What is training? – Saber asked.
La Corti laughed.
– Oh, that’s as true as saying that the word “egg” begins with “egg. So you can learn a language in a day, or you can walk around in class all day and never understand a word. For example, if you see a person pronouncing “ho” in a language, any European will understand what it’s about. “Ho,” “kitchen,” “hut” are all understandable. And “gut” translated means “short,” “coffee” and “tea” mean something else entirely. If a person says “prabolga,” it’s out of the question to translate it into a language you understand. He understands everything anyway.
Saber listened intently to what La Corti was saying.
The boy was indeed quite educated. Saber noted that La Corte had never knowingly used his parents’ language, nor had he ever used any other language but his own. Everyone else in the class understood La Corte’s speech perfectly, but he didn’t understand theirs. Saber had to strain his memory to think of some example, but everyone around him spoke every language but his parents’. I wondered why this was happening.
On the way home, Saber pondered the question. The mother, seeing her son, went to the gate.
– I saw La Cortino today,” she said, “he was saying some incomprehensible words. What does it mean?
Maria was with her. She said that this morning Saber was behaving very strangely. When they had breakfast, he didn’t want to eat what Maria had prepared. He said he was eating fruit for breakfast. Then they went to his room, but he wasn’t there.
The mother shook her head.
Maria said:
– He was scared of the car, but it will pass.
Only now did Maria notice that Saber was very agitated about something.
They went to the gate, and Saber remained silent.
Saber’s mother realized something was wrong and kept trying to cheer her son up. She arranged with the workers to come to La Cortina on Saturday, and she would be sure to call Victor.
