Translation of Wide Sargasso Sea
2015
Translation of Wide Sargasso
Sea
Veerle Muller
3969703
Bachelor Thesis English Language and
Culture, University of Utrecht
Supervisor: Anniek Kool PhD
Second reader: Dr. Roselinde Supheert
18-6-2015
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Content
Introduction
The novel Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys was written in 1966 as a reaction on
Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre , which was written in 1847. The crazy woman in the attic in
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Jane Eyre , Bertha, is the protagonist of Wide Sargasso Sea , in which she is called Antoinette
Cosway. Jean Rhys wanted to rewrite the story of Bertha Mason because “she seemed such a poor ghost, I thought I’d like to write her life” (Rhys, qtd. in Thorpe 99). The story of
Wide
Sargasso Sea is set before Jane Eyre . It is the story of a part of Antoinette’s youth and the story of how she and Mr. Rochester met and were married. The story is told from both
Antoinette’s and Mr. Rochester’s point of view. This is quite interesting, because the difference in how they both describe events and people becomes clear here. If the book were opened on any given page, it could be seen who is narrating the story at that point by reading only two or three lines. This distinction between Antoinette and Mr. Rochester is made because of the setting of the story. It is set in Jamaica in the 1830s, right after the
Emancipation Act was passed. Former slaveholders were promised compensation for the freeing of their slaves, as is pointed out at the beginning of the novel. However, many of them had not received this compensation yet, or would not receive it at all (Rhys 5). At the same time, the former slaves were forced to work as apprentices for their former masters, which meant they were still not entirely free from slavery. Both former slaves and slaveholders were unhappy with the situation. These class differences were a prominent factor in the colonial plantation society in which the novel is set. Antoinette and Mr. Rochester both come from different classes in that society. Antoinette is a “Creole of pure English descent” (Rhys 40), while Mr. Rochester himself is an Englishman who comes to Jamaica to marry Antoinette. In both their narratives it can be seen that this class society is present in their ways of thinking about others and themselves.
In this thesis I will translate part of the novel Wide Sargasso Sea . The problems that are encountered in the text will be discussed by using Christiane Nord’s categories of
translation problems. First, the pragmatic problems will be discussed, followed by the cultural-specific problems, the interlingual problems and lastly the text-specific problems.
According to Nord’s theory, the top-down approach of these problems will work best, meaning that one should try to solve the highest level of problems first and that the smallest problems will be solved almost by itself in that manner (Nord “Tekstanalyse” 145-47). After having discussed all the translation problems, I will look at the existing Dutch translation,
4 which was made by W.A. Dorsman-Vos. I will compare my own translation with this existing translation. In particular I will look at the translation problems which are discussed in this thesis and compare the solutions to those problems in the existing translation with my own solutions. Lastly, I will provide my own translation of parts of Wide Sargasso Sea .
Chapter 1 Pragmatic Translation Problems
1.1 What are pragmatic problems?
The first category that Nord distinguishes in translation problems is the category of
5 pragmatic translation problems. These problems have to do with the difference between the
“two communicative situations” (Nord, “Functional Typology” 59). For example, pragmatic translation problems can be found when there are differences between the place and time of the story in the source text and the target text. Another part of the pragmatic translation problems is the problem of prior knowledge (Nord “Tekstanalyse” 147). When things are discussed in the source text which the reader is expected to know, the translator needs to think about the target reader and the prior knowledge that the target reader has. For example, whether the source reader and the target reader are assumed to have the same knowledge. This is important to consider when translating a text, since a translator does not want to make the target text more alienating for the reader than the source text is for the reader.
1.2 Intertextuality
One of the pragmatic translation problems in Wide Sargasso Sea has to do with the prior knowledge of the readership. In the source text, there are quite some references to other texts. Not only are there references to Jane Eyre , but also to the Bible, for example. These references, or connections as it were, to other texts can be called intertextuality. This poses a problem for the translator. How does one translate intertextuality? In order to answer this question, it is important to know what intertextuality is.
Even though intertextuality is a difficult term to explain because it entails so much, there have been many scholars who have tried to define it. The term mostly gained popularity by the work of Julia Kristeva, a French linguist among other things. According to her definition, intertextuality is “used to signify the multiple ways in which any one literary text is in fact made up of other texts, by means of its open or covert citations and allusions, its
6 repetitions and transformations of the formal and substantive features of earlier texts”
(Abrams and Harpham 401). There are still ongoing debates about what intertextuality is exactly, however, for this thesis I will use the definition that has been given by Kristeva. What is most important about this definition for the translation of Wide Sargasso Sea is the mentioning of “allusions”. The allusions in the text are the most prominent example of intertextuality in this novel. To explain what allusions are, we will look at A Glossary of
Literary Terms again, by Abrams and Harpham. They define an allusion as “a passing reference, without explicit identification, to a literary or historical person, place or event, or to another literary work or passage” (12). This is what happens mostly in Wide Sargasso Sea , especially if we look at the first part of Antoinette’s narrative.
Antoinette uses many allusions to the Bible in the first part of her narrative. Two examples of these allusions are “The devil prince of this world” (Rhys 6) or “the tree of life”
(Rhys 6). Both of these phrases allude to the Bible. What the translator should keep in mind is whether these allusions are clear to the source audience and how one should translate this.
The first thing to examine is the function of these allusions in the text. They show the readers,
I think, that especially Antoinette is religiously educated and it shows her cultural background. This is the same with the allusions that Godfrey uses in his speech. However, aside from the allusions to the Bible in Antoinette’s part, there are also allusions in Mr.
Rochester’s part to the Anglican marriage service, among other things. Some of the allusions in the novel, for example in Mr. Rochester’s narrative “a cock crowed loudly” (Rhys 41), may have a bigger function. This is an allusion to the betrayal of Peter in the Bible, where Jesus says that Peter will deny knowing him three times before the cock will crow. So in this case the cock is “an indication of impending betrayal” (Smith 142). Since most of the allusions are functional in the text, it is important to maintain them in the translation of the text. It is important to translate the allusion to the Bible in Godfrey’s speech or Antoinette’s narrative
because it is a part of building the character in the story to show they have an educated and
7 cultural background, even though they are in one of the lower classes of society.
When an allusion is functional, as in Godfrey’s speech for example, one could look for the original text the phrase comes from. If there is already a translation of that text, then the translator could choose to use this translation in his or her own translation. That is exactly what I have done in my own translation. To keep the allusion as clear as possible to the reader of the target text, I have chosen to use one of the existing translations of the Bible for phrases like “de heerser van deze wereld” (
De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling , Joh. 12.31). By doing this, my readership will be able to see the allusion that is made to the Bible, assuming they have read the Bible, and therefore it will not be lost in translation.
1.3 Colonial terminology
Another pragmatic problem that occurs in the text is the use of colonial terminology.
This can be seen as a pragmatic problem because it originates from a difference in time and place between the source culture and the target culture. The problem with translating words like “boy” or “porter” (Rhys 39) is that the time and place of the target text and culture are very different from the source text and culture. The setting of the story is Jamaica in the
1830s, right after the Emancipation Act was passed. This was a time of colonialism, during which words like boy or porter were used regularly to address people who worked for higher class people or were on the bottom in the hierarchical class system. To explain the pragmatic translation problem in more detail, it is important to understand what exactly colonialism is and what function the terminology has in this specific text.
In her book Colonialism/Postcolonialism Ania Loomba writes about what these two terms exactly mean and she begins by explaining that “colonialism can be defined as the conquest and control of other people’s lands and goods” (8). This sounds like quite a simplistic explanation of colonialism though, and Loomba goes on to further define
8 colonialism. She says that “[m]odern colonialism [...] restructured the economies of the latter, drawing them into a complex relationship with their own, so that there was a flow of human and natural resources between colonised and colonial countries” (9). This means that colonizers not only lived in a country that was colonized, they usually also changed the entire economic system and made the colonized country dependent of the colonial country. This is exactly what was the case in Jamaica and the slave trade was part of that “flow of human resources” that Loomba talks about. With this explanation of colonialism, it is important to look at the function of the colonial terminology that Rhys uses in her novel. The reason for this is that it shows the class system that was present in Jamaica in that time. People who formerly worked as slaves were usually still dependent of their former masters to earn a living and the use of words like “boy” or “servant” shows the distinction in classes between people.
Another reason for this use of colonial terminology is that Wide Sargasso Sea is a postcolonial novel. According to Müller “[i]t came to be acknowledged as an exemplary attack on a master narrative, which found many successors and fired the postcolonial debate”
(63). Being a postcolonial novel means that it is a “critical analysis of the history, culture, literature, and modes of discourse that are specific to the former colonies of England, Spain,
France, and other European imperial powers” (Abrams and Harpham 306). By using the colonial terminology, Rhys creates a colonial setting that she criticizes throughout her novel.
The question now is how I need to translate these terms historically correct.
Most of the terms in the text refer to people. The narrators use words like “boy” or
“porter” or “servant” (Rhys 39) to describe the people who carry their bags and guide the way to their honeymoon house. The most reliable way to find out how these people were called in
Dutch, and what terms were used to describe them in about the same time frame as the book is set, is to search for the Dutch terms in history books. It will not suffice to simply look in the
Van Dale dictionary since that does not describe the time frame. Therefore, I have searched
9 through some history books to find out the right Dutch terminology for the English words that are used. However, it turned out to be harder than expected to find the Dutch terminology.
What I did find were the translations of the words “boy” or “girl” in the caption of a picture.
These were translated as “huismeid en huisjongen” (Boos 122) and they worked in the house for their master. I have not been able to find a historically correct translation for the word
“porter” (Rhys 39). Therefore I have decided to look at the context and choose a translation that is given in the Van Dale dictionary and try to make the best decision possible. This means
I chose the word drager because this is the best description of their job in the novel and it is understandable for the target reader.
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Chapter 2 Cultural-specific Translation Problems
The second category of Nord’s translation problems are the cultural-specific problems.
These are the problems that are created by a difference between the source culture and the target culture, especially concerning conventions. For example, there are differences in genre conventions, in conventions concerning politeness, or in conventions concerning units of measurement (Nord “Tekstanalyse” 147). In the text of
Wide Sargasso Sea , I did not run into too many of these cultural specific problems. Some units of measurement were used, like feet, which I decided to convert and translate into Dutch, to make the text run more smoothly and naturalize it for the reader.
Chapter 3 Interlingual Translation Problems
The third category of translation problems are the interlingual ones. These problems
11 consist of “structural differences in vocabulary, syntax and suprasegmental features of the two languages” (Nord, “Functional Typology” 60). There are a few interlingual translation problems in Wide Sargasso Sea . For example, there are some very long sentences in the source text that cannot be translated as one long sentence in the target text. Next to that, sometimes there are shifts in tenses in the source text, which cannot be used in the target text too. A concrete example of this in the text is found in the sentence “Under a neighbouring tree
I could see our luggage covered with sacking, the two porters and a boy holding fresh horses, hired to carry us up 2,000 feet to the waiting honeymoon house” (Rhys 39). This structure of adding new information with commas does not work in the target text for this sentence. To make it run better in Dutch, I have divided it into two separate sentences, cutting it in two after “holding fresh horses”. Most of the interlingual translation problems in this text are quite easy to solve, because the length of the sentences, for example, are not significant for the style of this text. Therefore, they can easily be cut up into two sentences without changing the style of the entire text.
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Chapter 4 Text-specific Translation Problems
4.1 What are text-specific problems?
The fourth and last category of Nord’s system is the category of the text-specific problems. These are problems that occur only in the specific text that the translator is working on. The solutions to these problems can therefore not be used in more texts and cannot be seen as general solutions to the problems, because they are different in every text (Nord,
“Functional Typology” 61). Nord explains that “in this category we find the translation of metaphors, similes, puns, rhetorical figures, etc.” (61). In the case of
Wide Sargasso Sea the biggest text-specific translation problem is the use of dialect. I will first explain more clearly what dialect is and what the function of this use of dialect is in this specific text.
4.2 What is dialect?
There has always been, and there still is, a vague line between the definitions of language and dialect. While some people may say that something is a language, others might call it a dialect. Max Weinreich, a sociolinguist specialized in Yiddish, once said that
“language is a dialect with an army and navy” (“Notes” 469). This shows how there might be overlap between language and dialect and that there is still ongoing debate about whether something is a language or a dialect. In his article “Dialect, Language, Nation”, Einar Haugen explains what the terms language and dialect mean and where the words originate. He says that
[i]n a descriptive, synchronic sense “language” can refer either to a single linguistic norm, or to a group of related norms. In a historical, diachronic sense “language” can either be a common language on its way to dissolution, or a common language resulting from unification. A “dialect” is then any one of the related norms comprised under the general name “language,” historically the result of either divergence or convergence. (923)
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This means that a dialect is always placed under a language in a type of hierarchical order. He then goes on to explain the word patois
. He says that “patois [...] is a language norm not used for literary (and hence official) purposes, chiefly limited to informal situations” (924). In other words, a patois is simply a dialect of a language that only has a spoken but not a written form. This explanation of a patois is important for the translation of Wide Sargasso Sea because the dialect that is spoken in the text is described as a “debased French patois” (Rhys
40). The language that is used in the text, which is called Jamaican Patois, is also known as
Jamaican Creole. Whether Jamaican Creole is actually a language or a dialect is not clear yet.
Some people call it a Creole language while others still see it as a dialect of English. In this thesis, I will talk of Jamaican Creole or Jamaican Patois as a dialect. The discussion about whether it is a language or a dialect will not be addressed in this thesis since it is too extensive.
4.3 Function of dialect in Wide Sargasso Sea
In the period in which the novel is set, the people of Jamaica spoke Jamaican Creole.
When the slaves were first brought to the plantations they did not speak English at all, while their masters did. Since they did need to communicate, a Pidgin English was developed. A pidgin is a modified form of the original language and “a small vocabulary, drawn almost exclusively from one language, suffices. The syntactic structure of the pidgin is less complicated and less flexible” (Todd 1). When a pidgin is used as a mother tongue, by for example the children of the slaves, it develops into a Creole, which is exactly how the
Jamaican Creole was developed. When a pidgin becomes a Creole “the lexicon is expanded and frequently a more elaborate syntactic system evolves” (Todd 2). One of the characteristics of the Creole can be seen in Godfrey’s speech when he does not use a verb in the sentence “I too old now” (Rhys 6). Another example is found when Christophine says “she pretty like pretty self” (Rhys 5) in which “the omission of the inessentials creates an impression of
14 vitality to speakers of the language that was the source of the Creole” (Smith 135). The dialect in Wide Sargasso Sea functions as a distinction between classes. Especially in Mr.
Rochester’s narrative it becomes clear that there is a class distinction between himself, who speaks perfect English, and the two porters, who speak broken English. Next to that, he says he hears some women speak in the “debased French patois” (Rhys 40), showing that he sees the Creole French as an inferior language compared to English. Consequently, he sees the
Creole women as inferior to himself, who is English. The dialect in which Godfrey and
Christophine speak shows the reader that even though they have lived with Antoinette’s family for a long time, they still speak a dialect that is seen as inferior. No matter how long they have lived with a higher class family they will always stay in a lower class than the family they work for.
4.4 Possible translations
In his article “Translating Dialect Literature”, Luigi Bonaffini says that “translating into a standard language, the translator cannot capture the eccentricity of vernacular speech, its function as an alternative, a non-normative deviation from the norm” (280). This means that the dialect in the text should not be translated in standard Dutch. If it were translated into standard Dutch, the function of the dialect in the text would be lost. There would be no distinction between the speech of Godfrey and Mr. Rochester for example, while this difference in speech is exactly what shows the difference in classes between the two.
Therefore, it is clear that the dialect should be translated as a dialect. Catford gives three options in his book for translating such a dialect. He says that “[t]exts in the unmarked dialect of the SL can usually be translated in an equivalent unmarked TL dialect. When the TL has no equivalent unmarked dialect the translator may have to select one particular TL dialect, create a new 'literary' dialect of the TL, or resort to other expedients” (87). However, which Dutch dialect should be chosen to replace the Jamaican Patois that is used in the source text? Every
dialect that would be used has its own connotations to it, which means that none of those
15 dialects would be a perfect choice for the translation. Therefore I have chosen to use Catford’s third option and create “a new ‘literary’ dialect of the TL” (87). I have looked at the most important markers of the dialect that is used in the source text and tried to use those same markers in the Dutch translation of the dialect. For example, the omission of the verb that sometimes occurs in Godfrey’s speech is maintained in the translation. This leads to “I too old now” (Rhys 6) being translated as
Ik te oud nu . This way, the markers of the dialect are still present in the translation, while the translation is also understandable.
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Chapter 5 Dutch Translation Comparison
In 1974 the novel Wide Sargasso Sea was translated into Dutch by W.A Dorsman-Vos as Sargasso zee . A revised edition was published in 1983, changing the name into De wijde
Sargasso Zee and adding an afterword by Francis Wyndham. The same revised edition was again printed in 2006. I have not been able to get a hold of the 1974 translation. However, I suspect that the only revision made to that edition was the addition of the afterword and the change in the title. The following translation comparison will therefore be based on the 2006 version of De wijde Sargasso Zee .
5.1 Allusions to the Bible
While I have chosen to use a recent translation of the Bible in Dutch to translate the allusions that are used in the novel, this is not what W.A. Dorsman-Vos seems to have done.
For example, Dorsman-Vos translated “the devil prince of this world” (Rhys 6) as “[d]e duivel, hij zwaait de scepter over deze wereld” (7). This is not a translation that is used literally in a Bible translation. However, the allusion is still clear I think. Even though an existing Bible translation was not used, the allusions to the Bible are not lost in this translation.
5.2 Colonial terminology
The difference between the existing translation and my own translation is that
Dorsman-Vos has translated “boy” and “girl” simply as jongen and meisje , while I interpreted it as being people who are hired by Mr. Rochester and Antoinette and therefore translated it as huisjongen and huismeisje . Both translations do have the word drager as the translation of a porter. This probably means that Dorsman-Vos has not really looked at the colonial terminology in history books, however, we did come to the same conclusion regarding the word “porter”.
5.3 Dialect
It seems like Dorsman-Vos has chosen not to translate the dialect of the source text
17 into a dialect in the target text. Every time that dialect has been used in the source text, by for example Godfrey or the porters, it is translated as standard Dutch in the target text. The consequence of this decision is that the obvious class difference that is shown by the difference in speech between Godfrey and Mr. Rochester for example, is lost in the target text. That is exactly the reason why I have chosen not to leave the dialect out of their speech.
It seems quite an important aspect of the text to me because it makes that distinction in classes, which was very important in the 19 th
century, in which the novel is set. This is a significant difference between the existing translation and my own translation.
5.4 Conclusion
The different choices that are made in both translations lead to a difference in the overall text. While there is a clear distinction between Antoinette’s narrative and Mr.
Rochester’s narrative in the source text, this distinction is less clear in the translation by
Dorsman-Vos. Especially by choosing to leave out the dialect entirely, there is less of a class distinction visible in people’s speech. Since this difference in speech is also used for
Antoinette’s narrative compared to Mr. Rochester’s in the source text, it is to a certain extent lost in the existing translation. Furthermore, by using words as jongen and meisje instead of huisjongen and huismeisje there is also less of a class distinction visible in the existing translation compared to the source text and to my own translation. By making the choices that
I did, I think that this distinction between the two narratives is still visible in my own translation of the text.
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Chapter 6 Translation
The following is my own translation of a part of Wide Sargasso Sea. I have chosen two parts from the novel, both from Antoinette’s point of view and from Mr. Rochester’s point of view.
The first part is from the point of view of Antoinette. I chose this part because it has something in it about the time frame and the place of the story. Next to that, it shows how
Antoinette saw her mother and how she saw things when she was a child. The second part is from the point of view of Mr. Rochester. I chose this part because it shows how Mr.
Rochester thinks about his wife Antoinette at the very beginning of their relationship. This might be linked back to how he thought about her in Jane Eyre . The combination of these two parts shows the distinction in classes in society during that time and it has a clear difference between the two narratives. Looking at the number of translation problems, these two parts are a good choice because there is made use of dialect, colonial terminology and several different allusions to different texts.
Part 1 pp 5-9
Sluit de gelederen zeggen ze wanneer gevaar dichtbij komt, en dat is wat de blanken deden.
Maar wij zaten niet in hun gelederen. De Jamaicaanse dames hadden mijn moeder nooit goedgekeurd, ‘want ze is zo mooi als mooiheid zelf,’ zei Christophine.
Ze was mijn vaders tweede vrouw, veel te jong voor hem vonden ze, en wat nog erger was, een meisje van Martinique. Toen ik haar vroeg waarom we zo weinig visite kregen, zei ze me dat de weg van Spanish Town naar Coulibri Estate waar we woonden erg slecht was en dat wegherstel nu tot het verleden behoorde. (Mijn vader, bezoek, paarden, een veilig gevoel in bed – alles behoorde tot het verleden.)
Op een dag hoorde ik haar praten met meneer Luttrell, onze buurman en haar enige vriend. ‘Natuurlijk hebben ze hun eigen tegenslagen. Ze wachten nog steeds op die vergoeding die de Engelsen hebben beloofd toen de Emancipation Act werd goedgekeurd.
Sommigen zullen lang wachten.’
Hoe kon ze weten dat meneer Luttrell het wachten als eerste beu zou zijn? Op een rustige avond schoot hij zijn hond dood, stortte zich in de zee, en was voorgoed verdwenen.
Er kwam geen zaakwaarnemer vanuit Engeland om op zijn bezit te letten – Nelson’s Rest
19 heette het – en vreemden uit Spanish Town reden erheen om te roddelen en het drama te bespreken.
‘In Nelson’s Rest wonen? Voor geen goud. Een vervloekte plek.’
Meneer Luttrells huis kwam leeg te staan, de luiken klapperden in de wind. Al snel zeiden de zwarte mensen dat het er spookte, ze wilden er niet bij in de buurt komen. En niemand kwam bij ons in de buurt.
Ik raakte gewend aan een eenzaam leven, maar mijn moeder maakte nog steeds plannen en hoopte nog steeds – misschien moest ze wel hopen elke keer dat ze langs een spiegel liep.
Ze reed nog steeds elke morgen rond zonder zich iets aan te trekken van de zwarte mensen die in groepjes rondhingen om haar uit te jouwen, vooral nadat haar rijkleding versleten raakte (ze letten op kleding, ze zijn op de hoogte van geld).
En toen zag ik op een dag, heel vroeg, haar paard onder de frangipaniboom liggen. Ik ging naar hem toe maar hij was niet ziek, hij was dood en zijn ogen waren zwart van de vliegen. Ik rende weg en praatte er niet over want ik dacht dat als ik het aan niemand vertelde het misschien niet waar zou zijn. Maar later die dag vond Godfrey hem, hij was vergiftigd.
‘Nu zijn we geïsoleerd, 1 ’ zei mijn moeder, ‘wat zal er nu van ons worden?’
Godfrey zei, ‘ik kan niet hele nacht en dag op het paard letten. Ik te oud nu. Als de
1 The problem with this word is that there is a double meaning in the English text. The word
“marooned” does not only mean geïsoleerd , it is also a reference to the word ‘maroon’, which is “the name in Jamaica for the descendants of the slaves of the Spaniards” (Smith 139).
However, it is impossible to keep both the literal meaning of the word and this reference to a maroon in the translation. Therefore I have had to choose for the literal meaning of the word, which means the reference is lost in my translation.
20 oude tijd gaat, laat het gaan. Geen nut om er naar te grijpen. Voor de Heer geen verschil tussen zwart en blank, zwart en blank hetzelfde voor Hem. Rust jezelf in vrede want de rechtvaardigen worden niet verlaten.’ Maar dat kon ze niet. Ze was nog jong. Hoe kon ze niet reiken naar al die dingen die zo plotseling en zonder waarschuwing waren verdwenen. ‘Je bent blind wanneer je blind wilt zijn,’ zei ze woest, ‘en je bent doof wanneer je doof wilt zijn.
Die oude hypocriet,’ bleef ze maar zeggen. ‘Hij wist wat ze van plan waren.’ ‘De duivel is de heerser van deze wereld,’ zei Godfrey, ‘maar deze wereld duurt niet lang voor sterfelijke mensen.’
Ze haalde een dokter uit Spanish Town over om naar mijn jongere broertje Pierre te komen kijken, omdat hij wankelde als hij liep en niet duidelijk kon spreken. Ik weet niet wat de dokter tegen haar heeft gezegd of wat zij tegen hem zei maar hij is nooit meer terug gekomen en daarna veranderde ze. Plotseling, niet geleidelijk. Ze werd dun en stil, en uiteindelijk weigerde ze helemaal het huis te verlaten.
Onze tuin was groot en prachtig zoals die tuin uit de Bijbel – de levensboom groeide daar. Maar hij was verwilderd. De paden waren overwoekerd en een geur van dode bloemen mengde zich met de frisse geur van levende bloemen. Onder de boomvarens, zo groot als boomvarens in een bos, was het licht groen. Orchideeën bloeiden buiten bereik of om een of andere reden om niet aangeraakt te worden. De ene zag er slangachtig uit, de ander leek op een octopus met lange dunne bruine tentakels zonder bladeren, die aan een gekronkelde wortel hingen. Twee keer per jaar stond de octopusorchidee in bloei – dan zag je nog geen centimeter
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tentakel. Het was een klokvormige massa van witte, lichtpaarse en donkerpaarse kleuren, schitterend om te zien. De geur was zoet en doordringend. Ik kwam er nooit bij in de
2 I have chosen to translate “inch” here with centimeter . This is not the exact same length, because an inch is about 3 centimeters, however that is not very important here. In this part of the text it is not exactly an inch that is measured, but is said to show how little of the tentacles you see. Therefore, to make it sound more natural to the Dutch reader, I translated it with centimeter . This gives the same idea of how little of the tentacle you see, and the length does not have to be exactly the same as an inch.
21 buurt.
Heel Coulibri Estate was verwilderd zoals de tuin, vergroeid tot een jungle. Geen slavernij meer – waarom zou iemand nog moeten werken? Dit maakte mij nooit verdrietig. Ik kon me de plek niet herinneren toen het er beter was.
Mijn moeder liep meestal op en neer over de glacis , een betegeld overdekt terras dat langs de gehele lengte van het huis liep en schuin opliep naar een groep bamboeplanten. Als ze bij die bamboeplanten stond had ze een duidelijk uitzicht over de zee, maar iedereen die langskwam kon naar haar staren. Ze staarden, soms lachten ze. Lang nadat het geluid ver weg en verzwakt was hield ze haar ogen dicht en haar vuisten gebald. Er kwam een frons tussen haar zwarte wenkbrauwen, een diepe – het had met een mes gesneden kunnen zijn. Ik haatte die frons en een keer raakte ik haar voorhoofd aan in een poging het glad te strijken. Maar ze duwde me weg, niet ruw, maar rustig, koud, zonder een woord, alsof ze voor eens en voor altijd had besloten dat ik nutteloos voor haar was. Ze wilde bij Pierre zitten, of lopen waar ze wilde zonder lastig gevallen te worden, ze wilde rust. Ik was oud genoeg om voor mezelf te zorgen. ‘Ach, laat me met rust,’ zou ze zeggen, ‘laat me met rust,’ en nadat ik ontdekt had dat ze hardop tegen zichzelf praatte was ik een beetje bang voor haar.
Daarom bracht ik het grootste deel van mijn tijd door in de keuken die zich in een afgelegen bijgebouw bevond. Christophine sliep in het kamertje ernaast.
Als het avond werd zong ze voor me als ze daarvoor in de stemming was. Ik kon haar patois liedjes – ze kwam ook uit Martinique – niet altijd begrijpen maar ze leerde me degene die betekende ‘De kleintjes worden oud, de kinderen verlaten ons, zullen ze terug komen?’ en die over de cederbloemen die maar een dag bloeien.
De muziek was vrolijk maar de woorden waren droevig en haar stem beefde vaak en brak op een hoge noot. ‘Adieu.’ Niet adieu zoals wij dat zeiden, maar à dieu , wat ook logischer was. De liefhebbende man was alleen, het meisje was in de steek gelaten, de
22 kinderen kwamen nooit terug. Adieu.
Haar liedjes waren niet zoals Jamaicaanse liedjes, en zij was niet zoals de andere vrouwen.
Ze was veel zwarter – blauwzwart met een smal gezicht en strakke gelaatstrekken. Ze droeg een zwarte jurk, zware gouden oorbellen en een gele zakdoek om haar hoofd – zorgvuldig geknoopt met de twee hoge punten aan de voorkant. Geen enkele andere negerin droeg zwart, of knoopte haar zakdoek op de Martinique manier. Ze had een zachte stem en een zachte lach (als ze lachte), en ook al kon ze goed Engels praten als ze wilde, en Frans zowel als Patois, ze zorgde er voor om te praten zoals de anderen praatten. Maar ze wilden niks met haar te maken hebben en haar zoon, die in Spanish Town werkte, zag ze nooit. Ze had maar één vriendin – een vrouw genaamd Maillotte, en Maillotte was geen Jamaicaanse.
De meisjes die aan de baai woonden en soms hielpen met het wassen en schoonmaken waren als de dood voor Christophine. Dat was de reden dat ze überhaupt kwamen, zo ontdekte ik al snel – want ze werden er niet voor betaald. Toch brachten ze cadeaus van fruit en groenten mee en als het donker werd hoorde ik vaak zachte stemmen vanuit de keuken.
Dus ik stelde vragen over Christophine. Was ze erg oud? Was ze altijd al bij ons geweest?
‘Ze was je vaders huwelijkscadeau voor mij – een van zijn cadeaus. Hij dacht dat ik blij zou zijn met een huismeisje van Martinique. Ik weet niet hoe oud ze was toen ze haar naar
Jamaica brachten, vrij jong. Ik weet niet hoe oud ze nu is. Maakt het iets uit? Waarom kwel je me en val je me lastig over al die dingen die lang geleden gebeurd zijn? Christophine is bij me gebleven omdat ze dat wilde. Ze had haar eigen zeer goede redenen, daar mag je zeker van zijn. Ik denk dat we dood waren gegaan als zij zich tegen ons had gekeerd en dat was een beter lot geweest. Om te sterven en vergeten te worden en de eeuwige rust te genieten. Om niet te weten dat men verlaten is, over je gelogen wordt en hulpeloos is. Iedereen die dood is
gegaan – wie doet er nu nog een goed woordje voor hen?’
‘Godfrey is ook gebleven,’ zei ik. ‘En Sass.’
‘Ze zijn gebleven,’ zei ze boos, ‘omdat ze een plek wilden om te slapen en iets om te
23 eten. Die jongen Sass! Toen zijn moeder hier met haar neus in de lucht wegliep en hem hier achterliet – oh wat gaf zij er veel om! – nou toen kon je zijn botten tellen. Nu groeit hij op tot een grote sterke jongen en weg is hij. We zullen hem nooit meer zien. Godfrey is een schoft.
Die nieuwe heren zijn niet al te aardig tegen oude mensen en dat weet hij. Daarom blijft hij.
Voert niks uit maar eet genoeg voor een stel paarden. Doet alsof hij doof is. Hij is niet doof – hij wil gewoon niet horen. Hij is echt een duivel!’
‘Waarom zeg je hem dan niet dat hij ergens anders moet gaan wonen?’ zei ik en ze lachte.
‘Hij zou nooit gaan. Hij zou waarschijnlijk proberen ons er uit te werken. Ik heb geleerd om geen valse slapende honden wakker te maken,’ zei ze.
‘Zou Christophine gaan als je haar dat zou zeggen?’ dacht ik. Maar ik zei het niet. Ik was bang om het te zeggen.
Het was te heet die middag. Ik kon de zweetdruppels op haar bovenlip en de donkere kringen onder haar ogen zien. Ik begon haar toe te waaieren, maar ze draaide haar hoofd weg.
Ze zou misschien kunnen rusten als ik haar alleen liet, zei ze.
Ooit zou ik stilletjes teruggegaan zijn om haar in haar slaap te bekijken op de blauwe bank – ooit verzon ik smoesjes om dicht bij haar te zijn wanneer ze haar haren kamde, een zachte zwarte mantel om me te bedekken, te verstoppen, me veilig te houden.
Maar nu niet meer. Niet meer.
3
3
In the English text there is a variation between the two times that Antoinette says she will not do it anymore. However, in Dutch it is harder to find two variations of this sentence.
Therefore I have decided to use the same phrase twice. This repetition also makes the sentences stronger, which is important at this point in the text.
Part 2 pp 39-42
Zo was het allemaal voorbij, de opmars en de terugtrekking
4
, de twijfels en de aarzelingen.
24
Alles kwam tot een einde, in voor- en tegenspoed 5 . Daar zaten we, schuilend voor de regen onder een grote mangoboom, ikzelf, mijn vrouw Antoinette en een halfbloed dienstmeisje dat
Amélie werd genoemd. Onder een naastgelegen boom kon ik onze bagage bedekt met jutezakken zien, evenals de twee dragers en een huisjongen die nieuwe paarden vasthield. Ze waren ingehuurd om ons zo’n 600 meter
6
naar boven te brengen naar het wachtende huwelijksreis huis.
7
Het huismeisje Amélie zei vanochtend, ‘ik hoop dat u erg blij zal zijn, meneer, in uw fijne huwelijksreis huis.’ Ik kon zien dat ze me uitlachte. Een lief klein ding maar geniepig, hatelijk, verderfelijk misschien, zoals zoveel in deze plaats.
‘Het is maar een bui,’ zei Antoinette ongerust. ‘Het zal snel ophouden.’
Ik keek naar de treurige gebogen kokospalmen, de vissersboten die waren opgesteld op het kiezelstrand, de ongelijke rij van gewitte huisjes, en vroeg naar de naam van het dorp.
‘Massacre’
‘En onder wie is hier een bloedbad aangericht? Slaven?’ 8
4
These words in English, “advance and retreat”, remind someone of words that are used in the army. With this translation I have tried to create the same connotation of terms used in the army as the English words do.
5
The English words “for better or for worse” are used in a wedding ceremony. Therefore I have used the Dutch version of this phrase that is used in a Dutch wedding ceremony in order to create the same connotation that is present in the source text.
6 I have chosen to translate and convert the words “2000 feet” into 600 meter . This does not change the setting of the story, however it does give the reader a better idea of the distance that Mr. Rochester is talking about, which makes it more naturalizing instead of exoticizing
(Holmes 185).
7
This sentence is quite long in the source text. If I were to translate this sentence as one sentence in Dutch, it would be too long and the reader would lose track of what is being said.
In order to make this run better, I have decided to divide the sentence into two shorter sentences, and to add the word evenals in the first sentence.
8
In the English text there is a very nice connection between the name of the village,
“Massacre”, and the question asked by Mr. Rochester that follows, “who was massacred here?”. However, it is not possible to keep this connection in the Dutch translation. Even though Dutch does have the word gemassacreerd , it is not something that people would use.
25
‘Nee zeker niet!’ Ze klonk geschokt. ‘Geen slaven. Er moet lang geleden iets gebeurd zijn. Niemand weet het nu meer.’
Het begon harder te regenen, dikke druppels vielen als hagelstenen op de bladeren van de boom, en de zee kroop ongezien heen en weer.
Dus dit is Massacre. Niet het einde van de wereld, alleen maar het laatste punt van onze eindeloze tocht vanaf Jamaica, het begin van onze fijne huwelijksreis. En het zal er allemaal heel anders uitzien in het zonlicht.
Er was afgesproken dat we Spanish Town direct na de ceremonie zouden verlaten en een aantal weken op een van de Bovenwindse Eilanden zouden doorbrengen, op een klein landgoed dat Antoinettes moeder had toebehoord. Ik stemde ermee in. Zoals ik met alles had ingestemd.
De ramen van de huisjes waren dicht, de deuren kwamen uit in stilte en schemering.
Toen kwamen er drie jongetjes ons aanstaren. De kleinste droeg alleen een religieuze gedenkpenning om zijn nek en de rand van een grote vissershoed. Toen ik naar hem glimlachte, begon hij te huilen. Een vrouw riep vanuit een van de huisjes en hij rende weg, nog steeds aan het krijsen.
De andere twee volgden langzaam, terwijl ze af en toe achterom keken.
Alsof dit een teken was verscheen er een tweede vrouw bij haar deur, daarna een derde.
‘Dat is Caro,’ zei Antoinette. ‘Ik weet zeker dat het Caro is. Caroline,’ riep ze, terwijl ze zwaaide, en de vrouw zwaaide terug. Een opzichtig oud ding, in een fleurig gebloemde jurk, een gestreepte zakdoek om haar hoofd en met gouden oorbellen.
‘Je raakt doorweekt, Antoinette,’ zei ik.
Therefore, I simply hope that the reader will to some extent see the connection between
Massacre en bloedbad aangericht . This is one of the places where there is a text-specific translation problem, namely a play on words, that cannot be kept in the Dutch translation
(Nord “Tekstanalyse” 147)
26
‘Nee, het stopt al met regenen.’ Ze hield de rok van haar ruiterkledij omhoog en rende de straat over. Ik bekeek haar kritisch. Ze droeg een driesteek die haar goed stond. Hij wierp in ieder geval een schaduw op haar te grote en soms verontrustende ogen.
9
Het lijkt
10
alsof ze nooit knippert. Lange, treurige, donkere vreemde ogen. Ze mag dan misschien wel creools zijn van puur Engelse afkomst, maar haar ogen zijn Engels noch Europees. En wanneer begon ik dit allemaal op te merken aan mijn vrouw Antoinette? Nadat we Spanish Town verlieten vermoed ik. Of merkte ik het eerder op en weigerde ik toe te geven wat ik zag? Niet dat ik veel tijd had om ook maar iets op te merken. Een maand nadat ik in Jamaica kwam was ik getrouwd en van die tijd lag ik bijna drie weken op bed met koorts.
De twee vrouwen stonden in de deuropening van het huisje te gebaren en te praten, niet in het Engels maar in het ontaarde Franse patois dat ze gebruiken op dit eiland. De regen begon langs mijn nek naar beneden te druppelen wat bijdroeg tot mijn gevoel van ongemak en zwaarmoedigheid.
Ik dacht aan de brief die een week geleden naar Engeland geschreven had moeten worden. Beste Vader...
‘Caroline vraagt of je in haar huis komt schuilen.’
Dat was Antoinette. Ze sprak aarzelend alsof ze verwachtte dat ik het af zou wijzen, waardoor het gemakkelijk was om dat te doen.
9
I have changed quite a few things in this sentence to make it sound more natural in Dutch.
The first thing, is that the word “shadowed” can here best be translated as wierp een schaduw op . This turns the verb that is used in English into a verb and a noun in Dutch. The second change in this sentence is that the subordinate clause “which are too large and can be disconcerting” is changed into two adjectives to the word ogen . Consequently, the word “can” is translated as soms
. For these changes I have used Chesterman’s G3 category of transposition (156). I made this decision because there is a shift in tenses between the first and the second part of the sentence. In the English text, it is fine to do so. However, in the Dutch translation this shift would be distracting to the reader.
10
In the English of the source text, the words “to me” are added to “it seems”. I did not translate this in the Dutch text, because it would make the sentence weird and unnatural. This can be done because the focalization is clear. Since Mr. Rochester is talking to the reader all this time, it is clear that “it seems” only applies to him.
27
‘Maar je wordt nat,’ zei ze.
‘Dat vind ik niet erg.’ Ik glimlachte naar Caroline en schudde mijn hoofd.
‘Ze zal erg teleurgesteld zijn,’ zei mijn vrouw. Ze stak de straat weer over en ging het donkere huisje binnen.
Amélie, die met haar rug naar ons toe had gezeten, draaide zich om. Haar gezichtsuitdrukking was een en al opgetogen kwaadwilligheid en zo intelligent, bovenal zo intiem dat ik me schaamde en wegkeek.
‘Goed,’ dacht ik. ‘Ik heb wel koorts gehad. Ik ben mezelf nog niet.’
Het regende niet meer zo hard en ik ging met de dragers praten. De eerste man was geen inwoner van het eiland. ‘Dit een erg wilde plek – niet beschaafd. Waarom komt u hier?’
Hij werd de Jonge Stier
11
genoemd vertelde hij me, en hij was zevenentwintig jaar oud. Een schitterend lichaam en een dwaas verwaand gezicht. De naam van de andere man was Emile, ja, hij was geboren in het dorp, hij woonde daar. ‘Vraag hem hoe oud hij is,’ opperde de
Jonge Stier. Emile zei met een vertwijfelde stem, ‘Veertien? Ja, ik heb veertien jaar meester.’
‘Onmogelijk,’ zei ik. Ik kon de grijze haren in zijn dunne baard zien.
‘Zesenvijftig jaar misschien.’ Hij leek mij erg graag tevreden te willen stellen.
12
De Jonge Stier lachte luidruchtig. ‘Hij weet niet hoe oud hij is, hij denkt niet over na.
Ik zeg u meneer deze mensen niet beschaafd.’
Emile mompelde, ‘Mijn moeder zij weet, maar zij dood.’ Toen haalde hij een blauw vodje tevoorschijn dat hij tot een kussentje draaide en op zijn hoofd legde.
De meeste vrouwen stonden buiten hun deuren naar ons te kijken, maar zonder te
11
The name that is used in the English text is “Young Bull”. Since this is quite a significant name and since it exists of two words that can be translated into Dutch, I have decided to translate this name into Jonge Stier . This clarifies the name more for the Dutch reader and it is more naturalizing than English words within a Dutch text.
12 The English text states that Emile seemed “anxious to please”. This is difficult to translate as such. I have decided to add the word mij , making the sentence more specific, namely that he seemed anxious to please Mr. Rochester himself, making the translation easier.
glimlachen. Sombere mensen in een somber dorp. Sommige mannen gingen naar hun boten
28 toe. Toen Emile riep, kwamen er twee van hen naar hem toe. Hij zong met een zware stem. Ze antwoordden en tilden toen zingend de zware rieten mand op en zwaaiden hem op zijn hoofdkussentje. Hij testte het evenwicht met een hand en stapte weg, blootsvoets op de scherpe stenen, veruit het meest opgewekte lid van het trouwgezelschap. Terwijl de Jonge
Stier werd beladen wierp hij zijdelings een opschepperige blik naar me en ook hij zong voor zichzelf in het Engels.
De huisjongen bracht de paarden naar een grote steen en ik zag Antoinette uit het huisje komen. De zon begon fel te schijnen en stoom steeg op vanuit het groen achter ons.
Amélie deed haar schoenen uit, knoopte ze aan elkaar en hing ze om haar nek. Ze balanceerde haar mandje op haar hoofd en liep net zo gemakkelijk weg als de dragers. We bestegen de paarden
13
, sloegen de hoek om en het dorp was uit het zicht verdwenen. Een haan kraaide luid en ik herinnerde me de vorige avond die we in de stad hadden doorgebracht. Antoinette had een kamer voor zichzelf, ze was uitgeput. Ik lag de hele nacht wakker, te luisteren naar kraaiende hanen, stond toen heel vroeg op en zag de vrouwen met dienbladen, bedekt met witte stof, op hun hoofden naar de keuken gaan. De vrouw met kleine warme broden te koop, de vrouw met taarten, de vrouw met snoepgoed. Op straat riep een andere vrouw Bon sirop,
Bon sirop
14
, en ik voelde me vredig.
De weg klom omhoog. Aan de ene kant de muur van groen, aan de andere een steile wand naar het ravijn beneden. We hielden halt en keken naar de heuvels, de bergen en de blauwgroene zee. Er blies een zachte warme wind maar ik begreep waarom de drager het een
13
The English here only says “mounted”, which immediately implies that they mounted the horses. In Dutch however, one cannot only say bestegen . To make the sentence grammatically correct, it has to be added what they bestegen , which is in this case de paarden .
14
I have chosen to maintain the French sentence here, because it helps in creating a setting of the story. In the English text, the French sentence is also not translated into English but the
French sentence itself is used. Therefore I think that Jean Rhys has used French here for a reason, namely to create a better setting for the story. That is the reason why I have chosen to maintain the French in my translation as well.
wilde plek had genoemd. Niet alleen wild maar dreigend. Die heuvels zouden je insluiten.
29
‘Wat een extreem groen,’ was alles wat ik kon zeggen, en terwijl ik dacht aan Emile die naar de vissers riep en het geluid van zijn stem, vroeg ik naar hem.
‘Ze nemen een kortere weg. Ze zullen in Granbois zijn lang voordat wij er zijn.’
Alles is te veel, voelde ik terwijl ik vermoeid achter haar aan reed. Te veel blauw, te veel paars, te veel groen. De bloemen te rood, de bergen te hoog, de heuvels te dichtbij. En de vrouw is een vreemdeling. Haar smekende uitdrukking irriteert me. Ik heb haar niet gekocht, zij heeft mij gekocht, of dat denkt ze tenminste. Ik keek naar beneden naar de grove manen van het paard ... Beste Vader. De dertig duizend pond 15 is aan mij betaald zonder vragen of voorwaarden. Er zijn geen maatregelen opgesteld voor haar (daar moet voor gezorgd worden).
Ik heb een redelijk inkomen nu. Ik zal nooit een schande zijn voor jou of voor mijn lieve broer, de zoon van wie je houdt. Geen smekende brieven, geen gemene verzoeken. Geen van de geheime versleten manoeuvres van een jongere zoon. Ik heb mijn ziel verkocht of jij hebt hem verkocht, en, alles wel beschouwd, is dat zo’n slechte overeenkomst? Men vindt dat het meisje beeldschoon is, ze is beeldschoon. En toch ...
15
I have decided not to translate and convert this to the target culture. The text does not make clear which pounds were used (British or Jamaican) and the exact amount does not make a difference in the text. Even though using pond in the translation is a little exoticizing, it is still clear that a large sum of money was paid as a dowry, which was normal in that time.
30
Conclusion
In this thesis I have looked at the translation problems I encountered while translating part of Wide Sargasso Sea . To look at these translation problems, I have used Nord’s theory, dividing the problems into four categories.
The first category includes the pragmatic problems. The problems within the text that fall into this category are the translation of the allusions that are used in the text, or in other words the intertextuality. Most of the allusions are to the Bible and sometimes characters even literally quote from the Bible. The function of this intertextuality is to show the religious education of the characters that use the allusions. I have decided to look at an existing Bible translation and use that to translate the allusions in Wide Sargasso Sea . Another pragmatic problem was the translation of the colonial terms used in the text, like “servant” or “porter”
(Rhys 39). In order to translate these terms correctly I have used historical books about
Jamaica, and thus translated it with historically correct terms.
Two categories in which not many problems were found in the text are the culturalspecific problems, which exist of differences between source and target culture, and the interlingual problems. I converted and translated the few units of measurement that were used to naturalize the text. Furthermore, most of the long sentences were broken up into shorter ones in the target text, because this was more favorable in Dutch.
The last category of problems I looked at were the text specific problems. These are problems that only occur in one specific text, which means the solutions to these problems can only be applied to that one text. The dialect that is used in Wide Sargasso Sea is an example of such a text-specific problem. This dialect is functional in the text, because it makes the distinction between characters and their status within society. The servants and porters all speak in the Jamaican Patois dialect, which gives them a lower status in some way compared to Mr. Rochester for example, who speaks perfect English. In order to maintain this distinction in the target text, I have decided to create a dialect that is not the same as an
existing Dutch dialect, but which does bring out the essence of the dialect that is used in the
31 source text.
After having looked at all the problems of translating this text, I compared the existing translation of Wide Sargasso Sea , namely De wijde Sargasso zee with my own translation of part of the text. I especially looked at the translation problems that I described beforehand and compared my own solutions to these problems with the solutions W.A. Dorsman-Vos used for the translation. In some cases my translation differed from the existing translation, for example when looking at the translation of the dialect, but in the case of the colonial terminology both translations were almost the same.
32
Works Cited
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Essay in Applied Linguistics . London: Oxford UP, 1965. 83-92. Print.
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Eyre: Intertextual and Intermedial Reworkings of Jane Eyre . By Margarete Rubik and
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Nord, Christiane. "Tekstanalyse en de moeilijkheidsgraad van een vertaling." Denken over
33 vertalen: Tekstboek vertaalwetenschap . Ed. Ton Naaijkens, Cees Koster, Henri
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34
Appendix
English text of Wide Sargasso Sea
Part 1 pp. 5-9, Antoinette point of view
They say when trouble comes close ranks, and so the white people did. But we were not in their ranks. The Jamaican ladies had never approved of my mother, ‘because she pretty like pretty self’ Christophine said.
She was my father’s second wife, far too young for him they thought, and, worse still, a Martinique girl. When I asked her why so few people came to see us, she told me that the road from Spanish Town to Coulibri Estate where we lived was very bad and that road repairing was now a thing of the past. (My father, visitors, horses, feeling safe in bed – all belonged to the past.)
Another day I heard her talking to Mr Luttrell, our neighbour and her only friend. ‘Of course they have their own misfortunes. Still waiting for this compensation the English promised when the Emancipation Act was passed. Some will wait for a long time.’
How could she know that Mr Luttrell would be the first who grew tired of waiting?
One calm evening he shot his dog, swam out to sea and was gone for always. No agent came from England to look after his property – Nelson’s Rest it was called – and strangers from
Spanish Town rode up to gossip and discuss the tragedy.
‘Live at Nelson’s Rest? Not for love or money. An unlucky place.’
Mr Luttrell’s house was left empty, shutters banging in the wind. Soon the black people said it was haunted, they wouldn’t go near it. And no one came near us.
I got used to a solitary life, but my mother still planned and hoped – perhaps she had to hope every time she passed a looking glass.
She still rode about every morning not caring that the black people stood about in groups to jeer at her, especially after her riding clothes grew shabby (they notice clothes, they know about money).
35
Then one day, very early, I saw her horse lying down under the frangipani tree. I went up to him but he was not sick, he was dead and his eyes were black with flies. I ran away and did not speak of it for I thought if I told no one it might not be true. But later that day,
Godfrey found him, he had been poisoned. ‘Now we are marooned,’ my mother said, ‘now what will become of us?’
Godfrey said, ‘I can’t watch the horse night and day. I too old now. When the old time go, let it go. No use to grab at it. The Lord make no distinction between black and white, black and white the same for Him. Rest yourself in peace for the righteous are not forsaken.’
But she couldn’t. She was young. How could she not try for all the things that had gone so suddenly, so without warning. ‘You’re blind when you want to be blind,’ she said ferociously,
‘and you’re deaf when you want to be deaf. The old hypocrite,’ she kept saying. ‘He knew what they were going to do.’ ‘The devil prince of this world,’ Godfrey said, ‘but this world don’t last so long for mortal man.’
She persuaded a Spanish Town doctor to visit my younger brother Pierre who staggered when he walked and couldn’t speak distinctly. I don’t know what the doctor told her or what she said to him but he never came again and after that she changed. Suddenly, not gradually. She grew thin and silent, and at last she refused to leave the house at all.
Our garden was large and beautiful as that garden in the Bible – the tree of life grew there. But it had gone wild. The paths were overgrown and a smell of dead flowers mixed with the fresh living smell. Underneath the tree ferns, tall as forest tree ferns, the light was green. Orchids flourished out of reach or for some reason not to be touched. One was snaky looking, another like an octopus with long thin brown tentacles bare of leaves hanging from a twisted root. Twice a year the octopus orchid flowered – then not an inch of tentacle showed.
It was a bell-shaped mass of white, mauve, deep purples, wonderful to see. The scent was very sweet and strong. I never went near it.
All Coulibri Estate had gone wild like the garden, gone to bush. No more slavery – why should anybody work? This never saddened me. I did not remember the place when it was prosperous.
My mother usually walked up and down the glacis , a paved roofed-in terrace which ran the length of the house and sloped upward to a clump of bamboos. Standing by the bamboos she had a clear view to the sea, but anyone passing could stare at her. They stared,
36 sometimes they laughed. Long after the sound was far away and faint she kept her eyes shut and her hands clenched. A frown came between her black eyebrows, deep – it might have been cut with a knife. I hated this frown and once I touched her forehead trying to smooth it.
But she pushed me away, not roughly but calmly, coldly, without a word, as if she had decided once and for all that I was useless to her. She wanted to sit with Pierre or walk where she pleased without being pestered, she wanted peace and quiet. I was old enough to look after myself. ‘Oh, let me alone,’ she would say, ‘let me alone,’ and after I knew that she talked aloud to herself I was a little afraid of her.
So I spent most of my time in the kitchen which was an outbuilding some way off.
Christophine slept in the little room next to it.
When evening came she sang to me if she was in the mood. I couldn’t always understand her patois songs – she also came from Martinique – but she taught me the one that meant ‘The little ones grow old, the children leave us, will they come back?’ and the one about the cedar tree flowers which only last for a day.
The music was gay but the words were sad and her voice often quavered and broke on the high note. ‘Adieu.’ Not adieu as we said it, but à dieu
, which made more sense after all.
The loving man was lonely, the girl was deserted, the children never came back. Adieu.
Her songs were not like Jamaican songs, and she was not like the other women.
She was much blacker – blue-black with a thin face and straight features. She wore a
37 black dress, heavy gold earrings and a yellow handkerchief – carefully tied with the two high points in front. No other negro woman wore black, or tied her handkerchief Martinique fashion. She had a quiet voice and a quiet laugh (when she did laugh), and though she could speak good English if she wanted to, and French as well as patois, she took care to talk as they talked. But they would have nothing to do with her and she never saw her son who worked in
Spanish Town. She had only one friend – a woman called Maillotte, and Maillotte was not a
Jamaican.
The girls from the bayside who sometimes helped with the washing and cleaning were terrified of her. That, I soon discovered, was why they came at all – for she never paid them.
Yet they brought presents of fruit and vegetables and after dark I often heard low voices from the kitchen.
So I asked about Christophine. Was she very old? Had she always been with us?
‘She was your father’s wedding present to me – one of his presents. He thought I would be pleased with a Martinique girl. I don’t know how old she was when they brought her to Jamaica, quite young. I don’t know how old she is now. Does it matter? Why do you pester and bother me about all these things that happened long ago? Christophine stayed with me because she wanted to stay. She had her own very good reasons you may be sure. I dare say we would have died if she’d turned against us and that would have been a better fate. To die and be forgotten and at peace. Not to know that one is abandoned, lied about, helpless. All the ones who died – who says a good word for them now?’
‘Godfrey stayed too,’ I said. ‘And Sass.’
‘They stayed,’ she said angrily, ‘because they wanted somewhere to sleep and something to eat. That boy Sass! When his mother pranced off and left him here – a great deal she cared – why he was a little skeleton. Now he’s growing into a big strong boy and away he goes. We shan’t see him again. Godfrey is a rascal. These new ones aren’t too kind to old
people and he knows it. That’s why he stays. Doesn’t do a thing but eat enough for a couple
38 of horses. Pretends he’s deaf. He isn’t deaf – he doesn’t want to hear. What a devil he is!’
‘Why don’t you tell him to find somewhere else to live?’ I said and she laughed.
‘He wouldn’t go. He’d probably try to force us out. I’ve learned to let sleeping curs lie,’ she said.
‘Would Christophine go if you told her to?’ I thought. But I didn’t say it. I was afraid to say it.
It was too hot that afternoon. I could see the beads of perspiration on her upper lip and the dark circles under her eyes. I started to fan her, but she turned her head away. She might rest if I left her alone, she said.
Once I would have gone back quietly to watch her asleep on the blue sofa – once I made excuses to be near her when she brushed her hair, a soft black cloak to cover me, hide me, keep me safe.
But not any longer. Not any more.
Part 2 pp 39-42, Mr. Rochester point of view
So it was all over, the advance and retreat, the doubts and hesitations. Everything finished, for better or for worse. There we were, sheltering from the heavy rain under a large mango tree, myself, my wife Antoinette and a little half-caste servant who was called Amélie. Under a neighbouring tree I could see our luggage covered with sacking, the two porters and a boy holding fresh horses, hired to carry us up 2,000 feet to the waiting honeymoon house.
The girl Amélie said this morning, ‘I hope you will be very happy, sir, in your sweet honeymoon house.’ She was laughing at me I could see. A lovely little creature but sly, spiteful, malignant perhaps, like much else in this place.
‘It’s only a shower,’ Antoinette said anxiously. ‘It will soon stop.’
I looked at the sad leaning coconut palms, the fishing boats drawn up on the shingly
39 beach, the uneven row of whitewashed huts, and asked the name of the village.
‘Massacre.’
‘And who was massacred here? Slaves?’
‘Oh no.’ She sounded shocked. ‘Not slaves. Something must have happened a long time ago. Nobody remembers now.’
The rain fell more heavily, huge drops sounded like hail on the leaves of the tree, and the sea crept stealthily forwards and backwards.
So this is Massacre. Not the end of the world, only the last stage of our interminable journey from Jamaica, the start of our sweet honeymoon. And it will all look very different in the sun.
It had been arranged that we would leave Spanish Town immediately after the ceremony and spend some weeks in one of the Windward Islands, at a small estate which had belonged to Antoinette’s mother. I agreed. As I had agreed to everything else.
The windows of the huts were shut, the doors opened into silence and dimness. Then three little boys came to stare at us. The smallest wore nothing but a religious medal round his neck and the brim of a large fisherman’s hat. When I smiled at him, he began to cry. A woman called from one of the huts and he ran away, still howling.
The other two followed slowly, looking back several times.
As if this was a signal a second woman appeared at the door, then a third.
‘It’s Caro,’ Antoinette said. ‘I’m sure it’s Caro. Caroline,’ she called, waving, and the woman waved back. A gaudy old creature in a brightly flowered dress, a striped head handkerchief and gold ear-rings.
‘You’ll get soaked, Antoinette,’ I said.
‘No, the rain is stopping.’ She held up the skirt of her riding habit and ran across the street. I watched her critically. She wore a tricorne hat which became her. At least it
shadowed her eyes which are too large and can be disconcerting. She never blinks at all it
40 seems to me. Long, sad, dark alien eyes. Creole of pure English descent she may be, but they are not English or European either. And when did I begin to notice all this about my wife
Antoinette? After we left Spanish Town I suppose. Or did I notice it before and refuse to admit what I saw? Not that I had much time to notice anything. I was married one month after
I arrived in Jamaica and for nearly three weeks of that time I was in bed with fever.
The two women stood in the doorway of the hut gesticulating, talking not English but the debased French patois they use in the island. The rain began to drip down the back of my neck adding to my feeling of discomfort and melancholy.
I thought about the letter which should have been written to England a week ago.
Dear Father …
‘Caroline asks if you will shelter in her house.’
This was Antoinette. She spoke hesitatingly as if she expected me to refuse, so it was easy to do so.
‘But you are getting wet.’ she said.
‘I don’t mind that.’ I smiled at Caroline and shook my head.
‘She will be very disappointed,’ said my wife, crossed the street again and went into the dark hut.
Amélie, who had been sitting with her back to us, turned round. Her expression was so full of delighted malice, so intelligent, above all so intimate that I felt ashamed and looked away.
‘Well,’ I thought. ‘I have had fever. I am not myself yet.’
The rain was not so heavy and I went to talk to the porters. The first man was not a native of the island. ‘This a very wild place – not civilized. Why you come here?’ He was called the Young Bull he told me, and he was twenty-seven years of age. A magnificent body and a foolish conceited face. The other man’s name was Emile, yes, he was born in the
village, he lived there. ‘Ask him how old he is,’ suggested the Young Bull. Emile said in a
41 questioning voice, ‘Fourteen? Yes I have fourteen years master.’
‘Impossible,’ I said. I could see the grey hairs in his sparse beard.
‘Fifty-six years perhaps.’ He seemed anxious to please.
The Young Bull laughed loudly. ‘He don’t know how old he is, he don’t think about it.
I tell you sir these people are not civilized.’
Emile muttered, ‘My mother she know, but she dead.’ Then he produced a blue rag which he twisted into a pad and put on his head.
Most of the women were outside their doors looking at us but without smiling.
Sombre people in a sombre place. Some of the men were going to their boats. When Emile shouted, two of them came towards him. He sang in a deep voice. They answered, then lifted the heavy wicker basket and swung it on to his head-pad singing. He tested the balance with one hand and strode off, barefooted on the sharp stones, by far the gayest member of the wedding party. As the Young Bull was loaded up he glanced at me sideways boastfully and he too sang to himself in English.
The boy brought the horses to a large stone and I saw Antoinette coming from the hut.
The sun blazed out and steam rose from the green behind us. Amélie took her shoes off, tied them together and hung them round her neck. She balanced her small basket on her head and swung away as easily as the porters. We mounted, turned a corner and the village was out of sight. A cock crowed loudly and I remembered the night before which we had spent in the town. Antoinette had a room to herself, she was exhausted. I lay awake listening to cocks crowing all night, then got up very early and saw the women with trays covered with white cloths on their heads going to the kitchen. The woman with small hot loaves for sale, the woman with cakes, the woman with sweets. In the street another called Bon sirop, Bon sirop , and I felt peaceful.
42
The road climbed upward. On one side the wall of green, on the other a steep drop to the ravine below. We pulled up and looked at the hills, the mountains and the blue-green sea.
There was a soft warm wind blowing but I understood why the porter had called it a wild place. Not only wild but menacing. Those hills would close in on you.
‘What a extreme green,’ was all I could say, and thinking of Emile calling to the fishermen and the sound of his voice, I asked about him.
‘They take short cuts. They will be at Granbois long before we are.’
Everything is too much, I felt as I rode wearily after her. Too much blue, too much purple, too much green. The flowers too red, the mountains too high, the hills too near. And the woman is a stranger. Her pleading expression annoys me. I have not bought her, she has bought me, or so she thinks. I looked down at the coarse mane of the horse … Dear Father.
The thirty thousand pounds have been paid to me without question or condition. No provision made for her (that must be seen to). I have a modest competence now. I will never be a disgrace to you or to my dear brother the son you love. No begging letters, no mean requests.
None of the furtive shabby manœuvres of a younger son. I have sold my soul or you have sold it, and after all is it such a bad bargain? The girl is thought to be beautiful, she is beautiful.
And yet …
