i had to read this old english ballad in the form of a little book. "the rime of the ancient mariner" by samuel taylor coleridge. pretty sad stuff... i was fascinated by both the language and the illustrations (haha. see picture), which were done by this artist called gustave dore. anyway, it's about a sailor whose ship and crew get stuck in an ice field. he kills an albatros, which makes the winds stop blowing and the ship stagnant. his mates die off leaving him alone, and he has to look at them lying there day by day. somehow he cannot die. so this and that happens (lazy to tell) and in the end he makes it back to land. he spends his life thereafter traveling and telling people he feels he should tell about his voyage. i don't want to be a sailor.

back to work...