[COMPLETE] The Epic of Kings : Stories Retold from Firdusi - kaz

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Kazbek
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Post by Kazbek »

The Epic of Kings : Stories Retold from Firdusi, by Abul-Qâsem Ferdowsi Tusi (c. 935 - c. 1026), translated by Helen Zimmern (1846 - 1934)

This project is now complete. All audio files can be found on our catalog page: https://librivox.org/the-epic-of-kings-by-ferdowsi/

Note to readers: Please see the pronunciation guide in the post below.

The Shahnameh (The Book of Kings) is a monumental poem composed around 1000 C.E. by the Persian poet Ferdowsi. It narrates the exploits of mythical kings and heroes of ancient Persia as well as historical episodes from the Sasanian era. It is regarded as the national epic of Iran and its stories were once well known wherever Persian poetry was read, from Central Asia to Anatolia and from India to the Caucasus.

Helen Zimmern's version retells some of the best-known legends of the Shahnameh in English prose. She writes: "With a view to reproduce the naïve archaic character of the original, I have ventured to write my stories in the simple language of the age of Shakespeare and the English Bible, in order that by thus removing them from everyday speed, to remove them from the atmosphere of to-day." (Summary by Kazbek)
Source text (please read only from this text!): https://archive.org/details/epickingsstorie00zimmgoog/page/n10/mode/2up

Deadline: Please submit your recording within 2 months of placing your claim. If you cannot complete the recording within this time, please post in the thread to relinquish your claim or to ask the BC for an extension. If your recording is not completed by the deadline, your claim may be reassigned at the BC's discretion.

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Magic Window:



BC Admin
LibriVox recording settings: mono (1 channel), 44100 Hz sample rate, 128 kbps constant bit rate MP3. See the Tech Specs

Intro to recording:
Leave 0.5 to 1 second of silence at the beginning.

Say:
"Section # of The Epic of Kings : Stories Retold from Firdusi. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org." [Optional: "Read by your name."] "The Epic of Kings by Firdusi, translated by Helen Zimmern. Section Title."
End of recording:
Say:
"End of section #." [Optional, and if not stated in the intro: "Read by your name, city, date."]
If you are recording the final section of the book, add:
"End of The Epic of Kings by Firdusi, translated by Helen Zimmern."
Leave 5 seconds of silence at the end.

Filename: epicofkings_##_firdusi_128kb.mp3 where ## is the section number. (e.g. epicofkings_01_firdusi_128kb.mp3)

Upload to the LibriVox Uploader: https://librivox.org/login/uploader
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MC to select: Kazbek

Copy and paste the file link generated by the uploader into a new post in this thread along with the file duration (mm:ss). Watch this thread for prooflistening notes.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask! Just post in this thread.
Kazbek
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Post by Kazbek »

Pronunciation Guide

In the spirit of LibriVox, I'm not concerned about "correct" pronunciation (in fact, the way some of the names are spelled in this translation is not correct to begin with), but I would like the names of the principle characters to be recognizable to the listener when they reoccur in different sections. Hence, I recommend that you try to follow -- even if only approximately -- the pronunciations given below for consistency. Let me know if you need help with any other pronunciations. The stress in Persian names is always on the last syllable.

Afrasiyab - of-rah-see-YAB
Byzun - bee-ZOON
Feridoun - feh-ree-DOON
Firoud - fee-ROOD
Gew - like "give"
Gudarz - good-ARZ
Isfendiyar - ees-fen-dee-YAR
Kai Kaous - Kai (rhymes with "my") kah-WOOS
Kai Khosrau - Kai (rhymes with "my") kos-ROW (as in "... your boat")
Manijeh - mah-nee-ZHEH (ZH as in "garage"; you can say -ZHEY)
Minuchihr - mee-noo-CHEER
Ormuzd - or-MOOZED
Pehliva - peh-lee-VAW (rhymes with "law")
Piran - pee-RAHN
Rudabeh - roo-dah-BEH (you can say "-BEY")
Rustem - roo-STEM
Saiawush - sigh-a-WASH
Saum - like "psalm"
Sindokht - sin-DOCKED
Sohrab - soh-RAHB
Zal - zahl
DrSpoke
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Post by DrSpoke »

Hello, I'd be interested in the introductory part. Could I please claim "section 2 - Introduction by Helen Zimmern" if it's not too early, please?
Kazbek
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Post by Kazbek »

DrSpoke wrote: November 27th, 2022, 5:44 am Hello, I'd be interested in the introductory part. Could I please claim "section 2 - Introduction by Helen Zimmern" if it's not too early, please?
Great, thanks!

Michael
DrSpoke
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Post by DrSpoke »

Hi Michael,

I should be able to start recording the Introduction to this unesco-memories work soon, but I'd like to have some advice regarding a couple of things please.

- page 23/405: MSS
- page 25/405: i.e.
- page 29/405: "It was given to Firdusi to new create the Persian nationality..."

Would you rather a verbatim reading? If not, is MSS to be read as Manuscripts; i.e. as Ita Est, or That Is, or...; new as newly, or...?
If you know of other such bits, then also it would be better to know before recording.

Thanks,

Claudia

P.S. Unrelated, but I just noticed this post; very relevant for anyone on librivox: viewtopic.php?f=24&t=95602
Kazbek
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Post by Kazbek »

DrSpoke wrote: December 3rd, 2022, 4:24 am Hi Michael,

I should be able to start recording the Introduction to this unesco-memories work soon, but I'd like to have some advice regarding a couple of things please.
Hi Claudia,

I think it's a good idea to read "MSS" as "manuscripts", since this abbreviation may not be familiar to most listeners today. In contrast, "i.e." is much more familiar to English speakers than "id est", so I would read it as an abbreviation. That said, I'd be glad to leave the handling of abbreviations to your discretion. I would guess that the intended phrase was "It was given to Firdusi to create the new Persian nationality". "Newly create" sounds awkward to me. I've checked the scan for print quality, but I haven't read the book, so please let me know if you run into other issues.

Thanks!
Michael
DrSpoke
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Post by DrSpoke »

Kazbek wrote: December 3rd, 2022, 8:28 am I think it's a good idea to read "MSS" as "manuscripts", since this abbreviation may not be familiar to most listeners today. In contrast, "i.e." is much more familiar to English speakers than "id est", so I would read it as an abbreviation. That said, I'd be glad to leave the handling of abbreviations to your discretion. I would guess that the intended phrase was "It was given to Firdusi to create the new Persian nationality". "Newly create" sounds awkward to me. I've checked the scan for print quality, but I haven't read the book, so please let me know if you run into other issues.
Thanks Michael, I will follow your advice.
I'm also not sure about the following, but it could just be me.
- page 30/405, paragraph starting "But if unity": "..... it has in reality but one, and that Iran....."
I'm inclined to just read with the intonation I would use for "and that is Iran", implying the verb, but I'm happy with whatever you understand or prefer.
Kazbek
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Post by Kazbek »

DrSpoke wrote: December 3rd, 2022, 12:00 pm - page 30/405, paragraph starting "But if unity": "..... it has in reality but one, and that Iran....."
I'm inclined to just read with the intonation I would use for "and that is Iran", implying the verb, but I'm happy with whatever you understand or prefer.
This construction doesn't quite work in my English, but I think it should be intelligible if read as you say.

Michael
DrSpoke
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Joined: January 12th, 2022, 9:56 am

Post by DrSpoke »

Hi Michael, this one is just for myself, I hope you don't mind me asking, but I am confused and would like to understand.

Browsing around to have a better sense of this important work I am so ignorant of, I ended up spending some time reading/listening to this to get familiar with the sound. The introductory pages I will record are not that enlightening as to the "parts" of the Shahmaneh.
Is this lovely beginning - see episode 3 of the linked series - possibly a prequel that doesn't quite pass the attribution mark among the manuscripts found here and there, hence not part of our book? Or, being a part that is more open to interpretations as to religious beliefs, was better left out at the time of Zimmern's translation?
Last edited by DrSpoke on December 4th, 2022, 4:33 am, edited 2 times in total.
Moondoggiepapi
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Post by Moondoggiepapi »

Greetings and felicitations! I would like to lay claim to section 4 "The Shahs of Old"... Let me know and thanks - this looks fun! :)
Kazbek
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Post by Kazbek »

DrSpoke wrote: December 4th, 2022, 4:09 am Hi Michael, this one is just for myself, I hope you don't mind me asking, but I am confused and would like to understand.

Browsing around to have a better sense of this important work I am so ignorant of, I ended up spending some time reading/listening to this to get familiar with the sound. The introductory pages I will record are not that enlightening as to the "parts" of the Shahmaneh.
Is this lovely beginning - see episode 3 of the linked series - possibly a prequel that doesn't quite pass the attribution mark among the manuscripts found here and there, hence not part of our book? Or, being a part that is more open to interpretations as to religious beliefs, was better left out at the time of Zimmern's translation?
Zimmern skips several introductory sections (invocations, discourses, panegyrics) at the start of the poem, following a precedent set in an earlier partial translation by James Atkinson. The stories included in this version cover two of the three principal parts of the work (the mythical age, the heroic age and the historical age), but the Shahnameh is a very long poem and there's a lot of compression and abridgment involved. There are some complete translations in the public domain, including the 9-volume English version by the Warner brothers and the 8-volume Italian version by Italo Pizzi. If you're interested in recording some of the introductory portions, I believe they are standalone enough to be included in one of our standard collections (short poetry, multilingual short works, first chapter), but please check with the BC before recording to make sure.

Michael
Kazbek
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Post by Kazbek »

Moondoggiepapi wrote: December 4th, 2022, 7:22 am Greetings and felicitations! I would like to lay claim to section 4 "The Shahs of Old"... Let me know and thanks - this looks fun! :)
Great, thanks!

Michael
DrSpoke
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Joined: January 12th, 2022, 9:56 am

Post by DrSpoke »

Kazbek wrote: December 4th, 2022, 9:04 am
Many thanks for your post!
MrsHand
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Post by MrsHand »

May I DPL?
Kazbek
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Post by Kazbek »

MrsHand wrote: December 6th, 2022, 9:05 pmMay I DPL?
Certainly. Welcome aboard! :)

The PL level is standard, so you don't need to check the pronunciation of names. My little pronunciation guide is just a suggestion.

Michael
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