Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

Episode 4: Separating Facts from Assumptions

Separating Facts from Assumptions

The King picked up the thread as his mind filled with questions.

"Tell me," asked the Sultan, "is a woman an animal?'

"In my view she is not!"

"Then why can you purchase one at the Bizarre for the price of three camels?"

"There too, a man can be purchased. This does not make her the same as an animal."

"And why not?"

"Because if she were so defined, then a man too must be adjudged an animal."

"Yes--- of course."

"Man has been placed on the earth to have dominion over the animals, just as God has dominion over men."

"I see, so we are something more than an animal but something less that a God?"

"This I believe is true."

"You don’t know it for a fact, but you believe it to be one?"

"Yes.'

"So it really isn't a fact…"

"In the context of the Greek Process of Reason, godless as it sounds, it would be classified as an assumption."

"So whether we are Gods, Men or Animals, what we truely are cannot be proven using the Greek method?"

"They would term it 'Unknowable.'"

"However, what is 'knowable' is that a woman’s Moon, unlike that of an animal, is invisible."

"... Suggesting we are of a higher order, does it not?

Let's not waste time conjecturing but rather in separating fact from assumpton."

"Yes my Lord. A woman’s heat is invisible. There’s no alluring scent, no swelling and no easily discernable friskiness. While many might claim otherwise, a Bitch and a woman have nothing in common."

"We’ll consider that an assumption and use it should we find it bears on the problem. For now let’s stick to the facts. Review for me how a woman’s moon works."

"It has the same duration as the moon’s cycle, hence the term 'A Woman’s Moon.'”

"Is it possible for a man and woman to copulate when she is tainted?"

"Of course My Lord. Such behavior is forever possible, but by convention is frowned upon."

"...And why the convention?"

"Because a woman is tainted during this period and for a man to take her while unclean, would taint himself as well."

"Nothing a little soap and water couldn’t wash away."

"As I said, 'Possible' but for the God-Fearing, to wallow in the menses is profane."

"Could a woman become pregnant if this profanity were overlooked?"

"Since the Faithful choose to abstain, obviously pregnancy is not possible."

"Answer the question!"

"I don’t know the answer."

"If the only time that a man and wife choose to copulate is during the taint, could a woman become pregnant?"

"As I already said, I don’t know the answer."

"So to say that it can’t happen is an assumption?"

"So it would appear My Lord."

"Very well then. For now we'll assume that whatever convention a man and wife choose to follow…. having sexual intercourse during the taint period will not lead to conception."

"It is a fair assumption since it's unproveable and certainly true."

"What's the duration of the taint period?"

"Four to seven days with five being the expectation."

"...And the duration of a month?"

"Twenty-eight to thirty-one days."

"...With the expectation being thirty. So for purposes of discussion, the moon's cycle is thirty days...and of these thirty days the first five are tainted, which we have chosen not to consider as possibilities for conception."

"In this we share agreement."

"And, if a woman has sex with a man she will conceive somewhere between the fifth and the thirtieth day?"

"So it would seem."

"And if we marked the days on a calendar we would see the range of possible days as twenty-five."

"Yes, Yes, Your Magnaificance, but what does all this have to do with siring a son?"

"Hmmmm," said the King stroking his beard