Saturday 21 April 2012

The Naming Ceremony!

First of all, thanks to everyone who read my guest's post this week, Pegasus Pedals!
If by any chance you missed it, please have a read - that man is going places on his bicycle.
Literally. And for a good cause.

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And more thanks!
Thank you dear Readers, for the many and various suggestions you kindly offered when I appealed for help in naming the Golden Princess.

I have now had a long chat with her Imperial Highness.
We sat in the sunshine and discussed the matter in depth. Napoleon, who finds being an Emperor quite tiring, was having one of his regular naps nearby.

Napoleon gets very tired




'It's high time you chose your name,' I said. 'Everyone is waiting with baited breath.'
She looked unmoved by this admonition and ate some more grass.
She loves grass.

The Princess didn't appear to be listening





'Here is the list,' I continued. I wasn't at all sure I had her full attention. 'Eugenie, Zarina, Orianna, Sheba, Aurelie, Constanza, Beatrice, Christabella, Grace, Countess Markievicz, Cleopatra, Charlotte, Christina, Elizabeth, Orla, Gwendoline, Pauline, Gilda, Titania and Beauharnais. There's also -' I hesitated and then ploughed on: 'Chickadee, Edna, Dolly and Mrs Smith.'

I was slightly out of breath, but happy to see that she had stopped eating at last and was listening intently.

'Yes, those will do nicely,' she said and turned to walk away.


'You can't have them all!' I protested.
'Why not?' she asked. 'Princesses always have lots of names.'
'Empress...'Napoleon spluttered in the background. He had obviously woken up. 'Not just Princess. Empress. Always be an Empress to me...'
She ducked her head coyly at this tribute and Napoleon crowed loudly to cover his embarrassment. 'Dolly,' he squawked thoughtfully. 'Rather like Dolly.'
'Dolly?' I exclaimed. 'But what about Eugenie? Cleopatra? Something with a royal ring!'

The Princess started eating the grass again, and it seemed that as far as she was concerned, the conversation was over.
'Twenty four names is all well and good,' I said. 'But what am I going to call you every day?'
We had by now attracted an attentive audience.

An attentive audience


 

The Golden Princess thought for a moment, her head on one side.

'Mrs Smith,' she said at last.
Napoleon uttered a strangled noise. 'Mrs Smith?' He ran after her, frantically flexing one wing. 'But Empress...!' he repeated, faint but persisting, and then he stopped. 'What about Dolly?' I heard him say tentatively. 'Rather like Dolly,'


Napoleon ran after Mrs Smith





I left them to it. I know when I've been put in my place. Evidently we are not yet on first name terms.
Mrs Smith it shall be. And prizes will be awarded accordingly.
Perhaps one day I'll be permitted to call her Eugenie Zarina Orianna Sheba Aurelie Constanza Beatrice Christabella Grace etc etc...

However, in the privacy of the boudoir, it sounds like she's going to be Dolly.

20 comments:

  1. yeepee....Mrs. Smith won....Mr. Smith would be very proud of her .... and comment it with his usual twinkle

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    Replies
    1. And when she had all those amazing names to choose from...! Napoleon's nose is still out of joint - why not Mrs Bonaparte, he keeps asking me.

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  2. by the way I like Napoleoon running after Mrs. Smith :)

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  3. A wise choice, as obseqious sommeliers say in pretentious restaurants. Here's a suggestion for your next cockerel - Attila.Though of course we know Napoleon to be immortal....

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    Replies
    1. We might end up calling him Hunny, though and that would never do for his male pride.

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  4. Delightfully decided. Just as well it's not left to us mere mortals.
    And I loved the sonnet!
    L

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, on both counts. Yes - I would have been hard pressed to choose if it had been left to me.

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  5. Made me laugh, don't you just love that one winged shuffle they dance!

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    1. I find it hilarious. It is Mohammed Ali all over - 'I am the greatest!'

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  6. It appears that as most of us were going for royal, the Golden Princess preferred to relate to us commoners. No shades of Marie Antoinette for her. Way to go, girl!

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    1. I know! I was all set for something regal and beautiful! I'm still in shock! Still, it's a comfort to know she is keeping all those wonderful names as well.

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  7. You are going to have fun at the vet's registering her under all those names...
    Have you read Corvus by Esther Woolfson?
    She has a crow, Madame Chickenboumskaya, named after a new york drag artist. She is called Chicken for every day wear.

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    Replies
    1. What a gas! I haven't heard of that book. Wonderful name.

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  8. I note blogspot is being fussy again. that took three goes to post.

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    1. I don't know what it is with these blogs. It is enough to drive one demented. As you will have noticed from my comments on your blog, I have started a WordPress blog simply, merely, only and for no other reason than to be able to COMMENT! The lengths one is driven to...

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    2. PS Thanks for persevering. Have resisted the temptation to look at your sunshine pic until I have sorted my own out!

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  9. Another wonderfully written post. You deserve a prize... http://ju-musings-on-life.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/i-have-prize.html

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  10. Ju - thank you! Your comment is prize enough, without the additional bonus of an award! How kind of you. I shall look into how to 'apply' it via the link. I am very honoured.

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  11. I think Dolly, and Mrs Smith for formality, is wonderfully chosen :o) She is his Dolly-bird after all!

    As far as blogger is concerned, if you have the captcha working - everyone seems to hate it now, I suggest removing it and using moderation instead by going into the old blogger interface whilst you still can (cog at top right when in dashboard design thingy) and then into settings > comments > word verification. Blogger is forcing us all over to the new user interface and deleting the old one next month... and then it will be harder to opt out of word verification captcha and you might lose comments.

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  12. Hi June - thank you for your comments. Yes, I quite see why they chose Dolly and Mrs Smith between them - the names just suit her down to the ground (which isn't very far!)

    Thanks for the word of advice about Blogger's old interface. I don't have word verification because I think it is a right royal pain. Interesting to know that the old interface is going to disappear. I've been using the new one for awhile, but the old one did have its benefits!

    Love some of the illustrations on your websites!

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