When she Sphinx was a mere thousand summers, she lived alone in the desert. No pyramids to grant her shade, nor company to be kept. A caravan of dubious merchants, with attendant laden camels, transporting dreams, near truths and spices, came to rest in the lea of her great paws. A sandstorm was threatening and the camels settled.
The Sphinx spoke them this wisdom,
When a corner is reached, at the end of a wall, the end of a street or the corner of a building, generally made of red brick. Everything around that corner is hidden and unknowable. On this side of the corner, the weather is in view, the people and livestock go about their business. If, by some unlucky circumstance, some animals, escaped from the zoo or a speeding getaway car, leaving the scene of the crime at pace, were evident, then one might take appropriate action, all in good time. A puddle, leftover from the morning shower, can be stepped over without incident. People can be greeted or avoided. In short, decisions can be made on the evidence given, with a good chance of a predictable outcome.
Around the corner, the unknown awaits in all its glory. There, a golden coin may be lost upon the pavement, an old friend, in need of a hug, might appear. Two antelopes might be, on secondment from the zoo, running amok at 90 miles an hour, or an opportune coffee shop, where interesting muffins might rest. In short, the unknown and unknowable. Should we then peek around the corner circumspectly, in order to spy the antelopes and or the muffins? Or should we boldly go where no person has gone before and step around the corner and shoulder the consequences.
The corner shop, a cornered rat, the corner cupboard, stand in the corner.
I live just around the corner, my knees are always bent and I can’t quite see. It is brick, always brick, but sometimes stone. I might ask a local inhabitant, who knows the ins and outs, to list the dangers that I might encounter around the corner, but she or he might think that I mean around the bend, which is of course another kettle entirely.
One can always employ a Cornerscope of course, which is like a periscope, only corner. A Cornerscope is effectively some mirrors in a box, though presented in a stylish casing and with a zoom and focus option for the hard of hearing. A lot like the sneaky spy soldiers who have to look around corners to check for armed guards or hostile types, without getting their ears shot off.
With a Cornerscope one might see the antelopes, there are always two, or a rhinoceros, there is usually only one, in fact there can be only one, like in the Highlander movie. Then, knowing that the world around the corner is full of thundering hooves, one might decide to rest a while before having another look. Or taking fright, one might decide to retreat homewards and hide behind the sofa with the others.
Of course, some corners are furnished with permanent mirrors, often situated to conveniently aid cars when turning out onto a busy thorough fare. But never enough. Perhaps in future, corners should be peppered with street furniture to warn the unwary. Examples might include, Attention Galloping Antelopes in the area, Slippery when Wet, Forklift Operating Area, Hot Surfaces, Look out for the Rhinoceros or Beware Emotional Entanglements.
When the animals have passed, they are now somebody else’s problem, take a second peek and see if the friend in need of a hug is approaching. This is a difficult one. If, say, one is not up to giving someone a hug just at that moment, one might not have a hug to spare, one would have to turn tail and run. And even then, the friend might turn the corner, see you legging it into the distance and become further upset. Unacceptable.
So, it is best, when all said, to turn the corner, having read the signs, with a modicum of circumspection and a handy walking stick, to take on what the next street may bring and get on with it. The antelopes may be able to leap over you or do the savannah dodge into the waiting traffic, but I suspect that the rhinoceros will not even pause whilst crushing your future beneath its hooves. How To Take Down a Bewildered Rhinoceros is a thin pamphlet.
Of course you may then encounter the friend, who is looking a little lost, and hail them in a friendly manner, walk up to them, and, eschewing the proffered hand, go in for a full-on hug. This action may then break the dam of tears and she may lean her head upon your shoulder, you may say, whilst handing her a clean tissue, Come on, lets pop in here for a coffee, I can see that they do some interesting muffins. Later that day you may be married, who knows.
It is best not to try this with the rhinoceros as they don’t eat muffins and cry all the time, so that it is hard to gauge their emotional state. In their resting state, whilst rummaging amongst the thorn bushes for a morsel, they are almost devoid of brain activity, but should you insult them or ask them a tricky question, such that they feel you are taking advantage of them, they can become angry extremely fast. It is thought that the Northern White Rhino has the fastest transition from content to anger of any animal, although I once knew a man who took offence at the drop of a hat.
Antelopes, on the other hand, have a rich and complex emotional life, moving about in large social groups, where everyone knows each other’s name. They prefer to maintain open relationships in which the participants have an understanding. Muffins and coffee shops just don’t come into it, preferring instead long meetings in shaded areas to discuss migration and failing rains.
It is really down to you, now that you are married to the huggee, whether you make a go of it and have a rampaging family life which fills you up, or discover that you rushed into the marriage over coffee and muffins, and that you really have very little in common, except finding yourselves at that corner of the street. Who knows.
Perhaps you might pick up the golden doubloon, dropped earlier by a fisherman whilst evading the wildlife, and take it to the lost and found office. You might tell them that the doubloon has been lost and found, and they might give you a slip of paper that attests to the honesty of your character, which you could frame and pin on the wall above your desk.
When the dust storm abated, the caravan of wiser merchants made their way and could be seen no more.
Interesting tale, said the Eyes, when Sheba had finished, Not at all what I was expecting. I had hope for an adventure of daring do, in which some golden hearted pirates escape the clutches of the officious naval patrols and then spend riotous evenings in a Caribbean port. But I think that upon reflexion there are sufficient take aways from your tale to teach a thing or two about moving forwards in life and should therefore be sufficient to bring about the appearance of my fingers.
I retire now to my quarters, and I hope that tomorrow you, Ser Knight, might regale me with some fascinating tale that will precipitate the return of my knees.
I shall endeavour to do my best, said the Blue Knight.
The Guardians of the Cave 