"Palanca" With The Gods

The farmer prays for rain, while the tourist prays for sun. The germans wanted Paul to be wrong, while the spanish were praying for a psychic octopus. More than six billion people in the world. Those who believe in God(s) (which I'm guessing is a huge number) all asking for different things.

Being a God has to be an arduous task. Overwhelming amounts of requests, sacrifices. Pleads, curses, wishes, cries. Who shall we please? What prayer shall we answer?

Thank GOD we can't even apply for the job. What we do have to worry about though, is making the Almighty listen to us.

It's actually very simple.

If an english teacher wants a book from, oh, lets say Argentina, and knows he wont be visiting any time soon, all he has to do is the following: take full advantage of the benefits of being a teacher and ask his Argentine student if it's not of any inconvenience to maybe stop by a bookstore and buy the book. The student will not refuse to this request (the teacher is of course, aware of this). And there you have it. All the teacher needs to do in order to get the book, is know who to ask.

Gods, like humans have rankings. Some are obviously more important than others. When human's prayers collide and contradict each other, the God of Gods decides which human he will please. He does this by looking back at who prayed to who. The secret lies in what God you plead to. Praying to relatives of the Almighty will definitely have its benefits.

Let's use the story of Palmoun, Arcite and Emelye as an example.

Palmoun prays to Venus:

"Have pitee of my bittre teeris smerte,
Have pity on my bitter, smarting tears,
And taak myn humble preyere at thyn herte.
And take my humble prayer to thy heart."

(2225-2226)

He continuous saying...


Thanne rekke I noght, whan I have lost my lyf,
Then I care not, when I have lost my life,
Though that Arcita wynne hire to his wyf.
Though Arcite win her to be his wife.
This is th'effect and ende of my preyere:
This is the substance and goal of my prayer:
Yif me my love, thow blisful lady deere."
Give me my love, thou blessed dear lady."

(2257-2260)

And to this, Venus responds:

"But atte laste the statue of Venus shook,
But at the last the statue of Venus shook,
And made a signe, wherby that he took
And made a sign, whereby he understood
That his preyere accepted was that day.
That his prayer was accepted that day."

(2265-2267)

Not bad, Palmoun. Lets continue.

Emelye decides to pray to Dyane.

"Chaste goddesse, wel wostow that I
Chaste goddess, well knowest thou that I
Desire to ben a mayden al my lyf
Desire to be a maiden all my life,
Ne nevere wol I be no love ne wyf.
Nor never will I be no lover nor wife."

(2304-2306)

To this she adds:

"And if so be thou wolt nat do me grace,
And if it so be thou wilt not do me grace,
Or if my destynee be shapen so
Or if my destiny is shaped so
That I shal nedes have oon of hem two,
That I must by necessity have one of them two,
Sende me hym that moost desireth me.
Send me him who most desires me."

(2322-2325)

Too bad for Emelye, her prayer will not be answered.

"Thou shalt ben wedded unto oon of tho
Thou shalt be wedded unto one of those
That han for thee so muchel care and wo,
Who have for thee so much care and woe,
But unto which of hem I may nat telle.
But unto which of them I may not tell.
Farwel, for I ne may no lenger dwelle.
Farwell, for I can stay no longer ."

(2152-2354)

Lastly, Arcite pleads to Mars.

"And do that I tomorwe have victorie.
And bring it about so that I have victory tomorrow.
Myn be the travaille, and thyn be the glorie!
Mine be the labor, and thine be the glory!
Thy sovereyn temple wol I moost honouren
I will most honor thy most excellent temple
Of any place, and alwey moost labour
Over any place, and always most labor"

(2405-2408)

Lucky him...


The statue of Mars bigan his hauberk rynge,
The statue of Mars began to ring its coat of mail,
And with that soun he herde a murmurynge
And with that sound he heard a murmuring
Ful lowe and dym, and seyde thus, "Victorie!"
Very low and faint, that said thus, "Victory!"
For which he yaf to Mars honour and glorie.
For which he (Arcite) gave to Mars honor and glory.

(2431-2434)

So the competition is between Palmoun and Arcite. Two completely opposite wishes. It's up to Saturn to decide.

"Now weep namoore; I shal doon diligence
Now weep no more; I shall do my diligence
That Palamon, that is thyn owene knyght,
So that Palamon, who is thine own knight,
Shal have his lady, as thou hast him hight.
Shall have his lady, as thou hast promised him."

(2470-2472)

Congratulations Palmoun!

In this case we see how Venus, being Saturn's daughter, had advantage over Dyane and Mars. Palmoun did well praying to the Goddess of love.

There you have it humans.

Next time you wish for something, you know what to do.