Week 38
Again, not much this week as my Persistent Pestilence...persists...
From Google Translate:
Next month an English overview of Frisian texts will be published. "It is about the same size as our book about Norman,(another minority language from Northern France)" says the publisher.
Almost four hundred pages: "Swallows and Floating Horses", an overview of texts written in Frisian from the twelfth century up to and including today. The title comes from Faderpaard by Tsjêbbe Hettinga ( the swellen and / The sweeping hynders ''). The book contains not only literary prose and poetry, but also historical texts and even an excerpt from the Oera Linda Book , the famous nineteenth-century forgery that was considered a historical chronicle of Friesland.
The oldest text is about missionary Liudger, who, with the support of God, heals the Frisian bard Bernlef from his blindness. The last text is Myn lân by Elmar Kuiper, an elegiac poem about the bare Frisian landscape of today. "Together they tell a kind of history of Friesland," says Ernst Bruinsma, one of the compilers. At least that is the design. ''
Mission
The idea for this book arose when Clive Boutle from the London publishing house Francis Boutle came into contact with Alexandra Koch of the Dutch Foundation for Literature at a book fair. Boutle has been publishing anthologies of texts in European minority languages since 2006. ,, We have a kind of mission to make English speakers wiser, '' says the publisher.
There are very thin parts, like the book about the Manx, the language on the Isle of Man, and very thick, like that about the Welsh. The Frisian book, says Boutle, is about as thick as that of Norman, a regional language from the north-west of France.
Besides Bruinsma, Alpita de Jong and André Looijenga were also compilers. The texts were converted into English (via Dutch intermediary translations). The Frisian and English versions are next to each other. The province of Fryslân ensured that the Dutch interim translations could be made. The Letterenfonds (Literacy Fund) provided a translation grant for English translators. The main target group of these books are English-speaking readers, says Boutle. ,, But I also like to think that these anthologies are surprising for the speakers of the language themselves because they show something they have not thought of before, because of the combination of the familiar with the unusual and the uncomfortable. ''
The difficulty with such overviews is that you have to choose. The Frisian poet Cornelis van der Wal grumbled on his weblog that his work is lacking. ,, I can honestly say that it is not my fault '', says Boutle. "But with living writers you often run into it. At Welsh we had poets who did not want to, because they did not want to be translated into English. And perhaps Frisian has a thousand poets. They never all fit in. ''
The idea for this book arose when Clive Boutle from the London publishing house Francis Boutle came into contact with Alexandra Koch of the Dutch Foundation for Literature at a book fair. Boutle has been publishing anthologies of texts in European minority languages since 2006. ,, We have a kind of mission to make English speakers wiser, '' says the publisher.
There are very thin parts, like the book about the Manx, the language on the Isle of Man, and very thick, like that about the Welsh. The Frisian book, says Boutle, is about as thick as that of Norman, a regional language from the north-west of France.
Besides Bruinsma, Alpita de Jong and André Looijenga were also compilers. The texts were converted into English (via Dutch intermediary translations). The Frisian and English versions are next to each other. The province of Fryslân ensured that the Dutch interim translations could be made. The Letterenfonds (Literacy Fund) provided a translation grant for English translators. The main target group of these books are English-speaking readers, says Boutle. ,, But I also like to think that these anthologies are surprising for the speakers of the language themselves because they show something they have not thought of before, because of the combination of the familiar with the unusual and the uncomfortable. ''
The difficulty with such overviews is that you have to choose. The Frisian poet Cornelis van der Wal grumbled on his weblog that his work is lacking. ,, I can honestly say that it is not my fault '', says Boutle. "But with living writers you often run into it. At Welsh we had poets who did not want to, because they did not want to be translated into English. And perhaps Frisian has a thousand poets. They never all fit in. ''
Around the Farm
New Roof
We have decided on the form and colour (Terra Cotta) of the new roof.
The metal sheets will be in one length (8 metres) and have a condensation layer glued to the underside (that's a big problem over here with the hot (inside) and cold (outside). Without the layer, it would result in "rainfall" inside! (I wonder if they do that in Oz??).
We've gone for a few extras: boxed in eaves and new spouting for the courtyard apartments.
We still have to arrange for solar panels - at least providing the substructure for fastening.
The asbestos comes off from the 15th of October. The roofing contractor says that the asbestos removal guys are "pretty rough" so we have to keep an eye on them - and remove anything we want to keep ie., the spouting, for example.
So there's another job we can do almost immediately if only to stop all the jobs piling on top of each other!
A bit of plumbing in the Summer House. It's coming along slowly. Still doing it as cheaply as we can - using "leftovers" from previous works - even the little washbasin was on "special" at €4,50!!
A Tale of Two Fishing Expeditions...
Janny took the Day Clients fishing on Tuesday... nothing too special - just something different with the last of our good weather.
Then, on Wednesday, Janny also took the kids fishing - walking distance just up the road near the restaurant.
Towards the end, Janny heard a few "Phhts" and small splashes in the water. Wondering what was that? Somebody firing arrows? Then a few more - and then she realised that someone was shooting an air rifle (aka slug gun)!! Near the kids! So she rang the police (112) - they came and questioned a chap who had been sitting on his front porch - shooting at (or near) them! Still haven't heard the last of it yet from the Police - but Janny was quite shaken. Imagine if we had to explain that one of the kids had been shot! - it is a big deal that the kids are in our care. As it was, Janny went to each of the parents to explain what had happened, just in case the kids started talking about it.
Ben in China (still)
Last week, he found himself "in the middle of nowhere" up near the Mongolian border for a photo shoot - who knows why?... but the wonderful experience continues.
Wow! Please tell Janny I'm glad the idiot with the slug gun didn't hit her or any of the kids.
ReplyDeleteYes they have anti condensation materials here. Mostly just an aluminium type foil or ‘paper’ that is rolled out over the battens before roofing goes on. At least that’s the way I did it.
ReplyDelete