Bawdy but nice...
I don't know what I was expecting when I sat down to read
this short little ditty by Twain....but I certainly did not expect what I
got. To begin with, he wrote the story
in the vernacular of the 16th and early 17th century. He even has the spelling down. There are a few, and I mean very small,
errors in the historical timeline...but nothing that takes away from the
complete and total feel of that nasty little era. It just feels filthy, and raw and oh so
good. Queen Elizabeth, Shakespeare,
Raleigh and the rest discoursing about flatulence and fornication...I never
thought Mark Twain had it in him to pen something so outside his public persona
and work. It really is genius...and
extremely fun reading.
Mark Twain wrote and published this piece anonymously, but later on in life copped to authorship. Finding a first edition in near impossible...much less a solid publication date. One source says 1871, another 1880...I chose the later and more conservative date, but it very well could be earlier. There are a couple of good online text versions and a scanned facsimile version, and I present those for your edification...enjoy!
Mark Twain wrote and published this piece anonymously, but later on in life copped to authorship. Finding a first edition in near impossible...much less a solid publication date. One source says 1871, another 1880...I chose the later and more conservative date, but it very well could be earlier. There are a couple of good online text versions and a scanned facsimile version, and I present those for your edification...enjoy!