YASID: The Long Memories of Dragons

[John Savard]

I remember reading somewhere a mention of a memorable scene in a
fantasy novel.

A young man, who had devised a new and accurate calendar, noted that
one of the corrections it required to keep in accurate synchronization
with the seasons and so on... would happen only at very rare
intervals. He feared that the long period of disuse might lead ot the
correction being forgotten.

And so he went to the abode of the dragons. He made a request of them;
with their long lives and long memories, could they come and remind
humanity, which had adopted his calendar, of that correction when it
came due?

On hearing of this request, many of the dragons laughed.

The dragon to whom he spoke would not explain why they were laughing.

Of course, the reason is obvious to the reader - the long memories of
the dragons included the fact that, for long eons, no human
civilization had ever survived for nearly as long as the interval
until that calendrical correction would be required.

John Savard

[John Savard]

On Sat, 25 May 2024 19:00:54 -0600, John Savard

Post by John Savard
I remember reading somewhere a mention of a memorable scene in a
fantasy novel.
A young man, who had devised a new and accurate calendar, noted that
one of the corrections it required to keep in accurate synchronization
with the seasons and so on... would happen only at very rare
intervals. He feared that the long period of disuse might lead ot the
correction being forgotten.
And so he went to the abode of the dragons. He made a request of them;
with their long lives and long memories, could they come and remind
humanity, which had adopted his calendar, of that correction when it
came due?
On hearing of this request, many of the dragons laughed.
The dragon to whom he spoke would not explain why they were laughing.
Of course, the reason is obvious to the reader - the long memories of
the dragons included the fact that, for long eons, no human
civilization had ever survived for nearly as long as the interval
until that calendrical correction would be required.

First, I wondered where I might have seen that quotation, and so I
searched to see if it was in Calendrical Calculations, by Dershowitz
and Reingold, but it was not.

Then I wondered if I might have asked this question before, and so I
went to Google Groups, which still retains archival Usenet postings.

And indeed from there I saw the answer, which David DeLaney had given
me; I had gotten some details wrong; it was a woman, Segnbora, who
spoke to the dragons - and the passage was from a supplemental chapter
at the end of "The Door into Shadow" by Diane Duane.

John Savard

[John Savard]

On Sat, 25 May 2024 19:23:35 -0600, John Savard

Post by John Savard
And indeed from there I saw the answer, which David DeLaney had given
me; I had gotten some details wrong; it was a woman, Segnbora, who
spoke to the dragons - and the passage was from a supplemental chapter
at the end of "The Door into Shadow" by Diane Duane.

The actual passage involved was merely:

"The Dragons have promised to remind human beings
to insert another one-day intercalary day every 3300 years—though
there is still disagreement over why they laughed so hard when they
promised."

...so my memory had embellished it with considerable detail.

John Savard

[Charles Packer]

Post by John Savard
On Sat, 25 May 2024 19:23:35 -0600, John Savard

Post by John Savard
And indeed from there I saw the answer, which David DeLaney had given
me; I had gotten some details wrong; it was a woman, Segnbora, who spoke
to the dragons - and the passage was from a supplemental chapter at the
end of "The Door into Shadow" by Diane Duane.

"The Dragons have promised to remind human beings to insert another
one-day intercalary day every 3300 years—though there is still
disagreement over why they laughed so hard when they promised."
...so my memory had embellished it with considerable detail.
John Savard

And transformed a female protagonist into a male?
For shame! Typically patriarchal behavior.

Could you refresh my memory on how to search Google Groups?
Over the years I have tried occasionally, with mixed results.

[John Savard]

On Sun, 26 May 2024 07:55:17 -0000 (UTC), Charles Packer

Post by Charles Packer
Could you refresh my memory on how to search Google Groups?
Over the years I have tried occasionally, with mixed results.

The tricky part is - at least for me - that you have to remember to
correctly select, in the drop down box next to the search box, what it
is you want to search.

John Savard

[Charles Packer]

Post by John Savard
On Sun, 26 May 2024 07:55:17 -0000 (UTC), Charles Packer

Could you refresh my memory on how to search Google Groups? Over the
years I have tried occasionally, with mixed results.

The tricky part is - at least for me - that you have to remember to
correctly select, in the drop down box next to the search box, what it
is you want to search.
John Savard

I just tried this with "anti-gravity room" trying to pull up a thread
I once started in a space-science newsgroup (for information about a
space-camp commercial my stepdaughter told me about). All of the hits were
in rec.arts... or alt.folklore.urban; no science groups. That's the
kind of experience that I meant when I said "mixed results."

[Tony Nance]

Post by Charles Packer

Post by John Savard
On Sun, 26 May 2024 07:55:17 -0000 (UTC), Charles Packer

Could you refresh my memory on how to search Google Groups? Over the
years I have tried occasionally, with mixed results.

The tricky part is - at least for me - that you have to remember to
correctly select, in the drop down box next to the search box, what it
is you want to search.
John Savard

I just tried this with "anti-gravity room" trying to pull up a thread
I once started in a space-science newsgroup (for information about a
space-camp commercial my stepdaughter told me about). All of the hits were
in rec.arts... or alt.folklore.urban; no science groups. That's the
kind of experience that I meant when I said "mixed results."

If you first go to the specific Google Group you are searching
for/within (for example, this group is
https://groups.google.com/g/rec.arts.sf.written/ ),
then the down arrow in the Conversations field restricts your search to
that group.

Tony

[Charles Packer]

Post by Tony Nance

Post by John Savard
On Sun, 26 May 2024 07:55:17 -0000 (UTC), Charles Packer

Could you refresh my memory on how to search Google Groups? Over the
years I have tried occasionally, with mixed results.

The tricky part is - at least for me - that you have to remember to
correctly select, in the drop down box next to the search box, what it
is you want to search.
John Savard

I just tried this with "anti-gravity room" trying to pull up a thread I
once started in a space-science newsgroup (for information about a
space-camp commercial my stepdaughter told me about). All of the hits
were in rec.arts... or alt.folklore.urban; no science groups. That's
the kind of experience that I meant when I said "mixed results."

If you first go to the specific Google Group you are searching
for/within (for example, this group is
https://groups.google.com/g/rec.arts.sf.written/ ),
then the down arrow in the Conversations field restricts your search to
that group.

But if I don't remember which newsgroup within, say, sci.space hierarchy I
don't see any way to do a wild-card search within it.

[Tony Nance]

Post by Charles Packer

Post by Tony Nance

Post by John Savard
On Sun, 26 May 2024 07:55:17 -0000 (UTC), Charles Packer

Could you refresh my memory on how to search Google Groups? Over the
years I have tried occasionally, with mixed results.

The tricky part is - at least for me - that you have to remember to
correctly select, in the drop down box next to the search box, what it
is you want to search.
John Savard

I just tried this with "anti-gravity room" trying to pull up a thread I
once started in a space-science newsgroup (for information about a
space-camp commercial my stepdaughter told me about). All of the hits
were in rec.arts... or alt.folklore.urban; no science groups. That's
the kind of experience that I meant when I said "mixed results."

If you first go to the specific Google Group you are searching
for/within (for example, this group is
https://groups.google.com/g/rec.arts.sf.written/ ),
then the down arrow in the Conversations field restricts your search to
that group.

But if I don't remember which newsgroup within, say, sci.space hierarchy I
don't see any way to do a wild-card search within it.

Ah - that, I've never tried to do.
- Tony