Nadaraj

            On Sunday morning I finished working out the chords for “On n'est pas là pour se faire engueuler" (We Didn't Come Here to Be Shouted At) by Boris Vian. Next I'll have to go through the song in French and then in English. I might need to make some adjustments in the translation once I’ve fit the English lyrics with the melody.

            I worked on writing about my latest Food Bank Adventure.

            Around midday I mixed vinegar and baking soda and applied it with a toothbrush to my Nadaraj statue and the silver plated tray it stands on because both were long due for a cleaning and polishing. The Nadaraj is the destructive aspect of the Hindu god Siva in the form of a dancer beating a drum as he shakes apart the universe. “Nada" means "sound and “Raj” means “king” or “lord” and so the name together means “Lord of Sound".

            I pulled another one of my collages out of storage and cleaned it off. I couldn’t photograph it today because I would have to take it out on the deck where there is more light and where I can pin the corners down, and it looked like it could start raining at any time. I think I’ll soon take all my collages out that used to be on the walls and gradually clean them off and put them back up.

            I had the last of my Triscuits with cheese for lunch.

            I didn’t do my exercises in the afternoon or take a bike ride because I needed the time to finish writing my Food Bank Adventure. I finished it just before dinner.

            I had an egg, two sausages and a piece of toast with a beer while watching two episodes of  Robin Hood.

            In the first story an outlaw is robbing people in Sherwood Forest and his actions are outside of Robin Hood's code. He is stealing from rich and poor alike and the tale begins with him robbing Friar Tuck of the money that he has collected to give to the poor. He tells Tuck that he is one of Robin Hood’s men and that they rob from the church every day. When Tuck tells Robin of this he and his men go looking for him. The outlaw fires an arrow at a cottage door on Marian’s estate just as a serf opens it and the shaft hits the man in the chest. He is about to try to cut the arrow out when Marian arrives. He robs her of her broach, tells her to cut out the arrow and then steals her horse. Later Robin finds Marian’s horse and an arrow hits a tree near him. A man emerges from the trees and calls Robin by his name and Robin calls him Martin. Martin says he’s come to join his band. He says that he is wanted all over England and he seeks shelter in Sherwood. He is claiming a debt from seven years before during the Crusade when Martin saved Robin’s life. He is blindfolded and taken back to camp where Robin demands that he give back all of their money he stole from Tuck and from the serfs. Martin wants to go on a raid and so Robin arranges for him to help rob a cart that will be passing soon escorted by the sheriff’s men. Robin doesn't tell him that it's only a flour cart bound for the garrison and his plan is for the authorities to get a good look at Martin’s face so he won't want to stay around to be arrested. Martin is led out blindfolded but he is able to get free of Little John. As Robin watches from the trees Martin stops a nobleman on the path, not realizing that he is trying the rob the deputy sheriff. The deputy sheriff calmly lets Martin know that he’s surrounded. The deputy decides to kill Martin but Robin intervenes and disarms the cops. Robin has just saved Martin's life and so his debt to him is cancelled. Marian arrives and tells Robin that the man Martin shot has died. Robin tells Martin the purse he stole from the deputy must go to the dead man’s daughter and Robin wants Martin gone. Martin says they’ll have to fight over him leaving. Robin takes one of Martin's arrows and shoots it into the ground a distance away and he tells Martin to shoot one of his arrows. Then Martin will run to his arrow and Robin to his own and they will each have one arrow to shoot. But Martin shoots Robin’s arrow deep into a nearby tree and then runs. He easily reaches his own while Robin is struggling to remove his. Robin can only manoeuvre in such a way that he takes the arrow in the left arm, then he pulls it out and uses it to fire at Martin, killing him.

            In the second story Robin and his men are planning on relieving Prince John’s soldiers of a cart of wine that they stole from the local abbey. But a very crafty outlaw named Duncan from Scotland easily infiltrates Robin’s camp and tells him it's too late because he already stole the wine. He gives them the barrel. Marian arrives and Duncan immediately begins to charm her. Robin and Duncan engage in some swordplay before dinner but Duncan pulls a knife from his leg and pronounces Robin dead. Robin says it wasn’t a two weapon contest but Duncan says they don't play by fancy rules in Scotland. At dinner when Duncan hears that there are wild boar in the forest he wants to try hunting them since they don’t have boar in the highlands. He invites Marian to join him but Robin forbids it. Marian and Robin argue and she assures him he’s not her boss. Robin asks Duncan why he's really there and Duncan tells him he wants Robin and his men to come back to Scotland to help fight King William. Robin tells him his fight is in England. The next day Robin finds Marian and Duncan in the forest having already killed a boar. As Robin and Duncan are heading back to camp Duncan tells him he’s going to make fox haggis for his farewell dinner. He says he’s going to catch the slyest fox in England. He tells Robin that one cooks the haggis inside the fox and then throws the fox away because no decent man would eat fox meat. Then Duncan cuts a rope and Robin is caught in a trap and is suspended by a rope. Robin blows the emergency horn and the men leave the camp help him. Robin frees himself. Meanwhile Duncan returns to camp, goes into the supply hut, searches and then finally finds a specific dagger. Robin calls to him to come out fighting, They each fight with a sword and a knife until Robin wins. Duncan explains that he is not a common thief. The dagger he took is sacred to the highlanders and it was stolen by the Normans. When he heard that Robin had acquired it he came to get it and to bring it home. Robin lets him take it.