink, just as Grace O'Malley sought hospitality from the Lord of Howth in the original story.
The riddle sounds like: Why do I and a poss of porter look as alike as two peas in a pod?
The riddle could also be something to the effect of: Why am I like a pot of pease porridge? The answer being that she is both hot (angry for being left outside) and cold.
