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Re: anti-German feeling of JV

From: Jan Rychlík <jan.rychlik~at~seznam.cz>
Date: Sun, 06 Jun 2004 22:20:27 +0200 (CEST)
To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>
Cc:

Dear Ralf,

I would like to ask you one more question not so far from the original theme. You wrote that Verne was loved by German readers despite his anti-German feeling. But weren't its symptoms omitted from German translations the same way as LE CHEMIN DE FRANCE was never published in German? I mean such phrases as "un petit lit aussi inconfortable que peut l'etre un lit allemand -- ce qui est beaucoup dire" in LES CINQ CENTS MILLIONS DE LA BEGUM (chapter 5) or "l'on riait, ce qui n'est pas de bon gout, meme pour des Allemands" in VOYAGE AU CENTRE DE LA TERRE (chapter 1).

Jan Rychlik

================= Původní zpráva =================
Od (From): ralf.tauchmann~at~t-online.de
Komu (To): "Jules Verne Forum" <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>
Kopie (Cc):
Předmět (Subject): Re: Subj: Hector Servadac - ending phrase of chapter 18 (vol. 1)
Datum (Date): 5. 6. 2004 10:54
==================================================

> "Jan Rychl <jan.rychlik~at~seznam.cz> schrieb:
> > The phrase in question is Servadac’s answer to Timascheff’s assertion that the German nation is represented in the person of Hakhabut, however very badly. Here are all the variants of Servadac’s answer I was able to find:
> > 1) All intelligent people would agree with you, but I cannot, since I am French. [according to the reviewer and the earliest Czech translation]
> > 2) Well, we need to be tolerant. [second Czech translation]
> > 3) We cannot be choosy. [most recent Czech translation]
> > 4) We are not in need of too much, are we? [a Russian translation]
> > 5) And even in him perhaps we shall not find so indifferent a representative as we at present imagine. [an English translation]
>
> Dear Jan,
>
> It certainly is true, that after the French/Prussian war 1870/71,
> at the end of which German officers dwelled at JV's house in Amiens
> (so that JV writes in a letter sarcastically "they say they like my
> house and I quite believe them..."), Jules Verne did no longer show
> any sympathy like in 1864 (Journey to the Centre of the Earth).
>
> It is very interesting to see that this antipathy was not rendered
> by German readers and the first German biographer, Popp, wrote in 1908
> that Jules Verne is so widely accepted and loved by German readers
> that he can actually be called "Julius Verne". According to the biography
> by Jean-Jules Verne, grand-son of JV, the German ambassador was the
> first to offer his condolences in the name of Germany and the widow
> of JV is said to have been rather impressed by this official approach
> from a country which was treated rather badly in the works of JV.
>
> But to come back to your question. In Hakhabut, Hector Servadac (1875/76)
> actually is anti-German anti-semitic. The actual passages are in the
> body of the Chapter you mention where we can read: "The name of this
> Jew was Isac Hakhabut and he was from Cologne, that is first of all
> Prussian, then German..."
>
> As to the ending phrase of the Chapter, the answer of Servadac is:
> "Ne nous montrons pas trop difficiles !"
>
> The literal meaning is: "We should'nt show ourselves to be too
> choosy (or: too particular about that)." The English translation
> you give is a far-going interpretation of what Servadac actually says.
> The recent Czech translation you quote is the most literal.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Ralf Tauchmann,
> Radebeul (Saxony, Germany)
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
> mailto:ralf.tauchmann~at~t-online.de
> tel: +49-351-8336141 fax: -8336142
> http://www.ratau.de ; http://tauchmann.ratau.de
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>

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Received on Sun 06 Jun 2004 - 23:20:57 IDT

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