The Travels of Anadrasata Nearabhigan: Day 38
It's Day 38 and Anadrasata finds out more about her late Great-uncle's diaries. Quite a few things more, actually.
This piece runs to 2,072 words, and I hope that you enjoy it.
Index Page.
Ghairniksday, 19 Naisen, 1893 C.E.
Sebti, 6 Sajibu, 2157 T.M.L.
12 Oztotl, 22 Kiauitl, 6.11.2.1.8.2.14
Dear Journal,
I had trouble getting to sleep last night, nothing to do with anything but my state of mind, let me be clear on that. Another maid I haven't met before brought me my warm washing water this morning but this one was prepared to tell me her name - Umetlalli. She is an older woman, and I think she is one of the more senior members of the household staff. She had me down to breakfast earlier then yesterday, and Axolin and Cousin Ghrus were still there when I arrived. Miztli was still out at his fighting club, and Matlal and a footman were still in attendance. The stack of used dishes on the trolley by the servants' door suggested that I am among the late risers of the household.
Matlal allowed me to choose the foods I wanted from the breakfast buffet, but he carried my plate and dished up the portions for me. With his advice, I included one completely unfamiliar food to try for the first time. Cousin Ghrus asked me to present myself to the office that has been put aside for working on Great-uncle's diaries in an hour. He also suggested that I spend the morning on the diaries each day and that I have the afternoons free for social and other activities. This sounded reasonable, and I made sure to find out where in the house the office was. Axolin asked me what I might like to do and I replied that beyond visiting the temple of my family patron, that of my personal patron when I have selected one, and a general city tour, I had no idea because I didn't know what there was to do. He conceded that was fair, and then I asked if I could look at the newspapers when the other members of the household were done with them. Cousin Ghrus asked why, in an interested not accusatory manner, because his recollections of his grandmothers was that Imperial ladies did not read the papers. I replied, truthfully that I had always enjoyed the letters and opinions pages of the papers at home, and I hoped, that as papers were often written in simple language, I might know enough to understand some of the articles. Also Coac-htl practice. Cousin Ghrus instructed Matlal to make the papers available to me when they were not in use by members of the family.
Cousin Ghrus and Axolin left then to get on with other things, and I ate alone until Miztli returned from his fighting club. I had finished my first plate of food, and the preserves and yoghurt Matlal pressed on me, and was just starting my third cup of tea when he arrived. We talked while he ate and I drank, (he does seem to be in a better mood in the morning/after he's been exercising), and he told me that some of his colleagues have heard that I have a 'different' Imperial accent. So, some of his colleagues are government officials? Or is he a government official?
Anyway, I excused myself in good time to tidy myself and get to my appointment. I still had to ask for directions from Umetlalli whom I met while she was doing something on the stairs but I was there on time. Mr Chicamcyeimetetlitecolotl and four clerks were there and the room, which I think had been a parlor, had several rows of desks. The plan, as Mr Chicamcyeimetetlitecolotl explained it, was that I would translate the Ghaistonyc into Imperial, and the clerks would split the work of doing a fair copy of my translation and then translating the Imperial into Coac-htl. I asked how many diaries there are. All five men looked uncomfortable. Cousin Ghrus arrived, and I asked again how many diaries there are.
There are sixty years' worth of diaries with at least half a page per day, unless he was ill. This is potentially the work of years. One of the clerks pointed out we will be getting scholars in.
I closed my eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, and then told Cousin Ghrus that he was going to be the one to write to my mother and brother and tell them what it was they'd actually agreed to when they sent me here. Then I asked for what we all hoped would be a nice, uncontroversial volume for me to start with. The volume they gave me pre-dated Great-uncle's posting to Tlemutsiko, he was actually in the Imperial capital at the time, and was for the year of Cousin Ghrus' birth. I opened it, pulled over a sheet of paper from the stack they'd given me, and started reading. Then I flicked quickly through the volume. Then I told my audience that although Great-uncle had written his diaries in Ghaistonyc characters, this volume at least, was in Imperial - although I couldn't guarantee that it was entirely in Imperial because I hadn't read all of it. I added that as the Ghaistonyc and Imperial alphabets had an almost one to one correlation, I could do them an equivalency sheet to allow them to transfer the volumes into Imperial characters. I added that there was no guarantee that Great-uncle had used the same language throughout his decades of diarising.
They all agreed that this was a good idea - having Imperial reading clerks transcribe the diaries into Imperial characters was going to speed up the process enormously, because that is quite a common skillset. Unlike the ability to read Ghaistonyc letters or Ghaistonyc in any alphabet. I wrote out my first equivalency sheet, asked the clerks if the arrangement of it suited the way they were likely to use it, and then we checked it against Great-uncle's writing. Once we were all satisfied that it was useful, I sat down and did three more copies. Cousin Ghrus suggested that they start with Great-uncle's earliest diaries and work through in chronological order, noting that a person's writing often changed over their lifetime and that his father's writing had deteriorated in his later years. Mr Chicamcyeimetetlitecolotl observed that many people's writing became more idiosyncratic the longer they were away from their schoolmasters so my great-uncle's Ghaistonyc writing was probably closest to the standard forms when he was younger.
I did five more copies of the equivalency sheet, one each for Mr Chicamcyeimetetlitecolotl and the four clerks he expects to bring in tomorrow, while the clerks started work on the transcriptions. Cousin Ghrus stayed to supervise, and discuss how many more clerks could be usefully employed in this enterprise without becoming unwieldly. I think we were all amused to learn that the first volume of Great-uncle's diaries opened with the declaration that it was being written in Ghaistonyc characters so that the maternal (and female) cousins that he was staying with in Ulgorial before he found his own rooms there couldn't read his journal. The first section of Ghaistonyc was found just before we broke for lunch, and I finished in the office for the day. It was in Great-uncle's third volume and turned out to be his personal thoughts on the character of a member of the quartermaster's division of the Army base in Ulgorial. [Probably a good thing that the man is long dead - just what we want, a foreign power knowing who the susceptible personalities in significant locations are!]
At lunch Cousin Ghrus was apologetic that it had not been made clear to me how large the task I was expected to undertake was. He made no mention of whether it had been made clear to my mother and brother. He also thanked me for clarifying and streamlining the task as quickly as I did. I replied that I was happy to do so, and turned the conversation to choosing a personal dietical patron. I wondered about the social implications of the choice, particularly as I do not expect to become a devoted worshipper. Apparently there are implications and I was happy to listen as the nuances were explained to me throughout the meal.
There was a mail delivery after lunch, and it included the response to my request for an appointment to present myself at the temple of Iznuallatl. My request has been agreed to and my appointment is tomorrow (13 Oztotl, 23 Kiauitl) at two of the clock. [Well about two of the clock. Most Confederation time keeping starts the day at equinox sunrise but Iznaullatl's clergy is one of those that runs on a clock that begins the day at equinox sunset. I will rely on Matlal to organise me to be ready to leave on time.] The family has decided that cousin Miztli will escort me.
My main activity this afternoon was interviewing lady's maids. The housekeeper had approached the agencies and whittled the possibilities down to three. (I understood her to say that making it clear that 'returning to the Empire' meant going east across the Circle Sea and not just crossing the border back into the western provinces had caused many candidates to withdraw.) I decided against the determined pamphleteer and would be missionary (an adherent of the ministry of St Nailhas if I am any judge), and the middle-aged woman determined to uphold Imperial standards, to select Mhaihild Nais. Miss Nais is of Imperial birth and citizenship with some Confederation background. She has three recent, if short term, employers' references and a reference from the Imperial Consul-General in Tlemutsiko confirming her citizenship and attesting to her good character. Miss Nais will join the household tomorrow morning. The housekeeper assures me that she has checked and confirmed Miss Nais' references and showed me the room, adjoining those of Cousin Poktllilui's and Great-aunt's personal maids. I also asked the housekeeper, since we don't know Miss Nais' current living circumstances, to make sure that she is offered the real opportunity of breakfast with the staff when she arrives in the morning.
After that I managed to take my embroidery down to the family parlor in time for afternoon refreshments with the ladies of the household. I managed to get half a napkin done - now that I have responsibilities again I have less time for the enjoyable pursuits.
At dinner I was shuffled around the table some more and sat between Yeixi and Mr Nochehuatlyeionkisalistli, who is another of Cousin Ghrus' secretaries, dealing with his correspondence. Yeixi and I chatted about his day, dealing with invoices and accounts. With Mr Nochehuatlyeionkisalistli I discussed the various sights of the city. I should try and see during my stay. He did not seem to want to discuss his hometown at all - something more I felt than finding the subject uninteresting. The meal was delicious.
When we withdrew to the parlor for our kasoolht after dinner, most of the talk was about a newly erupted local scandal. Of course, I don't know the personalities involved, but I think I followed the explanation of cross infidelities and bribery the matter involved.
When the gentlemen joined us, Cousins Axolin and Miztli offered to teach me a card game. When I asked its name, they told me it was called maistoto. They also told me that it is popular in certain local social circles and I might be inveigled upon to play. They called in Cousin Poktlilui to make a fourth, and asked me to shuffle the cards for them. I was doing so while Axolin fetched his mother, and Miztli gathered the scorepads and pencils. It wasn't until I asked Cousin Poktlilui to cut the cards, and then asked if standard rules applied or if there was a Confederation variant I should be aware of, while still shuffling, that they realised that they hadn't asked me if I know how to play. I added that the older ladies of my mother's circle were quite keen on the game. The first game was fairly even all around. The second game, Cousin Poktlilui and I were even and her sons were somewhat behind us on points. The third game. Cousin Poktlilui and I were even again, and if you played maistoto for money, we would have bankrupted her sons.
We were both rather pleased with ourselves. Axolin and Miztli were, I think, rather surprised.
I, at least, went to bed happy.
Anadrasata Nearabhigan