Remember Remember The Fifth Of November ....

Remember remember the Fifth of November
Gunpowder treason and plot
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.

The nursery rhyme written exclusively for Guy Fawkes Day in 1605 England, where a group of conspirators were plotting to bomb the Parliament House. They were all hanged for treason, but their idea lingered on.

So sayeth V, while he tried to bomb the Big Ben of London in the opening scene of "V For Vendetta". Beautiful language, beautiful speech, and I love the way he manages to enrich my sparse vocabulary by speaking in all kinds of words beginning with the letter 'V'.

The movie itself was on oppression by the government of its people, and only through mass rallies, riots and bombs to make statements that the government could be overthrown. Thus, gunpowder treason should be a lesson not just on the public minds, but also the government in order to have peace.

My friend loves the show, and he is in awe of the way the character V was speaking. He says he wished he could speak like that. Fast, fluent, real proper English, yet manages to get the message across at the same time.

Speaking of the beauty of the English language, I managed to get a treasure yesterday. A treaure to me, at least, in the form of a thick hard-cover book with gold-lined pages and printed on thin white paper, with the title "Shakespeare : The Complete Works", and a colour portrait of the Bard himself on the cover.

I cannot believe I actually found it at a rental book store! I have been looking for a book like this for ages! A compilation of all of Shakespeare's works in chronological order, from his first play to his last, his poems and sonnets, with a biography and an introduction. What a find!

I was rather hesitant to get the book, since it was rather expensive, but I succumbed to temptation and so, the book is now in my hands! And I must say, the bookstore owner seemed relieved to get rid of that book, probably because no one would ever buy it. I am probably the only one insane enough to get a book like this - thick, bulky, heavy, very small print, expensive.

But now that such a treasure is in my hands, I will slowly devour page by page, and immerse myself in the beauty of the olde English language once again! Now if only I can get my hands on the chocolate book, it will be another treasure for me!