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 Myth of the Metal GobletThis is my short narrative and relevant references from the Books where I refute the Myth of the Metal Goblet. I make no pronouncements on these matters, but report them as I find them. Arrive at your own conclusions. I wish you well, Fogaban The Myth of the Metal Goblet has been passed around since at least the 1990s. Somehow if wine (maybe paga too) were to be served in a metal goblet, specifically a silver goblet, it would be poisonous or turn to poison or some such bullshit. While this sounds very possibly authentic, certainly fanciful and at the very least fully laden with RP story arc possibilities, in no way, shape or form is it substantiated anywhere within the Gorean Saga. The actual shape of goblets are not specifically described anywhere within the series. In other words, to qualify as a Goblet, it must be this tall or this big around or have a handle on one side, or two sides, or no handle at all. At least one goblet is said to be of bosk horn, but far more are described as being made of metal. Some of which are even heavy ornate metal goblets, primitive and barbaric. Some goblets are made from silver and some of these are studded with rubies. There are also goblets of gold, or even heavy gold, some cunningly wrought. Listed below are many, many references from the series where metal goblets are mentioned. More than one is described as being a silver goblet. And certainly, we find that wine is served in a silver goblet. So we don't even have to suppose it might happen. Book 15 shows us wine in a silver goblet. And no one died because of it. Most importantly, is that nowhere is it mentioned (or even hinted) that wine in a metal (or more specifically a silver) goblet would turn to poison or be poisonous. This is all a myth, an onlineism, perpetuated by those who have not read the books, and revel in passing on unsubstantiated statements. If you'd read the damn books, you'd already know all of this. My hand clenched on the metal goblet. I drained the last sip of the heady wine in the metal goblet. Kamchak and I waited until the string had been chewed. When Kamchak had finished he held out his right hand and a man, not a Tuchuk, who wore the green robes of the Caste of Physicians, thrust in his hand a goblet of bosk horn; it contained some yellow fluid. Angrily, not concealing his distaste, Kutaituchik drained the goblet and then hurled it from him. Before them had been placed large golden dishes heaped with delicacies prepared by the kitchens of the Ubar, tall precious goblets filled with Turian wines, the small bowls of spices and sugars with their stirring spoons at hand. A number of men crowded between the tables then and some dice, inked knucklebones of the verr, were soon rattling in a metal goblet. I then moved into the center of the gambling men and, not speaking, as they looked up, angry at the intrusion, I took the metal goblet containing the knucklebones from the man who held it. I thrust out the silver paga goblet, studded with rubies, and Telima, standing beside my thronelike chair, filled it. I did not look upon her. It is said they appear as though from nowhere to pillage, and to burn and rape, and then, among the flames, as quickly, vanish to their swift ships, carrying their booty with them, whether it be bars of silver, or goblets of gold, or silken sheets, knotted and bulging with plate, and coins and gems, or merely women, bound, their clothing torn away, whose bodies they find pleasing. No longer was it set with festive yellow and scarlet cloths, woven in distant Tor; no longer did it bear the freight of plates of silver from the mines of Tharna, nor of cunningly wrought goblets of gold from the smithies of luxurious Turia, Ar of the south. It was long since I had tasted the fiery paga of the Sa-Tarna fields north of the Vosk. Now, even the wines from the vineyards of Ar seemed bitter to me. A goblet was fetched. It was of heavy gold. I had never kissed a boy on Earth with the helplessness and passion that I bestowed upon the mere goblet of my Gorean captor. I belonged to him. I was his. I loved him! I felt the metal of the cup beneath my full, pressing lips. She carried a metal goblet, and, slowly, in stately fashion, descended the steps to the ground, approaching Thurnus. She lifted the cup to him. On the coffee table, before him, there was a decanter of wine and a heavy, ornate metal goblet. I had never seen a goblet of that sort. It was so primitive and barbaric. There were five rings on the outside of the goblet. I held the round, heavy metal against me, below my brassiere. "I do not wish to come home with you now," she said, lightly, a bit of Ka-la-na spilling from the silver goblet she held. She reached to the wine, a sweet Ka-la-na of Ar, and filled the goblet to the third ring. I then, crouching beside her, my hand in her hair, controlling her, gave her to drink from the goblet, letting her finish the last ring. Some authorities recommend breaking the kantharos into shards on the face, taking the target above the bridge of the nose with the rim. This can be even more dangerous with a metal goblet. Many civilians, I believe, do not know why certain warriors, by habit, request their paga in metal goblets when dining in public houses. And then, looking down, she pressed the metal of the goblet to her belly, and then to her breasts, and then lifted the large cup to her lips, and, looking at Cabot over the rim, kissed the cup, lingeringly. Swiftly the slave pressed the goblet about her body, as she had been taught, associating the metallic, rigid cruelty of the goblet and the fire of the drink with the softness, the readiness, the warmth, and the desirability of her body, in this way making it clear that both goods were proffered, both placed at the disposal of the master, both the drink and the female. And the girl inadvertently gasped, startled, as the metal rim pressed into her belly, bespeaking the dominion to which she was subject, and she looked down into the swirling liquid in the cup, and Peisistratus smiled, for did not the fire in the goblet in its way stand token for another fire, and might she not suspect this, that which might burn in the grasping, liquid softness of a slave's belly? "Press the metal of the goblet to your belly," said Cecily. "Press it in there, so that you can feel it. Really feel it, the metal against your belly. Surely you understand this, the metal against your belly. More. Better. More. Good. Now, to your breasts, softly but firmly. Feel the metal." The soft glow of the tiny lamp, the single lamp, on its chains, hanging near the table, glinted on the metal goblet, and the close-fitting, narrow band encircling her neck. Paga slaves, house slaves, pleasure slaves, and such, serve one way at the low tables common in households, inns, taverns, and such, and rather differently at the ship's tables, which are higher, and which are, as are the benches, fastened in place, this to prevent shifting in rough seas. The benches anchor one in place, so to speak, as sitting cross-legged at the low tables would not. Too, one may hold to the table itself, which is, incidentally, bordered by a slightly raised rim, or sometimes by a small railing, this helping to keep things in place. Goblets are weighted, for steadiness, and plates are flat-bottomed, and square, to minimize movement, by maximizing the amount of surface area in contact with the table. Clipped coins are easy to identify but then, of course, one must bring forth the scales, and, not unoften, as well, rough silver or gold, unminted, is presented, perhaps melted droplets, or pieces cut from silver or golden vessels and goblets, which items will also require judicious determinations. The goblet was metal, and hard, and cold, and, within it, the paga swirled. Small golden goblets, matching the bowls, emerged, and Tuza poured ka-la-na into each. I, head down, pressed the metal goblet into my lower abdomen, feeling it there. Xenon tensed, and his large hand went to the paga goblet, now empty. Both the base of the heavy vessel and its metal rim can deal a serious blow. I pressed the edge of the metal goblet, filled to the second ring, against my lower belly. |       
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The Serve 
