Better Not to Read It

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. I wonder if there is a compendium of all the tribes who have ever
existed in all times and countries. If not I think i shall compile
one. Surely it would equal in length the well known "Ocean of Story."
---the Indian compendium which purports to contain every story that
could ever be written. I think that tribal history contributes to the
origins of war. In several of the countires of central asia, people
identified themselves by a tribe,-I am tartar, I am uzbek, not by
citizenship.
. Bulgaria has 8 million people, 2 million is Sofia, beautiful,
exuberant, inviting. In the 3rd century it was a Roman Province-many
Roman remains. Cities in the areaq began in 7th century b.c.e.
Animism, worship of mother gods, sky gods, shamans, cults of natural
forces. Varna was an early settlement. Persians, Scythes, Macedonians,
Celts, Odrysians, Thracians, Getae, Treballions all were here.
Byzantium Emperor Constantine said, Serdica (Sofia) is my Rome.
Bulgaria under Ottoman rule for 500 years until freedom in 1878. The
rebellion was geatly assisted by Russians. To thank them they named
the absolutely magnificent cathedral they built to celbrate their
freedom-the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. He was a Russian warrior who
had led the repulsion of the Norman invasion into Russia.
. The oldest buidling in Sofia is St. George's Rotunda Church- 4th
century. variously a place for cult worship, a Roman administrative
bldg., and a Christian Church so designated by Constantine.
. There is an arresting inscription on a wall dated 1015--"In 6,523
years since the creation of the world..."--how did they do the math?
. As to the serendipity of travel, as I, in an attempt to "put on the
skin of all the earth;" how is it that upon going to see a performance
of Nabucco, an early Verdi, the person sitting next to me pulls out a
copy of the New Yorker to pass the time till the performance begins. I
say, "Oh, I see I am sitting next to the only other person who speaks
English." She later says, I am a lawyer. Well, turns out she was a
judge at the court at the Hague for the Kosovo/ Serbian War Crimes
Trial. She is now a candidate for the World Court. And that her
husband is Ivan Dimov, the most famous painter of Bulgaria from whom I
bought a painting, and that they introduce me to their friend Valeri
Petrov, the esteemed Senior of the poets and writers of Bulgaria who
made his mark by being the first to translate the entire works of
Shakespeare into Bulgarian. He was pleased when I told him that the 14
year old Dalai Lama had insisted that he be taught English so that he
could read Shakespeare in his original language. We became sufficient
friends that I may publish a project with him.
. Valeri is 91 years old going on 39. "When in the mirror I see my
beautiful face..." Among others he told the following story. He was
honored for his literary accomplishments by a country he asked me not
to name, but which is south of the US. They said to him, don't you
think some of your poems should be read at the ceremony. Agreeing, he
gave them a few for translation. He remarked that his poetry is
notoriously difficult to translate because it is full of rhyme, fables
and humor, interlocked. After they attempted the translation they said
to him, "Better not to read it." I am sure the glee with which he told
this story contained the same ironic wit with which he received their
judgement.
. Finally, the cast of Nabucco is 8 deep and the singers that day were
the equal, in sum, of a production of the Dallas Opera, at what I am
sure was 1/10th the cost. Bulgarian opera singers are known world wide
including Ghena Dimitrova and a basso who is married to Mirella Fr