3 . VIDEO . citytube sensation

[onset]

[There's a face to the British accent this time, and a little more of his radio-voice flare to it this time. He looks cheerful enough, considering his last post.]

All right, so - with the slight chaos from two days ago, thought I'd celebrate the silence and pay a visit to the library. This is what what I found. [he holds up a book - Learn French in 15 Minutes - and puts it back down to open on a marked page] Since French is my second language, why not share some of this book's very wise lessons with you?

[Because it isn't something you'd really do, Peter. But the curse has a different say today, so there you go.]

For example - this is a good one - mon chat est plein de puces.

Who can tell me what it means?

[He sounds amused. Go figure.

(hover over the sentence for a translation!)]

Comments

[georgeous]

[ George speaks French just fine, but he doesn't exactly see what's so amusing here. ]

It means your cat needs a flea collar, obviously.

[(now let us pretend the italics are french, the mun's lessons in this language were too long ago)]

[onset]

[It's just silly, that's what.]

Je cherchais la traduction littérale, mais il sert.

Je ne savais pas que vous parlait français.

[georgeous]

I speak a variety of languages, some more and some less fluent. It's useful.

As for your problematic cat, is there a particular reason the people in The City should learn expressing this in French?

[onset]

[still sounding entertained -] Vous faudrait interroger l'auteur.

[He holds up the page, showing the picture of a ginger cat, followed by the very same sentence he read out loud.]

video;

[oceantrauma]

I'm afraid I only studied Spanish, German and English, minor bits of French. Bit it's something about a cat, isn't it?

[onset]

That's quite impressive, actually. [and the voice sounds rather familiar, but he doesn't point it out.] You'd be right. Someone's cat is full of fleas, it seems.

[oceantrauma]

[He looks a tad embarrassed.] I'm not really good at them. Other people know far more.

What else does the book teach? It didn't occur to me I could continue my studies through the library here. I suppose it won't matter when I return, though.

[onset]

I wouldn't worry about that too much - I was mostly just looking for a way to pass the time, to be honest. This seemed silly enough to do the job.

I could pass it on to you, if you'd like.

[nosympathy]

[Completely dry but still amused.]

You need to find better places to pick up girls.

[onset]

Oh - do I?

[nosympathy]

You do, unless you don't mind fleas in inconvenient places.

[harrydresden]

The chat is plain and pukey?

[Someone doesn't speak French. Even his Latin is barely passable.]

[onset]

[PFF]

Not quite. 'My cat is full of fleas'. But close enough!

[harrydresden]

Well, thank goodness I don't have to communicate in French.

[diastereomer]

[ After consulting the appropriate French-translating flatmate, ]

That is a terrible sentence!

[onset]

Isn't it? That poor cat.

[trenchknives]

Somethin' about a cat. Hell if I know.

[onset]

That's right, actually. Though it could very well be about a dog as well. Or any other flea-ridden creature.

[trenchknives]

Yeah, but the only word I got outta the whole thing was cat, I think.

[mortemscintilla]

[ He's picked up bits and pieces of several foreign languages on assignments, even if his real fluency lies with Portuguese and Spanish. He nearly says You should get that cat checked out before remembering -- ]

[ Incognito. ]

[ Right. ]

You ... feel like puking?

[onset]

[BHFasbd]

[Peter sounds amused, for obvious reasons.]

Fortunately, no. But that was a valiant attempt.

[mortemscintilla]

Ah. [ He squints at the screen in pretend-confusion. ] Wh-what does it mean then? Something about kitties -- ? [ fghjkl! A thought occurs. ] It's not a dirty joke, is it?

[Video]

[destinedtobeunpopular]

Well, it's obviously something really amusing. What does it mean?

[ Because he doesn't know French but he's curious. ]

[onset]

[Pronouncing with a little emphasis, eyes down on the book:] 'My cat is full of fleas'.

[He lifts the book, showing the picture of a ginger cat. The sentence is there, both in French and English. Facetiously:]

The poor thing.

[destinedtobeunpopular]

[ That gets a slight laugh. Poor thing, indeed. ]

That sounds like something that could be useful.