Ravens, Desks and Chicken Madras
The Professor has a habit of taking solitary walks in the hills when wrestling with an arcane conundrum or trying to remember where he parked his car. Some years ago while he was undertaking one such walk, he had an experience of lasting consequence. The Professor remembers it thus: “I was considering the theory put forward by the celebrated author and deadbeat Thurston Planche that the sight of Jarry riding his bicycle through Paris was the inspiration for the cobbled classics, so beloved by cyclists and stonemasons in more recent times.” “As I made my way along the narrow path, I encountered a woman with an oversized walking stick and, as I passed, I believe I heard her say, ‘If you're so clever, then why is a raven like a writing desk, you shady stinkard?’ It's highly likely that I misheard this remark, but that is not important. I have given the matter considerable thought since that day.” Of course, many erudite individuals and other has-beens have wrestled with the meani...