Here is an

excerpt.

Philbio:

Now, it is time to play, "Who Wants Six Pence

?" Our first contestant is Dennis, the shepherd. Are

you ready to play, Dennis.

Dennis:

Yes, sir. I shall try my best.

Philbio:

Good. Your first question, Dennis. What heats the Earth ?

Dennis:

Ummm, well, I was always told that there is a dragon

below the surface of the earth, guarding the gates of

Hell. He is always heating the earth and God is always

blowing down cool air to keep our environment moderate.

Philbio: A

dragon. Is that your final answer, good Dennis ?

Dennis:

Yes,sir.

Philbio:

I'm sorry. The earth is heated by the sun.

Later on,

the villagers revolt and tear Philbio limb from limb for

heresy. When confronted by Philbio's mysterious patrons,

the villagers claimed they murdered him because his ties

(which they found too bright and distracting) were

possessed by the Devil.

The final

tragedy in the book is very similar to Romeo and Juliet,

except for the fact that it is the only known

Shakespearean play to take place in the Prehistoric Era.

The play,

appropriately titled, "Urk and Meni" deals with

two star-crossed, cro-magnon lovers, Urk and Meni. Urk is

the fire gatherer for his tribe, while Meni belongs to

the harem of a neighboring tribe. This excerpt comes from

the scene, which takes place right outside Meni's cave.

Urk:

(pants, bellows,) Ooog.

Meni:

(hushed voice) Laa.

Urk: Ha gar

lo nosa.

Meni:

(hisses)

The scene

goes on like that for five pages. While Shakespeare

captured the emotions of falling in love with someone

from a different tribe, not being able to understand

exactly what the main characters are saying kind of takes

away from the play's power.

In fact, it

is easy to see why none of these plays ever became as

famous as many of his other works did. People want to see

what they know. They knew about kingdoms falling due to

corrupt politicians (MacBeth and Hamlet) but they

couldn't grasp cavemen or game shows. Keep your eye out

for little treasures like "Lesser Known

Shakespearean Tragedies," they make reading more

fun. 8�

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