The Sign of Jonas

by Thomas Merton

Fillion, a Scripture scholar whom I am appointed to read, encourages young priests to study Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, Itala, Arabic, Syriac, Assyrian, Ethiopian, Coptic, Armenian, Persian, Slavonic, Gothic, and the three main Egyptian dialects, namely Salidic (spoken at Thebes), Fayoumic (spoken at the oasis of Fayoum), and Memphitic (spoken at Memphis). Besides being grounded in oriental archeology and ethnography, the young priest should also possess a smattering of botany, zoology, geology, and have more than a nodding acquaintance with the Talmud. Also he says one ought to read a few Yiddish novels, by way of recreation. When you have mastered all this you will be able to elucidate the ivy passage in Jonas, for instance, and you will come to the conclusion that Jonas in Nineveh sat down under a castor oil plant (ivy) and became attached to its shade. On the whole, I think Saint Teresa’s interpretation of Jonas’s ivy is more interesting, and she didn’t know one word of Egyptian either.

Hilarious