by Herb Windolf / October 2007

About one hundred million years ago an ocean began to cover large parts of Europe. For approximately fifteen million years streams and rivers eroded the islands and surrounding elevations, carrying mainly quartz sand to the ocean’s bottom, in course depositing, layer by layer, close to 600 meters of this material. In time these layers were compressed to gray marine sandstone. These stone layers, from 20 to 120 meters thick, are interspersed by clay layers up to 4 meters thick. Clay was laid down more frequently early on, so that thicker or taller sandstone layers dominate up top. Subsequently, uplift created vertical cracks in the stone. Sandstone, being permeable, allows rainwater to penetrate downwards until it is stopped by an impermeable clay layer which directs it sideways until the water finds an exit.

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One should be thankful for MICHAEL KIMMELMAN’s NY Times article “In Germany, Wild for Winnetou” published on the 12th September, 2007. At the very least, Karl May gets another mention on the East Coast where a century ago his works were avidly read, albeit in colportage form.

As expected, Karl May is once again labeled a fantasist like Kaiser Wilhelm II and almost apologetically, he is claimed to be the favorite author of Albert Einstein, Albert Schweitzer, Kafka, Fritz Lang and of course … Adolf Hitler.

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When Buffalo Bill Cody passed through Europe over 100 years ago, who knew his tour would profoundly affect a retired Prescott man?

The Prescott man is Herbert Windolf and here's how he connects the dots. Buffalo Bill's tour, the novels of James Fennimore Cooper and the general fascination of the European public with the America of the times, inspired writers in England, Italy, Scandinavia, Romania and Germany to write about the American Wild West. The German writer Karl May (pronounced "my") was the most prolific. May's books have been translated into 40 languages.

"Only translations into English were delayed. There is now the Translation Project sponsored by Nemsi Books, attempting to translate all of Karl May's about 80 books into English," Windolf says.

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Translated from the German original by Rainer Liffers Part One - Chapter One - A Dshelabi "Hai es sala, let us pray" - so the religious Shech el Dshemali, the leader of the caravan, called out. "El Asr is here, the time to bend our knees, three hours past noon!"

His men got together and threw themselves on the sunburnt ground. They let the sand run through their hands and also rubbed it softly on their cheeks, using it in place of the missing water which is normally used for the prescribed ablution ceremony. At the same time, they spoke the words of al-Fatiha, the first surah of the Qur'an:

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That a picture is worth a thousand words is only partly true. Whoever coined that cliché might have been a little more specific. Or maybe he or she was, but I just never paid enough attention before.

In going through the first volume of Winnetou for probably the third or fourth time now, certain images present themselves in my head as the story unfolds. I mean I’m a prairie boy. I know what the prairie looks like. I even know what tall grass prairie looks like, the kind of prairie that existed at a time when the Plains Cree hunted buffalo here in the Red River valley. There’s not much of that left either, having yielded mainly to civilization putting it under cultivation. What little remains, is protected under law.

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The famous superior weapon that is used with devastating effect by the hero of these Travel Narratives was initially mentioned in the first book of the Winnetou Series. Here Karl May described the manner in which he (alias Charlie a.k.a. Kara Ben Nemsi) obtained both the Henry Carbine and the heavy double-barreled “Bear-killer” gun from a gunsmith named simply Mr. Henry.

At no time in the original text did Karl May elaborate on Mr. Henry's full name. Any assumption that is was D. Tyler Henry, the inventor of the Henry Lever Action Rifle, the patent of which was later bought by the Winchester Rifle Company is quite erroneous.

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Mohammed-Emin, the Sheik of the Shammar in Karl May's Oriental Odyssey is clearly modeled on the Sheik of the Jebours, mentioned in Austen Henry Layard's account of his travels, entitled "A Popular Account of Discoveries at Nineveh". It is therefore not surprising to also find a mention of Amsha, the mother of Hajji Halef Omar's bride Hanneh. And the lines "Do you believe that upon this mare I hunted the wild donkey of the Sindsha until it collapsed from exhaustion?” echoing Layard's account of "Mohammed-Emin, sheikh of the Jebours, assured me that he had seen Sofuk ride down the wild ass of the Sinjar on her back, and the most marvelous stories are current in the desert of her fleetness and powers of endurance." Read now the fourth part of this series.

The operations at Nimroud having been completely suspended until orders could be received from Constantinople, I thought the time not inopportune to visit Sofuk, the sheikh of the great nomad Arab tribe of Shammar, which occupies nearly the whole of Mesopotamia. He had lately left the Khabour, and was now encamped near the western bank of the Tigris, below its junction with the Zab, and consequently not far from Nimroud. I had two objects in going to his tents; in the first place I wished to obtain the friendship of the chief of a powerful tribe of Bedouins, who would probably cross the river in the neighborhood of the excavations during the summer, and might indulge, to my cost, in their plundering propensities; and, at the same time, I was anxious to visit the remarkable ruins of Al Hather, which I had only examined very hastily on my former journey.

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The opening sentence of volume two of the Winnetou series translates into English as; ‘Barely had the first volume of Winnetou been published than numerous questions came pouring in asking for more of the adventures.’

That’s the effect Karl May had on his readers.

I am currently translating volume one of ‘Winnetou, The Red Gentleman’ and really have no business poking my nose into what happens next, but I couldn’t resist a peek either.

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Was Mohammed Emin a character invented by Karl May? If we consult the third chapter of Austen Henry Layard’s “A Popular Account of Discoveries at Nineveh”, it would seem that this name actually referred to a real person who lived in the very era in which Karl May's tale take place. It is becoming more obvious now that Layard's account is indeed the source of the Oriental Odyssey's link to the real world. We should also compare the following passage in Layard's narrative: "Flowers of every hue enameled the meadows; not thinly scattered over the grass as in northern climes, but in such thick and gathering clusters that the whole plain seemed a patchwork of many colors. The dogs, as they returned from hunting, issued from the long grass dyed red, yellow, or blue, according to the flowers through which they had last forced their way." Is this not echoed in the following lines of Karl May's writings? "As it was springtime, the ground resembled not so much a desert as a meadow; the flowers erupted from the earth in clusters. We had not run far before our trouser legs were colored with pollen. Due to the height of the vegetation, the trail was easy to see." Read now the third chapter of Layard’s account.

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With a smile I studied the second chapter of Austen Henry Layard’s “A Popular Account of Discoveries at Nineveh”. Here I had a most descriptive picture of the inhabitants of this foreign land including their customs and mannerisms, their idiosyncrasies and their language transposed into English. As I read the dialogs, I was reminded of Karl May’s first person signature style used in his Travel Narratives penned in the 1880’s and yet here it already existed, written by a real traveler to those foreign lands. Read now the second chapter of Layard’s account.

My first step on reaching Mosul was to present my letters to Mohammed Pashaw, the governor of the province. Being a native of Candia, he was usually known as Keritli Oglu (the son of the Cretan), to distinguish him from his celebrated predecessor of the same name. The appearance of his Excellency was not prepossessing, but it matched his temper and conduct. Nature had placed hypocrisy beyond his reach. He had one eye and one ear; he was short and fat, deeply marked by the small-pox, uncouth in gestures and harsh in voice. His fame had reached the seat of his government before him. On the road he had revived many good old customs and impositions, which the reforming spirit of the age had suffered to fall into decay.

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As I began to translate this Travel Narrative I was curious as to where Karl May might have obtained his accurate information on the people and places he so vividly described. My curiosity and research led me to "A Popular Account of Discoveries at Nineveh" by Austen Henry Layard and J. C. Derby published in New York in the year 1854. The year, being well before Karl May penned his adventure narrative, suggested that it may be the writings he used as reference for his own work. But as I read this account, I discovered much more. For your own pleasure of discovery, read now the first chapter of this report.

A Popular Account of Discoveries at Nineveh
During the autumn of 1839 and winter of 1840, I had been wandering through Asia Minor and Syria, scarcely leaving untrod one spot hallowed by tradition, or unvisited one ruin consecrated by history. I was accompanied by one no less curious and enthusiastic than myself.

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During my translation of Oriental Odyssey II – The Devil Worshippers, I came across the following dialog;

“Oladschag-iz jijid - wir werden tapfer sein!” [We will be courageous!]
“Pek jijid - sehr tapfer!” [Very courageous!]
“Binar-iz - wir werden befördert werden!” [We will be promoted!]
“Jüksek, ghajet jüksek - hoch, äußerst hoch!” [High, exceedingly high!]

At first, this did not present a problem. However, this simple dialog that was overheard by Kara Ben Nemsi as he lay in the bushes beyond the campfire would present a problem that would vex me for some time. The reason for my chagrin would not come to light until much later, namely in the form of the following lines;

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As translators we sometimes dwell on a single word in order to capture the essence of its meaning before translating it into English. The current word that causes us so much frustration is ‘Beobachter’, a descriptive German word that does not even deserve a second glance or thought as we automatically substitute ‘Watcher’ or ‘Observer’ in our minds. But which of these English words is the more fitting to describe the sense of the German title, ‘Der Beobachter an der Elbe’?

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Angelia Baldwin: Today I am interviewing Michael Michalak; the dedicated translator of the Oriental Odyssey Series originally penned by Karl May in the late 1800’s. Mr. Michalak, welcome and thank you for granting us this interview.
Michael Michalak: Thank you Angie, I am glad to be here.
Angelia Baldwin: I noticed that in your article; “The Trials and Tribulations of Translating Karl May into English” you sought feedback and comments from various sources. Were these helpful in publishing your final work?

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