The other day I serendipited upon a review in Bijdragen tot de taal-, land- en volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië (1853) of Abraham Benjamin Cohen Stuart‘s translation of what sounds like an absolutely brilliant Javanese epic poem dealing with the life and loves of one Baron Sakendher, Geschiedenis van Baron Sakendher. Een Javaansch verhaal van vertaling, aanteekeningen…
Tearing myself away from the Catalan parliament debate on whether Superman is right-wing, news from Tarragona of Manoli Silva Martí, who died in a supermarket toilet and was not discovered for 57 hours. You all know the song, of course: Oh, dear, what can the matter be, Three old ladies locked in a lavatory, They…
I’m going to start including (front page, bottom right) “on this day” entries taking from Juan Cortada’s 1848 compendium of “all the customs, good and bad, of the city”, El libro verde de Barcelona: Añalejo de costumbres populares, fiestas religiosas y profanas, which I’ve been reading, along with the autobio of HN Schwarzkopf. Cortada is…
Here’s a cautionary tale from Alonso de Villegas’ Fructus sanctorum y quinta parte del Flossanctorum (1594): Gauberto Fabricio of the Order of St Bernard writes that in 1386 [Peter/Pedro/Pere IV] of Aragon took away various possessions of the cathedral church of St Tecla in Tarragona. Although the clergy protested, they were unable to prevent the…
Christmad thought from Karim, which might bring to mind Leo Tolstoy or Norah Jones (or even Mark Twain–“The house was as empty as a beer closet in premises where painters have been at work”), but which is certainly all his own.
These (from Carlos Westendorp Plaza) are OK: Autodate – type of potatoes Queque – cake Quineguar/chineguar – King Edward potatoes (the d -> g swap is interesting; it reminds me of some Andalusian dialects in which you get b -> g (abuelo -> aguelo) etc And this is a killer: Cambuyonero – Someone who trades…
Fernando Navarro suggests that both I and Joseph Townsend are wrong. The Spanish word for executioner, verdugo, he says, was applied originally to a rod cut green, verde, and used to administer beatings. If Townsend was wrong, then his confusion or that of his informer might have arisen if (a) executioners were clothed in, or…
MJ suggests that “adventures, devices and hoaxes” is a better translation of “aventuras, inventos y mixtificaciones” than “adventures, inventions and mystifications.” I think that’s a bit hard on C19th Spain’s greatest scientist ;o)
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