sire, siriemk, sirek, sirien. You observe that it runs on just
in the same manner as hntal, save and except that e is substituted for a;
and it will be as well to tell you that almost the only difference
between the second, third, and fourth conjugations, and the first, is the
substituting in the present, preterite, and other tenses e, or ou, or i
for a; so you see that the Armenian verbs are by no means difficult. Come
on, Belle, and say siriem." Belle hesitated. "Pray oblige me, Belle, by
saying siriem!" Belle still appeared to hesitate. "You must admit,
Belle, that it is much softer than hntam." "It is so," said Belle; "and
to oblige you, I will say siriem." "Very well indeed, Belle," said I.
"No vartabied, or doctor, could have pronounced it better; and now, to
show you how verbs act upon pronouns in Armenian, I will say siriem
zkiez. Please to repeat siriem zkiez!" "Siriem zkiez!" said Belle;
"that last word is very hard to say." "Sorry that you think so, Belle,"
said I. "Now please to say siria zis." Belle did so. "Exceedingly
well," said I. "Now say yerani the sireir zis." "Yerani the sireir
zis," said Belle. "Capital!" said I; "you have now said, I love you--love
me--ah! would that you would love me!"

"And I have said all these things?" said Belle. "Yes," said I; "you have
said them in Armenian." "I would have said them in no language that I
understood," said Belle; "and it was very wrong of you to take advantage
of my ignorance, and make me say such things." "Why so?" said I; "if you
said them, I said them too." "You did so," said Belle; "but I believe
you were merely bantering and jeering." "As I told you before, Belle,"
said I, "the chief difficulty which I find in teaching you Armenian
proceeds from your persisting in applying to yourself and me every
example I give." "Then you meant nothing after all?" said Belle, raising
her voice. "Let us proceed," said I; "sirietsi, I loved." "You never
loved any one but yourself," said Belle; "and what's more . . ."
"Sirietsits, I will love," said I; "sirietsies, thou wilt love." "Never
one so thoroughly heartless," said Belle. "I tell you what, Belle, you
are becoming intolerable, but we will change the verb; or rather I will
now proceed to tell you here, that some of the Armenian conjugations have
their anomalies; one species of these I wish to bring before your notice.
As old Villotte says--from whose work I first contrived to pick up the
r