“Que ignores mi idioma no me espanto”: el soneto en español en Bian zhengjiao zhenchuan shilu 辯正教真傳實錄 o Apología de la Verdadera Religión (1593) de Fray Juan Cobo 高母羡:“Que ignores mi idioma no me espanto”: The Sonnet in Spanish in Bian zhengjiao zhenchuan shilu 辯正教真傳實錄 or Apología de la Verdadera Religión (1593) by Fray Juan Cobo 高母羡

Abstract

Abstract In Shih-Lu, Testimony of the True Religion實錄 Shih-lu (Manila, 1593) by the Dominican Fray Juan Cobo (c. 1546–1592), there is a handwritten sonnet added after the book’s publication, which has not been studied in the context of the Sino-Spanish books published in the Philippines. In the only extant copy, the beginnings and endings of the book are confused; much as in the sonnet the beginnings and endings are an unsolvable oxymoron for the reader who does not have a good Chinese teacher. This copy of the book contains several of these misunderstandings because, for centuries, the owners and users of the book where unable to read it. The autographed and anonymous sonnet accurately reflects this situation.