# Max Havelaar, Chapter 13

Max Havelaar · Multatuli · The Novel

Source: https://1732studios.com/books/havelaar/hoofdstuk-13. Data: https://1732studios.com/books/havelaar/hoofdstuk-13.json. Audio: https://audio.1732studios.com/havelaar/<line id>.m4a.


--En mag men nu weten waarom ge eigenlyk gesuspendeerd waart? vroeg Duclari.  
--And may one now learn why you were actually suspended? asked Duclari.
> Modal mag + literary ge ... waart: 'mag men' is modal mogen ('may one'); the indirect question is verb-final with 'gesuspendeerd waart' — 'waart' being the old 2nd-person past of 'zijn' that pairs with 'ge'.

--O ja, gaarne!  
--Oh yes, gladly!

Want daar ik alles wat ik u hiervan te zeggen heb, voor wáár geven en zelfs nog gedeeltelyk bewyzen kan, zult ge daaruit zien dat ik niet lichtvaardig handelde toen ik myn verhaal over dat vermiste kind, de praatjes van Padang niet verwierp als volstrekt ongerymd. Men zal ze zeer geloofbaar vinden, zoodra men onzen dapperen generaal leert kennen in de zaken die my betreffen.  
For since everything I have to tell you about this I can vouch for as true, and even partly prove, you will see from it that I did not act rashly when, in my account of that missing child, I refused to dismiss the Padang gossip as utterly absurd. You will find it quite credible once you come to know our brave general in the matters that concern me.
> want vs daar; coordination vs subordination: 'Want' (for) is coordinating and keeps normal word order, but the nested 'daar ik ... kan' (since) is subordinating and sends 'kan' to the end. The main clause then inverts: 'zult ge'.
> Adjective -en + old accusative: 'onzen dapperen generaal' shows the masculine accusative ending -en on possessive and adjective alike ('our brave general'). Modern Dutch levels these to 'onze dappere generaal'.

Er waren dan in myn kasrekening te Natal onnauwkeurigheden en verzuimen.  
There were, then, inaccuracies and omissions in my cash account at Natal.
> Existential er + fronted adverbial: 'Er waren...' is the existential 'there were', with the place-adverbial fronted before the indefinite subjects. er holds the subject slot until the real subject arrives.
> kasrekening (cash account): 'kasrekening' (kas 'till/treasury' + rekening 'account') is the cash account a controller had to keep. The alleged shortfalls in it at Natal are the pretext for Havelaar's suspension.

Ge weet hoe elke onnauwkeurigheid op nadeel uitloopt: nooit heeft men door slordigheid geld over.  
You know how every inaccuracy ends in a loss: carelessness never leaves one with money to spare.
> Fronted nooit forces inversion: Fronting the negative adverb 'nooit' puts the finite verb 'heeft' before the subject 'men' (V2). 'geld over hebben' = 'to have money left over'.

De chef van de komptabiliteit te Padang--die nu juist myn byzondere vriend niet was--beweerde dat er duizenden te-kort kwamen.  
The head of the accounting office at Padang--who just then was no particular friend of mine--claimed that there were thousands missing.
> Relative die + litotes: Relative 'die' opens a verb-final aside ('who just then was no particular friend of mine'). The understatement (litotes) is a favourite Multatuli irony.
> dat-clause with existential er: Inside the 'dat'-clause, 'er ... kwamen' keeps the existential er while 'te-kort kwamen' (came short / were missing) sits verb-final. 'tekortkomen' here means 'to be lacking'.

Maar let wel dat men my, zoolang ik te Natal was, daarop niet had opmerkzaam gemaakt.  
But note well that, all the while I was at Natal, no one had drawn my attention to this.
> Imperative let wel + pronominal daarop: 'let wel' is an imperative ('note well'). 'daarop ... opmerkzaam gemaakt' uses pronominal 'daarop' ('to this') with the idiom 'opmerkzaam maken op' (to draw attention to).

Geheel onverwachts ontving ik een overplaatsing naar de Padangsche bovenlanden.  
Quite unexpectedly I received a transfer to the Padang highlands.
> Fronted adverb + V2: The adverb 'Geheel onverwachts' (quite unexpectedly) is fronted, so the finite verb 'ontving' takes second place before the subject 'ik' — verb-second order.

Je weet, Verbrugge, dat op Sumatra een plaatsing in de bovenlanden van Padang als voordeeliger en aangenamer wordt beschouwd dan in de noordelyke residentie.  
You know, Verbrugge, that on Sumatra a posting in the highlands of Padang is regarded as more advantageous and more pleasant than one in the northern residency.
> Comparative + worden-passive: 'voordeeliger ... aangenamer ... dan' are comparatives with 'dan' for 'than'; 'wordt beschouwd' is the worden-passive ('is regarded'). The comparison rides inside a passive verb-final clause.

Daar ik nog slechts weinig maanden vroeger den Gouverneur by my had gezien--straks zult ge hooren waarom, en hoe?--en omdat er gedurende zyn verblyf te Natal, en zelfs in myn huis, zaken waren voorgevallen waarin ik meende my al zeer flink gedragen te hebben, nam ik die overplaatsing als een gunstige onderscheiding op, en vertrok van Natal naar Padang.  
Since only a few months earlier I had had the Governor with me--presently you will hear why, and how--and because during his stay at Natal, and even in my own house, things had occurred in which I believed I had borne myself altogether very well, I took that transfer as a mark of favour, and set out from Natal for Padang.
> Long daar/omdat-clauses + separable opnemen: Two stacked causal clauses (daar..., omdat...) precede the main clause, which then inverts to 'nam ik ... op' — the separable verb 'opnemen' (to take) split around its object.
> Reflexive zich gedragen + perfect infinitive: 'zich gedragen' (to behave) is reflexive; 'meende ... gedragen te hebben' embeds a perfect te-infinitive — 'believed I had borne myself'. The reflexive 'my' sits before the infinitive cluster.

Ik deed de reis met een fransch schip, de Baobab van Marseille, dat te Atjeh peper had ingeladen, en ... natuurlyk te Natal "gebrek had aan drinkwater." Zoodra ik te Padang aankwam, met het doel vandaar terstond naar de binnenlanden te vertrekken, wilde ik volgens gebruik en plicht den Gouverneur bezoeken, maar hy liet me zeggen dat hy me niet ontvangen kon, en tevens dat ik myn vertrek naar myn nieuwe standplaats moest uitstellen tot nader bevel.  
I made the voyage on a French ship, the Baobab of Marseille, which had loaded pepper at Atjeh, and ... naturally was "short of drinking water" at Natal. As soon as I reached Padang, intending to leave at once from there for the interior, I wished, as custom and duty required, to call on the Governor; but he sent me word that he could not receive me, and at the same time that I was to postpone my departure for my new post until further orders.
> Causative laten + modal in bijzin: 'liet me zeggen' = causative laten + bare infinitive ('had me told / sent me word'). The dat-clause is verb-final with the modal: 'ontvangen kon' (could receive).
> Modal moest + separable uitstellen: In this verb-final clause the modal 'moest' governs the separable infinitive 'uitstellen' (to postpone), which stays whole at the clause end.

Ge begrypt dat ik hierover zeer verwonderd was, te-meer daar hy te Natal my verlaten had in een stemming die me deed meenen nogal goed by hem aangeschreven te staan. Ik had slechts weinig kennissen te Padang, maar van deze weinigen vernam ik--of liever ik bemerkte het aan hen--dat de generaal zeer verstoord op me was.  
You can imagine how astonished I was at this, the more so since at Natal he had left me in a mood that led me to think I stood rather well in his books. I had only a few acquaintances at Padang, but from these few I learned--or rather I perceived it from them--that the general was greatly displeased with me.
> Causative doen + infinitive: 'deed meenen' is causative doen + bare infinitive — 'made (me) think'. doen, like laten, takes a bare infinitive; doen leans toward 'cause', laten toward 'let/have'.
> Idiom: goed aangeschreven staan: 'goed aangeschreven staan bij iemand' = 'to be in someone's good books / well regarded'. Havelaar wrongly thought he stood well with the general.

Ik zeg dat ik 't bemerkte omdat op een buitenpost als Padang toen was, de welwillendheid van velen dienen kon als graadmeter der genade die men gevonden had in de oogen des Gouverneurs.  
I say I perceived it because at an outpost such as Padang then was, the goodwill of many could serve as a gauge of the favour one had found in the eyes of the Governor.
> Genitive des Gouverneurs: 'des Gouverneurs' is the old masculine genitive ('of the Governor'), formed with article 'des' + noun-final -s. The biblical-flavoured 'in de oogen des...' heightens the formal register.

Ik gevoelde dat er een storm in aantocht was, zonder te weten uit welken hoek de wind komen zou.  
I felt that a storm was brewing, without knowing from which quarter the wind would come.
> zonder te + indirect question: 'zonder te weten' = 'without knowing' (zonder governs te + infinitive). The embedded question 'uit welken hoek ... komen zou' is verb-final; note old accusative 'welken hoek'.

Daar ik geld noodig had, verzocht ik dezen en genen me daarmee te-hulp te komen, en ik stond werkelyk verbaasd dat men my overal een weigerend antwoord gaf.  
Since I needed money, I asked this person and that to help me out, and I was truly astonished that everywhere I met with a refusal.
> te-infinitive + pronominal daarmee: 'verzocht ... te komen' takes a te-infinitive after 'verzoeken' (to request). 'daarmee' fuses 'met' + a pronoun ('with that'); 'te hulp komen' = 'to come to the aid of'.
> dezen en genen ('this one and that'): A set pairing of the demonstratives 'deze' (this) and 'gene' (yon/that), meaning 'one person and another, various people'. 'gene' is the archaic far-demonstrative.

Op Padang, niet minder dan elders in Indie, waar over 't geheel het krediet een zelfs te groote rol speelt, was de stemming op dat stuk anders vry ruim.  
At Padang, no less than elsewhere in the Indies, where on the whole credit plays an even excessive part, the disposition on that point was otherwise quite liberal.
> Adjective -e + intensified te groote: 'te groote rol' = 'too great a role'; the attributive adjective takes -e ('groote', period spelling of grote). 'over 't geheel' = 'on the whole'.

Men zou in elk ander geval met genoegen eenige honderden guldens hebben voorgeschoten aan een kontroleur die op reis was en tegen verwachting ergens werd opgehouden.  
In any other case people would gladly have advanced a few hundred guilders to a controller who was travelling and, contrary to expectation, found himself detained somewhere.
> Conditional perfect + separable voorschieten: 'zou ... hebben voorgeschoten' is the conditional perfect ('would have advanced'). 'voorschieten' (to advance money) is separable; its participle 'voorgeschoten' keeps the prefix.

Doch my weigerde men alle hulp.  
But to me all help was refused.
> Object-fronting for contrast: The object 'my' is fronted for emphasis ('But to me...'), forcing inversion 'weigerde men'. Pairing this with archaic 'Doch' sharpens the contrast: everyone else got credit, he got none.

Ik drong by sommigen op 't noemen der oorzaken van dit wantrouwen aan, en de fil en aiguille kwam ik eindelyk te weten dat men in myn geldelyk beheer te Natal fouten en verzuimen had ontdekt, die me verdacht maakten van ontrouwe administratie.  
I pressed some of them to name the grounds of this distrust, and bit by bit I came at last to learn that errors and omissions had been discovered in my financial administration at Natal, which made me suspect of dishonest management.
> Separable aandringen + genitive der: 'aandringen op' (to press for) splits as 'drong ... aan'. The object nominalizes an infinitive ('het noemen', the naming) governed by genitive 'der oorzaken' (of the causes).
> French: de fil en aiguille: A French idiom Multatuli drops in untranslated — 'from thread to needle', i.e. 'one thing leading to another, bit by bit'. Such French phrases mark the narrator's cosmopolitan voice.

Dat er fouten in myn administratie waren, bevreemdde me volstrekt niet.  
That there were errors in my administration did not surprise me in the least.
> Weak past bevreemdde + niet: 'bevreemdde' is the weak past of 'bevreemden' (to surprise/strike as odd), stem + -de. 'volstrekt niet' = 'not at all', niet negating the verb.

Juist het tegendeel zou me verwonderd hebben, maar wel vond ik 't zonderling dat de Gouverneur, die persoonlyk getuige was geweest hoe ik gedurig ver van myn bureau had te kampen gehad met de ontevredenheid der bevolking en aanhoudende pogingen tot opstand ... dat hy die zelf my geprezen had over wat hy "kordaatheid" noemde, aan de ontdekte fouten den naam geven kon van ontrouw of oneerlykheid.  
The very opposite would have astonished me; but I did find it strange that the Governor, who had personally been a witness to how, far from my office, I had again and again to contend with the discontent of the population and with persistent attempts at insurrection ... that he, who had himself praised me for what he called "resoluteness," could give the discovered errors the name of dishonesty or fraud.
> Anticipatory 't + heavy bijzin: 'vond ik 't zonderling dat...' uses anticipatory 't pointing forward to the long dat-clause. That clause is verb-final, closing on the modal cluster 'geven kon' with split idiom 'den naam geven van'.
> Genitive der bevolking: 'der bevolking' is the genitive ('of the population'), with feminine/plural genitive article 'der'. Modern Dutch would write 'van de bevolking'.
> kordaatheid (resoluteness): 'kordaat' means bold, firm, decisive; 'kordaatheid' is the noun. Havelaar's bitter irony: the general had praised his 'resoluteness', then recast the same conduct as fraud.

Niemand beter toch dan hy kon weten dat er in deze zaken nooit spraak kon zyn van iets anders dan van force majeure. En, al loochende men deze force majeure, al wilde men my verantwoordelyk stellen voor fouten die begaan waren op oogenblikken dat ik--in levensgevaar dikwyls!--ver van de kas en wat er naar geleek, het beheer daarvan moest toevertrouwen aan anderen, al zou men eischen dat ik, het eene doende, het andere niet had mogen nalaten, dan nòg zou ik alleen schuldig geweest zyn aan een slordigheid die niets gemeens had met "ontrouw." Er bestonden bovendien, in die dagen vooral, talryke voorbeelden dat de Regeering deze moeielykheid der pozitie van de ambtenaren op Sumatra inzag, en 't scheen dan ook in grondbeginsel aangenomen by zulke gelegenheden iets door de vingers te zien.  
No one, surely, could know better than he that in these matters there could never be any question of anything but force majeure. And even were this force majeure denied, even were I to be held responsible for errors committed at moments when I--often in peril of my life!--far from the treasury and whatever resembled it, had to entrust the management of it to others; even were it demanded that, doing the one thing, I ought not to have left the other undone, then still I would have been guilty only of a carelessness that had nothing in common with "dishonesty." There existed besides, in those days especially, numerous instances showing that the Government understood this difficulty in the position of officials on Sumatra, and it seemed indeed to be accepted in principle that on such occasions one should turn a blind eye.
> Concessive al + subjunctive/inversion: 'al' + inverted verb ('al loochende men', 'al wilde men') means 'even if / even though one...'. The fronted concessive forces verb-first order and the verb carries a subjunctive shade.
> Present participle doende + modal perfect: 'doende' is a present participle ('doing the one thing'); 'had mogen nalaten' is the perfect of modal mogen over separable 'nalaten' (to leave undone) — 'ought not to have left undone'.
> Archaic zulk + idiom door de vingers zien: 'zulke gelegenheden' uses archaic 'zulk' (such); 'iets door de vingers zien' = 'to turn a blind eye to something' (literally 'see through the fingers').
> French: force majeure: A legal/French term meaning 'superior force, circumstances beyond one's control'. Havelaar argues his accounting gaps stemmed from force majeure, not dishonesty.

Men vergenoegde zich met van de betrokken ambtenaren de terugbetaling van 't ontbrekende te vorderen, en er moesten al zeer duidelyke bewyzen zyn voor men 't woord "ontrouw" uitsprak of zelfs daaraan dacht.  
They contented themselves with demanding from the officials concerned the repayment of what was missing, and the proofs had to be very clear indeed before the word "dishonesty" was uttered or even thought of.
> Reflexive zich vergenoegen + te-infinitive: 'zich vergenoegen met' (to content oneself with) is reflexive and governs 'met ... te vorderen' — the te-infinitive 'to demand'. The reflexive 'zich' marks the subject acting on itself.
> Existential er + voor-clause: 'er moesten ... bewyzen zyn' is existential er with modal moeten ('there had to be proofs'). 'voor' (before) then opens a verb-final clause, 'voor men ... uitsprak'.

Dit was dan ook zóó als regel aangenomen, dat ik te Natal den Gouverneur zelf gezegd had bevreesd te zyn dat ik, na 't onderzoeken van myn verantwoording op de bureaux te Padang veel zou te betalen hebben, waarop hy schouder-ophalend antwoordde: "och ... die geldzaken!" als gevoelde hyzelf dat het mindere voor 't meerdere wyken moest. Nu erken ik dat geldzaken gewichtig zyn.  
This was indeed so accepted as a rule that at Natal I had myself told the Governor I was afraid that, after the examination of my accounts at the offices in Padang, I should have a great deal to repay, to which he answered with a shrug: "oh ... those money matters!" as though he himself felt that the lesser must give way to the greater. Now, I grant that money matters are important.
> Archaic als + subjunctive inversion: 'als gevoelde hyzelf' = 'as though he himself felt' — the conjunction 'als' with verb-first inversion and a subjunctive 'gevoelde' renders 'as if'. A distinctly literary construction.
> Pronominal waarop + present participle: 'waarop' ('to which') is a pronominal relative tying back to Havelaar's statement; 'schouder-ophalend' is a present participle ('shrugging'), an adverb of manner on 'antwoordde'.

Maar hoe gewichtig ook, ze waren in dit geval onderschikt aan andere takken van zorg en bezigheid.  
But however important, in this case they were subordinate to other branches of concern and duty.
> Concessive hoe ... ook: 'hoe gewichtig ook' = 'however important' — the 'hoe ... ook' frame concedes a quality before the main clause overrides it. A compact concessive pattern.

Als er door slordigheid of verzuim eenige duizenden te-kort waren in myn beheer, noem ik dit op-zichzelf geen kleinigheid. Maar als deze duizenden ontbraken ten-gevolge van myn gelukte pogingen om den opstand te voorkomen, die de landstreek van Mandhéling dreigde in vuur en vlam te zetten, en de Atjinezen te doen terugkeeren in de oorden waaruit wy hen pas met veel opoffering van geld en volk hadden verjaagd, dan vervalt het gewicht van zoodanig te-kort, en 't werd zelfs reeds eenigszins onbillyk de terugbetaling daarvan opteleggen aan iemand die oneindig grooter belangen gered had.  
If, through carelessness or omission, a few thousand were missing from my management, I do not call that a trifle in itself. But if these thousands were lacking as a consequence of my successful efforts to forestall the insurrection that threatened to set the region of Mandhéling ablaze, and to make the people of Atjeh return to the lands from which we had only just driven them at great cost in money and men, then the weight of such a shortfall falls away, and it became even somewhat unjust to impose its repayment on a man who had saved infinitely greater interests.
> Relative die + dreigen te + infinitive: Relative 'die' opens a verb-final clause; 'dreigde ... te zetten' uses 'dreigen' (to threaten) governing a te-infinitive — 'threatened to set ablaze'. Idiom: 'in vuur en vlam zetten'.
> Causative doen + pronominal waaruit: 'te doen terugkeeren' = causative doen + bare infinitive ('to make return'). 'waaruit' ('from which') is the pronominal relative for the lands; 'hadden verjaagd' is the pluperfect.

En toch had ik vrede met zoodanige terugbetaling. Want door die niet te vorderen, zou men een te wyde deur openstellen voor oneerlykheid.  
And yet I was at peace with such a repayment. For by not demanding it, one would open too wide a door to dishonesty.
> door ... te + conditional: 'door die niet te vorderen' = 'by not demanding it' (door + te-infinitive expresses means). The main clause is conditional 'zou men ... openstellen' with separable 'openstellen'.

Na dagen toevens--ge begrypt in welke stemming!--ontving ik van de sekretarie des Gouverneurs een brief, waarin men my te kennen gaf dat ik van ontrouw werd verdacht gehouden, met last my te verantwoorden op een tal van aanmerkingen die er gevallen waren op myn beheer.  
After days of waiting--you can imagine in what mood!--I received from the Governor's secretariat a letter informing me that I was held suspect of dishonesty, with orders to answer for myself on a number of charges that had been raised against my management.
> Genitive des + relative waarin: 'des Gouverneurs' is the old genitive ('of the Governor'); 'waarin' ('in which') is a pronominal relative for the letter. Idiom 'te kennen geven' = 'to make known'.
> Stative passive verdacht gehouden: 'werd verdacht gehouden' chains worden-passive with the idiom 'verdacht houden' (to hold suspect): 'I was held suspect of dishonesty'. The agent (the authorities) is left unnamed.

Enkelen daarvan kon ik terstond ophelderen. Voor anderen evenwel had ik inzage van zekere stukken noodig, en vooral was 't voor my van belang die zaken natesporen te Natal zelf, om by myn geëmployeerden naar de oorzaken der gevonden verschillen onderzoek te doen, en waarschynlyk zou ik dáár geslaagd wezen in myn pogingen om alles tot klaarheid te brengen.  
Some of these I could clear up at once. For others, however, I needed sight of certain documents, and above all it was important for me to investigate those matters at Natal itself, so as to inquire of my employees into the causes of the discrepancies found; and probably I should have succeeded there in my efforts to bring everything to light.
> Separable nasporen joined with te: 'natesporen' is 'na-te-sporen', the separable verb 'nasporen' (to investigate) with te inserted, joined as one word on the 1860 page. 'van belang zijn' = 'to be of importance'.
> om ... te purpose: 'om ... onderzoek te doen' frames the purpose ('in order to investigate'). The om-clause closes on te + infinitive at the very end, after the long middle field of adverbials.

Het verzuim eener afschryving by-voorbeeld van naar Mandhéling gezonden gelden--je weet, Verbrugge, dat de troepen in 't binnenland uit de Natalsche kas worden betaald--of iets dergelyks, dat me hoogstwaarschynlyk terstond zou gebleken zyn als ik onderzoek had kunnen doen op de plaats zelf, had misschien tot die verdrietige fouten aanleiding gegeven.  
The failure to enter, for instance, a sum sent to Mandhéling--you know, Verbrugge, that the troops in the interior are paid out of the Natal treasury--or some such thing, which most likely would have become clear to me at once had I been able to investigate on the spot, had perhaps given rise to those vexing errors.
> Genitive eener + pluperfect: 'eener afschryving' is the old feminine genitive of 'een' ('of an entry'); the long subject is finally completed by the pluperfect 'had ... aanleiding gegeven' (had given rise to).
> Worden-passive, present: 'worden betaald' is the present worden-passive ('are paid'). The dat-clause is verb-final, so the passive auxiliary and participle close it.

Maar de generaal wilde my niet naar Natal laten vertrekken.  
But the general would not let me set out for Natal.
> Modal + causative laten + infinitive: Two infinitive verbs stack at the end: modal 'wilde' governs causative 'laten', which governs bare 'vertrekken' — 'would not let me leave'. 'niet' negates the whole.

Deze weigering deed my te meer letten op 't vreemde der wyze waarop die beschuldiging van ontrouw tegen my was ingebracht.  
This refusal made me attend the more to the strangeness of the manner in which that accusation of dishonesty had been brought against me.
> Causative doen + nominalized adjective: 'deed my ... letten' is causative doen + bare infinitive ('made me attend'). "'t vreemde der wyze" turns the adjective 'vreemd' into a neuter noun ('the strangeness'), with genitive 'der wyze'.

Waarom toch was ik van Natal onverwachts overgeplaatst, en wel onder verdenking van ontrouw?  
Why, after all, had I been transferred from Natal so unexpectedly, and that under suspicion of dishonesty?
> Question word-order + state passive: 'Waarom' fronts the question, so finite 'was' precedes subject 'ik'. 'was ... overgeplaatst' is a state passive ('had been transferred') with separable 'overplaatsen'.

Waarom deelde men my dit onteerend vermoeden eerst mede, toen ik ver van de plaats was waar ik gelegenheid zou gehad hebben my te verantwoorden?  
Why was this dishonouring suspicion first disclosed to me only when I was far from the place where I should have had the opportunity to defend myself?
> Separable mededelen + present participle: 'mededelen' (to disclose) splits as 'deelde ... mede'. 'onteerend' is a present participle used attributively ('dishonouring'), modifying 'vermoeden' (a het-word, suspicion).

En bovenal, waarom tegen my die zaken zoo terstond in het ongunstigst daglicht gesteld, in tegenspraak met de aangenomen gewoonte en de billykheid?  
And above all, why were these matters cast against me so promptly in the most unfavourable light, contrary to accepted custom and to fairness?
> Superlative ongunstigst: 'het ongunstigst(e) daglicht' is the superlative ('the most unfavourable light'), formed with -st. Idiom: 'in een (on)gunstig daglicht stellen' = 'to cast in a (un)favourable light'.

Voor ik nog al die aanmerkingen, zoo goed me zonder archief of mondelinge inlichtingen mogelyk was, beantwoord had, vernam ik zydelings dat de Generaal zoo verstoord op me was: "omdat ik hem te Natal zoo gekontrarieerd had, waaraan ik dan ook, voegde men er by, zeer verkeerd had gedaan."  
Before I had yet answered all those charges, as best I could without archive or oral information, I learned indirectly that the General was so displeased with me "because I had so thwarted him at Natal, in which, it was added, I had also done very wrong."
> Fronted voor-clause + inversion: The subordinate 'Voor ik ... beantwoord had' (before I had answered) comes first and is verb-final; the main clause then inverts to 'vernam ik' to keep the finite verb second.
> kontrariëren (to thwart): From French 'contrarier' — to oppose, cross, or thwart. Multatuli keeps it in scare-quotes throughout: Havelaar 'thwarted' the general by doing his honest duty, and was ruined for it.

Toen ging er een licht voor my op.  
Then a light dawned on me.
> Fronted toen + separable opgaan: Adverb 'Toen' (then) is fronted, so 'ging' is second. The separable verb 'opgaan' splits, with 'op' thrown to the end: idiom 'er gaat een licht op' = 'a light dawns'.

Ja, ik had hem gekontrarieerd, maar in 't naïf denkbeeld dat hy me daarom achten zou!  
Yes, I had thwarted him, but in the naïve belief that he would esteem me for it!
> Conditional zou, end position: Inside the dat-clause, 'achten zou' places the conditional auxiliary at the very end after its infinitive — 'that he would esteem me for it'. 'daarom' = 'for that reason'.

Ik hàd hem gekontrarieerd, maar by zyn vertrek had niets me doen gissen dat hy daarover verstoord was! Dom genoeg had ik de gunstige overplaatsing naar Padang, aangenomen als een bewys dat hy myn "kontrarieeren" schoon gevonden had.  
I had thwarted him, yet at his departure nothing had led me to guess that he was displeased about it! Foolishly enough, I had taken the favourable transfer to Padang as proof that he had thought my "thwarting" fine.
> Emphatic perfect + causative doen: The grave accent on 'hàd' stresses the perfect auxiliary ('I HAD thwarted him'). 'had niets me doen gissen' = causative doen in the perfect — 'nothing had made me guess'.

Ge zult zien, hoe weinig ik hem toen kende.  
You will see how little I knew him then.
> Future zullen + indirect question: 'Ge zult zien' is the future with zullen ('you will see'). The following indirect exclamation 'hoe weinig ik hem toen kende' is verb-final, ending on the imperfect 'kende'.

Maar zoodra ik vernam dat dit de oorzaak was van de scherpte waarmee men myn geldelyke administratie beoordeeld had, was ik in vrede met myzelf.  
But as soon as I learned that this was the cause of the harshness with which my financial administration had been judged, I was at peace with myself.
> Pronominal relative waarmee: 'waarmee' ('with which') is the pronominal relative for a thing (the harshness), fusing 'met' + 'waar'. Dutch avoids 'met welke' for inanimate antecedents in favour of waar-forms.

Ik beantwoordde punt voor punt zoo goed ik kon, en eindigde myn brief--ik bezit daarvan nog de minuut--met de woorden: "Ik heb de op myn administratie gevallen aanmerkingen, zoo goed het my zonder archief of lokale nasporing mogelyk was, beantwoord.  
I answered point by point as well as I could, and ended my letter--I still have the draft of it--with these words: "I have answered the charges raised against my administration, as well as was possible for me without archive or local inquiry.
> Imperfect beantwoordde + comparative: 'beantwoordde' is the weak imperfect of 'beantwoorden'. 'zoo goed ik kon' = 'as well as I could', an elliptical comparative clause.
> minuut (draft / minute): Here 'minuut' is not a unit of time but a legal/clerical term for the retained original draft of a document — 'I still have the draft of it'. A false friend for English readers.

Ik verzoek Uhoogedelgestrenge my van alle welwillende konsideratiën te verschoonen.  
I beg Your Most Noble and Stern Honour to spare me all kindly considerations.
> te-infinitive after verzoeken: 'verzoeken' (to request) governs a te-infinitive: 'verzoek ... te verschoonen' = 'beg ... to spare'. The object 'Uhoogedelgestrenge' and 'my' sit before the closing te-infinitive.

Ik ben jong, en onbeduidend in-vergelijking, met de macht der heerschende begrippen waartegen myn principes me noodzaken optestaan, maar blijf niettemin trotsch op myn zedelyke onafhankelykheid, trotsch op myn eer."  
I am young, and insignificant by comparison with the might of the prevailing notions against which my principles compel me to take a stand; but I remain nonetheless proud of my moral independence, proud of my honour."
> Separable opstaan joined with te: 'optestaan' = 'op-te-staan', the separable 'opstaan' (here 'to take a stand / rise up') with te wedged in. 'noodzaken te' (to compel to) governs this te-infinitive.
> Genitive der + pronominal waartegen: 'der heerschende begrippen' is genitive plural ('of the prevailing notions'); 'waartegen' ('against which') is the pronominal relative. 'heerschende' is a present participle used adjectivally.

Den volgenden dag was ik gesuspendeerd wegens "ontrouwe administratie." Den Officier van justitie--we zeiden nog fiskaal in dien tyd--werd gelast omtrent my "ambt en plicht" te betrachten.  
The next day I was suspended for "dishonest administration." The Officer of Justice--in those days we still said fiscal--was instructed to discharge "office and duty" with regard to me.
> Adverbial accusative Den volgenden dag: 'Den volgenden dag' ('the next day') is an accusative time-adverbial, keeping the old -en endings on article and adjective. Fronting it inverts to 'was ik'.
> Impersonal passive werd gelast: 'werd gelast ... te betrachten' = passive 'was instructed to discharge'. The dative 'Den Officier' is fronted; the worden-passive leaves the commanding authority unnamed.

En zoo stond ik dus daar te Padang, nauw drie-en-twintig jaren oud, en staarde de toekomst aan, die my eerloosheid brengen zou!  
And so there I stood at Padang, barely twenty-three years old, gazing at the future, which was to bring me dishonour!
> Relative die + conditional, verb-final: Relative 'die' refers back to 'de toekomst' (the future); the verb-final clause ends 'brengen zou' — the conditional 'zou' after its infinitive, 'which was to bring me dishonour'.
> eerloosheid (dishonour): 'eer' (honour) + '-loos' (without) + '-heid' (-ness) = 'honourlessness, dishonour, infamy'. The loss of eer is the wound at the heart of Havelaar's whole account.

Men raadde my aan, me te beroepen op myn jonge jaren--ik was nog onmondig toen de voorgegeven vergrypen hadden plaats gehad--maar dit wilde ik niet.  
I was advised to plead my youth--I was still a minor when the alleged offences were supposed to have taken place--but this I would not do.
> Separable aanraden + reflexive zich beroepen: 'aanraden' (to advise) splits as 'raadde ... aan'. The advice is a reflexive te-infinitive: 'zich beroepen op' (to plead / invoke) — 'me te beroepen op'.
> onmondig (a legal minor): 'onmondig' means 'under age, not yet legally of age' (literally 'mouthless', i.e. without legal voice). Havelaar was a minor when the alleged offences occurred — a defence he proudly refuses.

Ik had immers reeds te veel gedacht en geleden, en ... ik durf zeggen: te veel reeds gewerkt, dan dat ik me verschuilen zou achter myn jeugd.  
I had, after all, already thought and suffered too much, and ... I dare say it: already worked too much, to take shelter behind my youth.
> Reflexive zich verschuilen + conditional: 'zich verschuilen achter' (to take shelter behind) is reflexive; 'verschuilen zou' is conditional, verb-final after 'dan dat' ('than that'). The comparative frame 'te veel ... dan dat' = 'too much ... to'.

Ge ziet uit het zoo-even aangehaald slot van dien brief, dat ik niet wilde behandeld zyn als een kind, ik die te Natal tegenover den generaal myn plicht had gedaan als een man.  
You can see from the closing of that letter, just quoted, that I would not be treated as a child--I, who at Natal had done my duty toward the general as a man.
> Modal + state passive: 'wilde behandeld zyn' combines modal 'willen' with the zijn-passive infinitive ('would not be treated'). The state passive (zijn + participle) names a condition rather than an ongoing process.

En tevens kunt ge uit dien brief zien hoe ongegrond de beschuldiging was, die men tegen my inbracht.  
And at the same time you can see from that letter how groundless was the accusation brought against me.
> Modal kunnen + indirect exclamation: 'kunt ge ... zien' is modal kunnen with literary 'ge'; the indirect exclamation 'hoe ongegrond de beschuldiging was' is verb-final. 'die men tegen my inbracht' adds a relative with separable inbrengen.

Waarlyk, wie schuldig is aan lage vergrypen, schryft anders! Men nam me niet gevangen, en dit had toch moeten geschieden als het ernst ware geweest met die krimineele verdenking.  
Truly, one who is guilty of base offences writes otherwise! I was not arrested, and yet this surely ought to have happened had that criminal suspicion been meant in earnest.
> Free relative wie: 'wie' here is a free (headless) relative — 'whoever / one who'. It needs no antecedent and stands as the subject: 'one who is guilty of base offences writes otherwise'.
> Modal perfect + counterfactual ware: 'had ... moeten geschieden' is the perfect of modal moeten with double infinitive. The als-clause 'als het ernst ware geweest' uses the subjunctive 'ware' for the unreal condition.

Misschien echter was dit schynbaar verzuim niet zonder grond.  
Perhaps, however, this apparent omission was not without grounds.
> Fronted Misschien + V2 inversion: The adverb 'Misschien' (perhaps) is fronted, so the finite verb 'was' takes second place before the subject. 'echter' (however) is a parenthetical adverb, not a verb-moving conjunction.

Den gevangene immers is men onderhoud en voedsel schuldig.  
For a prisoner, after all, one is bound to provide lodging and food.
> Fronted dative Den gevangene: 'Den gevangene' is a fronted dative ('to the prisoner'), with the old -e/-n ending. The idiom 'iemand iets schuldig zijn' = 'to owe someone something' (here lodging and food).

Daar ik Padang niet verlaten kon, was ik in werkelykheid tòch een gevangene, maar een gevangene zonder dak en zonder brood.  
Since I could not leave Padang, I was in reality a prisoner all the same, but a prisoner without a roof and without bread.
> Coordinating maar; emphatic tòch: 'maar' (but) is coordinating — it joins equals and does not push the verb to the end. The grave accent on 'tòch' ('all the same') stresses the paradox of being an unhoused prisoner.

Ik had herhaaldelyk, doch telkens zonder baat, aan den Generaal geschreven dat hy myn vertrek van Padang niet beletten mòcht, want dat, al ware ik schuldig aan 't allerergste, geen misdaad mocht gestraft worden met hongerlyden.  
I had written repeatedly to the General, though each time to no avail, that he must not bar my departure from Padang; for that, even were I guilty of the very worst, no crime ought to be punished with starvation.
> Modal mocht + emphatic accent: 'mòcht' (past of mogen, 'might / was allowed to') is a modal sending 'beletten' (to prevent) to the end. The grave accent stresses the prohibition: 'must not bar'.
> geen + modal passive: 'geen misdaad' = 'no crime' (geen negates the indefinite noun). 'mocht gestraft worden' is modal mogen over the worden-passive — 'ought to be punished'.

Nadat de rechtsraad, die blykbaar met de zaak verlegen was, den uitweg had gevonden zich onbevoegd te verklaren, omdat vervolgingen wegens misdryf in dienstbetrekking, niet mogen plaats hebben dan op machtiging van de Regeering te Batavia, hield my de generaal, zooals ik zeide, negen maanden te Padang.  
After the council of justice, which was plainly embarrassed by the case, had found a way out by declaring itself incompetent--because prosecutions for offences committed in the course of service may not take place except by authorization of the Government at Batavia--the general kept me, as I said, nine months at Padang.
> Long nadat-clause + reflexive te-infinitive: 'Nadat' (after) opens a verb-final clause closing on the pluperfect 'had gevonden'. Inside, the reflexive te-infinitive 'zich onbevoegd te verklaren' = 'to declare itself incompetent'.
> Modal mogen + restrictive niet ... dan: 'niet ... dan' = 'only / not except': 'may not take place except by authorization'. The modal 'mogen' governs the idiom 'plaats hebben' (to take place).

Hy ontving eindelyk van-hooger-hand den last me naar Batavia te laten vertrekken.  
At last he received from higher quarters the order to let me depart for Batavia.
> te-infinitive + causative laten: The noun 'den last' (the order) is completed by a te-infinitive: 'te laten vertrekken', where causative laten governs bare 'vertrekken' — 'to let me depart'.
> van hogerhand ('from higher up'): A fixed adverbial, 'from higher authority / from above'. It names the unnamed superior power in Batavia that finally overruled the general.

Toen ik een paar jaren daarna wat geld had--beste Tine, jy hadt het me gegeven!--betaalde ik eenige duizenden guldens om de Natalsche kasrekeningen van 1842 en 1843 effen te maken, en toen zeide my iemand die geacht kon worden de Regeering van Nederlandsch-Indie voortestellen: "dat had ik in uw plaats niet gedaan ... ik zou een wissel op de eeuwigheid gegeven hebben." Ainsi va le monde!  
When, a couple of years later, I had some money--dear Tine, it was you who gave it me!--I paid a few thousand guilders to square the Natal cash accounts of 1842 and 1843, and then a man who could be considered to represent the Government of the Netherlands Indies said to me: "in your place I would not have done that ... I would have given a draft on eternity." Ainsi va le monde!
> Pronoun jy + old form hadt: 'jy' (period spelling of jij, 'you') with 'hadt' — the older 2nd-person past of 'hebben' — addresses Tine intimately. The intimate jy contrasts with the formal ge/u elsewhere.
> Modal passive + separable voorstellen: 'geacht kon worden ... voortestellen' = 'could be considered to represent'. 'voortestellen' is 'voor-te-stellen', separable 'voorstellen' (here 'to represent') joined with te.

Juist wilde Havelaar een aanvang maken met het verhaal dat zyn gasten van hem wachtten, en dat ophelderen zou waarin en waarom hy den Generaal Vandamme te Natal zoo "gekontrarieerd" had, toen mevrouw Slotering zich in de voorgalery van haar woning vertoonde, en den politie-oppasser wenkte, die naast Havelaars huis op een bank zat.  
Havelaar was just about to begin the story his guests were awaiting from him, the one that would make clear how and why he had so "thwarted" General Vandamme at Natal, when Mrs. Slotering appeared in the front gallery of her dwelling and beckoned to the police officer who was sitting on a bench beside Havelaar's house.
> Fronted Juist + toen-clause: Adverb 'Juist' fronts the main clause ('wilde Havelaar'), and 'toen' (when) opens the verb-final subordinate clause with reflexive 'zich vertoonde' (showed herself).
> Pronominal waarin / waarom: 'waarin' and 'waarom' are pronominal interrogatives ('in what' and 'why') opening verb-final indirect questions. The conditional 'ophelderen zou' = 'would make clear'.

Deze begaf zich tot haar, en riep daarop iets tot een man die zoo-even het erf betreden had, waarschynlyk met het doel om zich naar de keuken te begeven die achter 't huis gelegen was.  
He went over to her, and then called out something to a man who had just stepped onto the grounds, probably with the intention of making his way to the kitchen, which lay behind the house.
> Relative die + pluperfect: Relative 'die' opens a verb-final clause closing on the pluperfect 'betreden had' (had stepped onto). 'zoo-even' = 'just now / a moment ago'.
> om ... te + reflexive zich begeven: 'om ... te begeven' is a purpose clause; 'zich begeven naar' (to make one's way to) is reflexive. The trailing relative 'die ... gelegen was' describes the kitchen.

Ons gezelschap zou hierop waarschynlyk niet gelet hebben, wanneer niet Tine dien middag aan tafel gezegd had dat mevrouw Slotering zoo schuw was, en een soort van toezicht scheen uitteoefenen over ieder die 't erf betrad.  
Our company would probably not have taken notice of this, had not Tine said at table that afternoon that Mrs. Slotering was so shy, and seemed to keep a kind of watch over everyone who entered the grounds.
> Conditional perfect + counterfactual wanneer: 'zou ... niet gelet hebben' is the conditional perfect ('would not have noticed'); 'wanneer niet ... gezegd had' is the counterfactual 'if ... had not said'. Idiom 'letten op' = 'pay heed to'.
> Separable uitoefenen joined with te: 'uitteoefenen' = 'uit-te-oefenen', the separable verb 'uitoefenen' (to exercise/exert) with te inserted. 'schijnen te' governs the te-infinitive — 'seemed to exercise'.

Men zag den man die door den oppasser geroepen was, tot haar gaan, en 't scheen wel dat ze hem in een verhoor nam dat niet in zyn voordeel afliep. Althans hy wendde zyn schreden en liep naar-buiten terug.  
They saw the man whom the officer had summoned go up to her, and it seemed indeed that she put him through an interrogation that did not turn out in his favour. At any rate he turned on his heel and went back outside.
> Perception verb zien + bare infinitive: 'zag ... tot haar gaan' is perception 'zien' + bare infinitive ('saw him go'). Inside, the relative clause 'die door den oppasser geroepen was' is a state passive with agent 'door'.
> Relative dat + separable aflopen: 'dat' is the relative for the het-word 'verhoor' (interrogation); the clause is verb-final with separable 'aflopen' (to turn out) — 'that did not turn out in his favour'.
> Idiom: zijn schreden wenden: A literary idiom, 'to turn one's steps' = to turn around and go off. 'schreden' (steps/paces) is an archaic plural lending the sentence its formal flavour.

--'t Spyt me wel, zei Tine. Dat was misschien iemand die kippen te-koop had, of groente.  
--I am sorry, said Tine. That was perhaps someone with chickens for sale, or vegetables.
> Impersonal het spijt me: 'Het spijt me' = 'I am sorry' (literally 'it sorrows me'), an impersonal construction with dummy 't as subject and the experiencer in the dative 'me'.
> Relative die + te koop: Relative 'die' opens a verb-final clause ('who had chickens for sale'). 'te koop hebben' = 'to have for sale'. Note 'groente' (vegetables) is grammatically singular in Dutch.

Ik heb nog niets in huis. --Wel, laat dan daartoe maar iemand uitzenden, antwoordde Havelaar.  
I have nothing yet in the house. --Well then, just send someone out for that, answered Havelaar.
> Imperative laat + separable uitzenden: 'laat ... uitzenden' is an imperative with causative laten ('just have someone sent out'). 'daartoe' = 'for that purpose'; the softener 'maar' lends a casual, encouraging tone.

Je weet dat inlandsche dames gaarne gezag oefenen. Haar man was vroeger de eerste persoon hier, en hoe weinig een adsistent-resident eigenlyk beduidt, in zyn afdeeling is hy een kleine koning: zy is nog niet gewoon aan de onttrooning.  
You know that native ladies are fond of wielding authority. Her husband was formerly the foremost person here, and little though an assistant resident really amounts to, in his division he is a petty king: she is not yet used to the dethronement.
> dat-clause, verb-final: 'dat' opens a complement clause whose verb 'oefenen' goes to the end. 'gaarne' (gladly, willingly) is the archaic counterpart of modern 'graag'.
> Concessive hoe ... + V2 main clause: 'hoe weinig ... beduidt' concedes a point ('little though he amounts to'); the main clause then fronts 'in zyn afdeeling', forcing inversion 'is hy'.

Laat ons die arme vrouw dit klein genoegen niet ontnemen. Houd je maar alsof je 't niet bemerkte.  
Let us not deny that poor woman this little pleasure. Just act as though you had not noticed it.
> Hortative Laat ons + niet: 'Laat ons ... niet ontnemen' is the hortative 'let us not deprive', laten forming a first-person-plural command. 'iemand iets ontnemen' = 'to take something from someone'.
> Reflexive imperative houd je + alsof: 'Houd je ... alsof' = 'act as if' (reflexive 'zich houden alsof'). 'alsof' opens a verb-final clause; the imperfect 'bemerkte' carries the irreality.

Dit nu viel Tine niet zwaar: zy hield niet van gezag.  
Now this came easily to Tine: she had no love of authority.
> Idiom zwaar vallen + niet houden van: 'iets valt iemand zwaar' = 'something is hard for someone' (dative Tine). 'niet houden van' = 'to not care for'. Both are common verb-plus-preposition idioms.

Een uitweiding is hier noodig, en zelfs wil ik eens uitweiden over uitweidingen.  
A digression is needed here, and I should even like, for once, to digress about digressions.
> Modal willen + separable uitweiden: 'wil ik ... uitweiden' fronts nothing of note, but the modal 'willen' governs separable 'uitweiden' (to digress), which stays whole at the end. Note the playful figura etymologica: digressing about digressions.
> de-word vs het-word: uitweiding: 'uitweiding' (digression) is a de-word, like most nouns in -ing. Multatuli's narrator pauses the story to announce a digression — a signature device of the novel.

Het valt een schryver soms niet gemakkelyk, juist doortezeilen tusschen de twee klippen van het te-veel of te-weinig, en deze moeielykheid wordt te grooter als men toestanden beschryft, die den lezer verplaatsen moeten op onbekenden bodem.  
It is sometimes not easy for a writer to steer just so between the two reefs of too much and too little, and this difficulty grows greater when one describes conditions that must transport the reader onto unfamiliar ground.
> Dummy subject het + V2: The clause opens with subjectless het ('it is not easy for a writer...'), an impersonal placeholder pointing at no real subject. The finite verb valt sits in second position, as a Dutch main clause requires.
> Relative die + verb-final clause: The relative pronoun die (referring to de-word toestanden, 'conditions') opens a subordinate clause whose verbs verplaatsen moeten pile up at the end. Note den lezer with the old accusative -n.
> 1860 spelling: y for ij: Period orthography writes y where modern Dutch writes ij: schryver = schrijver, moeielyk = moeilijk, beschryft = beschrijft. Expect this throughout the 1860 text.
> 'To sail between the two reefs': A nautical metaphor for steering between two faults — here too much description and too little. Klippen are rocky reefs; the doomed-sailor image recurs across the passage.

Er is een te nauw verband tusschen plaatsen en gebeurtenissen, dan dat men de beschryving van die plaatsen geheel zou kunnen ontberen, en 't vermyden de beide klippen waarop ik doelde, wordt dubbel moeielyk voor iemand die Indie tot tooneel zyner vertelling gekozen heeft.  
There is too close a connection between places and events for one to be able to do entirely without the description of those places; and avoiding the two reefs I spoke of becomes doubly difficult for someone who has chosen the Indies as the setting of his tale.
> te ... dan dat (too ... for): The construction te nauw ... dan dat means 'too close for (one to)...'. The dat-clause is subordinate, so its verbs zou kunnen ontberen stand at the end.
> Genitive zyner: zyner is the inflected genitive of zijn ('his'): 'of his tale'. This frozen case form, alongside the relative die opening a verb-final clause, marks the high literary register of 1860.

Want waar een schryver die europesche toestanden behandelt, veel zaken als bekend kan veronderstellen, moet hy die zyn stuk in Indie spelen laat, zich gedurig vragen of de niet-Indische lezer deze of gene omstandigheid juist opvatten zal?  
For where a writer dealing with European conditions can take many things as known, one who sets his piece in the Indies must continually ask himself whether the non-Indian reader will rightly grasp this or that circumstance.
> Causative laten + inversion: spelen laat is the causative laten ('to have/make play out') with the bare infinitive spelen. Because the sentence is fronted by a Want-clause, the main clause inverts: verb moet before subject hy.
> Coordinating want: want ('for, because') is a coordinating conjunction: it joins clauses as equals and, unlike subordinating omdat, does NOT send the verb to the end — here kan veronderstellen keeps main-clause order.
> deze of gene ('this or that'): A set archaic pairing meaning 'one circumstance or another'. gene (literary 'that, yon') survives now mostly in this fixed phrase.

Wanneer de europesche lezer zich mevrouw Slotering voorstelt als "logeerende" by de Havelaars, zooals dit zou plaats-vinden in Europa, moet het hem onbegrypelyk voorkomen dat ze niet tegenwoordig was by 't gezelschap dat de koffi gebruikte in de voorgalery.  
When the European reader pictures Mrs. Slotering as "lodging" with the Havelaars, as would be the case in Europe, it must seem incomprehensible to him that she was not present in the company taking coffee in the front gallery.
> Conditional zou: zou + infinitive plaats-vinden expresses the conditional 'as would be the case' — a hypothetical European scenario set against the colonial reality.
> Modal moet + bare infinitive, inverted: After the long fronted Wanneer-clause, the main clause inverts: modal moet stands before subject het, sending voorkomen to the end as a bare infinitive. voorkomen here means 'to seem/appear'.

Wel heb ik reeds gezegd dat zy een afzonderlyk huis bewoonde, doch tot juist begrip hiervan en tevens van latere gebeurtenissen, is 't inderdaad noodig dat ik hem Havelaars huis en erf eenigszins doe kennen.  
True, I have already said that she occupied a separate house; but for a correct understanding of this, and likewise of later events, it is indeed necessary that I make Havelaar's house and grounds somewhat known to him.
> Causative doen kennen: doe kennen ('make known') uses doen as a causative auxiliary with a bare infinitive — the more formal, literary sibling of laten. The dat-clause is subordinate, so the verbs cluster at the end.
> doch ('but, yet'): A literary, archaic equivalent of maar. It signals concession ('true... but') and is a hallmark of the elevated 1860 register.
> erf ('grounds, plot'): erf is the walled house-grounds of an Indies dwelling — neither garden nor park exactly. Multatuli devotes a whole later passage (s120–123) to explaining the word, so it is worth noting early.

De beschuldiging die zoo vaak wordt ingebracht tegen den grooten meester die den Waverley schreef, dat hy dikwyls van 't geduld zyner lezers misbruik maakt door te veel bladzyden aan plaatsbeschryving te wyden, komt me ongegrond voor, en ik geloof dat men zich tot het beoordeelen van de juistheid eener zoodanige aanmerking, eenvoudig de vraag hebbe voorteleggen: was deze beschryving noodig tot juist opvatten van den indruk dien de schryver u wilde meedeelen?  
The reproach so often brought against the great master who wrote Waverley, that he often abuses the patience of his readers by devoting too many pages to the description of places, seems groundless to me; and I believe that, in order to judge the justice of such a charge, one need only put the question to oneself: was this description necessary for a correct understanding of the impression the writer wished to convey to you?
> worden-passive with separable inbrengen: wordt ... ingebracht is a process passive (worden + past participle), and the verb is separable: inbrengen splits, its participle ingebracht landing at the clause end after the relative die.
> Genitive eener: eener is the old inflected genitive of een ('of a'), governing the feminine noun. With der/des forms it is a living case-remnant of 1860 prose, gone from the modern language.

Zoo ja, men duide dan hèm niet ten-kwade dat hy van u de moeite verwacht te lezen wat hy zich de moeite gaf te schryven.  
If so, then let no one take it ill of him that he expects of you the trouble of reading what he took the trouble to write.
> Subjunctive/optative duide: duide is an archaic present-subjunctive ('let one not take it ill'), a third-person command formed with bare stem + -e. The idiom iets ten kwade duiden means 'to hold something against someone'.
> te + infinitive: Both te lezen and te schryven are te-infinitives governed by the surrounding verbs (verwacht ... te lezen). The matching parallelism — reading what was written — is the rhetorical point.

Zoo neen, dan werpe men 't boek weg. Want de schryver die ledig genoeg van hoofd is, om zonder noodzaak topografie te geven voor denkbeelden, zal zelden de moeite van 't lezen waard zyn, ook daar waar ten-laatste zyn plaatsbeschryving een eind neemt.  
If not, then let one throw the book away. For the writer who is empty-headed enough to give topography without need, in place of ideas, will seldom be worth the trouble of reading, even where his description of places at last comes to an end.
> Optative werpe + separable wegwerpen: werpe ... weg is again the archaic third-person optative ('let one throw away'), and wegwerpen is separable: the prefix weg slides to the end of the clause.
> 'empty-headed': ledig means 'empty, void' (now mostly leeg); ledig van hoofd is a literary turn for 'empty-headed', a writer with topography but no ideas.

Maar men vergete niet dat het oordeel van den lezer over 't al of niet noodzakelyke eener afwyking, dikwyls valsch is, omdat hy vóór de katastrofe niet weten kan wat al of niet vereischt wordt tot geleidelyke ontwikkeling der toestanden. En wanneer hy nà de katastroof 't boek weder opneemt--van boeken die men slechts éénmaal leest, spreek ik niet--en zelfs dan nog meent dat deze of gene afwyking wel had kunnen gemist worden zonder schade voor den indruk van 't geheel, blyft het altyd de vraag of hy van 't geheel denzelfden indruk zou verkregen hebben, wanneer niet de schryver op meer of min kunstige wyze hem daartoe gebracht had, juist door de afwykingen die den oppervlakkig oordeelenden lezer overtollig voorkomen.  
But let it not be forgotten that the reader's judgment as to whether a digression is necessary or not is often false, because before the catastrophe he cannot know what is or is not required for the gradual development of the situation. And when, after the catastrophe, he takes up the book again--of books one reads only once I do not speak--and even then still thinks that this or that digression might well have been spared without harm to the impression of the whole, it remains forever the question whether he would have received the same impression of the whole had not the writer, by more or less artful means, brought him to it, precisely by those digressions that strike the superficially judging reader as superfluous.
> Optative vergete ('let it not be forgotten'): vergete is the third-person optative of vergeten. The construction men + subjunctive forms an impersonal exhortation typical of essayistic 1860 prose.
> Pluperfect passive with modal: A dense stack: had (pluperfect of hebben) + modal kunnen + passive gemist worden — 'might have been spared'. Such multi-verb clusters at the clause end are a core feature of literary Dutch.
> Conditional zou + accusative denzelfden: zou verkregen hebben is a conditional perfect ('would have received'). denzelfden carries the old masculine accusative -n ending on 'the same'.

Meent ge dat Amy Robsart's dood U zoo treffen zou, als ge vreemdeling waart geweest in de hallen van Kenilworth?  
Do you think that Amy Robsart's death would have moved you so, had you been a stranger in the halls of Kenilworth?
> Archaic pronoun ge + counterfactual: ge ('you') is the literary/solemn pronoun of 1860, used here in direct address to the reader. waart geweest is the second-person pluperfect of zijn in a counterfactual conditional ('had you been').

En gelooft ge dat er geen verband is--verband door tegenstelling--tusschen de ryke kleeding waarin de onwaardige Leicester zich aan haar vertoonde, en de zwartheid zyner ziel?  
And do you believe that there is no connection--connection by contrast--between the rich garb in which the unworthy Leicester showed himself to her, and the blackness of his soul?
> Existential er + geen: er here is the existential particle ('there is'), and geen negates the indefinite noun verband — Dutch uses geen, not niet, to negate an indefinite.
> Genitive zyner: zyner ('of his') is the inflected genitive again, here yielding 'the blackness of his soul' — the contrast Multatuli draws with Leicester's rich garb.

Gevoelt ge niet dat Lester--ieder weet dit, die den man kent uit andere bronnen dan uit den roman alleen--dat hy oneindig lager stond dan hy geschetst wordt in den Kenilworth?  
Do you not feel that Leicester--everyone knows this who knows the man from sources other than the novel alone--that he stood infinitely lower than he is portrayed in Kenilworth?
> Relative die + accusative den man: die ('who') opens a verb-final relative clause; the object den man shows the old masculine accusative -n on the article. The verb kent closes the clause.
> Comparative dan + worden-passive: lager ... dan ('lower than') is the comparative with dan, and geschetst wordt is a process passive ('is portrayed') — he stood lower than he is painted.

Maar de groote romanschryver die liever boeide door kunstige rangschikking van kleuren dan door grofheid van kleur, achtte het beneden zich zyn penseel te doopen in al het slyk en in al het bloed dat er kleefde aan den onwaardigen gunsteling van Elizabeth.  
But the great novelist, who chose rather to enthral by an artful arrangement of colours than by coarseness of colour, deemed it beneath him to dip his brush in all the mire and all the blood that clung to Elizabeth's unworthy favourite.
> Imperfect of weak boeien: boeide ('held captive, enthralled') is the simple past inside a relative clause. liever ... dan frames the comparative 'rather ... than'.
> Reflexive zich + te-infinitive: iets beneden zich achten ('to deem something beneath oneself') uses the third-person reflexive zich; the action deemed beneath him is the te-infinitive te doopen ('to dip').

Hy wilde slechts één stip aanwyzen in den poel van vuil, maar verstond het, zulke stippen te doen in 't oog vallen door de tinten die hy in zyn onsterfelyke geschriften daarnáást legde.  
He wished to point out but a single speck in the pool of filth, yet he knew how to make such specks catch the eye through the tints he set beside them in his immortal writings.
> Causative doen + idiom in 't oog vallen: iets verstaan here is the archaic 'to know how to' (cf. German verstehen). doen ... vallen is causative ('to make catch the eye'); in 't oog vallen is the fixed idiom 'to catch the eye'.
> Pronominal adverb daarnaast: daarnaast fuses daar- + naast ('beside that'), a pronominal adverb standing in for 'beside it/them' — the tints Scott set beside his single speck of filth.

Wie nu al dat daarnaast gelegde als overtollig meent te kunnen verwerpen, verliest geheel uit het oog dat men dan, om effekt te-weeg te brengen, zou moeten overgaan tot de school die sedert 1830 zoolang in Frankryk gebloeid heeft, schoon ik ter-eere van dat land zeggen moet dat de schryvers die in dit opzicht het meest zondigden tegen den goeden smaak, juist in 't buitenland, en niet in Frankryk zelf, den grootsten opgang maakten.  
Whoever now thinks he may reject as superfluous all that setting-beside loses sight entirely of the fact that one would then, to produce an effect, have to turn to the school that has flourished so long in France since 1830--though, to the honour of that land, I must say that the writers who in this respect sinned most against good taste made their greatest mark precisely abroad, and not in France itself.
> Free relative Wie ('whoever'): Wie without an antecedent means 'whoever'; it opens a long verb-final clause whose verbs meent te kunnen verwerpen stack at the end. daarnaast gelegde is a substantivized participle, 'the thing set beside'.
> Conditional zou + perfect gebloeid heeft: zou moeten overgaan stacks conditional + modal + separable infinitive ('would have to turn to'); gebloeid heeft is the present perfect ('has flourished') closing the relative clause.

Die school--ik hoop en geloof dat ze uitgebloeid heeft--vond het gemakkelyk met volle hand te grypen in plassen van bloed, en daarmee groote kladden te werpen op de schildery, dat men die zien zou in de verte!  
That school--I hope and believe it has flowered itself out--found it easy to plunge a full hand into pools of blood and with it to fling great blots upon the painting, so that one would see it from afar!
> Perfect of separable uitbloeien: uitgebloeid heeft is the present perfect of separable uitbloeien ('to finish blooming, flower itself out'), the participle's ge- inserted between prefix uit- and stem.
> Result clause with conditional zou: The dat-clause expresses result ('so that one would see it from afar'); zien zou is the conditional with the infinitive fronted before zou for emphasis — a common 1860 word-order liberty.

Ze zyn dan ook met minder inspanning te schilderen, die ruwe strepen van rood en zwart, dan de fyne trekken te penseelen die er staan in den kelk eener lelie.  
They are, after all, painted with less effort, those crude streaks of red and black, than the fine strokes one pencils into the cup of a lily.
> zijn + te + infinitive (passive potential): zyn ... te schilderen means 'are to be painted / can be painted' — the te-infinitive after zijn carries a passive, modal sense ('paintable with less effort').
> Existential/locative er + genitive eener: er staan here means 'there stand/are' (locative); eener lelie is the inflected genitive 'of a lily'. The lily's fine strokes contrast with the crude red-and-black streaks.

Dáárom dan ook koos die school meestal koningen tot helden van haar verhalen, liefst uit den tyd toen de volkeren nog onmondig waren.  
That is why that school chose for the most part kings as the heroes of its tales, preferably from a time when the peoples were still minors.
> Pronominal daarom + V2 inversion: Daarom ('for that reason') fronts the clause, forcing inversion: finite verb koos before subject die school. daarom is a pronominal adverb (daar- + om).
> Subordinating toen: toen ('when', of the past) opens a subordinate clause and sends its verb waren to the end. onmondig means 'under age, not yet of legal voice' — peoples as political minors.

Zie, de droefheid des konings vertaalt men op 't papier in volksgehuil ... zyn toorn biedt den schryver gelegenheid tot het dooden van duizenden op 't slagveld ... zyn fouten geven ruimte tot het schilderen van hongersnood en pest ... dat alles geeft werk aan grove penseelen!  
Behold: the king's grief is rendered on paper as the wailing of a nation ... his wrath offers the writer occasion for the slaying of thousands on the battlefield ... his faults give scope for the painting of famine and pestilence ... all that gives work to coarse brushes!
> Genitive des konings: des konings is the masculine genitive ('the king's grief') — article des + noun with genitive -s. A textbook case-remnant of the kind alive in 1860 prose.
> Impersonal men ('one'): men ('one, people') is the indefinite-subject pronoun. The fronted object 'de droefheid des konings' forces the subject 'men' to invert after the verb vertaalt; 'in volksgehuil' is the end-position complement ('into national wailing').
> Nominalized infinitive het dooden: het dooden ('the killing') is an infinitive used as a neuter noun, governed by tot. Note the dative-flavoured den schryver as indirect object.

Als ge niet getroffen zyt door de stomme akeligheid van een lyk dat daar ligt, er is plaats in myn verhaal voor een slachtoffer dat nog stuiptrekt en gilt!  
If you are not stirred by the mute ghastliness of a corpse lying there, there is room in my tale for a victim still twitching and shrieking!
> zijn-passive (state) + door: getroffen zyt is a state passive with zijn ('you are struck/stirred'); the agent is marked by door ('by'). The als-clause is subordinate, so zyt stands at its end.
> Existential er is ('there is'): er is + indefinite noun is the standard existential 'there is room...'. myn is the period spelling of mijn ('my').

Hebt ge niet geweend by die moeder, vruchteloos zoekend naar haar kind ... wèl, ik toon u een andere moeder die haar kind ziet vierendeelen!  
Have you not wept beside that mother fruitlessly seeking her child ... well, I show you another mother who sees her child quartered!
> Present perfect with archaic ge: Hebt ge ... geweend is the present perfect ('have you wept') with the literary pronoun ge inverted after the verb. geweend is the weak participle of wenen ('to weep').
> Perception verb + bare infinitive: ziet ... vierendeelen ('sees [her child] quartered') uses the perception verb zien with a bare infinitive, no te. vierendeelen is the medieval execution of quartering.

Bleeft ge ongevoelig by den marteldood van dien man ... ik vermenigvuldig uw gevoel honderdmalen door negen-en-negentig andere mannen te laten martelen naast hem!  
Did you remain unmoved by that man's death under torture ... I multiply your feeling a hundredfold by having ninety-nine other men tortured beside him!
> Imperfect of strong blijven, with ge: Bleeft is the second-person simple past of strong blyven (blijven, 'to remain') — note the vowel change ij→ee marking a strong verb. The inverted ge follows the verb in this question.
> Causative laten in a door + te-infinitive: te laten martelen is causative laten ('to have tortured') embedded in an instrumental door ... te-clause ('by having ninety-nine men tortured'). The horror is generated mechanically — Multatuli's satire.

Zyt ge verstokt genoeg om niet te yzen by 't zien van den soldaat die in een belegerde vesting uit honger zyn linkerarm verslindt ...  
Are you hardened enough not to shudder at the sight of the soldier who, in a besieged fortress, devours his own left arm out of hunger ...
> om ... te (purpose/result): om ... te yzen frames the clause 'enough [not] to shudder'; the negated te-infinitive niet te yzen closes it. yzen (modern ijzen) = 'to shudder with horror'.
> Relative die + verb-final: die opens the relative clause describing den soldaat (accusative -n), pushing the verb verslindt ('devours') to the end after the inserted uit honger phrase.

Epikurist!  
Epicurean!
> 'Epicurean!' as taunt: Hurled sarcastically at the jaded reader who needs ever-stronger sensation. An Epicurean is a seeker of refined pleasure; here it brands the consumer of literary atrocity.

Ik stel u voor, te kommandeeren: "rechts en links, formeert den kring! Ieder ete den linkerarm op van zyn rechternevenman ... marsch!"  
I propose to you the order: "right and left, form the ring! Let each eat the left arm of the man to his right ... march!"
> Imperative + optative command: formeert is a (formal/plural) imperative 'form!'; Ieder ete ... op is the third-person optative of separable opeten ('let each eat up') — the prefix op lands at the clause end.
> Compound: rechternevenman: A right-headed Dutch compound, rechter + neven + man = 'the man neighbouring on one's right'. Such single-word constructions, glued together, are typical of Dutch.

Ja, zóó gaat de kunst-akeligheid over in zotterny ... wat ik in 't voorbygaan bewyzen wilde.  
Yes, thus art's ghastliness passes over into folly ... which I wished to prove in passing.
> Separable overgaan, fronted zoo: Fronting zóó forces inversion (gaat before subject), and the separable verb overgaan splits: stem gaat early, prefix over later. overgaan in = 'to pass over into'.
> in 't voorbygaan ('in passing'): A fixed adverbial idiom, 'by the way / in passing'. voorbygaan = voorbijgaan ('to pass by'), with period y for ij.

En dáárin toch zou men vervallen door te spoedig een schryver te veroordeelen, die u geleidelyk wilde voorbereiden op zyn katastroof zònder zyn toevlucht te nemen tot die schreeuwende kleuren.  
And into that, after all, one would fall by condemning too hastily a writer who wished to prepare you gradually for his catastrophe without resorting to those screaming colours.
> Conditional zou + door ... te (means): zou ... vervallen is the conditional ('one would fall'); the door + te-infinitive te veroordeelen names the means ('by condemning too hastily').
> zonder ... te + present participle as adjective: zonder ... te nemen is 'without resorting'; schreeuwende ('screaming') is a present participle (-end + -e) used attributively to colour the 'screaming colours'.

Het gevaar evenwel aan den anderen kant is nòg grooter.  
The danger on the other side, however, is greater still.

Ge veracht de pogingen der grove letterkunde die met zoo ruwe wapenen op uw gevoel meent te moeten instormen, maar ... als de schryver in 't ander uiterste vervalt, als hy zondigt door te veel afwyking van de hoofdzaak, door te veel penseel-gemanierdheid, dan is uw toorn nog sterker, en te-recht. Want dan heeft hy u verveeld, en dit is onvergeeflyk.  
You despise the efforts of the coarse literature that thinks it must storm your feelings with such rude weapons; but ... if the writer falls into the other extreme, if he sins by too much straying from the main point, by too much mannerism of the brush, then your anger is stronger still, and rightly so. For then he has bored you, and that is unforgivable.
> Stacked te moeten + separable instormen: meent te moeten instormen stacks 'thinks it must storm', with the separable instormen at the end. uw is the formal/period possessive 'your'.
> Present perfect + fronted dan: heeft ... verveeld is the present perfect ('has bored'); fronting dan inverts the verb to second place. The verdict — boredom is unforgivable — is Multatuli's aesthetic creed.

Wanneer wy tezamen wandelen, en ge wykt telkens af van den weg, en roept my in 't kreupelhout, alleen met het doel om de wandeling te rekken, vind ik dit onaangenaam, en neem me voor, in 't vervolg alleen te gaan.  
When we walk together, and you keep turning aside from the road and calling me into the underbrush, only to prolong the walk, I find this disagreeable, and resolve in future to go alone.
> Fronted subordinate clause + V2: The Wanneer-clause occupies the first slot, so the main clause inverts: verb vind before subject ik. wy is 'we' (period spelling of wij).
> Reflexive separable zich voornemen: zich voornemen ('to resolve') is a separable, reflexive verb: here neem ... voor with reflexive me, governing the te-infinitive te gaan ('to go alone in future').

Maar als ge me daar een plant weet aantewyzen die ik niet kende, of waaraan voor my iets te zien valt dat vroeger myn aandacht ontsnapte ... als ge my van-tyd tot-tyd een bloem toont, die ik gaarne pluk en meedraag in 't knoopsgat, dan vergeef ik u dat afwyken van den weg, ja, ik ben er dankbaar voor.  
But if you can point out to me there a plant I did not know, or one in which there is something to see that earlier escaped my notice ... if from time to time you show me a flower that I gladly pluck and carry along in my buttonhole, then I forgive you that straying from the road--yes, I am grateful for it.
> Separable aanwijzen as joined te-infinitive: aantewyzen writes the te of a separable verb inside the word (aan-te-wyzen), an 1860 spelling habit. weet ... aantewyzen = 'know how to point out'.
> Pronominal adverb waaraan: waaraan fuses waar- + aan ('at/in which'), referring back to the plant — 'a plant in which there is something to see'. te zien valt = 'is to be seen'.

En, zelfs zonder bloem of plant, zoodra ge my ter-zyde roept om me door 't geboomte heen het pad te wyzen, dat we straks zullen betreden, doch dat nu nog verre voor ons ligt in de diepte, en als een nauw merkbaar streepje zich slingert door 't veld daar-beneden ... ook dan neem ik u de afwyking niet euvel.  
And, even without flower or plant, as soon as you call me aside to show me, through the trees, the path we shall presently tread, which now still lies far before us in the depths and winds like a barely perceptible little streak across the field down below ... even then I do not take the digression amiss.
> om ... te (purpose): om ... te wyzen is a purpose clause, 'in order to show me the path'. zoodra ('as soon as') subordinates, sending roept to its clause-end.
> Future with zullen: zullen betreden is the explicit future ('shall tread'), the infinitive at the clause end. straks = 'soon, presently'.

Want als wy eindelyk zóó ver zullen gekomen zyn, zal ik weten hoe zich onze weg heeft gekronkeld door 't gebergte, wat de oorzaak is dat wy de zon die zoo-even dáár stond, nu links van ons hebben, wáárom die heuvel nu achter ons ligt, welks top we vroeger vóór ons zagen ... zie, dan hebt ge my door die afwyking 't begrypen myner wandeling gemakkelyk gemaakt, en begrypen is genot.  
For when at last we shall have come so far, I shall know how our road wound through the mountains, what the reason is that we now have on our left the sun that stood just now over there, why that hill now lies behind us whose summit we earlier saw before us ... see, then by that digression you have made the understanding of my walk easy for me, and to understand is a pleasure.
> Reflexive zich kronkelen, perfect: zich kronkelen ('to wind') is reflexive; heeft gekronkeld is its present perfect. The whole sits in an indirect question opened by hoe, with verb-final order.
> Genitive relative welks: welks ('whose') is the inflected genitive of the formal relative welk — a heavy, archaic relative form for 'the hill whose summit...'. zagen is the strong imperfect of zien.

Ik, lezer, heb u in myn verhaal dikwyls op den grooten weg gelaten, schoon 't my moeite kostte u niet meetevoeren in 't kreupelhout.  
I, reader, have often left you on the high road in my tale, though it cost me an effort not to carry you off into the underbrush.
> Present perfect of laten: heb ... gelaten is the perfect ('have left'); note the middle-field order — time/manner dikwyls before place op den grooten weg, the typical Dutch sequence.
> Concessive schoon + joined meetevoeren: schoon ('although') is an archaic concessive conjunction. meetevoeren joins the te into the separable meevoeren ('to carry off'), 1860 style.

Ik vreesde dat de wandeling u verdrieten zou, daar ik niet wist of ge vermaak zoudt scheppen in de bloemen of planten die ik u wyzen wilde. Maar omdat ik geloof dat het u later genoegen zal doen, het pad gezien te hebben dat we straks zullen betreden, voel ik me nu genoopt u iets te zeggen van Havelaars huis.  
I feared that the walk would weary you, since I did not know whether you would take delight in the flowers or plants I wished to show you. But because I believe it will give you pleasure later to have seen the path we shall presently tread, I now feel obliged to tell you something of Havelaar's house.
> Indirect question + conditional zoudt: of ('whether') opens an indirect question with verb-final order; zoudt scheppen is the second-person conditional ('would take delight'). vermaak scheppen = 'to take pleasure'.
> omdat + future zal doen: omdat ('because') subordinates, and the embedded dat-clause carries the future zal doen at its end. genoegen doen = 'to give pleasure'.

Men zou verkeerd doen, zich van een huis in Indie een voorstelling te maken naar europesche begrippen, en zich daarby een steenmassa te denken van op-elkander gestapelde kamers en kamertjes, met de straat er voor, rechts en links buren wier huisgoden tegen de onzen aanleunen, en een tuintje met drie bessenboompjes er achter.  
One would do wrong to picture a house in the Indies according to European notions, and to imagine alongside it a mass of stone made up of rooms and little rooms stacked one on another, with the street in front, neighbours on right and left whose household gods lean against ours, and a little garden with three berry bushes behind it.
> Diminutive kamertjes + past participle as adjective: kamertjes is the plural diminutive of kamer ('little rooms'); gestapelde ('stacked') is a past participle used attributively, inflected with -e.
> Genitive relative wier: wier ('whose', for plural/feminine antecedents) opens the relative clause; the separable aanleunen ('lean against') closes it. de onzen = 'ours', the possessive used substantively.

Op weinig uitzonderingen na, hebben de huizen in Indie geen verdieping.  
With few exceptions, houses in the Indies have no upper storey.
> geen negating an indefinite: geen verdieping ('no upper storey') — Dutch negates the indefinite noun with geen, never niet + een. Fronting Op weinig uitzonderingen na inverts the verb hebben.

Dit komt den europeschen lezer vreemd voor, want het is een eigenaardigheid van beschaving--of van wat hiervoor doorgaat--alles vreemd te vinden wat natuurlyk is.  
This strikes the European reader as strange, for it is a peculiarity of civilization--or of what passes for it--to find strange everything that is natural.
> Separable voorkomen + dative-flavoured object: voorkomen ('to seem') is separable: komt ... voor. den europeschen lezer carries the old accusative/dative -n on article and adjective — 'seems strange to the European reader'.
> Free relative wat: wat ('what, that which') is a free relative with no antecedent — 'everything that is natural'. te vinden is the te-infinitive defining the 'peculiarity of civilization'.

De indische huizen zyn geheel anders dan de onzen, doch niet zy zyn vreemd, onze huizen zyn vreemd.  
The houses of the Indies are altogether different from ours, yet it is not they that are strange; our houses are strange.
> niet negating a constituent: niet zy ('not they') negates the subject pronoun for contrast — Dutch niet, not geen, negates here since there is no indefinite noun. The chiasmus inverts the reader's assumption.
> Comparison with dan: anders dan ('different from/than') uses dan for the standard of comparison. de onzen ('ours') is the possessive used as a noun.

Wie 't eerst zich de weelde kon veroorloven niet in één kamer te slapen met zyn koeien, heeft de tweede kamer van zyn huis niet op, maar naast de eerste gezet, want het bouwen gelykvloers is eenvoudiger en biedt ook meer gemak aan in 't bewonen.  
Whoever first could afford the luxury of not sleeping in one room with his cows did not set the second room of his house on top of, but beside the first, for building on a single level is simpler and offers more comfort in the living.
> Perfect with split prepositions: heeft ... gezet is the present perfect ('set'), with the contrast niet op ... maar naast ('not on top of, but beside') wedged before the participle in the middle field.
> Coordinating want + nominalized infinitive: want ('for') joins as an equal, keeping main-clause order. het bouwen is an infinitive turned neuter noun ('the building'); eenvoudiger is the comparative.

Onze hooge huizen zyn geboren uit gebrek aan ruimte: we zoeken in de lucht wat er op den grond ontbreekt, en zoo is eigenlyk elk dienstmeisje dat 's avends het venster sluit van 't dakkamertje waar ze slaapt, een levend protest tegen de overbevolking ... al denkt zyzelf aan iets anders, wat ik wel gelooven wil.  
Our tall houses were born of a want of space: we seek in the air what is lacking on the ground, and so, in truth, every servant girl who in the evening closes the window of the attic room where she sleeps is a living protest against overpopulation ... though she herself be thinking of something else, as I am quite willing to believe.
> zijn-passive (state) geboren: zyn geboren ('were born') is a zijn-passive expressing a resulting state, with the cause marked by uit ('out of'). hooge shows the attributive -e and period doubled vowel.
> Free relative wat + existential er: wat introduces 'what is lacking'; er here helps the impersonal locative 'on the ground there is lacking'. den grond keeps the old accusative -n after a preposition.
> Diminutives dienstmeisje, dakkamertje: Both meisje (from meid) and dakkamertje carry the -je diminutive, which also makes them neuter (hence dat, het). 's avends is the genitive-time idiom 'of an evening'.

In landen dus, waar beschaving en overbevolking nog niet door samenpersing beneden, 't menschdom naar-boven hebben opgeknepen, zyn de huizen zonder verdieping, en dat van Havelaar behoorde niet tot de weinige uitzonderingen op dezen regel.  
In countries, then, where civilization and overpopulation have not yet squeezed mankind upward by compression below, the houses are without an upper storey, and Havelaar's was not among the few exceptions to this rule.
> Perfect of separable opknijpen: hebben ... opgeknepen is the present perfect of separable opknijpen ('to pinch/squeeze up'); the whole sits in a waar-relative with verb-final order.
> Imperfect + demonstrative dezen: behoorde is the simple past of behoren ('to belong'); dezen regel shows the demonstrative deze with the old accusative -n on a de-word.

By 't binnentreden ... doch neen, ik wil een bewys geven dat ik afstand doe van alle aanspraken op schilderachtigheid.  
On entering ... but no, I will give a proof that I renounce all claim to picturesqueness.
> Modal willen + bare infinitive: wil ... geven is modal willen with a bare infinitive ('I will give'). afstand doen van is the fixed idiom 'to renounce'.
> Nominalized infinitive binnentreden: binnentreden ('to enter') is here a neuter noun after the preposition by: 'on entering'. Multatuli breaks off mid-sentence — a deliberate refusal of the picturesque.

Is gegeven: een langwerpig vierkant dat ge wel wilt verdeelen in een-en-twintig vakken, drie breed, zeven diep.  
Given: an oblong rectangle that you will kindly divide into twenty-one squares, three wide, seven deep.
> Relative dat for a het-word: vierkant ('rectangle/square') is a het-word, so its relative pronoun is dat, not die. wel wilt verdeelen is a polite modal request, 'will kindly divide'.

We nummeren die vakken, beginnende van den linker-bovenhoek rechts-uit, zoodat vier onder één kome, vyf onder twee, en zoo vervolgens.  
We number these squares, beginning from the upper left-hand corner and going rightward, so that four comes beneath one, five beneath two, and so on.
> Present participle beginnende: beginnende is a present participle (-end + -e) used adverbially, 'beginning from...'. linker-bovenhoek is a stacked compound ('upper-left corner').
> Optative kome in a result clause: zoodat ('so that') opens a result clause; kome is the present subjunctive/optative ('so that four may come beneath one'), a formal touch for instructions.

De eerste drie nummers tezamen vormen de voorgalery die aan drie kanten open is, en welker dak aan de vóórzyde op zuilen rust.  
The first three numbers together form the front gallery, which is open on three sides and whose roof rests in front on columns.
> Genitive relative welker: welker ('whose') is the formal, inflected genitive relative — 'the gallery whose roof rests on columns'. Both relative clauses are verb-final (is, rust).

Van daar treedt men door twee dubbeldeuren in de binnengalery die door de drie volgende vakken wordt voorgesteld.  
From there one passes through two double doors into the inner gallery, which is represented by the next three squares.
> worden-passive with separable voorstellen: wordt voorgesteld ('is represented') is a process passive; voorstellen is separable, its participle voorgesteld closing the relative clause. The agent is marked by door.

De vakken 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16 en 18 zyn kamers, waarvan de meesten door deuren met de daarnaast liggenden in verbinding staan ...  
Squares 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, and 18 are rooms, most of which are connected by doors with those lying adjacent ...
> Pronominal adverb waarvan + present participle: waarvan ('of which') fuses waar- + van. liggenden is a present participle used substantively ('the [rooms] lying adjacent'). in verbinding staan = 'to be connected'.

De drie hoogste nummers vormen de open achtergalery, en wat ik oversloeg is een soort van ongesloten binnengalery, gang of doorloop.  
The three highest numbers form the open back gallery, and what I skipped over is a sort of unenclosed inner gallery, passage, or corridor.
> Free relative wat + imperfect of separable: wat ('what') is a headless relative subject; oversloeg is the strong simple past of separable overslaan ('to skip over'). binnengalery, doorloop are house-terms.

Ik ben recht grootsch op deze beschryving.  
I am downright proud of this description.
> recht + grootsch ('downright proud'): recht here is the intensifier 'downright, quite'; grootsch op = 'proud of'. The mock-pride caps Multatuli's deadpan, anti-picturesque house-diagram.

Het is moeielyk te zeggen welke uitdrukking in Nederland het denkbeeld teruggeeft, dat men in Indie aan 't woord "erf" hecht. Erf is dáár noch tuin, noch park, noch veld, noch bosch, maar òf iets daarvan, òf alles tezamen, òf niets van dat alles.  
It is hard to say which expression in the Netherlands renders the idea that one attaches in the Indies to the word "erf." There an erf is neither garden, nor park, nor field, nor wood, but either something of these, or all of them together, or none of them at all.
> Interrogative welke + separable teruggeven: welke ('which') introduces an indirect question with verb-final order; teruggeeft is separable teruggeven ('to render, give back'). The verb sits last because the clause is subordinate.

Het is de grond die tot het huis behoort, voor zoo-ver die niet door dat huis bedekt is, zoodat in Indie de uitdrukking: "tuin en erve" zou doorgaan voor een pleonasmus. Er zyn daar geen of weinige huizen zonder zoodanig erf.  
It is the ground belonging to the house, in so far as that ground is not covered by the house itself, so that in the Indies the expression "garden and grounds" would pass for a pleonasm. There are few or no houses there without such a plot.
> zijn-passive (state) bedekt is: bedekt is is a state passive ('is covered'), with the agent door dat huis. voor zoo-ver ('in so far as') subordinates the clause, sending is to the end.
> Existential er + geen: Er zyn ... geen ... huizen is the existential-plus-negation 'there are no... houses'; geen negates the indefinite plural. daar = 'there', in the Indies.
> tuin en erve as pleonasm: In Dutch 'garden and grounds' (tuin en erve) is a fixed legal phrase; Multatuli notes that in the Indies, where every house already has an erf, the pairing would be redundant — a pleonasm.

Sommige erven bevatten bosch en tuin en weiland, en doen aan een park denken. Anderen zyn bloemtuinen.  
Some plots contain woodland and garden and meadow, and call a park to mind. Others are flower gardens.
> Plural erven; substantivized anderen: erven is the irregular plural of erf (with -en and stem change). Anderen ('others') is the adjective used as a noun for 'other plots'.

Elders weer is 't geheele erf één groot grasveld. En eindelyk zyn er die, al zeer eenvoudig, geheel-en-al zyn gemaakt tot een gemacadamiseerd plein, dat misschien minder aangenaam is voor 't oog, doch de zindelykheid in de huizen bevordert, omdat veel insekten-soorten door gras en boomen worden aangetrokken.  
Elsewhere again the whole plot is one large lawn. And finally there are those that, quite plainly, have been made over entirely into a macadamized square, which is perhaps less pleasing to the eye, yet promotes cleanliness within the houses, since many kinds of insects are drawn by grass and trees.
> zijn-passive (state) gemaakt: zyn gemaakt ('have been made') is a state passive; gemacadamiseerd is a past participle used attributively. tot ... gemaakt = 'turned into'.
> omdat + worden-passive: omdat ('because') subordinates; worden aangetrokken is a process passive ('are drawn'), the separable participle closing the clause, agent marked by door.

Havelaars erf nu was zeer groot, ja, hoe vreemd het klinke, aan een der zyden kon men 't oneindig noemen, daar het aan een ravyn grensde die zich uitstrekte tot aan de oevers van den Tjioedjoeng, de rivier die Rangkas-Betoeng, in een zyner vele bochten omsluit.  
Now Havelaar's plot was very large—indeed, strange as it may sound, on one of its sides one might have called it boundless, for it bordered on a ravine that stretched down to the banks of the Tjioedjoeng, the river that encircles Rangkas-Betoeng in one of its many bends.
> Concessive optative klinke: hoe vreemd het klinke ('however strange it may sound') uses the present subjunctive klinke — a concessive optative, a stock literary flourish.
> Causal daar + reflexive uitstrekken: daar ('since, because') is a causal subordinator, sending grensde to the end. zich uitstrekte is the reflexive separable uitstrekken ('stretched itself') in the imperfect.

Het viel moeielyk te bepalen waar 't erf van de adsistent-residents-woning ophield, en waar de gemeentegrond aanving, daar 't groot verval van water in den Tjioedjoeng die dan eens zyn oevers een gezichtsverheid terugtrok, en dan weer den ravyn vulde tot zeer naby Havelaars huis, gedurig de grenzen veranderde.  
It was hard to determine where the grounds of the assistant resident's house ended and where the common land began, since the great rise and fall of the water in the Tjioedjoeng—which now drew its banks back the breadth of a horizon, and now again filled the ravine to very near Havelaar's house—was forever altering the boundaries.
> Impersonal het + te-infinitive: Het viel moeielyk te bepalen ('it was hard to determine') pairs dummy het with a te-infinitive. ophield is the strong imperfect of separable ophouden ('to cease').
> Causal daar + imperfect: daar ('since') subordinates the long clause to a verb-final close on veranderde ('altered'). verval van water = the rise and fall of the water level.

Deze ravyn was dan ook altyd een doorn geweest in de oogen van mevrouw Slotering, wat zeer begrypelyk is.  
This ravine had therefore always been a thorn in the eye of Mrs. Slotering, which is very understandable.
> Pluperfect was ... geweest: was ... geweest is the pluperfect of zijn ('had been'). een doorn in de oogen zijn is the fixed idiom 'to be a thorn in the eye'.

De plantengroei, reeds overal elders in Indie zoo snel, was op die plaats door de telkens achtergelaten slib byzonder welig, zóó zelfs dat, al had het op- of afloopen des waters plaats gehad met een kracht die 't kreupelhout ontwortelde en meevoerde, er maar zeer weinig tyds noodig was om den grond weer te bedekken met al de ruigte die 't reinhouden van het erf, ook in de onmiddellyke nabyheid van 't huis, zoo moeielyk maakte.  
The plant growth, already so rapid everywhere else in the Indies, was on that spot uncommonly luxuriant on account of the silt deposited there time and again, so much so that, even when the rising or falling of the water had taken place with a force that uprooted the underbrush and swept it away, very little time was needed for the ground to be covered once more with all the rank growth that made keeping the plot clean—even in the immediate vicinity of the house—so difficult.
> Past participle achtergelaten as adjective: achtergelaten ('left behind') is the past participle of separable achterlaten used attributively before slib ('silt'). The cause of the lush growth is marked by door.
> Concessive al + genitive des waters: al ('even if') opens a concessive clause with inversion (had ... gehad). des waters is the neuter genitive 'of the water', a case-remnant.

En dit veroorzaakte geen gering verdriet, zelfs aan wie geen huismoeder was.  
And this caused no small distress, even to one who was no housewife.
> Free relative wie ('one who'): wie without antecedent means 'whoever / one who'; geen huismoeder negates the indefinite predicate noun. The sentence hints Havelaar himself, not just his wife, was vexed by the ravine.

Want zonder te spreken van allerlei insekten, die gewoonlyk des avends om de lamp vlogen in zoo groote menigte dat lezen en schryven onmogelyk werd--iets wat op véél plaatsen in Indie lastig is--hielden zich in dat kreupelhout een tal van slangen en ander gedierte op, dat zich niet bepaalde by den ravyn, maar telkens ook in den tuin naast en achter 't huis werd gevonden, of in het grasperk op 't voorplein.  
For—to say nothing of all manner of insects, which usually flew about the lamp of an evening in such great swarms that reading and writing became impossible (a nuisance in many places in the Indies)—there dwelt in that underbrush a host of snakes and other vermin, which did not confine themselves to the ravine, but were repeatedly found in the garden beside and behind the house as well, or in the grass plot on the front square.
> Genitive-time des avends + strong vlogen: des avends ('of an evening') is a frozen genitive adverbial of time. vlogen is the strong simple past of vliegen ('flew'), vowel ie→o.
> Reflexive separable zich ophouden: zich ophouden ('to dwell, linger') is reflexive and separable: hielden ... zich ... op, prefix op at the clause end. Fronting the place adverbial triggers the inversion.

Dit plein had men recht vóór zich als men in de buiten galery met den rug naar 't huis gekeerd stond. Links daarvan lag het gebouw met de bureaux, de kas en de vergaderzaal waar Havelaar dien morgen de Hoofden had toegesproken, en daar-achter breidde zich de ravyn uit, dien men overzag tot aan den Tjioedjoeng toe.  
This square lay directly before one when one stood in the outer gallery with one's back turned to the house. To its left stood the building with the offices, the treasury, and the council hall where Havelaar had addressed the Chiefs that morning, and behind it stretched the ravine, which one overlooked as far as the Tjioedjoeng.
> Past participle gekeerd + accusative den rug: gekeerd stond is participle + stond ('stood turned'). den rug carries the masculine accusative -n. The als-clause sets the vantage point for the whole spatial description.

Juist tegenover de bureaux stond de oude adsistent-residents-woning die nu tydelyk door mevrouw Slotering bewoond werd, en dewyl de toegang van den grooten weg tot het erf plaats had door twee wegen die langs beide zyden van 't grasveld liepen, volgt hieruit vanzelf dat ieder die het erf betrad om zich naar de achter het hoofdgebouw gelegen keuken of stallen te begeven, òf de bureaux òf de woning van mevrouw Slotering moest voorbygaan.  
Just opposite the offices stood the old assistant resident's house, now temporarily inhabited by Mrs. Slotering, and since access from the high road onto the grounds ran by two paths that passed along both sides of the lawn, it follows of itself that anyone who set foot on the plot in order to make his way to the kitchen or the stables, which lay behind the main building, had to pass either the offices or Mrs. Slotering's dwelling.
> Archaic causal dewyl: dewyl ('because, since') is a literary/archaic causal conjunction, sending plaats had to the clause end. The following die-relative (liepen) is also verb-final.
> Modal moest + bare infinitive: moest voorbygaan ('had to pass') is modal moeten with the separable infinitive voorbygaan at the end. The relative die clause delays the main verb far to the right.

Terzyde van 't hoofdgebouw en daarachter, lag de vry groote tuin die de vreugde van Tine had opgewekt door de vele bloemen die ze daar vond, en vooral omdat kleine Max daar zoo dikwyls spelen zou.  
To the side of the main building and behind it lay the rather large garden that had stirred Tine's delight, on account of the many flowers she found there, and above all because little Max would so often play there.
> Pluperfect of separable opwekken: had opgewekt is the pluperfect ('had stirred') of separable opwekken, inside a die-relative. vry groote ('rather large') with attributive -e on the adjective.
> omdat + conditional/future zou: omdat subordinates; spelen zou expresses anticipated future-in-the-past ('would so often play'). kleine Max is the Havelaars' young son.

Havelaar had zich by mevrouw Slotering laten verontschuldigen dat hy haar nog geen bezoek had gebracht. Hy nam zich voor, den volgenden dag daarheen te gaan, maar Tine was er geweest en had kennis gemaakt.  
Havelaar had sent his apologies to Mrs. Slotering for not yet having paid her a visit. He intended to go there the following day, but Tine had been and had made her acquaintance.
> Pluperfect causative laten + reflexive zich: had zich laten verontschuldigen stacks pluperfect had + reflexive zich + causative laten + infinitive — 'had had himself excused / sent his apologies'. A textbook multi-verb cluster.
> Reflexive separable zich voornemen + te-inf: nam zich voor is reflexive separable zich voornemen ('resolved'), governing the te-infinitive te gaan. den volgenden dag keeps the old accusative -n on the time phrase.

We vernamen reeds dat die dame een zoogenaamd "inlandsch kind" was, die geen andere dan de maleische taal sprak.  
We have already learned that this lady was a so-called "native child," who spoke no language other than Malay.
> Strong imperfect vernamen + demonstrative die: vernamen is the strong simple past of vernemen ('to learn, hear'). die dame uses the demonstrative die for a de-word ('that lady').

Ze had haar verlangen te kennen gegeven haar eigen huishouding te blyven voeren, waarin Tine gaarne berustte.  
She had made known her wish to go on running her own household, in which Tine gladly acquiesced.
> Pluperfect + idiom te kennen geven: had ... te kennen gegeven is the pluperfect of the fixed idiom te kennen geven ('to make known, express'). waarin Tine ... berustte opens a relative clause with verb-final berustte.

En niet uit ongastvryheid kwam deze berusting voort, doch voornamelyk uit de vrees dat zy, pas te Lebak aangekomen, en dus nog niet "op orde" mevrouw Slotering niet zoo goed zou kunnen ontvangen als wenschelyk gemaakt werd door de byzondere omstandigheden waarin deze dame verkeerde.  
And this acquiescence sprang not from any want of hospitality, but chiefly from the fear that she, newly arrived at Lebak and thus not yet "settled," might not be able to receive Mrs. Slotering as well as the particular circumstances in which that lady found herself made desirable.
> Fronted niet-phrase + separable voortkomen: Fronting the negated cause forces inversion (kwam ... voort); voortkomen uit ('to spring from') is separable. The corrective structure ('not from X, but from Y') is heavily used here.
> Pronominal-relative waarin + demonstrative deze: waarin ('in which') is a relative pronominal adverb, sending verkeerde to the clause end. deze dame uses the near demonstrative for a de-word. The 'particular circumstances' are her pregnancy, kept genteelly vague.

Wel zou ze--geen hollandsch verstaande--niet "gedeerd" worden door de vertellingen van Max, zooals Tine 't genoemd had, maar zy begreep dat er meer noodig was dan de familie Slotering niet te deren, en de schrale keuken in-verband met de voorgenomen zuinigheid deden haar werkelyk 't voornemen van mevrouw Slotering zeer verstandig vinden.  
True, she—understanding no Dutch—would not be "injured" by Max's tales, as Tine had termed it, but she grasped that more was needed than not to wound the Slotering family, and the meager kitchen, taken together with the thrift they had resolved upon, made her in truth find Mrs. Slotering's intention very sensible.
> Conditional zou + worden-passive: zou ... gedeerd worden is a conditional process passive ('would not be injured'). verstaande is an inserted present participle ('understanding no Dutch'), an absolute construction.
> te-infinitive deren: te deren ('to harm') is a te-infinitive object of meer noodig. deren is a literary verb for 'to harm, hurt'. The wordplay turns on Tine's joke about Max 'injuring' guests with his stories.

Of nu overigens, wanneer de omstandigheden anders waren geweest, de omgang met iemand die slechts één taal sprak, waarin niets gedrukt is dat den geest beschaaft, geleid zou hebben tot wederzydsch genoegen, blyft twyfelachtig.  
Whether, moreover, had circumstances been otherwise, intercourse with someone who spoke but a single language, in which nothing is printed that refines the mind, would have led to mutual pleasure, remains doubtful.
> Fronted of-clause as subject: A whole indirect question (Of ... geleid zou hebben) serves as the fronted subject; the main verb blyft then stands in second position. geleid zou hebben is conditional perfect ('would have led').
> Negative word niets + zijn-passive: niets ('nothing') is a single negative word, and gedrukt is is a state passive ('is printed'). waarin ('in which') refers back to the language.

Tine zou haar zoo goed mogelijk gezelschap gehouden, en veel met haar gesproken hebben over keukenzaken, over sambal-sambal over 't inmaken van ketimon--zonder Liebig, o goden!--maar zoo-iets blyft toch altyd een opoffering, en men vond het dus zeer goed dat de zaken door mevrouw Sloterings vrywillige afzondering geschikt waren op een wyze die aan beide partyen volkomen vryheid liet.  
Tine would have kept her company as well as she could, and talked much with her about kitchen matters, about sambals, about the pickling of ketimon—without Liebig, ye gods!—but a thing of that sort always remains a sacrifice, and so it was thought very well that the affair had been arranged, by Mrs. Slotering's voluntary withdrawal, in a manner that left both parties complete freedom.
> zijn-passive geschikt waren: geschikt waren is a state passive ('had been arranged'). The dat-clause is the object of vond het ... goed, with an anticipatory het pointing forward.

Zonderling echter was het, dat die dame niet alleen geweigerd had deeltenemen aan de gemeenschappelyke maaltyden, maar dat zy zelfs geen gebruik maakte van 't aanbod om haar spyzen te doen gereed maken in de keuken van Havelaars huis. "Deze bescheidenheid, zei Tine, was wat ver gedreven, want de keuken was ruim genoeg."  
Singular, however, it was that this lady had not only declined to take part in the common meals, but that she would not even make use of the offer to have her dishes prepared in the kitchen of Havelaar's house. "This modesty," said Tine, "was carried somewhat too far, for the kitchen was roomy enough."
> niet alleen ... maar correlative: niet alleen ... maar ('not only ... but') is a correlative pair. geen gebruik maken van is the idiom 'to make no use of', negating the indefinite with geen.
> om ... te + causative doen: om ... te doen gereed maken combines a purpose-style om...te with causative doen ('to have her dishes made ready'). gereed maken = 'to prepare'.
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Source text: public domain (Multatuli / Eduard Douwes Dekker, d. 1887; Dutch 1860, Project Gutenberg #11024). English translation: original, © 1732 Studios (2026); rendered freshly from the public-domain Dutch, not derived from any prior English translation. Sentence-aligned by 1732 Studios.