Bound & Bound--the Curse and the Captives

[PBax]

I'm very glad I took the time to get up to speed on this story. I am anxious to see how all this unfolds. The lawyer, the fortune teller, Silviu -- I don't trust a single one of them. It's nice to be on edge that way and it definitely makes me want to keep reading.

  

I am equally curious about Junayd and Ahmed. The parallels (at least in my mind) between those two and Emeric and Silviu definitely have me involved in this story in a way I hadn't anticipated.

 

It feels like there's a lot going on here by the end of chapter 9, but I don't feel overwhelmed or shut out. I'm just hungry for more. Really enjoying this story.

[AC Benus]

I'm very glad I took the time to get up to speed on this story. I am anxious to see how all this unfolds. The lawyer, the fortune teller, Silviu -- I don't trust a single one of them. It's nice to be on edge that way and it definitely makes me want to keep reading.

  

I am equally curious about Junayd and Ahmed. The parallels (at least in my mind) between those two and Emeric and Silviu definitely have me involved in this story in a way I hadn't anticipated.

 

It feels like there's a lot going on here by the end of chapter 9, but I don't feel overwhelmed or shut out. I'm just hungry for more. Really enjoying this story.

Thank you, PB, for your support. I'm glad you mention it, because trust is a large feature as these men get to know one another and wonder just how far they can rely on each other.

 

Your enthusiasm and feedback are greatly appreciated. Please keep reading! 

Edited February 4, 2015 by AC Benus

[ColumbusGuy]

In my review for chapter 9, I mentioned a couple things like the 'impious grin', thinking it was an error for 'impish'...AC is very cagey--he actually meant exactly that, which adds new meaning to the scenario if you ask me.

Somehow, I also got the impression that Silviu was fairly hairy, it seemed to fit with Eastern Europe somehow in my mind...and while I think Silviu is good looking, being really hairy is not one of my favorite tings. I don't know where I got that image in my head, but I thought it when he first appeared in the Seeing Fox.  My bad, AC!

Set me straight, so to speak--it's far too late to actually do it.

[AC Benus]

 

Set me straight, so to speak--it's far too late to actually do it.

Haha, I have no desire to straighten anyone! As far as a 'dusting of hair' on his physique, I think you have simply transposed Ahmed's physical description onto Silviu. Emeric has not seen his protector shirtless, so he has no description to offer us. 

 

Ahmed on the other hand is blessed with lightly curled hair on his chest and abdomen. It's funny you should mention this, because just the other day (maybe three days to be precise), I was surfing around and ran across an actor/model I had never noticed before. I have to say I was bit stunned, because the way he looks with his beard, and especially the way his follicles guild his Herculean body IS EXACTLY the way I have always pictured Ahmed. omg....heart flutters...here. 

 

Wait, see for yourself. I present Jaxton Wheeler, god on earth, and proudly out individual. If you decide to do a further search for him, keep in mind that he's been in quite a few 'independent films' of the clothesless variety  

 

 

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/424387_354882824542183_1622191109_n.jpg%253Foh%253Da7331da35950472b5685c3010d280594%2526oe%253D55232208%2526__gda__%253D1428987353_9f2bd52cbb5f52953b4734ea3df772e9&imgrefurl=https://www.facebook.com/JaxtonAsher.Official?fref%3Dphoto&h=720&w=720&tbnid=Be0SU26fz2O3QM:&zoom=1&docid=6YIfzRRUGYD6mM&ei=xrXSVIeNMpDXaqPygagJ&tbm=isch&ved=0CC8QMygTMBM

 

 

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/19/58/eb/1958eb0a91ec024ecfc7a84880a6707e.jpg&imgrefurl=https://www.pinterest.com/pin/156007574563784194/&h=532&w=528&tbnid=oazeCjLFPetxiM:&zoom=1&docid=ovg19df4x6SGUM&ei=rbPSVKSJJI7hsASuuoHoBg&tbm=isch&ved=0CDAQMygGMAY

 

 

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/378800000291608730/bc36a695a0e2403da768e20655d6b52c_400x400.jpeg&imgrefurl=https://twitter.com/jaxtonwheeler/status/535657225977868288&h=400&w=400&tbnid=YyR6mDVLOAAV9M:&zoom=1&docid=LI8kAXfhtjHIXM&itg=1&ei=rbPSVKSJJI7hsASuuoHoBg&tbm=isch&ved=0CDEQMygHMAc

 

 

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BsWKg0vCcAEUD57.jpg&imgrefurl=https://twitter.com/wesleythehatter/status/489634894138843136&h=903&w=599&tbnid=mK3-4Q6qo7fKUM:&zoom=1&docid=inmLVKYtI9GF0M&ei=wq_SVLKPMs7bsASAm4LABg&tbm=isch&ved=0CFsQMygwMDA

 

 

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.boyculture.com/.a/6a00d8341c2ca253ef01b8d09568ca970c-550wi&imgrefurl=http://www.lgbt-idea.com/bw/cat/48_5/www.santaskivviesrun.org&h=729&w=550&tbnid=T6esRIayanEOIM:&zoom=1&docid=HCuCIZDTiyuE8M&itg=1&ei=wq_SVLKPMs7bsASAm4LABg&tbm=isch&ved=0CEQQMygZMBk

 

 

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bto44ixIYAAj8V7.jpg:large&imgrefurl=https://twitter.com/tinafabillosa/status/497185182487556097&h=1024&w=680&tbnid=U1t7svTVOmXnWM:&zoom=1&docid=HUp6f-wUDfWH1M&ei=rbPSVKSJJI7hsASuuoHoBg&tbm=isch&ved=0CFgQMyghMCE

[Irritable1]

Mmmf. I like his face, he has that cynical/intellectual cast of feature that matches Ahmed quite nicely, but the rest of him...

[ColumbusGuy]

Not quite what I was picturing for Ahmed--I thought a longer beard like in the old 'Sinbad' movies, possibly pointed.   I can see it easily though for a soldier to keep it shorter.

 

As to sex appeal--I give him 2 stars--I like my men much smoother and not so hard looking.

 

Got an image of Junayd for us? Maybe he's more my type?

[Irritable1]

 

 

I like my men much smoother and not so hard looking.

 

Oh, I don't require much smoothness. And, well, he is supposed to be Turkish 

 

It's that bulgy trapezius that's unnerving me...

[Timothy M.]

Oh, I don't require much smoothness. And, well, he is supposed to be Turkish 

 

It's that bulgy trapezius that's unnerving me...

 

So Irri, if you were Lady G, you wouldn't be attracted to Ahmed ?

 

And how do you feel about her using her 'mancy' to control Lazlo?

 

I'm always uncertain how to view historical females who are described as power-hungry and by implication manipulative and evil. In many cases, those who depict them are men, often their adversaries, and surely they are hardly unbiased. And since women were rarely powerful in their own right (Elizabeth I of England comes to mind as one of the few exceptions), they had to resort to various wiles to be influential. It's hard to blame them

 

I'm not saying Lady G's behavior is OK, since she clearly pushes Lazlo into things he does not want, but AC has hinted in the text and some of his review replies that she may be worried, perhaps even desperate, about her inability to produce an heir. Are we judging her too easily, only because she is female and controlling her husband with sex?

[Irritable1]

Fascinating question to a feminist, Timmy

In this case, the novel's described as Gothic so I'm cool with it.

There's two different parts of it, in my mind. One is, of COURSE history is inherently written by people who had a misogynistic cast to their thinking because even in the best case scenario there just wasn't the same comradeship between men and women as there was between men. The sexes led separate lives.

But the sad fact is that the oppressed are capable of cruelty and manipulation to each other, and to people a little bit further down the hierarchy, in pursuit of quite small advantages, right? AC's not actually depicting anything so terribly unusual except that the lady's target is a man i.e. she has the courage to manipulate UP the ladder. And she's fighting for herself alone, not a child or a favorite niece or nephew. There are such terrible stories even from the modern day--- the grovelling and cajoling that has to be done to get a girl to a good school or a less-favored boy to a tutor... Ugh.

 

Edit: ack, sorry, I haven't tried to post from my phone in a while and it remembers a lively argument with Carlos!

 

Edit2: Anyway, I'm perfectly willing to accept LadyG as written. I was reading a different novel this weekend where some "authority" said that the origin of witchcraft was "the terrorization of the strong by the weak" who would otherwise have been driven to the wall and that sounds good to me.

 

 

So Irri, if you were Lady G, you wouldn't be attracted to Ahmed ?

 

I don't know. I like his cynicism. I don't see how I'd know about it up in my tower I'm guessing most of men round about would've been pretty muscular from all that sword-hefting....

Edited February 10, 2015 by Irritable1

[Timothy M.]

Interesting points, Irri, I'm glad you confirm my feelings that we shouldn't judge too quickly, even if Lady G reminds me of Lady Macbeth. And I want Lazlo to slap her and resist her and put her in her place.

 

I guess we can easily agree on Ahmed being a glorious specimen physically, but Junyad might like your assessment and tell you he also appreciates Ahmed for his mind and his unfailing good spirits.

[AC Benus]

Mmmf. I like his face, he has that cynical/intellectual cast of feature that matches Ahmed quite nicely, but the rest of him...

"but the rest of him…" So, I guess 'Herculean' is not quite your type; that's more than all right. All's fair in love and attraction, eh?     

[AC Benus]

Not quite what I was picturing for Ahmed--I thought a longer beard like in the old 'Sinbad' movies, possibly pointed.   I can see it easily though for a soldier to keep it shorter.

 

As to sex appeal--I give him 2 stars--I like my men much smoother and not so hard looking.

 

Got an image of Junayd for us? Maybe he's more my type?

Face hair seems to be quite important to many men in the Levant and Middle East. Way back in the day, I remember having a discussion with my delightful Palestinian dorm-mate about it. He was a slender, youthful youth, and most evenings after dinner we'd come back to the room and he'd stand at his wall mirror inspecting the straggly hairs on his chin. I reassured him that I'd give him my full 5 o'clock shadow if I could, and he asked me why I did not let 'my beard' grow. He was such a sweet guy, so he opened up about wanting it so bad for himself. "Why?" "It's a gift from God. It shows the world that God thinks I am grown up."

 

God must have heard his prayers, because 6 months later he had a sporty little moustache.  

 

As for the mysterious Junayd, I have a rather clear image in my head as to what he looks like, but I have not run across anybody in cyber-land who makes me think "There's my dervish!"

Edited February 10, 2015 by AC Benus

[AC Benus]

Fascinating question to a feminist, Timmy

 

In this case, the novel's described as Gothic so I'm cool with it.

 

There's two different parts of it, in my mind. One is, of COURSE history is inherently written by people who had a misogynistic cast to their thinking because even in the best case scenario there just wasn't the same comradeship between men and women as there was between men. The sexes led separate lives.

 

But the sad fact is that the oppressed are capable of cruelty and manipulation to each other, and to people a little bit further down the hierarchy, in pursuit of quite small advantages, right? AC's not actually depicting anything so terribly unusual except that the lady's target is a man i.e. she has the courage to manipulate UP the ladder. And she's fighting for herself alone, not a child or a favorite niece or nephew. There are such terrible stories even from the modern day--- the grovelling and cajoling that has to be done to get a girl to a good school or a less-favored boy to a tutor... Ugh.

 

Edit: ack, sorry, I haven't tried to post from my phone in a while and it remembers a lively argument with Carlos!

 

Edit2: Anyway, I'm perfectly willing to accept LadyG as written. I was reading a different novel this weekend where some "authority" said that the origin of witchcraft was "the terrorization of the strong by the weak" who would otherwise have been driven to the wall and that sounds good to me.

 

 

I don't know. I like his cynicism. I don't see how I'd know about it up in my tower I'm guessing most of men round about would've been pretty muscular from all that sword-hefting....

Gosh. I absolutely love this posting! I will have to come back with maybe a couple of different lines of thought, like one on how 'curses' might actually be effective, but only when the victim believes it is working.   

[AC Benus]

So Irri, if you were Lady G, you wouldn't be attracted to Ahmed ?

 

And how do you feel about her using her 'mancy' to control Lazlo?

 

I'm always uncertain how to view historical females who are described as power-hungry and by implication manipulative and evil. In many cases, those who depict them are men, often their adversaries, and surely they are hardly unbiased. And since women were rarely powerful in their own right (Elizabeth I of England comes to mind as one of the few exceptions), they had to resort to various wiles to be influential. It's hard to blame them

 

I'm not saying Lady G's behavior is OK, since she clearly pushes Lazlo into things he does not want, but AC has hinted in the text and some of his review replies that she may be worried, perhaps even desperate, about her inability to produce an heir. Are we judging her too easily, only because she is female and controlling her husband with sex?

Thank you, Tim, for a very interesting question. Another woman who pops into mind is Queen Christina of Sweden. As I understand it, she was actually raised as a boy, so never took her gender role as something that could inherently hold her back.

[Timothy M.]

Another woman who pops into mind is Queen Christina of Sweden. As I understand it, she was actually raised as a boy, so never took her gender role as something that could inherently hold her back.

 

But she ended up relinquishing the throne to her cousin, didn't she ? I have to admit, I'm not absolutely sure, I'll have to look her up.

 

The whole witch craft and witch hunt matter always struck me as utterly horrendous and one of the most shameful ways men have used to hurt and oppress women. Interestingly, I always assumed the (Catholic) church was a leader in witch hunts, but I saw a program which claimed the early Christian Church was more likely to punish a man for the heresy of believing in witches, since the official stance of the Church was that no such thing existed.

 

or maybe I've been reading too much SATW: http://satwcomic.com/what-comes-around-goes-around

Edited February 10, 2015 by Timothy M.

[Irritable1]

 

 

The whole witch craft and witch hunt matter always struck me as utterly horrendous and one of the most shameful ways men have used to hurt and oppress women.

 

I don't disagree with you Tim, but, based on George Elliot:

 

 

 

Silas now found himself and his cottage suddenly beset by mothers who wanted him to charm away the whooping-cough, or bring back the milk

 

I have a theory that many of a witch's customers would themselves have been women, hoping for a practitioner to achieve what "medicine" at the time could not: contraception, abortion, better lactation, or some way to save a child who was failing. And since some of that might've been about poisons, well....

 

Edit: I have myself discouraged an online acquaintance from using blue cohosh to bring on childbirth. It was used in Native American practice, though it's not always clear for what, and was sometimes adopted by European settlers as an abortifacient. It's sometimes recommended by modern midwives. The woman to whom it was recommended by her midwives was in the Netherlands. (She wound up with modern treatment, which gave her an extremely bad time all by itself.)

Edited February 10, 2015 by Irritable1

[Timothy M.]

but would they also accuse her and persecute her ?

maybe they would..

[Irritable1]

but would they also accuse her and persecute her ?

maybe they would..

 

Mmm. Suppose you go to an herbal practitioner "wise woman" type cuz your daughter's a skinny 16 year old in her first pregnancy and the baby's latish and getting bigger. And she gives your kid a massive dose of blue cohosh and after two days of hell, the boy baby's born dead. BURN BOTH WITCHES! might seem like a measured appoach from the son in law. He's lost an heir. And he's always disliked his mother in law.

 

Edit: I'm not saying I recommend it or anything. Just, the whole "separate worlds" thing.

 

Edit2: This excursion into pharmacology is getting a bit far afield, huh? Sorry, AC. I'm just trying to convey that there probably is a grain of real power somewhere behind all the misogyny...

Edited February 10, 2015 by Irritable1

[AC Benus]

Mmm. Suppose you go to an herbal practitioner "wise woman" type cuz your daughter's a skinny 16 year old in her first pregnancy and the baby's latish and getting bigger. And she gives your kid a massive dose of blue cohosh and after two days of hell, the boy baby's born dead. BURN BOTH WITCHES! might seem like a measured appoach from the son in law. He's lost an heir. And he's always disliked his mother in law.

 

Edit: I'm not saying I recommend it or anything. Just, the whole "separate worlds" thing.

 

Edit2: This excursion into pharmacology is getting a bit far afield, huh? Sorry, AC. I'm just trying to convey that there probably is a grain of real power somewhere behind all the misogyny...

No, I am both enjoying it, and thinking about it too. It's very true that men 'go nuts' and tend to lay blame in the most extreme ways, as in your historical example. 

 

Incidentally, I've also heard that common yarrow was a well-known herb to hasten a woman's period, or in large doses, induce labor or bring on a miscarriage. I think it's truly sad that for much of human history women have had little say in their reproductive health, without being labeled as 'wicked' by some men. Gosh, sounds like Republican, anti-choice politics of today! sigh, because it's true.      

[AC Benus]

Bound & Bound Chapter 12 Appendix:

 

 

This chapter is where we first encounter some private attitudes concerning Gay people in medieval societies. Far from thinking that the attitudes expressed by these fictional characters are 'modern,' I must warn readers that much of our cultural understanding is distorted through the lens of Victorian and hypocritical notions left over from the 20^th century. Notions which had only one aim in mind – to refute the basic reality that Gay people even existed in the past, much less lived relatively open and happy lives in partnerships with one another. Unfortunately, that attitude still biases even some of the best-intentioned LGBT individuals with open minds today. There is a lot of damage to undo when it comes to how Gay people see Gay people, past, present and future. 

 

In light of that issue, I have been able to provide some first-hand history for us to consider.

 

 

1) Attitudes to Gay people in Europe during the Middle Ages –

 

In my research I found this, which I hope you find interesting. Even anti-gay feelings in Europe were 'new' at some point, and attitudes were consistently even and uncaring during medieval times.

 

In his anthology of Gay verse (1983), the well-respected historian Stephen Coote provides the following facts and comments:

 

"Ausonius wrote his lovely sixty-second epigram, and the man who inspired that love, Saint Paulinus of Nola, wrote him the poem on page 111. And indeed for the next 800 years the clerics' attitude towards same-sex relations was distinctly positive. Alcuin, light of the court of Charlemagne, wrote poems of strong Gay sentiment to his pupils whom he knew by such pet names as 'Cuckoo.' In a letter to an absent bishop he fantasized about flying to cover him with passionate kisses. For Gay people at least, the Dark Ages were not pitch-black.

 

"In fact from the tenth through the twelfth centuries there was a major flowering of European Gay subculture. While the Troubadours (including at least one lesbian one) sang Gay love songs in the courts of Provence, actual love in monasteries became the cornerstone of theology. There are love letters to males among the correspondence of Anselm, and it was he who prevented the first anti-gay legislation being passed in England. He became Archbishop of Canterbury and a saint. Another saint and Englishman, Aeldred of Rievaulx, made Gay love the basis of monastic life. While he did not wholly approve of such relationships being genital, he did not forbid them from being so because 'such great joy is experienced' in them. It was he who wrote of Christ and Saint John that 'the closer they were, the more copiously did the fragrant secrets of the heavenly marriage impart the sweet smell of spiritual chrism to their love.'

 

"This was a world in which hunting was a more serious sin that same-sex sexual relations for clerics. In fact, some elements in the Council of London of 1102 had to fight to make 'sodomy' a sin worthy of mandatory confession, because the public was not aware that it was a 'sin' at all. This was the edict that Anselm quashed, declaring rather oddly for an archbishop, that it was so widespread that nobody was embarrassed by it anyway. This argues a strong indifference to the existence and integration of Gay people within the larger community."

 

Later on, here is his one fleeting – but tantalizing – reference to Islamic culture of the Middle Ages:

 

"Turks and other Moslems lived in open same-sex marriages (and that Moorish Gay poetry of the Middle Ages was exquisite is illustrated by the two examples include here)."[1]

 

 

2) Attitudes to Gay people in Muslim countries during the Middle Ages –

 

Ottoman Turks had (and modern Turks continue to have) a well-known nonplused attitude towards same-sex partnering. This was part of the general acceptance – and indeed, general celebration – of same-sex love made manifest through centuries of Islamic culture everywhere the religion flourished. One of the greatest history scholars of the 20^th century, John Boswell, spoke eloquently about this topic in his 1980 book on Christianity, social tolerance and Gay people. His work covers a broad sweep of time from the start of the new religion's legalization in Rome, until the 14^th century. Here are some of the facts and comments he has to relay:

 

"Most Muslim cultures have treated same-sex love with indifference, if not admiration. Almost without exception the classic works of Arabic poetry and prose, from Abu Nuwas to the Thousand and One Nights, treat Gay people and their orientation with respect or casual acceptance. For example, poems about the physical allure of a young man's first beard constitute an entire genre of Arabic poetry.

 

"In early medieval Spain this tendency was accentuated; erotic verse about same-sex relationships constitutes the bulk of all published Hispano-Arab poetry. Such verses were written by every sort of person of every rank. Kings wrote love poems to or about their male subjects and received erotic poetry in return. When al-Mutamid, eleventh-century king of Seville, wrote of his page that "I made him my slave, but the coyness of his glance has made me his captor," he was expressing a feeling with which his subjects could not only empathize but about which they themselves probably composed or recited similar verse.

 

"Earlier in the century the kingdom of Valencia had been ruled by a pair of former slaves who had fallen in love and risen together through the ranks of the civil service until they were in a position to rule by themselves. The joint rule of Mubarak and Mudhaffar was characterized by Muslim historians as a relationship of complete trust and mutual devotion, without any trace of competition or jealousy, and their love for each other was celebrated all over Spain.

 

"Spanish sources do not suggest that Christian men and youth drew the line at physical contact with Muslims. Many Muslims had Christian partners. Al-Mutamin, the eleventh-century king of Saragossa, was in love with his Christian page; and ar-Ramadi, one of the most outstanding poets of the tenth century, not only began to wear the distinctive clothing of the Christian minority when he fell in love with a Christian youth but was even converted to Christianity, embracing his partner in front of the priest after the ceremony."[2]           

 

 

 

[1] Adapted from the Introduction. 

[2] Adapted from Chapter 7

Edited February 17, 2015 by AC Benus

[Timothy M.]

That is absolutely fascinating, AC !

 

Particularly when you think of the attitude of most Moslems and a huge portion of Christians today. I've always thought they 'ought to stop living in the Middle Age and join the modern world' but now I'll have to modify my inner rant.

[Irritable1]

Agreed, this is fascinating, AC. What is the title of the book? Edit: Never mind, found it.

 

 

 

 I will have to come back with maybe a couple of different lines of thought, like one on how 'curses' might actually be effective, but only when the victim believes it is working.

 

The nocebo effect! I'm always meaning to read up on it but never have. It's a really creepy thing.

 

 

 

 It's very true that men 'go nuts' and tend to lay blame in the most extreme ways, as in your historical example. 

 

Well, historical in only the very loosest sense, right But it's possible, isn't it, to imagine scenarios where the two sides, the sexes, have a very fragile equilibrium of power, with some few women able to help others to some degree of heath and reproductive success using a mixture of "magical" placebos and herbs that can really vary in potency and toxicity. And then comes the day someone makes a misstep... And maybe the witch has come to really believe in the charm because the placebo has always worked...

 

Edit: I really like Cannd's reviews on the current chapter. And yes, AC, we will darn you like a well-loved sock

Edited February 12, 2015 by Irritable1

[AC Benus]

I have a theory that many of a witch's customers would themselves have been women, hoping for a practitioner to achieve what "medicine" at the time could not: contraception, abortion, better lactation, or some way to save a child who was failing. And since some of that might've been about poisons, well....

 

Irri, your comments got me thinking about how superstition is arguably the oldest 'religion' in the world. And into that environment of belief there is a special place for people who can communicate with the unseen. This is where medicine and magic overlap. 

 

People have always paid others to intercede on their behalf (thus making 'religion' the world's true oldest profession..? ), and when results go wrong, people can be in danger, as in your example.

 

One of my major research information sources for this novel is Man, Myth & Magic. Richard Cavendish edited it and it first appeared in 1970 as a 3,376-paged, 24-volume encyclopedia set. When I was 8 years old, my dad gave me one of the books from the set, and I would spend hours pouring over the pictures and reading the entries. It was all very fascinating, and now that I think back on it as an adult, my parents were both remarkably open to exploration of such themes, and they never acted 'afraid' to lean more information about anything. I admire that about them immensely, now that I can appreciate it, and now that I see so many parents are closed-minded concerning many, many things.

 

As I was researching this book, Man, Myth & Magic opened my eyes to the way a curse can work in some cultures where a belief in them is strong. You mentioned the necebo effect and I find that fascinating too, because that almost implies the real power of a malediction to harm a person physically – that's scary poop! What I read was a bit more basic, namely that when a community believes a person has been hexed, they shun him; they force him to live alone; they want nothing to do with him in case the 'curse' washes off on them too. In that way the implication of a hex does all the work that the 'curse' is supposed to do on its own. Unless the victim does something to placate the one who placed it, the shunned person usually come to tragic end (either by murder to remove the danger to the community, or the victim takes his own life), and his death only reinforces the cultural belief that the 'curse' did its job.

 

I think that's very sad, but it still happens in many places around the world today.       

Edited February 18, 2015 by AC Benus

[AC Benus]

That is absolutely fascinating, AC !

 

Particularly when you think of the attitude of most Moslems and a huge portion of Christians today. I've always thought they 'ought to stop living in the Middle Age and join the modern world' but now I'll have to modify my inner rant.

In that sense, it would be good if religious extremists 'got medieval' on our ass, as then they'd be acting like rational, sane, grown-ups! We could do with some of that - even the supposedly 'nice' pope we've got now stood up and actively encouraged Slovenians just last week to vote in a national referendum to hate against the Gays and write discrimination into their legal code against us. "Who am I to judge," my ass! The vote - miracle of miracle from God - failed to gather the necessary quorum of cast ballots, so Slovenian LGBT people are safe for now, that is until the next vote.        

[AC Benus]

At the beginning of chapter 13, Emeric and Silviu are having a pleasant walk and pass by a restaurant situated in a former mansion. Here is what Hanu' Berarilor looks like from the outside:

 

http://100eyes.ro/mediaserver/q/0/1217a39df68ee33d16fe23526e34cbc8_view

 

And here is the restaurant's website with menu and more pictures. Be sure to click on "Photo Gallery" at the bottom of the page.

 

http://www.hanuberarilor.ro/en/#sample-menu-sc

 

 

It looks like a lovely place for a date, don’t you think..?