Talisker, the Linguist

When the big black human carrier comes to take Daddy to the flying metal tube kennel, he makes Talisker and me promise to take care of Mummy while he’s away earning dog biscuits.  I’ve been doing this for a long time so can do it very well from my day bed in her writing box room.

Daddy has been away for a long time and Talisker is now getting worried that some threat outside has prevented him from returning.  I tried telling him that tomorrow we are all getting in the motorized dog carrier to go and get him from the flying metal tube kennel, but he doesn't believe me. He’s convinced the threat outside is higher than normal so has spent all day sitting on the viewing platform barking.

Now, I’ve done a bit of barking in my day, but even in my books, this was excessive. He reached the peak around dinner time at a moment when Mummy had the talking box to her ear.  I could see that crazy look she gets in her eyes sometimes, she asked the talking box to hold on and then spoke very loudly to Talisker in a language I didn’t understand.  It had a lot of very short words in it. Apparently, in the land Mummy comes from this language is called Anglo Saxon. Whatever she said, Talisker stopped barking.

In all my long years I have never had the opportunity to hear enough Anglo Saxon to understand what is being said, so I can only draw the conclusion that Talisker must have a gift for languages to understand whatever Mummy said to make him be quiet.

Bowmore