Ella Enchanted - By Gail Carson Levine Page 0,12

with my right foot and tossed my head as though I had a mane. Opening my eyes as wide as they'd go, I stared stupidly at Char and took the apple.

He did laugh. Then he made an announcement. "I like you. I'm quite taken with you." He took a third apple for himself out of the pocket of his cape.

I liked him too. He wasn't haughty or disdainful, or stuffy, as High Chancellor Thomas was.

All the Kyrrians bowed when we passed, and the visiting elves and gnomes did too. I didn't know how to respond, but Char raised his arm each time, bent at the elbow in the customary royal salute. It was habit, natural to him as teaching. I decided on a deep nod. Curtsies often tipped me over.

We came to the parrot cages, my other favorite place. The birds spoke all the languages of the earth: human foreign tongues and the exotic tongues of Gnomic, Elfian, Ogrese, and Abdegi (the language of the giants). I loved to imitate them, even though I didn't know what they were saying.

Simon, their keeper, was my friend. When he saw Char, he bowed low. Then he returned to feeding an orange bird.

"This one's new," he said. "Speaks Gnomic and doesn't shut up."

",fwthchor evtoogh brzzay eerth ymmadboech evtoogh brzzaY" the parrot said.

",fwthchor evtoogh brzzay eerth ymmadboech evtoogh brzzaY" I repeated.

"You speak Gnomic!" Char said.

"I like to make the sounds. I only know what a few words mean."

"She does it just right, doesn't she, your Highness?"

"Fawithkor evtuk brizzay..." Char gave up. "It sounded better when you did it."

",achoed dh eejh aphchuZ uochludwaacH" the parrot squawked.

"Do you know what he said?" I asked Simon, who was able to translate occasionally.

Simon shook his head. "Do you know, sir?"

"No. It sounds like gargling."

Other visitors claimed Simon's attention. "Excuse me," he said.

Char watched while I said farewell to each bird.

".iqkwo pwach brzzay ufedjeE" That was Gnomic for "Until we dig again."

"ahthOOn SSyng!" Ogrese for "Much eating!"

"Aiiiee ooo (howl) bek aaau!" Abdegi for "I miss you already!"

"Porr of pess waddo." Elfian for "Walk in the shade."

I memorized the sight of the birds and Simon. "Good-bye," I called. He waved.

Lest they be frightened out of their feathers, a garden separated the birds from the ogres. We passed beds of flowers while I tried to teach Char a few of the words he'd just heard. His memory was good, but his accent was unalterably Kyrrian.

"If they heard me, the elves would never let me stand under a tree again."

"The gnomes would hit you over the head with a shovel."

"Would the ogres decide I was unworthy of consumption?"

We neared their hut. Even though they were locked in, soldiers were posted within arrow range. An ogre glared at us through a window.

Ogres weren't dangerous only because of their size and their cruelty. They knew your secrets just by looking at you, and they used their knowledge. When they wanted to be, they were irresistibly persuasive. By the end of an ogre's first sentence in Kyrrian, you forgot his pointy teeth, the dried blood under his fingernails, and the coarse black hair that grew on his face in clumps. He became handsome in your eyes, and you thought him your best friend. By the end of the second sentence, you were so won over that he could do whatever he wanted with you, drop you in a pot to cook, or, if he was in a hurry, eat you raw.

",pwich aooyeh zchoaK" a soft, lisping voice said.

"Did you hear that?" I asked.

"Doesn't sound like an ogre. Where did it come from?"

",pwich aooyeh zchoaK" the voice repeated, this time with a hint of tears in its tones.

A toddler gnome poked his head out of an aqueduct only a few feet from the hut. I saw him at the same moment the ogre did.

He could reach the child through the unglazed window! I started for the boy, but Char was quicker. He snatched him up just before the ogre's arm shot out.

Char backed away, holding the youngster, who squirmed to get out of his grasp.

"Give him to me," I said, thinking I might be able to quiet him.

Char handed him over.

"szEE frah myNN," the ogre hissed, glaring at Char. "myNN SSyng szEE. myNN

thOOsh forns." Then he turned to me and his expression changed. He started laughing. "mmeu ngah suSS hijyNN eMMong. myNN whadz szEE uiv. szEE AAh ohrth hahj ethSSif szEE." Tears of mirth streaked down his cheeks, leaving trails on his filthy face.

Then he said