Reading Lyotard, _The Postmodern Condition_ has reminded me of our work in the dramatic reading of _A Christmas Carol._ Lyotard says, ‘the metrical beat of the narrative occurences.’ I had heard the same words over and over in rehearsal, and by the end I was hearing rhythm in them and moving my head slightly to the rhythm. This struck me as odd in prose. But prose has rhythms just as much as poetry does. And it probably has the same effect, first to better inscribe the words on the mind, and second, to legitimate their teachings.