Date: Fri, 31 Oct 1997 15:50:12 EST

From: Monkmag Monkmag[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]AOL.COM

Subject: Re: Sneeze



In a message dated 10/24/97 4:26:49 AM, you wrote:



}

}And while I'm at it, doesn't saying "Bless you" when someone sneezes go back

to

}the Black Death and sneezing as a symptom of plague? Remember that lovely bit

}of dialogue from _The Lady's Not for Burning_, said by the priest (abbot,

friar

}whoever) just as he exits, "God bless you in case you sneeze." "Thank you. I

}may." Talk about preventive medicine! (Actually, this relationship just

}dawned on me after I'd been talking to a class about the nursery rhyme "Ring

}Around a-Rosy" and its imitation of the plague-stricken.)



I thought it was because your spirit left you when you sneezed,

leaving you vulnerable to the devil. Well, back around the Plague era,

anyway.

Aaron



Both seem quite plausible, and very instructive. Thankyou.



Monk