Jules Verne Forum

<jvf@Gilead.org.il>

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec 19961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009

The Tribulations of a paragraph from The Mysterious Island

From: <Skravitz~at~aol.com>
Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2003 10:39:27 EDT
To: jvf~at~Gilead.org.il

THE TRIBULATIONS OF A PARAGRAPH FROM THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND

     The Verne community knows that the Kingston English translation of The
Mysterious Island censored Captain Nemo's account of the British occupation
of India in Part III, Chapter 16. Rick Walter recently informed JVF that
Barnes and Noble published (1994) an omnibus containing the Kingston
translation of The Mysterious Island but that they substituted an accurate
translation of Nemo's recital. This gave me the idea of gathering together
all the known translations of one paragraph in that chapter for comparison.
  
     This is how the paragraph I've chosen appears in Part III, Chapter 16,
in the first French edition.
     "Le joug anglais s'était trop pesamment peut-être alourdi sur les
populations indoues. Le prince Dakkar emprunta la voix des mécontents. Il
fit passer dans leur spirit toute la haine qu'il éprouvait contre l'
étranger. Il parcourait non seulement les contrées encore indépendantes de
la péninsule indienne, mais aussi les régions directement soumises à
l'administration anglais. Il rappela les grands jours de Tippo-Saïb, mort
héroïquement à Seringapatam pour la défense de sa patrie."

     This is the same paragraph as Verne submitted it to his publisher in his
second and final manuscript.
     "Le joug anglais s'était pesamment alourdi sur les populations indoues.
L'épreuve n'avait pas encore tué en elles toute énergie. Le prince Dakkar se
mêla à elles; il entendit la voix des mécontents. Il fit passer dans leur
esprit toute la haine qu'il éprouvait contre l'étranger. Il parcourait non
seulement les contrées encore indépendants de la péninsule indienne, mais
aussi les régions directement soumises à l'administration anglais. Il
rappela les grands jours de Tippo-Saïbmort héroïquement à Seringapatam pour
la défense de son pays!"

     In his English translation, Kingston completely disregards the French
text and substitutes this paragraph which practically says the opposite.
     "Instigated by princes equally ambitious and less sagacious and more
unscrupulous than he was, the people of India were persuaded that they might
successfully rise against their English rulers, who had brought them out of a
state of anarchy and constant warfare and misery, and had established peace
and prosperity in their country. Their ignorance and gross superstition made
them the facile tools of their designing chiefs."

     This is the version by Stephen White as published in 1876 by The Evening
Telegraph of Philadelphia.
     "The English yoke was pressed, perhaps, too heavily upon the Indian
people. The prince Dakkar became the mouthpiece of the malcontents. He
instilled into their spirits all the hatred he felt against the strangers.
He went over not only the independent portions of the Indian peninsula, but
into those regions directly submitted to the English control. He recalled to
them the grand days of Tippo-Saib, who died heroically at Seringapatam for
the defense of his country."

     In his Bantam Books 1970 very abridged translation Lowell Bair could
spare only one sentence for this paragraph. "He began speaking to the
people, rousing them to hatred of the foreign invaders."

     A translation of this paragraph appears in the annotated edition of
"Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" by Walter James Miller and Frederick
Paul Walter published by Naval Institute Press, 1993.
     "England's oppression may simply have become too much for the Hindu
poplace to bear. Prince Dakkar appealed to all these discontented people,
won their support and filled their minds with an utter hatred for the
foreigners. He campaigned across the entire Indian peninsula, not only in
the free zones but in regions directly governed by the English. He gave a
call to arms, a call for a return to the great days of Tippu, Sultan of
Mysore, who died a hero's death at Seringapatam while defending his
homeland."

     The Barnes and Noble 1994 correction to Kingston's translation reported
by Frederick Walter:
     "The weight of the English yoke had grown too heavy on the backs of the
Hindoo population. Prince Dakkar spoke to the discontented in their own
terms. He transmitted to them all the hate that he felt against the
foreigner. He traveled not only through the still-independent countries of
the Indian peninsula, but also through the regions directly subject to
English administration. He recalled the great days of Tippo-Saïb, who had
died heroically at Seringapatam in defense of his country."

     My unedited translation of this paragraph as it appears in the virtual
library section of Zvi Har'el's Verne website:
     "The English yoke weighed heavily on the Hindu population. Prince
Dakkar became the spokesman for the malcontents. He instilled them with all
the hatred which he felt against the foreigner. He scoured not only the
still independent areas of the Indian Peninsula but also the regions directly
subject to English administration. He remembered the great days of
Tippo-Saïb who died heroically at Seringapatam in the defense of his country."

     My translation as edited by Arthur B. Evans and published by Weseyan
University Press in 2001 together with an introduction and critical material
by William Butcher:
     "The British yoke had weighed perhaps too heavily on the Hindu
population. Prince Dakkar became the spokesman for the malcontents. He
instilled in them all the hatred that he felt for the foreigners. He
traveled not only to the still independent areas on the Indian Peninsula but
also to those regions directly subject to British administration. He
recalled the great days of Tippo Saïb who had died heroically at Seringapatam
in the defense of his country."

     This is the version by Jordan Stump as published by Random House, 2001.
     "The British yoke had grown increasingly heavy for the Hindu population.
 Prince Dakkar became the voice of the downtrodden, and instilled into their
minds all his own hatred for the foreigners. His travels took him not only
through the independent regions of the Indian peninsula, but also into
provinces under British control. He reminded his audiences of the great
feats of Tippu Sahib, and of his heroic death at Seringapatam in the defense
of his homeland."
     
Sidney Kravitz
Received on Wed 09 Apr 2003 - 17:42:13 IDT

JV.Gilead.org.il
Copyright © Zvi Har’El
$Date: 2009/02/01 22:36:11 $$