What is the time or the dead “The Black Camel will kneel at your door”? What is the origin of metaphors?
I am reading “Life-Line” by Robert Heinlein. I have to include the “words that if you don’t know what to do with it, but are going to give you evidence (no explanation) could you please give me an example? His writing is beautifully decorated with allegories and metaphors and it pretty obvious to him that he refers to kneeling of black camels to imply time of death in the below passage.
I will repeat my discovery. How long do you expect someone to live? Will we get advance billing for Angel of Death? What does a black camel do when you kneel at their door? If you let me take a minute to tell you what size grains of sand in your hourglass are. I don’t have any patience so I can’t tell you much more than five minutes. I
did find another reference in a movie from 1931 with the name Black Camel. It’s called Blue Camel.
Death is the black camel that kneels unbidden at every gate of his house.
What is the origin of this analogy, the associated symbolism–religious, literal or cultural?
What is a typical week, every week, in politics?
What do you think about Death as a Cameleon? In The Black Camel (Film 1931) the full proverb is said.
The earliest example I have found is in The Belfast News-Letter (Belfast, Ireland), Tuesday, October 3, 1837; Issue 10462:
Turkish Proverbs— Death is a black camel that kneels before every man’s door.
If the death is a black
camel which kneels at every man’s gate, in so far at least as that it would be at once ascribed to the East, why is this so long time old proverb?
How did the death of a
Black horse prove her? The
Threads of a Storm-sail, 1853 There is
something manifestly Oriental in this two: — Death is the black camel, which kneels at every man’s gate.
The living age, 1854 At
the first very single loss. I will not have to say anything. No doubt almost every one who reads it could tell a similar story…
No doubt the thought which the Turks have, and which generally obtains, is that the Black Camel kneels to take up and bear away as his burden what is most precious to us. We had a three year old girl whom was taken from our lap but I had other people around to take her with. I have lived some years since then, and have lived to learn that- there is a. Deep meaning in saying, ‘Beware of anything and everything’. When Black Camel walks up and takes away our treasure, does he not many a time leave behind a still greater treasure?
The Living Age, 1866 The
Turkish collections enumerate these, of which some, at least, seem to be of arab birth. Death is a black camel that kneels at every man’s gate. Were
mainly in the Greeks?
- Is the Biblical Greek a Christian?
I don’t speak or understand either language, so it’s hard for me to find much further. What is Arabic for?
.
What is your favorite 18th century quote? In the past, this proverb was quoted by Emir Abdelkader El Djezairi. He led the fight against the French after their 1830 colonial invasion of Algeria. After his capture and exile, he met many 19th century western figures and became a friend of Richard Burton. How do you tell
a story?
