Not P but Moby-Dick (10)

[Mike Jing]

OK, that's how I understood it. Thanks, Ian.

On Sat, Sep 16, 2023 at 5:33 PM Ian Livingston <igrlivingston at gmail.com>
wrote:

> You are correct, Mike. It is a sort of prayer, if you will: God, please
> never let me complete anything [so that others may continue the work]. It
> is an aspiration to be part of something greater than oneself.
>
> On Sat, Sep 16, 2023 at 1:51 PM Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> The following excerpt is from Chapter 32:
>>
>> For small erections may be finished by their first architects; grand ones,
>> true ones, ever leave the copestone to posterity. God keep me from ever
>> completing anything. This whole book is but a draught—nay, but the draught
>> of a draught. Oh, Time, Strength, Cash, and Patience!
>>
>> The previous translations treated "God keep me from ever completing
>> anything" as a statement, i.e. "God never allows me to finish anything."
>> That doesn't seem right, does it?
>> --
>> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>>
>