22·whu

One word this chapter, and a game to learn it with. whu opens a describing-clause that stands before a noun, the way every describing thing in Phi stands before what it describes: whu [clause] noun. No closer needed: the noun itself shuts the door. The children invent a guessing game:

These square brackets are the lesson's pencil marks. They help the eye find the clause; speech and ordinary romanized or Tengwar writing keep only what is inside.

SceneI

lopiawhu sulopa ro pilewa miona.sioraphao.lopialia.

The person who habitually makes soup? The parent. Correct. Look at the shape: whu sulopa ro pilewa is a whole little sentence missing its doer, and miona steps in at the end to be that doer. Clause first, noun after: chapter three's thiku pelori, grown up.

SceneII

siorawhu mua luphore ro wishe nolika.lopialohau.siorawhu theula thimu nulae nolika.lopiamisheko. misheko. misheko.

The animal who swims in the river; the animal who sleeps for all time. The second riddle is not a difficult riddle. The child answers it three times for the joy of it.

SceneIII

lopiawhu lo nophi shane miona.siorawheo.siorawhu wei muila thinoe to loa miona.lopiane thinoe.wheo sheluo. wheo siora phaelo.

The one who tells the stories: the elder. Then the visiting child reaches back a whole chapter: the one who gave seeds to the earth, thinoe. The elder, listening from the doorway, feels joy (a word the household has been feeling all book and can finally say).

SceneIV

siorawhu mia loami to loa miona.lopiamia.lo lopia hola.

The one who gave me a gift: you did (a flower, at the gate, five chapters ago). The children laugh. The game has quietly proven what games are for: every riddle in it was a memory, and every answer was someone loved.