Masterpiece Of The Intangible

Thanks to Kong asking nicely, Diego has agreed to give them a lift to Santa Cruz.

 He'll be leaving shortly.

Soon they are squeezing into his tiny car.

Gaius is in front with Diego.

Kong is in the back seat, with Terence and Baby Pierre.

This is kind of you, says Gaius. You've saved us catching the bus. And who knows how long we would have to have waited.

Not long, says Diego. There's a bus right behind us.

So there is, says Gaius. It seems we've discommoded you for no reason.

Not at all says Diego. It's good to have company.

I never thanked you properly for the spider legs, says Gaius.

Compliments! says Terence.

That's not compliments, hisses Baby Pierre.

What is it? asks Terence.

A thank you, says Baby Pierre.

For the compliments, says Terence. Cannot but be.

(Baby Pierre giggles. Hee hee. He had forgotten about 'cannot but be').

You're welcome, says Diego. The legs helped me with my PhD project.

And what class are you going to this evening? asks Kong. The Rector mentioned ....Silbo?

Yes, my Silbo Gomero class , says Diego. Bet you don't know what that is.

Kong waits a moment, to see if know-it-all Gaius knows what that is.

He doesn't.

No, says Kong. It seems that we don't know what that is.

Diego whistles, in a meaningful manner. Pheee-ooo, pheee-uh, pheee-eee!

Might I surmise that they are whistling classes? asks Gaius.

My guess exactly, says Kong.

A superfluous guess then, says Gaius.

Do it again, Diego, says Terence.

I'm not very good, says Diego. I'm just a beginner silbador. Silbo Gomero is an ancient form of whistled speech in the Canaries. It almost died out, but now there's a revival.

Whistled speech, says Kong. What is it used for?

Communicating over long distances, says Diego. Like ravines and narrow valleys. The old people used it. The Guanche. But they whistled in Guanche, an extinct Berber language. These days we whistle in Spanish.

Remarkable, says Gaius. You whistle in Spanish. How does that work?

The whistle emulates Spanish phonology through a reduced set of phonemes, says Diego.

Gaius looks sceptical.

Kong thinks it sounds like a great deal of trouble. Don't people use phones now, not phonemes?

Terence tries his own whistle. Beee!

His cement lips won't do it.

Weee! says Baby Pierre.

He can't do it either.

Pheee-eee! says Diego, slowing down, momentarily, to give them a proper example.

Silbo Gomero was declared a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2009, says Diego.

I don't doubt it, says Gaius.

The bus to Santa Cruz flashes its head lights, and passes.