The Wise Men of Gotham Quotes

“A man who apparently saw the moon’s reflection disappear from the village pond as his horse was drinking from it. Declaring that his horse had swallowed it he promptly picked up his sword and chopped the horse in two to release the moon.”

“When an eel ate all the fish in the village fishpond, the villagers took great pains to capture it and when they eventually did, they threw it back in to the water to drown it.” ”

“The story goes that King John intended to travel through the neighborhood. At that time in England, any road the king travelled on had to be made a public highway, but the people of Gotham did not want a public highway through their village.”

“The men were in a dilemma, should they object strongly to the king’s officials, or try to persuade them that it would be better if the king hunted elsewhere.”

“It was decided that the king would not be influenced by an objection, so they opted to deter the king by feigning madness instead.”

“When the king’s messengers rode into the village they were met by some bizarre sights, so much so that they quickly returned to the king to warn him to go elsewhere as Gotham was filled with madmen.”

“Royal messengers found them engaged in ridiculous tasks, such as trying to drown an eel and joining hands around a thornbush to shut in a cuckoo.”

“The people of Gotham loved the spring. Every year they waited for the cold, hard winter to finish so they could enjoy the long sunny days and dance and merry. ‘Oh, it’s fine to be alive in Gotham in the spring,’ they would agree. But spring only comes once a year.”

“Spring comes when the cuckoo calls, ad the cuckoo’s disappearance means that summer is coming, then autumn, and then the cold, hard winter.′ Everyone agreed that was very clever. ‘My idea is this: if we caught a cuckoo and kept it in Gotham all year, then spring would have to say in Gotham, too.”

“There will be no winter this year,′ they said, and some people even threw aways their winter clothes. The cuckoo was brought back in triumph and put in a cage. A small boy called Joe was to look after the bird. Well, the wise men’s prediction came true: spring stayed in Gotham for a long time.”

“The best known folly that the villagers carried out involved a cuckoo. They appeared to be so captivated by the cuckoo’s song that they decided to trap it as it sat in a bush. This they did by building a fence round the bush. As there was no roof, the bird simply flew away!”