Lindi and the elephant, by jan Same (first draft and edit)
Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2016 7:29 pm
The Elephant in the Room
soweli suli li lon tomo.
By Sam Wilson
tan jan Same
One morning, Lindi found an elephant in her room.
tenpo suno kama wan la jan Linti li lukin e ni: soweli suli li lon tomo ona.
>> not /ti/ in tp, is usually replaced by /si/ so the girl's (I assume) name is Linsy or you can go to
“Linda”, 'Linta', which is allowed 'tenpo suno kama' is usually “tomorrow”, better 'tenpo suno sin wan' or 'open pi tenpo suno wan' “saw that there was an elephant in her room” literal would be 'kama lukin e soweli suli lon tomo sama' ('sama' “her own” avoid the possibility that it is the elephant's room)
“Look!” she called. “There’s an elephant in my room!”
ona li toki e ni: “o lukin! soweli suli li lon tomo mi!”
>> Strictly (but nobody does) 'nimi ni' for direct quotes.
“No there isn’t,” her mother called back. “Elephants don’t live in houses. Everybody knows that.”
mama pi jan Linti li toki e ni: “lon ala. soweli suli ala li lon tomo. jan ale li sona e ni.”
>>'mama meli' to be precise. Prob 'ona' here is enough. 'toki sin' for “responded”
The elephant yawned.
soweli suli li kama jo e kon.
>> Good place for a clever expression; “got air” doesn't seem enough somehow
At breakfast, Lindi’s dad asked her to pass the milk.
Tenpo moku la, mama mije pi jan Linti li toki e ni: “o pana e telo walo soweli tawa mi.”
>> prob 'ona' works still, though the elephant is the most recent likely noun.
“I can’t,” said Lindi. “The elephant drank it all.”
jan Linti li toki e ni: “mi ken ala. soweli suli li moku e ona ale”
“There isn’t an elephant,” said her dad, “Elephants don’t live in the city. Everybody knows that.”
mama mije ona li toki e ni: “soweli suli li lon ala. soweli suli ala li lon tomo ma. jan ale li sona e ni.”
>>'ma tomo' (“built-up areas” not “country buildings”)
The elephant burped.
soweli suli li pana e kon.
>> Another creative opportunity (but beware of farts).
At school, the teacher grumbled, “What’s wrong with this chalkboard? It’s all wrinkly!”
lon tomo kama sona la jan sona li toki e ni: “lipu suli pimeja me li pakala!”
>>'tomo pi kama sona' or 'tomo pi pana sona' or just 'tomo sona' simialrly, a teacher is 'jan pi pana sona' since not necessarily wise/smart/knowledgeable (alas) . 'mi' . Maybe 'tan seme' at the end to match the English more. English suggest 'lipu pimeja suli' but I don't know how that works in tp.
“That’s not the chalkboard. That’s my elephant!” said Lindi.
jan Linti li toki e ni: “ona li lipu suli pimeja ala. ona li soweli suli.”
“There are no elephants at school,” said the teacher. “Everybody knows that.”
jan sona a toki e ni: “soweli suli ala li lon tomo kama sona. jan ale li sona e ni.”
>> 'li toki'
The elephant ate the teacher’s sandwiches.
soweli suli li moku e moku pi jan sona.
At break time, the elephant followed Lindi to the playground.
tempo musi la jan Linti en soweli suli li tawa ma musi.
>> maybe elephant went with Linsi 'ss li tawa poka jan Linsi
He knocked over the swings by mistake.
soweli suli li pakala e ilo musi.
“Go away!” said Lindi. “You’re not real and you shouldn’t be here! Everyone knows that!”
jan Linti li toki e ne: “o weka! suli lon ala. jan ale li sona e ni!”
>> 'sina lon ala'
The elephant drooped. He walked away, wiping his eyes with his trunk.
soweli suli li pilin ike. ona weka. lukin ona li pana e telo.
>>'ona li (kama, prob) weka' Sorry, I can't break the habit of using 'oko' here. But I would like to see “wiped his eyes with his trunk” creative.
After school, Lindi couldn’t see the elephant anywhere.
tempo tomo kama sona pini la, jan Linti li lukin ala e soweli suli.
>>tenpo pi tomo pi kama sona, pini la'
“Elephant!” she called. “Where are you?”
ona li toki e ni: “soweli suli o! sina lon seme?”
She looked in the bushes, but he wasn’t there.
ona li lukin lon kasi. soweli suli li lon ala ni.
So Lindi went home without him.
jan Linti tawa tomo ona lon poki soweli suli ala.
>>'poka ala' and no 'lon' (sorry, my dialect, but common).
Back home, Lindi didn’t want to play, or read, watch TV.
lon tomo ona la jan Linti li wile ala e musi e lipu e sitelen tawa.
>> wile is a modal, so takes verbs, not direct objects in this case and it is hard to get all the factors right here: disjunction and negation especially. Prob best to string it out: 'li wile ala musi li wile ala lukin e lipu, li wile ala lukin e sitelen tawa'
She felt lonely.
ona li pilin e wan.
>>'wan pilin' or, better, prob, 'taso pilin'
So she went outside, and sat on the steps, and waited.
ona li weka tomo li anpa li awen.
>> 'weka tan tomo' or 'tawa selo tomo' (illegit, but nice: 'anpa lon leko')
And waited.
ona li awen sin.
And waited.
ona li awen sin sin.
>> maybe 'sin kin'
And then… she saw a trunk.
ona li lukin e nena lawa.
>> 'ni la' or 'wawa la' maybe, strictly 'nena pi sinpin lawa'
And tusks.
ona li lukin e palisa walo tu.
>> can just continue the DOs. Maybe 'palisa uta'
And ears.
ona li lukin e kute suli tu.
>>continue DOs (if I accept 'kute' for ears, I probably have to accept lukin for “eyes”, ugh!)
The elephant was coming down the road!
soweli suli li kama a!
She ran up and hugged him.
jan Linti li tawa ona.
>> 'li luka e ona'
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean it! I know you’re real. You’re my elephant.”
jan Linti li toki e ni: “mi ike. mi sona e ni: sina lon. sina soweli suli mi.”
The elephant lifted her up and put her on his back, and she rode down the street.
soweli suli li sewi e ona. jan Linti li lon monsi pi soweli suli. ona tu li tawa.
She waved to her neighbours. “Hello, Mr Green! Hello, Mrs Green!”
jan Linti li lukin e jan tu lon poka e tomo ona. jan Linti li toki e ni: “jan Laso Mije o, toki! jan Laso Meli o, toki!”
>> 'jan tu poka' or 'jan poka tu' (avoids problems with 'ona') Not sure how to do this. English would have 'jan mije Laso' and so on and so would most languages I know of, but ….)
“Look at Lindi!” said Mr. Green. “How did she get up there? Maybe she grew!”
jan Laso Mije e toki e ni: “o lukin e jan Linti! ona kama sewi tan seme? kin la ona li kama suli!”
>>'ona li kama' maybe 'kepeken seme'. 'ken la'
“Don’t be silly,” said Mrs Green. “Little girls don’t grow that high. Everybody knows that.”
jan Laso Meli e toki e ni: “o toki e nasa ala! jan lili li kama suli mute ala. jan ale li sona e ni.”
>>or even just 'o nasa ala' an lili meli'? 'kama ala suli mute' (or 'suli kin' as someone has suggested)
The elephant took her to the lake, and Lindi slid down his trunk like a slide.
soweli suli en jan Linti li tawa telo suli. jan Linti li anpa lon nena lawa pi soweli suli.
ona toki e ni: “aaaaaaaaaaaa!”
>> or 'ss li tawa telo suli e ona' 'slid” opens some creative possibilities, too, nice.
They played all afternoon, laughing and splashing and spraying each other with water.
tenpo suno tawa la ona tu li musi. ona tu li pana e kalama pona. ona tu li pakala e telo.
>> “in the going day”? not sure how to do “afternoon” (nor “noon” even)
That night, the elephant tucked her in to bed.
tenpo pimeja la soweli suli en jan Linti li tawa supa lape. soweli suli li pana e len lape lon jan Linti.
“Goodnight elephant,” said Lindi. “Thank you for a lovely day.”
jan Linti li toki e ni: “soweli suli o, o lape pona. tenpo suno ni li pona.”
He patted her head, and curled up to sleep outside her window.
soweli suli li lape poka lupa tomo pi jan Linti.
>>“patted her head” is something like 'pilin e lawa ona' but that seems pallid.
“Elephants are the best friends in the world,” Lindi said to herself. “Nobody knows that, except for me and my elephant.”
jan Linti li sona e ni: “soweli suli li jan pona mute. mi en soweli suli mi taso li sona e ni.”
>>even 'jan pona ali' 'mi en soweli suli mi, taso'
pona mute. pona tawa sina taw ni.
soweli suli li lon tomo.
By Sam Wilson
tan jan Same
One morning, Lindi found an elephant in her room.
tenpo suno kama wan la jan Linti li lukin e ni: soweli suli li lon tomo ona.
>> not /ti/ in tp, is usually replaced by /si/ so the girl's (I assume) name is Linsy or you can go to
“Linda”, 'Linta', which is allowed 'tenpo suno kama' is usually “tomorrow”, better 'tenpo suno sin wan' or 'open pi tenpo suno wan' “saw that there was an elephant in her room” literal would be 'kama lukin e soweli suli lon tomo sama' ('sama' “her own” avoid the possibility that it is the elephant's room)
“Look!” she called. “There’s an elephant in my room!”
ona li toki e ni: “o lukin! soweli suli li lon tomo mi!”
>> Strictly (but nobody does) 'nimi ni' for direct quotes.
“No there isn’t,” her mother called back. “Elephants don’t live in houses. Everybody knows that.”
mama pi jan Linti li toki e ni: “lon ala. soweli suli ala li lon tomo. jan ale li sona e ni.”
>>'mama meli' to be precise. Prob 'ona' here is enough. 'toki sin' for “responded”
The elephant yawned.
soweli suli li kama jo e kon.
>> Good place for a clever expression; “got air” doesn't seem enough somehow
At breakfast, Lindi’s dad asked her to pass the milk.
Tenpo moku la, mama mije pi jan Linti li toki e ni: “o pana e telo walo soweli tawa mi.”
>> prob 'ona' works still, though the elephant is the most recent likely noun.
“I can’t,” said Lindi. “The elephant drank it all.”
jan Linti li toki e ni: “mi ken ala. soweli suli li moku e ona ale”
“There isn’t an elephant,” said her dad, “Elephants don’t live in the city. Everybody knows that.”
mama mije ona li toki e ni: “soweli suli li lon ala. soweli suli ala li lon tomo ma. jan ale li sona e ni.”
>>'ma tomo' (“built-up areas” not “country buildings”)
The elephant burped.
soweli suli li pana e kon.
>> Another creative opportunity (but beware of farts).
At school, the teacher grumbled, “What’s wrong with this chalkboard? It’s all wrinkly!”
lon tomo kama sona la jan sona li toki e ni: “lipu suli pimeja me li pakala!”
>>'tomo pi kama sona' or 'tomo pi pana sona' or just 'tomo sona' simialrly, a teacher is 'jan pi pana sona' since not necessarily wise/smart/knowledgeable (alas) . 'mi' . Maybe 'tan seme' at the end to match the English more. English suggest 'lipu pimeja suli' but I don't know how that works in tp.
“That’s not the chalkboard. That’s my elephant!” said Lindi.
jan Linti li toki e ni: “ona li lipu suli pimeja ala. ona li soweli suli.”
“There are no elephants at school,” said the teacher. “Everybody knows that.”
jan sona a toki e ni: “soweli suli ala li lon tomo kama sona. jan ale li sona e ni.”
>> 'li toki'
The elephant ate the teacher’s sandwiches.
soweli suli li moku e moku pi jan sona.
At break time, the elephant followed Lindi to the playground.
tempo musi la jan Linti en soweli suli li tawa ma musi.
>> maybe elephant went with Linsi 'ss li tawa poka jan Linsi
He knocked over the swings by mistake.
soweli suli li pakala e ilo musi.
“Go away!” said Lindi. “You’re not real and you shouldn’t be here! Everyone knows that!”
jan Linti li toki e ne: “o weka! suli lon ala. jan ale li sona e ni!”
>> 'sina lon ala'
The elephant drooped. He walked away, wiping his eyes with his trunk.
soweli suli li pilin ike. ona weka. lukin ona li pana e telo.
>>'ona li (kama, prob) weka' Sorry, I can't break the habit of using 'oko' here. But I would like to see “wiped his eyes with his trunk” creative.
After school, Lindi couldn’t see the elephant anywhere.
tempo tomo kama sona pini la, jan Linti li lukin ala e soweli suli.
>>tenpo pi tomo pi kama sona, pini la'
“Elephant!” she called. “Where are you?”
ona li toki e ni: “soweli suli o! sina lon seme?”
She looked in the bushes, but he wasn’t there.
ona li lukin lon kasi. soweli suli li lon ala ni.
So Lindi went home without him.
jan Linti tawa tomo ona lon poki soweli suli ala.
>>'poka ala' and no 'lon' (sorry, my dialect, but common).
Back home, Lindi didn’t want to play, or read, watch TV.
lon tomo ona la jan Linti li wile ala e musi e lipu e sitelen tawa.
>> wile is a modal, so takes verbs, not direct objects in this case and it is hard to get all the factors right here: disjunction and negation especially. Prob best to string it out: 'li wile ala musi li wile ala lukin e lipu, li wile ala lukin e sitelen tawa'
She felt lonely.
ona li pilin e wan.
>>'wan pilin' or, better, prob, 'taso pilin'
So she went outside, and sat on the steps, and waited.
ona li weka tomo li anpa li awen.
>> 'weka tan tomo' or 'tawa selo tomo' (illegit, but nice: 'anpa lon leko')
And waited.
ona li awen sin.
And waited.
ona li awen sin sin.
>> maybe 'sin kin'
And then… she saw a trunk.
ona li lukin e nena lawa.
>> 'ni la' or 'wawa la' maybe, strictly 'nena pi sinpin lawa'
And tusks.
ona li lukin e palisa walo tu.
>> can just continue the DOs. Maybe 'palisa uta'
And ears.
ona li lukin e kute suli tu.
>>continue DOs (if I accept 'kute' for ears, I probably have to accept lukin for “eyes”, ugh!)
The elephant was coming down the road!
soweli suli li kama a!
She ran up and hugged him.
jan Linti li tawa ona.
>> 'li luka e ona'
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean it! I know you’re real. You’re my elephant.”
jan Linti li toki e ni: “mi ike. mi sona e ni: sina lon. sina soweli suli mi.”
The elephant lifted her up and put her on his back, and she rode down the street.
soweli suli li sewi e ona. jan Linti li lon monsi pi soweli suli. ona tu li tawa.
She waved to her neighbours. “Hello, Mr Green! Hello, Mrs Green!”
jan Linti li lukin e jan tu lon poka e tomo ona. jan Linti li toki e ni: “jan Laso Mije o, toki! jan Laso Meli o, toki!”
>> 'jan tu poka' or 'jan poka tu' (avoids problems with 'ona') Not sure how to do this. English would have 'jan mije Laso' and so on and so would most languages I know of, but ….)
“Look at Lindi!” said Mr. Green. “How did she get up there? Maybe she grew!”
jan Laso Mije e toki e ni: “o lukin e jan Linti! ona kama sewi tan seme? kin la ona li kama suli!”
>>'ona li kama' maybe 'kepeken seme'. 'ken la'
“Don’t be silly,” said Mrs Green. “Little girls don’t grow that high. Everybody knows that.”
jan Laso Meli e toki e ni: “o toki e nasa ala! jan lili li kama suli mute ala. jan ale li sona e ni.”
>>or even just 'o nasa ala' an lili meli'? 'kama ala suli mute' (or 'suli kin' as someone has suggested)
The elephant took her to the lake, and Lindi slid down his trunk like a slide.
soweli suli en jan Linti li tawa telo suli. jan Linti li anpa lon nena lawa pi soweli suli.
ona toki e ni: “aaaaaaaaaaaa!”
>> or 'ss li tawa telo suli e ona' 'slid” opens some creative possibilities, too, nice.
They played all afternoon, laughing and splashing and spraying each other with water.
tenpo suno tawa la ona tu li musi. ona tu li pana e kalama pona. ona tu li pakala e telo.
>> “in the going day”? not sure how to do “afternoon” (nor “noon” even)
That night, the elephant tucked her in to bed.
tenpo pimeja la soweli suli en jan Linti li tawa supa lape. soweli suli li pana e len lape lon jan Linti.
“Goodnight elephant,” said Lindi. “Thank you for a lovely day.”
jan Linti li toki e ni: “soweli suli o, o lape pona. tenpo suno ni li pona.”
He patted her head, and curled up to sleep outside her window.
soweli suli li lape poka lupa tomo pi jan Linti.
>>“patted her head” is something like 'pilin e lawa ona' but that seems pallid.
“Elephants are the best friends in the world,” Lindi said to herself. “Nobody knows that, except for me and my elephant.”
jan Linti li sona e ni: “soweli suli li jan pona mute. mi en soweli suli mi taso li sona e ni.”
>>even 'jan pona ali' 'mi en soweli suli mi, taso'
pona mute. pona tawa sina taw ni.