| In Desert and Wilderness | |
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In Desert and Wilderness book cover |
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| Author(s) | Henryk Sienkiewicz |
| Original title | W pustyni i w puszczy |
| Country | Poland |
| Language | Polish |
| Genre(s) | Young adult novel |
| Publication date | 1912 |
In Desert and Wilderness (Polish: W pustyni i w puszczy) is a popular novel for young people by Polish author and Nobel Prize-winning novelist Henryk Sienkiewicz, written in 1912. It is in fact the author's only novel written for children. It tells the story of two young friends, Staś Tarkowski and Nel Rawlinson, kidnapped by the rebels during Mahdi's rebellion in Sudan. It was filmed twice, in 1973 and in 2001.
Contents |
The story takes place in the 19th century Egypt. A 14-year-old Polish boy Stanisław (Staś) Tarkowski and 8-year-old English girl Nel Rawlison live with their families and grow up in the city of Port Said. Their fathers are engineers who supervise the construction of the Suez Canal. One day an anti-British rebellion begins in Sudan, led by a Muslim preacher Mahdi. Staś and Nel are captured as hostages by a group of Arabs who hope that they can exchange the children for Fatima, Mahdi's relative that had been arrested by the British at the beginning of the novel.
The children are forced to travel through the Sahara Desert to Khartoum where they are to be presented to Mahdi. The journey is difficult and exhausting especially for delicate and vulnerable Nel. Staś, who is a brave and responsible boy, protects his friend from the Muslims' cruelty, even though that means that he is beaten and punished. His plans to escape fail and the children gradually lose their hope.
When the group arrive to Khartoum, the Arabs are disappointed by the fact that Mahdi - busy with leading the revolt - ingored their "mission" and turned down their offers. They take their anger and frustration on the children. Staś and Nel, exhausted by heat, thirst, hunger and poor treatment, live for some time in the city ruined by war, poverty and diseases. After a while the children and Arabs in another journey further south, to Fashoda.
One day the group encounters a lion who attacks them. The Arabs (who don't know how to fire a shotgun) hand in the weapon to Staś and beg him to shoot the beast. Staś kills the lion, and then shots down the Arabs as well. This is dictated by the despair and fury: the boy knows that the men were not going to set the children free. He also hated the Arabs for abusing them - especially Nel.
Once free, the children set out in an arduous journey through the African desert and jungle in hope that sooner or later they encounter British explorers or British army. The journey is full of dangers and adventures. The children, accompanied by two black slaves (a boy named Kali and a girl named Mea) whom Staś had freed from the Arabs, encounter a number of wonders and perils.
The children stay for a rest on a beautiful hill near a waterfall. They soon find out that a gigantic elephant has been trapped in a gully near the waterfall. Nel, who loves animals, takes pity on the beast and saves it from starvation by throwing fruits and leaves into the gorge. The girl and the elephant (which is extremely intelligent and benign and whom Nel calls "King" because of its size) quickly become friends. Soon Nel is stricken with malaria and is about to die; Staś, mad with grief, decides to go to what he thinks is a Bedouine camp and beg for quinine. When he gets to the camp he find out that it belongs to an old Swiss explorer named Linde. The man had been severely injured by a wild boar and is waiting for death. All his Negro servants had fallen ill to sleeping sickness and die one after another. Although horrified by this gruesome death camp, Staś becomes friend with Linde who generously supplies him with food, weapon, gunpowder and quinine. Thanks to the medicine Nel recovers. Staś, grateful for Line's help, accompanies the Swiss until the man's death. Then, using Linde's gunpowder, he frees King from the trap and they set out in further journey.
With children to farthest journey leaves 12-years old serviceman Linde Nasibu. Group is transmitted on small mountain, where Staś teaches Kali shoot. Certain day in Nasibu attacks furious gorilla. It moves rescue Saba, but there is for small, only King killed gorilla. At the end our heroes they get on for village Wa-Hima.
Tribe seeing Staś's on elephant honor returns him. Kali become king of tribe. Group become on some time here. Staś kills plaguing village leopard. Certain day Wa-Hima they have invaved by immemoril enemies - Sambur's. Due to assistance Staś's and Nel they win war. Staś carry away Kali kill enemies. Both tribes encourages in order to in agreement vein and they have accepted Christianity.
Staś, Nel and Saba they move to part British estatet over Indian Ocean escorted by King in company several Wa-Hima in it Kali. Kali it has carried away also two witch-doctors: M'Kunje and M'Rua, in fear in order to they did not plot against it. It is finished tragically: both steal food and water and killed disappear by lion or leopard. On luck children they been saved by familair two officers which have due to recovered it released flyers. They inform that Mahdi deceased on infarct of heart. Staś, Nel and Saba they return to Europe, but Kali for tribe. King goes to the zoo. Staś and Nel get married when they grow up.
Although the novel is fictional (apart from the historical events), the plot was inspired by real life events. A Polish boy was indeed kidnapped at the time but has never been found. Nel's character was inspired by the daughter of Sienkiewicz's friend.
The first movie version was directed by Władysław Ślesicki in 1973. It lasts about 3 hours, and is composed of 2 parts which were shown separately in theaters. It was released in 1973, but work on it started in 1971. The movie was filmed in Egypt, Sudan and Bulgaria, with an international cast and crew.
The 2001 version was directed by Gavin Hood and wrapped up in only about three months. It was filmed in South Africa, Tunisia and Namibia. The original director fell ill at the very beginning of filming and his role was taken by Hood. A mini-series were made at the same time this time as well.
In 1961, a Polish writer and screenwriter Marian Brandys published Śladami Stasia i Nel (Following the path of Staś and Nel) and, in 1962 a related story, Z Panem Biegankiem w Abisynii (In Abyssinia with Mister Bieganek).
Władysław Ślesicki, the director of the 1973 movie released a book, Z Tomkiem i Moniką w pustyni i w puszczy (In Desert and Wilderness with Tomek and Monika).
In 1993, Wojciech Sambory (a pen name for a writing team) wrote Powrót do Afryki (A Return to Africa), as a sequel to the novel (published by Reporter-Oficyna Wydawnicza, ISBN 83-85189-54-8).
Comic-strip Nowe przygody Stasia i Nel (The New Adventures of Staś and Nel) from Piechur weekly magazine is another sequel to Sienkiewicz's novel. It was published online on Retrostacja in 2005.