I came across this quote from a farcial work of the 13th century titled La Riot du Monde. It's about why the author doesn't like children, and it could have been written today with a couple of minor adaptations. Just replace 'horses and carts' with 'cars''I have never cared for children, little, medium sized or big: the little one is hard to rear and does not let the people sleep at night; the middle-sized one runs down the street and must be kept from horses and carts; the big one battles with father and mother to get rich estates, and he has to be brought back continually from the taverns.'
It's us as we were then, and them as we are now, and that comforts me and makes me smile.
7 comments:
That's just uncanny!
zornhau:
It's not really uncanny, people in all cultures and ages have complained about the difficulties of raising childre as far back as the amcient Greeks! No wonder this person was complaining about how hard it is to raise kids in the Middle Ages. Just exactly the way at least some people complain about raising kids today. The big difference between "now" and "then" is the presumed gender of the child. Nowadays, it would be as likely for someone to complain that is hard to raise a "she" as a "he".
Anne g
Fabulous, Elizabeth! I love it.
Loved this insight from the past. It sure reminds us that much of life is still the same after these many centuries. Thanks for sharing Elizabeth ;-)
What a lovely quote!
Reminds me of something Jonathan Swift might say...I just imagine him saying, "Eww women. Ew (English) children."
That raised quite a smile at this end!
Post a Comment