Double Translation

The archivist moved the book toward a large window and sat down with an pot of ink and a large scrap of parchment. He wrote the strange words down in the left column in percise, blocky letters. He did so as he was concerned that he might make a mistake on a letter and change the meaning of the word. In a right column of the sheet, Checkers wrote her translation into modern language using cursive letters. Her style was unusual, in that it was not ornamented with curliques and flourishes as a noble or professional scribe might use, but was also not angular, as one might see in account books. Hers was a plain style with few angles that was easy to read.

As the archivist finished the left column, Checkers was already about halfway down her side. Old High Dolomite was a compact language, and when Checkers was finished, the right column was longer than the left by a third.

The archivist looked at the finished work, and said, "There must be more, but this is the start of an index of some sort."

"The original compiler was not a Glider, but he or she certainly knew some. Look at this entry. Control of Local Glideri. Three stories bracketed. The Wide Sea. Odds and Evens. The Life of an Cinnaway Tree."

The archivist said, "Does any of that make sense to you?"

Checkers replied, "I have already translated Odds and Evens. It was interesting. The subject matter was numbers, and the emotions that they can evoke. The manipulations of numbers are a really basic form of magic - some people have a feel for it, and some do not. One of course is an unhappy number for us. It means that you are alone and in danger. Four is a good number, though. A Glider thinks of four, and thinks of stability. A solid square with four sides, a start to a family with two children and two healthy parents, and so forth. Generally, even numbers are comfortable, and odd numbers make us nervous. A human might have used the poem to remember that when dealing with a glideri colony.

She continued, "I have put off translating The Wide Sea. The subject matter sounds unpleasant. Large bodies of water are a common fear among us. We try not to fly over them, because there is nowhere to land, and most of us cannot swim. It is like a fear of heights for a man - if you fall, you are likely to get killed. We do not have that fear, because it is more likely than not we would land unhurt." She did remember the Gliders of the Catfish Lake area, and due to their unusual environment, they did not have fear of the water and most could swim. But these were the same Gliders that would eat bug-like creatures (prawns) out of the lake and claim to enjoy them as a special treat. Ick. No, they were not typical, and there was no need to mention the weird exceptions among her people to this man. "So the reading of the Wide Sea might be used to scare Gliders off. The Cinnaway Tree is what I am going to translate next. Cinnaway fruit was legendary. It was supposed to be the best-tasting fruit in the world. It does not exist anymore. It is said that the humans destroyed them all during the times when they overran the plains and drove us out. If I could bring some cinnaway seeds back, it would be one of the greatest of treasures. But I have not seen any, even in this land."

The archivist said, "What about this section here?" pointing to a group dealing with

1. prophecies of the future.
2. love and friendship.
3. sickness and health.

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