Island Hideaway 44 - The second dodo lecture
By Terrence Oblong
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Before she left, Mo taught me a lot about the language of the dodos. I wasn't even aware that the dodos had regional accents - the dodos on the south of the island apparently use much more flamboyant wing-use, they even have a few slang words of their own that aren't used by the other dodos. I wasn't really aware that the dodos mostly keep to their own area, because I can stomp across the entire island in no time, blessed as I am with long human legs, I never questioned that the dodos did the same. In fact, I mostly only ever see the same small group of dodos who reside in the north east corner of the island.
Mo also taught me the history of the dodo language. Maybe history is the wrong word, it's more of a myth or legend.
The myth tells of Milo 'The Great Finder', who legend has it found all of the female dodos on the island and consequently sired an entire generation of dodos. The legends tells how Milo discovered the dodo language when he read the leaves of the Fandango tree. The position of the fandango leaves, Milo said, told him the location of the female he was seeking.
There is of course no verification for this theory. No dodo has since been able to read leaves and the Fandango Tree is itself a mythical plant, which plays an important role in the dodo religion similar to the role of the snake in the Garden of Eden story.
But when you next see a dodo fanning out its arms in speech, remember that the dodo is the only sentient being that claims to have taken its language from the language of the trees.
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