We did the authentic choice last time
Feb 5– Sinbad excerpt from The Thousand and One Nights, translated by EW Lang
Summary: Sinbad's crew forgets him on an island, he hitches a ride on a roc to a valley full of diamonds, and then hides under a sheep (very Odysseus) and has a vulture carry him to safety.
Commentary: Fairly short and straightforward to start the week. I think the most interesting part of this is the descriptions of the animals he encounters. First, he compares the size of everything to elephants (like football fields!) Second, he describes both Rocs (a mythological bird many times larger than any bird that's ever exists) and Rhinos (a real animal). The Roc is basically just described as big scary bird; big enough that the babies can eat elephants! This is a great use of the elephant detail. You could say it had a 50 meter wingspan or whatever, but that's much less tangible. The Rhino gets a couple detailed sentences comparing it to other animals. It's interesting to see a definitely real animal described like it's weirder than a probably mythological one. On the other hand, I guess once you say "big bird" you've pretty much summed up the Roc, where as there's not a lot you can directly compare a Rhino to, so you need more description.
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