Tales from the Guide...
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The Guide explains that it is the exception which proves the rule. It goes on to give this example.
Long ago, the Gloops of Alpha Nucleii, sited on the far side of the Galacticus Quadrant, were in thrall to the Thargs of the Grand Imperial Empire of Maxorphius. On the last evening of every bi-millennium cycle of the two Suns of Antiochus, which was, The Guide explained, the equivalent of two standard solar system weeks, Thargs from the Empire would arrive to tax the poor Gloops of all wealth produced since their last raid.
This left the Gloops permanently overdrawn at Grimgolds, the Galactic Bank, and the Gloops were pretty fed up about it.
`What can we do?' wailed the Gloops to each other after the most recent raid. `We have tried resistance, we have tried reason, we have tried running away, nothing works. `The Thargs are a zillion times stronger than us, will no more listen to reason than the putrefying sponges of Planetoid Desolatoria, and win all the running Golds in the Pan Galactic Olympics. They can never be defeated. The Thargs rule us; the Thargs rule everyone. The Thargs shall rule us for evermore.'
And so, the tyrannical reign of the Thargs continued.
The Guide flicked to the next screen and continued the tale.
Eventually, having exhausted all possible ideas for freeing themselves from the ravenous Thargs, the Gloops turned to the lawyers.
`You see,' explained the Gloops, `the Thargs are all powerful and shall rule us and everyone for evermore. What can we do?'
`Pay us in advance,' the senior lawyer demanded. The Gloops were ready for this, and had booked their lawyers' appointment the day before the Thargs were due, so as to have the necessary legal fees. These, they handed over.
The lawyers retired and deliberated. In due course they emerged from their chambers.
`Can you help us?' pleaded the Gloops. The lawyers turned to each other and nodded knowingly.
`Yes, we can.'
The Gloops were overjoyed, but a little cautious, for the Thargs were all powerful.
`How can you help us? The Thargs rule us; the Thargs rule everyone, the Thargs shall rule us for evermore.'
The lawyers looked down at the Gloops and explained.
`The Thargs rule, you say. They rule everyone. They are stronger, deafer and faster than you. It follows that if you refuse to be ruled by them you will be the exception.'
`Go on...' encouraged the Gloops.
`...And it is forewritten in all the Good Books that it is the exception which proves the rule.'
`...er...'
`So when the Thargs turn up tomorrow to tax your wealth once more, you must defy them.'
The Gloops shivered.
`Defy them? They will turn on us with their all-powerful whirlyblaagblasters, and eviscerate us to extinction.'
The lawyers smiled the smile of those who chose the right career.
`No they won't. You see, it is written that it is the exception which proves the rule, so by defying them as no one else would dare, you are the exception which proves they rule. If they continue to rule over you they will no have an exception to prove their rule, and will consequently no longer rule over anyone.' The lawyers beamed. `You've got them, see?'
The Gloops did not see, but they trusted the lawyers. Next day, when the Thargs arrived with their taxing ledgers, the Gloops defied them.
`We've got you,' the Gloops exulted. `We are the exception which proves that you rule. If you attempt to rule us we will no longer be the exception and your rule will not be proven.'
The Thargs turned on the Gloops with their all-powerful whirlyblaagblasters and eviscerated them.
What the lawyers had forgotten, the Guide concluded, was that if it is the exception which proves the rule, there must be an exception to this.
The only exception, states the Guide, to the rule that it is the exception which proves the rule, is that the lawyers always get their fees up front.
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A must have for all bookshelves.
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This is a review of the product, rather than the books themselves. This is all five of the "trilogy in five parts"; Douglas Adam's Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Life, the Universe and Everything, So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish and Mostly Harmless. This is essential for any avid reader, and at this price (currently £4.50) it is an absolute steal.
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