Here's the 13th episode of our current Tale for Our Time, Erskine Childers' insightful story of German plots, British somnolence, and a couple of plucky Englishmen determined to change that course - The Riddle of the Sands. Thanks, as always, for your kind comments about this serialization. Paul Cathey, a Colorado member of The Mark Steyn Club, writes, very generously:
Mark, this is one of the best, if not the best, of the readings you have done. It is my favorite, so far. The various voices are spot-on--I am enjoying myself immensely on this voyage... This book is all that could be hoped for in a radio tale. By the way, 'Reise' in 'Gute Reise' is pronounce Rye-zuh, not Rice; just for future reference. Thank you, so much, for this.
Sorry about that, Paul. My rudimentary German is always very hit and miss. As I think I've mentioned, a couple of summers back in Reutlingen I fell in with some purported "teenage Syrian refugees" (actually thirty-year-old Gambian non-refugees) and did a bit of translating for them with the local townsfolk. My strike rate was about forty per cent on a good day.
In tonight's episode Carruthers considers Davies' theory of the coming war:
It was Davies's conviction, as I have said, that the whole region would in war be an ideal hunting-ground for small free-lance marauders, and I began to know he was right; for look at the three sea-roads through the sands to Hamburg, Bremen, Wilhelmshaven, and the heart of commercial Germany. They are like highways piercing a mountainous district by defiles, where a handful of desperate men can arrest an army.
Follow the parallel of a war on land. People your mountains with a daring and resourceful race, who possess an intimate knowledge of every track and bridle-path, who operate in small bands, travel light, and move rapidly. See what an immense advantage such guerillas possess over an enemy which clings to beaten tracks, moves in large bodies, slowly, and does not 'know the country'. See how they can not only inflict disasters on a foe who vastly overmatches them in strength, but can prolong a semi-passive resistance long after all decisive battles have been fought. See, too, how the strong invader can only conquer his elusive antagonists by learning their methods, studying the country, and matching them in mobility and cunning. The parallel must not be pressed too far; but that this sort of warfare will have its counterpart on the sea is a truth which cannot be questioned.
As Carruthers says, parallels must not be pressed too far, but those are lessons we have learned the hard way in the thankless unwon wars that have consumed our attention for the entirety of this no longer new century. I am thinking not just of Afghanistan and Iraq but of Molenbeek and les banlieues and other lost territory where they "know the country" and we no longer do. Members of The Mark Steyn Club can hear me read Part 13 of The Riddle of the Sands simply by clicking here and logging-in. Earlier episodes can be found here.
Here's where the Dulcibella is headed tonight - to the easternmost Frisian Island, Wangerooge, on the left-hand edge of the map:
If you've yet to hear any of our Tales for Our Time, you can do so by joining The Mark Steyn Club. For more details, see here - and don't forget our special Gift Membership. I'll be hosting Part 14 of The Riddle of the Sands right here tomorrow evening.
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8 Member Comments
Mark,
Thanks for all you do. I was wondering if you would consider narrating 'The Hobbit'? It was purported written to be read out loud and you would totally nail it!
thanks,
df
". . .few are called (or is it that few are listening?)." Excellent observation and so true.
Bless Childers and his Fanatic Heart , Irish , Anglo or otherwise , but surely the Admiralty would have been onto this Teutonic hotspot leading up to the war. This was a decade before.
Great story and great reading , Mark.
What would Americans , descendants of Webster, know about pronunciation ?
Americans with an aptitude for languages and who have spent many years living in the country in question, without any other Americans around, might know a good deal about pronunciation, even of the various dialects. Otherwise, I'm with you on Childers. I think the time of writing The Riddle must have been the best period of his life, untroubled by fanaticism or widely swinging loyalties. I think only a great heart, as well as, a great mind could have produced this tale: a heart quick to praise decency and honor in another while deprecating its own dross, coupled with an exquisite command of language capable of evoking the brightest and clearest, sometimes almost mystical, imagery in service of a gripping tale. And, as in many characters in Dickens, there is an ennobling effect in meeting Davies and Carruthers not found in some of the other tales we've been through. Bless Childers, indeed, and his great heart, fanatic or otherwise. May his tribe increase.
Thank you so much for this tale. I had heard of The Riddle of the Sands but never read (or heard it read!) before. I am particularly enjoying the illustrations and the maps you have been providing with each episode. I do have one question. At the beginning of the introduction, the narrator seems to be saying "Part six: Tales for our Time." Am I mishearing, or does "part six" refer to something?
Mark replies:
Alas, Richard, that was merely an editing error on our part. It should be corrected by tonight's episode. Glad it's not spoiling your enjoyment too much.
I often find myself imagining the beleaguered but hopeful residents of western ailing nations getting to know the future battlefield (if only of rhetoric or voting booths), but when it comes down to it, few are called (or is it that few are listening?). Childers clearly was in this highly autobiographical book that begins with a sentence about that.
". . .few are called (or is it that few are listening?)." Excellent observation and so true.
[Sorry, Sol, intending to reply to you, I accidentally posted this independently.]
on reflection, have you looked at george mcdonald fraisier and his books 'bout scottish borderers ;steel bonnets&candlemas road?the flashman stories are great historical fun but the border stories are quite deep.