Sunday, December 21, 2014

251 Quiz Answer

Answer: "The Merchant of Venice."  Portia welcomes the prince of Morocco, who has come in an attempt to choose the right casket to marry her. The prince studies the inscriptions on the three caskets and chooses the gold one, which proves to be an incorrect choice.

Also for Three Word Wednesday and ABC Wednesday: "X" is for "Expert"

(Another little scenelet that I thought might remind you of a famous play.  Which play?)

The Prince:  “They tell me you are the expert on these matters.”

Mr. Holzbein:  “Thank you, sire.  I have been – er – I believe I…  Forgive me if I’m a little nervous; I haven’t worked with royalty before.”

“Let’s put questions of rank aside for the moment.”

“Fine.  How may I be of help?”

“You’ve seen the three receptacles in question?”

“Recep…?”

“Well, I don’t know what to call them.  They look like jewelry boxes, though larger.”

“Ah, yes.  They call them caskets, sire.”

“Caskets?  Odd use of the term.  It makes you think if you open one you’ll find a small dead animal inside.”

“Ha.  I fervently hope not.  I have examined them carefully, thoughtfully.  You wish to know if they are authentic antiques?”

“No, no.  Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.  I don’t care if they’re antiques or they were made last Thursday.  I want to know what’s in them.”

“I see.”

“It seems I am being subjected to a kind of lottery.  Inside one of these three, er, caskets something is hidden that is very important to me, so I have to select the right one.  What’s inside the other two is of no interest.”

“And they cannot be opened?”

“That’s it.  I thought you might be able to suggest a way of divination – of guessing, in other words – which one I should choose.”

“That is indeed quite a problem.”

“One of them is brilliant, bright and shining and gold in color.  At first glance, it would seem to be the obvious choice, but…”

“Yes, but the obvious choice isn’t always the answer.  By the way, I noticed that one of them was old and kind of dilapidated – dull, worn out.”

“Yes!  Perhaps they’re using some sort of elementary-school psychology to get me to choose that one?  Or maybe to keep me from choosing that one?”

“Sire, it’s obvious that this is very important to you.  I feel I must  confess that I have no expertise in such lotteries so I should bow out.  I would hate to have given incorrect advice.”

“But how am I going to know what to do?”

“Well, there’s this: Berowne publishes the answer each Saturday.” 

16 comments:

Altonian said...

"Who chooses me must give and hazard all he hath..." I will hazard a guess and say: Merchant of Venice.

Berowne said...

Altonian starts us off with the right answer.

Kathe W. said...

Merchant of Venice? Merry Christmas!

Berowne said...

Another correcct answer, this time from Kathe W.

i b arora said...

quite interesting

Anita Sabat said...

I don't know the name of the play :)
Interesting story.
Your post reminded me of "Matrushka Dolls" of Russia :)

Berowne said...

Best possible wishes for a happy holiday to all my fine-feathered internet friends.

Trubes said...

I think it's The Merchant of Venice?


Merry Christmas,
Best Wishes,

Di.

Berowne said...

Trubes has just joined us with another right answer.

Jae Rose said...

Is it the Nativity...one day I will get a right answer..Merry Christmas to you Berowne and here's to another year of scenelets!

Berowne said...

What a fine, encouraging comment, Jae Rose; always a pleasure hearing from you.

kaykuala said...

Lately right answers didn't come my way. Berowne! Thanks for the fun just the same. Wishing you Merry Christmas and happy hols!

Hank

Sharp Little Pencil said...

The Merchant of Venice? Or, in the case of Don Rickles, the Merchant of Venom! Merry Christmas, amy

Berowne said...

Amy, of Sharp Little Pencil fame, has coughed up the correct answer.

Silent Otto said...

An Uber Shell Game ! Merry xmas , Berowne, thanks for all your writing over the year

Berowne said...

And my thanx to you for such fine comments.

 
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