The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby
The Water Children ( original English Title: The Water - Babies, A Fairy Tale for a land baby) is a children's story by Charles Kingsley. It was published from August 1862 to March 1863 as a continuation of history in Macmillan 's Magazine and appeared in 1863 in book form. Until the 1920s, the book was very popular and was one of the most important works of English children's literature. The written in the style of Victorian novels history has the form of a didactic, moral parable.
Content
The Little Sweep Tom falls into a river after he has the rich girl met Ellie and being chased out of her house. There he dies and is, as it betrays a caddis fly, transformed into a " water child ". It begins his religious upbringing.
For Tom begins a series of adventures and lessons. After he has proved to be a moral being, he enjoys the company of other children water. Its spiritual leader in his new world are the elves Mrs. Doasyouwouldbedoneby ( Do- as-you- would-be -done -by) and Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid (Be -done -by -as-you -did ) and Mother Carey. In the week Tom is taught by Ellie, also fell into the river.
His old master Grimes also drowns. In his latest adventure, Tom travels to the end of the world to help Grimes, the punishment is there for his misdeeds. As Tom showed his willingness to do things he does not like, simply because they are the right things that you must do, it is converted back into a human. He is a " great scientist " who can "Railways, steam engines, telegraph, cans and so on " design. Tom and Ellie are reunited.
Interpretation
The story of Christian redemption. However, Kingsley used his story to show that England 's poor ill-treated, and is the practice of child labor in question. Identify the few readers that the book was partly both a satire and a serious critique of the narrow-minded responses of many scientists of his time on the Darwinian theory of evolution. In a letter dated November 18, 1859 Kingsley expressed his admiration for Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species.
In the history of Kingsley represents, for example, the view that no one is entitled to claim that something does not exist just because it has yet to be seen ( such as the human soul or a water child):
" " But there are no such things as water-babies. " How do you know that? Have you been there to see? And if you had been there to see, and had seen none, did not prove would thatthere were none. "
" " But there is no water Children, " How do you know? Did you already searched? If you have they sought and not found, this is not proof that there is none. "
Tom and Ellie come across a book that tells the story of the " great and famous nation" Doasyoulikes " from the country drudgery ," leaving their country to lead a rollicking life and do what ever they like (do -as- you- likes). They eventually lose the ability to speak and degenerate into gorillas. As the African explorer Paul Belloni You nudge Chaillu on the last survivor, the gorilla is reminiscent of his human origin. He tries to ask, " Am I not a man and brother." However, it escapes him only a " Ubboboo ", then you shoot him Chaillu.
In the summer of 1860 Kingsley visited for the first time a meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, held in Oxford. There he witnessed the beginning of the dispute between Richard Owen and Thomas Henry Huxley. In the so-called " hippocampal debate" the two professors arguing about whether certain brain structures, in particular the " hippocampus minor", both in humans and apes are available. Owen claimed that these structures are formed only in humans. He derived from a special position of man in the animal kingdom and denied a family relationship of man with the apes. Kingsley created for its history, the figure of the professor Ptthmllnsprts (put -them -all- in -spirits ), which symbolizes both counterparties, and scoffed at the Great hippopotamus ( Hippopotamus major) in the brain. The Neuillustration history by Edward Linley Sambourne in the edition of 1885 shows Huxley and Owen, examine a trapped water Kid.
In addition to Darwin, Huxley and Owen other well-known scientists such as Roderick Murchison, Michael Faraday and Adam Sedgwick mentioned in the story.
Adaptations
The story was filmed in 1978 under the title The Water Babies with James Mason, Bernard Cribbins and Billie Whitelaw. The German synchronization water had children on December 4, 1981 in the GDR premiere. However, the plot of the film has little resemblance with the contents of the book. ZDF showed months later their own version under the title The Little Sweep on the ocean floor - these also appeared on DVD.
1902, the story in London's Garrick Theatre was listed as a musical with lyrics by Rutland Barrington and music by Frederick Rosse, Albert Fox and Alfred Cellier. In 2003, she was shown as a stage play by Jason Carr and Gary Yershon in the Chichester Festival Theatre, directed by Jeremy Sams.
Initial publication
Charles Kingsley's The Water - Babies, A Fairy Tale for a land baby was published from August 1862 to March 1863 as a continuation of history in Macmillan 's Magazine.
- Chapter 1, Macmillan 's Magazine. Volume 6, August 1862, pp. 273-283
- Chapter 2, Macmillan 's Magazine. Volume 6, September 1862, pp. 353-363
- Chapter 3, Macmillan 's Magazine. Volume 6, October 1862, pp. 433-444
- Chapter 4, Macmillan 's Magazine. Volume 7, November 1862, pp. 1-13
- Chapter 5, Macmillan 's Magazine. Volume 7, December 1862, pp. 95-105
- Chapter 6, Macmillan 's Magazine. Volume 7, January 1863, pp. 209-218
- Chapter 7, Macmillan 's Magazine. Volume 7, February 1863, pp. 316-327
- Chapter 8, Macmillan 's Magazine. Volume 7, March 1863, pp. 383-392
German editions (selection)
- The little water Children: a fairy tale for a small country child. Wartig, Leipzig 1880. German by Eduard Prätorius
- The water children. Westermann, Braunschweig 1912 Translated from English by Eugenie Hoffmann and Rose Wenner. ; with black text 28 images and 4 multicolored frames of Hugo Krayn ( 1885-1919 ) online
- The Water Children: A fairy tale. Trautmann, Hamburg 1947. Translation of Karl Waentig, drawings by Erich Grandeit
- The Water Children - A tale of river and sea. Volker Verlag, Cologne, 1947. Cumshot German transferred from William Tholen, handling and text drawings by Ulla Hebbinghaus
- Anna Valeton: When the water children: the fairy tale by Charles Kingsley freely retold. Herder, Freiburg 1953. Illustrated by Marianne Scheel
- The water children. Sauerland Verlag, 1986. Translated by Helga Pfetsch, with illustrations by Susan Rowe. ISBN 3-7941-2258-5