40. Extraordinary
We have a book on the shelves in our study called:
Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds.
It's a wonderful book – in fact its contents surpass even its
title for originality and intrigue. Need I say
more than to quote the title of one of the book's later chapters?
The Influence of Politics and Religion on the Hair and the Beard.
Take this story, too:
A panic terror of the end of the world seized the good of Leeds
and its neighbourhood in the year 1806. A hen, in a village close by,
laid eggs, on which were inscribed the words, 'Christ
is coming'. Great numbers visited the spot, and examined these wondrous
eggs, convinced that the Day of Judgment was near at hand. Like sailors
in a storm, expecting every instant to go to the bottom, the believers
suddenly became religious, prayed violently, and flattered themselves
that they repented them of their evil courses. But a plain tale soon
put them down, and quenched their religion entirely.
Some gentlemen, hearing of the matter, went one fine morning, and caught
the poor hen in the act of laying one of her miraculous eggs. They soon
ascertained beyond doubt that the egg had been inscribed with some corrosive
ink, and cruelly forced up again into the bird's body.
One of Saul Bellow's characters – was it Herzog? – found
a dead rat in a loaf in his kitchen. Challenged on whether this was
a likely circumstance, Bellow maintained it was the story-teller's duty
to heighten the colours of his narrative to make
it more entertaining or gripping.
What I like best about Extraordinary Popular Delusions … is that it follows Saul Bellow's advice. Everything is pretty extraordinary.
Incredibly, most of it is also true …
