"'On the long road north, we tripped over sticks and stones, which…'" Collei frowned, scowling at the book. "'Which…' I've never seen that word before."
Arlecchino leaned over. Collei pointed to the word she was struggling with.
"'Encumbered,'" said Arlecchino. "It means to fill or block up a place."
"Oh. 'Which encumbered our path.' So, the rocks and sticks are filling up the path which makes it difficult to keep going."
"Exactly. Well done. Now try the next line."
"'My companion was …' hm, 'garrulous, as the cicadas buzzing around us.' Is he saying that his friend is loud?"
"Yes. Good job inferring the meaning from the context clues."
"'He went on and on about the… the…'"
Collei stared at the longest word she'd ever seen with a sinking feeling in her gut. Arlecchino leaned over. For once, she too was stumped. Luckily, Yae Miko happened to be walking by at that exact moment. She peeked over Collei's shoulder.
"Antidisestablishmentarianism. It's a political school of thought no longer in fashion."
"Anti…" Collei tried wrapping her tongue around the words. "Disest… what?"
"Don't worry," said Miko. "Nobody uses that word anymore."
Yae Miko went along her way, leaving the pair on the living room couch.
"'I threatened him that should he spout such nonsense, he'd soon find himself…' what's this word, Ms. Arlecchino?"
Arlecchino followed Collei's finger.
"Defenestrated."
"What's that?"
"When you throw someone out a window."
Collei waited for Arlecchino to crack a smile like it was a joke. She never did. Collei stared at the word in disbelief.
"I can't believe there's a word for that."
"Yes," said Arlecchino. "The English lexicon is quite peculiar."
"But when would anyone ever use that word?"
"I use it every day," said Arlecchino. "Every. Single. Day."
If they weren't friends, Collei would've shivered in terror.