From: "Endymion9" <endymion9@mindspring.com>
Subject: (urth) Re: (whorl) New Wolfe story online (spoilers for "Copperhead")
Date: Sun, 6 May 2001 10:48:37 

William Ansley communicated:
>-----------------------------------
>"Vhas a groose." She turned, and her eyes were the color of heaven,
>and she was the loveliest woman the new President had ever seen.
>"Nawt lak 'ou. Aw zay, 'ou vhill nawt neffer grawnt offer mee agan."
>She shrugged. "Dhoss bhoyes, de vhun keels de odder. Aw douh
>nawthing."
>-----------------------------------
>
>I could manage to work out what Jane Doe was saying until the last
>(presumably) crucial paragraph of her dialog (quoted above). Perhaps
>you could elucidate? I think I got most of it, actually. Here's my
>"translation":
>
>-----------------------------------
>"Vhas a groose."
>"Was a [?]"
>
>"Nawt lak 'ou. Aw zay, 'ou vhill nawt neffer grawnt offer mee agan."
>"Not like you. I say, you will not never[?] grunt[?] over me again."
>
>"Dhoss bhoyes, de vhun keels de odder. Aw douh nawthing."
>"Those boys, the one kills the other. I do nothing."
>-----------------------------------
>
>So, what is "groose"? What about "neffer" and "grawnt"?
>
>I (and Spectacled Bear) await your reply.

I think you had it correct already.  Or at least I saw it the same way.

"Vhas a groose" I interpreted as either "Was a grouse" which Webster says is
a ground dwelling bird.  I was thinking she was calling him a rodent.  Or
possible "Was gross". with the a used in the way people used to imitate
Italian immigrants.  "He was a my friend."  etc.

Neffer = never as you stated.
grawnt = grunt as you stated.

So the paragraph struck me as

He was gross.  Not like you [whom I like currently].
I told him he will not ever grunt over me again.   [As in I told him he
would never have sex with me again.]

Even if I missed a word here or there I could understand Jane Doe's intent.
With Pig it was many times the other way around.  I could get 3 out of 10
words and had no idea if he was talking friendly or threateningly to Horn.



Dennis/Endy
http://home.mindspring.com/~endymion9/index.htm


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