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Hello:
I have come into possession of an ancient illuminated manuscript and need a translator with knowledge of Old French, 13th. Century. Please respond with fees and availability to [email protected]
Eve H.
I don't expect to hear back very quickly – there isn't much activity in the forum and the last comment was months earlier in response to a question about pronunciation.
I go back to my mother's files and sort through them, separating the papers into piles. Some are historical research on the Languedoc region of France, some are more recent studies on blood-borne pathogens and retroviruses. My mother was a hematologist in addition to her work for the Council. Still others are accounts of the Inquisition in medieval France, Italy and Germany and the burning of witches. Finally, I have a pile on the Cathar Crusade in which the Cathars, a heretical Catholic sect, were persecuted in what is now southern France.
The hours pass quickly and I'm absorbed reading about the Cathars when my inbox chimes. I put down the research paper and go over to my desk, sitting on my chair and clicking on the email icon that has popped up on my screen.
It's from a Professor Cormier:
Eve,
I can provide translation services. How old is the manuscript? Do you know which decade of the 13th C? What is its condition? I won't be able to provide you with an estimate of the cost until I see it and can judge the difficulty involved. I'm on sabbatical this semester and have some time. My interest in such manuscripts means I'll be willing to do this for a very reasonable rate. I'm a scholar of that era and have studied the languages of that region. I'm quite familiar with such manuscripts.
Yours,
Steve Cormier, PhD
I text back to him, avoiding chatspeak, since he is a professor:
Thanks Professor Cormier. According to records, written in 1224 and writer from Carcassonne. Eve
He responds immediately:
Very likely written in the dialect known as Old Provençal. Do you know who wrote it? S.
No. I think it's an old legend or something fictional. E.
Most surviving works are religious in nature. There are few works of fiction & most are poems or songs. Will be very interested in reading. S.
How do you want to do this? E.
You have BU email so student? Will be in office tonight. Bring it over so I can take a look. I'm in Linguistics Building on Commonwealth. Rm 304. 7:30? I have appt with colleague at 8 so it wd be gd for me. S.
"Sounds fine. See you then. E.
I shut my phone off and go back to my desk. I'm so glad I posted that message. The first thing I’ll do is get the manuscript translated. I hope Professor Cormier can do it quickly so I can get this whole process started and I can do what my mother failed to do before me – become a vampire hunter and eradicate vampires from the face of the earth.
* * *
I read for hours, each journal entry making me more and more upset. I stare at the computer screen, my mind numb. My mother was a vampire hunter? I was one as well? I wanted to kill all vampires? I hear something and turn to the bedroom door and see Michel standing there wearing only his boxer briefs.
“What are you doing up so late?” he asks. I click the email closed and turn to him.
“Nothing.” I try to keep my face impassive, but I never was a good liar.
“Eve…” He comes to me and looks over my shoulder at the computer screen. On it is a picture of a cat with huge eyes, asking for a cheeseburger.
“Just watching funny cat videos.”
He brushes the backs of his fingers against my cheek and I hear his indrawn breath.
“Oh, Eve,no…”
