Sunday, February 24, 2008

With apologies to Samuel Pepys



23rd. Up betimes and to the woods, where walked up and down a short while with much content. Thence home a while to look after my blog; and to Whole Foods, where the doors were not then open; but presently they did open; and I in, and bought a bagel for 79¢ and went home again, where I ate it with some eggs to my breakfast. But Lord! To think of the many thousands of eggs I have eat since I was a boy, and yet upon the eating of every new egg I find it to be the pleasantest in all respects that ever I had in my life! I by train under the river to Penn Station (all the way reading in Wikipedia of the Hussite revolt), where great crowding of people that had a desire to get up stairs. But then it shews them fools, that they would not walk to the farther stairs, which they might all have gone up faster. Thence to the New York Public Library to look upon a book about van den Keere (a Dutchman, that made a great map of the world in the year 1611), wherein I saw most incomparable pictures. So away, and did happen upon the most perfect pair of stockings for my Lady Watson, they being of a pattern very pretty and mirthful, with little black dogs on a field of green. I did buy them, and the other stockings together with them, for seven dollars, and was well pleased with them and the price. Taking up my wife, went homewards, and so to Sakura, there to meet my Lady Watson and Sir M. Castle, where we were very merry, and a mighty pretty dinner of sushi rolls we had, and much discourse. I did give my Lady Watson the stockings, which pleased her, and she did give to my wife a fine picture of her cat put within a frame, that pleased her mightily. And so we home, and I gave my Lady Watson some books for her to read of the life of Henry VIII. And so they left us, and I to my blog and my wife to her studying. And so to bed, where we lay a while, I rubbing my wife's feet, and we very merry.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are the cute man of the world, sure! /Stephen, not Pepys -g

Anonymous said...

Forgiven!

Anonymous said...

Great fun, especially the socks for my Lady with Elizabeth Pepys's little black dog on them!

"Bradford"
(from the Pepys site)

Hugh Yeman said...

Thanks Bradford! Actually those little black dogs were the closest thing I've ever seen on a sock to my Friend Karen's (my Lady Watson) little dog KC, who is more grayish. I had forgotten about Elizabeth's little black dog until I was searching the diary this morning! It really is amazing how Pepysian yesterday turned out to be.

One More Stitch said...

Prodigiously clever and vastly entertaining!

Anonymous said...

Map away dear diarist!

The feet of the world thank
you, I am sure.

One of three

lakelaura said...

A smile crossed my face as I read this after a long and tedious day.

How delightfully Pepsyian!

Thank you for sharing. :)

Charlezzzzz said...

I don't think I've ever thanked Hugh for his delightful parody of Pepys. I've read it many a time in the last seven years. Sometimes with a smile, sometimes with a grin, and now and then with a giggle Thankee, Hugh. When I read it to my granddaughter, she shouted "Awesome"! before I had quite finished, and ran away.

Charlezzzzz

Hugh Yeman said...

Charlezzzzz, it was an unexpected delight to get your reply last night. I'm tickled and humbled that anyone is still taking pleasure from my exercise in Pepysian dialogue. I remember well how surprised I was at the amount of time this small passage took me to write--three or four hours, I believe. And that was with an unabridged, searchable electronic copy of the Pepys diary at hand! It goes to show how complex and subtle language-- and in particular a distinct voice--can be.