link Petra volume_up
Hrrrmmm... "Sand." "Rain." "River." Is he writing of the weather?
link Linhardt volume_up
Are you all right, Petra? That's quite the noise that just came flying out of your diaphragm.
link Petra volume_up
Linhardt, perhaps you can be helping me. This letter is giving me much difficulty.
link Linhardt volume_up
A letter, is it? I was under the impression that you had no trouble reading the language of Fódlan.
link Petra volume_up
I also had that thought, but this page is not making sense. Can you be reading it for me?
link Linhardt volume_up
What? Oh, no, I couldn't. This is a private matter. I mean, I don't even know who it's from.
link Petra volume_up
But I cannot be writing back if I do not know what they are saying. Please do this favor for me.
link Linhardt volume_up
Oh, very well. Let me have a look.
link Linhardt volume_up
Goodness, no wonder you struggled with this— it couldn't be more archaic. Right, well, let me give this a shot. Ahem...
link Linhardt volume_up
"Yon world is endless sand, and I but a parched grain e'er upon its bosom."
link Linhardt volume_up
"O beauty! Was 't the western wind which brought thee hither, merciful rain? Soft, my river o'erfloweth!"
link Linhardt volume_up
Hmm... Petra, is this a love letter?
link Petra volume_up
That is a possibility? But I do not have certainty.
link Linhardt volume_up
OK, you definitely should have mentioned that before I started reading this. Well, too late now, I suppose...
link Petra volume_up
Indeed.
link Petra volume_up
I am blaming the letter. If no one can have understanding of it, the writer is a waster of paper.
link Linhardt volume_up
Well, it's not that I don't understand so much as... Look, let me just give this back to you.
link Petra volume_up
You have understanding? You must be teaching me!
link Linhardt volume_up
Oh, very well. The writer is using archaic speech to express his love for you through metaphor.
link Linhardt volume_up
So much so that I would say they have gone and spoiled the whole thing.
link Petra volume_up
So he has passion? I am pleased, although I have little knowledge of the letter's writer.
link Linhardt volume_up
Really? From what he's written here, it sounds as if he sees you every day.
link Linhardt volume_up
Also, the letter is absolutely rife with mistakes.
link Linhardt volume_up
Take this passage, for example. I think he mentioned the western wind in an effort to evoke Brigid, but it's actually the southern wind that brings rain.
link Linhardt volume_up
Besides which, the "merciful rain" is a gift from the goddess. This paramour of yours shouldn't be tossing such sacrilegious comparisons about.
link Linhardt volume_up
And I won't even ask how a grain can be parched, let alone turn into an overflowing river.
link Petra volume_up
The words have richness and color. I wish I could be reading them as well as you.
link Linhardt volume_up
Trust me, it's nothing special. Well-crafted writing has layers—this just has apostrophes.
link Linhardt volume_up
So, are you planning to write him back?
link Petra volume_up
This has been a most painful lesson of how little I am knowing. I must be reading many books to study the old speech of Fódlan before making my reply.
link Linhardt volume_up
I sure hope she doesn't plan on writing him back in the same style, or they're going to end up talking right past each other...