2026년 10월 10일 토요일

The Mysterious Stranger - 1916 Wikipedia 不思議な少年

The Mysterious Stranger - Wikipedia



The Mysterious Stranger

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Mysterious Stranger
Frontispiece of the 1st edition: "Eseldorf was a paradise for us boys"
AuthorMark Twain
IllustratorN. C. Wyeth
LanguageEnglish
PublisherHarper & Brothers
Publication date1916,[1] posthumously
Publication placeNew York City, New York, United States
Media typeHardcover
Pages176

The Mysterious Stranger is a novella by the American author Mark Twain. He worked on it intermittently from 1897 through 1908. Twain wrote multiple versions of the story; each involves a supernatural character called "Satan" or "No. 44", encountering children. In one version, the children are Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer.

Versions

The three stories differ in length: The Chronicle of Young Satan has about 55,000 words, Schoolhouse Hill 15,300 words and No. 44, the Mysterious Stranger 65,000 words.[2]

"St. Petersburg Fragment"

Mark Twain wrote the "St. Petersburg Fragment" in September 1897. It was set in the fictional town of St. Petersburg, a name Twain often used for Hannibal, Missouri.[3] Twain then revised this version, removing references to St. Petersburg, and used the text for The Chronicle of Young Satan.[4]

The Chronicle of Young Satan

The first substantial version is entitled The Chronicle of Young Satan (also referred to as the "Eseldorf" version) and relates the adventures of Satan, the sinless nephew of the biblical Satan, in Eseldorf, a village in Austria, in the year 1702. Twain wrote this version between November 1897 and September 1900.[5] "Eseldorf" is German for "Assville" or "Donkeytown".[3]

Schoolhouse Hill

The second substantial text Twain attempted to write is known as Schoolhouse Hill or the "Hannibal" version. It is set in the U.S., and concerns the adventures of the familiar characters Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer with Satan, referred to in this version as "No. 44, New Series 864962". Twain began writing it in November 1898 and, like the "St. Petersburg Fragment", set it in the fictional town of St. Petersburg.[3]

No. 44, the Mysterious Stranger

The third text, called No. 44, the Mysterious Stranger: Being an Ancient Tale Found in a Jug and Freely Translated from the Jug, also known as the "Print Shop" version, returns to Austria, this time in the year 1490, not long after the invention of printing.[3] It tells of No. 44's mysterious appearance at the door of a print shop and his use of heavenly powers to expose the futility of mankind's existence. This version also introduces an idea that Twain was toying with at the end of his life, involving a duality of the "self", composed of the "Waking Self" and the "Dream Self". Twain explores these ideas through the use of "Duplicates", copies of the printshop workers made by No. 44. This version contains an actual ending, but the text still has many flaws and it is debatable whether it can be considered finished.[6] Twain wrote this version between 1902 and 1908.[3]

Paine-Duneka text of 1916

The edition published in 1916 (in seven parts in Harper's Magazine, and separately as a book published by Harper & Brothers)[7] is composed mainly of a heavily edited Chronicle of Young Satan, with a slightly altered version of the ending from No. 44 tacked on. Albert Bigelow Paine, who had sole possession of Twain's unfinished works after Twain's death and kept them private, claimed that he had searched through Twain's manuscripts and had found the proper intended ending for The Mysterious Stranger. After Paine's death in 1937, Bernard DeVoto became the possessor of Twain's manuscripts and released them to the public. In the 1960s, critics studied the original copies of the story and found that the ending Paine chose for The Mysterious Stranger referred to the characters from different versions of the story (such as No. 44 instead of Satan) and the original names had been crossed out and written over in Paine's handwriting.[8]

In 1963, scholars led by researcher John S. Tuckey carefully examined Twain's papers and manuscripts and discovered that Paine had not only tampered with and patched together three previously unfinished manuscripts but also had with assistance from Frederick Duneka added passages not written by Twain in order to complete The Mysterious Stranger.[3] The book version that was published nonetheless maintains Twain's criticisms of what he believed to be the hypocrisy of conventional religion.[9][10]

According to editor W. M. Gibson, Paine's volume was a literary fraud that went undetected for more than 40 years.[11] Nevertheless, Gibson also admits that "the cut, cobbled-together, partially falsified text has the power to move and to satisfy esthetically despite its flaws."[12]

Summary

In 1590, three boys, Theodor, Seppi, and Nikolaus, live relatively happy simple lives in a remote Austrian village called Eseldorf (German for "Assville" or "Donkeytown"). The story is narrated by Theodor, the village organist's son. Other local characters include Father Peter, his niece Marget, and the astrologer.

One day, a handsome teenage boy named Satan appears in the village. He explains that he is an angel and the nephew of the fallen angel whose name he shares. Young Satan performs several magical feats. He claims to be able to foresee the future and informs the group of unfortunate events that will soon befall those they care about. The boys do not believe Satan's claims until one of his predictions comes true. Satan proceeds to describe further tragedies that will befall their friends. The boys beg Satan to intercede. Satan agrees but operates under the technical definition of mercy. For instance, instead of a lingering death due to illness, Satan simply causes one of Theodor's friends to die immediately.

In the village and in other places around the world where Satan transports them magically, the boys witness religious fanaticism, witch trials, burnings, hangings, deaths and mass hysteria. Finally, Satan vanishes after explaining:

Strange, indeed, that you should not have suspected that your universe and its contents were only dreams, visions, fiction! Strange, because they are so frankly and hysterically insane—like all dreams: a God who could make good children as easily as bad, yet preferred to make bad ones; who could have made every one of them happy, yet never made a single happy one; who made them prize their bitter life, yet stingily cut it short; who gave his angels eternal happiness unearned, yet required his other children to earn it; who gave his angels painless lives, yet cursed his other children with biting miseries and maladies of mind and body; who mouths justice and invented hell—mouths mercy and invented hell—mouths Golden Rules, and forgiveness multiplied by seventy times seven, and invented hell; who mouths morals to other people and has none himself; who frowns upon crimes, yet commits them all; who created man without invitation, then tries to shuffle the responsibility for man's acts upon man, instead of honorably placing it where it belongs, upon himself; and finally, with altogether divine obtuseness, invites this poor, abused slave to worship him!... [T]here is no God, no universe, no human race, no earthly life, no heaven, no hell. It is all a dream—a grotesque and foolish dream. Nothing exists but you. And you are but a thought—a vagrant thought, a useless thought, a homeless thought, wandering forlorn among the empty eternities!

University of California Press editions

In 1969, the University of California Press published, as part of The Mark Twain Papers Series, a scholarly edition of all three unaltered manuscripts, edited by William M. Gibson and titled Mark Twain's Mysterious Stranger Manuscripts; it was republished in 2005.[13] The same publisher released a final version of No. 44, The Mysterious Stranger in a popular edition in 1982.[3]

Adaptations

Film versions

In 1982, a film version of No. 44, The Mysterious Stranger was shot by The Great Amwell Company and shown in the United States on PBS, and later on HBO and was directed by Peter H. Hunt. The role of 44 was played by Lance Kerwin, and August was played by Chris Makepeace.[14]

A scene from The Chronicle of Young Satan was adapted in the 1985 claymation film The Adventures of Mark Twain, wherein Satan invites Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, and Becky Thatcher to his company, displaying his powers to manifest things at will. He invites them to construct small clay people, which he brings to life and places in a small kingdom. Satan expresses curiosity and eventually spite toward their creations when the clay people display infighting and inflict cruelty on one another. He causes plagues and natural disasters to destroy the small community, buries the ruins with an earthquake, and causes wild vegetation to engulf the spot where the clay people once lived, demonstrating the futility and insignificance of mankind—much to the horror of the children, with Huck Finn uttering "You murdered them!" Satan advises them that "people are of no value" and that more could be made "if we need them". The scene also quotes Satan's last line from the book. In this version, Satan appears playful and friendly when he constructs the small kingdom, slowly revealing himself as cruel and hateful as he destroys it (although he claims he "can do no wrong" since he does not understand the word's meaning). He appears as a robed, headless figure with a mask where his head would be. As his true nature is revealed, the mask gradually changes from a pleasant appearance to a demonic visage and finally a grinning skull. The film also gives a paraphrased line from No. 44, The Mysterious Stranger to Mark Twain as his parting remark to the children: The human race in all its poverty has only one truly effective weapon: Laughter. Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.

In 1989, a film adaptation of this book was shot in the Soviet Union by Igor Maslennikov and released under the title Filipp Traum. Philipp Traum is the name Satan comes to use amongst humans, traum being the German word for "dream".

The 2019 acid western movie Day of the Stranger is a loose adaptation of the story in a western setting.

Opera

Kevin Malone's opera Mysterious 44 is inspired by the work. The premiere, performed by Manchester Opera Project with a narrated introduction and conclusion by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, was at the residence of the Hallé Orchestra at St Peter's Church, Ancoats, Manchester, on 24 May 2014.[9][10]

Pop culture

Artist Ted Richards drew a comic-strip adaptation of "The Mysterious Stranger" for his "Dopin' Dan" character in "Rip-Off Comix No. 1" (Rip-Off Press, San Francisco, 1977).

The story of The Mysterious Stranger is loosely adapted for a side quest in the 2010 video game Red Dead Redemption and its 2018 prequel, with a similar character who sends the protagonist John Marston on various morality-based quests.[15]

A character called The Mysterious Stranger whose signature weapon is a .44 Magnum appears throughout the Fallout series of games released by Bethesda Softworks. While the character has consistently sported a Trench Coat and Fedora hat, their true nature and origins remain unexplained. A running theme is that the stranger appears at random times to aid the player character, and then disappears.

See also

References

  1. Facsimile of the original 1st edition.
  2. John S. Tuckey (1963). Mark Twain and Little Satan : The Writing of The Mysterious Stranger. West Lafayette: Purdue University Studies.|page=9
  3. Barbara Schmidt. "Special Feature: Mark Twain & the Significance of the Number 44 (A Review of the Scholars' Theories)". TwainQuotes.com. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  4. Mark Twain. The Mysterious Stranger Manuscripts (Kindle Locations 76-77). Edited by William M. Gibson. Kindle Edition.
  5. Mark Twain. The Mysterious Stranger Manuscripts (Kindle Locations 81-85). Edited by William M. Gibson. Kindle Edition.
  6. William M. Gibson: "All these developments take place in something like a dramatic vacuum" ... "Still 'diffusive' and disjointed." Mark Twain. The Mysterious Stranger Manuscripts (Kindle Locations 143-147). Edited by William M. Gibson. Kindle Edition.
  7. Mark Twain (October 1916). The Mysterious Stranger: A Romance. New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers. OCLC 675739.
  8. Mark Twain. The Mysterious Stranger Manuscripts (Kindle Locations 57-58). Edited by William M. Gibson. Kindle Edition.
  9. Lea, Richard (May 22, 2014). "Infidelio: Richard Dawkins makes operatic debut". The Guardian. Retrieved November 12, 2016.
  10. Lea, Richard (May 23, 2014). "Dawkins debuts in secularism — the opera". The Guardian. p. 10.
  11. Mark Twain. The Mysterious Stranger Manuscripts (Kindle Locations 38-39). Edited by William M. Gibson. Kindle Edition.
  12. Mark Twain. The Mysterious Stranger Manuscripts (Kindle Locations 390-391). Edited by William M. Gibson. Kindle Edition.
  13. Mark Twain (2005). The Mysterious Stranger Manuscripts. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520246959.
  14. "The Mysterious Stranger". IMDb.com. October 11, 1982. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  15. Evans, Liam (May 8, 2021). "Red Dead Redemption: Who Is the Strange Man?". CBR. Retrieved January 9, 2025.

Paine-Duneka text

No. 44, The Mysterious Stranger

The Mysterious Stranger Manuscripts

Secondary sources

===

不思議な少年 (小説)

出典: フリー百科事典『ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』

『不思議な少年』（ふしぎなしょうねん、The Mysterious Stranger 直訳は「不思議なよそ者」）は、マーク・トウェインの小説。作者が晩年に感じていたというペシミズムを前面に打ち出した内容となっている。

概要

トウェインはこの小説を1890年頃から書き始め、1910年に亡くなるまで何度も改稿していた。複数の原稿が残されており、いずれも未完成ではあるが、サタンを象徴とする少年が登場する点で共通している。

最初の原稿のタイトルはThe Chronicle of Young Satan。1702年のオーストリアの村を舞台に、サタンの甥である「サタン」が騒ぎを起こす。しかしこの原稿は、インドへ旅に行く場面で中断している。

2番目はSchoolhouse Hill。舞台を『トム・ソーヤーの冒険』に合わせ、トム・ソーヤーや、ハックルベリー・フィンを登場させている。少年の名前は「第44号 (No.44)」となっている。この版は残された原稿の中で最も短い。

3番目はNo. 44, The Mysterious Stranger。舞台を1490年のオーストリアの古城とし、「第44号」と名乗った少年は古城の中の印刷工場で働くことになっている。この版は3つの中で最も分量が多く、結末まで書かれていたが、完成には至らなかった。

現在広く知られているものは、トウェインの死後、遺産管理人のアルバート・B・ペインが1916年に出版したMysterious Stranger, A Romanceである。これはペインが最初の原稿を基に3番目の版の結末を付け加えたものである。1937年にペインが没し、遺産管理を相続したバーナード・デヴォートがトウェインの原稿を公開した。1960年代になり初めて、1916年出版の作品はペインの手が加わったものだと判明した。

1982年、カリフォルニア大学で、トウェインの遺稿全集の一部としてNo. 44, The Mysterious Strangerを出版している[1]。

あらすじ

ここではペインの編集による作品のあらすじを紹介する。

1590年5月、オーストリアのエーセルドルフ（Eseldorf ドイツ語でロバの村、すなわち愚者の村の意）に、自らを「サタン」と名乗る少年が現れる。サタンは不思議な力をテオドール達に次々と見せる。そこにピーター神父が通り、財布を落とす。サタンはその中に大量の金貨を入れて返すが、同じころに占星術師の金貨がなくなっていたため、ピーター神父は窃盗の罪で投獄されてしまう。

その後村では次々と事件が起こる。サタンはその様子を見るたびに人間を嘲る。

そのうちにピーター神父の裁判が始まる。裁判は神父にとって圧倒的に不利なものだったが、サタンの計らいにより無罪となる。しかしサタンは神父に嘘の判決を伝えたため、神父は自分のことを皇帝と思い込んでしまう。サタン曰く、人間が幸福になるには、正気でなくなるしかないと。

登場人物

  • サタン - サタンの甥という少年。年齢は1万6000歳。未来予知や時空移動などの不思議な力を持つ。
  • テオドール - 物語の語り手である少年。オルガン奏者の息子。
  • ニコラウス - テオドールの親友で、判事の息子。村娘のリーザを助けようとして溺死する。
  • セピ - テオドールの親友で、宿屋の息子。
  • ピーター神父 - 聖職から外された神父。金貨を盗んだとして投獄される。
  • 占星術師 - 村人から恐れられている人物。ピーター神父を窃盗犯として訴えた。
  • マーゲット - ピーター神父の姪。事件によって貧困生活を強いられる。

日本語訳

脚注

  1. アメリカ文学者渡辺利雄はこの小説がこうした混乱など3つの理由で「ポストモダン小説」とし、高橋源一郎の『ゴーストバスター　冒険小説』講談社文芸文庫と対照研究をしている（『アメリカ文学に触発された日本の小説』研究社、2014年）pp.125-154。

外部リンク

===
작성자: 시간:

댓글 없음:

댓글 쓰기

피드 구독하기: 댓글 (Atom)