Re: doaro

[Jorge Stolfi <stolfi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

    > [Gabriel:] I cracked the vms and it is written in Portuguese. 
    > In folio 68r3, the 7 stars (Pleiades?)  from the constellation of 
    > Taurus reads "doaro" which is corresponds to the character 
    > substitution of "touro" (Is that correct Jorge?).
    > That's it. Now you can read the rest. :-)

Well, the Portuguese word is indeed "touro", but I'm afraid that it is
a red herring. Considering that the "d" looks pretty much like the "s"
of Rene's 15th century German alphabet, it is more likely that EVA
"doaro" is to be read "subaru", which is the name of the Pleiades in
Japanese.

Actually, we both may be right. The spelling "abiril" for April is
strong evidence that the author was Japanese (note the extra "i") and
learned the Western month names in Portugal or Spain (thus "b" instead
of "p"). Now, as you know, "ba" in Japanese kana is written "ha" with
the "ten-ten" accent mark, and "h" is silent in Portuguese.
Obviously he must have concluded that Europeans don't care for "b"s, and
thus he omitted that letter from his new "European style" alphabet.

Thus we get 

   EVA   Roman
    d  =   s
    o  =   u
    a  =   a
    r  =   r

I should point out also that "o" is often pronounced "u" in
Portuguese. Case closed.

BTW, that pretty much identifies the author as one of the three
Japanese converts who toured Europe (chiefly Lisbon and Rome) from
1582 to 1590.[1] Presumably the pilgrims left the VMS at Rome, and
Baresch got it there somehow around 1605, when he was at La Sapienza
"sapientiae operam daturus".[2]

--stolfi 8-)

[1] http://www.unigre.urbe.it/vallejo/Gennaio.html
    (Search for "Giappone")
    "... Eorumque adventum ex alio orbe terrarum non modo Roma et Italia, 
    verum etiam Lusitania et Hispania summis celebraverunt studiis. "
    That text mentions a 300+ report of the pilgrim's 
    trip, edited by Eduardus (Duarte) de Sande SJ, and 
    printed in 1590 by the Macao mission's press.

[2] http://www.voynich.nu/letters.html