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Milk Pig on shopping for a Bible

Posted by Joel Martinsen on Thursday, July 26, 2007 at 12:45 PM

Two anecdotes from blogger Milk Pig:

1. Bible Stories

X, a high-ranking leader with the cultural section of a major newspaper, took a fancy to a limited-edition Bible at a private bookstore, and asked the proprietor, L:

X: How much for this Bible?
L: It's not for sale.
X: Why not?
L: How can you ask how much a Bible costs?!
X: ...so how does one obtain this Bible?
L: The person must truly understand the Bible.
X: (quickly) I'm studying the Bible.
L: So you mean you already have lots of Bibles?
X: (smiles) Yes.
L: That's avarice, you know.
X: Then what does it mean to understand the Bible?
L: You buy a lot of books, and then, without even asking, slip the Bible among them and hand over your money.
(beat)
L: Asking about the price when you buy a Bible....you people, you're only fit to buy Bible Stories.

2. The Story of the Bible

After the proprietor said, you people, you're only fit to buy Bible Stories, in determination I went online to order Bible Stories (圣经故事).

The book arrived. Flipped a few pages. Thought it a bit weird.
Suddenly discovered....I had actually bought The Story of the Bible (圣经的故事).

Bible storybooks and van Loon's children's books are all available in a wide variety of editions and translations, many with cover art.

Links and Sources

Milk Pig's blog (Chinese): Bible Stories, Stories of the Bible
Image from Dangdang
Earlier on Danwei: Bootleg faith

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There are currently 2 Comments for Milk Pig on shopping for a Bible.

Comments on Milk Pig on shopping for a Bible

It's somewhat comforting to see there's still a long while before the B book can screw up another country ( in another way, I guess)

Posted by: zoo | July 26, 2007 11:59 PM

Hehe, good point zoo. I don't know about Bible selling in China, never have the urge to have one myself. I guess it's just a joke, but who knows.

Posted by: 3und | July 27, 2007 2:09 AM

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