Topic started by Pavalamani Pragasam (@ 61.1.207.216) on Tue Jul 29 09:16:37 .
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

It happened on Charles Darwin’s last birthday. He was very old and everybody was thinking that perhaps this was the last birthday, so all friends and colleagues gathered to celebrate it. The children of the neighbourhood also wanted to contribute to the celebration, and they did a great job.
Charles Darwin’s whole life was spent in studying insects, animals, birds, because he was in search of how evolution has happened and what the stages are.
The children played a trick on him. They caught many kinds of insects, cut those insects into different parts and made a new insect- somebody’s head, somebody’s legs, somebody’s body-no such insect exists anywhere. They glued it perfectly well, made it ready, and when the party was on they entered, placed the insect before Charles Darwin and said, “People are afraid that you are not going to live long. We are also afraid, because you have not studied this insect up to now. There is no reference to this insect in your books.”
He looked at the insect, he could not believe it. Such a thing he had never come across! And these neighbourhood boys, from where did they get it? Then he looked from this side and that side, and those children were hilarious..and they asked, ”can you tell us the name of this insect?”
He said, “Yes. It is a humbug.”

Responses:

• From: rajeshrs_tvm (@ 61.1.229.152) on: Tue Jul 29 14:37:32 EDT 2003
  
  pavalamani..
  sorry for my ignorance..
  let me put it what i understood.
  charles darwin knew what the children had done finally , so he put it across as a "SLEDAI"(double entendre).
  its a hum-bug (meaning a bug) or humbak(in tamil they say for fraudness)
  correct??
  
  
• From: Pavalamani Pragasam (@ 61.1.207.222) on: Tue Jul 29 21:37:25 EDT 2003
  
  I too am a little confused about Darwin's reaction. He is sure to have seen through the trick, being a genius. So he said it is cheating-humbug-which accidentally has the word "bug" serving as a pun.
  
  
• From: Peter Dwyer (@ 82-68-70-78.dsl.in-addr.zen.co.uk) on: Thu Sep 11 17:40:13 EDT 2003
  
  What is the source of this story?
  
  
• From: Pavalamani Pragasam (@ dialpool-210-214-8-207.maa.sify.net) on: Thu Sep 11 23:10:11 EDT 2003
  
  It was quoted as an anecdote in a long-forgotten book.(Cant remember the author!).
  
  
• From: bebe (@ fl-st-u2c4b-24.stu.adelphia.net) on: Thu Sep 25 17:05:33 EDT 2003
  
  this website stinks! you cant understand how to resd a reading counts book!
  
  
• From: TN AvargaL (@ cvg-65-27-251-73.cinci.rr.com) on: Thu Sep 25 20:18:21 EDT 2003
  
  enna PP-yai yaarO vanthu ippadi thittukiRaarkaL !
  
  
• From: r (@ dclient217-162-112-18.hispeed.ch) on: Fri Sep 26 00:53:52 EDT 2003
  
  vENum vENum
  
  
• From: Pavalamani Pragasam (@ dialpool-210-214-8-203.maa.sify.net) on: Fri Sep 26 01:07:41 EDT 2003
  
  PORRuvaar pORRattum thURRuvaaRR thURRattum!!!!!!!!
  
  

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