Bill Bryson: The 1800s Brought One Marvel After Another, Radically Changing Everyday Life

Bill Bryson, British-American author and journalist

Mmerikani’s Substack consists of sourced, edifying quotes in a dual-language format (Swahili & English). I am a Quaker, runner, and was formally trained in Swahili.

[Scroll down for the English]

KISWAHILI

“Bw. Marsham [mmiliki wa nyumba hiyo kabla ya Bill Bryson katika kitabu chake cha At Home: A Short History of Private Life] alizaliwa (mnamo mwaka 1822) katika ulimwengu ambao kimsingi ulikuwa wa Enzi ya Kati [mnamo miaka 1100-1500, vilevile Middle Ages]—pahali pa kuwasha mishumaa, ruba wa dawa, kusafiri kwa mwendo wa kutembea, habari kutoka mbali ambazo kila mara zilikuwa za umri wa wiki au miezi—na aliishi hadi kuanzishwa kwa ajabu moja baada ya nyingine: meli za mvuke na treni za kasi, telegramu, kupiga picha, unusukapati, mabomba ya ndani, taa za gesi, usafi ili kuupunguza maambukizo, utiaji kitu baridi, simu, taa za umeme, muziki uliorekodiwa, magari na ndege, maghorofa, sinema, redio, na kwa hakika makumi ya maelfu ya vitu vidogo vinyingi zaidi, kutoka kwa vipau vya sabuni vilivyotengenezwa kwa wingi hadi mashine za kukatia majani.

"Ni haiwezekani kufikiria ni kiasi nui mabadiliko makubwa ya kila siku watu walipata katika karne ya kumi na tisa [miaka ya 1800], haswa katika nusu ya pili."

- Bill Bryson, mwandishi wa Uingereza-Marekani na mwanahabari anayejulikana kwa uandishi wake wa maarifa yenye ukweli kuhusu sayansi, historia, na lugha ya Kiingereza.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

“Mr. Marsham [the former owner of Bill Bryson’s home in his At Home: A Short History of Private Life book] was born (in 1822) into a world that was still essentially medieval [1100s to 1500s, the Middle Ages]—a place of candlelight, medicinal leeches, travel at walking pace, news from afar that was always weeks or months old—and lived to the introduction of one marvel after another: steamships and speeding trains, telegraphy, photography, anesthesia, indoor plumbing, gas lighting, antisepsis in medicine, refrigeration, telephones, electric lights, recorded music, cars and planes, skyscrapers, motion pictures, radio, and literally tens of thousands of tiny things more, from mass-produced bars of soap to push-along mowers.

“It is almost impossible to conceive just how much radical day-to-day change people were exposed to in the nineteenth century, particularly in the second half.”

- Bill Bryson, British-American author and journalist known for his insightful non-fiction writing on science, history, and the English language.

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Chanzo (source): Bryson, Bill. At Home: A Short History of Private Life. New York: Doubleday, 2010, pages 448.