I spoke Na'vi to my cat

[txim_asawl]

Originally Posted by apache_blanca

German is excellent for commands; it has a lot of rhythm, if that's the right word. "Zurück! Halt! Hände hoch!" Yer man make no mistake - this is Not rock-n-roll

Oh, well, here's one of the clichés about my native tongue... unfortunately, just like the German shepherd, there are some connotations with German language and "typically German" things. Well, it's true, that German has a lot of monosyllabic words which are great as orders for dogs, such as "Sitz!" (sit. obviously), "Platz!" (lie down), "Fuß!" (heel) or "Fass!" (attack!)...

But my native language can do more, as past and contemporary love poetry clearly proves:


Secret Garden

komm nach Hause
und ohne fremdes Beigemisch
bewohnen wir uns innig
im geheimen Garten unserer Liebe

bring mich zum Schlafen
bevor du gehst
und lass mich den letzten Gedanken atmen
unter dem Blütenfall deiner Berührung

(by Christiane Herbst)

come home
and without strange admixture
we dwell in each other, deeply
in the secret garden of our love

make me fall asleep
before you leave
and let me breathe the last thought
under the falling blossoms of your touch

(translated by me... and not bad, either, I think).

OK, granted, love poems are not quite apt to be used as commands for dogs - but they're beautiful, aren't they? I hope I could dispel the myth of German only sounding good, when barked as orders.


More German love poetry from the 16th to 20th century can be found here:
Deutsche Liebeslyrik

Originally Posted by apache_blanca

I once hissed at a little doggy - she was playing with her girl owner & wanted to follow me. I wanted it to stay behind, turned around, made big round eyes, "clawed" my fingers & hissed! - it came out very naturally, for that matter. The dog looked , said *oops* & quickly ran back to the girl for protection. She didn't know what to expect of a crazy hissing human

Maybe that dog had a cat phobia... I remember our black cat holding a Newfoundland dog at bay... that dog had been pawed and clawed on his nose by a cat once... dogs remember that and therefore hissing and claws can be a traumatic memory for dogs... even for big ones.

Wiggling bare toes,

~*Txim Asawl*~