A handful of gold
A handful of gold (original title: Cup of Gold: A Life of Sir Henry Morgan, Buccaneer, with Occasional Reference to History ) is the title of a historical novel by the American writer John Steinbeck published in 1929 . The German translation by Hans B. Wagenseil was published in 1953. In his debut, Steinbeck tells the adventurous story of the English privateer Henry Morgan from the 17th century , based on history and in free form .
content
overview
In five chapters, the author tells the path of the youth Henry Morgan from the mythical and legendary Wales to the most powerful privateer in the Caribbean and then the descent of his life line after the appointment to lieutenant governor of Jamaica, what his restriction to a civil life and the change of role to the judge about which entails pirates. The individual chapters describe the stages of Morgan's life: youth in Wales (chapter 1), crossing to Barbados and work on the Flower Plangage (chapter 2), successful piracy in the Caribbean (chapter 3), capture of Panama City ( Ch. 4), Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica (Ch. 5).
First chapter
The young Henry Morgan lives with his family on a farm in Wales. His grandmother Gwenliana lives in a magical world, she conjures up spirits and makes prophecies. His father is an “endless thinker”, but in the opinion of the people not a good farmer: “Sometimes he thought he understood too many things to ever get something right.” His mother Elisabeth, on the other hand, lives in the small everyday life and not in a world more abstract Imaginations. 15 year old Henry is dissatisfied with the monotonous country life and has a great longing for change. One black night, old servant Dafydd returns from the West Indies and tells the Morgans about his pirate adventures in the Caribbean. Henry listens to him enthusiastically and decides to leave the narrow valley immediately to look for his dream land above the sea. His mother doesn't want to let him travel, but his father can understand him. He once had similar wishes, but for fear not tried to realize them, and he knows that his son, unlike himself, has the courage to do so and has to make his own experiences. However, he asks him to speak to the wise Merlin in the mountains before making his decision. He warns him not to leave his home of the Celtic legends and spirits and he foretells him that he will become a great man, but that he will be alone and have no friends, only people around him “who are in fear, fear and horror to look [him] up ”. He feels sorry for the boy and at the same time envies him. On his way back he wants to say goodbye to Elisabeth, the daughter of a tenant. Elisabeth is his childhood love, but since she developed into a woman, she has been a mystery to him. Therefore, in the farewell situation, he is too shy to speak to her and runs away. At home he tells his parents about his decision. Gwenliana predicts a future for him as a mighty warrior and successful conqueror. He will marry "a girl with a white soul and high rank" from a rich family. Robert gives his son a letter to his brother Edward, the governor of Jamaica, asking for his assistance. Henry leaves for Cardiff the next morning while his family is still asleep .
second chapter
In the tavern "The Three Dogs" in Cardiff, Henry meets the sailor Tim from Cork, who takes him for breakfast with whiskey and promises to help him to get a crossing on the merchant ship "Bristol Girl". He is a recruiter and arranges a meeting with the captain who “hired” Henry for the ship's kitchen to work off his passage to Barbados. Henry doesn't realize he's being cheated on. He is not told that he has signed a contract to work as a contract slave on a plantation for the trip. During the crossing, Henry eagerly listens to the sailors' tales of the adventures and wealth of the Buccaneers and thinks that one can be very successful with clever tactics. Only when he arrives in Barbados does he find out about the five-year employment contract, and he is sold to the plantation owner James Flower. However, he does not feel like a farmer, but as a scholar. He came to the plantation only by chance because of his uncle's fortune. He feels sorry for Henry when he begs him not to have to work as a slave and hires him as his partner to talk to him about books. He becomes his teacher and friend. Henry learns various languages from him and reads through his mentor's library. He studies war tactics intensively in preparation for his pirate career. In addition, as a secretary, he becomes familiar with the management of the farm, takes on more and more tasks and ultimately runs the farm. He applies many ideas that he has learned from literature, e.g. B. to put oneself in the shoes of the slaves and change the system of punishment through psychological tactics: in order to increase the effectiveness, the executions are no longer carried out in public. He leads the plantation with authority, shows no emotions and plays the role of the unapproachable to the slaves, whose thoughts are unknown. He's not cruel like the sadistic overseer he's replaced, just ruthlessly consistent. With this method he increases the efficiency of the plantation and builds up the image of absolute honesty towards Flower without revealing his secret motives. So he can divert money from the sale of the goods in order to prepare his life as a privateer. He persuades Flower to buy a ship, he baptizes it "Elisabeth" in order to save transport costs for the goods to Jamaica, and learns how to operate the sailor. In order to satisfy his sexual desires, he buys the beautiful slave named Paulette as a maid and lover at the slave market in Port Royal . She falls in love with him and dreams of becoming his wife instead of his slave, but he does not respond, because he only feels emotionally connected to Elisabeth. After five years, Henry is free. Flower tries to keep him and promises him the plantation as an inheritance, but the twenty year old wants to fulfill his dream. He asks Flower to make sure that Paulette can continue to work in the house and is not sent to the fields, leaves Barbados and travels to Port Royal with the embezzled money. There he visits Lieutenant Governor Sir Edward Morgan and learns of his mother's death and his father's senility. Henry suggests to his uncle that we equip a ship. He wanted to capture Spanish merchant ships and share the profits with him. But he warns the nephew that he would end up with such dangerous adventures on the gallows. On the way back, his proud fourteen-year-old cousin Elisabeth evades a conversation with him. His relatives "had managed to make him feel alone and helpless and very young." Henry did not allow himself to be diverted from his path by this failure. He seeks contact with privateers in the harbor. He is shown the fast sailor “Ganymed” owned by Captain Grippo. The latter accepts his offer to let him take the ship for pirate trips for 500 pounds and to share the profits with him.
third chapter
Morgan sails along the Panama coast with Grippo and spots a Spanish merchant ship near Cartagena . He tries a surprise operation, hides his men below deck and lets the "Ganymed" slowly drift towards the ship as if without a driver. The Spaniards suspect a spell or illness of the team and do not pay attention to the safety distance. So the privateers can shoot the rudder with their cannons and occupy and rob the incapable of maneuvering ship. Morgan uses a different method for each raid. When he arrives in the port of Tortuga , he has captured four ships and lost no men. The powerful pirate leader Edward Mansveldt becomes aware of him and appoints him his vice admiral. They establish a republic of privateers on the Catherine Islands. The conquest of Puerto Bello made Mogan famous, and over the next ten years more and more volunteers joined him and increased his fleet. Henry is aloof from them, as he has been the overseer of the slaves, and remains personally lonely because he is suspicious and fears that their admiration will not be sincere. This is how Merlin's prophecy comes true.
When Henry hears the rumor of the most beautiful woman in the world, the "Red Saint", La Santa Roja, who is worshiped like the sun by men in Panama City, he dreams of the rich capital, the "golden cup", and to conquer its fabulous resident. During this time he is looking for a friend and finds him in the beautiful young Frenchman Coeur de Gris. He tells him his dream of the saint and learns that his friend feels the same way. Coer de Gris, however, doubts that such a woman really exists and compares the rumor with the legend of the beautiful Helen in Troy . He talks carefree about his amusing love affairs and their end, while Morgan tragically exaggerates his relationship with Elisabeth: Her father, a count, separated them forcibly and sold him to Barbados. Morgan continues his successes of conquering: Insel de la Vaca , Maracaibo and he is getting more and more into his dream, he wants to win Panama and Santa Roja for himself, “drink from the golden cup”. Coer de Gris warns him that the city is strongly fortified and that after the storm there will be a friend against friend for the most beautiful woman. It is more important to preserve the pirates' longing and thus their fighting power and to use this for their actions.
The last two sections of the chapter deal with the death of the Morgan brothers: one with the death of Sir Edwards and his hope that the famous robber Henry will take care of the orphaned child Elizabeth, and second with Robert's last conversation with Merlin about the childhood dreams of which what people call madness, and the dissolution of memories in the “echo of the harps”.
Chapter Four
Captain Morgan sends messengers in all directions to win captains and sailors for a new campaign against the Spaniards. 37 ships and 2000 men quickly gather. His sole authority and the distribution of the booty are contractually regulated. Only then does he communicate the difficult-to-conquer rich goal. The captains react with a mixture of fear and greed and also think about who Santa Roja will go to. Many people secretly hope and the Burgundy tells the story of how the Circe Delphine was won by the love charm of a large pink pearl. Rumors of the imminent attack reach Don Juan Perez de Guzman, the governor of Panama, and he takes precautions: troops set up ambushes, wild cops are to be driven on the attackers, the residents hide their valuables.
After landing in Chagres, Morgan's troops first have to cross the isthmus, first four days on the Rio Chagres , then nine days through the jungle. With residents fled and burned down their huts, the buccaneers soon suffer from famine and dehydration, but Morgan urges his people on rather than giving them rest. Coeur de Gris reproaches him for doing it only to win a beautiful woman. But the commandant contradicts him: “You cannot understand my longing. It's like I'm striving for heavenly peace. This woman is the haven for my unrest. [...] I went to great lengths to find ridiculous things made of gold. I did not know the secret that makes the earth a great chameleon ... My forays seem like stupid pranks by a stranger who had no idea how to make the world spray with ever new colors. ”Coer de Gris admits he longs for Santa Roja as well. On the ninth day, in front of the capital, they encounter Spanish foot troops and cavalry, whose strategy ends in chaos. The riders get into a swamp, the wild bulls are driven back by targeted shots by the pirates and trample the Spanish soldiers. This is how the buccaneers can invade the city. Don Juan withdraws into the castle and surrenders. The conquerors loot the houses. If they can't find gold, they torture the residents until they reveal their hiding places.
The collected gold is piled up in the audience room, but Morgan repeatedly orders his men to look for La Santa Roja. He fears that Coeur de Gris conquered them first. But she comes into the palace and introduces herself by the name Ysobel. She in no way corresponds to his idea of a young girl, for she is a married woman, but he feels offended and repulsed by her in a similar way as he does by Elisabeth. When he tells her about his efforts to win her and confesses his idealistic love for her, which, in contrast to the “blind, aimless crawling worm” of the world, strives for “the stars of this new universe”, she laughs ridiculing him. She did not expect the “horror of the seas” to be sentimental sayings from a “babbler”, but rather the “wordless [-] senseless [-] brutality” of a “realist on this unsteady earth”. She was much more impressed by a lovely young buccaneer the day before. Henry feels humiliated and rejected and has her thrown in jail. He fears for his reputation with the team and on his way through the burning city he shoots the poor epileptic Cockney Jones, whom he has caught stealing prey, and then out of jealousy the drunken Coeur des Gris. When Henry Santa Roja threatens to take her as a slave, she asks him to stab her so that she can go to heaven. Later, a messenger from Ysobel's husband offers him a ransom for the safe return of Doña Ysobel Espinoza, Valdes y los Gabilanes. He releases them for 20,000 gold ducats. He later learns that this is a small sum for the heiress of ten silver mines. In the last conversation, Ysobel tells him about their fate. She is not the pure angel of his vision: Her wealthy family sent her to a convent school in Spain, from there she fled and came across a robber with whom she led a free, adventurous life. After his execution she went back to the monastery, where the devil was cast out and she had to repent. She returned to Panama and married a rich man from her social class who bores her with his elegant manners. By conquering Panama, she had the hope of an exciting life at the side of a strong pirate. For Henry, too, this encounter marks a turning point. Until now he believed that his adventures had meaning and greatness. Suddenly he is no longer sure of this and wants to go back to mythical Wales.
Morgan and his buccaneers march through the jungle back to Chagres with the riches plundered in the golden city. The treasures will be put on a large galleon and will be distributed the next day. The evening before, the buccaneers celebrate their victory on the beach with lots of rum. In the middle of the night, Morgan leaves his drunken troop and sails away. He now wants "security and convenience". He has no remorse for deceiving his men: “They steal and so their booty should also be stolen. […] And by the way, my people, these fools, deserve it no differently. They would only carry the money to the brothels when we got home. ”The pirates remain penniless on the bank. They dissipate after the initial anger and vindictiveness. Some starve to death, others are captured or killed by Indians, Spaniards or English.
Fifth chapter
Morgan sails back to Port Royal with his prey, where he is celebrated as the conqueror of Panama. Governor Modyford informed him that they had both been ordered to England to answer to King Charles II, because England had made peace with Spain and buccaneering could no longer be tolerated. But the matter could easily be solved with a gold gift for the ruler. He should also look after his cousin, who has lived in his house since her father died. Henry meets Elizabeth, who has become a confident and lovely lady. She shows admiration for his terrible, great deeds. He confesses that his pirate trips were a mistake and did not make him happy. Now he is looking for a content life. You feel the same way. She laments her loneliness and defenselessness. He promises to take care of her, she asks him if this should be understood as a marriage proposal, he thinks why not, and says yes. The governor's prediction comes true: Charles II receives him, lets him tell adventure stories, gives him general pardon, knights him and appoints him lieutenant governor of Jamaica. As a judge, Henry must now sentence his former cronies to death for piracy. B. the two captains Antoine and Emil, who exploited Panama with him. He explains his role change to them. It is not his fault that bourgeois life splits up character and that he who does not want to be split up perishes. He has a duty to keep up appearances. He does not condemn the two of them because they are pirates, but because they expect him to let pirates down. They understand him and give him a rosy pearl as a present for his wife, which Emil can no longer use for his amours.
The last section of the chapter tells of the death of Morgan. Only on his deathbed does Henry realize that his wife really loves him. When Elizabeth asks him to confess his sins in order to obtain eternal life, he actually wants to say that he has no desire to go on living in heaven, that he wants his rest, but he can no longer react. Strange beings appear in his consciousness, accompanied by a vibrating organ sound. It is his actions that ask him “Why did you do me?” And he replies “I don't know, I don't know you anymore.” His true love, little Elizabeth, appears and he tells her how he said goodbye to her back then wanted to take. But then his and her memories dissolve and the embers of the ashes go out and he no longer hears the soft organ sound.
Comparison of history and novel
Reliable reports about Henry Morgen are only available from the beginning of his activities as a privateer in the Caribbean in 1665 until his death in 1688. Steinbeck uses this information for Kp. 3–5 with the focus on the conquest of Panama. Then followed the trip to England together with Governor Thomas Modyford to see King Charles II , the marriage of his cousin and the work as Lieutenant Governor Jamaica. These biographical data are placed by the author in the introductory sections of Chapters 2–4 in the context of Spanish and English colonization and piracy in the Caribbean.
Contrary to documented historical facts, there are only guesses as to how Morgan came to the Caribbean, and a. he is said to have worked off the costs of his emigration for three years with a cutlery smith or, as Richard Browne, who worked as a surgeon under Morgan in 1670, reports, was kidnapped in Bristol and transported to Barbados, where he was sold as a servant. Morgan successfully appealed against such representations against the Dutch doctor Alexandre Olivier Exquemelin. Steinbeck, however, takes up these assumptions and invents a history about the Henrys family and in the 2nd Kp. About the employment contract with a plantation owner forced by a captain. In Morgan's career as a buccaneer, the author incorporates another speculation: the privateer was the deputy and successor of Captain Edward Mansveldt.
These facts and rumors serve as a framework for the author. At the center of the novel, however, is the fictional personality image of the boy dreaming of life as an adventurer (Kp. 1), who, despite increasing power and the accumulation of gold treasures, remains a lonely person and finally loses the identity of the legal fighter as a royal official. In addition to the dreamy father and the idealized love of children, the author invents a mythical Celtic world with the wise Merlin, who foretells the future for the young man. The turning point and disillusionment is the encounter with Santa Roja, the embodiment of his longings and motivation for the conquest of Panama (chapter 4).
shape
Steinbeck's portrayal of the isolated and disappointed Henry Morgan reverses the traditional story of the carefree swashbuckler and focuses on aspects such as repressed and unfulfilled dreams and wishes, greed and hunger for power, success and loneliness, and the tension between a conventional and an unlawful life. These themes later reappear in many of his better-known works. Like most of his stories and novels, written in simple language and in a realistic style, the plot of “Cup of gold” is structured chronologically and is essentially in personal form from Morgan's perspective, supplemented by authorial overviews of the history or the worldview of the people , presented. Only in a few scenes can the reader also follow the conversations of other characters about the absent protagonist. B. his cousin Elisabeth, his father with Merlin or the king.
reception
Steinbeck's fame only began with his fourth volume of stories, "Tortilla Flat". His first novel “Cup of Gold” (1929, German “A handful of gold”, translated by Hans B. Wagenseil, 1953) and the subsequent stories “The Pastures of Heaven” (1932, German “The Valley of Heaven”, translated by Hans-Ulrich Staub, 1954) and the family novel "To A God Unknown" (1933, German "The Stranger God", translated by Hans B. Wagenseil, 1954) were financial failures after their publication and hardly received any criticism perceived. The traditional structure and narrative style was not always appreciated by literary critics, especially American star critics saw Steinbeck as little more than a folk writer who did not deserve the Nobel Prize. But for the readers he is "an extremely trustworthy writer" (Alfred Andersch). In Germany, the early novels and short stories were only published after the Second World War, when the author was already famous for his main works and their film adaptations and became one of the most widely read writers of the 20th century. had become.
Individual evidence
- ↑ John Steinbeck: A handful of gold . Kurt Desch Vienna Munich Basel 1953.
- ↑ David Williams: "Morgan, Henry (1635? - 1688), Buccaneer". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales 1959.
- ↑ Phillip Gosse: "The History of Piracy". [1932] Dover Publications Mineola, NY 2007.
- ^ John Exquemelin: "The Buccaneers of America: A True Account of the Most Remarkable Assaults Committed of Late Years Upon the Coasts of the West Indies by the Buccaneers of Jamaica and Tortuga". [1684]. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge 2010. ISBN 978-1-108-02481-5 .
- ^ HR Allen: Privateer: Admiral Sir Henry Morgan. Arthur Baker London 1976. ISBN 978-0-213-16569-7 .
- ↑ First edition 1929: 1537 copies sold, 1936 edition: 939 copies sold.
- ↑ Manfred Orlick: “A well-read and critically disdained writer. On the 50th anniversary of John Steinbeck's death. "Literaturkritik.de review forum No. 12 Dec. 2018.