Ethnic comedians, especially Asians, in Australia are few but there was an ethnic young Viet bloke, whom I do enjoy listening to. He wisely developed his specialty on jokes about Viet Aussies. I recall one which went like so:
“How do you know a Vietnamese burglar has entered your house?” – an obvious jab at or humorous play of accusations of Vietnamese crimes in Australia.
The funny answer which pre-empted any overly sensitive ethnic reaction to the joke:
“Your dog‘s fed, laundry done and shirts all ironed up, and the homework’s done.”
Well, it seems in real life, at least in China, that was what happened except that the burglary was not for illegal profit but for love.
A love-sick Chinese bloke repeatedly broke into the home of a neighbour he secretly has the hots for, or to be really fair, it’s not just lust but he actually loves her (or at least he thinks so).
He would sneak into her house whenever she wasn’t in, and flicked her bra and some photos. He did that 5 times before he was caught red-handed walking out of the neighbor's apartment with a key to her door, another bra, two photographs and her MP3 player.
When he front up at a Chinese court, he confessed to the burglary, and told the court that he entered the woman's apartment while she was out, washed her dishes, did her laundry, left her snacks and even fixed her computer (I need a good looking sweetheart to do this for me), & even once planted a note in the apartment that attempted to reassure his sweetheart: "Don't panic. I hope you can understand my feelings for you."
Apparently our Romeo-anonymous had placed a bet with his roommate that he would win her heart, though I am not too sure of his tactics. He told the court he swiped the woman's MP3 player because it was in need of repair, but admitted he took her bra and photos out of love for her, but lacked the courage to speak to her
And who said that Chinese courts are cold and utterly heartless, for the judge of the Harbin court let him off by dismissing even the harassment charges against the burglar.
Omnia Vincit Amor.
Great story. You used the latin saying Omnia Vincit Amor which is actually my favourite. However, I used to write is as amour vincit omnia which is a direct traslation from english to Latin and maybe wrong.
ReplyDeleteNo, you aren't wrong as Latin is an inflected language where it doesn't necessarily follow the English structure of subject-verb-object, which you have attempted to present. The ending of the word tells the reader what it is - subject or object.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, the more usual case would be Amor Omnia Vincit, where the verb is at the end, after the subject-object but my Latin isn't that good as to explain why the classical presentation for this phrase is Omnia Vincit Amor. It may have to do with emphasis or rhythm.
My old-school-motto was labor omnia vincit. I’m quite sure it still is – although I’ve left it behind close to three decades. I’ve often wondered why it wasn’t omnia vincit amor, for, between love and labour, I’m pretty sure love is of the higher order. That which labour couldn’t conquer, I’ve come to believe love probably would. Which is why I continue to wonder – without an answer – if only the Institution’s motto had been different, whether I would still have lost my first associate, Elysium at Light Street, just an ironical stone’s throw from Love Lane.
ReplyDelete;-) The thing I love about Light Street was the Convent school there, or more correctly its students wakakaka
ReplyDelete