The seven stars are seven because they are not eight; for the same ‘pretty reason’ William Empson diverted us with his ‘Seven Types of Ambiguity’. Such numbers are appropriately arbitrary, and I am sure that Christopher Booker would not disagree that we could have 10 or 12 or 16 basic plots if we felt like it. I remember my mother reciting to me when I was five or six a little rhyme whose potential in terms of plot and personality made a strong appeal to me:

Once, in the corner of a ham and beef shop,
Two little sausages sat.
One was a lady and the other was a gentleman.
Sausages are made like that.
I longed to know what was the story and the destiny of that couple, although it must have been, when one came to think of it, obvious enough.

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