Throughout history, the number three has held great power and fascination for humankind. We think about time as past, present and future. We divide our days into morning, noon and night; our meals into breakfast, lunch and dinner; our government into executive, legislative and judicial; the elements into solid, liquid and gas; our world into land, sea and air; humanity into man, woman and child; the necessities into food, shelter and clothing; gender into masculine, feminine and neuter; our minds into id, ego and superego and our primary colors into red, blue and yellow.
For the ancient Greeks, Zeus ruled the sky with his three-forked lightning bolt, Poseidon the sea with his trident and Hades the underworld, which was guarded by Cerberus, a three-headed dog. Greek mythology is populated by three fates, three furies, three graces and three harpies.
In the Old Testament we read about the three patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob); Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego; the three days that Jonah lived in the whale and the three lions that Daniel encountered.
In the New Testament we learn about the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Ghost); the three wise men (Gaspar, Melchior and Balthasar) bearing gold, frankincense and myrrh; the three victims crucified; the three denials of Peter; the resurrection of Jesus three days after his death at the age of 33 and Paul’s asking us to honor faith, hope and charity. In Hinduism the deities are Brahma the creator; Vishnu the preserver and Siva the destroyer.
Popular literature is peopled with all sorts of threesomes, ranging from the three witches in Macbeth and the three daughters in King Lear (Goneril, Regan and Cordelia) to the Three Musketeers (Porthos, Athos and Aramis), three bears, three little pigs and three blind mice.
Stop, look and listen: Consider another 50 triple plays — famous triplets, triads, triumvirates and troikas that hang around together. For each of these a, b and c dynamic trios I give you, alphabetically, the last item and ask you to supply the first two, as in up, up and away. Answers follow.
1. and able
2. and apple pie
3. and barrel
4. and be merry
5. and beads
6. and blue
7. and candle
8. and collected
9. and delivered
10. and end
11. and evermore shall be
12. and everywhere
13. and first in the hearts of his countrymen
14. and for the people
15. and the gatepost (or lamppost)
16. and handsome
17. and happy
18. and I
19. and in my lady’s chamber
20. and a jump
21. and large
22. and match
23. and nothing but the truth
24. and obey
25. and pop
26. and the pursuit of happiness
27. and ‘rithmetic
28. and rock ‘n’ roll
29. and roll
30. and serial number
31. and show
32. and sinker
33. and song
34. and spoon
35. and stars
36. and tears
37. and throat
38. and tomato
39. and veins
40. and yon
Becoming more proper in our choice of nouns, let’s move on to some famous names that get down to the trinitty-gritty of our language. Once again I challenge you to supply the first two words:
41. and Brahms
42. and Corinthian
43. and Cottontail
44. and Harry
45. and Jack
46. and Louie
47. and Mary
48. and Nod
49. and the Santa Fe
50. and the Santa Maria
Answers
1. ready, willing 2. God, motherhood 3. lock, stock 4. eat, drink 5. baubles, bangles 6. red, white 7. bell, book 8. calm, cool 9. signed, sealed 10. beginning, middle 11. was, is 12. here, there 13. first in war, first in peace 14. of the people, by the people 15. between you, me 16. tall, dark / high, wide 17. fat, dumb 18. me, myself 19. upstairs, downstairs 20. a hop, skip 21. small, medium 22. game, set 23. the truth, the whole truth 24. love, honor 25. snap, crackle 26. life, liberty 27. readin’, ‘ritin’ 28. sex, drugs 29. shake, rattle 30. name, rank 31. win, place 32. hook, line 33. wine, women 34. knife, fork 35. sun, moon 36. blood, sweat 37. ear, nose 38. bacon, lettuce 39. arteries, capillaries 40. hither, thither 41. Bach, Beethoven 42. Doric, Ionic 43. Flopsy, Mopsy 44. Tom, Dick 45. Manny, Moe 46. Huey, Dewey 47. Peter, Paul 48. Wynken, Blynken 49. the Atchison, Topeka 50. the Nina, the Pinta