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Appendix
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181 Appendix English Translations Each English translation is keyed to a passage in the text by its number , which corresponds to the number in brackets in the text. The translations in brackets below are mine. Chapter One Re-creating Caminha: The Earnest Adaptation of Brazil’s Letter of Discovery in Descobrimento do Brasil (1937) 1 “They seem to me people of such innocence that, if one could understand them and they us, they would soon be Christians, because they do not have or understand any belief, as it appears […] [A]nd furthermore, Our Lord gave them fine bodies and good faces as to good men; and He who brought us here, I believe, did not do so without purpose. And consequently, Your Highness, since you so much desire to increase the Holy Catholic Faith, ought to look after their salvation, and it will please God that, with little effort, this will be accomplished” (29). 2 [arrived in a land that he newly discovered], [people naked as in their first innocence, docile and peaceful]; [because it is very convenient and necessary for the navigation to India] 3 “And then they stretched themselves out on their backs on the carpet to sleep without taking any care to cover their privy parts, which were not circumcised, and the hair on them was well shaved and arranged. The captain ordered pillows to be put under the head of each one, and he with the headdress took sufficient pains not to disarrange it. A mantle was thrown over them, and they permitted it and lay at rest and slept” (13). 182 4 [I attempted to narrate the event as if I were a reporter filming on Cabral’s ship.] 5 [gentleness of an affectionate mother], [slaveringly condescending smile] [an expression of beatitude that belies the deeds that they were carrying out in Africa and Asia and finally in this hemisphere]. 6 [The discoverers scour the virgin forest in search of wood for the cross.] 7 “new shirts and red hats and two rosaries of white bone” (14). “From thence the other two youths departed and we never saw them again” (15). 8 “And then many began to arrive; and […] took some kegs […] and filled them” (14). 9 “The other two whom the captain had on the ships, and to whom he gave what has already been mentioned, did not appear again, from which I infer that they are bestial people and o very little knowledge; and for this reason they are so timid. Yet withal they are well cared for and very clean, and in this it seems to me that they are rather like birds or wild animals, to which the air gives better feathers and better hair than to tame ones. And their bodies are so clean and so fat and so beautiful that they could not be more so” (23). 10 “many of them, dancing and diverting themselves” (21). “Mestre João encounters, with his astrolabe, 17°S Latitude […] Diogo Dias […] began to dance amoung them […] making […] a remarkable leap” (21–22). 11 “[…] on the other side of the river were many of them, dancing and diverting themselves before one another, without taking each other by the hand, and they did it well. Then Diogo Dias, who was revenue officer of Sacavem, crossed the river. He is an agreeable and pleasure-loving man, and he took with him one of our bagpipe players and his bagpipe, and began to dance among them, taking them by the hands, and they were delighted and laughed an accompanied him very well to the sound of the pipe. After they had danced he went along the level ground, making Translations to Pages 24–29 [54.242.220.142] Project MUSE (2024-04-10 22:04 GMT) 183 Translations to Pages 29–41 many light turns and a remarkable leap which astonished them, and they laughed and enjoyed themselves greatly. And although he reassured and flattered them a great deal with this, they soon became sullen like wild men and went away upstream” (21–22). 12 “she did not think to spread it much to cover herself” (32). 13 “their privy parts [were] so high, so closed, and so free from hair that we felt no shame” “her lack of shame [was] so charming, that many women of our land seeing such attractions, would be ashamed that theirs were not like hers” (16). 14 “We interpreted this so, because we wished to” (13). 15 [Intellectual collaboration and...