The Annotated Pratchett File, v7a

Das Boot (The Boat) was an epic German film, made by Wolfgang Petersen in 1981, telling the story of a German submarine in 1941.

+ [p. 150] “[...] which kills people but leaves buildings standing.”

Said of the neutron bomb, which delivers a very heavy dose of radiation but relatively small explosive power or fallout. Mind you, it could fairly be said of most crossbows.

+ [p. 152] “Just me and Foul Ole Ron and the Duck Man and Blind Hugh [...]”

Inconsistency alert: on p. 74, Carrot told Vimes that Blind Hugh had ‘passed away last month’.

+ [p. 154] “I thought that was for drillin’ into the bottom of enemy ships --”

The first working submarine was a one-man, hand-propelled vessel called the Turtle, designed to use an augur to attach explosive charges to the hulls of enemy ships, the enemy in this case being the British during the American War of Independence. The Turtle attacked HMS Eagle in New York Harbor on 6 September 1776, but the hull was lined with copper and the screw failed to pierce it.

+ [p. 158] “D’reg wasn’t their name for themselves, although they tended to adopt it now out of pride.”

This has several parallels in our own world, most notably the Sioux, who adopted that name from their neighbours and habitual enemies the Ojibwa.

+ [p. 165] “That’s St Ungulant’s Fire, that is!”

The description matches St Elmo’s Fire, a corona discharge of static electricity sometimes seen on highly exposed surfaces (such as ships) during thunderstorms. In our world, it’s supposed to be a good omen. For more on St Ungulant, see Small Gods.

+ [p. 167] “According to the Testament of Mezerek, the fisherman Nonpo

spent four days in the belly of a giant fish.”

According to the Bible, the prophet Jonah did much the same (Jonah 1:17).

+ [p. 174] “The Sykoolites when being pursued in the wilderness [...] were

sustained by a rain of celestial biscuits, sir.”

The Israelites, while fleeing from Egypt, were sustained by a divinely provided rain of bread (Exodus 16:4).

+ [p. 175] “Fortune favours the brave, sir,’ said Carrot cheerfully.”

Another Roman saying, coined by Terence (c.190-159 BC): “Fortune aids the brave.”

+ [p. 180] “The motor of his cooling helmet sounded harsh for a moment

[...]”
For the story of Detritus’ helmet, read Men at Arms.

+ [p. 181] “”Give a man a fire and he’s warm for a day, but set him on

fire and he’s warm for the rest of his life.””

The original proverb is “Give a man a fish and he can eat for a day, teach him to fish and he can eat for the rest of his life.”

+ [p. 183] “those nautical stories about giant turtles that sleep on the

surface, thus causing sailors to think they are an island.”

One of the many adventures of Sinbad, in The Thousand and One Nights.

+ [p. 192] “”If you would seek peace, prepare for war.””

From the 4^th/5^th century Roman writer Vegetius: “Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum”—“Let him who desires peace, prepare for war.”

+ [p. 204] “”Gulli, Gulli and Beti””

The troop of entertainers that our heroes become is modelled on the old time Music-Hall team of Wilson, Kepple and Betty, whose act included ‘The Sand Dance’. There’s also a nice resonance of names with the Paul Simon song ‘Call Me Al’:

“And if you’ll be my bodyguard,

I can be your long lost pal,

And I can call you Betty,

and Betty, when you call me, you can call me Al.”
+ [p. 210] “[...] I thought that a flying column of guerrilla soldiers

--”
Since getting into his flowing white robes, Carrot appears to be fast turning into Lawrence of Arabia. See also the annotations for pp. 259 and 264.

+ [p. 215] “Egg, melon! Melon, egg!”

Vetinari’s patter seems to be based on that of the fez-wearing British comedian Tommy Cooper.

+ [p. 223] “En al Sams la Laisa”

This is, as Vetinari later translates, almost-Arabic for “where the sun shines not”.

+ [p. 224] “Oh, I’ve got a thousand and one of ‘em.”

One of the best-known (in the west, at least) works of Arabic literature is The Thousand and One Nights. Several classics of children’s literature—including Aladdin and Sinbad the Sailor—appear in this collection. Nobby’s version would appear to be rather more PG-rated.

+ [p. 224] “Especially the one about the man who went into the tavern with the very small musician.”

See the annotation for p. 195 of Feet of Clay.

+ [p. 227] “Donkey, minaret,’ said Lord Vetinari. ‘Minaret, donkey.’ ‘Just like that?”

Another Tommy Cooper reference (see also the annotation for p. 215).

+ [p. 229] “He had a city named after him...”

The most famous example in our world is Alexandria, built by Alexander the Great.

+ [p. 230] “A statue must have stood here [...] Now it had gone, and there were just feet, broken off at the ankles.”

A reference to Shelley’s sonnet Ozymandias. See the annotation for p. 271/259 of Pyramids.

+ [p. 243] “We were going to sail into Klatch and be in Al-Khali by teatime, drinking sherbet with pliant young women in the Rhoxi.”

British officers in the First World War, when encouraging their men to go over the top, would quip that “We’ll be eating tea and cakes in Berlin at teatime.” (Captain Blackadder observed irritably that “Everyone wants to eat out as soon as they get there”.)

+ [p. 245] “That’s “Evil Brother-in-Law of a Jackal”,’ said Ahmed.”

See Pyramids for the Discworld convention on the naming of camels.

+ [p. 246] “That is a reason to field such a contemptible little army?”

In 1914, the Kaiser apparently made a similar observation of the British Expeditionary Force sent to oppose the German advance through Belgium. The soldiers later proudly adopted the name ‘Old Contemptibles’.

See also the annotation for p. 158.

+ [p. 249] “That’s a Make-Things-Bigger device, isn’t it? [...] They were

invented only last year.”

Judging from the name, this could be one of Leonard’s creations—but actually we’ve learned in Soul Music (p. 137) that this particular invention was the work of Ponder Stibbons at Unseen University.

+ [p. 257] “And Captain Carrot is organizing a football match.”

There’s a famous but true story of how, on Christmas Day 1914, troops from British and German units came out of the trenches and played football in No-Man’s Land.

+ [p. 259] “Why don’t you take some well-earned rest, Sir Samuel? You are

[...] a man of action. You deal in swords and chases, and facts. Now, alas, it is the time for the men or words, who deal in promises and mistrust and opinions. For you the war is over. Enjoy the sunshine. I trust we shall all be returning home shortly.”

This speech is very similar to the end of the film Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962). Prince Feisal tells Lawrence: “There’s nothing further here, for a warrior. We drive bargains, old men’s work. Young men makes wars and the virtues of war are the virtues of young men: courage and hope for the future. Old men make the peace and the vices of peace are the vices of old men: mistrust and caution.”

+ [p. 264] “The trick is not to mind that it hurts.”

Early in the film Lawrence of Arabia, Lawrence is sitting in an office drawing maps and talking to his compatriot about the Bedouin attacking the Turks. Another man joins them and Lawrence lights a cigarette, putting the match out with his fingers. The newcomer tries the same trick, but drops the match with a shout of “it hurts.” To which Lawrence replies: “The trick, William Potter, is not minding that it hurts.”

+ [p. 268] “Say it ain’t so, Mr Vimes!”

‘Shoeless’ Joe Jackson was the star player of the Chicago White Sox during the 1919 World Series. When it emerged that he had (allegedly) accepted bribes to throw the series, the fans’ collective reaction was of shocked incredulity: the line “Say it ain’t so, Joe!” became the canonical form of begging someone to deny an allegation that is too shocking to accept, but too convincing to disbelieve.

+ [p. 282] “It is a far, far better thing I do now [...]”

At the end of Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, Sydney Carton, good-natured layabout and occasional drunk, goes to the guillotine in the place of his beloved’s beloved.

The book’s famous last line is not a direct quote from Sydney (since he’s already dead by then), but rather what the narrator feels he might have said: “If he had given any utterance to his [thoughts], and they were prophetic, they would have been these: ‘[...] It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”.