An sgeul 's a chuid sgeulachdan

Fhuair mi chiad fhreagairt an riochd na nobhail Gormshuil an Rgh le Fionnlagh MacLeid, far a bheil sgeulachdan a' dol 'nan caractaran ann an digh gu math domhainn. Tha agad ri bhith elach air na sgeulachdan mus crd an leabhar gu h-iomlan riut.

Seo a-nist an drna freagairt, an nobhail Bheurla Archie and the North Wind le Aonghas Pdraig Caimbeul (Luath, 8.99). Ma tha Beurla agad chan eil dad idir a tha doirbh a thuigsinn mu dheidhinn. Tha a cheart uiread de thoileachas ann 's a tha ann an Gormshuil an Rgh co-dhibh tha thu elach air na sgeulachdan gus nach eil.

An toiseach tha buidheann charactaran ann. irdsidh an t-Uibhisteach g nach robh math san sgoil. An Gobhlachan, seann ghobha an ite, a tha toirt obair do dh'irdsidh an didh "siabadh mr" anns a bheil gach n air a bhristeadh leis a' ghaoith. Olga Swirszczynska a thig dhan eilean a bhrideachadh nan each. Seldair Ruiseanach, Bronowskielchev, a bha uaireigin 'na ollamh ciil 's nach do chuir cas air tr on l a dh'eug Yuri Gagarin. Et cetera.

An uair sin tha an stiridh ann. Tha i 'na turas le adhbhar, 'na odyssey, mar tha mran de na stiridhean as fherr. Se an t-adhbhar gu bheil irdsidh seachd sgth den ghaoith tuath a tha milleadh na h-uiread ann an Uibhist. Chual' e gu bheil i tighinn toll fada mu thuath ann an dthaich an t-sneachda 's tha e cur roimhe an toll a lorg 's a stobadh.

An uair a bheachdaicheas tu mu thuill – an fheadhainn s a bheil ola a' tighinn leithid am fear ud a bh' aig BP ann an Camas Mexico, neo am fear san ozone a tha a' leigeil a-staigh blthachadh na cruinne – aithnichidh tu gu bheil Archie and the North Wind 'na sgeul aotrom air ln chor mhic an duine den aon t-sersa ri Animal Farm neo 1984.

Se an treas eileamaid na sgeulachdan. Chan eil iad air am measgachadh ris a' chrr mar ann an Gormshuil an Rgh. Tha iad comharraichte gu soilleir mar sgeulachdan, a' cleachdadh cl ragged right seach taobh-deas-dreach mar th' aig a' chrr den teacsa. Tha sin ag obrachadh gu math. Chan eil iad a' dol 'nan caractaran mar ann an Gormshuil an Rgh 's chan eil na caractaran aca a' nochdadh sa chrr den sgeul mar ann an Iain am Measg nan Reultan aig Iain Mac a' Ghobhainn.

Chan eil iad ach air an innse, gu smplidh, le aon charactar do dh'fheadhainn eile neo le irdsidh dha fhin (is toil leam sin).

Ach tha an t-ghdar gl shoilleir mu bhrgh nan sgeulachdan an eachdraidh mhic an duine san fharsaingeachd. "What a fabulous challenge: to build a ship that would sail on both land and sea! Wasn't that what Gobhlachan had done all his life? Made things out of next to nothing; materials which could transform themselves according to circumstance. Grass which became beds; stones which became houses; flotsam which became furniture. Carts which doubled as hen-houses; ploughs which then served as gates and bridges; horse-shoes which also protected from all evil. All was alchemy.

Words of course into stories, and stories which bent and altered time and history. He had a tale for every occasion, though it may just have been the other way round: that, like a modern spin-doctor or ancient houngan, every occasion generated its myth."

Tha, tha a sgeulachdan fhin, a sheanchas fhin, aig gach sluagh, gach cnain, gach dthaich, gach creideamh. Ged nach eil an t-ghdar ag ainmeachadh a' Bhobaill, tha e ag ainmeachadh: "The raiders from the far side. From some other place. From the far side of the island. From the other side of the mountain. From outside the song. From the story which didn't belong to us."

Nuair a tha a sheanchas fhin taisgte domhainn ann an inntinn sluaigh, mar Shakespeare aig luchd na Beurla, faodar pluga beag dealain a chur a-staigh leithid mar n Aonghas Pdraig nuair thid irdsidh a laighe – "To sleep, he thought. To sleep. To sleep. Perchance." – agus tha ln dealbh-chluich air a chur a dhanns ro'r silean.

Rud eile tha math mun nobhail seo se mar tha na sgeulachdan air an cur gu feum na sgeil. Mar eisimpleir, tha sgeulachd mu fhamhaire 's mu uaimh air a mneachadh mar seo: "The giant was Capitalism, Archie knew, and the hole was where the bodies of the poor lay scattered in the Cave of Profit where all the gold lay. They were the ones daily sent down in creels to labour for the giant. They were the ones eaten alive. Roasted on the spits."

Chan eil ach aon ghearan agam mu Archie and the North Wind 's tha e agam tric mu leabhraichean Beurla anns a bheil beagan Gidhlig – nach do bhodraig duine sil thoirt air a' Ghidhlig. Ciamar a tha Aonghas Pdraig a' cumail a-mach gur e "rd le ighne" seach "rd le innean" a th' air "hammer with anvil"?