- It makes me wish I had been there to meet the fellow who delivered the envelope. He looked so strange.
- You saw him?
- I wasn't supposed to. Karl, my friend in Salzburg, told me someone would drop it at the library's reception desk with my name on it.
- I figured it would probably be delivered by courier service, but the other arrangements were so strange that I decided to check, just in case. So I asked our man at the reception desk to note the exact time when the envelope was delivered.
- Later, I checked the day's footage from the security cameras, and there he was.
- You're a natural, Litzi.
She smiled shyly.

(abridged from a spy novel)

Here's a go at a free translation.

"Mi volas, ke mi spektus la viron, kiu liveris la mesagxon. Li aspektis tiel strange!"
"Cxu vere vi vidis lin?"
"Kontraux lia intenco. Karl, amiko en Salzburg, diris al mi, ke iu lasos gxin cxe la akceptejo de la biblioteko kun mia nomo sur gxi."
"Mi supozis ke versxajne kuriero kunportos gxin, sed la aliaj arangxoj sxajnis tiel strange, ke mi decides kontroli la aferon. Mi petis la akceptiston, ke li notu precize kiam la koverto alvenos. Poste, mi rigardis la dumtagan filmon el la sekurkamerao, kaj jen li estis!"
"Litzi, vi estas denaska spionino!"
Sxi ridetis modeste.

Anyone know how to operate the x-converter on this thing?

Well, I've given it a shot. Thanks for the challenge, these are always instructive.

- Ĝi igis min deziri, ke mi ĉeestis tie renkonti la ulo, kiu liveris la koverton. Li aspektis strange.
- Vi vidis lin?
- Ne intencis por mi vidi lin. Karl, mia amiko en Salzburg, diris al mi, ke iu lasus ĝin surskribitan kun mia nomo ĉe la akceptejo de la biblioteko.
- Mi supozis, ke ĝi liveriĝus per kuriero servo, sed la aliaj aranĝoj estis tiel stranga ke mi decidis kontroli. Do, mi petis al nia viro ĉe la akceptejo, ke li notu la precizan horon kiam la koverto liveriĝas.
- Pli poste mi kontrolis videaĵon de la kameraoj de sekureco, kaj jen li ĉeestis.
- Vi naturas, Litzi.
Ŝi ridetis sinĝene.

And here's my attempt. I may not be completely sure of my grammar in several places but I sure increased my vocabulary.

-- Tio kaŭzas min deziri, ke mi estis tie por renkonti la ulo, kiu liveris la koverton. Li aspektis tiel strange.
-- Ĉu vi efektive vidis lin?
-- Hazarde. Karl, amiko en Salzburg, diris al mi, ke iu lasos ĝin, adresita al mi, ĉe la akceptejo en la loka biblioteko.
-- Mi konkludis, ke verŝajne iu kuriera servo liveris ĝin, sed la aliaj aranĝoj estis tiel stranga, ke mi decidis kontroli la situacion. Do mi petis la akceptiston noti la precizan tempon, ke la koverto alvenis.
-- Poste, mi ekzamenis la vidbendojn el la sekureco-kamerao. Kaj, jen li estis!
-- Vi vere estas denaska spionino, Litzi.
Ŝi ridetis sinĝene.

And I have another question that I'd like to tack onto this translation so that I won't have to start a new thread. When talking to a child about counting, for instance, which word would you use for "counting" -- kalkuli or nombri or some other term? For example:

"Ĉu vi scipovas "kalkuli/nombri" de unu ĝis dek? / Ĉu vi scias, kiel "kalkuli/nombri" de unu ĝis dek?" (Do you know how to count from one to ten?)
or
"Ni lernu kiel "kalkuli/nombri" esperante." (Let's learn how to count in Esperanto.)

Thanks for the advice and feel free to point out anything that needs correction.

Hi.
I would use nombri (to count) rather than kalkuli (to compute).

Good luck!

(...)

And I have another question that I'd like to tack onto this translation so that I won't have to start a new thread. When talking to a child about counting, for instance, which word would you use for "counting" -- kalkuli or nombri or some other term? For example:

"Ĉu vi scipovas "kalkuli/nombri" de unu ĝis dek? / Ĉu vi scias, kiel "kalkuli/nombri" de unu ĝis dek?" (Do you know how to count from one to ten?)
or
"Ni lernu kiel "kalkuli/nombri" esperante." (Let's learn how to count in Esperanto.)

Thanks for the advice and feel free to point out anything that needs correction.

kalkul/i (ĝis aŭ tr)
1.Eldiri la serion de la entjeroj: li scipovas kalkuli nur ĝis dek (el PIV)

nombri (tr)
1. Difini per nombroj la sumon de objektoj aŭ personoj: ŝafoj k bovoj, kiujn oni ne povas nombri nek kalkuli pro ilia granda multeco; oni nombris en la lando plurajn milionojn da senlaboruloj (el PIV)

apok2:-- Hazarde. Karl, amiko en Salzburg, diris al mi, ke iu lasos ĝin, adresita al mi, ĉe la akceptejo en la loka biblioteko.

I question your use of hazarde here. It seems to me that the speaker isn't saying that it happened by chance, given that he went through considerable lengths to review the footage to have a look at the guy. It instead sounds as though the other entities involved didn't want him to see the deliverer.

mi petis la akceptiston

I also wonder about this part, as it seems like it's potentially important information that the akceptiston is on the speaker's "side" as it were. But this is hard to tell without broader context.

On another note, could someone with experience give an explanation (or link to an explanation) on when it's appropriate to use two noun-forms consecutively. I opted for kuriero servo rather than kuriera servo, the latter of which I think is better given the PIV definition for kuriera, but I'd still be interested in some explanation of when it is appropriate or not to use -o -o (or -on -on). Is it only with proper nouns, for example?

sudanglo:kalkul/i (ĝis aŭ tr)
1.Eldiri la serion de la entjeroj: li scipovas kalkuli nur ĝis dek (el PIV)

nombri (tr)
1. Difini per nombroj la sumon de objektoj aŭ personoj: ŝafoj k bovoj, kiujn oni ne povas nombri nek kalkuli pro ilia granda multeco; oni nombris en la lando plurajn milionojn da senlaboruloj (el PIV)

Thanks, sudanglo. But I am still having a problem with these two words. I just don't get a "feel" for them. Both 'kalkuli' and 'nombri' are translated in Lernu's vortaro and Wells' dictionary as 'to count' as well as a few other definitions. I also looked in the Reta Vortaro without getting a lot of satisfaction.

'Kalkuli' has more the feeling of 'calculate' than 'count'. It seems to fit with adding, subtracting, multiplying, etc. I am looking for the word that is suitable for a scenario such as this: "Jimmy, can you count? Yes! Listen to me count: one, two, three, four, five, etc." I suppose 'kalkuli' fits best although it sure doesn't feel right. I would like to feel that 'nombri' is a better word for this than 'kalkuli.' But if I use 'nombri,' then I want to be understood by you and every one else that I am communicating with. I think 'contar' means 'to count' in Spanish. Why is Esperanto having such a problem with such an elementary word?

Children are practical little beasties. They aren't concerned too much with adult or philosophical 'concepts.' I think you said in one of your past posts that Esperanto cannot take the place of one's native language. But it should be able to. And if it is ever going to succeed as a second language for everyone, it's going to have to. If I cannot express myself as a child in Esperanto, how am I ever going to be able to express myself as an adult. Do you understand what I am trying (not very successfully) to say?

I don't think it is a stretch of the imagination to say that if an Esperantist is an advanced or fluent speaker, then he should be able to communicate at a little child's level and with a child's "naturalness." And to do that, he will need a child's vocabulary as well as an adult's vocabulary.

A textbook in Spanish, French, German or any other language would tell me how to do basic things like this. Again, why is Esperanto lacking? I know that it isn't lacking in vocabulary, because I hear about Esperantists who raise their children to speak Esperanto along with their native language. But most of us learn it as adults, out of a textbook or a webpage. Maybe we miss something of the natural flow of a language when we do it that way.

You may very well be right, xdzt. I just looked at the expression "I wasn't supposed to" and thought about it happening "by chance, by accident" since it wasn't supposed to happen.

And I admitted up front that there were points of grammar in several places that I wasn't completely sure of. I look upon this as a learning experience and I hope some of the more advanced speakers here will hit me on it if I am wrong.

It's sort of like turning in a writing assignment in your English composition class. If the teacher detects an error, you've learned something (hopefully).

So whether the use of kuriera servo/sekureco-kammerao are correct Esperanto usage/grammar or not, I don't want to say. I can say that they probably got the point across.

Each writer has his own style so I tried to say it a little differently than Miland said it for variety's sake. I did copy him in a few places. No "plagiarism" intended, Miland.

apok2:

sudanglo:kalkul/i (ĝis aŭ tr)
1.Eldiri la serion de la entjeroj: li scipovas kalkuli nur ĝis dek (el PIV)

nombri (tr)
1. Difini per nombroj la sumon de objektoj aŭ personoj: ŝafoj k bovoj, kiujn oni ne povas nombri nek kalkuli pro ilia granda multeco; oni nombris en la lando plurajn milionojn da senlaboruloj (el PIV)

Thanks, sudanglo. But I am still having a problem with these two words. I just don't get a "feel" for them. Both 'kalkuli' and 'nombri' are translated in Lernu's vortaro and Wells' dictionary as 'to count' as well as a few other definitions. I also looked in the Reta Vortaro without getting a lot of satisfaction.

'Kalkuli' has more the feeling of 'calculate' than 'count'. It seems to fit with adding, subtracting, multiplying, etc. I am looking for the word that is suitable for a scenario such as this: "Jimmy, can you count? Yes! Listen to me count: one, two, three, four, five, etc." I suppose 'kalkuli' fits best although it sure doesn't feel right. I would like to feel that 'nombri' is a better word for this than 'kalkuli.'

Maybe "ciferi"?

"nombri" seems plainly wrong. Google Translate gives "kalkuli ĝis dek". I would use "kalkuli". Seems to be the word mostly used. This is not really a problem.