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Pas, on disembarking: Howdy Neighbor

Adam Stephanides · 12 Mar 2001, 21:59 · from whorl-v0012.mbox · original

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From: Adam Stephanides <adamsteph at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: (whorl) Pas, on disembarking: Howdy Neighbor
Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2001 21:59:38
Message-ID: <whorl-v0012-0440 at digest.urth.net>
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on 3/12/01 12:14 PM, Robert Borski at rborski at charter.net wrote:

> there's evidence that the Neighbors know how to bioengineer
> shape-shifting in the inhumi

Where?  Not in Chapter 23 of IGJ, where Horn gives Hide the lesson on the
inhumi and the Neighbors.

> Fourthly, at one point during IGJ, Horn sings in and translates from
> Neighborese--and not amateurishly, but well enough so that it completely
> discombobulates poor Colonel Terzo. When and how did Horn learn the langu=
age
> of the Neighbors? From darling one-armed Seawrack? But isn't Seawrack a
> minion of the Mother--Greater Scylla's clone on Blue? How, in turn, has
> Scylla come to learn Neighborese? Personally, I favor the idea that the P=
as
> aspect of PassilkHorn is the one who's providing the translation skills
> because it's the least complicated. As a Neighbor, he's simply speaking h=
is
> native tongue.

I may be missing something again, but I don't see the problem here.  The
Mother is a goddess of the Neighbors; why wouldn't she have been able to
learn their language and teach it to Seawrack?  And Seawrack could have
taught Horn enough to translate the few lines he does (there's no need to
assume it's an impromptu translation; he could have heard the same song in
the boat with Seawrack).

--Adam


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