Part II · Time

Chapter 10 of 30

10moru

Finished work

Two more aspects, and they are a pair: ki closes a doing (complete, done, the tools set down), and te marks a doing that ceases. One is an arrival, the other a stopping. The storm from chapter seven left some work behind.

SceneI

pheralu to lepa.moru to lepa.phao moru nila.wheo moru nila.
new wordsay itit means
morumo · ruwall

The rain fell, and part of the garden wall fell with it. The parent looks at the wall. The elder looks at the wall. In every language, this is how repairs begin.

SceneII

phao moru si shiroka.melu shua. melu moru si shiroka.lopia lo kerou kolua.lohau lo miona si nila.phao moru ki shiroka.
new wordsay itit means
shirokashi · ro · karepair
kerouke · ro · ustone
kiki(before the verb: complete, done)

Read the first and last lines against each other: si shiroka, the repairing still open; ki shiroka, the repairing closed. Same wall, same verb: the particle alone moves the work from underway to done. Between them: a friend who shows up, a child who carries stones, and a dog who supervises.

SceneIII

pheralu lepa.pheralu te lepa.howeli te shua.sileta keru loa.
new wordsay itit means
tete(before the verb: it ceases)

Rain falls. Rain stops falling. te marks cessation rather than completion: the rain has not finished a task; it is no longer falling. The wind ceases too, and the sun returns to the sky.

SceneIV

phao therilu.melu therilu.wheo therilu.lohau therilu.misheko rihe.misheko mua moru thalo.
new wordsay itit means
theriluthe · ri · lurest

Work complete, everyone rests, and the cat rises, crosses the yard, and walks along the top of the repaired wall, testing it. The wall holds. It has passed the only inspection that matters.