Freely translated, from an Esperanto version of a Private Letter
of Dr. Zamenhof written in Russian, by John Ellis.
"... You ask me how it was that the idea of creating an international
language occurred to me, and what was the history of the Esperanto
language from the time of its birth till to-day? The entire public
history of the language, that is to say, beginning from the day when
I gave it to the world, is more or less known to you; further, it is
not opportune now, for many reasons, to touch upon that period; I
will consequently relate to you, in general lines, merely the story
of the birth of my language.
"It would be difficult for me to tell you all this in detail, for
much of it I have myself forgotten. The idea, to the realisation of
which I have dedicated my whole life, struck me (it is ridiculous to
mention it) in my earliest childhood, and from that time never left
me. This circumstance will partly explain why I have laboured upon
the matter with so much determination, and why, in spite of all
difficulties and hardships, I have not abandoned the idea, as many
other working in the same field have done.
"I was born in Bielstock, in the department of Grodno (Russia), where
I spent the days of my boyhood. This fortuitous circumstance
determined the direction of my future ambitions, for the inhabitants
of Bielstock are of four different nationalities--Russians, Poles,
Germans, and Jews--each of which speaks a separate language, and is
on bad terms with the others. There, more than anywhere else, an
impressionable nature feels the heavy misfortune of diversity of
tongues. One is convinced at every step that the diversity of
language is the only, or at least the chief, cause which separates
the human family and divides it into inimical sections.
"I was brought up as an idealist. I was taught that all men are
brothers; meanwhile in the street and at home everything, at every
step, compelled me to feel that _humanity_ does not exist, that there
are only Russians, Poles, Germans, Jews, etc. This thought ever
deeply troubled my boyish mind--although many may smile at the
thought of a lad sorrowing for humanity. But at that time it seemed
to me that the 'grown ups' possessed an almighty power, and I said to
myself that when I was grown up I would utterly dissipate this evil.
"Little by little I became convinced, of course, that these things
were not so practicable as in my boyhood I had imagined; one by one I
cast aside my various childish utopias, but the dream of one single
tongue for all mankind I never could dispel. In a dim fashion, without
any defined plan, in some way it allured me. I do not remember when,
but, at all events, it was very early, I arrived at the consciousness
that an international language was possible only if it were neutral
and belonged to none of the now-existing nationalities.
"When I passed from the Bielstock Gymnasium[73] to the Second
Classical School of Warsaw, I was for some time seduced by the dead
languages, and dreamed that some day I would travel throughout the
world, and in flaming words persuade mankind to revive one of these
languages for the common use. Subsequently, I do not now remember
how, the conviction came to me that that was an impossibility, and I
began, indistinctly, to dream of a new and artificial language. I
often made attempts, inventing a profusion of declensions and
conjugations, but the language of man, with, as it seemed to me, its
endless mass of grammatical forms, its hundreds of thousands of words
and ponderous dictionaries, appeared to be such a colossal, and yet
tricky, machine that many a time I exclaimed--'Away with dreams! this
labour is beyond human powers!' But, in spite of all, I always
returned to my dream.
"In childhood (before I could make comparisons or work out
conclusions) I had learnt French and German, but when, being in the
5th class of the gymnasium, I began to study English, the simplicity
of its grammar flashed upon my comprehension, thanks, chiefly, to the
wearisome ploughing through the Greek and Latin grammars. I observed
that the rich wealth of grammatical forms was not a necessity, but
merely the blind result of accidental history. Under that influence I
recommenced my research into language, and discarded the unnecessary
forms, and I noticed that the grammar ever and ever melted under my
hands, and soon I arrived at a tiny grammar, which, without causing
any disadvantage to the language, occupied only a few pages. Then I
began to devote myself to my dream more seriously. Still, the giant
dictionaries left me no peace of mind.
"One day, when I was in the 6th or 7th class at the gymnasium, my
attention was, by chance, turned to the sign 'Ŝvejtskaja'
(drink-shop), and close by to the sign 'Konditorskaja' (sweet-shop).
Although I had seen it many times before, this 'skaja' aroused my
interest, and showed me that by means of suffixes I might make one
word into others, which need not be separately learned. This thought
took complete possession of me, and all at once I felt the ground
beneath my feet. A ray of light had fallen upon the terrific giant
dictionaries, and they began to shrink rapidly before my eyes.
"'The problem is solved,' I cried. I seized this idea of suffixes,
and began to work hard upon it. I understood how important it was to
make full use of this power--which, in natural languages, plays only
a partial, blind, irregular and incomplete _rôle_--when consciously
creating a new language. I began to compare words, to examine their
constant and defined relationships, and every day I cast out from the
dictionary a fresh vast series of words, substituting for this mass a
single suffix, which signified a certain fixed relationship. I next
remarked that a great number of words, hitherto regarded purely as
'roots' (such as 'mother,' 'narrow,' 'knife'), might easily be
treated as 'formed words,' and disappear from the dictionary. The
mechanism of language stood before me as though it were upon the palm
of my hand, and, inspired by love and hope, I began to work
systematically. After that I soon had the entire grammar and a small
dictionary in manuscript."