{"id":1266,"date":"2005-08-14T10:20:00","date_gmt":"2005-08-14T14:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thewormbook.com\/hlog\/?p=1266"},"modified":"2005-08-14T10:20:00","modified_gmt":"2005-08-14T14:20:00","slug":"the-french-atomic-empire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thewormbook.com\/hlog\/?p=1266","title":{"rendered":"The French Atomic Empire"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the most perfectly done spoofs<\/a> I have ever read. (via<\/a>) In this context, there is a Kingsley Amis poem, below the fold, in which the Englishman appears more interested in sex than his French crewmates …<\/p>\n\n


\nbq.. – Welcome aboard the Nautilus, monsieur!
\nI vow you shall confess yourself amazed
\nTen thousand times before our cruise is done.
\nWhat spectacles are mustered in the deep!
\nBeauty mere words are useless to depict,
\nMarvels unknown to science – dangers too,
\nWhich we expunge with electricity.
\nSalute your comrades now: Ned Land, Conseil,
\nBrave fellows, and Professor Aronnax,
\nThe eminent pelagiologist,
\nWhose fund of knowledge is at your desire,
\nAs is my library, well-stocked and calm,
\nMatchless for the conducting of research.
\nShould you set store by music, you will find
\nThat organ a trustworthy instrument,
\nWhile, for comestibles, we pride ourselves
\nOn our sea-urchin loaf and shark ragout.
\nTill dinner, then …<\/p>\n\n

– Thanks, Captain Nemo, this is always what
\nI think I want. But after weeks of Ned
\nOn whaling, good Conseil just being good,
\nAnd Aronnax as Aronnax, I might
\nStart to browse round that matchless library,
\nThrum at the organ, savour the thick film
\nChoking my tongue; and if, one afternoon,
\nA mermaid swam from the dead coral-groves
\nAnd looked in, sea-eyed, at the fat window,
\nHer olive hair writhing about her head,
\nHer turquoise nipple pried at by small fish,
\nSomeone like me would say: ‘Remarkable!
\nBehold, my friends, a rare phenomenon!
\nDoubtless, the lungs have been replaced by gills,
\nThe hide, withstanding eighty atmospheres,
\nMoreover toughened – the Creator’s hand
\nLavish as always with new wonderment!’
\nThe long-boat, please …<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the most perfectly done spoofs I have ever read. (via) In this context, there is a Kingsley Amis poem, below the fold, in which the Englishman appears more interested in sex than his French crewmates … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thewormbook.com\/hlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1266"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thewormbook.com\/hlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thewormbook.com\/hlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thewormbook.com\/hlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thewormbook.com\/hlog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.thewormbook.com\/hlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1266\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thewormbook.com\/hlog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thewormbook.com\/hlog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thewormbook.com\/hlog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}