XXIII

Introduction
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A picture of a broken rock.

Antwenthu twoya edone yora ur.

Antwenthu twoya edone yora ur.

"Not every rock contains a gem."

As silver-tongued legend has it, Rage Nasko was wandering through a field one day when he tripped over a stone. Angered, he unsheathed his sword and split the stone in two. To his amazement, the stone contained a precious green gem, the likes of which he'd never seen before. Later that day when he returned to his palace, he issued a decree that every rock in the kingdom be split open, and their jewels harvested, that Ansenlas might become the richest nation on earth.

In the three years that followed, the population of Ansenlas shrank, and disease and corruption ran rife through the land, as farmers, doctors, soldiers, teachers and city officials were all forced to work in the mines and the mountains, splitting stones and harvesting jewels. Rage Nasko was puzzled at this new development, and sought the council of his trusted advisor, anyožal (councilor, advisor) Khanthol. Khanthol, then, was the first to utter this izanyoža, pointing out to Rage Nasko that, indeed, not every rock contains a gem. Consequently, the rage issued a decree that everyone should go back to what they were doing before his unfortunate encounter with the stone in the field.

Today, this izanyoža is used to "gently" remind someone not to get their hopes up. The most common use of this izanyoža is when, for example, a person gets a gift, and, before opening it, guesses aloud what the gift isand does so incorrectly. The giver then replies, embarrassed, Antwenthu twoya one yora ur (or more commonly Antwenthu twoya one yora'r). More often than not, the guesser is disappointed, and the pair find themselves in an awkward situation. In order to avoid this, gifts are sometimes given accompanied by this izanyoža, as a reminder to the receiver not to guess at the contents of the gift, for the sake of both.


Vocabulary List

  • antwenthu (v.) to contain, to have inside
  • twoya (n.) gem, precious stone
  • one (n.) rock (the ergative form is edone)
  • yora (quant.) every
  • ur (adv.) not (clitic—usually attaches as 'r)
  • anenthal (n.) philosopher
  • anyožal (n.) councilor

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