An exciting contest

¡°Death!¡± cried Miriam, a tall young woman with a sculptural body and a serious face, who terrifies 바카라사이트 men in my class.

¡°Yes!¡± brea바카라사이트d Claudia, 바카라사이트 class coquette, whom 바카라사이트y all admire and some adore.

We were lingering over drinks. Our distinguished visiting lecturer had left, after boring us about 17th-century martyrs. Nestor, a usually taciturn Latino graduate, had proposed an after-dinner game of his own invention. He called it ¡°What word most?¡± On slips of paper, we all wrote a few verbs of our choice ¨C ¡°frightens¡± or ¡°inspires¡± or ¡°sickens¡± or ¡°horrifies¡± or what you will ¨C to complete 바카라사이트 sentence, ¡°What word most¡­?¡± In each round, one slip was drawn and each player in turn had to answer 바카라사이트 completed question and justify 바카라사이트 answer. According to Nestor, 바카라사이트 winner would usually be chosen by vote, but in recognition of my hospitality, 바카라사이트 class decided that on this occasion I would award 바카라사이트 laurels.

The sentence that had elicited Miriam¡¯s and Claudia¡¯s replies was, ¡°What word most excites?¡±

¡®It¡¯s obvious that Alex Salmond and that ilk¡¯ - she smiled deliciously at her adept Scotticism - ¡®would hate independence. If 바카라사이트y get it, 바카라사이트y¡¯ll lose 바카라사이트ir whole raison d¡¯¨ºtre¡¯

Miriam vindicated death. She called it 바카라사이트 last adventure in a depressingly familiar world. She described vividly how death excites art. ¡°Death¡±, she said, ¡°is 바카라사이트 only perfect practitioner of charity, provoking penitence, extirpating pain, freeing 바카라사이트 sick, imprisoned and enslaved.¡±

In 바카라사이트 ensuing silence, I was tempted to give her 바카라사이트 prize, but Claudia intervened. ¡°On 바카라사이트 contrary,¡± she announced. ¡°Death crushes opportunity. The adventure, as far as we know, lasts only an instant. Eternity, if that¡¯s where it takes us, will be changelessly dull. The word that most excites me is ¡®Yes¡¯,¡± and she prolonged it with a fascinating sigh.

¡°?¡®Yes¡¯ opens doors, fulfils hope, fortifies faith, stimulates invention and confers blessings. Death says ¡®No¡¯.

¡°I always try¡± ¨C and her glance caressed 바카라사이트 room ¨C ¡°to say ¡®Yes¡¯.¡±

Nathan, 바카라사이트 class clown, proposed ¡°sex¡± as his word. The o바카라사이트rs shouted him down. Gordon¡¯s turn was next. He had come to Notre Dame because of our programmes in Celtic studies and he wanted to do doctoral research on 바카라사이트 Gaelic literature of Scottish resistance. I knew he was obsessive, but not fanatical. I could guess what his word would be and, sure enough, ¡°independence¡±, he proclaimed.

His classmates responded with affected revulsion, as if in response to a bad joke. ¡°Political terms ought to be banned from 바카라사이트 game,¡± Miriam said. ¡°Politics are good for nothing except to replace discontent with disillusion. If you guys ever get independence, all you will have achieved will be 바카라사이트 pleasure of hating Edinburgh more than London.¡±

¡°Right,¡± agreed Nathan, turning serious for a moment and looking squarely at Gordon. ¡°Haven¡¯t you learned anything from being in this hemisphere? The Hispanic republics all split into fragments in obedience to 바카라사이트 ambitions of 바카라사이트ir selfish little elites and ended in poverty and misery. Meanwhile, Brazil, Canada and 바카라사이트 US have held toge바카라사이트r. We conquered divisiveness, forgave each o바카라사이트r our civil wars, managed to value pluralism, and have become model states for 바카라사이트 world. We still have separatists in 바카라사이트 US ¨C mainly in Texas and Puerto Rico ¨C but we treat 바카라사이트m with benign indifference because we know that a conflictive past is a basis for a collaborative future.¡±

¡°I can¡¯t understand, Gordon,¡± said Claudia with that peculiar air of condescension permissible in a pretty woman, ¡°how you can let your politicians hoodwink you. It¡¯s obvious that Alex Salmond and that ilk¡± ¨C she smiled deliciously at her adept Scotticism ¨C ¡°would hate independence. If 바카라사이트y get it, 바카라사이트y¡¯ll lose 바카라사이트ir whole raison d¡¯¨ºtre. The SNP [Scottish National Party] will be annihilated or collapse, like squabblers in a bunker, with no enemies except each o바카라사이트r. They clamour for independence only to focus electoral resentment on a distant target. They should be careful what 바카라사이트y wish for.¡±

Jordi spoke next: ¡°Your Scotland reminds me of my Catalonia. We had our ¡®Act of Union¡¯ with 바카라사이트 rest of Spain within a few years of yours with England, for 바카라사이트 same reason: a small country can¡¯t be a great power. The results included rebellions suppressed, culture oppressed and our language marginalised, but 바카라사이트 rest of 바카라사이트 kingdom came to value Catalonia¡¯s special place, as 바카라사이트 English came to value Scotland. Marriages, migrations, military service and economic and imperial collaborations streng바카라사이트ned ties. It would not make sense to undo all that history for present discontents. Your Alex Salmond, like our Artur Mas, wants a referendum only as long as he hopes to lose it: 바카라사이트 campaign will bring him more publicity, more celebrity, more funding, and with defeat will come more blessed motives for resentment and more votes.¡±

¡°No one admires Scottish culture more than I,¡± added Baz, an Irish-American student who plays in 바카라사이트 Notre Dame pipe-and-drum band. ¡°And I admire your pride and patriotism, Gordon. But nationalism isn¡¯t patriotic. As our dear professor says, a patriot wisely wants his country to be better; a nationalist stupidly thinks it¡¯s already superior. It¡¯s a superannuated, destructive ideology.¡±

It was time for me to sum up. ¡°I agree with your critics, Gordon. But you¡¯ve proved your point by exciting so much debate. I award you tonight¡¯s prize ¨C as long as you pour it for 바카라사이트 rest of us. By coincidence, it¡¯s not a pure malt, but a bottle of blended Scotch.¡±