Hanns Heinz Ewers - Alraune (Frank Braun Trilogy)

Joe Bandel

Published by Joe Bandel at Smashwords

Copyright 2010 Joe Bandel

Hanns Heinz Ewers Alraune story copyrightWilfried Kugel

Galeotto poem copyright Wilfried Kugel

Translations copyright Joe Bandel

In cooperation with the Hanns Heinz Ewersestate

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personalenjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away toother people. If you would like to share this book with anotherperson, please purchase an additional copy for each person. Ifyoure reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was notpurchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.comand purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard workof this author. Note: Some illustrations have been removed tocomply with Smashwords file size and compliance requirements.

Written by Hanns Heinz Ewers andtranslated

By

Joe E. Bandel

Illustrations by Mahlon Blaine

Other Titles In Print

Alraune

Anarchist Knight:Apprentice

Magister Templi

Modern Survivalism

Hanns Heinz Ewers Volume I

Coming Soon!

Vampire

Fundvogel

Hanns Heinz Ewers Volume II

This book is dedicated to my children andstep-children., Lyssa, Crystal, Whitney, Dylan, Sarah and Jason.Dreams can come true. Even if it is four pages at a time. Dontever give up! Thanks to Dr. Kugel for permissions.

Visit

Anarchist World

on the web at

http://anarchistworld.com

Deine Tage sind wie die schweren Traubenblauer Glyzenen, tropfen hinab zum weichen Teppich: so schreitetmein leichter Fuss weich dahin durch die sonnenglitzerndenLaubengnge deiner sanften Tage.

Your days are like the heavy(grapes/bunches/clusters) blue Glyzenen, dropping down to softcarpet: so stride my light feet softly in them through the sunglistening arbor your gentle days.

What the hell does Glyzenen mean? Look itup in the dictionary; its not there. Google it on the internet;its not there. Try some online German-English dictionaries; itsnot there

What did Endores write? glycinias Well,what does that mean? Look it up in the dictionary; its not there.Google it on the internet; ah, there it isArchaic German word forwisterianot used anymoreMaybe back when he translated it some oldGermans were still alive that knew the meaning of the word.

[Editors note. S. Guy Endore translated a1929 version of Alraune for John Day Publishing Company]

What is Wisteria? Google it on theinternetOh, what beautiful thick flowers. We dont have those herein northern Minnesota. Now lets get back to the translation.Dropping down to soft carpet? That cant be right. Wisteria growsoutside and doesnt fall onto the carpet! When those thick blossomsfall they will form a carpet on the ground though! Lets try itlike this:

Your days are like the heavy blue clusters ofwisteria dropping down to form a soft carpet. My feet stridelightly and softly through them as I enter the glittering sunlightin the arbor of your gentle days.

Just for grins lets see what Endore came upwith.

Your days drop out of your life even asthe heavy clusters of blue glycinias shed their blossoms one by oneupon the soft carpet. And I tread lightly through the long, sunnyarbors of your mild existence.

What the hell! Thats not even close! Wheredid he come up with that days dropping and blossoms one by onebit? None of that is in the text at all. Obviously he wasembellishing a bit. (Something that Endore did quite a bit of.)

Such was my experience with the very firstpage of Alraune. But it was not my last. The John Day version ofAlraune turned out to be very mangled and censored to boot. Thereare different types of censorship and I ran into most of them.Lets take chapter five to give some brief examples.

Now in the story Alraunes father agrees tocooperate with the experiment in exchange for a couple bottles ofwhiskey the night before he is executed. Thus he is so drunk thenext morning that they have to help him walk up to where thesentence of death is read to him. Suddenly he realizes what isabout to happen, sobers up immediately, says something and beginsto fight back. But first he utters a wordWhat is that word? It maygive a clue to the entire incident. Lets see how it reallygoes:

She laughed, No, certainly not. Well thenbut reach me another slice of lemon. Thank you. Put it right therein the cup! Well then he said, no I cant say it.

Highness, said the Professor with mildreproof.

She said, You must close your eyesfirst.

The Privy Councilor thought, Old monkey!but he closed his eyes. Now? he asked.

She still hesitated, I I will say it inFrench

Thats fine, in French then! He criedimpatiently.

Then she pressed her lips together, bentforward and whispered in his ear, Merde!

Of course Merde! means Shit! in French.He said Shit!, sobered up and started fighting for his life!Lets see what the John Day version did with it.

She laughed. Of course not. How silly. Welljust let me have a piece of lemon. Thanks put it right into thecup! Well, then, as I was saying but no, really, I cant tellyou.

Your Highness! the Professor said in atone of genial reproach.

Then she said: Youll have to shut youreyes.

The Councilor thought to himself, What anold ass. But he closed his eyes. Well, he asked.

But she resisted coyly. Ill Ill tell itto you in French.

Very well then, Let it be French! hecried impatiently.

She pursed her lips, bent her head to his andwhispered the offending word into his ear.

As you see, we dont even get to know whatthe word was in the John Day edition and a subtle nuance has beenlost. Still, you might think I am making mountains out ofmolehills. What difference does that little bit have to do with thestory? Well lets take a more substantial piece of censorship.Later in the same chapter almost one entire page of text has beencensored. I wont share it here because it will spoil the story butthis entire section was omitted from the John Day version.Curiously enough Mahlon Blaine illustrated a portion of it whichshows that he was familiar with it. It was translated but didntmake it into the book.

Something that is also missing in the JohnDay edition is much of the emotional content and beauty of thewriting itself. Consider this paragraph at the end of chapterfive:

There is one other curious thing that remainsin the story of these two people that without ever seeing eachother became Alraunes father and mother, how they were broughttogether in a strange manner even after their death. The Anatomybuilding janitor, Knoblauch, threw out the remaining bones andtatters of flesh into a common shallow grave in the gardens of theAnatomy building. It was behind the wall where the white rosesclimb and grow so abundantly

How heart wrenching and touching in its ownway! Lets see how the Endores version handles it:

Again the bodies of these two, who, thoughthey had never seen each other, yet became Alraune ten Brinkensfather and mother, were most curiously joined in still anothermanner after their death. Knoblauch, the old servant who cleanedout the dissecting rooms, threw the remaining bones and bits offlesh into a hastily prepared shallow ditch in the rear of theanatomy garden, back there against the wall, where the whitehedge-roses grow so rankly.

When you consider that nearly every singlechapter of the John Day version has been gutted of its emotionalcontent in one way or another, it is not surprising that it neverbecame as popular with the reading public as it did it Germany.There it could be read in its entirety as the author intended. Forthe first time Alraune is now available to the English speakingworld in an uncensored version that brings the life and emotionback into the story. I am proud to have been able to be a part inthe restoration of this classic work of horror.