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Show Acting Alone Page 456 love, marriage and normal adult life, and was trying to compensate for it with in-depth research. "You know, sister;" said Bopp, not apologizing for his careless misuse of the title, "they say that when Pentecostal Catholics in the midst of charismatic worship murmur in tongues, they are actually murmuring babytalk: a babble that can actually be identified in linguistic, scientific terms as the language of infants at a certain early level of development. You see, no mere denotative words can express the love these Pentecostals feel for God, so they can only talk babytalk to Him. The primordial tongue, if you know what I mean. And I have heard it said, also, that the same - ah - reversion effect can be achieved in certain people by - well, urn -" The chaplain was momentarily unable to continue. He tried.to don his stole casually, by way of visual transition to the nitty-gritty. He mumbled his little one-line prayer and flipped the frayed cloth neatly over his head. In his excitement he drooled a slight wet spot, a dark eye-shape, among the burned fibers of green silk as he hurriedly kissed the vestment. "I - well, what I mean is," he stuttered, "you know, the babytalk effect can be achieved by secular love, and all that." He laughed breathlessly, then suddenly sobered up and peered hard into her face. "Polly? When you and your Dr. Edwine are expressing your affection for one another, when you're alone together, do you talk like -" Sister Gorgonia's ancient little cellmate (whose name Polly had lost to an amazingly potent mental block) suddenly hobbled and puffed into the sacristy like an emaciated old black bear. Bopp whirled around and stopped talking as though caught redhanded in an abominable act. The old nun was |