Nell in Bridewell - Part 12 - more "deletions" brought to light

In my previous post, I suggested that the differences between the censored Lenchen and the original were limited to straightforward deletions. Having now completed roughly half of the comparison, that assessment remains unchanged. So far, I have not encountered a single instance in which the government-approved edition rewrites or subtly alters the original wording. Virtually every change consists of text that has simply been removed, with the sole exception of one footnote.

I must acknowledge that conducting this “comparison” is laborious and exceedingly slow. Progress has recently slowed even further as we enter sections detailing punishments administered in the Zuchthause. The reason is simple: the original text presents these scenes with far greater graphic detail than the sanitized, censor‑approved edition.

Anyhow, now for that footnote which occurs in the POSTSCRIPT 2nd last letter (Nell to Marie):

Nell:  (1) This was before steamers ran between Europe and America.

1895:  Damals fannte man noch keine Dampfſchiffe. 

Comment:  This curious footnote is absent from the 1920 edition (which I believe faithfully reproduces the original 1840 text). Footnote's purpose was to explain why Nell's journey to New York took five to six weeks. The appearance of this note in later editions provides further evidence that neither Nell nor the 1895 Lenchen edition can be regarded as original. After all, how could an author, writing in 1840, refer to steamship service that won't come into existence for another two decades or more?

To be clear, this footnote is the only genuinely “new” text—absent from the 1920 edition—that I’ve identified so far. Given that, I’ll use a much simpler method to display the deletions. I’ll begin by stating where the passage appears in the story. Then I’ll show the text from Nell, but adding in and highlighting the portions that were deleted from the original work. I’ll follow that with the complete 1920 text, formatted identically for German speaking readers. And finally, I’ll comment on the highlighted parts giving my opinion on what the censors were attempting to achieve.

Location:  POSTSCRIPT - Near the end of the 2nd last letter (Helen to Marie)

Nell:  The physical marks upon my body have long since disappeared, but how about the stigma on my soul? Will that diabolical scene ever be wiped out from my mind, or disappear from my memory? Replace, dearest Marie, the prosaic fact that my possession of a backside shamefully torn to shreds in prison casts a shadow over my soul in many lonely hours, and threatens to wither many a blossom of my happiness; transform it into the most melodious metrical verses, into the most sublime, most moving poetry; this will have neither the truth nor the power of the simple words that contain the quintessence, the zenith of the misery suffered. 

Lenchen 1920:   Die physischen Male an meinem Körper sind längst nicht mehr; aber auch die psychischen? wird das Bild jener Höllenscene jemals aus meinem Sinn, aus meiner Einbildungskraft schwinden? Travestire, theuerste Marie, die prosaische Thatsache, dass der Besitz eines schimpflich im Zuchthause zerfetzten Hintern in vielen einsamen Stunden meine Seele trübt, und manche Blüthe meines Glückes zu entfrischen droht; setze sie in die wohlklingendsten metrischen Verse, in die erhabenste, rührendste Poesie; diese wird weder die Wahrheit noch die Kraft der einfachen Worte haben, welche die Quintessenz, den Zenith des erlittenen Jammers enthalten.

Comment:   Back in her lover’s arms, Nell cannot help recalling the savage punishment she endured in the House of Correction. I doubt the censors wanted readers dwelling on that scene—or where exactly on her body those blows were delivered.

Location:  Near the end of the very last letter in POSTSCRIPT (Nell to Marie)

Nell:  Have I told you I am already Isidor's wife? But in truth this was so much a matter of course, I really forgot to mention the fact. What necessity indeed is there for such formality, when hearts are already united and beat together in closest harmony? Then marriage but serves to put the seal upon the already existing natural and indestructible bands of love.

In a playful spirit, Isidor has repeatedly satisfied himself that the dreaded bull's pizzle left no lasting damage, no blemish, not even the faintest trace on the “splendid field of lilies that is my Venusian behind,” as he likes to put it — and if I judge his taste correctly (and he makes no secret of it), then these lilies — which he very much likes to pair with the gentle rose — have a value for which — given the choice — even Nell's ears and fingers, or any other limbs deemed of lesser importance in his eyes, would be sacrificed without hesitation and in true mercantile fashion. This danger, however, will, I hope, by no means come to pass.

Oh, what sweet, soothing caresses love bestows! — I do not merely suffer or endure them; they are in my most ardent longing — and when the magnetically attractive yet—as it were—maidenly-coyly resisting spring-force of our inner essence is put to the test in those very limbs that helped a sorely tried love attain its martyr's crown, hidden powers take effect, we swim in a high, intoxicating bliss — and when, then, seductively enchanting images take shape and gather in a willing, receptive imagination through wild, capricious poetry, our senses are swept away in an ecstatic flood and — Oh blessing of faithful, pure love! Heavenly hope, a pleasure scarcely imagined, becomes a blissful, all-rewarding reality!

Such is my Welcome to America; how different to that which was given me in my native land!

Lenchen 1920:   Hab’ ich Dir schon gesagt, dass ich Isidor's Gattin bin? Wahrlich, dieses verstand sich bei mir so von selbst, dass ich vergessen habe, dieses Umstandes zu erwähnen. Was will doch diese Förmlichkeit, wenn die Herzen schon einig, durch die innigste Harmonie identisch und die natürlichen Bande bereits die unauflöslichsten sind?

Scherzweise hat sich Isidor vielfach überzeugt, dass jener furchtbare Farrenwadel keinen bleibenden Schaden, keinen Flecken, nicht einmal die feinste Nüanze auf dem „prangenden Lilienfelde meines Venus-Hintern,“ wie er sich auszudrücken beliebt, zurückgelassen hat — und beurtheile ich seinen Geschmack recht, und er verhehlt ihn nicht, so haben diese Lilien, mit denen er sehr gern die sanfte Rose paart, einen Preis, dem — in der Alternative — sogar Lenchens Ohren und Finger oder irgend andere Gliedmaässen, in seinen Augen von minderem Gewicht, unbedenklich und ächt-mercantilisch geopfert würden. Diese Gefährde wird jedoch, wie ich hoffe, keineswegs eintreten.

Ö es sind höchst süsse labende Streiche, welche die Liebe giebt! — ich leide sie nicht, ich dulde sie nieht, sie sind in meiner heissesten Sehnsucht — und wird an jenen Gliedern, die hart geprüfter Liebe zur Märtyrerkrone halfen, die magnetischanziehende und doch gleichsam mit jüngferlicher Sprödigkeit widerstrebende Federkraft des innern Stoifs versucht, so wirken verborgene Mächte, wir schwimmen in hoher berauschender Wonne — und wenn dann verführerisch bezaubernde Bilder sich in bereitwilliger empfänglicher Imagination mit wilder launenhafter Dichtkunst gestalten und sammeln, so vergehen uns die Sinne in überseliger Fluth und — 0 Segen treuer, reiner Liebe! himmlische Hoffnung, kaum geahnter Genuss wird zur beglückenden alllohnenden Wirklichkeit!

So ist mein Willkomm in Nordamerika, wie war er im Vaterlande? 

Comment:   So why leave this part out?  Isidor enjoys his wife's behind!  Unfortunately, back in 1840 this might be all the censors needed to justify their "work" protecting the public from lewd and obscene material. Now, I don't believe for a minute that was their objective, but it does provide the censors some "political cover".

At this point the story ends, but it is far from the end of my comparison.  I started at the very beginning (FORWARD) and jumped over the bulk of the story to the POSTSCRIPT.  (You must think I'm mad.)  Problem I faced is that having scanned the first few pages, I could find no differences in the main story line between the original 1840 story and the censor approved 1895 version.  It was only when I started finding "deletions" in the POSTSCRIPT that I started looking a lot closer. It wasn't until page 17 that I found the first deletion in the main text. So, from here on we'll be dealing with the main story, but in a more orderly fashion.

Location:  Chapter 1 - alone and having just entered the House of Correction

Nell:  One question only occupied my mind continually for a long time: how was it possible that this rich lady—my mistress for so many years, who had so often expressed her satisfaction with me and lavished promises upon me for the future — could have cast me, a poor girl, into such fearful misfortune? How could she, mocking all feminine feelings and the powers of love and loyalty, trample me, a poor girl, so ruthlessly, with such harshness and cruelty, all because of 180 florins— a sum she could have easily replaced and was willing to replace, according to her own open confession —  and ignoring the fact that my transgression had gone entirely unnoticed — plunge me into such terrible misfortune and condemn me to a fate under the severity of the laws, the callousness of people, and the bleak course of justice, a fate ten times worse than illness and death.

Lenchen 1920:   Nur eine Frage beschäftigte mich lange und anhaltend: Wie war es möglich, dass die reiche Frau, deine mehrjährige Gebieterin, die dir so oft ihre Zufriedenheit bezeugte, Versprechungen für die Zukunft an dich verschwendete, dich, armes Mädchen, alle weiblichen Gefühle und die Mächte der Liebe und Treue höhnend, so zertreten, mit dieser Härte und Grausamkeit, wegen 180 fl., die es ihr ersetzen konnte und wollte, auf eigenes, offenes Geständniss hin, und die Leichtigkeit, die unbemerkt gebliebene Schuld und That zu verheimlichen, nicht achtend, in so schreckliches Unglück stürzen und ein Schieksal unter der Strenge der Gesetze und der Unempfindlichkeit der Menschen und dem trostlosen Gange der Justiz erleiden lassen konnte, das zehnmal ärger ist als Krankheit und Tod.

Comment:   (Again, the highlighted text is what the censors removed.) Why would the Imperial German authorities have chosen to suppress this text? In my view, the reason is clear. The passage constitutes a direct attack on the aristocratic mindset: praise and encourage young workers when they perform well, yet the moment they err, no matter how trivial the mistake, subject them to excessive and disproportionate punishment.

Location:  In the Zuchthause after completing paperwork, Nell is taken to the bath house and the women, whose job it is to scrub and clean all new inmates, make the following observation:

Nell:  “Oh,” said they, “This little lady is as fresh and clean as new-fallen snow: we shan't have to scour and clean her - much. But here, in the House of Correction, why, she's just like anybody else - as she'll precious soon find out, when someone gets their hands on that plump ..... of hers!”

Lenchen 1920:  „O diese Mamsell ist so sauber und so rein, wie frisch gefallener Schnee: es ist nicht nöthig, dass wir sie abreiben und säubern, — aber im Zuchthaus ist sie doch gleich jeder Andern, und sie wird es schon merken, wenn man ihr an diesen dieken ..... kommt.

Comment:   This "blabber mouth" in the bath-house is providing readers with a warning of things to come for inmates with certain attractive "parts".  Obviously, this is something the government would never want their people to believe actually happens in prison.

Location:   An inmate named Leonora recounts to Nell the punishment imposed by her father, who had always indulged her, after he learned she was pregnant by one of his employees.

Nell:  For the next morning he came with my mother to my bedside, and while she held me down, he flogged me with a thorny switch until I fainted; yes; he would indeed have flogged me to death had not my mother almost forcibly restrained him.

He wrapped her flowing hair around his fist,
He lashed her with a knotted strap,
He lashed her—the sound was so terrible and loud!
He lashed her velvety, lily-white skin
Until it was covered in swelling, bloody welts. 

Something similar, yet far more severe, befell me—a young woman pampered and coddled, having blossomed amidst every softness and comfort, who until then had known nothing but a path strewn with roses, and who regarded praise as a bed of violets through whose fragrance one might wander at will. My wounds had to be dressed; my back was torn open, deeply and completely, and I was forced to stay in bed for several days—so savagely had my father beaten me.

Lenchen 1920:  Denn am frühen Morgen erschien er mit meiner Mutter an meinem Bette, und während mich diese festhalten musste, peitschte er mich mit einer Dornenruthe bis zur Ohnmacht; ja er hätte mich todtgepeitscht, wenn meine Mutter nicht ernstlichen Einhalt gethan hätte.    

Er schlang ihr fliegendes Haar um die Faust,
Er hieb sie mit knotigem Riemen,
Er hieb, das schallte so schrecklich und laut!
Er hieb ihr die sammetne Lilienhaut

Aehnliches, aber weit Härteres widerfuhr mir, der verwöhnten, verhätschelten, in aller Weichheit und jeder Behaglichkeit aufgeblühten Jungfrau, die bi.sher nichts gekannt hatte, als einen Pfad voll Rosen, und das Loben wie ein Veilchenbeet betrachtete, in dessen Diiften man hin und her wandeli, Man musste an mir pflästern, ich war auf der Rückseite ganz und fief zerrissen, mehrere Tage mussie ich das Bett hüten, so hatte mich mein Vater gehauen.

Comment:   When discipline is administered in the original version, it is depicted far more graphically than in the "approved" editions. As before, the censors could justify these omissions as measures designed to protect the public.

Location:   A change was made to the Welcomes. Previously they were administered with a cane upon bare backsides. Under the new system, they'd be administered with a bull's pizzle upon whipping drawers. Here Cunigund explains how this change benefits inmates.

Nell:  “Never you fear, my girl,” said Cunigund, “what can I, a feeble woman, do with the bull's pizzle? What can I do with it on that little rock-hard bottom of yours? It can only fall gently and be scarcely felt through the cotton drawers. Yes, with the cane it was another thing - with that I have been able to give the stoutest wench more than she cared for, until she had enough, for the cane, was light to swing, and the stripes were quickly visible on the white skin. 

Lenchen 1920:  „Fürchte Dich nicht, Töchterle,“ sagte Kunigunde; „was will ich schwaches Weibsbild mit dem Farrenwedel? was kann ich mit diesem auf Deinem steinharten Bumbele anfangen? Er wird nur sachte herabfallen und durch den Zwillich kaum recht durchdringen. Ja, mit dem Rüthchen — da hab’ ich das grösste Töchterle fitzen können, bis es genug war, denn die Ruthe ist leichter zu schwingen und auf der lieben weissen Haut gleich sichtbar.

Comment:   Remember the observation made by that bath house worker?

Location:   Leonora explains why she is pleased she will not get the "shameful rod" at her Welcome.

Nell:  “If I could not altogether avoid this fate - by God's mercy - I was to be spared the shameful rod. Look at me, Helen! Is this height, this waist, this build, this presence, made to lie down and, like a child, with my hindquarters, bare and exposed, submit to the birch?

Lenchen 1920:  Konnt’ ich dieses Schicksal nicht abwenden, so war ich doch — durch Gottes gütige Schiekung __ der schmählicheren Ruthe entgangen. Sieh mich an, Helene! ist diese Grösse, diese Taille, dieser Bau, diese Haltung gemacht, um mich hin- zulegen und — wie ein kleines Kind, das Feld der Hintertheile, nackt und bloss, den Birkenreisern darzubieten? 

Comment:   Why did the censors remove references to the rod being used on bare female backsides? Was this really an effort to shield the public from objectionable content, or was it an attempt to shield the government from public outrage?

Location:   Leonora describes for Nell what her Welcome was like.  Dialog in this passage was spoken by a warder whose job was to hold Leonora's gown tightly stretched over her hind end - like a second skin - throughout her entire Welcome.

Nell:  “Did I not tell you so? Yes, Cunigund or a man, it's all the same; she drums upon the flesh as well as the lustiest overseer.” — “Now you’ve got 25; that might be enough—but hang in there, stay strong. A couple more or less—you’ll end up in bed anyway and won’t be able to sit for a couple of weeks.” — — “Now there are only 10 left; just don’t lose heart — it’ll just take a little longer, but back there it doesn’t matter—it’s burning like hellfire, just like always.” — “Just a few more now — but these will be good and heavy — and then, you’ll be set free.”

Lenchen 1920:  „Hab' ich’s nicht gesagt? Ja die Kunigunde oder ein Mann, das ist einerlei, sie trommelt das Fleisch zusammen, wie der beste Zuchtmeister.” — „Jetzt hast Du 25; damit könnte es genug sein — aber Courage, standhaft, ein Paar mehr oder weniger, Du kommst doch in’s Bett und kannst ein Paar Wochen lang nicht mehr sitzen.“ — — „Jetzt sinds noch 10; verzweille nur nicht, es dauert nur ein wenig länger, aber da hinten ist's einerlei — es brennt dort, wie das höllische Feuer, einmal wie das anderemal.‘ — — „Jetzt noch ein Paar, aber diese werden satt sein — und dann bist Du erlöst.”   

Comment:   Here, it is clear that a government employee is taking immense pleasure in Leonora’s Welcome. Even as she experiences intense pain, he appears to relish the situation, going so far as to verbally taunt her throughout the ordeal. Censors had to remove this "obscene" part, because it clearly depicts the brutality of their Welcome. 

Well, that's all for now.  My next post will have more deletions.  Please feel free to leave a comment, if you feel my translations or my analysis of the censorship is incorrect or incomplete.