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despairingly together. I am a dangerous fool, Tocohl
Don t castigate yourself, van Zoveel. I fell into the same trap.
If I hadn t been automatically compromising my movements and stance
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to accommodate a mixed group of languages, to avoid offending anyone,
one of those sprookjes would have parroted me the first time I opened my mouth
to speak Jenji or Siveyn or Bluesippan.
Van Zoveel frowned. What about layli-layli calulan and your pardon,
layli-layli
Oloitokitok?
Oh! His shoulders relaxed and he went on to answer his own question, Then
the Yn must have different proxemics and kinesics for male and female, just as
they have different spoken dialects for male and female.
Exactly, Tocohl said, likewise your two Sheveschkemen: one from the south,
one from the north.
Two different languages in all aspects. She glanced down at the arachne.
As Maggy said though, swift-Kalat s sprookje would have echoed Alfvaen the
first time she got her Jenji right in front of it. She would have too, and
fairly soon. That makes me feel a little better: I had her serendipity for
backup if I
blew it.
She shifted again, made more uncomfortable by the thought than by her injury,
and finished, I m looking for it, van Zoveel, and all I ve caught so far is
the cheek-puffing business! Om im s been seeing it all along without knowing
what it was he saw, so I think we d both better apply to him for assistance.
You keep saying that, Ish shan, but I haven t the vaguest idea what you re
talking about.
You said I looked like a Hellspark. I m betting you watched me come into the
common room and greet three people in three different languages.
Yes, but I couldn t hear you over that crowd.
You said looked like when I greet someone for the first time, I
do stick to that culture s kinesics and proxemics. It makes a better first
impression. You saw the shift, just as you can see the different stance each
sprookje takes to accommodate the language of its respective human. I ll
bet your twin friends held themselves differently, moved differently, Om im.
You never saw it consciously but you saw it.
Om im cocked his head to one side. I ll take your word for that, Ish shan.
Maybe if I look, I ll see from now on. How can I help?
As I said, the best we can do for the moment is a pidgin. If you ll pick up
and use the same broad gestures I use, I think Sunchild will understand that
we have a language in common.
I am in your service, he said, touching the hilt of his blade to remind her
that this was literally true.
The sprookje did likewise.
Yes, Tocohl agreed, but try to avoid extraneous gestures like that
one. We ve just confused
Sunchild& Don t worry: This is as good a time as any to establish a no
.
It took her some few moments of silent gesturing but she accomplished it to
her satisfaction: for no
, fingers scraped emphatically against the thumb as if to rid the hand of
something at once noxious and sticky. Sunchild mimicked her with the same
enthusiasm it had given the thumbs-out yes
.
Why so broad a gesture? swift-Kalat asked. Sunchild can apparently
distinguish very subtle movements.
I can t, said Tocohl, I need movement to attract my eye and remind me to
look instead of listen.
And a no or a yes
I want to be able to see at a distance. She rose. Now let s see if we can
get the other sprookjes to understand as much as Sunchild. Signing for
Sunchild to follow, she headed for the door.
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Instantly Sunchild rose. So did Om im, causing the sprookje to thumb yes so
vigorously it nearly jabbed Om im in its excitement. Outside is a good idea,
Om im observed aloud. We re definitely running out of room for all this
enthusiastic communication!
Tocohl laughed and led the entire troupe, thumbs out triumphant, back into the
sunlight.
Once outside, however, the sprookje s triumph turned abruptly to distress. Its
gold eyes darted from group to group of the surveyors and its feathers
bristled.
Tocohl, having had the same experience only a short time before, knew the
source of the trouble: the utter confusion of languages it saw danced.
Turning Sunchild gently but inexorably to face her, she stroked the
sprookje s wrist feathers. Don t panic, she said, watch me, and she
brought both hands, flat and crossed, to her chest. Follow again she
extended the imaginary cloak me again she brought her hands to her
chest.
Yes
, thumbed Sunchild, its feathers subsiding.
Very deliberately, inviting her to do the same, it turned its attention on
Dyxte who, having just finished draping streamers of Tocohl s moss cloak from
a dozen places on layli-layli calulan s cabin, now stood back to admire his
work. Obviously pleased, he turned and sought others to admire his work as
well.
The sprookjes surrounding him, as excited as they might be, did not
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