Из жизни лиадийцев

[vythe]

Это, типа, анекдот-вставка. Видимо.

[Over a cup of tea] they managed very ably to spin small-talk of amazing variety... They covered, on account of the tea, which was something called Hightide Stone on Stone, near as it would translate to Terran, times they'd had to refrain from pointing out that the tea they were served was not the tea they were told - in this case not because they had the wrong tea, but because there'd been quite a scandal a few years back where a trader without melant'i, and apparently without taste buds, had mixed up a blend of tea and tried to sell it as a singleton rarity, offloading it to an incoming trader as part of a mixed lot. That trader had proudly served it at an open house only to have the first person to have some stop at a sniff and repudiate it as a lie, loudly. There'd been several Balances due...

(Lee/Miller, Trade Secret)

Лев Толстой печально курит в углу. Кто-нибудь может перевести это на английский? Ну, или хотя бы на русский... Кстати, вторая культурная особенность лиадийцев - помимо любви к чаю - это чудовищная способность собирать и запоминать сплетни. Во вселенной хрен знает сколько миллиардов народу, сотни планет только с лиадийскими диаспорами - и вся вселенная в курсе, кто у кого пил чай десять лет назад. Страшная сила.

Comments

[doldonius]

DIV в комментариях тут не работает, попробую по-программистски:

{
They covered,
        {
        on account of the tea,
                {
                which was something called Hightide Stone on Stone,
                near as it would translate to Terran,
                }
        }
times they'd had to refrain from pointing out
that the tea they were served was not the tea they were told
}

{
- in this case not because they had the wrong tea, but because
        {
        there'd been quite a scandal a few years back
                {
                where a trader
                        {
                        without melant'i,
                        and apparently without taste buds,
                        }
                had mixed up a blend of tea
                and tried to sell it as a singleton rarity,
                offloading it to an incoming trader
                        {
                        as part of a mixed lot.
                        }
                }
        }
}

Довольно простая структура, как и было сказано. Добрые тетушки в процессе чесания языков легко достигают гораздо больших уровней вложения. Не всегда, конечно, у них потом получается вернуться на исходный уровень, но small talk же в первую очередь не для обмена информацией, а для удовольствия :)