FRANZÖSISCHE UND ENGLISCHE
SCHULBIBLIOTHEK
HERAUSGEGEBEN
VON
OTTO E. A. DICKMANN
REIHE A: PROSA
BAND LXXVII
ENGLISCH
LEIPZIG 1904
RENGERSCHE BUCHHANDLUNG
GEBHARDT & WILISCH.
LITTLE
LORD FAUNTLEROY
VON
FRANCES HODGSON BURNETT
FÜR DEN SCHULGEBRAUCH BEARBEITET
VON
G. WOLPERT
SIEBENTE AUFLAGE
LEIPZIG 1904
RENGERSCHE BUCHHANDLUNG
GEBHARDT & WILISCH.
Mit gütiger Erlaubnis der Verlagshandlung
_Bernhard Tauchnitz_ in Leipzig.
Druck von Hugo Wilisch in Chemnitz.
Vorwort zur ersten Auflage.
Bei der Bearbeitung des vorliegenden Auszugs aus _Burnetts_[1]
fesselndem Romane für die Schule, lag mir nach den Grundsätzen der
Französischen und Englischen Schulbibliothek zunächst die Aufgabe ob,
denselben so zu kürzen, daß der Inhalt des Bändchens in einem Semester
bewältigt werden kann. Es wurden deshalb alle für die Entwicklung der
Erzählung nicht unbedingt nötigen Teile ausgeschieden, der übrige Text
aber noch soweit gekürzt, als es die Rücksicht auf die Klarheit der
Schilderung und die Korrektheit des Ausdrucks zuließ. Dadurch ist es mir
gelungen, das Ganze auf etwa ein Dritteil des ursprünglichen Umfanges zu
beschränken, ohne jedoch den Zusammenhang zu stören und die feine
Zeichnung der Charaktere der Hauptpersonen zu verwischen. Nur an einer
Stelle war eine etwas gewaltsame Verschmelzung mehrerer Seiten in wenige
Zeilen (S. 82, Z. 30-36) nicht zu umgehen; aber auch da erwies sich
gewissenhafte Wahrung der von Burnett selbst gebrauchten Ausdrucksweise
als möglich.
Sachliche Anmerkungen brauchten nur in beschränktem Maße gegeben zu
werden, dagegen hielt ich es für angezeigt, mit den Fußnoten nicht allzu
sparsam zu sein, einmal weil verschiedene Amerikanismen (store, boss,
ranch u. a.), sowie eine große Anzahl vulgärer oder familiärer Ausdrücke
eine Erklärung erheischten, sodann weil gar manche Stelle des Textes für
die Übersetzung in gutes Deutsch nicht ohne Schwierigkeit ist. Häufiger
in der Umgangssprache erscheinende Kürzungen, wie: I'd, he'd, I'll,
he'll u. a., die in den meisten Grammatiken angeführt sind, wurden als
bekannt vorausgesetzt. Bei dem S. 83 vollständig abgedruckten Briefe
Cedrics unterblieb der Raumersparnis halber die Wiedergabe in korrektes
Englisch, soweit nicht die Rücksicht auf das Verständnis es verlangte.
Möge dieses Bändchen, das für die mittleren Klassen aller Anstalten eine
anregende Lektüre bieten wird, die freundliche Aufnahme finden, die dem
kleinen Helden der Erzählung in der Alten wie in der Neuen Welt zu teil
geworden ist.
MÜNCHEN, im Januar 1894.
[Fußnote 1: _Frances Hodgson Burnett_ wurde am 28. November 1849 zu
Manchester geboren und kam schon sehr jung nach Amerika. Aus der Reihe
der von ihr veröffentlichten Romane und Erzählungen verdienen neben
»Little Lord Fauntleroy«, zuerst erschienen in St. Nicholas Magazine
(1886), besonders Erwähnung: »That Lass o' Lowries«, »A Fair Barbarian«,
»Through One Administration«, »Sara Crewe«, »Editha's Burglar«, »The
Pretty Sister of José« und die Novellensammlung »Vagabondia«.
Verschiedene derselben, auch »Little Lord«, wurden dramatisiert und mit
großem Erfolge in Deutschland, Amerika und England aufgeführt.]
Vorwort zur zweiten Auflage.
Die günstige Aufnahme, welche diese Ausgabe des _Little Lord_ bei den
Herren Fachgenossen und bei der Kritik gefunden, hat schon nach Verlauf
von nicht ganz zwei Jahren eine neue Auflage nötig gemacht. In dieser
ist der Text mit Ausnahme einer einzigen Stelle (S. 79, Z. 14), wo ich
sinnrichtiger _a_ statt _any_ setzte, unverändert geblieben; die
früheren Fußnoten sind nach der Vorschrift der Redaktion mit den
sachlichen Anmerkungen verbunden, letztere einer genauen Durchsicht
unterzogen und um einige vermehrt worden.
MÜNCHEN, im Januar 1896.
* * * * *
Für die in die vierte Auflage aufgenommenen sprachlichen Erläuterungen
zu S. 66. Z. 21 und S. 83, Z. 4 bin ich Herrn Prof. Dr. Thiergen zu Dank
verpflichtet.
MÜNCHEN, im Dezember 1898.
* * * * *
Die vorliegende siebente Auflage ist, wie die beiden vorhergehenden, ein
unveränderter Abdruck der vierten.
MÜNCHEN, im Februar 1904.
Georg Wolpert,
K. Professor.
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
CHAPTER I.
A GREAT SURPRISE.
Cedric himself knew nothing whatever about it. It had never been even
mentioned to him. He knew that his papa had been an Englishman, because
his mamma had told him so; but then his papa had died when he was so
little a boy that he could not remember very much about him, except that
he was big, and had blue eyes and a long moustache, and that it was a
splendid thing to be carried around the room on his shoulder. Since his
papa's death, Cedric had found out that it was best not to talk to his
mamma about him. When his father was ill, Cedric had been sent away, and
when he had returned, everything was over; and his mother, who had been
very ill, too, was only just beginning to sit in her chair by the
window. She was pale and thin, and all the dimples had gone from her
pretty face, and her eyes looked large and mournful, and she was dressed
in black.
He and his mamma knew very few people, and lived what might have been
thought very lonely lives, although Cedric did not know it was lonely
until he grew older and heard why it was they had no visitors. Then he
was told that his mamma was an orphan, and quite alone in the world when
his papa had married her. Their marriage brought them the ill-will of
several persons. The one who was most angry of all, however, was the
Captain's father, who lived in England, and was a very rich and
important old nobleman, with a very bad temper, and a very violent
dislike to America and Americans. He had two sons older than Captain
Cedric; and it was the law that the elder of these sons should inherit
the family title and estates, which were very rich and splendid; if the
eldest son died the next one would be heir; so though he was a member of
such a great family, there was little chance that Captain Cedric would
be very rich himself.
But it so happened that Nature had given to the younger son gifts which
she had not bestowed upon his elder brothers. He had a beautiful face
and a fine, strong, graceful figure; he had a bright smile and a sweet,
gay voice; he was brave and generous, and had the kindest heart in the
world, and seemed to have the power to make every one love him. But it
was not so with his elder brothers; neither of them was handsome, or
kind, or clever; they cared nothing for study, and wasted both time and
money, and made few real friends. The old Earl, their father, was
constantly disappointed and humiliated by them; his heir was no honour
to his noble name. It was very bitter, the old Earl thought, that the
son who was only third, should be the one who had all the gifts, and all
the charms. Sometimes he almost hated the handsome young man because he
seemed to have the good things which should have gone with the stately
title and the magnificent estates. It was in one of his fits of
petulance that he sent him off to travel in America.
But after about six months, he began to feel lonely, and longed in
secret to see his son again, so he wrote to Captain Cedric and ordered
him home. The letter he wrote crossed on its way a letter the Captain
had just written to his father telling of his love for the pretty
American girl, and of his intended marriage; and when the Earl received
that letter, he was furiously angry. Bad as his temper was, he had never
given way to it in his life as he gave way to it when he read the
Captain's letter. For an hour he raged like a tiger, and then he sat
down and wrote to his son, and ordered him never to come near his old
home, nor to write to his father or brothers again.
The Captain was very sad when he read the letter; he was very fond of
England, and he dearly loved the beautiful home where he had been born;
he had even loved his ill-tempered old father; but he knew he need
expect no kindness from him in the future. At first he scarcely knew
what to do; he had not been brought up to work, and had no business
experience, but he had courage and plenty of determination. So he sold
his commission in the English army, and after some trouble found a
situation in New York, and married. The change from his old life in
England was very great, but he was young and happy and he hoped that
hard work would do great things for him in the future. He had a small
house in a quiet street, and his little boy was born there. Though he
was born in so quiet and cheap a little home, it seemed as if there
never had been a more fortunate baby. In the first place, he was always
well, and so he never gave any one trouble; in the second place he had
so sweet a temper and ways so charming that he was a pleasure to every
one; and in the third place he was so beautiful to look at that he was
quite a picture.
When he was old enough to walk out with his nurse, he was so handsome
and strong and rosy that he attracted every one's attention, and his
nurse would come home and tell his mamma stories of the ladies who had
stopped their carriages to look at and speak to him, and of how pleased
they were when he talked to them in his cheerful little way, as if he
had known them always. His greatest charm was this cheerful, fearless,
quaint little way of making friends with people.
As he grew older, he had a great many quaint little ways which amused
and interested people greatly. He was so much of a companion for his
mother that she scarcely cared for any other. They used to walk together
and talk together and play together. When he was quite a little fellow
he learned to read; and after that he used to lie on the hearth-rug, in
the evening, and read aloud--sometimes stories, and sometimes big books
such as older people read, and sometimes even the newspaper; and often
at such times Mary, in the kitchen, would hear Mrs. Errol laughing with
delight at the quaint things he said.
Mary was very fond of him, and very proud of him, too. She had been with
his mother ever since he was born; and, after his father's death, had
been cook and housemaid and nurse and everything else.
"Ristycratic, is it?" she would say. "It's like a young lord he looks."
Cedric did not know that he looked like a young lord; he did not know
what a lord was. His greatest friend was the groceryman at the corner.
His name was Mr. Hobbs, and Cedric admired and respected him very much.
He thought him a very rich and powerful person, he had so many things in
his store--prunes and figs and oranges and biscuits,--and he had a horse
and waggon. Cedric was fond of the milkman and the baker and the
apple-woman, but he liked Mr. Hobbs best of all, and was on terms of
such intimacy with him that he went to see him every day, and often sat
with him quite a long time discussing the topics of the hour. It was
quite surprising how many things they found to talk about--the Fourth of
July, for instance. When they began to talk about the Fourth of July
there really seemed no end to it. Mr. Hobbs had a very bad opinion of
"the British," and he told the whole story of the Revolution, relating
very wonderful and patriotic stories about the villainy of the enemy and
the bravery of the Revolutionary heroes, and he even generously repeated
part of the Declaration of Independence. Cedric was so excited that his
eyes shone and he could hardly wait to eat his dinner after he went
home, he was so anxious to tell his mamma. It was, perhaps, Mr. Hobbs
who gave him his first interest in politics. Mr. Hobbs was fond of
reading the newspapers, and so Cedric heard a great deal about what was
going on in Washington; and Mr. Hobbs would tell him whether the
President was doing his duty or not.
When Cedric was between seven and eight years old, the very strange
thing happened which made so wonderful a change in his life. It was
quite curious, too, that the day it happened he had been talking to Mr.
Hobbs about England and the Queen, and Mr. Hobbs had said some very
severe things about the aristocracy, being specially indignant against
earls and marquises.
They were in the midst of their conversation, when Mary appeared. Cedric
thought she had come to buy some sugar, perhaps, but she had not. She
looked almost pale and as if she were excited about something.
"Come home, darlint," she said; "the mistress is wantin' yez."
Cedric slipped down from his stool.
"Does she want me to go out with her, Mary?" he asked. "Good morning,
Mr. Hobbs. I'll see you again."
When he reached his own house there was a coupé standing before the
door, and some one was in the little parlour talking to his mamma. Mary
hurried him up stairs and put on his best summer suit of cream-coloured
flannel with the red scarf around the waist, and combed out his curly
locks.
When he was dressed, he ran down stairs and went into the parlour. A
tall, thin old gentleman with a sharp face was sitting in an arm-chair.
His mother was standing near by with a pale face, and he saw that there
were tears in her eyes.
"Oh, Ceddie!" she cried out, and ran to her little boy and caught him in
her arms and kissed him in a little frightened, troubled way. "Oh,
Ceddie, darling!"
The tall old gentleman rose from his chair and looked at Cedric with his
sharp eyes. He rubbed his thin chin with his bony hand as he looked.
He seemed not at all displeased.
"And so," he said at last, slowly,--"and so this is little Lord
Fauntleroy."