✏ ᴏᴏ3 (ᴅɪᴄᴛᴀᴛᴇᴅ) | ᴛʜᴇsᴇ sᴛᴏʀɪᴇs ᴅᴇʟɪᴠᴇʀᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴇ ғᴜʟʟʏ ᴡʀɪᴛᴛᴇɴ

[revolter]

Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

[ she reads the words with a clear voice that can only be described as enthusiastic, she found them clever, exciting, as only a true lover of literature may think of words. ]

Is there a limit to the number of books we're allowed to burrow from the library at a given time? I wasn't sure and I couldn't find someone to ask.

If anyone knows where there are books that are written in other languages, I'd like to talk to them, please. I found study books but not novels. I want to practice my Russian.

Comments

[deltacain]

I never was a fan of Russian, but I found some books in Chinese. Some that are pretty rare.

[revolter]

Chinese?

[ suddenly she's so, so eager. ]

I am learning Japanese, they are similar in some ways, aren't they?

[deltacain]

Japanese Kanji uses some of the same symbols as Chinese, yes. I know Japanese, too, but not to the extent of Chinese. I can probably help you out with that, too.

[revolter]

Really?

[ see some kids need candy or cake or a new toy to be overly happy. For Matilda, it's learning something new. ]

I'd like that very much. I've learned forty six Kanji symbols already.

[deltacain]

Fourty Six?

[David sounds impressed.]

How old are you?

[ensorceler]

Russian, why? You should nurture your French or Spanish instead. Even German...

[revolter]

I have a teacher for Russian. After my lessons I kept reading the study books and then I found some others in the library. I can write sentences now, not wonderful ones like Tolstoy but they're still sentences.

[ she sighs, a smile in her voice. ]

I'd still love to learn French.

[ensorceler]

[ Who is Tolstoy she has no idea... Oh well, not important. ]

Then I will teach you.

[revolter]

Really? You'll teach me French?

[ it's like a gift for all the birthdays that she had ignored by her parents. ]

You will not regret it. I promise I will do everything you say, I'll read and write and I'll do my homework.

[onemistress]

I speak several languages, but not Russian sadly. [she hums, glad to hear a child interested in learning.] But I know where there are books in other languages. I have quite a few books in my chambers as well. Books of philosophy, romance and politics. Whatever you wish truly.

[revolter]

Do you think they have anything in French?

[onemistress]

If they don't, I do. French is my favourite. I loved it so I was fluent in it by the time was I eleven.

[revolter]

I found someone who is willing to teach me. I think I'll start learning and then I'll try reading. Like I do in Russian. I think reading helps when you're learning, doesn't it? Because you learn new more and sentence structure.

[heloise]

Do you agree?

[revolter]

Yes. And no.

[ she hums in thought. ]

I think happy families all look alike to unhappy families. Because the unhappy families wish they could be happy as well and perhaps they spite them for it and say they are all alike. But I think happiness can be unique too. If there's a happy family -

[ and she can't speak from experience. Her family is anything but happy and she knows well what it means to be jealous of other families. ]

I think happiness is very subjective. Some happy families are not like others, their happiness is different. For example, one family can be just a husband and a wife and they'll be happy because they're madly in love! But then another can be a husband and wife and two children and they're happy because they're parents and their children are lovely! Or a family can be happy because they may not have much money but they have each other and their health and -

[ she stops herself. ]

I think happiness has many forms.

[heloise]

[ Lucrezia laughs. Wow, this kid is frighteningly smart! ]

It does, does it not?

Too many families think themselves unhappy, and special in their misery, where others might look in from the outside and see only the good. The cracks do not always show.

What of yours, Matilda?

[revolter]

That's right. Because sometimes people can't really see what they have. I read that people cannot see how fortunate they have until something good is taken from them and then they value it more, they want to get it back, they're sorry they have taken it for granted.

[ she is silent for a moment and then another. ]

Mine is very happy. We watch tv every night and we say goodnight and we eat together at the table and every morning -

[ but then, she realizes that lying to someone who was so nice to her is wrong, even if Matilda really wants it to be true, even if it's the family she imagines for herself every night. ]

I'm sorry. That was a lie. I think my family is mostly happy with one another, but not with me.

[cyan_maid]

I don't think there's a limit. I'm not even sure if there's a librarian to check how many books you've taken. I usually just read everything I want to while I'm there, and if it's something I want to remember, I write it down.

[Like recipes, she's got a notebook full of things she has yet to try.]

[revolter]

Do you think anyone in the castle will be mad at me for taking them into my room? I only keep them for two days.

[cyan_maid]

I don't think so! It would be terribly rude of them to be angry.

[revolter]

Then, I can take as many as I'd like?

[ichy]

If you would like to study languages other than Russian, there are a few Klingon titles available.

[revolter]

Klingon? Where do they speak that? I don't think I've ever read about it.

[ichy]

[Another person unfamiliar with concepts like Starfleet and the surrounding empires. Icheb is disappoint.]

It's spoken primarily in the Klingon Empire, which comprises the Klingon homeworld of Qo'noS and the star systems they conquered.

[revolter]

Star system?

[ wow. ]

Do you speak it?