# III: My Father While Camping Is Accosted by Professors Hanky and Panky explained — Erewhon Revisited

> Chapter companion for Erewhon Revisited by Samuel Butler.

## What happens

My father ascends the pass, finds the statues smaller than remembered, and discovers abundant quails. He catches two dozen to sell for money. While camping, he is accosted by Professors Hanky and Panky, who mistake him for a ranger. Through quick wit and a bribe, he avoids detection and gains their trust.

## Themes in this chapter

### Hypocrisy and Deception

My father deceives the professors about the quails and his identity, while the professors themselves are willing to bend rules for personal gain.

### Satire of Institutions

The absurdity of the Erewhonian legal system and the professors' academic pretensions are satirized through their interactions with my father.

### Truth and Perception

My father's lies about the quails and his role as a ranger highlight how perception can be manipulated to obscure truth.

## Character check-ins

### My Father

Climbs the pass, catches quails, and cleverly deceives Professors Hanky and Panky to avoid suspicion.

### Professor Hanky

One of the professors who accosts my father; he is hungry and bribes my father for quails.

### Professor Panky

The other professor; initially suspicious of my father but is deceived by his quick lies.

### The Narrator

Provides commentary on translation choices and recounts his father's story.

## Key lines

> See what comes," said Panky, "of having a whippersnapper not yet twenty years old in the responsible post of Head Ranger. As for this fellow, he may be speaking the truth, but I distrust him.

Panky criticizes the young Head Ranger and expresses distrust toward my father.

_Panky's suspicion sets the stage for my father's deception._

> I think," said my father to me, "that Hanky knew what his friend meant, for he said, 'Panky, I am very hungry.'

My father believes Hanky understood Panky's implication and used hunger as an excuse to change the subject.

_Shows my father's perceptiveness and the professors' unspoken collusion._

> Hanky," said Panky, "you must get this fellow to give you lessons.

Panky sarcastically suggests that Hanky learn from my father's cunning.

_Highlights my father's successful manipulation of the situation._

## Links

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