第107章

’Thewayofdeclininganoun。’

’Then，inthecivilestwayimaginable，Ideclinethenoun。Isthatadeclension？’

’Youshouldneverplayonwords；todosoislow，vulgar，smellingofthepothouse，theworkhouse。Belle，IinsistonyourdeclininganArmeniannoun。’

’Ihavedonesoalready，’saidBelle。

’Ifyougooninthisway，’saidI，’Ishalldeclinetakinganymoreteawithyou。WillyoudeclineanArmeniannoun？’

’Idon’tlikethelanguage，’saidBelle。’Ifyoumustteachmelanguages，whynotteachmeFrenchorChinese？’

’IknownothingofChinese；andasforFrench，nonebutaFrenchmaniscleverenoughtospeakit-tosaynothingofteaching；no，wewillsticktoArmenian，unless，indeed，youwouldpreferWelsh!’

’Welsh，Ihaveheard，isvulgar，’saidBelle；’so，ifImustlearnoneofthetwo，IwillpreferArmenian，whichIneverheardoftillyoumentionedittome；though，ofthetwo，IreallythinkWelshsoundsbest。’

’TheArmeniannoun，’saidI，’whichIproposeforyourdeclensionthisnight，is-，whichsignifiethMaster。’

’Ineitherlikethewordnorthesound，’saidBelle。

’Ican’thelpthat，’saidI；’itisthewordIchoose：Master，withallitsvariations，beingthefirstnounthesoundofwhichI

wouldhaveyoulearnfrommylips。Come，letusbegin-

’Amaster。Ofamaster，etc。Repeat-’

’Iamnotmuchusedtosaytheword，’saidBelle，’buttoobligeyouIwilldeclineitasyouwish’；andthereuponBelledeclinedMasterinArmenian。

’Youhavedeclinedthenounverywell，’saidI；’thatisinthesingularnumber；wewillnowgototheplural。’

’Whatistheplural？’saidBelle。

’Thatwhichimpliesmorethanone，forexample，Masters；youshallnowgothroughmastersinArmenian。’

’Never，’saidBelle，’never；itisbadtohaveonemaster，butmoreIwouldneverbear，whetherinArmenianorEnglish。’

’Youdonotunderstand，’saidI；’ImerelywantyoutodeclineMastersinArmenian。’

’Idodeclinethem；Iwillhavenothingtodowiththem，norwithmastereither；Iwaswrongto-Whatsoundisthat？’

’Ididnothearit，butIdaresayitisthunder；inArmenian-’

’NevermindwhatitisinArmenian；butwhydoyouthinkitisthunder？’

’EreIreturnedfrommystroll，Ilookedupintotheheavens，andbytheirappearanceIjudgedthatastormwasnighathand。’

’Andwhydidyounottellmeso？’

’Youneveraskedmeaboutthestateoftheatmosphere，andIamnotinthehabitofgivingmyopiniontopeopleonanysubject，unlessquestioned。But，settingthataside，canyoublamemefornottroublingyouwithforebodingsaboutstormandtempest，whichmighthavepreventedthepleasureyoupromisedyourselfindrinkingtea，orperhapsalessoninArmenian，thoughyoupretendtodislikethelatter？’

’Mydislikeisnotpretended，’saidBelle；’Ihatethesoundofit，but