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QI Quiz No 010 Culture club
Independent on Sunday, The, Jan 1, 2006
Among the many reasons to celebrate the first day of the year, the birthday of Sir James George Frazer (1854-1941) ought to be one. His book, The Golden Bough remains one of the great tomes of the 20th century, a vast compendium of folklore and myth that simultaneously communicates the strangeness and similarities of other cultures. It scandalised small- minded Christians, but inspired a whole generation of writers and philosophers, and, despite its Euro-centric snootiness, is still a hugely entertaining read. Who can resist discovering that the Incas keep the dried umbilical cord to use as the child's chew-toy, or that the Ainu in Japan recommend swallowing the heart of a water ouzel as a spur to courage?
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Here are more gems from Frazer's collection. Spot the one we've made up:
a In Albania, locusts are drowned and then given a full burial service in an attempt to prevent the loss of crops
b Swiss woodsmen ask the mistletoe to pardon them before cutting it
c In the Moluccas, a clove-tree in flower is treated like a pregnant woman " hats must be removed and voices lowered in its presence
d Among the mountain tribes of south-east Africa the ears are believed to be the seat of intelligence
e Inuit fisherman collect the bladders of all sea-beasts they kill, and throw an annual party to encourage their reincarnation
Send answers on a postcard marked QI 010 to the usual address, left, by 6 January, or email: qiquiz@independent.co.uk. Three winners will each receive a copy of 'The QI DVD', priced pounds 19.99. Quiz compiled by the research team at 'QI', the BBC2 show, www.qi.com
QI Quiz 008 answer:
d Christopher Colombus spoke the Genovese dialect as his first language. He learnt to read and write in Spanish and Latin but never Italian, which was then considered proof of low birth.
Winners H Salmon, London; L Collins, Isleworth; P Maitland, Halesworth, Suffolk.
Copyright 2006 Independent Newspapers UK Limited
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