{"id":"01KG8AKPBCSY9YHFTJRDAG2TDX","cid":"bafkreiegso4vacq5zhimylrnvsw5nidcsu7gf7qu2jrqyodppnapikjif4","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":3545,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:09.927Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 1","source_file":"01KG89J1954N2G0NAERBNJXEX9","start_line":3462,"text":"CHAPTER XXVII.\r\nBabbalanja Falleth Upon Pimminee Tooth And Nail\r\n\r\n\r\nThe levee over, waiving further civilities, we took courteus leave of\r\nthe Begum and Nimni, and proceeding to the beach, very soon were\r\nembarked.\r\n\r\nWhen all were pleasantly seated beneath the canopy, pipes in full\r\nblast, calabashes revolving, and the paddlers quietly urging us along,\r\nMedia proposed that, for the benefit of the company, some one present,\r\nin a pithy, whiffy sentence or two, should sum up the character of the\r\nTapparians; and ended by nominating Babbalanja to that office.\r\n\r\n“Come, philosopher: let us see in how few syllables you can put the\r\nbrand on those Tapparians.”\r\n\r\n“Pardon me, my lord, but you must permit me to ponder awhile; nothing\r\nrequires more time, than to be brief. An example: they say that in\r\nconversation old Bardianna dealt in nothing but trisyllabic sentences.\r\nHis talk was thunder peals: sounding reports, but long intervals.”\r\n\r\n“The devil take old Bardianna. And would that the grave-digger had\r\nburied his Ponderings, along with his other remains. Can none be in\r\nyour company, Babbalanja, but you must perforce make them hob-a-nob\r\nwith that old prater? A brand for the Tapparians! that is what we\r\nseek.”\r\n\r\n“You shall have it, my lord. Full to the brim of themselves, for that\r\nreason, the Tapparians are the emptiest of mortals.”\r\n\r\n“A good blow and well planted, Babbalanja.”\r\n\r\n“In sooth, a most excellent saying; it should be carved upon his\r\ntombstone,” said Mohi, slowly withdrawing his pipe.\r\n\r\n“What! would you have my epitaph read thus:—‘Here lies the emptiest of\r\nmortals, who was full of himself?’ At best, your words are exceedingly\r\nambiguous, Mohi.”\r\n\r\n“Now have I the philosopher,” cried Yoomy, with glee. “What did some\r\none say to me, not long since, Babbalanja, when in the matter of that\r\nsleepy song of mine, Braid-Beard bestowed upon me an equivocal\r\ncompliment? Was I not told to wrest commendation from it, though I\r\ntortured it to the quick?”\r\n\r\n“Take thy own pills, philosopher,” said Mohi.\r\n\r\n“Then would he be a great original,” said Media.\r\n\r\n“Tell me, Yoomy,” said Babbalanja, “are you not in fault? Because I\r\nsometimes speak wisely, you must not imagine that I should always act\r\nso.”\r\n\r\n“I never imagined that,” said Yoomy, “and, if I did, the truth would\r\nbelie me. It is you who are in fault, Babbalanja; not I, craving your\r\npardon.”\r\n\r\n“The minstrel’s sides are all edges to-day,” said Media.\r\n\r\n“This, then, thrice gentle Yoomy, is what I would say;” resumed\r\nBabbalanja, “that since we philosophers bestow so much wisdom upon\r\nothers, it is not to be wondered at, if now and then we find what is\r\nleft in us too small for our necessities. It is from our very abundance\r\nthat we want.”\r\n\r\n“And from the fool’s poverty,” said Media, “that he is opulent; for his\r\nvery simplicity, is sometimes of more account than the wisdom of the\r\nsage. But we were discoursing of the Tapparians. Babbalanja:\r\nsententiously you have acquitted yourself to admiration; now amplify,\r\nand tell us more of the people of Pimminee.”\r\n\r\n“My lord, I might amplify forever.”\r\n\r\n“Then, my worshipful lord, let him not begin,” interposed Braid-Beard.\r\n\r\n“I mean,” said Babbalanja, “that all subjects are inexhaustible,\r\nhowever trivial; as the mathematical point, put in motion, is capable\r\nof being produced into an infinite line.”\r\n\r\n“But forever extending into nothing,” said Media. “A very bad example\r\nto follow. Do you, Babbalanja, come to the point, and not travel off\r\nwith it, which is too much your wont.”\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 1"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJQTCWZ67F66TGEE5W21E","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1954N2G0NAERBNJXEX9","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AKPBCQEG84QS4YX0KHE0N","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:12.652Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:21.405Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}