On Wed, 4 Feb 2004, David Silberstein wrote: > On Wed, 4 Feb 2004, Philip Hart wrote: > > > > >Teldra's pet metaphors seem better evidence to me, but she has a > >strongly Eastern background and audience at the time. > > > > How about Khaavren's, or rather, Paarfi's pet metaphors? Ah yes: "Khaavren, after noting it, turned his eyes firmly away, feeling uncomfortably like the family dog salivating at the bone on his master's plate." I overlooked that - I'll grant you it is a pet metaphor supporting the pet thesis. I suppose I can argue that this might be a translator's improvement on a passage that makes no cultural sense to us, or that dogs might have a functional role to Dragaerans (in hunting or combat) without implying a role as pets. > > > > >I resist the pet idea for Ds - imagine getting a dog knowing it would > >live not 8 years but say 8/40 years = five months. > > > > Your argument would be stronger if Earth-humans preferred turtles or > parrots to cats or dogs. We rarely choose pets based on longevity. I find this unconvincing - if we could make long-lived pets we would, and I'm sure a parent choosing between a 1-year-half-life poodle and a 20-year-half-life black labrador would go for the latter every time (setting aside the fact that poodles are an offense in S--B's eyes). For the record I'm a cat person. > Um. > > I just remembered that our esteemed author does in fact prefer parrot > to dog, but still, you realize I mean in terms of the larger general > population. And anyway, his stated reasons have nothing to do with > longevity. Your last statement points me towards the opposite conclusion...