The Indian hut
La chaumière indienne (German The Indian Hut ) is a short story by the French writer Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre (1737–1814), which appeared for the first time in 1791.
content
A famous English scientist is sent on an expedition with a questionnaire to explore the knowledge of the world. After visiting the most prestigious institutions and libraries in Europe and the Middle East, he finally arrives in India, the destination of his journey. Meanwhile, the scientist is concerned with a more fundamental question, namely that of the truth . When, after a complicated ceremony, which embittered him, he received unsatisfactory answers from the most famous and respected Brahmin in India, he realized that for him the truth is only that which serves the interests of his caste. On his further journey, the Englishman gets caught in a storm and finds shelter in the forest in the hut of an untouchable man . With him, the simple and uneducated person, he not only finds the answer to his question about the truth, but also in him, his wife, his child and his animals, the image of happy and satisfied people. So the most important realization of his long journey was this: One must seek the truth with a simple heart; they are only found in nature; it should only be told to righteous people . And further: you are only truly happy with a good woman .
A view of the world related to Jean-Jacques Rousseau speaks from Saint-Pierre's story . For him, nature was created for man and the truth can be recognized in it. In contact with uneducated people who are close to nature, a moral renewal of civilized humanity can be expected. The portrayal of various natural phenomena is touching , making the sensitive author a forerunner of Romanticism .
expenditure
- First edition
- La chaumière indienne . Paris 1791.
- German translations
- Albrecht Ludwig Peter Schröder (transl.): The Indian straw hut . Neuwied / Leipzig 1791.
- Gottlob Fink (translator): The Indian hut . Pforzheim 1842.
- Albert Wittstock (translator): The Indian hut . Reclam, Leipzig around 1880.
- Gottlob Fink (translator): The Indian hut . Winkler, Munich 1986
- Gottlobe Fink (transl.): The Indian hut . Dtv, Munich 1993 (paperback edition)
literature
- Judith H. Kaufmann: La chaumière indienne . In: Walter Jens (ed.): Kindlers new literary dictionary , Vol. 2: Ba – Bo . Kindler, Munich 1988, ISBN 3-463-43002-9 , p. 581.