user page quote about a house razed and a family

April 11, 2009 9:38 AM

I'm trying to find a quote from someone's user page I think, about a house razed and a family slayed.

Hi,

A few months ago I think I read in someone's user page a quote that went something like:

“I returned home and my house was burnt to the ground and my wife and all my family had been killed. After that I had to walk for many days to try to find a place to live, and I walked through the battlefields and my feet bled and my clothes ripped from me.”

It may have gone on further.

It was apparently a quote from an old priest from the middle ages or something. When I first read it I googled a few lines and found one citation in Google Books where the same passage was quoted, but this time, IIRC, it was written in what was apparently the original old English. In both cases I think the quoted passage was about 5x the length of my re-imagined paraphrase.

I've tried googling “site:http://www.metafilter.com/user/” with different combinations of ‘wife’, ‘burned’, etc, but so far no luck.

Can anyone help me find this passage?

Thanks very much.

posted by skwt to MetaFilter-Related at 9:38 AM (30 comments total)

Was it the quote from the real Abiezer (Coppe) on mine?
posted by Abiezer at 10:11 AM on April 11, 2009 [2 favorites]

I'm glad I quit smoaking.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 10:14 AM on April 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

Yeah, but a bitter cup just doesn't taste the same without one.
posted by Abiezer at 10:17 AM on April 11, 2009

I don't think user pages are searchable. =\
posted by carsonb at 10:36 AM on April 11, 2009

Coffee first, then immortality — sounds good to me.
posted by nebulawindphone at 10:46 AM on April 11, 2009

You keep it up with the smoaking and drinking and you'll soon find yourself plagued, consumed, damned, rammed, and sunke into nothing, into the bowels of the still Eternity (yo momma!)
posted by carsonb at 10:49 AM on April 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

OH MAN! Abiezer Coppe! I love Abiezer Coppe. A Fiery Flying Roll is a great example of writing that, while not being good, is awesome. It's full of great lines. Here's one: "Hills! Mountains! Cedars! Mighty men! Your breath is in your nostrils."
posted by Kattullus at 11:08 AM on April 11, 2009 [2 favorites]

I used to think the Amish were cool and badass and the like. I gave up wanting to join when I learned they weren't famed for razing barns.

Also, some clever pun on slay/sleigh.

(I initially thought this would be about a parable composed of homophones. How disappointing to learn it was so straightforward.)
posted by Eideteker at 12:54 PM on April 11, 2009

I think you're thinking of this. I know I am.
posted by blue_beetle at 1:01 PM on April 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

Actually, I was thinking of this<>.
posted by DU at 2:25 PM on April 11, 2009

writing that, while not being good, is awesome.

Man, that's how I'm going to describe Lovecraft from now on. It's a perfect description.
posted by Caduceus at 2:45 PM on April 11, 2009

Metafilter: a parable composed of homophones

&lt linbaugh &gt

Homophone. How typical of the gay agenda. Now they've even coming after my ability to have a straight conversation by turning our God-fearing Judeo-Christian telephones into deviants!

&lt /linbaugh &gt
posted by double block and bleed at 3:42 PM on April 11, 2009

And Ludlum.
posted by Elmore at 3:42 PM on April 11, 2009

stupid preview!
posted by double block and bleed at 3:42 PM on April 11, 2009

Was it razed...to the ground? Because that, in my experience, is the best direction to raze things.
posted by turgid dahlia at 5:22 PM on April 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

I was invited to an Amish barn razing once.
posted by BrotherCaine at 5:43 PM on April 11, 2009

I once insisted my employer raze my wage, but the spiteful prick upped it by 12%.
posted by Sys Rq at 5:54 PM on April 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

Amish barn raising. (That's a big barn.)
posted by longsleeves at 7:03 PM on April 11, 2009

Often, while out clubbing, I've been told to raze the roof. I obeyed the first few times, but it turns out the club owners weren't really serious about that.
posted by DU at 7:45 PM on April 11, 2009

You should try razing with your off hand. If you close your eyes you can pretend it's someone else doing it.
posted by middleclasstool at 7:52 PM on April 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

If only we could raze the local Wal-Mart that they just raised.
posted by double block and bleed at 9:13 PM on April 11, 2009

Yeah, but a bitter cup just doesn't taste the same without one.

It does wash down a nice chili and beef pannini quite nicely though. Specially one that's been thrown at you.

Does anyone have any clue as to why Metafilter has started logging me out at random? It doesn't happen on computer a, but it does on computer b, so I'm sure that it's my fault rather than yours, but I don't think I've changed any settings.

I'm using Firefox 3.0.8 with accept cookies and keep till they expire, if that helps.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 6:44 AM on April 12, 2009

Just so you know: it is *impossible* to search user pages using Google (or any other Robots-directive compliant search engine). That's why you're getting zero results.
posted by Deathalicious at 11:58 AM on April 12, 2009

Everybody needs a house razing and family slaying.
posted by qvantamon at 3:31 PM on April 12, 2009

Hang on a minute. Slayed?

Not slain? Or maybe slew? (Slewn? Slewed? Slaid? Damn, now they all look funny.)
posted by nebulawindphone at 5:00 PM on April 12, 2009

&lt /linbaugh &gt

Steve@Linbaugh, I presume?
posted by Hovercraft Eel at 6:16 AM on April 13, 2009

Not slain? Or maybe slew?

I tend to favor "Slayneded". Not because it's correct, but because it's fun to say in an appropriately Biblical voice; "Gentle village folk! I have slayneded the unholy beast! You can rest again easy in the knowledge that I am here to defend you!"

(Where your cats look up from their nap and wonder why you are standing on the computer chair holding a yardstick like a sword, stabbing a towel on the floor.)
posted by quin at 7:51 AM on April 13, 2009

Slade.
posted by Sys Rq at 4:26 PM on April 13, 2009

Sys Rq: "Slade."
So, here it is - Merry Christmas, everybody's having fun.
posted by subbes at 5:52 PM on April 14, 2009

Abiezer: Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks very much. I had given up hope.
posted by skwt at 11:57 PM on April 21, 2009