It Doesn't Matter What

Go ahead, says Arthur.

Jinjing recites his poem.

(We already know it. Blah blah blah the Ash Blue Mountain.....)

I like the part where you enter the dark region and fumes overpower you, says Arthur.

Thanks. Your opinion means a lot to me, says Jinjing.

It's Baby Bin Penguin, says Terence. The dark region. Did you guess that?

I guessed that, says Arthur.

Katherine and Gaius come down through the hatch, backwards.

Hello Arthur, says Katherine. Is Jinjing entertaining you with his poem?

Poem? says Gaius. Jinjing has made up a poem? He has progessed, since we last met!

He has, says Katherine. He reads, too. And knows all the diphthongs.

I know them too, says Terence. AND I had a poem. Can anyone remember it?

My dog has died, says Arthur. That was a good one.

How did it go? asks Terence.

My dog has died
I buried him in the garden
He's not going anywhere, says Arthur.

That WAS a good one, says Terence.

I'm no poet, says Katherine, but I do like to dabble.

You surprise me, says Gaius. Help yourself to Captain Bruni's rum, by the way.

I will, says Katherine. Is there a clean glass anywhere?

Here, says Gaius getting one down. And I think I'll have another. This tooth is quite bothersome.

Give us your poem, Katherine, says Arthur.

I have a number to choose from, says Katherine. At one time I decided to teach myself French. I kept a book of vocab which I added to, every day for a year. By the end of the year I hadn't learned any of them. So  the following year, I tried using each word in a sentence.

A French sentence, I assume, says Gaius.

Naturally, says Katherine. And it wasn't always easy to think up a sentence. But the sentences make rather nice poems when translated back into English.

Who would have thought? marvels Gaius.

This is one of my favourites, says Katherine:

I feel myself groggy
The nurse changed my bandage
Tell me something, it doesn't matter what.

Ha ha! laughs Terence.

What was that in French? asks Gaius. pouring himself another shot of rum.

Search me, says Katherine. Why don't you ask Arthur?

Dis-moi quelque chose, peu importe quoi, says Arthur.

At least that's how it sounds.

It really doesn't matter what.....

And anyway, here comes Captain Bruni, with his fellow Captain, the dentist, from two berths up.