Say Who You Had It From

Tell it to someone, or the world puts it down. The first saying every child learns, in every region. -va (witnessed)-seevery grandmother (told, every grandmother)

Tell it to someone, or the world puts it down. -se (told)

We do not rank the drowning. Three Wardens are credited with it, in three phrasings. The sentence is held, the order says; the mouth is a courtesy. -se (told)-sethe Constant (told, the Constant)

We do not rank the drowning. -se (told)

The teaching is the direction, not the arrival.-sethe Driftwalkers (told, the Driftwalkers)

The teaching is the direction, not the arrival. -se (told)

Held fast. Safe, sure, to be trusted: the best thing you can say of a person, a rope or a fact. -va (witnessed)-seeveryone (told, everyone)

Held fast. -se (told)

That's deep-asked, friend. A question too deep for the table. It ends the talk, politely. -va (witnessed)-seeveryone (told, everyone)

That's deep-asked, friend. -se (told)

Walk it loose. A farewell: may you carry it lightly. -va (witnessed)-sethe Driftwalkers (told, the Driftwalkers)

Walk it loose. -se (told)

Say it in -va. Show how you know, or hush. -va (witnessed)-sethe courts (told, the courts)

Say it in -va. -se (told)

The one on the old tree. Anything excellent whose origin is gone. -va (witnessed)-sethe orchards (told, the orchards)

The one on the old tree. -se (told)

Somebody worth a coin, once. What you are told when you ask whose head is on the mark. -va (witnessed)-seevery parent (told, every parent)

Somebody worth a coin, once. -se (told)

People we're still being kind to. What you are told when you ask who lies in the blank rows. -va (witnessed)-seevery parent (told, every parent)

People we're still being kind to. -se (told)

Held. Well told. Said to anyone who has given a Telling, however it went. -va (witnessed)-seeveryone (told, everyone)

Held. Well told. -se (told)

To the things we cannot afford to lose: may they stay expensive. A toast, at weddings and on first days of school. -va (witnessed)-sethe underwriters (told, the underwriters)

To the things we cannot afford to (the child's copy stops here)