I was reading the French version of Graham Greene's "Our Man in Havana" this morning and came across a really weird verb.... " claudiquer" .... I had to use a huge dictionary to find out what it meant... it means " to limp."
How odd, I thought ....and I wondered if the name "Claude" was linked to it... and the word cloddhopper. I also was amazed to find that there was almost exactly the same verb in Spanish ... claudicar = to limp.That's even in small Spanish dictionaries. Even odder, it's an English word as well....well, claudication is .. and it was in the English dictionary that I found its root .. it's Latin ... claudicatio = lame. Maybe the name Claudius is linked to it too.
Naturally, there's several bits of Spanish in the book, despite this being the French version.. it is set in "Habana" after all. ... here's one you'll like ...
une voix dit ....
" Haut les mains. Arriba los manos."
" Las manos" corrigea ( corrected) Wormold.
At another point we get the phrase " ¿ Pasa algo ? ..which is useful.
And a bit later we get " Hay mucha corriente" and " Hace demasiado calor "
Why aren't I reading the Spanish version, you could well ask. The simple reason is, it's too expensive. In fact, Spanish novels bought on the net are , in general, about 3x more expensive that their French equivalents. Why, I don't know. It's why I've got loads of French " Petit Nicolas" books but only a few " El Pequeño Nicolas" books. It's much the same with CDs. I generally put the things I want on my "wish list" and wait for a cheaper one to turn up.
Well, that's enough of my ramblings for now ... here's Lori Meyers and " Planilandia" .. it's a creepy video though ...
Que salen de mi mente, de un recóndito lugar.
Me aterra y me impide concentrarme en los recuerdos
Y convertirme en una ameba y un antisocial.
Y es normal que me cueste olvidar,
todos los días que compartíamos
y todo era especial.
Y me cuesta borrar esa alegría
que nos unía y nos hacía mejorar.
Ahora tengo tiempo de pensar en mis defectos
y situarme sobre un rol mas triangular.
Intentaré usar la nueva técnica de espejo
y mirar, y mirar ... el reflejo.
Y es normal que me cueste olvidar,
todos los días que compartíamos
y todo era especial
y me cuesta borrar esa alegría
que nos unía y nos hacía mejorar.
Hay cosas que quisiera borrar
no haber dicho tantas tonterías
que no ayudaron y empezaron a ensuciar.
Pero es que no puedo soportar,
y sabes que me cuesta la vida
pensar que todo era mentira e irreal.
A veces pienso que no existen todos mis complejos.
A veces pienso que no existen todos mis defectos.
Y mirar, y mirar ... el reflejo
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