|
DarkSteven -> RE: What Do These Things Have In Common? (8/16/2009 9:57:50 AM)
|
Intenze has it!
Burton was an incredible man. He spoke some 30 languages (not dialects, languages), and did it well enough to disguise himself as an Indian dervish or Arab shopkeeper (he worked as a spy for the British). He went native.
He translated both the Arabian Nights and the Kama Sutra and introdiced both to the West. His Arabian Nights translation is considered superior to the original because he had no qualms about tweaking the words if he felt he could improve them. I read his translation, and the annotations are incredible, covering such things as what beard plucking means to an Arab.
He met Brigham Young, but they were acquaintances rather than friends. He also met the Navajo and learned their language. I've heard that language and maybe learned six words of it, and it's a hard language!
And Isabel Arundell is his wife's maiden name. Oddly enough, while he was an incredibly open minded man, she was a stuffy sort. For example, he kept trying to hint at her that polygamy was a common way of life in the Far East and she squelched such thoughts instantly. She also passed on glowing reports of his conduct to his home office, much of it improvised./
|
|
|
|
