46 MAGIC WORDS every century to shriek her own name. Also on her belly is the magic word Aburadan, written in black letters. White birds peck at the black letters, and black birds peck at the white letters, And Kron-zhig, calmed, starts for the bottom. But what is the meaning of the text? . . . The meaning of the text is in the subtext. I don't understand anything! Neither the text nor the subtext ... The birds eat only the text, and afterwards spit out the subtext -- a stone, they cannot digest and assimilate . . . In another hundred years everything will become clear. But why only in a hundred years! Why, why, why ... Because! Because you're immortal! Who will explain it to us in a hundred years! Someone else. If you don't kill him with accusatory questions while he is still in his mother's womb.4 Peterpiperpickedapeckofpickledpeppers Origins: Tongue-twisters such as "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers" originated as spells for divination and good luck that devolved into children's counting games, the object being "to repeat a difficult formula rapidly without an error." Facts: Peterpiperpickedapeckofpickledpeppers is a favorite magic word of magi cian Cliff G. He explains: "While it is not traditional, I always like to feed a 4 Capriccio for Goya: Selected Poems 1955-95 (200 ) 5 Charles Godfrey Leland, Etruscan Magic and Occult Remedies (1897)