READ THE PASSAGE AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS
THAT FOLLOW.
An Englishman spent a lifetime in the
service of a language that was not his own
- in an age when the British considered all
Indian languages inferior and unworthy of
attention - and enriched it immensely by
his contribution. His name was C.P. Brown.
Hailed as Telugu Suryudu or 'Telugu Sun'
for his efforts in bringing Telugu literature
to the notice of the world, Brown has left a
vast body of literature that includes the first
comprehensive Telugu English dictionary,
Telugu grammar books, and translations
(the first ever) of the works of classical
Telugu poets.
Charles Philip Brown was born in November
10, 1798 in Calcutta (now Kolkata) as the
second of eight children of Frances and Rev.
David Brown. His father was a missionary
who had been sent to India to manage an
orphanage. Unlike his contemporaries,
he believed in understanding the natives'
religion and culture, and so made a serious
effort to learn the local languages. Young
Charles was brought up with a healthy
respect for all languages. His father taught
him Hebrew, Latin, Greek, Persian, Arabic,
Syrian, Hindi and Sanskrit.
In 1812, his family moved back to England
with the support of the East India Company.
Here, Charles joined the Haileybury College,
which had been set up to provide training
for civil servants of the East India Company.
After completing his training, Brown landed
in Madras (now Chennai) in 1817, at the age
of 19. As per the rule, British civil servants
in India had to attain proficiency in the local
languages. Thus, it was how Brown ended
up learning Telugu–a language he had never
even heard of until then. For the next three
years, he did a course in Telugu at the Fort
St. George College, Madras.
Brown's initial experience in learning the
new language was a frustrating one. There
was no dictionary and no proper grammar
rules, and the only available material was,
in his own words, "two worthless native
books of exercise". However, he persevered.
In 1894, Brown came across a French
translation, by a French missionary, of
works of the classical Telugu poet, Vemana.
This was the first ever translation of a
Telugu literary work in a Western language.
Vemana's earthy wisdom fascinated Brown,
and he began searching for more of the
former's work (found only in handwritten
palm-leaf manuscripts, which he purchased
from their owners). Along the way, his
collection broadened to include manuscripts
by other Telugu authors.
Brown employed scribes to copy the
manuscripts on paper. Because Vemana's
poems varied from one manuscript to
another, he hired scholars to review the
variations and fix upon a consensus version.
The entire project was a labour of love for
which Brown paid from his own pocket, at
times even borrowing money from fellow
Englishmen and Indians when he was short
of funds.
In 1827, Brown published his first literary
work - an explanation of Telugu and Sanskrit
prosody. Two years later, he brought out
the first edition of Vemana's poems in
translation. Remembering his own early
struggles while learning the language,
he went on to write a text on grammar,
considered one of the best grammar
books of Telugu, and two voluminous
English-Telugu and Telugu-English
dictionaries, which are consulted as standard
reference books even today.
What was C.P. Brown's contribution to Telugu
language?
A His first published literary work was
an explanation of Telugu and Sanskrit
prosody.
B First translation of Vemana's poems.
C Telugu grammar books and bilingual
(English Telugu English) dictionaries.
D All of these
Doesn't the paragraph state that there was already a translation of the Tamil poet's poems?