Bill Bryson: Our Homes Are Where History Ends Up
Bill Bryson, British-American author and journalist
[Scroll down for the English]
KISWAHILI
“Nyumba ni hazina tata zenye ajabu sana. Nilichogundua, kwa mshangao wangu mkubwa, ni kwamba chochote kitakachotokea duniani--chochote kitakachogunduliwa au kubuniwa au kupigwa kwa vita vikali--hatimaye kinaishia, kwa njia moja au nyingine, ndani ya nyumba yako. Vita, njaa, Mapinduzi ya Viwanda [Industrial Revolution], Wakati wa Kuelimisha [Enlightenment]--vyote viko kwenye kochi na fanicho zako… kwenye rangi kwa kuta zako na maji ya mabomba yako.... Nyumba sizo mahali pa kimbilio kutoka kwa historia. Ziko mahali historia inaishi.”
- Bill Bryson, mwandishi wa Uingereza na Marekani na mwanahabari anayejulikana kwa uandishi wake wa maarifa yenye ukweli kuhusu sayansi, historia, na lugha ya Kiingereza.
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
“Houses are amazingly complex repositories. What I found, to my great surprise, is that whatever happens in the world--whatever is discovered or created or bitterly fought over--eventually ends up, in one way or another, in your house. Wars, famines, the Industrial Revolution, the Enlightenment--they are all there in your sofas and chests of drawers... in the paint on your walls and the water in your pipes.... Houses aren't refuges from history. They are where history ends up.”
- Bill Bryson, British-American author and journalist known for his insightful non-fiction writing on science, history, and the English language.
Chanzo (source): Bryson, Bill. At Home: A Short History of Private Life. New York: Doubleday, 2010, page 5.