Chapter 73 The Full Text of Oscar Wilde's "Prisoner"

The Full Text of Oscar Wilde's "Prisoner" Wilde's "Prisoner" was published as early as 1905, and it has also been published in China. There has been a translation for a long time.However, what was published in London back then was not the full text, but an abridged version. Published only half of the full text.Until 1949, forty-four years after the abridged edition was published Afterwards, the full text of "The Story of Prison" was officially published for the first time. The so-called "Prisoner" by Wilde is actually a long letter written by Wilde in prison.

For Sir Douglas.Wilde's imprisonment was for this young friend.Because of this The work itself is a long letter, at least a piece of epistolary prose, and Wilde was Really prepared to write to Douglas.Neither an essay nor a book, so There is no title or title at all.A portion of the original text was first published in London in 1905 At that time, it was excerpted and printed by Wilde's friend Rob Ross, because the draft of this long letter in his hand.At this time, Wilde himself had died five years ago, and Rob Ross selected this long letter. Part of the letter was printed, and since there was no title at all, he drew up "De Profundis"

Two characters for the title.This is an idiom in the Latin scriptures, which means "from the heart", which means that this is a The "heartfelt words" written by individuals in prison.This book was published around 1925. The translation was jointly translated by Zhang Wentian and Wang Fuquan.At that time, it was probably because if according to the literal translation of the original name, The meaning is obscure, so I adopted the title of the Japanese translation and called it "Journal of Prison".this translation The advantage of this is to make the special nature of Wilde's work obvious to the reader at a glance, although in fact

There are not many contents related to life in prison, but in the end all of them were written in prison. "Record" is actually very appropriate, so I will continue to use this ready-made name here. Wilde was sentenced to prison on May 25, 1895, for a two-year sentence.this one The long letter of the so-called "Journal of Prison" was written intermittently while serving his sentence.Originally, the prisoner There may not be the freedom and convenience of writing, but Wilde is a famous writer after all, and he What he wrote was a long letter, so he was provided with paper from the prison, which is a blue prison paper.

Quarto papers with prison stamps, Wilde handed one to the jailer after he finished writing, and received another new paper, He himself was not allowed to keep the originals.The long letter consisted of twenty sheets of paper, each with four sides, a total of There are eighty sides.After Wilde finished writing this long letter, according to his own plan, he wanted to entrust him with Passed to Douglas by buddy Rob Ross.However, according to the prison rules, the prisoners wrote in prison Except for the necessary letters that can be sent outside the room after strict inspection, any other documents

None of the words are allowed to be sent outside the prison.Therefore, Wilde thought that this long letter had already reached Rob Ross and In the hands of Douglas, unexpectedly, he is still in prison.until his nineteenth day of may 1897 When he was released from prison after serving his sentence, the supervisor returned the bundle of manuscripts to him. On the day Wilde was released from prison, he left England, crossed the English Channel, changed his name and surname to France. country to live temporarily.Rob Ross was there to pick him up, so Wilde handed over to the warden when he got out of prison.

His long letter, which was withheld, was handed over to Rob Ross.This is the so-called "Prison Story" today All drafts of . Wilde never saw the bundle of manuscripts again, nor did he himself return to England. He was released from prison in 1897, and three years later, on November 30, 1900, he had Died in France. After Rob Ross received the bundle of manuscripts that Wilde gave him, he followed his instructions and typed A copy was typed on a typewriter, and a copy was made on carbon paper.He should have sent the manuscript directly To Sir Douglas, but Wilde has much to say to Douglas in this long letter

The accusation is quite serious (when the abridged version of "The Story of Prison" was published in 1905, the most deleted one was this partly because Sir Douglas was alive at the time), Rob Ross knew what Douglas was like and personality, for the sake of prudence, he kept the manuscript of the original letter in his own hands, and only typed The typewriter copy was given to Douglas.Sure enough, Douglas saw Wilde write this in the letter. He complained and blamed him, and was so angry that he destroyed the letter.He thought it was the only original After the manuscript is destroyed, this important public case can be closed, and no one will bring it up again.

is a copy.Rob Ross was arguably prescient. Not long after, Sir Douglas naturally knew the truth about Wilde's manuscript, knew The manuscript is still in the hands of Rob Ross.The two quarreled over this issue.By this time Wilde had died, Rob Ross was the appointed custodian of Wilde's copyright, and he certainly had the right to keep the All of Gerd's posthumous works and original manuscripts.But Sir Douglas said that Wilde's long letter was written If it was given to him, the manuscript should belong to him.Rob Ross saw that if this matter went to court, it would be very difficult for him.

It may not be beneficial to himself, so he implemented a method of dredging the bottom line. He put this manuscript in front of witnesses. It was previously sealed and presented to the British Museum with a note that it will not be released for sixty years. Open, it will be sixty years before the content can be made public, because by then everyone involved in the letter A person is believed to be dead, and there are no further legal troubles or inconveniences. This happened in 1909.As a result, apart from Rob Ross, there is also a hidden copy In addition to the typewritten copy printed on carbon paper, since the manuscript has been sealed in the British Museum, at least in the

No one will see this manuscript again before 1969.Unexpectedly, in 1912, Wang Ashur Ronson, a friend of Wilde's during his lifetime, wrote a biography of Wilde that involved Doug Russ, whom Douglas considered libelous, sued the author, citing Some words of this long letter from the British Museum testified, so under the approval of the court, this bunch of original The manuscript was unsealed and taken out to testify in court. In this case, because the defendant's lawyer quoted the content of Wilde's long letter to answer In the defense, Douglas, as the plaintiff, had the opportunity to obtain a copy of the original letter for reference.later Douglas lost the case, but he has a copy of the letter in his possession. He was very angry because he lost the lawsuit against Lang Xun for defamation, and threatened to send himself This copy in his own hand, he added annotations and brought it to the United States for publication.This time, can I'm so anxious about Rob Ross, because although the copyright of Wilde's works has been registered in the UK, Not published without the consent of Rob Ross.However, the copyright of "Prisoner" is not available in the United States. Registration, if Douglas takes the copy in his hand to the United States for publication at this time, there is no Someone can interfere.Moreover, if published by Douglass himself with annotations, he must have Try to defend your actions as much as possible, which is not only bad for Wilde's reputation behind him, but also bad for him. Rob Ross himself is also bad.Because Douglas has already agreed with the original manuscript of this letter. Rob Ross quarreled, and the last time he sued Ronson, Douglas also wanted to "kill two stones with one stone". Bird", if he wins the lawsuit, he will also sue Rob Ross. In order to preemptively strike, Rob Ross heard that Douglas was going to take him from the court. When the incoming copy was sent to the United States for publication, he immediately sent the copy of the carbon paper he had in his hand. A copy, sent to a friend in the United States, and asked him to handle the publication and copyright in the United States with the fastest procedures Register to be covered.Fortunately, that friend did not disgrace his life, and spent ten days printing out ten pages for him. Six volumes, because this is the minimum print run for a book to obtain copyright protection, complete the registration procedures.and One copy was kept in New York for public sale, and the remaining 15 copies were sent back to the UK together with the original copies.This way, Only then did Douglas' plan to have his copy stamped and brought to the United States for publication was prevented. One of the legal requirements for obtaining copyright protection is to keep a copy in the United States for public sale. one.In order not to be bought by others, Robert Ross deliberately ordered this hastily printed thin book The price was five hundred US dollars, but it was quickly bought by a bibliophile at this high price.so wilde The full text of this "Prison Story" was actually printed ten times before it was published publicly. Limited edition of six volumes, fifteen of which are kept in Rob Ross's own hands, but one It has fallen into the hands of an unknown bibliophile in the United States.But that book starts with edition studies Although it is very valuable, the content is very poor, because it is rushing to fight for copyright registration, and it is not Sixteen volumes were hastily printed without proofreading. When Rob Ross himself died in 1918, the copy he kept was transferred to Wilde's The son Fei Fuyan? Holland hands.In 1945, Douglas also died, although Rob The 1969 deadline for the publication of manuscripts stipulated by Douglas has not yet expired, but since Douglass died, It will no longer cause any inconvenience, so Fevjan Holland took him into the hands in 1949 The copy of the book was handed over to the bookstore for public publication.As for the manuscript of Wilde's original letter, it still exists today. The British Museum, according to the original sealing regulations, will not release it until 1969.