Indicative Mood, Present Tense.
Ata, I eat or We eat.
Até, Thou eatest, You eat.
Atη, He eateth, They eat.
Præterperfect Tense.
Atà i, I have eaten, We have eaten.
Atéi, Thou haft eaten, You have eaten.
Atiη, He has eaten, They have eaten.
Future Tense.
Atà io, I shall or will eat, We will eat.
Atéio, Thou wilt eat, You will eat.
Atηio, He will eat, They will eat.
Infinitive Mood.
At, To eat.
Præterimperfect Tense of the Subjunctive Mood.
Atà in, I would eat, We would eat.
Atéin, Thou wouldn't eat, Ye would eat.
Atηin, He would eat, They would eat.
Præterpluperfect.
Atais, I would have eaten, We would have eaten.
Atéis, Thou would'st have eaten, You would have eaten.
Atηis, He or she should have eaten, They would have eaten.
Participle of the Present Tense.
Atain, Eating.
From thence are deriv'd the Words, Ataus, Kitchen; Ataɤs, Food; Atiɤ, Cook; Atians, Eater, or the Person that Eateth.
Their Alphabet consists of Twenty Characters, viz. Seven Vowels, a, e, i, o, u, η, ɤ, (the Sixth of which is properly the Aita of the Greeks, and the Seventh is equivalent to the Dipthongue, ou) and Thirteen Consonants, b, d, f, g, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t. These same Consonants serve them also for Numerals; as b, 1; d, 2; f, 3; g, 4; h, 5; k, 6; l, 7; m, 8; n, 9; p, 10; pb, 11; pd, 12; &c. dp, is equivalent to twice Ten, or Twenty; fp, to thrice Ten, or Thirty; fb, 31; &c. pp, ten times Ten, or 100; r, 1000; pr, 10000; ppr, 100000; s, a Million; ps, 10 Millions; pps, 100 Millions; ppps, 1000 Millions; and so on, always adding one p more.
It must likewise be observed, that their Nouns and Verbs are deriv'd from one another, like the French, Chat, a Boar Cat; Chate, a She Cat; Chatons, Kittlings; Chatonner, to Kitten. Their Declensions are also very easy, of which this is an Example:
Nom. Brol, }
Gen. Brul, } A Weather.
Dat. Brel, }
Nom. Brolu, }
Gen. Brula, } An Ewe or Sheep.
Dat. Brèla, }
Nom. Brolη, }
Gen. Brulη, } Weathers or Sheep.
Dat. Brelη, }
'Tis wonderful, that there is not one Exception in the Conjugations and Declensions of this Language; and that when we know the Variations of one Verb or Noun, it leads to the Knowledge of all the rest; which Variation consists only in adding the Letter A to the Infinitive Mood to make the Present Tense of the Indicative; as from At, comes Ata; from Bɤskin, Bɤskina, &c. And to the Nouns they add A, to the Nominative Case of the Masculine Gender, to make them Feminine in η when they change them to the Plural Number, as is plain from the foregoing Example. From hence it will not be thought strange, that at the End of six Months we understood every thing they said to us; and that they also understood what we said to them. But to return to our former Subject.
Not many Days after our Arrival, we were awaken'd one Morning by an extraordinary Hurly-burly in the House. We arose to see what was the matter; but tho' we observ'd the minutest of their Proceedings, we could not conceive the Meaning of the Hurry they were all in from the the Highest to the Lowest; only we guess'd there was to be a grand Dinner, because there was a great Slaughter of Fowls, and abundance of Meat in the Kitchen. About Ten of the Clock, the whole Family went out. Our Patron march'd first, with a great Cock under his Arm, and we follow'd with the rest of the Houshold. As we pass'd the Bridge over the Canal, we saw that all our Neighbours did the same, every Family marching out with a Cock. Our opposite Neighbour expos'd his Cock against ours; and the others did the same thing, it being a general Cock-match between the People of both sides the Canal. It is incredible with what Courage and Fury, with what Vigor and Skill these Creatures fought. My Landlord, whose Cock was kill'd, went and took the Victor by the Hand, congratulated him on his Conquest, and carry'd him to his House, follow'd by all his Children and Domestics. The Provisions laid in at the other's House, were brought to ours. We sat down to Table, and I can say, that I had not been at such an Entertainment a long while. It was a Feast truly Royal, and we drank to a very hearty Pitch; but the worst on't was, we did not understand them.
Our People were every whit as alert next Day. As soon as the Sun was risen, all the young Men of the Canton, that is to say, the eldest Son of every Family, went out and took a straight Pole, like to the Mast of a Ship, which they planted in the middle of the Canal, and to the End of it they ty'd as many great Ropes as there were Families present. All these Ropes were afterwards extended, and wound about the several Trees which were planted on the Bank of the Canal; and that there might be no Jealousy, or any Cause of Complaint, there was a Noose made in each Rope, all at the same Distance from the Pole. To the Top of this Pole, which was not Thirty Foot from the Surface of the Water, a round Board was nail'd, upon which an Eagle was plac'd, whose two Feet were fasten'd separately with strong Packthread, to two Cramp-Irons drove into the Timber.
When every thing was ready, each of the young Men laid hold of one of the Ropes at the Place where the Noose was, and at the first Signal, which was given by our Landlord, they drove who could climb up fastest. They that came first up to the Eagle, endeavour'd to lay hold of him, but they had a smart Reception, for as their Hands were oblig'd to be bare, they were expos'd to the Strokes of the Eagle's Beak, which made them all over bloody. Besides, each Man had but one Hand at liberty to attack, because with the other he was oblig'd to hold fast. And then, the Eagle was not ty'd so short, but that he could rise at least two Foot from his Board; so that whereas I thought at the Beginning, the Battle would have been over in a Trice, when it had continued two Hours 'twas like to hold all Day. Notwithstanding the Vigour of the Assailants, their Situation was too fatiguing, and it was impossible they could keep it long. Some rested themselves as well as they could; others dropped into the Water, where they were reliev'd immediately by Persons who were underneath in little Boats, on purpose to catch them. In short, it was a wild Skirmish; but I think they had been engag'd about six Hours, when one of the Assailants nimbly seizing the Eagle, broke one of its Legs, but another pushing him, made him let go his Prize for fear of falling off of the Rope, grip'd the Bird with both his Hands, flung himself desperately down the Rope, and fell, with the dismembered Prey in his Arms, into the Water. At his Fall, the Spectators shouted as much for Joy, as if the Safety of the Publick had been the Matter in question. Those who were wet went to shift their Clothes, and soon after repair'd to the Victor's House, where every one paid him their Compliments. There they supp'd together, and spent part of the Night in Merriment, while the Parents of the Family treated one another reciprocally with hearty good Cheer. The third Day was spent in Plays, Dances, Races, and agreeable Diversions.
We knew not what all this meant; but afterwards we found that they observ'd the same Ceremonies throughout the Kingdom, every Year, at the Full Moon preceding the Solstice of Capricorn, and that the young Man who carries off the Eagle, has that Year the Choice of all the Girls in the Canton, in case he has a mind to alter his Condition, so that there can be no Marriage without his Consent, which however he seldom refuses; and therefore it may be said, that it all terminates in a meer Formality and Punctilio of Honour to the Conqueror. At all the other Full-Moons of the Year, without Exception, they fight Cocks. They take their Pleasure in Gondola's, during the Summer; and in the Winter they are drawn upon the Snow in Sleds. For two Days they take all the innocent Pleasures they are capable of, except that of the Eagle planted on the Pole. The rest of the Month every body is at their Business, and there are no other Feasts at all.