Daniele Besomi wrote: "While I would agree that one ought to consider   
one's own opportunity costs in deciding whether to read a text in its   
original language rather than in translation, I would point out that   
costs, in terms of scholarship, are too easily underestimated."  
  
Did he mean to write, "the costs, ..., are too easily OVERestimated"?  
  
Anyhow, I agree that meanings often can be lost in translation, and   
there surely are benefits to reading a text in its original language.  
  
James Ahiakpor