Magiska antal ur Tingo

Jag stöter ibland på underliga och roliga böcker. En av de senaste böckerna var en bok som heter ”The meaning of Tingo and other extraordinary words from around the world” av Adam Jacot de Boinod. Boken är kan man säga ett vittnesbörd om att världens kulturer ser väldigt olika på världen. Ni vet det där gamla vanliga påståendet om att eskimåer har [ett stort antal] ord för snö. Även om det är mer komplicerat än så, så stämmer det att vissa kulturer har ovanligt många ord för företeelser som andra kulturer inte har. Albanska språket har exempelvis massor av ord för olika sorters mustascher och ögonbrynsformer. Och hawaiianskan har rätt många termer för att beskriva bananer.

Men en grej som jag som författare gillade var en lista över vilka betydelser särskilda antal har.

Magic numbers

Different cultures give different significance to different numbers. Western traditions offer the five senses and the seven sins, among other groupings. Elsewhere we find very different combinations. The following list is drawn from the Tulu language of India unlessotherwise stated:

Three
tribhuvara the three worlds: heaven, earth and hell
trivarga the three human objects: love, duty and wealth

Four
nalvarti the four seasons

Five
pancabhuta the five elements: earth, air, fire, water and ether
pancaloha the five chief metals: gold, silver, copper, iron and lead
pancavarna the five colours: white, black, red, yellow and green
pancamahapataka the five greatest sins: murdering a Brahman, stealing gold, drinking alcohol, seducing the wife of one’s spiritual mentor, and associating with a person who has committed such sins
pancavadya the five principal musical instruments: lute, cymbals, drum, trumpet and oboe

Six
liuqin (Chinese) the six relations (father, mother, elder brothers, younger brothers, wife and children)

Seven
haft rang (Persian) the seven colours of the heavenly bodies: Saturn, black; Jupiter, brown; Mars, red; the Sun, yellow; Venus, white; Mercury, blue; and the Moon, green

Eight
ashtabhoga the eight sources of enjoyment: habitation, bed, clothing, jewels, wife, flower, perfumes and betel-leaf /arecanut

Nine
sembako (Indonesian) the nine basic commodities that people need for everyday living: rice, flour, eggs, sugar, salt, cooking oil, kerosene, dried fish and basic textiles

Ten
dah ak (Persian) the ten vices – named after the tyrant Zahhak who was notorious for ten defects of body or mind: ugliness, shortness of stature, excessive pride, indecency, gluttony, scurrility, cruelty, hastiness, falsehood and cowardice

Kanske kan det gå att göra någon historia av det här…

Julens tolv dagar

Som ett litet julfirande kommer här en dikt som jag har lånat härifrån.

On the first day of Christmas
my browser brought to me
a tagged comment in a Twitter meme.

On the second day of Christmas
my browser brought to me
two Wordle blimps
and a tagged comment in a Twitter meme.

On the third day of Christmas
my browser brought to me
three permalinks,
two Wordle blimps
and a tagged comment in a Twitter meme.

On the fourth day of Christmas
my browser brought to me
four wicked wikis,
three permalinks,
two Wordle blimps
and a tagged comment in a Twitter meme.

On the fifth day of Christmas
my browser brought to me
five Open-Nings!
four wicked wikis,
three permalinks,
two Wordle blimps
and a tagged comment in a Twitter meme.

On the sixth day of Christmas
my browser brought to me
six Skypers Skyping,
five Open-Nings!
four wicked wikis,
three permalinks,
two Wordle blimps
and a tagged comment in a Twitter meme.

On the seventh day of Christmas
my browser brought to me
seven Seesmics screaming,
six Skypers Skyping,
five Open-Nings!
four wicked wikis,
three permalinks,
two Wordle blimps
and a tagged comment in a Twitter meme.

On the eighth day of Christmas
my browser brought to me
eight Delicious bookmarks,
seven Seesmics screaming,
six Skypers Skyping,
five Open-Nings!
four wicked wikis,
three permalinks,
two Wordle blimps
and a tagged comment in a Twitter meme.

On the ninth day of Christmas
my browser brought to me
nine Diggers Digging,
eight Delicious bookmarks,
seven Seesmics screaming,
six Skypers Skyping,
five Open-Nings!
four wicked wikis,
three permalinks,
two Wordle blimps
and a tagged comment in a Twitter meme.

On the tenth day of Christmas
my browser brought to me
ten Google searchings,
nine Diggers Digging,
eight Delicious bookmarks,
seven Seesmics screaming,
six Skypers Skyping,
five Open-Nings!
four wicked wikis,
three permalinks,
two Wordle blimps
and a tagged comment in a Twitter meme.

On the eleventh day of Christmas
my browser brought to me
eleven widgets wandering,
ten Google searchings,
nine Diggers Digging,
eight Delicious bookmarks,
seven Seesmics screaming,
six Skypers Skyping,
five Open-Nings!
four wicked wikis,
three permalinks,
two Wordle blimps
and a tagged comment in a Twitter meme.

On the twelfth day of Christmas
my browser brought to me
twelve bloggers blogging,
eleven widgets wandering,
ten Google searchings,
nine Diggers Digging,
eight Delicious bookmarks,
seven Seesmics screaming,
six Skypers Skyping,
five Open-Nings!
four wicked wikis,
three permalinks,
two Wordle blimps
and a tagged comment in a Twitter meme!

—

Och för den som är lite bittrare, finns den här scenen ur Scrubs.