Jock of the Bushveld
Jock of the Bushveld is a children's book by the South African author James Percy FitzPatrick from 1907. The book is based on the real experiences of FitzPatrick with his dog Jock, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier hybrid, in the 1880s, during which FitzPatrick was a driver Ox cart was on themovein what was then the Transvaal . The work is a classic children's book in South Africa.
action
Shortly after FitzPatrick became a bullock cart driver, the bitch of one of his friends gave birth to puppies. The birth took place in Paradise Camp near today's Kruger National Park . Five of the pups were big and strong, but one was a stunted person who suffered from attacks by his siblings. When this puppy was about to be drowned, FitzPatrick decided to eat the dog. He called him Jock, and from then on the animal followed him every step of the way and obeyed his word without any training.
Man and dog experienced many adventures together. The little puppy became a big and fearless dog. He was liked, respected, and behaved well. Jock later lost his hearing after being kicked by a hartebeest . When FitzPatrick left his job as an ox driver, he left Jock with a friend until he found a place to live. The friend loaned Jock to the shopkeeper Tom Barnett, who had problems with thieves and wild dogs. Jock was mistakenly shot while allegedly killing chickens. Barnett had called him, but Jock hadn't heard it because of his deafness. In fact, Jock himself had bitten to death a wild dog that had killed the chickens.
The story of the loyal dog who is wrongly killed is a very old and widespread narrative motif that is mentioned in Europe in the legends of Guinefort and Gelert, among others . In the Aarne-Thompson-Index this narrative group is listed as type AaTh 178A.
publication
Percy FitzPatrick later became a distinguished man and father of four children. He was happy to tell his children the stories of Jock in good company. Rudyard Kipling was one of his friends . Kipling or FitzPatrick's children are said to have persuaded him to write the stories down and publish them. The illustrations for the book came from Edmund Caldwell (1852-1930), a brother of the children's book illustrator Mary Tourtel .
Jock of the Bushveld was published for the first time in 1907 and immediately became a bestseller and a local classic. In the first year alone it had to be reprinted four times. By 2013 it had over 100 editions and it has been translated into many other languages including Afrikaans , Dutch , French , Xhosa and Zulu . The book is not available in German.
In 1984 a modernized version by Linda Rosenberg was published by Donker Publishers , from which the references to prejudicial racial references had been removed, while, according to Rosenberg, the mysterious charm and innocent philosophical tone remained intact .
memories
In 1983 the Lowfeld Digger's and Transport Rider's Society affixed bronze plaques with a picture wherever the road had led Jock and his master. In front of the Town Hall of Barberton there has been a statue of the "most popular dog of South Africa" by the South African sculptor Ivan Mitford-Barberton since 1984 ; Jock's grave is about ten kilometers north of Barberton, on the road to Kaapmuiden . A memorial plaque for Jock can be seen on the way to Skukuza .
In the Kruger National Park is the Jock Safari Lodge , owned by Percy FitzPatrick's family.
Film adaptations
In 1986 the book was first filmed in South Africa; the soundtrack was provided by Johnny Clegg . In 1992 the book was made into a film again, this time in Italy. In 2011 the American cartoon Jock came out in 3D .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b The Bystander, October 2, 1907. p. 38
- ↑ a b Jock of the Bushveld on graskop.co.za
- ↑ Elwyn Jenkins: National character in South African English children's literature . Routledge Chapman & Hall 2006, p. 6
- ↑ Eckhardt Fuchs / Benedikt Stuchtey (eds.): Across cultural borders: historiography in global perspective . Rowman & Littlefield 2002. p. 53
- ↑ Percy Fitzpatrick. Jock of the Bushveld. Edited by Linda Rosenberg. Illustrated by E Caldwell. 1984, ISBN 978-0-86852-237-1 .
- ↑ Jock of the Bushveld - SA's best loved dog hero on southafrica.com
- ↑ Barberton on suedafrikatour.de
- ↑ Website of the Jock Safari Lodge ( Memento of the original from May 28, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Jock of the Bushveld on imdb.com
- Jump up ↑ Jock - A Dog's Adventure in Africa on imdb.com
- ↑ Jock on imdb.com
- ^ Movie Review - Jock of the Bushveld 3D on expressoshow.com
