ATDDTA(10):

[Mark Kohut]

That eagle-dropping possibility is b-brilliant and never came close to my consciousness when I read it. I figured it was a marmot--like a squirrel! 
   
  Since eagles and other birds of prey fly steadily throughout ATD, and I never knew this great Claudius story either.
   
  Yea, we 'pynchon fans' don't read much, yeahp....
   
  Thanks,
  MK

kelber at mindspring.com wrote:
  The idea of an eagle dropping a marmot on the roof, shaking things up, seems to make the most sense. It recalls Robert Graves', "I, Claudius." In his account, when the future Emperor Claudius was a child, and presumed to be virtually retarded, an eagle dropped a half-eaten wolf-pup into his arms. It was prophesied that the damged wolf-pup was Rome and that Claudius would grow up to protect it.

So the marmot dropped by an eagle could be a prophesy of sorts for Sloat. He's frightened enough that he spills his soup. Soon after, afraid, he leaves, eventually to be killed.

As to your Beavis and Butthead parallels, that seems head on. Good catch!

Laura

-----Original Message-----
>From: Keith 

>(3) Something hits the roof hard enough to splash the soup right out 
>of Sloat's bowl. He uses this as evidence that his belief in the bad 
>luck of bathing is not crazy.
>
>What hit the roof so hard, and from whence cometh it?
>
>(4) Lake's response is: "Goodness, it's a marmot."
>
>What is the "it" to which Lake refers?
>
>(a) Was it a marmot that hit the roof? If so, we have some explaining 
>to do, because marmots are burrowing animals not known to climb trees 
>or find themselves airborne. Oddly enough, in the 5th century B.C., 
>they were miners of sorts, as their burrowing was known to dig up 
>gold in the Himalayas. Herodotus thought they were 'gold-digging 
>ants.'* They are prey for the eagle, however, and in some folk tales, 
>captured marmots are known to be dropped from some altitude into the 
>eagle's nest.** So, one possibility is that the bang on the roof was 
>a dropped marmot. But, marmots aren't really big enough to shake soup 
>are they? If so, perhaps it would fit with the 'As above, so below' 
>motif.

>
>
>



       
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