When Samuel arrived yesterday morning to clean the house, I found him in unusually high spirits. It soon became clear that the reason for this was that his wife had just given birth to their first child, a son.
"Well, that is happy news!" I said.
As there were no cigars in the house, I offered him a shot of whiskey instead, which Samuel enjoyed so much that he offered himself another, and another.
"Just take the whole bottle," I said. "I don't drink anyway. It's just been sitting here untouched for a year."
When Sam was done working, we sat and talked for a time (strangely, he was rather more talkative than usual), and before he left, I congratulated him once again on the birth of his son.
Later on in the afternoon, I was visiting with my friend, Hendra, at the nearby Starbucks, and I mentioned the unexpected celebration of the morning. I explained to him that Sam's wife "beranak", which I understood to mean 'had a baby'.
Hendra broke into laughter.
"No, no, Bapak. You can't say that! Beranak is only for animals. If a human being, you must say 'melarhirkan'.
Ehem.
I really must apologize, next time I see Samuel, for referring to his wife as an animal!
"Well, that is happy news!" I said.
As there were no cigars in the house, I offered him a shot of whiskey instead, which Samuel enjoyed so much that he offered himself another, and another.
"Just take the whole bottle," I said. "I don't drink anyway. It's just been sitting here untouched for a year."
When Sam was done working, we sat and talked for a time (strangely, he was rather more talkative than usual), and before he left, I congratulated him once again on the birth of his son.
Later on in the afternoon, I was visiting with my friend, Hendra, at the nearby Starbucks, and I mentioned the unexpected celebration of the morning. I explained to him that Sam's wife "beranak", which I understood to mean 'had a baby'.
Hendra broke into laughter.
"No, no, Bapak. You can't say that! Beranak is only for animals. If a human being, you must say 'melarhirkan'.
Ehem.
I really must apologize, next time I see Samuel, for referring to his wife as an animal!
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