With pleasure, Oz. How about another item of food?

"A dish of lime-vanilla ice," he said. "A dish of lime-vanilla ice."

"The Swan"?

"Young man, you are a person of taste and imagination." Guess it's over to you ...

DW, Miss Helen Loomis to William Forrester!

You're both right, of course, but ofthedarkcarnival was first past the post so it's his turn.

Here's a somewhat different challenge for you all - let's see if you can make it! Anyone who can guess not only the excerpt (from one of my most favorite Bradbury short-stories) but also which language it is translated into gets an extra compliment... (One little clue: the story is set on Mars)


Vi ska resa till Grekland, tänkte han. Till Aten. När vi studerar de romerska författarna ska vi vara i Rom, om vi får lust. Vi ska stå i Parthenon, på Akropolis. Det ska inte bara bli tomma ord utan det ska dessutom bli en plats där man kan vistas. Den här karlen kan åstadkomma det. Han har förmågan att åstadkomma det. När vi talar om Racines skådespel, kan han trolla fram en scen och aktörer och alltihop åt mig. För tusan, det här är ju bättre än livet nånsin var! Hur mycket bättre är det inte att vara sjuk och befinna sig här än att vara frisk nere på Jorden utan den förmågan! Hur många människor har sett en grekisk tragedi spelas på en grekisk amfiteater år trettiett före Kristus?

Och om jag ber honom lugnt och allvarligt, kommer han att bli Schopenhauer och Darwin och Bergson och tidsåldrarnas alla andra stora tänkare...? Ja, varför inte? Att sitta och prata med Nietzsche personligen, med Platon själv...!

quote:

Originally posted by tinkerbell:
You're both right, of course, but ofthedarkcarnival was first past the post so it's his turn.

Or perhaps her turn!

I would venture to say that the language is Norwegian. Lutefisk anyone? Someone might say Swedish right off of the bat, but the alliteration marks are not Swedish. I have not studied Danish or Finish enough to differientiate amongst them, but my bet is with Norwegian.

Ya, vell I tink is Svedish, not Norsk!

It's Swedish, but I cannot name the story.

quote:

Originally posted by Braling II:
Ya, vell I tink is Svedish, not Norsk!

Oh Braling II! When you speak in Swedish you drive me wild!

dark carnival of indeterminate gender, it's still your turn (preferably in English).

Well done so far, Doug Spaulding and Braling II, Swedish is the correct answer!

(biplane1: FYI, Danish and Norwegian look very much the same whereas the Finnish language is entirely different and stands completely for itself. Just out of curiosity, what made you think it couldn't be Swedish? I know what an allitteration is, but I'm not sure I know the definition of "allitteration mark")

Now, which story it is? OK, one more clue: it appears in a book that some funny people call "Den illustrerade mannen". Since the excerpt contains many names which are the same as or very similar to their English equivalents, I think it should not be far too difficult for you to spot it... And tinkerbell, sorry if I have interrupted without waiting for my turn. You're of course welcome to make a guess too!

I thought at first "The Fireballoons," but now I'd venture "The Visitor!" The philosophers were plentiful.

No polyglot I!

quote:

Originally posted by Lesperance:
Now, which story it is? OK, one more clue: it appears in a book that some funny people call "Den illustrerade mannen".

My friend Jorgen would know - he recently sent me Den Illustrerade Mannen, or something very like it, to have Ray sign for him.

Polyglot is a good word.