Chapter 17, TQSiT

[rthstewart]

It's up.  Moles in the Garden, Part 1.  I tried really hard to get another update in February -- it's been slightly more than 2 weeks.  So...
Once again, we are not in Susan's point of view, and in fact, it's not in America at all.  As happened at the end of Part 1, it's both looking back, and beginning to set the stage for the next part, Part 3.  It's the night that TQSiT began, when Peter arrives to see Eustace, Lucy, and Edmund, the evening of their return from the Dawn Treader, so the barriers between Spare Oom and Narnia are rather "porous" -- though of course a thematic element of TQSiT is that the two worlds are not so separate after all. 

So, that's that.  Thanks so very, very much.  And why did it never occur to me before that Neverland and Narnia both begin with the letter N.

Comments

[autumnia]

And speaking of Asim, I would be very impressed if his Cantonese was pretty passable. Mandarin's a lot easier to learn (or so I've been told) and more literal, while Cantonese is based on a lot of slang. As a native Cantonese speaker, even I have trouble understanding half of what has been said to me.

When he does finally meet Susan, I wonder what his impressions of her will be. Will he be greeting young Miss Pevensie, or the older, more experienced and wary Mrs. Caspian?

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Now I **think** I knew that you were from Asia/spoke a Chinese language, or something of that sort. Good heavens, PLEASE speak up if I get something wrong!! I'm still wondering if I should add some reflection on Casp and language and belief systems are far more important! Thanks so much! I had checked and in Hong Kong it has seemed Cantonese was the predominate language, so that's what I used. The nuance of Mandarin vs. Cantonese was not something I picked up on. Given that (in my head) Kun is educated in a rough sort of way, Catholic school primary school, Buddhist household, joining Mary's family on staff when they were in Hong Kong, I think the more slang-based language probably works. I see his wife as being more educated. Anyhow, I'm babbling now. Please share any thoughts you have! PM, email or otherwise!

[autumnia]

In Hong Kong, Cantonese is/was the predominate dialect spoken. In more recent years, Mandarin has slowly been infiltrating society, with all the mainland Chinese people heading down there. (I can't understand Mandarin and it's hard for me to wrap my head around it.) Written Chinese is universal and can be understood by everyone even though there are hundreds of dialects spoken throughout China.

Considering the time frame, Kun and Lee would indeed speak Cantonese if they were from Hong Kong. So the words from the conversation during the Hong Kong tea early on back in Part 1 were correct. I easily picked up on fung zao, bau, gow and of course, Dai pai dong and nai cha.