Daily Dialogue — November 22, 2019

Capt. Jack Aubrey: Do you see those two weevils, Doctor?
Dr. Stephen Maturin: I do.
Capt. Jack Aubrey: Which would you choose?
Dr. Stephen Maturin: [sighs annoyed] Neither. There is not a scrap a difference between them. They are the same species of curculio.
Capt. Jack Aubrey: If you had to choose. If you were forced to make a choice. If there was no other response…
Dr. Stephen Maturin: [Exasperated] Well then if you are going to push me…

The doctor studies the weevils briefly.

Dr. Stephen Maturin: …I would choose the right hand weevil. It has… significant advantage in both length and breadth.

The Captain thumps his fist in the table.

Capt. Jack Aubrey: There, I have you! You’re completely dished! Do you not know that in the service… [pauses] …one must always choose the lesser of two weevils.

The officers burst out in laughter leaving Maturin flummoxed.

— Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003), screenplay by Peter Weir & John Collee, novel by Patrick O’Brien

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Doctor. Today’s suggestion by Chris Maka.

Trivia: In Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s famous poem, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, a ship encounters an albatross which the sailors believe brings the breeze and gives the ship good luck. The Mariner kills the albatross and he and the ship are cursed with bad luck. In the film, one of the seamen remarks to Maturin, the doctor, that a bird flying close to the HMS Surprise may be an albatross. A Royal Marine trying to kill this bird of good faith accidentally shoots Maturin, certainly an omen of bad luck for the crew.

Dialogue On Dialogue: A joke at the expense of the good Doctor.