Explanation for this blog post: I am re-reading The Color of Magic. It is my usual practice to get a .docx to write down the meanings of the words I don’t see often. I also occasionally write down what I think about, or what one particular word or passage made me think about. I had multiple documents on my computer dating all the way back to 2016. My hard drive crashed in the Spring of 2021 and I lost all my documents, so now I am doing this on my personal website. Feel free to delve into what goes through my mind as I read, the Color of Magic.
Phial
another term for vial.
vial is Middle English alteration of vial, which is from old French fiole, via Latin from Greek phiale, denoting a broad, flat container.
Vial
A small container, typically cylindirical and made of glass, used especially for holding liquid medicines.
There was a flutter of wings at the window. Ymor shifted his bulk out of the chair and crossed the room, coming back with a large raven. After he’d unfastened the message capsule from its leg it flew up to join its fellows lurking among the rafters. Withel regarded it without love. Ymor’s ravens were notoriously loyal to their master, to the extent that Withel’s one attempt to promote himself to the rank of greatest thief in Ankh-Morpork had cost their master’s right-hand man his left eye. But not his life, however. Ymor never grudged a man his ambitions.
“B12,” said Ymor’ tossing the little phial aside and unrolling the tiny scroll within.
Browbeating
transitive verb with object
Intimidate (someone), typically into doing something, with stern or abusive words.
Broadman was browbeating the small troll who swept the bar when the trio walked past him. “What in hell’s that?” he said.
“Just don’t talk about it,” hissed Hugh. Twoflower was already thumbing through his book.
(Note to readers of this blog, which will be abbreviated as NTRB from now on)
NTRB: Previously only introduced as the stranger with four eyes, this is the first place where its name is revealed to be Twoflower. That is the stranger Rincewind was travelling with. Remember, this was all a flashback. Now we see how it’s going to be tied in with the story.
And this is where you realize
That this all could be
That this man with four eyes could just be
A non-fantasy-fiction man with a digital device which he uses the translating feature of, wearing glasses, which gets him confused as an alien in this fantasy-fiction world. But how do you explain the walking chest?
SEQUIN
noun
1-A small, shiny disk sewn as one of many onto clothing for decoration.
2-historical A Venetian gold coin.
late 16th Century French, through meaning 2, from Italian zecchino, from zeccha ‘a mint’, from Arabic sikka ‘a die for coining.
All eyes in the room were watching the stranger–except for a pair belonging to Rincewind the wizard, who was sitting in the darkest corner nursing a mug of very small beer.
He was watching the Luggage.
Watch Rincewind.
Look at him. Scrawny, like most wizards, and clad in a dark red robe on whih a few mystic sigils were embroidered in tarnished sequins. Some might have taken him for a mere apprentice enchanter who had run away from his maser out of defiance, boredom, fear and a lingering taste for heterosexuality.
NTRB: What happens if we replace words a little bit?
Look at him. Scrawny, like most B.Sc. students, and clad in a haphazard combination of t-shirts and sweatpants. Some might have taken him for a mere undergrad freshman who had run away from the academy out of defiance, boredom, fear and a lingering taste for heterosexuality.
🤷
When I first read this book, and when I am re-reading it now, I saw the wizards to be a parody of the scientific academy. And if I had to reword that paragraph, I would say that it was meant to describe such a person who stuck in an academy, in an academical life where the only goal is to work more meticulously. A slave to a lifestyle which robs you of many of life’s pleasures. A lifestyle that might leave you wanting quit in search of something more. You might quit out of defiance, just to fight the boredom, or the meticulousness, or maybe in search of a lingering idea of a long lost or never found heterosexuality.
heathen
noun
1-mainly derogatory A person not belonging to a widely held religion (especially one who is not Christian, Jew or Muslim) as regarded by those who do.
1.1- A follower of a polytheistic religion; a pagan.
-origin-
from Old English, hǣthen, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch heiden and German Heide; generally regarded as a specifically Christian use of a Germanic adjective meaning ‘inhabiting open country’, from the base of heath.
heath
noun
mainly British An area of open, uncultivated land, especially in Britain, with characteristic vegetation of heather, gorse, and coarse grasses.
“I only thought it might be useful to address this gentleman in his own tongue.” said the wizard gently.
“He’s doing all right on his own,” said the inkeeper, but took a few steps backward.
Rincewind smiled politely at the stranger and tried a few words of Chimeran. He prided himself on his fluency in the tongue, but the stranger only looked bemused.
“It wont’t work,” said Hugh knowledgeably. “It’s the book, you see. It tells him what to say. Magic.”
Rincewind switched to High Borogravian, to Vanglemesht, Sumtri and even Black Oroogu, the language with no nouns and only one adjective, which is obscene. Each was met with polite incomprehension. In desperation he tried heathen Trob, and the little man’s face split into a delighted grin.
“At last!” he said. “My good sir! This is remarkable!” (Although in Trob the last word in fact became “a thing which may happen but once in the usable lifetime of a canoe hollowed diligently by ax and fire from the tallest diamond-wood tree that grows in the noted diamond-wood forests on the lower slopes of Mount Awayawa, home of the firegods or so it is said.”)
Note to self…:How can I repay Damon?
Before, I had no need of repaying him. Before, it was a mutual benefit deed. We shared words because it made both of us happy. He may have given me guidance with his words much more valuable than what I gave him in my words, but I think he was happy and satisfied by what he got from me. He said he enjoyed the books I lent him.
But now, with every passing day, since the four years that has past since I last saw him, I feel ever increasingly indebted to him. It feels like he set in motion a change that culminated in something bigger than what was possible for me alone to achieve.
I see now that it is almost impossible for anyone to achieve a level of fluency without getting proper exposure to it. I see now that if you don’t receive enough of it early enough, the progress just won’t be the same.
I am living in the US now (Wow… I am actually living in the US now). If anybody asks me, how did you get this fluent, I tell them it’s because I read a lot.
And then I see how this was made possible thanks to Damon and thanks to me seeking him out. I sought him out. I decided to pick English as the subject of my term project. I have to thank METU DF High Schools for making us do term projects at age 14. Then I made the conscious decision to pick English. Then I made the next decision to do comparative literature. Then I sought him out to ask him about books. Then I have to thank Damon for helping me so much. I remember how we gave me a list of books to choose from and told me about each one on the list.
If he wasn’t there, would I be able to tell the things I say today?
Giray's Sandal 