The Thousand and One Nights, Vol. I.: Commonly Called the Arabian Nights' Entertainments — Page 8
His acquaintance with Arab manners and customs was insufficient to preserve him always from errors of the grossest description, and by the _style_ of his version he has given to the whole a false character, thus sacrificing, in a great measure, what is most valuable in the original work,--I mean its minute accuracy with respect to those peculiarities which distinguish the Arabs from every other nation, not only of the West, but also of the East.
O seu conhecimento dos costumes e tradições árabes era insuficiente para preservá-lo sempre de erros da mais grosseira espécie, e pelo _estilo_ da sua versão ele conferiu ao conjunto um caráter falso, sacrificando assim, em grande medida, o que há de mais valioso na obra original,--refiro-me à sua minuciosa precisão no que diz respeito àquelas peculiaridades que distinguem os árabes de todas as outras nações, não só do Ocidente, mas também do Oriente.
Deceived by the vague nature of Galland's version, travellers in Persia, Turkey, and India, have often fancied that the Arabian Tales describe the particular manners of the natives of those countries; but no one who has read them in the original language, having an intimate acquaintance with the Arabs, can be of this opinion: it is in Arabian countries, and especially in Egypt, that we see the people, the dresses, and the buildings, which it describes in almost every case, even when the scene is laid in Persia, in India, or in China.
Enganados pela natureza vaga da versão de Galland, os viajantes na Pérsia, na Turquia e na Índia imaginaram muitas vezes que os Contos Árabes descrevem os costumes particulares dos naturais desses países; mas ninguém que os tenha lido na língua original, tendo um conhecimento íntimo dos árabes, pode ser desta opinião: é nos países árabes, e especialmente no Egito, que vemos o povo, os trajes e os edifícios que a obra descreve em quase todos os casos, mesmo quando a cena se passa na Pérsia, na Índia ou na China.
"Convinced of the truth of this assertion, I consider myself possessed of the chief qualifications for the proper accomplishment of my present undertaking, from my having lived several years in Cairo, associating almost exclusively with Arabs, speaking their language, conforming to their general habits with the most scrupulous exactitude, and received into their society on terms of perfect equality.
"Convencido da verdade desta afirmação, considero-me possuidor das principais qualificações para a devida realização do meu presente empreendimento, por ter vivido vários anos no Cairo, associando-me quase exclusivamente com árabes, falando a sua língua, conformando-me aos seus hábitos gerais com a mais escrupulosa exatidão, e tendo sido recebido na sua sociedade em condições de perfeita igualdade.
Vocabulary
- seu
- seu — Possessive pronoun or adjective: 'his, her, your, its'
- conhecimento
- co-nhe-ci-men-to — Knowledge or understanding of a subject
- costumes
- cos-tu-mes — Customs, habits, or traditional practices of a people
- tradições
- tra-di-ções — Traditions passed down through generations
- árabes
- á-ra-bes — Relating to Arab people, culture, or language
- era
- e-ra — Past tense of 'ser': 'was' or 'were'
- insuficiente
- in-su-fi-ci-en-te — Insufficient or inadequate for a purpose
- preservá-lo
- pre-ser-vá-lo — To preserve or protect him/it from something
- sempre
- sem-pre — Always, at all times, or consistently
- erros
- er-ros — Errors or mistakes made unintentionally
- grosseira
- gros-sei-ra — Coarse, crude, or of very poor quality
- espécie
- es-pé-ci-e — Species, kind, or type of something
- _estilo_
- es-ti-lo — Style or manner in which something is done
- versão
- ver-são — Version or rendering of a text or story
- conferiu
- con-fe-riu — Conferred or gave a quality to something
- conjunto
- con-jun-to — Whole, set, or combination of elements together
- caráter
- ca-rá-ter — Character or essential nature of something or someone
- falso
- fal-so — False, untrue, or not authentic
- sacrificando
- sa-cri-fi-can-do — Sacrificing or giving up something of value
- assim
- as-sim — Thus, so, or in this way
- medida
- me-di-da — Measure, extent, or degree of something
- há
- há — Third-person singular of 'haver': 'there is/are'
- valioso
- va-li-o-so — Valuable or highly worthwhile in content or quality
- obra
- o-bra — Work, literary or artistic creation of an author
- original
- o-ri-gi-nal — Original source text before any translation or alteration
- refiro-me
- re-fi-ro-me — I refer to, I am referring to something specific
- minuciosa
- mi-nu-ci-o-sa — Meticulous, detailed, or extremely thorough and careful
- precisão
- pre-ci-são — Precision or exactness in detail or description
- diz
- diz — Third-person singular of 'dizer': 'says, refers to'
- respeito
- res-pei-to — Respect, or reference as in 'with respect to'
- àquelas
- à-que-las — Contraction of 'a' and 'aquelas': 'to those' (feminine)
- peculiaridades
- pe-cu-li-a-ri-da-des — Peculiarities or distinctive characteristics of a group
- distinguem
- dis-tin-guem — Distinguish or differentiate one thing from another
- nações
- na-ções — Nations or countries as distinct political entities
- Ocidente
- O-ci-den-te — The West or Western world as a cultural region
- Oriente
- O-ri-en-te — The East or Oriental world as a cultural region
- Enganados
- En-ga-na-dos — Deceived or misled into a false belief
- natureza
- na-tu-re-za — Nature or inherent character of something
- vaga
- va-ga — Vague, imprecise, or lacking in specific detail
- viajantes
- vi-a-jan-tes — Travelers or people journeying to distant places
- Pérsia
- Pér-si-a — Persia, historical name for modern-day Iran
- Turquia
- Tur-qui-a — Turkey, country spanning Europe and Asia
- Índia
- Ín-di-a — India, South Asian country of vast cultural diversity
- imaginaram
- i-ma-gi-na-ram — They imagined or supposed something to be true
- vezes
- ve-zes — Times, as in occurrences or instances of something
- Contos
- Con-tos — Tales or short stories, as in 'Arabian Tales'
- Árabes
- Á-ra-bes — Arabs or relating to Arab people and culture
- descrevem
- des-cre-vem — They describe or depict in words or detail
- particulares
- par-ti-cu-la-res — Particular details or specific characteristics of something
- naturais
- na-tu-rais — Natural or native to a particular place or region
- países
- pa-í-ses — Countries or nations as political and geographic units
- ninguém
- nin-guém — Nobody or no one; negative indefinite pronoun
- tenha
- te-nha — Subjunctive form of 'ter': 'has, have' expressing doubt
- lido
- li-do — Past participle of 'ler': 'read' a text or document
- língua
- lín-gua — Language or tongue as a means of communication
- tendo
- ten-do — Gerund of 'ter': 'having' something or being acquainted
- íntimo
- ín-ti-mo — Intimate or deep familiarity with a subject or person
- opinião
- o-pi-ni-ão — Opinion or personal view held on a subject
- especialmente
- es-pe-ci-al-men-te — Especially or particularly, indicating emphasis or priority
- Egito
- E-gi-to — Egypt, North African country with ancient civilization
- vemos
- ve-mos — First-person plural of 'ver': 'we see or observe'
- povo
- po-vo — People or population of a nation or community
- trajes
- tra-jes — Costumes, garments, or traditional dress of a people
- edifícios
- e-di-fí-ci-os — Buildings or structures of architectural significance
- descreve
- des-cre-ve — Describes or depicts in written or spoken detail
- quase
- qua-se — Almost or nearly, indicating proximity to completeness
- casos
- ca-sos — Cases or instances of a particular situation or event
- mesmo
- mes-mo — Same, even, or self; used for emphasis or identity
- cena
- ce-na — Scene or setting in which a story takes place
- passa
- pas-sa — Takes place or occurs in a given location or time
- China
- Chi-na — China, large East Asian nation with ancient civilization
- Convencido
- Con-ven-ci-do — Convinced or persuaded of something's truth or validity
- verdade
- ver-da-de — Truth or the quality of being factually accurate
- afirmação
- a-fir-ma-ção — Affirmation or statement asserting something as true
- considero-me
- con-si-de-ro-me — I consider myself to be something or possess something
- possuidor
- pos-su-i-dor — Possessor or holder of certain qualities or qualifications
- principais
- prin-ci-pais — Principal or main, most important among several things
- qualificações
- qua-li-fi-ca-ções — Qualifications or credentials needed for a task
- devida
- de-vi-da — Due or proper, as in appropriate or required
- realização
- re-a-li-za-ção — Realization or accomplishment of a goal or project
- presente
- pre-sen-te — Present or current; also a gift or the present time
- empreendimento
- em-pre-en-di-men-to — Undertaking, enterprise, or ambitious project pursued
- vivido
- vi-vi-do — Past participle of 'viver': 'lived' in a place or period
- vários
- vá-ri-os — Several or various, indicating more than a few
- Cairo
- Cai-ro — Cairo, the capital city of Egypt
- associando-me
- as-so-ci-an-do-me — Associating myself or mingling with a particular group
- exclusivamente
- ex-clu-si-va-men-te — Exclusively or solely, to the exclusion of others
- falando
- fa-lan-do — Speaking or talking in a language or to someone
- conformando-me
- con-for-man-do-me — Conforming myself or adapting to customs and habits
- hábitos
- há-bi-tos — Habits or customary behaviors regularly practiced
- gerais
- ge-rais — General or overall, applying broadly rather than specifically
- escrupulosa
- es-cru-pu-lo-sa — Scrupulous or conscientiously careful and precise
- exatidão
- e-xa-ti-dão — Exactness or accuracy in detail and representation
- sido
- si-do — Past participle of 'ser': 'been'
- recebido
- re-ce-bi-do — Received or welcomed into a group or society
- sociedade
- so-ci-e-da-de — Society or social community of people living together
- condições
- con-di-ções — Conditions or terms under which something takes place
- perfeita
- per-fei-ta — Perfect or complete in all respects (feminine form)
- igualdade
- i-gual-da-de — Equality or the state of being equal among people
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