One of the four larger-than-life stone lions in the center of Al-Manara, Ramallah’s main square, sports a stone wristwatch.  (–Why does a monumental lion need to know what time it is, you ask? –Well, he doesn’t, stupid: that’s why the hands don’t move!)  How did the watch get there?  I had thought, two years ago, that it was the result of a clever bit of midnight vandalism.  Now I’ve heard another story:  the British architect responsible, in 1999, for the design of the monument sent his plans to China, where the lions were to be sculpted.  He was eager to have the job done quickly, so, to remind the Chinese to get to it, he added a watch to his drawing of one of the lions. He didn’t know he was dealing with literalists.  Moral: Never let a literalist near stone.