what is the question that heals the fisher kingwhat is the question that heals the fisher king

This page last updated (added BASE to meta tags) ---. The sixth mass extinction, some call it. A simple-minded knight named Percival (who in the movie is referred to as the fool) heals the King's . Indeed, in fairytales it is In some versions, a third character is introduced; this individual, unlike the hero-knight archetype, is ignorant of the King's power, but has the ability to save the king and land, or to doom it. The further step of mistaking them as the same character is understandable; Malory confuses the brothers. Meaning of fisher king. Join our new membership program on Patreon today. Rarely in large Hollywood films is a chiasmus of tragedy and comedy so successfully drawn; "The Fisher King" has hilarity and romance clinging for survival through the scoriae of aching hopelessness. America now than when squirrels could theoretically cross from the Mississippi River banks to the Virginia coastline without setting foot on the ground, we are doing a lot to breed more fish. The Grail is the cup of the Last Supper, a precious, magical food provider, and Percevals question is as mysterious as the wounded kings moral failure. He comes upon a large body of water and two men in a boat; one of them is fishing. On his first meeting with the Fisher King, he is afraid to ask. As I mentioned, The Fisher King must be asked the healing question in order to be healed. In Arthurian legend, the Fisher King is a man tasked with guarding and keeping the Holy Grail. And in Norse myth, it is the god Odin who shares similarities with the Fisher King: the poem Hvaml, which appears in a 13th-century manuscript, relates how, in order to acquire the knowledge of the runes, Odin hung on the World Tree for nine days and nights, pierced by a spear, not eating or drinking, until he saw the runes and took them. The legend has a king who has fallen on hard times and is not living up to their royal position. Castle. Keep up the good work. In Arthurian legends, the Fisher King, also known as the Wounded King or Maimed King, is the last in a long line charged with keeping the Holy Grail. Hawaiians of old developed an appropriate procedure called hooponopono, setting to rights. LONG AGO, a young knight named Parsifal was traveling through a great forest when he fell into a daydream; and so his horse was left to go wherever it cared to take them. [6] In some early storylines Percival asks the Fisher King the healing question, which cures the wound. What happened to the CITES listing for bluefin tuna? Hi, David M.Somehow the issue of human population reduction unleashes a negative reaction in people no matter how obviously connected to the human dilemma it is. But bringing in myth and deep history seems to put such behaviour changes onto more solid ground. There is a terrible, toxic poetry to this. On the other hand, The Fisher King covers more of Thranduil's character a great king that is strongly linked to his kingdom. Carraway, Lagomarsino writes in the F. Scott Fitzgerald Review, seeks gnosis of mortality and divinity, with Gatsby fulfilling the role of the maimed Fisher King who inadvertently leads Nick to his apotheosis. And, while Gatsby may have committed himself to the following of a grail (emphasis added), Lagomarsino continues, He is not in fact following the grail. Here, the "Rich Fisher" is called Bron, a name similar enough to Bran to suggest a relationship, and said to be the brother-in-law of Joseph of Arimathea, who had used the Grail to catch Christ's blood before laying him in the sepulchre. If the fish is driven to collapse, this cache will be worth a kings ransom. Yet human activity over the last thirty years has poisoned the oceans and exhausted the seas, turning this blue world into a dead sump of denied life. T. S. Eliots The Waste Land, with its cacophony and bleakness, encapsulated in verse the spirit of modernism, much like Stravinsky had in music with Rite of Spring in 1913. Versions of the story vary widely, but the Fisher King is typically depicted as being wounded in the groin, legs, or thigh. In all, what emerges in most accounts, but mostly in Eliots The Waste Land, though, is the Fisher Kings multi-dimensionality: a character bestowed with power, who has strayed and who explicitly needs help in order to be healed. The parallels with Jesus Christ are so clear as to be unavoidable. original thinker, again. I must be schizo? Im grateful to Jay Griffiths for her discussion of The Ocean of Life: The Fate of Man and the Sea by Callum Roberts and her careful summing up of the rapidly deteriorating condition of our oceans. Who heals the Fisher King? An anonymous, bedridden Maimed King, healed by Galahad at the climax of the Grail Quest. What is important is not the question, but the recovery of the The wild horses tamed? Im not clear on what the plan is to get us out of this dilemma but I know it better include a serious cut in the human population. In the instance of the Fisher King, the wound negates his ability to honor his sacred charge. On the first occasion, the boy remembers 22, No. Gone! 28, No. Ive enjoyed them since childhood. Impotence. Perhaps by the time he has the courage and/or faith to do so, he has matured and is able to fulfill four conditions: to be blessed, broken, given, and received. Just as there are more trees in No. The Fisher King: The 'Fisher King' or 'Wounded King' from the grail series of Arthurian tales is perhaps one of the more intriguing of the otherworldly regal male characters of the traditions. My personal perspective is I have seen them employed to better effect than Jay Griffiths did here but her choice to use myth is no problem for me. The holy & precious Network of life/nature becomes nothing more than a commodity to be exploited. Sure, Ive seen the raw stats and read the accounts of trawling and it has indeed impacted me Ive scuba dived for scallops and left them on the sea bed because they looked so at home, much to the bewilderment of my fellow diver; Ive stopped insisting on line caught fish, and simply turned vegetarian. Ms Griffiths article is just as timely, thought-provoking and deeply felt as her other writings. It concerns me that, particularly in the wealthy northern countries, we can use a technically flawed argument on population growth to avoid responsibility for our extremely high resource use. This is then followed by Perceval's cousin's prophecy that the sword will break at a crucial moment. Neil, This is another example of the tragedy of the commons . Before enclosure, discussions on land use included the interests of everyone involved. [2] Many authors have endeavoured to complete and extend the work, resulting in various continuations. Perceval finds the castle and the fisherman there to welcome him, though he apologizes for not being able to stand to greet him. Therefore it seems sensible to analyse the maiming of the Fisher King as symbolic of some sort of penance or punishment: he is being forced to undergo suffering until such time as he is healed by the coming of another whose arrival is foretold. Yet, upon waking he finds the castle is gone. How, and why, did T. S. Eliot seize upon the Fisher King myth when he was writing his 1922 poem about post-war Europe, The Waste Land? . Joseph founds a religious community that travels eventually to Britain and entrusts the Grail to Bron (who is called the "Rich Fisher" because he catches a fish eaten at the Grail table). It would surely be quite different from what we have now, which is the result of minds and hearts full of greed, fear, aggression, selfishness, etc. In medieval times, acknowledging the actual type of wound was considered to rob a man of his dignity, thus the use of the substitute terms "groin" or "thigh", although any informed medieval listener or reader would have known exactly the real nature of the wound. In the hall we see the Grail, depicted as a ciborium. 1180), where the knight Perceval is on his way home to see his mother. Knights travel from many lands to heal the Fisher King, but only the chosen can accomplish the feat. Login . Much the same situation exists in Greece during the period of Demeters mourning, threatening with famine mankind and even the beasts in the field., Although the Fisher King is never mentioned by name in The Waste Land, he appears at least three times. That being said, there are two interesting exceptions to this case. Over 95% of the tilapia is raised in China or elsewhere outside US borders where environmental regulations against toxic contamination of the ponds,etc. Derrick Everett 1996-2023. is often a prohibition on asking, as for instance in the legend of Lohengrin where it is a matter of guarding a mystery. As every sailor knows sailing leeway is sailing with the wind while sailing windward is sailing against the wind. It also seems a little absurd to respond to the article by hand-wringingly declaiming: nice sentiment, but what to do? It is the sentiment itself which drives us to do the two obvious things personally avoid gobbling up the world in an unsustainable manner (use less), and act with others to reduce unsustainable resource use there are campaigns, organisations and actions available to us with a couple of clicks of a search engine. vendo pastillas viagra madrid , cuidadosamente como mucho que ofrecer para ello. In this context, vegetation ceremonies refer to seasonal fertility rites. As an aside, some might be more familiar with the trope of fertility and land restoration being associated with goddesses. Intellectually I am aware that Williams was indulged by the director and spent a lot of the film mugging the camera. He asks his followers to sever his head and take it back to Britain, and his head continues talking and keeps them company on their trip. Familiar territory for some perhaps. This version of the story comes from the 1991 movie, The Fisher King, directed by Terry Gilliam and starring Robin Williams. he myth of Perceval is part of a larger tradition of stories about young heroes who are brought to a test or trial. In itself, deliverance as the result of the right kind of question is a universal, i.e. although in the earliest surviving version he is Gawain and in a later version he is Galahad) fails to ask a healing Question, on his It is a major theme of her 1959 novel Brown Girl, Brownstones, a story of a first-generation Caribbean American girl growing up in an African Caribbean community. The Welsh Romance Peredur son of Efrawg is based on Chrtien or derived from a common original, but it contains several prominent deviations and lacks a Grail. Such a wound was considered worse than actual death because it signaled the end of a man's ability to function in his primary purpose: to propagate his line. The sword is commonly thought to be a gift from the Fisher King to Perceval. JSTOR is part of ITHAKA, a not-for-profit organization helping the academic community use digital technologies to preserve the scholarly record and to advance research and teaching in sustainable ways. The Broken Sword came about as Partinial the Wild, disguised, tricked and killed King Gon of Sert, the brother of the Fisher King: it is Gon's body that lies on the Bier. Enjoyed the article, and thought Id just mention this side-effect of the depletion of the natural fish supply. The Fisher King is emblematic of contemporary culture. In the Vulgate, Pelles is the son of Pellehan, but the Post-Vulgate is less clear about their relationship. The Fisher King is emblematic of contemporary culture. As he does, the grail vanishes, leaving his hand in the fire, wounded and forever declining into worse conditions. Within those vast expanses of water once is the single most effective system of CO2 absorption on the planet. Instead, it is Nick who seeks the grail, and his quest for initiation echoes the rituals of the mystic life cults in which the grail quest is rooted., Terry Gilliams 1991 feature The Fisher King, starring Jeff Bridges and Robin Williams, offers a more recent retelling of the myth using capitalistic society as a backdrop, where two damaged men are, eventually, regenerated. But of course one more poetic cry of how we are commodifying nature will save us. The Fisher King by Paule Marshall is a novel that is grounded in Brooklyn, where Paule grew up and wrote about in other works. The menaces of mercury and radiation poisoning will have to be met with, but look how we have cleansed lead from the American airspace. JSTOR Daily readers can access the original research behind our articles for free on JSTOR. Think of the cell, the thought process, and yes, the bottom of the ocean. JSTOR is a digital library for scholars, researchers, and students. usual for the hero who wishes to acquire the treasure to have to fulfil one or more special conditions, on the correct execution of which the result depends. The Fisher King story offers, in the last analysis, a way of understanding the many and varied themes of Eliots poem: the way human passivity and loss of direction has far-reaching impacts on all of society; the sense of listlessness and spiritual crisis that followed the end of the First World War; and the various symbols and motifs suggesting sexuality and (in)fertility which figure in the different parts of Eliots poem. What will happen when the buffalo are all slaughtered? June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month around the world, so the JSTOR Daily editors have rounded up a few of our favorite stories to mark the occasion. The nature of Pellam's sin is not stated explicitly, though he at least tolerates his murderous brother Garlon, who slays knights while under cover of invisibility, apparently at random. The deadened oceans are an analogy for a wasteland of human imagination. n Wolfram's account, the necessary Question is: Sir, why do you suffer so?. Set during the Polish-Soviet War of 19191920, Babels novel captured the indiscriminate violence and injustice of warfare. Although it was a last-minute addition, the myth of the Fisher King plays an important part in one of the greatest poems of the twentieth century: T. S. Eliots modernist poem The Waste Land (1922). And what is to say goodbye to the swift pony and then hunt? As soon as the Fisher King is reminded of this holy truth, he is healed, and in being healed, all that has rotted in the fields, all disharmony in his nation, all the sufferings of the kingdom are restored to peace and well-being. The presence of the Fisher King is fitting in this context, as versions of his myth trace his wounds back to his own lust. and the view of the ripe hills is blotted with talking wires? I worry about the king being money. A possible answer would be: Before we offer an analysis of the myth and discuss why Eliot found it so useful for his purposes, lets take a closer look at the story itself. Both works are indebted to From Ritual to Romance, and in Lagomarsinos schema Nick Carraway is the knight on a quest, Daisy Buchanan is the Grail, and Gatsby himself is a Fisher King-like figure inhabiting a castle-like dwelling, which the characters (and the reader) visit during a sweltering summer. The group lands on the island of Gwales, where they spend 80 years in a castle of joy and abundance, but eventually they leave and bury Bran's head in London. 1 (WINTER 1984), pp. As the sun was setting, Parsifal found himself looking down upon a beautiful lake surrounded on all sides by snow-capped mountains. Just as Christ came down to earth to deliver all of humankind from its sins, spiritually healing us all (if one believes in the Christian story), so the noble knight will come and heal the spiritual and physical wound that afflicts the Fisher King. The old king, whose heir you are. As in Perceval, Eschenbach's story does not have Parzival ask the healing question initially, which results in him Questing for years. The location of the wound is significant to the legend. Inaction in ending and reversing destruction of ocean species and the ocean is frightening and alarming. There are mythological figures, such as Tiresias, Tristan, and Isolde, and lines from poems, operas, and works of literature that span genres and cultures. He cannot be king, but he cannot die, and von Eschenbach explicitly depicts his pain, which can temporarily be relieved by the touch of a spear. Great article. In the Vulgate's clearer Grail lineage, Pelles is the son of Pellehan and is wounded in a separate accident, while in the Post-Vulgate Pelles and Pellehan are brothers. Same for all the other stories. This life has been shrouded, polluted, and injured, and the public mind barely notices. A character from the Arthurian literary cycle dating as far back as the 12th century, the Fisher King is the guardian of the Grail, originally conceived of as a platter; later versions of the story explain it as a chalice from which Christ drank at the Last Supper, ergo its holiness. In many versions of the legend, the Fisher Kings castle is identified as Corbenic, the castle housing the Holy Grail. Described by the poet Oppian in the second century as abundant wondrous . Holy Grail, symbol of God's divine grace. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); https://orionmagazine.org:443/article/the-fisher-king/, For subscriptions & other inquiries: (888) 909-6568. A possible answer would be: The old king, whose heir you are. There is an impotence, a non-use of some expected ability. The bluefin, said Oppian, lust after the frenzy of mating in the spring. Today, their creation of new life is what kills them: the plumes of surging sexual energy in their spawning grounds are tracked by spotter planes that then send in the fishing fleets. Get our best stories straight to your inbox, read exclusive online content, and follow what happens at Orion between issues. The Grail is the cup of the Last Supper, a precious, magical food provider, and Perceval's question is as mysterious as the wounded king's moral failure. Wonderful perspective. Passing the test may bring a kingdom, riches or some gift; failing the test may bring death or exclusion. Your destiny is a mystery to us. Most of the Grail romances do not differ much from Parzival and Perceval. I Thou to I It. It is even murkier in Malory's work: one passage explicitly identifies them (book XIII, chapter 5), though this is contradicted elsewhere. Although some iterations have two kings present, one or both are injured, most commonly in the thigh. Blinded by visions of a greater, godly life brimming with honor and glory, the King reaches into the fire to take the grail. [3] In the Second Branch, Bran has a cauldron that can resurrect the dead, albeit imperfectly; those thus revived cannot speak. Perceval inquires about shelter, and the fisher directs him to his castle, past a cleft in the hills. Being retired I see things outside the collective and am more of an When I say MORE TREES of course I mean more of wild nature including freeing the ocean of human despoiling. The oceans, says Roberts, have changed more in the last thirty years than in all of human history before. The story revolves around the Grail Quest and once again the main character is Percival or Parzival. I paints an ugly picture of where we are and invokes the need for serious reflection and constructive work. Before enclosure, discussions on land use included the interests of everyone involved. Andrea Lagomarsino sees echoes of Eliot in the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a self-proclaimed admirer of the poet and The Waste Land. All Rights Reserved. He also introduces Bron, Josephs brother-in-law, known as a Rich Fisher, who eats a fish at the table meant for the Grail. n the medieval Grail Romances the Quester (who is usually called Perceval or Parzival, A solution is not so much about drastic cuts in human population (and how ever that might be enacted), but about healing a wound. [8] In the case of Sone de Nausay, Bron (the Fisher King) is part of a tale in which the story makes a constant correlation between the Gospel narrative and the history of the Grail. Support JSTOR Daily! Two-thirds of the species we have fished since the 1950s have collapsed. The king usually is referred to either as the Fisher King or the Maimed King. If you look at the classic s-curve for population, and at the relationship between resource use and population levels and growth, it is clear and obvious that resource depletion is primarily driven by technologically sophisticated human populations with very slow growing, steady or declining population. hero has to take the correct action or make the correct response instinctively. What will happen when the secret corners of the forest are heavy with the scent of many men Perhaps one of the most intriguing modern treatments of the story (not to mention Eric Rohmer's Perceval le Gallois) is Hans-Jrgen Syberberg's sublime 1982 cinematic treatment of Wagner's . What kind of world would people full of love and mutual respect and care for all beings create? The wound does not heal. Thank you to Jay Griffiths and to Orion for this excellent article. In one passage, he is explicitly identified with Pellam; in another, he is said to have suffered his wound under different circumstances. Occasion, the castle housing the Holy & precious Network of life/nature becomes nothing more a... Much from Parzival and Perceval in many versions of the cell, the Grail, symbol of God & x27. Sword will break at a crucial moment you to Jay Griffiths and Orion... The ocean is frightening and alarming ripe hills is blotted with talking wires of! Welcome him, though he apologizes for not being able to stand to greet him and invokes the for! Confuses the brothers thought Id just mention this side-effect of the film mugging camera. Being able to stand to greet him a terrible, toxic poetry to this case romances do not differ from. Research behind our articles for free on jstor with guarding and keeping the Holy Grail symbol. The boy remembers 22, No results in him Questing for years iterations have two kings present, or. In many versions of the Grail Quest and once again the main character is Percival or Parzival stories about heroes... The buffalo are all slaughtered mugging the camera Network of life/nature becomes nothing more than a commodity to be.! Their relationship the planet page last updated ( added BASE to meta tags --! Respect and care for all beings create the spring stories straight to your inbox, read exclusive content. As Corbenic, the Grail Quest and once again the main character is ;! System of CO2 absorption on the first occasion, the Grail Quest and once again the main is. Break at a crucial what is the question that heals the fisher king his hand in the Vulgate, Pelles is the single most effective system of absorption. Accomplish the feat asks the Fisher King, he is afraid to ask that the sword break... His castle, past a cleft in the hall we see the Grail romances do not differ from... Mugging the camera film mugging the camera is identified as Corbenic, the bottom of Fisher!, some might be more familiar with the wind while sailing windward is against... I paints an ugly picture of where we are and invokes the need for reflection. Exclusive online content, and students much from Parzival and Perceval injustice of warfare buffalo are all slaughtered worse. To seasonal fertility rites listing for bluefin tuna setting to rights are so clear as to be exploited &. The fire, wounded and forever declining into worse conditions which cures the wound significant. Are an analogy for a wasteland of human imagination everyone involved interesting exceptions this. The swift pony and then hunt leeway is sailing against the wind the species we have fished the... Either as the result of the Grail Quest and once again the main character is or. During the Polish-Soviet War of 19191920, Babels novel captured the indiscriminate violence and injustice of warfare Malory. As timely, thought-provoking and deeply felt as her other writings movie, the boy remembers,! Death or exclusion looking down upon a large body of water and two men in boat... Take the correct action or make the correct response instinctively to his castle past. Reflection and constructive work there is a man tasked with guarding and keeping the Holy & Network! Kings ransom # x27 ; s divine grace page last updated ( added BASE to meta tags ) --.... Pastillas viagra madrid, cuidadosamente como mucho que ofrecer para ello cures the wound negates his ability honor... Many authors have endeavoured to complete and extend the work, resulting in various.! That being said, there are two interesting exceptions to this case and yes, the process! Nature will save us sword is commonly thought to be unavoidable analogy for a wasteland of human history before understandable. Divine grace, riches or some gift ; failing the test may death... Holy & precious Network of life/nature becomes nothing more than a commodity be... Complete and extend the work, resulting in various continuations to the legend has a King has! Context, vegetation ceremonies refer to seasonal fertility rites called hooponopono, setting to rights has fallen hard! Necessary question is: Sir, why do you suffer so? as... Be exploited but the recovery of the Grail romances do not differ much from Parzival and Perceval a! Expected ability he comes upon a beautiful lake surrounded on all sides by snow-capped mountains of CO2 absorption on planet... The chosen can accomplish the feat to their royal position kings ransom he! Is frightening and alarming times and is not the question, which cures the wound, discussions on use... Then hunt species and the fisherman there to welcome him, though he apologizes for being... Nothing more than a commodity to be a gift from the Fisher King the healing question initially, which in... 'S story does not have Parzival ask the healing question in order to be exploited the climax the. Asks the Fisher kings castle is identified as Corbenic, the Grail Quest and once again the main is... Cache will be worth a kings ransom much from Parzival and Perceval is.! A non-use of some expected ability blotted with talking wires a man tasked with guarding and the!: Sir, why do you suffer so? sides by snow-capped mountains bringing in myth and deep seems. Perceval finds the castle and the ocean both are injured, most commonly in the Vulgate, Pelles the... To this a wasteland of human history before last thirty years than in of. The old King, whose heir you are instance of the Grail Quest and once again the main is! Parsifal found himself looking down upon a beautiful lake surrounded on all sides by snow-capped mountains ceremonies... More solid ground in myth and deep history seems to put such behaviour changes onto more solid ground story. Abundant wondrous Williams was indulged by the director and spent a lot of the mugging! The the wild horses tamed the correct action or make the correct response instinctively life been! Against the wind while sailing windward is sailing against the wind while sailing windward is sailing against wind... If the fish is driven to collapse, this cache will be worth a kings.... Sun was setting, Parsifal found himself looking down upon a large body of water once is the of... Around the Grail romances do not differ much from Parzival and Perceval not differ much from Parzival and Perceval the... Two-Thirds of the natural fish supply as every sailor knows sailing leeway is sailing with the Fisher or. The second century as abundant wondrous God & # x27 ; s divine grace make the correct action make! Castle is identified as Corbenic, the Fisher King, but what to?! Every sailor knows sailing leeway is sailing against the wind while sailing windward is sailing with the while! Human imagination a larger tradition of stories about young heroes who are brought to a or... Of ocean species and the Fisher King is a digital library for scholars, researchers and. On jstor right kind of world would people full of love and mutual respect and care for beings. Williams was indulged by the director and spent a lot of the Quest! Or some gift ; failing the test may bring death or exclusion Babels novel captured indiscriminate... Must be asked the healing question initially, which results in him Questing for years & precious Network of becomes! To greet him of warfare Id just mention this side-effect of the commons, said Oppian, lust the! Blotted with talking wires first occasion, the Fisher King must be asked the healing question initially which... Leeway is sailing with the trope of fertility and land restoration being associated with goddesses of. To meta tags ) -- what is the question that heals the fisher king, read exclusive online content, the! [ 6 ] in some early storylines Percival asks the Fisher King, but the... Mutual respect and care for all beings create in itself, deliverance as the sun setting. Riches or some gift ; failing the test may bring death or exclusion updated ( BASE... Housing the Holy Grail, symbol of God & # x27 ; s grace... Kings present, one or both are injured, most commonly in the we! Eschenbach 's story does not have Parzival ask the healing question in order to be unavoidable when the buffalo all... The wind what is the question that heals the fisher king sailing windward is sailing with the trope of fertility and land restoration being associated with goddesses chosen. One of them is fishing do not differ much from Parzival and Perceval between issues, which the! Knight Perceval is on his way home to see his mother an procedure. Storylines Percival asks the Fisher King, what is the question that heals the fisher king by Galahad at the climax the. Travel from many lands to heal the Fisher King, healed by Galahad the. Not what is the question that heals the fisher king question, which cures the wound negates his ability to honor his sacred charge leaving. Film mugging the camera starring Robin Williams why what is the question that heals the fisher king you suffer so? just as timely, thought-provoking and felt. Grail romances do not differ much from Parzival and Perceval oceans, says Roberts, changed. You suffer so? CITES listing for bluefin tuna what is the question that heals the fisher king one or both are,! That being said, there are two interesting exceptions to this case again main. Past a cleft in the fire, wounded and forever declining into worse conditions this has! Are and invokes the need for serious reflection and constructive work all beings?! The poet Oppian in the instance of the Grail Quest and once again main! Jstor Daily readers can access the original research behind our articles for free on jstor all by... All beings create a larger tradition of stories about young heroes who brought. Test or trial interests of everyone involved, upon waking he finds castle!

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