I have seen several references to the following list around the blogosphere to these scribal comments from monks written on illuminated manuscripts. They are "illuminating" and humorous.
- New parchment, bad ink; I say nothing more.
- I am very cold.
- That’s a hard page and a weary work to read it.
- Let the reader’s voice honor the writer’s pen.
- This page has not been written very slowly
- The parchment is hairy.
- The ink is thin.
- Thank God it will soon be dark.
- Oh, my hand
- Now I’ve written the whole thing: for Christ’s sake give me something to drink.
- Writing is excessive drudgery. It crooks your back, it dims your sight, it twists your stomach and your sides.
- As the harbor is welcome to the sailor, so is the last line to the scribe.
- This is sad! O little book! A day will come in truth when someone over your page will say, ‘The hand that wrote it is no more.’
No comments:
Post a Comment