================= Gravity's Rainbow ================= :by: Thomas Pynchon Excellent German Words ---------------------- These are some of my favorites from http://www.hyperarts.com/pynchon/gravity/extra/german.html Weltschmerz world-weariness Leunahalluziationen gasoline hallucination Schweinheldfest pig-hero festival Purpurstoff purple substance Folgsamkeitfaktor obedience factor Versuchsanstalt research institute, experimental station Urstoff primordial stuff Kadavergehorsamkeit corpse-like obedience, i.e., slavish obedience Hinterhof back-courtyard Bohnenkaffee pure coffee Rocket Limericks ---------------- *(These are interspersed on pages 305-335)* | There once was a thing called a V-2 | To pilot which you did not need to- | You just pushed a button, | And it would leave nuttin' | But stiffs and big holes and debris, too. | | | Ja, ja, ja, ja! | In Prussia they never eat pussy! | There ain't hardly cats enough, | There's garbage and that's enough, | So waltz me around again, Russky! | | There was a young fellow named Crockett, | Who had an affair with a rocket. | If you saw them out there | You'd be tempted to stare, | But if you ain't tried it, don't knock it! | | There was a young fellow named Hector, | Who was fond of a launcher-erector. | But the squishes and pops | Of acute pressure drops | Wrecked Hector's hydraulic connector. | | There once was a fellow named Moorehead, | Who had an affair with a warhead. | His wife moved away | The very next day- | She *was* always kind of a sorehead. | | There was a technician named Urban, | Who had an affair with a turbine. | "It's much nicer," he said, | "Than a woman in bed, | And it's sure as hell cheaper than bourbon!" | | There once was a fellow named Slattery | Who was fond of the course-gyro battery. | With that 50-volt shock, | What was left of his cock | Was all slimy and sloppy and spattery. | | There was a young fellow named Pope, | Who plugged into an *os*-cillo-*scope*. | The cyclical trace | Of their carnal embrace | Had a damn nearly infinite slope. | | There was a young fellow named Yuri, | Fucked the nozzle right up its venturi. | He had woes without cease | From his local police, | And a hell of a time with the jury | | There was a young man named McGuire, | Who was fond of the pitch amplifier. | But a number of shorts | Left him covered with warts, | And set half the bedroom on fire. | | There once was a fellow named Ritter, | Who slept with a guidance transmitter. | It shriveled his cock, | Which fell off in his sock, | And made him exceedingly bitter. | | There once was a fellow named Schroeder, | Who buggered the vane servomotor. | He soon grew a prong | On the end of his schlong, | And hired himself a promoter. | | There was a young man from Decatur, | Who slept with a LOX generator. | His balls and his prick | Froze solid read quick, | And his asshole a little bit later.