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In terms of fiction, a quibble is a plot device, used to fulfill the exact verbal conditions of an agreement in order to avoid the intended meaning. Typically quibbles are used in legal bargains and, in fantasy, magically enforced ones.〔John Grant and John Clute, ''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy'', "Quibbles" p 796 ISBN 0-312-19869-8〕 In one of the best known examples, William Shakespeare used a quibble in ''The Merchant of Venice''. Portia saves Antonio in a court of law by pointing out that the agreement called for a pound of flesh, but no blood, and therefore Shylock can collect only if he sheds no blood. == Examples == A pact with the Devil commonly contains clauses that allow the devil to quibble over what he grants, and equally commonly, the maker of the pact finds a quibble to escape the bargain.〔 In Norse mythology, Loki, having bet his head with Brokk and lost, forbids Brokk to take any part of his neck, saying he had not bet it; Brokk is able only to sew his lips shut.〔 The Savoy Operas by Gilbert and Sullivan frequently feature quibbles; W. S. Gilbert had read law and had practiced briefly as a barrister, and regarded the minor technicalities of the law that typically gave rise to quibbles to be highly characteristic of the legalistic Victorian British society satirized in his works. For instance, in ''The Pirates of Penzance'', Frederick's terms of indenture bind him to the pirates until his twenty-first birthday; the pirates point out that he was born on February 29 (a leap year) and will not have his twenty-first birthday until he is eighty-four, and so compel him to rejoin them. When the hero of the Child ballad ''The Lord of Lorn and the False Steward'' is forced to trade places with an impostor and swear never to reveal the truth to anyone, he tells his story to a horse while he knows that the heroine is eavesdropping. In the similar fairy tale ''The Goose Girl'', the princess pours out her story to an iron stove, but not knowing that the king is listening.〔Maria Tatar, ''The Annotated Brothers Grimm'', p 320 W. W. Norton & company, London, New York, 2003 ISBN 0-393-05848-4〕 In Piers Anthony's fantasy world Xanth, the law requires that the king be a Magician, thereby excluding a Sorceress from ruling. But when in ''Night Mare'' one Magician after another falls to an invasion's hostile magic and it appears that no more Magicians exist to take the throne, the last Magician king observes that although the law states that only a Magician can be king, a Sorceress is technically a female Magician and thus eligible to rule. Quibbles are the theme of ''The Twilight Zone'' episode "The Man in the Bottle". A genie freed from a bottle grants a couple four wishes, warning that every wish has consequences. One of the man's wishes is to be in a position of great power, the leader of a modern and powerful country who cannot be voted out of office. The genie turns him into Adolf Hitler during his final days in World War II. In the ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' episode "The Circle", Captain Sisko is ordered to evacuate the titular station against his better judgment. However, he notices that his superiors did not specify the extent of the evacuation, so he orders a complete evacuation of all their equipment, which will take far longer and necessitate some officers staying on the station in the face of an impending siege, giving them a chance to fight back. Likewise, "The Way of the Warrior", Sisko is forbidden to tell the Cardassians about an imminent invasion of their empire by the Klingons. However, if the Klingons take Cardassia, the Federation and Bajor will be put at risk, so he calls in the station's resident Cardassian tailor/spy to measure him for a suit while he discusses the imminent invasion with his senior officers. In ''The Shadow Thieves'', by Anne Ursu, Hades, attempting to banish the traitorous Philonecron, uses the words "You may never set foot in the Kingdom of the Dead again." Philonecron later gets around Hades's binding proclamation by having servants carry him into the Underworld. In the 2002 film Spider-Man, Peter Parker faces professional wrestler Bonesaw McGraw after seeing a newspaper advertisement specifying "$3000 for 3 minutes in the ring." Though Parker wins the match in two minutes, the promotion's crooked promoter only pays him $100 citing that since Parker did not last three minutes in the ring, Parker did not fulfil the required conditions and was therefore unable to receive the full $3000. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Quibble (plot device)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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