I have received an email from a Dr T.B.S., resident of Cambridge and
renowned expert on the islands of Melanesia:
"I might just be able to throw some light on DO NOT GARN THE ANIMALS.
'Garn' is Swedish for 'yarn', as in woollen yarn, the kind perhaps
that you might steal off the back of an unsuspecting sheep or goat if
you were caught short in the clothes department one cold dark night in
Dali. I suspect some poor Swedish tourist, cycling from Shanghai to
Stockholm, got caught 'garning' (as it were), and is now in prison
writing English-language notice boards for hotels all over China.
Think of the depths of depravity (e.g. yarning the wool off waifs and
strays) you have avoided thanks to your nice warm Gore-Tex jacket. And
free chocolate bars. Keep it up, my boy."
Since Swedish is pretty much the lingua franca on the Solomon Islands,
I think we can take that as the definitive account.
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