It is necessary to remember the small psychological and cultural differences while writing, then reading, a dialogue between intelligent beings of different species.
Arinnian is speaking Planha to Eyath but must say:
"'Let's hope.'" (p. 446)
- in Anglic because Ythrians accept what comes. Every educated Avalonian is bilingual.
An Ythrian who marries into another choth does not become homesick because they travel more, starting with flying if the distance is not too great.
Ythrian couples can delay childbirth by avoiding each other while in heat. However, it is shared childcare, not regular sex, that keeps them together. Nearly all Ythrians reject contraception - not all because Poul Anderson recognizes that there are individual differences within species.
Ythrians do not brood on problems so human members of choths try to train themselves out of this habit. Arinnian translates Planha songs into Anglic but feels that he cannot convey the rapture of an Ythrian in flight.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
That last paragraph mentioning how Ythrians were not brooders does not impress me with them, intellectually speaking. I certainly agree we can do without whiners and whimpering types, but it does indicates many Ythrians are not interested in ultimate questions, in wondering why the world and the universe is the way it is. Which means, to me, we are not likely to get Ythrian equivalents of the Book of Ecclesiastes, the MEDITATIONS of Marcus Aurelius, or Boethius' THE CONSOLATION OF PHILOSOPHY.
Ad astra! Sean
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