One of the things I put on my Life List when I rewrote it back in December of 2006 was to study Dante in the original Italian.
Now, I had no idea how I was going to go about it, but it was something I wanted to do.
As I've mentioned before, I have this theory that if you put something on the list, it is already an act of setting things in motion. Sometimes it's obvious how to go about achieving a goal; sometimes it just happens without you really realizing it.
This happened to me last night, when I was watching Rai International, and realized that I'd been taping Roberto Benigni recite Dante in his series called "Tutto Dante".* I'm struggling to follow along -- but Benigni spends about 45 minutes taking you through each canto he recites, line by line or couplet by couplet, explaining it, putting it in terms the audience can understand.
And I'm getting some of it. I'll go back and watch the tapes over again once the series is finished, but I'm really enjoying it, and the best part?
Without my even planning it, I'm studying Dante in Italian. Okay, I still have more work to do, but this wheel is already in motion.
To give you a taste, here's Roberto Benigni reciting the primo canto from the Divine Comedy:
*There were some plans to try to bring the show to Broadway, but Benigni decided against it. If he ever changes his mind, I will be selling my soul to get to New York and get tickets to see him.
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