- man
- "The general sign for a man is this," he said. He held his right hand in front of his chest, the
index finger pointing up, and raised it in front of his face.
- red savage
- Grunt rubbed the back of his left hand from the wrist to the knuckle with his right index finger.
- friend
- "This is the sign for friend." He then put his first two fingers together and raised them upward,
beside his face.
- wild sleen or the Sleen tribe
- I put the middle fingers of my right hand on my right thumb, extending the index and little
finger. This suggests a pointed snout and ears.
- domestic sleen
- He then spread the index finger and the second finger of his right hand and drew them from
the left to the right, in front of his body.
"That is the sign for a domestic sleen," he said. "You see? It is like the spread poles of a
travois, which might be drawn by such an animal."
- white man
- "What is this?" he asked, drawing his right index finger across his forehead, from left to right.
"It is like the line of the brim of a hat, across the forehead," I said.
- woman
- "Good," he said, "And this?" With the fingers of both hands slightly curved, he made downward
motions from the top of his head to the shoulders. It was as though he were combing hair.
- white woman/bondage/female slave
- He had traced a line with his right index across his forehead, from left to right, and had then
opened his hand and moved it downward, toward his shoulder, in the combing motion. "What do you
think this means?" he asked. He then made the combing motions with his hand, then lowered his head
and looked at his left wrist, which he grasped firmly in his right hand, the left wrist, the weaker
wrist, helpless in the grip of the stronger.
"I am not sure," I said.
"The second sign indicates bondage," he said.
"A female slave?" I asked.
"Yes," said Grunt, "but, more generally, it is another sign which may stand for any white woman,
and is often used in this way."
"The same sign then," I said, "that sign, stands for both white woman and female slave?'
"Yes," he said. "It is the most common way of referring to a white woman. You see, in the Barrens,
all white women are regarded as being female slaves. Our friends of the plains divide white women
into those who have already, properly, been imbonded, and those who, improperly, have not yet been
imbonded."
- another sign for slave or white woman
- "Here is another way of designating a white woman or a female slave," he said. He then
made the sign for woman, followed by a downward striking motion, as though holding a switch.
"Sometimes, too," he said, "when the context is clear, this sign alone may be used." He then
spread the first and second fingers of his right hand arid laid them over the index finger of
his left hand. "You see?" he asked. "It is ankles bound on a leg stretcher."
- female Red Savage slave
- "Such a woman may be designated as follows," he said, "by use of the sign woman,
followed by the sign for the red savages, followed by a bondage sign."
- kaiila
- "What is this?" asked Grunt. He held his left hand with the palm in, before his
chest, and placed the index and second finger of his right hand astride the edge of his left hand.
- ride
- "What is this?" asked Grunt. He held his left hand with the palm in, before his chest, and
placed the index and second finger of his right hand astride the edge of his left hand.
"A rider?" I asked.
"Kaiila," he said. Then, holding his hands as he had, he rotated his hands in tiny circles,
as though the kaiila were in motion. "That is to ride," he said.
- knife
- "What is this?" he asked. He placed his left fist in front of his mouth and sliced between
it and his face with the edge of his opened right hand.
"I do not know," I said.
"Knife," be said. "See? One holds the meat in one's hand and clenches it between the teeth, too.
Then one cuts a bite from the meat, to eat it, thus the sign for knife."
- kaiila tribe
- "Good," I said. "And what does this mean?" I drew an imaginary line across my throat with
my right index finger. I had seen Corn Stalks make this sign in his talk with Grunt.
Grunt's eyes clouded. "It is the sign for the Kaiila," he said, "the Cutthroat Tribe."
- soldiers/calvary
- "You may have seen this sign," said Grunt. "It is an interesting one." He then held his
fists in front of his chest, his thumbs almost touching, and then spread his fingers out,
horizontally.
"I have no idea what it means," I said.
"Does it remind you of nothing?" be asked. He repeated the sign.
Suddenly the hair on the back of my neck rose. "It is like men breaking out of columns," I said,
"fanning out, to take up positions for battle."
"Yes," said Grunt. "It is the sign for soldiers." He then added to it the sign for riding, that
of the kaiila in motion.
"Kaiila soldiers," I said. "Cavalry."
- wagons
- "Yes," said Grunt, soberly. He then held both fists close to his chest, with the backs
of his hands down and the index fingers curved. He then made a forward, circular motion.
"Wheels?" I said. "Wagons."
"Yes," said Grunt.
- grass
- I held my hands near the ground, with my fingers curved upward and slightly apart. I
then swung my bands out in a small, upward curve.
- height/high grass/summer
- I held my right hand, palm down, even with my shoulder, and lowered it, until it was about
eighteen inches from the ground.
"Height," said Grunt. "High. High grass. Summer."
- day or light
- I folded my arms, the right arm resting on top of the left. I then raised both hands until
my fingers pointed skyward.
"The spreading of light," said Grunt. "Day. Light."
I repeated the gesture twice more.
"Three days," said Grunt. "Three days ago, we may suppose."
- many
- I raised my hands in front of my body, my fingers slightly curved. I then swept my hands
together in a looping curve.
"Many," said Grunt. "Much. Plenty."
- Fleer tribe
- I had smote my hands slowly together three times. It was like the beating of wings. It
now stood, I saw, for the Fleer tribe. The fleer is a large, yellow, long-billed, gregarious,
voracious bird of the Barrens. It is sometimes also called the Corn Bird or the Maize Bird.
- Yellow Knives tribe
- The sign for the Yellow Knives had been the sign for knife, followed by the sign for
fleer. I later learned the sign for knife alone would suffice for this tribe.
- kailiauk
- The sign for Kailiauk, as I had expected, was to hold up three fingers, suggesting
the trident of horns adorning the shaggy head of this large, short-tempered, small-eyed,
lumbering ruminant.
- fast, quick or hurry
- I held my hands in front of my body, with the palms facing one another, with the left hand
a bit ahead of the right. I quickly brushed the right palm pass, the loft palm.
"Fast," said Grunt. "Quick. Hurry."
- kill, hit or strike
- I held my left hand before my body, palm out, with my index and second fingers spread,
forming a "V." I held my right band at my fight shoulder, the index finger pointing up. I then,
quickly, brought my right index finger down, striking into the space between the index finger
and second finger of my left hand.
"Kill," said Grunt, soberly. "Hit. Strike."
- fire or flames
- "What is this sign?" I asked. I cupped my right hand close to the ground, my fingers partly
closed. I then raised it a few inches from the ground, with a short, wavy motion.
"It is the sign for fire," said Grunt. "Flames."
- heart
- "What does this mean?" I asked. I placed my right hand against my heart, with the thumb
and fingers pointing down and slightly cupped.
"Heart," said Grunt.
- sad
- I then lowered my hand toward the ground. I had seen Corn Stalks do this, after his
account of the battle, if battle it had been.
"The heart is on the ground," said Grunt "My heart is on the ground. I am sad."
- good
- He held his right hand near his body, with the palm down and the thumb close to his
left breast. Then, with his right arm horizontal, he swept his hand outward and a bit to the
right This meant "good," that which is level with the heart.
- all
- He then pointed to the girls. He moved his fiat right hand in a horizontal circle,
clockwise, as Earth clocks move, not Gorean clocks, in front of his chest. This meant "all,"
the circle being complete.
- yes
- Grunt then lifted his right hand, the back of it near his right shoulder. His index
finger pointed forward and the other fingers were closed, with his thumb resting on his middle
finger. He then moved his hand a bit to the left and, at the same time, touching the thumb with
the index finger, made a closed circle. "Yes," had said Grunt. He then made the sign for "all"
and the sign for "good," in that order. "All is good," or "all right," he had said.
- thank you
- He then extended his bands in a forward direction, the palms down, and lowered them.
"Thank you," was the meaning of this sign.
- time/goodbye or the future
- He then held his hands at the level of his chest, with his index fingers pointing
forward and the other fingers closed. He drew back his right hand, to the right, some inches,
and then he brought it forward again, the index finger still extended, and moved it over his
left hand. The first portion of this sign means "time," and the second portion indicates,
presumably, the forward movement of time. Literally this sign, in both its portions, indicates
"future," but it is used also for "good-bye," the rationale being perhaps similar to that in
locutions such as 'I'll be seeing you' or 'Until we meet again'.
- past or before
- The sign for past, incidentally, is also the sign for "before." The sign for "time,"
predictably, enters into the sign for "before," but, in this case, it is followed by the thrusting
forth and drawing back of the right hand. This is perhaps to suggest moving backward in time.
- I, me, or mine
- Too, I jerked my thumb toward my body. This, in sign, signifies "I," "Me," or "Mine,"
depending on the context.
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