It is very cold.' B£S 3» fever i. e. he has got a fever. fo[p horse! may mean, I want my horse; or the horse is come. ^e>sr» leave? that is will you permit me ? or may I go ? to which the reply may be f 6jl§ yes. tsabxPif Js» Error! i. e. pardon me. s>r»e^?5o^^'«S» your favour! meaning thank you, OT»^)regii'0 I entreat you: thus a single noun or a short phrase is often used in speaking to convey a sentence. In the ordinary language used in letters, the style is not difficult; but the spoken language is often obscure, because the natives often use a single word or a short phrase, perhaps aided by " suiting the action to the word" a motion of the hand, head or eye; which are not easily understood by a foreigner. Indeed silent motions or (fc?$;ScSi!&:) gestures often convey the phrases "I will come;" "quite impossible;" "I do not know" "he is gone" admirable" " shocking," " tall and thin" "large and fat" "he is gone to eat his dinner." These and many other phrases are conveyed in a manner perfectly intelligible to natives. With peculiar gestures the single word aSossSx" t a feast'
denotes To-day is a feast day and I request permission to go home.*
But in writing Telugu letters and statements such brevity is not used: indeed the style is often verbose and lengthy. A prisoner or witness often gives his statements very briefly: which the clerk will write down in a diffuse style supplying dates, hours, ages and numbers according to his own knowledge.
Even in written Telugu the brevity of the dialect often makes it obscure: thus e ^j^^r* &i-fr>^rt&-&> 'Let come if say
anger: go if say anger:' that is, 'If we call (you, you) are angry; if told to go you are equally displeased.' Sl^sSb^Hoeupo GP tr" o3&a «now day full, night little :' i. e. At present the day is longer than the night: This brevity often renders it hard to translate with precision.
In the comedies, the following phrase is common f^iSbTPsa •Oo|_«5io"^5S>fS>'*"F°c5,!^> (Sugriva Vija) Then Ramachandra spoke
- See the remarks made by Montaigne in his apology for Raymond de Sebonde; where he quotes Plin. N. H. VI. 30.
