The Old Man and the Mermaid

This document was written in quite detail, so Aigre tried to understand every word and sentence as thoroughly as possible when reading it, but even so, such a brand new language document was a bit too raw for him.

In the process of reading, Eigre gradually realized that the mermaid language is not only a language family that is completely different from human language, but also because of the different pronunciation of the vocal cords, Eigre could not explain it well through written explanations. read this information.

Just like young children will be led by teachers to learn phonetic symbols in the process of learning a language, the language of the mermaid tribe also has a symbol that records and interprets each syllable of the mermaid language.These symbols cannot be directly translated, so Aigre feels a headache when looking at these elegant characters, as if he is looking at a bunch of data codes with unknown functions.

"If I can also have the same vocal cords as mermaids, such a language is probably not a problem for me." After reading the basic pronunciation symbols on the first page again, Aigre sighed "But if I couldn't pronounce the syllables myself, it would be much harder to learn."

When he said this, Mr. Mermaid was concentrating on tasting the noodles on his plate. After hearing his question, he put down his fork and raised his head again, and put it on the piece of paper in Aigre's hand. Glancing at it, wrote: We rarely use this syllable, communication is not through language.

"I've heard stories about this from many fairy tales." Aigre nodded his head to express his understanding, "The story says that mermaids will have their own communication system, and they can also speak when it is inconvenient to speak." Knowing what each other wants to express—like brain waves or something? Or through ocean currents or something."

Mr. Mermaid replied on the paper: similar.

"Then what is the meaning of such a complete language system?" Aigre frowned slightly, and asked again, "If mermaids don't choose to speak in this way when communicating with each other, then this language does not exist in theory Is it necessary?"

After listening to him, Mr. Mermaid shook his head slightly, and wrote down the explanation on the paper: It is related to history. If you are interested, I will bring related books next time.

"Words are understandable. After all, this is the most primitive and reliable way of recording in the non-technical age." Aigre smiled and expressed his gratitude, "If it's not troublesome, I really hope to understand There is some history about the mermaid race, thank you very much—then how did you learn this language if you have always lived in the sea?"

Mermaid wrote: Listen.

"That is to say, in fact, I don't need to learn these pronunciation methods very systematically?" Aigre turned his gaze back to the few pieces of paper in his hand, "I still remember the few greetings you taught me before. , although I can't pronounce these syllables, but if I can get in touch with them often, it may not be a big problem if I just write them down."

Mr. Mermaid nodded, picked up the fork again, and pulled out the top piece of paper in Aigre's hand by the way.

Aigre took a closer look at the content written on the second paper in his hand, and asked with a smile: "These should not be just the content recorded in that book? If it is just language and written materials, there will be no such daily A detailed explanation of the terms."

Mr. Mermaid took a sip of the bowl containing the thick soup, and smiled along with him.

"Let me take a look... Let's not talk about the most common greetings. In addition, there are words such as hunting, collecting, sea area, weather, current direction, and fish." Aigre read out the translated words He said jokingly, "Just by guessing from these words, you can know what Mr. Yu will be like when he encounters his tribe in the sea... If you don't mind, you can tell me the 'weather' The pronunciation of this word? I guess the mermaids probably don’t discuss the weather often in the sea, but I’m still a little curious.”

Mr. Mermaid put down the soup bowl, opened his mouth and told to read the word, and after seeing Aigre's still focused expression, he repeated it patiently.

After listening intently, Aigre nodded and wrote a few letters on the side of the paper, "I can probably remember... But let's remember the homonym, it sounds a bit like the 'scar' in our language—actually This is also a question that strikes me as rather strange. Some words do sound quite similar to our language, but I can never make the sound, at best I can only imitate it, and it must end up sounding very strange."

Racial differences cannot be successfully eliminated with hard work and seriousness.Mr. Mermaid drank the last of the soup as he wrote on the paper, and wrote: It tastes great.

"Thank you." Aigre felt sincerely happy about this.He even smiled here, and took the initiative to take the tableware, "Although I don't know what other people think, but for me, if the guests can be satisfied with the meal I prepared for them, That was quite an honor—and now I can at least be sure that our tastes, at least in terms of saltiness, are not much different."

indeed.Mr. Mermaid recalled the taste of that can of dried fish before. Although he had never tasted the taste of deliberately pickled fish before, he had to admit that the taste was really quite good after getting used to it.

As for the sour apple, he decided not to conduct a taste experiment with Egret in terms of sweet and sour for the time being.

Aigre walked back after putting the tableware in the dishwasher, picked up the papers again, and continued to ask: "What about the words 'like' and 'hate'? If you are willing to continue to taste the food I make , these two words will probably be quite common in the future.”

Mr. Mermaid took a pen and wrote down the word like on a piece of paper, and then read his pronunciation.

"This word sounds pretty good, and it matches the meaning of the word." Aigre nodded, and wrote down the homonym of the word according to his own method, and then wrote: "So what about 'hate'?"

Mr. Mermaid looked at Aigre, and after a few seconds of silence, he wrote on the paper: I will not say this word to you.

This is indeed the truth, not polite, he didn't think he would hate Aigle or everything about Aige.This comfortable and peaceful way of communication made him feel quite comfortable and happy, so even if Aigre made some food that his taste buds could not accept, he would not change his current situation in any way.

Aigre stared at the words in a daze, and at that moment felt the blood near his heart churning violently.This feeling made his whole body slightly hot. Although he was quickly calmed down by the air conditioner, the remaining warmth still lingered in his mind and chest.

After regaining his senses, he coughed a few times, couldn't help smiling again, nodded and said, "Although I'm glad you can say that, I'm learning a language after all, aren't I? Even if you won't use this word in the future, I still have to learn it."

Mr. Mermaid gave a slight muffled laugh, and told him the pronunciation of the word cooperatively.

For Aigre, this kind of learning process is very pleasant, and at the same time, Mr. Mermaid also feels extremely comfortable and leisurely.Although for him, teaching Eigre to learn this language is also just passing the time, but compared with the previous hunting-like pastime in the sea, this quiet afternoon is more like life.

Literally live.

The process of communicating with Aigle really made him truly and strongly feel the meaning of being alive.This gave his life purpose and emotion, and also allowed him to find joy and warmth in these passing times.

"But besides the vocal cords, there are still many differences in our body structure?" Aigre stopped after learning a few new words from Mr. Mermaid again, to avoid forgetting these words too quickly, and at the same time A new topic was raised, "Skeleton, for example? I think our internal organs should be similar. Since Mr. Yu can breathe on land, you must have lungs, right?"

Mr. Mermaid nodded to agree with what he said, and then wrote on the paper: The bone structure of the tail is more complicated.

"It can be seen." Aigre turned his gaze to the huge fish tail that Mr. Mermaid was coiling beside the table, and said in an admiring tone: "It looks more flexible than the tail of the mermaid mentioned in the stories and legends." There are many, and the length is quite astonishing, and in terms of practicality, it is probably not as gentle as the book says."

Mr. Mermaid recalled the fish tails drawn in those human storybooks, and wrote: The body structure that cannot resist strong creatures is useless, so the short tail cannot survive in the sea.

Aigre nodded thoughtfully, "This is probably also related to biological evolution? The body structure that is not strong enough will gradually become stronger in the process of evolution, and it is not a small threat. After all, you live In the real sea, not in a fairy tale book."

He thought for a while in silence, then nodded again, and called again: "Mr. Yu."

The mermaid looked up at him, signaling that he could continue talking at any time.

"Do you have genitals?" Agree asked.

Mermaid: "..."

You're teasing me, friend.