ある「世捨て人」のたわごと

「歌声列車ＩＮ房総半島横断鉄道」の夢を見続けている男・・・ 私の残された時間の使い方など

「ソロモン王の洞窟」・・・献辞 DEDICATION、著者のノート AUTHOR'S NOTE、序章 INTRODUCTION

2014年01月21日 | 好きな歌

Chronology of works[edit]

 

Etext prepared by John Bickers, jbickers@ihug.co.nz
and Dagny, dagnyj@hotmail.com

King Solomons Mines

1. KING SOLOMON'S MINES

by H. RIDER HAGGARD

2. DEDICATION

This faithful but unpretending record of a remarkable adventure is hereby respectfully dedicated
by the narrator, ALLAN QUATERMAIN, to all the big and little boys who read it.

3. PREPARER'S NOTE

  This was typed from a 1907 edition published by Cassell and
  Company, Limited.

4. AUTHOR'S NOTE

  The author ventures to take this opportunity to thank his readers
  for the kind reception they have accorded to the successive
  editions of this tale during the last twelve years. He hopes that
  in its present form it will fall into the hands of an even wider
  public, and that in years to come it may continue to afford
  amusement to those who are still young enough at heart to love a
  story of treasure, war, and wild adventure.

  Ditchingham,
  11 March, 1898.

5. POST SCRIPTUM

  Now, in 1907, on the occasion of the issue of this edition, I can
  only add how glad I am that my romance should continue to please
  so many readers. Imagination has been verified by fact; the King
  Solomon's Mines I dreamed of have been discovered, and are putting
  out their gold once more, and, according to the latest reports,
  their diamonds also; the Kukuanas or, rather, the Matabele, have
  been tamed by the white man's bullets, but still there seem to be
  many who find pleasure in these simple pages. That they may
  continue so to do, even to the third and fourth generation, or
  perhaps longer still, would, I am sure, be the hope of our old and
  departed friend, Allan Quatermain.

H. Rider Haggard.
Ditchingham, 1907.

6. INTRODUCTION

Now that this book is printed, and about to be given to the world, a
sense of its shortcomings both in style and contents, weighs very
heavily upon me. As regards the latter, I can only say that it does
not pretend to be a full account of everything we did and saw. There
are many things connected with our journey into Kukuanaland that I
should have liked to dwell upon at length, which, as it is, have been
scarcely alluded to. Amongst these are the curious legends which I
collected about the chain armour that saved us from destruction in the
great battle of Loo, and also about the "Silent Ones" or Colossi at
the mouth of the stalactite cave. Again, if I had given way to my own
impulses, I should have wished to go into the differences, some of
which are to my mind very suggestive, between the Zulu and Kukuana
dialects. Also a few pages might have been given up profitably to the
consideration of the indigenous flora and fauna of Kukuanaland.[*]
Then there remains the most interesting subject--that, as it is, has
only been touched on incidentally--of the magnificent system of
military organisation in force in that country, which, in my opinion,
is much superior to that inaugurated by Chaka in Zululand, inasmuch as
it permits of even more rapid mobilisation, and does not necessitate
the employment of the pernicious system of enforced celibacy. Lastly,
I have scarcely spoken of the domestic and family customs of the
Kukuanas, many of which are exceedingly quaint, or of their
proficiency in the art of smelting and welding metals. This science
they carry to considerable perfection, of which a good example is to
be seen in their "tollas," or heavy throwing knives, the backs of
these weapons being made of hammered iron, and the edges of beautiful
steel welded with great skill on to the iron frames.

7. The fact of the matter is, I thought, with Sir Henry Curtis and Captain Good,
that the best plan would be to tell my story in a plain, straightforward
manner, and to leave these matters to be dealt with subsequently in
whatever way ultimately may appear to be desirable. In the meanwhile I
shall, of course, be delighted to give all information in my power to
anybody interested in such things.

[*] I discovered eight varieties of antelope, with which I was
    previously totally unacquainted, and many new species of plants,
    for the most part of the bulbous tribe.--A.Q.

8. And now it only remains for me to offer apologies for my blunt way of
writing. I can but say in excuse of it that I am more accustomed to
handle a rifle than a pen, and cannot make any pretence to the grand
literary flights and flourishes which I see in novels--for sometimes I
like to read a novel. I suppose they--the flights and flourishes--are
desirable, and I regret not being able to supply them; but at the same
time I cannot help thinking that simple things are always the most
impressive, and that books are easier to understand when they are
written in plain language, though perhaps I have no right to set up an
opinion on such a matter. "A sharp spear," runs the Kukuana saying,
"needs no polish"; and on the same principle I venture to hope that a
true story, however strange it may be, does not require to be decked
out in fine words.

Allan Quatermain.


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