Anonymous asked:
I dreamed this snippet early this morning and thought you might find it interesting. (I apologize in advance for screwing up pronouns.) You were talking to the Lafayette-With-Mascara-Of-Pain spirit. For some reason zie was trying to convince you be a healer of the living, but you told zir you were a healer of the dead. And that’s all I got.
I started to smirk and guffaw like fuck because could anyone see Misanthropist Me as doing something selfless, patient, and beneficial as being a “healer of the living” in any sense of the phrase? It takes some serious stretch of definitions and double entendres to be able to stick me as a “healer of the dead”.
Since I love sharing a good joke, I brought your ask to kir table last night. (And the pronouns are just fine. There are at least five different flavors of gender-neutral pronouns in wide use. It’s like different regions saying “y’all”, “you all”, and “yous”. We know what you mean.)
I got raked over the coals for reading it to kir in English, and was challenged to translate it to Spanish. Which sounded absolutely horrific to kir amusement and my chagrin. I translated ‘healer’ as ‘doctor’ and I saw an eyebrow raise. That wasn’t the word ke had in mind.
“Um… Médico?” <(Medical) doctor>
A gentle head shake. Nope.
“Um… Enfermera?” <Nurse>
Another gentle head shake. Not that either. Ke smirked.
“Cuando tenga tiempo, busca la palabra. Recuerda que soy.” <When you have time, look up the word. Remember who I am.>
I was dismissed with a fluttering hand shake and given leave to depart.
So, here I am, still amused by the thought of me being anything beneficial to the living in general, and very much more amused because there are details about my ancestor that are not meant for the public eye, but trust me when I say it doesn’t lean anywhere near philanthropy.
So I looked up alternate translations for “healer”, and aimed for those nuances that would fit “healer of the living” and “healer of the dead”. What kind of healer would I be as a healer of the dead?
Dear Google Translate; What phrases translate from “healer of the dead”?
… ~chugs coffee and looks again~ Naw…
“<Remember who I am.>” A World War I era house-person that read cards, was gender-fluid, kept ofrendas to various “saints”, spoke to saints, angels, the dead, and local spirits, and was consulted as a …
folk …
…
~expletives~
I look up and I’m at kir table again. Ke has a smirk to put Crowley to shame. “So. Dígame. ¿Qué soy?”
“Tú eres un curandero.” <You are a curandero.>
“Y tú tambien. Está en su sangre.” <And you as well. It’s in your blood.>
“Bullshit.” I said the word in English, but some things need no translation. Ke didn’t take offense but laughed and laughed. Ke laughed in the way the tide laughs when it recedes.
Ke patted me on the hands and wished me a good day. With that, I was dismissed from the table.
Note to self: Learn more Spanish expletives. ‘Mierda’ just doesn’t cut it anymore.
So, Anon… ~sigh~ I hope you take away two things from this:
- As long as gender-neutral pronouns are used where appropriate, the regional accent doesn’t matter.
- The biggest fires start with the smallest of sparks. Your “all I got” was enough.
Good morning. Where’s that coffee pot. I need more.