Mmm. Speaking as an observer, it has not gone too poorly, has it? We have a very kind bunch of strangers, here.
[It's not what he would have recommended, but it's certainly a custom for their odd little community.
So maybe he ought to update his recommendations.]
But, no; while it is well to share your burdens with those who are close to you--which is, I may add, something I was very poor at--I would never say you must give these things to everyone who asks why you are sad. Some of these things, they are between you and your gods, or whatever part of the universe guides you; others are between you and the woman you mourn. No matter what anyone might ask, it is yours to say how and when you share them.
If these private things are so tangled up within you that they cut and strangle you, but you cannot take them to your friends--mm. If you were one of my people I would say speak to the Volkhv, the Priest, but I do not know who untangles such things in this place. [Maybe they all take turns doing it, and what an alien thought that is.]
no subject
[It's not what he would have recommended, but it's certainly a custom for their odd little community.
So maybe he ought to update his recommendations.]
But, no; while it is well to share your burdens with those who are close to you--which is, I may add, something I was very poor at--I would never say you must give these things to everyone who asks why you are sad. Some of these things, they are between you and your gods, or whatever part of the universe guides you; others are between you and the woman you mourn. No matter what anyone might ask, it is yours to say how and when you share them.
If these private things are so tangled up within you that they cut and strangle you, but you cannot take them to your friends--mm. If you were one of my people I would say speak to the Volkhv, the Priest, but I do not know who untangles such things in this place. [Maybe they all take turns doing it, and what an alien thought that is.]