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Oliver Benjamin
Benediction:
In his
Purgatorio
, Dante
described two rivers
that branched from the earthly paradise, a high
place somewhere south of civilization. Drinking from
one made you forget your sins, the other helped you
remember your virtues.
So when Columbus sailed near Venezuela two
hundred years later and found a flood of fresh water
pouring from the mouth of the Orinoco, he was
convinced he had found a way to paradise. Blind with
thirst, he was determined to find his Eden. He did in
a way, and his sins were promptly forgotten, his
immortality ensured.
The problem with paradise, of course, is that
everyone’s trying to get in. Yogi Berra famously
complained “Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too
crowded.” Word had gotten out. And with paradise
full of fools, it’s no wonder the philosophers aren’t
allowed to enter.
So please raise your glass and toast to wretched,
enchanted places everywhere. May you never be
discovered, for your own damned good. And join us
for a drink to remember, to forget.
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