SCYLLA & CHARYBDIS
"But neither the midwife's lore nor the caudlectures" (U9.237)
[*Ed.* 'Mrs Caudle's Curtain Lectures' was a series of 'lectures' by journalist Douglas William Jerrold (1803 - 1857), serialised in Punch (where Jerrold worked) then published in book form in 1846. Jerrod spent some time in the navy as an apprentice printer, then became a playwright and journalist. He was a contemporary and friend of Charles Dickens. Job Caudle, the 'hero' of the book, is a Victorian shopkeeper whose wife finds she can talk to him without being interrupted only when he is falling asleep. After she dies, Caudle finds himself unable to sleep on his own, and exorcises his wife's memory by writing down her 'lectures' for the edification of others.]
