| Damon Knight's "The Country of the Kind" is a short story that first
appeared in
the February, 1956, issue of
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction February 1956, Vol. 10, No. 2.
It depicts a world of humans who have been genetically modified to remove all
all tendencies toward violence toward each other, so they can live in peace all
their days. Among them lives one accidental throw-back, who lacks this inhibition.
Because of their deep humanist views, this society cannot execute him, lock him up,
or lobotomize him. Instead they institute some unique measures which I won't spoil
here, to allow him all the freedoms of their society while preventing him from
harming another human being.
| Damon Knights Erzählung, "Das Land der Sanftmütigen" ist zuerst in der
Ausgabe vom Februar, 1956, der Zeitschrift,
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction February 1956, Vol. 10, No. 2
erschienen.
Sie schildert eine Welt aus genmodifizierten Menschen, die keine Gewalt
gegeneinander anwenden können und miteinander in Frieden leben. Unter ihnen wohnt
ein Entwicklungsrückschlag, dem diese Hemmung fehlt. Wegen ihrer humanistischen
Ansichten kann diese Gesellschaft den Verbrecher nicht hinrichten, nicht
einsperren, nicht lobotimisieren. Stattdessen treffen seine Mitmenschen Maßnahemen,
die ich nicht hier als Spoiler verrate, die ihm seine Freiheit erlauben, doch ihn
verbieten Menschen zu schaden.
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| This story was the discussion topic of the December, 2020 meeting of the
Science Fiction Freunde Stuttgart
book discussion group, in Stuttgart, Germany. Some
members read it in English from the
Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Vol 1, 1929-1964,
edited by Robert Silverberg. Others read the
German translation by Lukas Weidenbach
of the same book. One member read both and pointed out that
the German version contained 4 paragraphs not present in the English original.
| Diese Geschichte war das Hauptthema der Dezember-Tagung der
Science Fiction Freunde Stuttgart
eines SF-Lesezirkels. Einige Angehörige haben die englische Originalausgabe:
Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Vol 1, 1929-1964,
von
Robert Silverberg gelesen. Andere haben die
deutsche Übersetzung von Lukas Weidenbach
gelesen. Ein Angehöriger hat beide Versionen gelesen und hat darauf
hingewiesen, die deutsche Version enthalte 4 Absätze, die der Originalausgabe
fehlen.
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The 4 extra paragraphs were:
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Something else in me, that had been suppressed and forgotten, rose up with my
first blow struck in anger. The sculpture began years afterward, as an accident;
but in that moment I was free, and I was an artist.
One winter, in the AC Archives in Denver, I found a storeroom full of old
printed books. I spent months there, reading them, because until then I’d
thought I had invented sculpture and drawing. The thing I chiefly wanted to
know was, why had it stopped? There was no answer in so many words in any of the
books. But reading the his¬ tories of those times before the Interregnum, I
found one thing that might explain it. Whenever there was a long period of peace
and plenty anywhere in the ancient world, art grew poor: decoration, genre
painting, imitations of imitations. And as for the great artists, they all
belonged to violent periods—Praxiteles, da Vinci, Rembrandt van Rijn, Renoir,
Picasso . . .
It had been bred out of the race, evidently. I don’t suppose the genetic
planners wanted to get rid of it, but they would have shed almost anything to
make a homogeneous, rational, sane and healthy world.
So there was only one man to carve the portrait of the Age of Reason. All right;
I would have been content, only ...
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| Again, without spoiling anything, I will note that these 4 paragraphs significantly
alter the thrust of the story. The question arose, whether Knight tinkered with the
manuscript later in life or if the translator added something of his own.
| Ich muss wiederum ohne Spoiler betonen, dass diese 4 Absätze den Tenor der
Erzählung wesentlich verändern. Die Frage hat sich gestellt, ob Knight sich
im Laufe seines Lebens an die Erzählung getüftelt hat.
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| I have researched the topic and found between its initial appearance in 1956 and
its most recent appearance in 1993, this story has appeared in at least 12 other
anthologies. So far, members of the group have identified 3 English editions which include
the 4 mysterious paragraphs, and 6 which don't:
| Ich habe das Thema geforscht und finde, dass die Erzählung zum ersten Mal 1956,
zuletzt 1993, und dazwischen in mindestens 12 Sammelbände
erschienen ist. Die Gruppe hat festgestellt, dass diese 4 rätselhaften Absätze in
mindestens 3 englische Ausgabe zu finden und in 5 anderen nicht zu finden sind:
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