On Mon, Nov 29, 2010 at 1:07 PM, Deepa Mohan <[email protected]> wrote:
> I am an agnostic...I'd rather call myself an ignorantic, as I feel I just > don't know.. I am still unable to decide clearly if there is a God, or there > isn't. (Except, of course, the God who dwells in the bathroom, and makes the > mother say in exasperation, each morning, "Oh, God, are you still in > there?") > In Terry Pratchett's _DIscworld_, "oh gods" are an inferior sort of god. The oh god of hangovers has a leading role in _Hogfather_, which was pretty fun. Here's a bit of conversation with the Tooth Fairy's assistant: 'What sort of godding do you do?' said Violet. 'Er... oh, I... this and that... I... er...' Bilious tried to think through the pounding headache. And then he had one of those ideas, the kind that only sound good after a lot of alcohol. Someone else may have drunk the drinks, but he managed to snag the idea. 'I'm actually self-employed,' he said, as brightly as he could manage. 'How can you be a self-employed god?' 'Ah, well, you see, if any other god wants, perhaps, you know, a holiday or something, I cover for them. Yes. That's what I do.' Unwisely, in the circumstances, he let his inventiveness impress him. 'Oh, yes. I'm very busy. Rushed off my feet. They're always employing me. You've no idea. They don't think twice about pushing off for a month as a big white bull or a swan or something and it's always, "Oh, Bilious, old chap, just take care of things while I'm away, will you? Answer the prayers and so on." I hardly get a minute to myself but of course you can't turn down work these days.' Violet was round-eyed with fascination. 'And are you covering for anyone right now?' she asked. 'Um, yes... the God of Hangovers, actually...' 'A God of Hangovers? How awful!' Bilious looked down at his stained and wretched toga. 'I suppose it is...' he mumbled. 'You're not very good at it.' 'You don't have to tell me.' 'You're more cut out to be one of the important gods,' said Violet, admiringly. 'I can just see you as lo or Fate or one of those.' Bilious stared at her with his mouth open. 'I could tell at once you weren't right,' she went on. 'Not for some horrible little god. You could even be Offier with calves like yours.' 'Could I? I mean... oh, yes. Sometimes. Of course, I have to wear fangs-'
