Free e-book: Therigatha, Psalms of the Sisters

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BKh
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Joined: Mon May 30, 2011 12:43 am

Free e-book: Therigatha, Psalms of the Sisters

Post by BKh »

I have just put out a free e-book version(Kindle and epub) of Psalms of the Sisters, Mrs. C.A.F. Rhys Davids 1909 translation of the Therigatha along with the verse origin stories. This edition, like the original, also contains a translation of the Bhikkhunisamyutta, the fifth book of the Samyutta Nikaya.

The links to download can be found on this page along with links to the on-line version:
http://readingfaithfully.org/book-sourc ... ndle-epub/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As people familiar with Mrs. Rhys David's translation style know, the language is very outdated. One interestign benifit of reading the text on a Kindle is that almost all of the archaic words she uses are in the built-in dictionary. I was quite astounded to find that she wasn't just making them up. :-) Does anyone know exactly what style of English this is? Victorian? Elizabethean? I have no idea.

The source code for this e-book was created by Mary Mark Ockerbloom, editor of A Celebration of Women Writers. It would not have been possible to make this e-book without the work she did setting the text into HTML. I share with her all the merit I created by making this e-book version. May she be well and happy.

If you find any errors or problem with the e-book, please send me a PM.
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Ben
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Re: Free e-book: Therigatha, Psalms of the Sisters

Post by Ben »

Thank you, Bhante.
What a great achievement!
with metta,

Ben
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

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Reductor
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Joined: Sat Sep 12, 2009 6:52 am
Location: Alberta, Canada

Re: Free e-book: Therigatha, Psalms of the Sisters

Post by Reductor »

Awesome!

Thank you both for your efforts.
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tiltbillings
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Re: Free e-book: Therigatha, Psalms of the Sisters

Post by tiltbillings »

BKh wrote:As people familiar with Mrs. Rhys David's translation style know, the language is very outdated. One interestign benifit of reading the text on a Kindle is that almost all of the archaic words she uses are in the built-in dictionary. I was quite astounded to find that she wasn't just making them up. :-) Does anyone know exactly what style of English this is? Victorian? Elizabethean? I have no idea.
King James Bible style.


http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/ ... salms.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
BKh
Posts: 750
Joined: Mon May 30, 2011 12:43 am

Re: Free e-book: Therigatha, Psalms of the Sisters

Post by BKh »

tiltbillings wrote:
BKh wrote:Does anyone know exactly what style of English this is? Victorian? Elizabethean? I have no idea.
King James Bible style.
OK, when I said I had no idea, what I meant was, "I have no idea of the technical literary style she is trying to use." Somehow I doubt that "King James Bible style" is a technical term. But perhaps it is.
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BKh
Posts: 750
Joined: Mon May 30, 2011 12:43 am

Re: Free e-book: Therigatha, Psalms of the Sisters

Post by BKh »

BKh wrote:OK, when I said I had no idea, what I meant was, "I have no idea of the technical literary style she is trying to use." Somehow I doubt that "King James Bible style" is a technical term. But perhaps it is.
I just stumbeled on this wikipedia page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabethan_English" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
and I think her writing style may be an attempt at Early Modern English. Again, if any one out there has more technical knowledge that would be interesting to hear.
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