Dear Aleix, Royce,

The OED (Oxford English Dictionary) gives one meaning of several as "existing apart, separate" which would make sense in this context.

There is also an obsolete usage

b. Separate, distinct, or different from. Obsolete.

which I think is what everyone is thinking of. The Engliah Jātaka translations are almost 125 years old (publlished 1895) and at that time the usage of "several" was probably poetic, but not yet obsolete,

Mettā, Bryan


On Thursday, September 13, 2018, 4:49:51 AM EDT, Aleix Ruiz Falqués ruydaleixo@... [palistudy] <palistudy@yahoogroups.com> wrote:


 
Dear Royce,

Excellent, thanks a lot for the confirmation!

Best wishes,
Aleix

El jue., 13 sept. 2018 a las 14:31, Royce WILES rw108@... [palistudy] (<palistudy@yahoogroups.com>) escribió:
 

Hi Aleix


On checking I can see your suggestion is an excellent one, this is an old (now obsolete I’d say) usage in English with ‘several’ meaning just ‘different’ as you pointed out. 

Two examples may suffice (from a mere Google search)

“Twenty one several books of Mr William Bridge” (book title printed in 1657, see in Worldcat)
“for we were to pass thro’ two several places that were very full of rocks” (in Frick, Christopher, A relation of two several voyages made into the East-Indies” (printed 1700)

Royce