17.11.06

philosphical french snails: how can we ever eat escargot again?



sean jones doesn't just animate snails; he makes them dignified. he gives them flawless french, though he translates what they say into english, for the rest of us.
since the text is too small to read unless you click on it, i will copy it out:

"a contemplation in the gutter. the residue of belief.

a party of parisian smoking snails (a variety only found in paris) met in a gutter to discuss descartes. a slick sticky truth evaded for sake of propriety.
"follow the simple to the complex in a spiral. follow the spiral of smoke until it is nothing," jean-remi says with his voice trailing away.
they all laugh. the wistful smoke floats.
jean-louis clears his raspy throat and says, "i leave a trail of slime therefore i am."
they all laugh.
"i doubt and i doubt my doubts until my foundations are particles floating to heaven," jean-adrien says.
they close their eyes as they suck at their discarded cigarette butts.
jean-jacques blinks and looks at the smoke above, "if every truth is a cloud floating away...if every love dissipates into heaven or tangles in my chest..."
"you talk like a romantic!" jean-marcel bellows.
they all laugh. their shells bounce a little as they laugh.
jean-basile mumbles through his smoke curtain:
"there is a substance, an element if you will, call it conflue, it is the residue of a thought, of an unknown belief, that sticks to our past and leaves an ambiguous trail of self and confusion."
the others shake their heads and stare at the gutter grit.
paris gutters are lined with trails of thought from wondering snails that never find a home.
never deduce it is on their back."


!!!

go here and see more of his brilliance and charm.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would have revised had I known I’d be bloggered.
When the brilliant say nice things it is especially nice!
Thank you

Julie R said...

maybe i should have asked your permission first--but i was just so excited.

besides it's lovely exactly as it is... though i can edit it too.

SpiffyTurtle said...

Oh, do you like snails? I like snails. Have you heard of "Looking for Snails on a Sunday Afternoon?" K