Today's journeys brought us west of London to the city of Bath - respectfully named for the hot springs which the Romans strategically exploited for all their worth a few centuries before the Bath city council did the same. The tour of the Roman Baths was hosted by a hand-held walkie-talkie lookin gadget that spoke to you when you typed in the right numbers. Fortunately, there were numbers specifically for children, so you could still learn as much as you wanted without having to listen to some old british guy telling you a bunch of nonsensical figures and measurements that you were sure to forget by the time you drank your afternoon tea. The children's audio guide even interviewed imaginary Romans who worked in the Baths, scrubbin the floors and laying the stones and such.
What they didn't warn you about was that one of the people they interviewed was a haruspex. And what, you may be rightly asking, is a haruspex? Well, since you asked....it's a soothsayer type who guts goats and studies their innards. And if you think that's a bit graphic, listen to the children's audio guide: baaaabaaaaaaa--(the noise of the goat suddenly stops with a "wwwwwesh") "He separates the liver from the rest of the innards and sets in on the table. Steam rises..." "Do NOT go to Londinuim!" he says - "The signs are not good."
More children, every day, becoming calloused about goat genocide.
1 comments:
If I were a talking mouse, I would stay away from those haruspex! Nice blog start. Thanks for sharing the color and the "messy glory."
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