Wallops #8

[Ivan A Derzhanski <cbmvax!uunet!COGSCI.ED.AC.UK!iad>]

>  Date:     Wed, 1 Jul 1992 12:11:54 +1000
>  From: nsn@AU.OZ.MU.EE.MULLIAN
>
>  melu la xrist. na.enai la pacrux. seljdadji da li'u
>  Neither Christ nor the Devil wants him.

Does {da} here work for `him'?

>  gi'e bacru lu pe'ipei xu do jinvi ledu'u <...> li'u
>  and said "Pray tell, do you think <...>?"

{xu do jinvi ledu'u} is the same as {pe'ipei}, and is malrarna anyway
- I'd make it {ju'i .i pe'ipei ...}.

>  le kakpa cu me cai ba'e mi
>  the plougher is all mine

{me cai} is either illegitimate or very cute.

>  .i mi'o fau lenu do na krici lenu go'i cu .e'u klama ca le cermurse
>  leko'a cange poi ko'a tsise'a
>  is all mine. If you don't believe me, let's go to his farm next dawn when
>  he's ploughing.

Er, `_when_ he's ploughing'?  I'm missing this part; instead, the
Lojban contains an extra `[his farm], which he ploughs'.

>  .i do vi le cange cu ba'a zgana lenu ko'a me mi li'u
>  There you'll see he's mine."

{vi le cange} is a long way of saying `there', isn't it?

>  kruce jdaxanmu'u
>  make the sign of the cross

{kruca}.  That's just an intersection, though.  Is it enough for
`cross'?  {jdaxanmu'u} ought to have been {jdakemxanmu'u} (it is a
religious hand-movement, not a movement of a religious hand, though
actually it is both).

>  .i lu .e'o ko zgana .u'a to'i la pacrux. bacru toi
>  "See?" said the Devil.

There ought to be an attitudinal for this - perhaps {.uo.uapei}.

>  .i ko'a cu sai me mi

Just what does {cu sai} mean?  :-)

>  "He's mine. If he was yours, <...>"

"If he _were_ yours".

>  .i ca ri ko'a co'a citka .i do ca zgana lenu ko'a jdaxanmu'u
>  Then he'll eat. You'll see him making the sign of the cross then.

Surely not {do ca zgana}.  That would be the time of the conversation.

>  .i ko'a co'a citka gi'enai jdaxanmu'u
>  The plougher started eating and didn't make the sign of the cross.

Doesn't {gi'e} imply that he didn't cross himself _after_ he started eating?

>  gi'eji'a.uero'a cladu gapyvi'i
>  and to top it all off, let off a huge fart!

Interesting translation of `to top it all off'.  But.  {.uero'a} -
_social_ surprise - well, he was alone there, wasn't he?  What is
socially unacceptable is discussing the subject.  :-)

Is there a good reason why {gapyvi'i} doesn't mean `breathed out'?
Carbon dioxide is a gas excreted through the nostrils.

Ivan