Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. TITELBLATT

2. IMPRESSUM

3. THE ISLE OF VOICES

4. THE ISLE OF VOICES (ENGLISCH)

Robert Louis Stevenson
The Isle of Voices / Die Stimmeninsel
Zweisprachige Ausgabe
Übersetzt von Heinrich Conrad

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KEOLA was married with Lehua, daughter of Kalamake, the wise man of Molokai, and he kept his dwelling with the father of his wife.

Keola war verheiratet mit Lehua, der Tochter Kalamakes, des weisen Mannes von Molokai, und er wohnte bei dem Vater seiner Frau.

There was no man more cunning than that prophet; he read the stars, he could divine by the bodies of the dead, and by the means of evil creatures:

Kein Mensch war schlauer als dieser Prophet: Er las in den Sternen; er wahrsagte aus Leichen und mit Hilfe böser Kreaturen;

he could go alone into the highest parts of the mountain, into the region of the hobgoblins,

er konnte in die höchste Gegend des Gebirges gehen, in die Zone der Kobolde,

and there he would lay snares to entrap the spirits of the ancient.

und da pflegte er Schlingen zu legen, um Geister der Vorfahren einzufangen.

For this reason no man was more consulted in all the Kingdom of Hawaii.

Darum wurde kein Mensch so oft um Rat gefragt im ganzen Königreich Hawaii.

Prudent people bought, and sold, and married, and laid out their lives by his counsels;

Vorsichtige Leute richteten ihr Leben nach seinen Ratschlägen ein, kauften und verkauften und heirateten.

and the King had him twice to Kona to seek the treasures of Kamehameha.

Und der König ließ ihn zweimal nach Kona kommen, die Schätze Kamehamehas zu suchen.

Neither was any man more feared: of his enemies, some had dwindled in sickness by the virtue of his incantations,

Kein Mensch wurde aber auch mehr gefürchtet: Von seinen Freunden waren einige infolge seiner Zaubersprüche dahingesiecht,

and some had been spirited away, the life and the clay both, so that folk looked in vain for so much as a bone of their bodies.

andere waren mit Haut und Haaren in Geister verwandelt worden und waren verschwunden, so daß ihre Leute vergeblich auch nur nach einem Knöchelchen von ihren Leibern suchten.

It was rumoured that he had the art or the gift of the old heroes.

Es ging das Gerücht, er besitze die Kunst oder Gabe der alten Helden.

Men had seen him at night upon the mountains, stepping from one cliff to the next;

Leute hatten ihn nachts auf den Bergen gesehen, wie er von einem Felsen zum anderen hinübertrat;

they had seen him walking in the high forest, and his head and shoulders were above the trees.

sie hatten ihn im Hochwald gehen sehen, und sein Kopf und seine Schultern ragten über die Baumwipfel empor.

This Kalamake was a strange man to see. He was come of the best blood in Molokai and Maui, of a pure descent;

Dieser Kalamake war seltsam anzusehen. Er stammte aus bestem Blut in Molokai und Maui, war von reiner Abkunft;

and yet he was more white to look upon than any foreigner: his hair the colour of dry grass,

und doch war er weißer anzusehen als jeder Fremde. Sein Haar hatte die Farbe trockenen Grases,

and his eyes red and very blind, so that “Blind as Kalamake, that can see across to-morrow,” was a byword in the islands.

seine Augen waren rot und sehr blind, so daß ein Sprichwort auf den Inseln lautete: ›Blind wie Kalamake, der über morgen hinaussehen kann.‹

Of all these doings of his father-in-law, Keola knew a little by the common repute,

Von all diesem Tun und Treiben seines Schwiegervaters wußte Keola ein wenig aus dem allgemeinen Gerede,

a little more he suspected, and the rest he ignored.

ein bißchen mehr argwöhnte er, und um den Rest kümmerte er sich nicht.

But there was one thing troubled him.

Aber da war etwas, das beunruhigte ihn.

Kalamake was a man that spared for nothing, whether to eat or to drink, or to wear; and for all he paid in bright new dollars.

Kalamake war ein Mann, der sich nichts abgehen ließ, weder an Essen noch an Trinken, noch an Kleidung; und für alles bezahlte er in blanken neuen Dollars.

“Bright as Kalamake’s dollars,” was another saying in the Eight Isles.

›Blank wie Kalamakes Dollars‹ war eine andere Redensart auf den acht Inseln.

Yet he neither sold, nor planted, nor took hire — only now and then from his sorceries

Dabei verkaufte er nichts, pflanzte nichts, nahm keine Pacht ein – nur für seine Zauberkünste bekam er von Zeit zu Zeit was;

— and there was no source conceivable for so much silver coin.

und so war keine sichtbare Quelle da für so viel Silbergeld.

It chanced one day Keola’s wife was gone upon a visit to Kaunakakai,

Eines Tages traf es sich, daß Keolas Weib auf einen Besuch nach Kaunakakai,

on the lee side of the island, and the men were forth at the sea-fishing.

auf der Leeseite der Insel, gegangen war, und die Männer waren fort, zum Fischen auf der See.

But Keola was an idle dog, and he lay in the verandah and watched the surf beat on the shore and the birds fly about the cliff.

Aber Keola war ein fauler Hund, er lag auf der Veranda und sah die Brandung an den Strand schlagen und die Vögel um die Klippen fliegen.

It was a chief thought with him always — the thought of the bright dollars.

Einen Hauptgedanken hatte er immer in seinem Sinn – den Gedanken an die blanken Dollars.

When he lay down to bed he would be wondering why they were so many,

Wenn er sich zu Bett legte, wunderte er sich in seinen Gedanken, warum es so viele waren,

and when he woke at morn he would be wondering why they were all new; and the thing was never absent from his mind.

und wenn er morgens aufwachte, wunderte er sich, warum es lauter neue waren; und das kam ihm nie aus dem Sinn.

But this day of all days he made sure in his heart of some discovery.

Aber gerade an diesem Tag von allen Tagen beschloß er in seinem Herzen, er wolle es herausbringen;

For it seems he had observed the place where Kalamake kept his treasure, which was a lock-fast desk against the parlour wall,

denn er hatte, scheint’s, den Ort bemerkt, wo Kalamake seinen Schatz verwahrte, und das war ein verschlossenes Schreibpult an der Wohnzimmerwand

under the print of Kamehameha the Fifth, and a photograph of Queen Victoria with her crown;

unter der Lithographie Kamehamehas des Fünften und einer Photographie der Königin Viktoria mit ihrer Krone auf dem Kopfe.

and it seems again that, no later than the night before, he found occasion to look in, and behold! the bag lay there empty.

Ferner hatte er, scheint’s, und gerade erst in der vorigen Nacht, Gelegenheit gefunden, hineinzugucken, und siehe da! Der Geldsack war leer!

And this was the day of the steamer; he could see her smoke off Kalaupapa;

Dies war der Tag, an dem der Dampfer kam, er konnte den Rauch schon auf der Höhe von Kalaupapa sehen,

and she must soon arrive with a month’s goods, tinned salmon and gin, and all manner of rare luxuries for Kalamake.

und er müßte bald ankommen mit Ware für einen Monat, Büchsenlachs und Gin und allen möglichen seltenen Leckerbissen für Kalamake.

“Now if he can pay for his goods to-day,” Keola thought,

»Nun, wenn er seine Waren heute bezahlen kann«, dachte Keola,

“I shall know for certain that the man is a warlock, and the dollars come out of the Devil’s pocket.”

»dann werde ich bestimmt wissen, daß der Mann ein Hexerich ist und daß die Dollars aus des Teufels Tasche kommen.«

KEOLA was married with Lehua, daughter of Kalamake, the wise man of Molokai, and he kept his dwelling with the father of his wife. There was no man more cunning than that prophet; he read the stars, he could divine by the bodies of the dead, and by the means of evil creatures: he could go alone into the highest parts of the mountain, into the region of the hobgoblins, and there he would lay snares to entrap the spirits of the ancient.

For this reason no man was more consulted in all the Kingdom of Hawaii. Prudent people bought, and sold, and married, and laid out their lives by his counsels; and the King had him twice to Kona to seek the treasures of Kamehameha. Neither was any man more feared: of his enemies, some had dwindled in sickness by the virtue of his incantations, and some had been spirited away, the life and the clay both, so that folk looked in vain for so much as a bone of their bodies. It was rumoured that he had the art or the gift of the old heroes. Men had seen him at night upon the mountains, stepping from one cliff to the next; they had seen him walking in the high forest, and his head and shoulders were above the trees.

This Kalamake was a strange man to see. He was come of the best blood in Molokai and Maui, of a pure descent; and yet he was more white to look upon than any foreigner: his hair the colour of dry grass, and his eyes red and very blind, so that “Blind as Kalamake, that can see across to-morrow,” was a byword in the islands.

Of all these doings of his father-in-law, Keola knew a little by the common repute, a little more he suspected, and the rest he ignored. But there was one thing troubled him. Kalamake was a man that spared for nothing, whether to eat or to drink, or to wear; and for all he paid in bright new dollars. “Bright as Kalamake’s dollars,” was another saying in the Eight Isles. Yet he neither sold, nor planted, nor took hire — only now and then from his sorceries — and there was no source conceivable for so much silver coin.

It chanced one day Keola’s wife was gone upon a visit to Kaunakakai, on the lee side of the island, and the men were forth at the sea-fishing. But Keola was an idle dog, and he lay in the verandah and watched the surf beat on the shore and the birds fly about the cliff. It was a chief thought with him always — the thought of the bright dollars. When he lay down to bed he would be wondering why they were so many, and when he woke at morn he would be wondering why they were all new; and the thing was never absent from his mind. But this day of all days he made sure in his heart of some discovery. For it seems he had observed the place where Kalamake kept his treasure, which was a lock-fast desk against the parlour wall, under the print of Kamehameha the Fifth, and a photograph of Queen Victoria with her crown; and it seems again that, no later than the night before, he found occasion to look in, and behold! the bag lay there empty. And this was the day of the steamer; he could see her smoke off Kalaupapa; and she must soon arrive with a month’s goods, tinned salmon and gin, and all manner of rare luxuries for Kalamake.

“Now if he can pay for his goods to-day,” Keola thought, “I shall know for certain that the man is a warlock, and the dollars come out of the Devil’s pocket.”