The island of voices

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The island of votes ( Engl. The Isle of Voices ) is a modern Hawaiian anisches tale of Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson , the collection in the 1893 Iceland Nights' Entertainments appeared.

time and place

Keola lived on Molokai with his wife Lehua in the second half of the 19th century . A photograph of Queen Victoria hangs in the living room . A steamship with tinned food as cargo will dock soon.

content

An anonymous first-person narrator says: Keola, who comes from an elegant Hawaiian family, can continue indulging in idleness after the marital relationship with Lehua. If the dollars are scarce, his father-in-law Kalamake conjures up new coins from sea shells that lie in abundance on the beach. Lehua is on the way to visit Kaunakakai when the next steamer with food is expected. The family fund is empty again. Keola is allowed to assist the wizard. It jerks and twitches a little, but Keola's impression that the dollar spell works surprisingly well.

The idler Keola continues to avoid any occupation and demands more. An accordion is to be conjured up as the next piece. Lehua warns the husband. He shouldn't get too involved with his father. Of course the husband has no hearing. Keola hopes the father-in-law will get the musical instrument during the next fishing trip. In the direction of Maui , the boat sails over the Sea of ​​the Dead. Kalamake teaches those who go overboard that the current pulls them north out into the ocean. His bones would be gathered below with the rest of the dead, and the gods would devour the spirit. Scary - the father-in-law's body swells up a lot. This huge sorcerer smashes the boat and wades away through the deep sea. Keola is lucky. The mate of a schooner on the way to Honolulu takes him on board. In the long run, service on deck is not Keola's business. He jumps into the water near the shore and reaches the island of voices while swimming. There he is welcomed in a friendly manner and well looked after. Keola doesn't have to work. He is even assigned a wife. The young woman puts the newcomer in the picture. The tribal brothers are cannibals. Keola is to be slaughtered and eaten. The man flees in horror from his new wife. Everywhere on the beach he hears whispering disembodied voices speaking “French, Dutch, Russian, Chinese and Tamil ”. The island is about three hours sailing south of Molokai and belongs to the Low or Dangerous Archipelago. The island takes its name from the invisible beings mentioned above - apparently devils or ghosts - who chat on the coast. Whoever throws the spear at the voices will not live long.

Suddenly Keola wants to die. People don't die that quickly. The next morning, the fugitive joins the ubiquitous stream of voices. These move in one direction. Suddenly, during the wild hunt, Lehua - invisible - is at Keola's side. It now turns out that Lehua also knows how to do magic. With the same utensils as they used to get dollars, the young couple conjured their way back home on the island of Molokai. Another bearable jolt and Keola sits with Lehua in your own four walls.

Keola then later confides in a missionary. First of all, this man of God condemns Keola's counterfeiting. In return, Keola generously donates dollars for missionary work. This foundation works in two ways. The missionary gives rest and the swollen father-in-law was no longer seen.

reception

German-language literature

expenditure

Secondary literature

Web links

Wikisource: The Isle of Voices  - Sources and full texts (English)

Remarks

  1. ↑ After the two epithets - Dangerous Islands, Low Archipelago - apart from the distance, one of the islands of the Tuamotu Archipelago could also be meant.
  2. ↑ Edition used.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Reinbold, p. 153, 13. Zvu
  2. ↑ engl. Island Nights' Entertainments
  3. ↑ Edition used, p. 489, 10. Zvo
  4. ↑ Edition used, p. 489, 4th Zvo