Historical situation: the narrator reflects on her situation as a consultant providing knowledge about the Na language and Na traditions.

This narrative began impromptu: I was explaining (in 'basic Na') a trip to Dadong 大东 the day before, with Naxi student He Likun, and the recordings that we had done, noting that some people who do not count as youngsters anymore (people in their forties or fifties, i.e. whom one could imagine to have been brought up in a relatively monolingual environment and to have had exposure to some oral traditions) were not very knowledgeable about Naxi traditions. F4 picks up this observation, and reflects on her own situation as a consultant providing knowledge about the Na language and Na traditions. She explains that she is not someone who belongs to the 'old world' of Na society before the 1950s: in a sense, she does not see herself as an 'elder'. The elders are now gone. On the other hand, she grew up in an extended family in which she could listen to a range of people, and she was an attentive listener.