What did she say?

Maxgoof · Post by **Maxgoof** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 4:15 am

For the benefit of those who get headaches translating the dialect:

It was very dark where I was...couldn't even see the gatormen who were guarding me. Just hear them, splashing and mucking about in the water below.

I didn't think I'd ever go home again. I wanted Mom, and Dad, and my own bed...

I was so scared to death, I tried to ken for them. The wizards say no one can ken much further than a fistful of paces, but I didn't care. I just wanted Mom!

I can't do much magic, except to light a candlewick. But I kenned as hard as I could. I reached and I pushed and I stretched, even though I knew it wouldn't work...

I kenned further than I ever did before-- Then I felt it. A scrap of my tail, glimmering in the dark...

I grabbed it with my mind, and hung on.....

(Like Death itself, indeed!)

I reached past it, and found another, glowing like it. Then another, and another....

...'Til I could feel all of them out there, in my mind....

Then...then I started kenning all that was in between them.....

And I didn't need to hold on to my hairs anymore to do it, either...

Richter B. · Post by **Richter B.** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 4:55 am

Max I thank you for your transalations (ah another later night of spelling errors) with out them i would'nt know what was going on half the time (though i could transalate it, but as e said it gives me headaches)
so basically thanks dude and keep up the good work =)

Maxgoof · Post by **Maxgoof** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 6:22 am

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I know I'm not getting it 100% correct (only RHJ could do that, or someone who knows exactly how he creates the dialect) but it's not hard to get 95% correct on the words, and 99% on the meaning.

I don't really like translating "Burr aye!" as "Indeed!" as that sounds stilted, but I could not come up with a better word. In most instances, it could be left off, entirely, but that would leave a lot wondering what "Burr Aye!" meant. Also, the translation of "morten" to "scared to death" is a guess, based on the context and the fact that it sounds like the latin word for death. I could have said "Grim Death" for "Grim Deat'" but opted for "Death Itself". I will occasionally take liberties in the translation if a paraphrase would be easier to understand or sound more natural than a direct translation.

Earl McClaw · Post by **Earl McClaw** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 6:59 am

maxgoof wrote:I don't really like translating "Burr aye!" as "Indeed!" as that sounds stilted, but I could not come up with a better word. In most instances, it could be left off, entirely, but that would leave a lot wondering what "Burr Aye!" meant.

May I suggest "for sure" (or to make a closer match to the accent usually using it, "fer sherr")? In both cases it's a coloquial / slang interjection and meant to emphasize what was just said.

I'm probably not reaching your levels, but at least I get the meaning without having to do a translation before reading it.

StrangeWulf13 · Post by **StrangeWulf13** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 9:16 pm

"for sure"? =P I thought these were magical raccoons, not airheaded mall rats...

^_^ Sorry, couldn't resist.

Mwalimu · Post by **Mwalimu** » Thu Mar 11, 2004 1:50 pm

StrangeWulf13 wrote:"for sure"? =P I thought these were magical raccoons, not airheaded mall rats...

...or Californian otters.

Maxgoof · Post by **Maxgoof** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 3:52 am

I could see everything, hear everything, feel everything...but I couldn't touch a thing. Not so much as a pebble! I think I made a leaf flutter, I'm not sure....

I could kenn Dad and Mom, but I couldn't figure out how to make them hear me..

Then I was rescued, before I could understand it.

My head was all confused, thinking about it....

I always wondered how Papa always knew what I'd been doing...

And how Mama always catches Jacobin sneaking berrycakes, without even looking---

I know, now! I wager I'm the first child to learn it, ever...

Hee. Jacobin thinks he's so smart because he's a bit older than me.

I wager he didn't figure out what I did.

Hah. And I'm not going to tell him, for sure--

I know the secret grownup trick, and he doesn't! Hah!

The JAM · Post by **The JAM** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 7:50 am

[...unWARP!!!]

Good evening.

Well, that's one way to keep an eye on your kids.

I wonder if [the bully's dad from a while back but I forgot his name] never had that done to him....

Um, Ralph? Is Quentyn's face deliberately unfinished on the second panel?

Starcat5 · Post by **Starcat5** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 10:21 am

10 to 1, she's confusing parental observation for more than it is. I mean, if you know a child well enough, You'll know about when they'll probably want to sneak a cookie or the like. Combine that with listening for noises that seem out of place (Like the clank of a cookie jar lid), and butta bing, butta bang, INSTANT omniscience.

StrangeWulf13 · Post by **StrangeWulf13** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 7:17 pm

Well, RH kinda already said that in a spoiler (lasted about 3 to 5 days I think, at max), saying that Nessie mistook common parental observation for something more... not knowing that she's done something special.

=) I dunno why, but I can almost imagine these characters grown up... a town meeting in Quentyn's home town with Rahan (the jerk) on the council... and all of them having an argument over things. Then Quentyn steps in and interrupts to counter Rahan's idiocy (c'mon, you know he's never gonna grow out of it) by stating some news he received when he visited Nessie in the swamp, saying that the Gragum have noticed some odd activity on their outer borders...

^_^ But! That's for a possible non-canon fanfic I could do... don't wanna go too deep into it.

TTFN!

Richter B. · Post by **Richter B.** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 5:42 am

sounds interesting, strange wolf.

wonder if she will discover other new interesting ways to handle lux

Richter B. · Post by **Richter B.** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 5:45 am

sorry bout double posting but i got's toask you all a strange question i was asked......

What would you rather face, a Wolf, or 100 angry chipmunks????

when asked i was like za??????
I knowit has nothing to do with this comic but i must ask someone
so i figured i might as well ask all'a you's

TGIF · Post by **TGIF** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 12:00 pm

StrangeWulf13 wrote:Then Quentyn steps in and interrupts to counter Rahan's idiocy (c'mon, you know he's never gonna grow out of it) by stating some news he received when he visited Nessie in the swamp, saying that the Gragum have noticed some odd activity on their outer borders...

The way things are going, he may not have to visit her in the swamp. If Nessie has anything to say about it, she's going to be married to him by then!

Then again, Kestrel may have a few words to say on that issue.

Heck - if it wasn't for the age gap probably being too big, I'd suspect that even Meribeth might have an objection or two. On the other hand, she may be only four or six years older than Quentyn, and that's no longer a big deal if you get married in your 20's - assuming that Quentyn has a decent growth spurt before then. ;o)

TGIF

Maxgoof · Post by **Maxgoof** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 7:30 pm

"Doing strange things? What do you mean by strange things?"

"Very odd things, husband. Very unsettling things. The nightmares and night terrors I can understand, yes."

"...But I keep catching her--catching her standing and staring at nothing..."

"...still as stone, not moving, not blinking, for Jesus knows how long."

"What's even odder..she's begun finding things."

"No, that isn't the word. She fetches them, as if she knew where they were, all the time."

"I lost my thimble the other day....she heard me say so, and she was off like a shot."

"Not a minute later, she came back, thimble in hand...."

"So? So she kenned it--"

"From the far side of the village?? It was in Oombaw's house, under her chair!"

"She knows things she couldn't--stares at things that aren't there...."

"And she talks strange nonsense at times, like things are topsy-turvy in her head..."

"Pah! It's childish oddness, nothing more, I say. You making something out of nothing, wife."

"Would you be carting her off to some dryfoot wizards, for the sake of a mother's fussy-worry?"

"Would you be denying my worries, for nothing but chieftain's pride?"

"Arith..."

"Something's amiss with our daughter, and you know it--I see it in your eyes."

Maxgoof · Post by **Maxgoof** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 3:29 am

"Not now, wife. We'll talk later of this...I..need time to think this out...."

They're still talking about it.... I ought to be ready, if they do take me to the wizards in the city. I've got to get my tail-hairs back!

I've been trying all night to move the nearest one. It's no use...

I can see it, I can even feel it, all the time... but I can't touch it.

It's too far for me to go fetch it...maybe if I---?

Oooh, what's this? A raven going for the tree?

Oooh, what if--?

Grownups can make birds carry messages and such where they want....

Go on. Get the tuft. You want it. Get the hairs. Come on, Mister bird, pretty please...

That's it. Pull the hairs out of the clay...

Go on...

Maxgoof · Post by **Maxgoof** » Sat Mar 27, 2004 3:30 am

Oh oh oh oh Here he comes, here he comes--

All right, now give it to me, give it to me--

That's it now...

Come on, nice birdie, gimme the tuft of hair...

That's it...

"I-- I got it!"

"Hopping bog-dragons, it worked!"

"It worked!!"

"It worked It worked It worked It worked Hee hee Hee hee Ha hee Hee"

"Bloody deeps, what's the racket??"

Eep!

"Feh. Ruddy ravens--"

I hopped back in through the window when I heard that. You better believe I moved double quick!

It didn't matter, though. I got the first tuft of my hair back.

And now I knew how to get the rest back, too.

Maxgoof · Post by **Maxgoof** » Sat Mar 27, 2004 3:34 am

Richter B. wrote:What would you rather face, a Wolf, or 100 angry chipmunks????

A wolf. It has but one jaw and four paws. One shot would take it out.

Try doing that with 100 chipmunks. They'd be all over you before you could take out 10.

Maxgoof · Post by **Maxgoof** » Fri Apr 02, 2004 3:20 am

It took a long time to gather my plume together.

Birds and fish and turtles and small animals...

I presuaded them into fetching my tail-hairs, when no one was watching me.

I was careful to be kind to them, as not to make them afraid of me--

...gave them treats and nice things, so they would like me and come to me quicker next time.

Besides...It was only being nice.

Did you know Mock Tentacles like bread and honey? I didn't know that.

I even got a Bog Dragon to fetch for me. Hee.

I think I'll call him "Oggy".

Richter B. · Post by **Richter B.** » Fri Apr 02, 2004 4:33 am

cool a dragon froggy...

i wonder if she'll get caught by her parents one of these times???

or if she gets in trouble, like a bandit or some crap try's to hurt her, will

the animals defend her from it since she was so nice to them??

and i also think they should take her to that frog wizard dude

instead of the city wizards

Ransom Returns · Post by **Ransom Returns** » Fri Apr 02, 2004 2:07 pm

Awww...she made a friend...

I love the "Mock Tentacle." I assume he uses that tail to trick predators into thinking he's a giant squid?