MORE ASSORTED MUSINGS

In one of his songs, Joaquín Sabina says he is "inútil como el semen de los ahorcados", as useless as the semen of hanged men. Yet there is the belief that mandrakes, those sentient humanoid tubers, grow from the semen of hanged men... Is that so useless, then?

Speaking of mandrakes, my second favourite passage in Genesis (after the Joseph story) is the "mandrake arms race" between Rachel and Leah: the beautiful, childless younger sister and the homely, extremely fertile older sister. When Leah's eldest son Reuben finds some mandrakes... Leah is not loved by her husband Jacob, who cheats on her and prefers her sister-in-law, whom he loves (the marriage to Leah was of convenience) in spite of Rachel's infertility. Till Leah bribes Raye to nearly quit Jake and Jake back into bed with the cunning use of mandrakes, which Raye LOVED (mandrakes to her were like panna cotta to me), and which allegedly were an aphrodisiac and fertility raiser. Turned out Rachel needed those mandrakes to have children, but to nearly no avail... The arms race escalates until Leah has her ten boys and dies, Jacob remarries Rachel and Joseph is their first child. Of course, the whole mandrake ruse had given as a result most of the ten older stepbros, and the stage is set for the Joseph story proper.

Speaking of Rachel, Joseph's mum had another heroic moment in escaping her parents' home to join her sister and darling brother-in-law for love's sake. So Raye's clan has got these household gods (lares, or whatever they might be), little figurines of fertility gods... She steals them from her dad Laban to bring them with her for good luck. Eventually, Laban catches up with Jacob, Leah, and a Rachel who travels with them, in their camp. And Laban is furious because the household gods of the estate have somehow vanished. So Raye picks the best hideout for the little figures: she sits on them! When dad inquires, she gives this clever excuse for why she can't stand up: "Sorry, I've got the period!" Laban fell for it hook, line, and sinker.

Speaking of uselessness, nipples on a breastplate are far more useless than the semen of hanged men.

Speaking once more of Sabina, his lyrics are so baroque and full of allusions that I warmly recommend them.