Sample translations1 · 2 · 3 · 4 [An excerpt from Bozhidar Igov’s biography Don’t Be Afraid: Only Believe!] THE “ILLEGAL” BIBLE ...The Bible was translated in the modern Bulgarian language in the middle of the nineteenth century. The text was revised several times, but the last edition of the Evangelical Bible dates back to 1927. Despite its outdated language and archaic grammatical forms, it was one of the most earnestly desired books in our life under Communism. Forty years had passed since that edition. It had long been out of print. There were no places where Bibles were sold and everyone who still possessed one did their best to preserve his or her Bible. Many texts were worn and shabby due to too frequent reading and underlining. The problem of shortage of Bibles seemed insoluble. But exactly then God kindled a desire in the hearts of some brothers and sisters from the Western countries to start a very dangerous, but blessed work. Although undertaking big risks, missionaries from different Christian organisations passed through the Iron Curtain and brought us God’s Word — the holiest of all things. One evening in 1966 my father asked me to go to him at once. I did and met two strangers. Nothing in their outer appearance showed that they were not Bulgarians. They were wearing shabby clothes and their feet were clad in distorted shoes. I shall never forget that meeting, which proved to be crucial for my life during the next twenty-three years. One of the brothers, who introduced himself as Martin, asked me whether I would like to receive from him one or more Bibles. O God, how much did I want that! I snatched at the new volume and thought of myself as the happiest man in the world. Brother Martin, an always smiling and friendly man, asked me whether I would like to take some more copies and give them to friends and relatives who needed a Bible. The sharp arrow of fear pierced my heart. How could I give Bibles to other people? What was going to happen if one of those recipients informed the militia about it? I knew that just the possession of a forbidden book could be punished by imprisonment, but to distribute Bibles to other people — that was much more dangerous! It was “ideological diversion” par excellence, as the authorities said then. I had a friend who secretly possessed Boris Pasternak’s “Doctor Zhivago” and who dared give it to a friend. As a result, he had to spend several years in prison... ...That evening in 1966 marked the beginning of a new period in my life. Over the next twenty-three years thousands of Bibles passed through my hands. It is for that reason that I considered myself “God’s smuggler” in Bulgaria. |
