# Max Havelaar, Chapter 17

Max Havelaar · Multatuli · The Novel

Source: https://1732studios.com/books/havelaar/hoofdstuk-17. Data: https://1732studios.com/books/havelaar/hoofdstuk-17.json. Audio: https://audio.1732studios.com/havelaar/<line id>.m4a.


ZEVENTIENDE HOOFDSTUK  
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
> Ordinal: zeventiende: zeventiende is the ordinal 'seventeenth' (from zeventien + -de); hoofdstuk ('chapter') is a het-word. This heading opens the famous Saïdjah and Adinda story.

Saïdjah's vader had een buffel, waarmede hy zyn veld bewerkte.  
Saïdjah's father had a buffalo, with which he worked his field.
> Pronominal adverb waarmede: waarmede ('with which') is the archaic/literary form of waarmee, fusing the relative with met. The relative clause sends the verb bewerkte (simple past of bewerken) to the end.

Toen deze buffel hem was afgenomen door het distriktshoofd van Parang-Koedjang, was hy zeer bedroefd, en sprak geen woord, vele dagen lang.  
When this buffalo was taken from him by the district chief of Parang-Koedjang, he was deeply grieved, and spoke not a word for many days.
> Passive of state with zijn + door-agent: was afgenomen ('had been taken away') is a perfect passive formed with zijn; the agent is marked by door ('by'). The whole is a toen-clause, so the verb cluster stands at the end. afgenomen is the participle of separable afnemen.

Want de tyd van ploegen was naby, en 't was te vreezen, als men de sawah niet tydig bewerkte, dat ook de tyd van zaaien zou voorbygaan, en eindelyk dat er geen padie zou te snyden zyn, om die te bergen in den lombong van het huis.  
For the time of ploughing was near, and it was to be feared that, if one did not work the sawah in good time, the season for sowing would also pass, and that in the end there would be no rice to cut and store in the lombong of the house.
> te-infinitive of passive necessity: te vreezen ('to be feared') after het is/was expresses a passive necessity, like English 'it was to be feared.' The dependent dat-clauses then carry their verbs (zou voorbygaan, zou te snyden zyn) to the end.
> Negation niet + verb-final: niet negates the verb bewerkte, which closes the als-clause. tydig ('in time') is period spelling of tijdig.

Ik moet hierby voor lezers, die wel Java doch niet Bantam kennen, de opmerking maken dat in deze residentie persoonlyk grondeigendom bestaat, wat elders niet het geval is.  
I must remark here, for readers who know Java but not Bantam, that in this residency there exists private ownership of land, which is not the case elsewhere.
> Archaic doch: doch is an archaic/literary 'but, yet,' joining wel Java to niet Bantam. The relative clause sends kennen to the end. doch belongs to the solemn 1860 register.
> Sentential relative wat: wat here refers back to the whole preceding statement ('which is not the case elsewhere'), the sentence-relative use of wat. The verb is closes the clause.

Saïdjah's vader nu was zeer bekommerd.  
Saïdjah's father, then, was very anxious.

Hy vreesde dat zyn vrouw behoefte zou hebben aan ryst, en ook Saïdjah die nog een kind was, en de broertjes en zusjes van Saïdjah.  
He feared that his wife would go short of rice, and Saïdjah too, who was still a child, and Saïdjah's little brothers and sisters.
> Reported fear with conditional zou: After vreesde ('feared'), the dat-clause uses zou hebben to express the feared future-in-the-past — 'that his wife would go short of rice.' The verb cluster stands at the end of the clause.
> Diminutive plurals: broertjes and zusjes are diminutive plurals of broer and zus, formed with -tje/-je + -s. The diminutive conveys their smallness and the tenderness of the family scene.

Ook zou het distriktshoofd hem aanklagen by den adsistent-resident, als hy achterlyk was in de betaling van zyn landrenten.  
The district chief, moreover, would denounce him to the assistant resident if he fell behind in the payment of his land taxes.
> Conditional zou + separable aanklagen: zou ... aanklagen frames the conditional ('would denounce'); the separable verb aanklagen keeps prefix and stem together as a bare infinitive at the end. Fronted Ook forces inversion (zou het distriktshoofd).

Want daarop staat straf by de wet.  
For the law lays down a penalty for that.
> Pronominal adverb daarop + coordinating want: daarop ('on that, for that') is a pronominal adverb fronted for emphasis, triggering inversion (staat straf). want is a coordinating conjunction, so it does NOT send the verb to the end.

Toen nam Saïdjah's vader een kris die poesaka was van zyn vader.  
Then Saïdjah's father took a kris that was a poesaka from his own father.
> Strong past nam + fronted Toen: nam is the strong simple past of nemen ('to take'), the narrative past tense. Fronted Toen ('then') puts the verb in second position, before the subject.

De kris was niet zeer schoon, maar er waren zilveren banden om de scheede, en ook op de punt der scheede was een plaatje zilver.  
The kris was not very fine, but there were silver bands around the sheath, and on the point of the sheath there was a little plate of silver as well.
> Existential er waren: er waren ('there were') is the existential construction introducing what exists. zilveren ('silver') is one of the material adjectives that takes no extra -e in any position.
> Genitive der: der scheede is the old feminine genitive 'of the sheath,' a frozen case form. Modern Dutch would write van de schede. scheede also shows period spelling with a doubled vowel.

Hy verkocht deze kris aan een Chinees die op de hoofdplaats woonde, en kwam te-huis met vier-en-twintig gulden, voor welk geld hy een anderen buffel kocht.  
He sold this kris to a Chinese who lived in the chief town, and came home with twenty-four guilders, with which money he bought another buffalo.
> Formal relative welk: voor welk geld ('with which money') uses the formal relative welk, agreeing with the neuter geld. The relative clause sends kocht to the end. anderen carries the old masculine accusative -en.

Saïdjah, die toen omstreeks zeven jaar oud was, had met den nieuwen buffel spoedig vriendschap gesloten.  
Saïdjah, who was then about seven years old, had quickly struck up a friendship with the new buffalo.
> Pluperfect: had ... gesloten is the pluperfect (imperfect of hebben + participle) — 'had struck up.' vriendschap sluiten is a fixed collocation, 'to form a friendship.'
> Relative die for a de-word: die relativizes the masculine name Saïdjah ('who was about seven'); the clause is verb-final with was. die is used for de-words, dat for het-words.

Ik zeg niet zonder doel: vriendschap, want het is inderdaad treffend te zien hoe de Javasche kerbo zich hecht aan den kleinen jongen die hem bewaakt en verzorgt.  
I do not say friendship without purpose, for it is indeed touching to see how the Javanese kerbo attaches itself to the little boy who watches over it and tends it.
> Reflexive zich hechten: zich hechten aan ('to attach itself to') is an inherently reflexive verb; zich is the third-person reflexive. The hoe-clause is a subordinate (indirect-question) clause with verb-final order: subject 'de Javasche kerbo' -> reflexive 'zich' -> finite verb 'hecht' -> PP complement; 'hecht' is in third position, not second.
> Dummy het + extraposed te-clause: het is treffend te zien uses placeholder het, with the real subject the te-infinitive clause that follows ('it is touching to see how...'). This impersonal het points at nothing concrete.

Het sterke dier buigt gewillig den zwaren kop rechts of links of omlaag naar den vingerdruk van 't kind, dat hy kent, dat hy verstaat, waarmede hy is opgegroeid.  
The strong beast bends its heavy head obediently to the right or the left or downward at the touch of the child's finger — the child it knows, the child it understands, the child it grew up beside.
> Adjective -e and dative den: sterke and zwaren both show attributive -e agreement; zwaren additionally carries the old masculine accusative -en (den zwaren kop). The neuter article het matches dier (a het-word).
> Chain of relatives dat / waarmede: dat relativizes the neuter kind ('that he knows... understands'); the third link switches to the pronominal adverb waarmede ('with which he grew up'). Each relative clause is verb-final.

Zulke vriendschap dan had ook de kleine Saïdjah spoedig weten inteboezemen aan den nieuwen gast, en Saïdjah's aanmoedigende kinderstem scheen meer kracht nog te geven aan de krachtvolle schoften van 't sterke dier, als het den zwaren kleigrond opscheurde en zyn weg teekende in diepe scherpe voren.  
Such a friendship, then, little Saïdjah had soon managed to inspire in his new companion too, and Saïdjah's encouraging child's voice seemed to lend yet more strength to the powerful withers of the strong beast as it tore open the heavy clay soil and marked out its path in deep, sharp furrows.
> Pluperfect + weten te + infinitive: had ... weten inteboezemen is a pluperfect with weten te ('to manage to'), where weten appears as an infinitive (IPP) rather than participle. inteboezemen is the period spelling of in te boezemen, written joined.
> Separable opscheuren in an als-clause: opscheurde is the simple past of separable opscheuren ('to tear open'), here kept whole at the end of the als-clause. den zwaren kleigrond again shows the dative/accusative -en.

De buffel keerde gewillig om als hy aan 't eind was van den akker, en verloor geen duimbreed gronds by het terugploegen van de nieuwe voor, die altyd naast de oude lag als ware de sawah een tuingrond geweest, geharkt door een reus.  
The buffalo turned obediently when it reached the end of the field, and lost not a thumb's breadth of ground as it ploughed back the new furrow, which always lay beside the old one, as though the sawah were a garden plot raked by a giant.
> Partitive genitive gronds: gronds is an old partitive genitive ('of ground') after the measure duimbreed — 'not a thumb's breadth of ground.' geen negates the indefinite noun phrase.
> Subjunctive ware in a comparison: ware is the past subjunctive of zijn ('as though the sawah had been...'), an archaic counterfactual form. The inversion als ware (verb before subject) is itself a literary, elevated pattern.

Daarnaast lagen de sawahs van Adinda's vader, den vader van 't kind dat met Saïdjah huwen zou. En als Adinda's broertjes aankwamen aan de tusschenliggende grens, juist als ook Saïdjah dáár was met zyn ploeg, dan riepen zy elkander vroolyk toe, en roemden om-stryd de kracht en de gehoorzaamheid hunner buffels.  
Next to it lay the sawahs of Adinda's father, the father of the child Saïdjah was to marry. And when Adinda's little brothers came up to the boundary between them, just as Saïdjah too was there with his plough, they would call out merrily to one another, and vie in praising the strength and the obedience of their buffaloes.
> Future-in-the-past with zou: huwen zou ('was to marry') places conditional/future zou after the infinitive at the end of the relative clause — the future seen from a past vantage. huwen is a literary verb for trouwen.
> Separable toeroepen + reciprocal elkander: toeroepen ('to call out to') splits, with toe landing at the end; riepen is the strong past. elkander is the older form of elkaar ('one another'). Fronted dan triggers inversion (riepen zy).
> Genitive hunner: hunner is the archaic genitive of the possessive ('of their'), agreeing with the plural buffels. Modern Dutch would say van hun buffels. This inflected possessive belongs to solemn 1860 prose.

Maar ik geloof dat die van Saïdjah de beste was, misschien wel omdat deze hem beter dan de anderen wisttoetespreken. Want buffels zyn zeer gevoelig voor goede toespraak.  
But I believe that Saïdjah's was the best, perhaps because he knew how to speak to it better than the others. For buffaloes are very responsive to kind words.
> Comparative dan + weten te: beter ... dan is the comparative with dan for 'than.' wisttoetespreken is period-spelling for wist toe te spreken (weten te + separable toespreken), all written joined — 'knew how to speak to it.'
> Demonstrative deze as pronoun: deze ('this one') stands in for Saïdjah, a near-demonstrative used pronominally. deze/die serve de-words; dit/dat serve het-words.

Saïdjah was negen jaar oud geworden, en Adinda reeds zes jaren, voor deze buffel aan Saïdjah's vader werd afgenomen door het distriktshoofd van Parang-Koedjang.  
Saïdjah had reached nine years, and Adinda was already six, by the time this buffalo too was taken from Saïdjah's father by the district chief of Parang-Koedjang.
> Perfect of worden: was ... geworden is the perfect of worden ('had become/turned'), built with zijn — Saïdjah 'had turned nine.' worden always takes zijn in the perfect.
> Passive with worden in a voor-clause: werd afgenomen ('was taken away') is a process passive with worden in the past; the agent follows with door. voor here means 'before' and acts as a subordinator, sending the verb cluster to the end.

Saïdjah's vader, die zeer arm was, verkocht nu aan een Chinees twee zilveren klamboe-haken, poesaka van de ouders zyner vrouw, voor achttien gulden. En voor dat geld kocht hy een nieuwen buffel.  
Saïdjah's father, who was very poor, now sold to a Chinese two silver mosquito-net hooks, a poesaka from his wife's parents, for eighteen guilders. And with that money he bought a new buffalo.
> Genitive zyner: zyner is the archaic genitive of zijn ('of his'), agreeing with vrouw — 'his wife's parents.' Modern Dutch flattens this to zijn vrouw. The inflected possessive marks the elevated register.

Maar Saïdjah was bedroefd.  
But Saïdjah was sad.

Want hy wist van Adinda's broertjes, dat de vorige buffel was heengedreven naar de hoofdplaats, en hy had zyn vader gevraagd of deze dat dier niet gezien had toen hy dáár was om de klamboe-haken te verkoopen? Op welke vraag Saïdjah's vader niet had willen antwoorden.  
For he had learned from Adinda's little brothers that the previous buffalo had been driven off to the chief town, and he had asked his father whether he had not seen that animal when he was there to sell the mosquito-net hooks — a question to which Saïdjah's father had not been willing to give an answer.
> Passive of state in reported speech: was heengedreven ('had been driven off') is a zijn-passive reporting what the brothers said; heengedreven is the participle of separable heendrijven. The dat-clause is verb-final.
> Indirect question with of: of opens the embedded yes/no question after gevraagd ('asked whether...'); the verb cluster gezien had goes to the end. deze ('this one, he') refers to the father.
> Formal relative welke + IPP cluster: Op welke vraag ('to which question') is the formal relative welke linking to the previous sentence. had willen antwoorden is a pluperfect with the modal willen as infinitive (IPP) — 'had not been willing to answer.'

Daarom vreesde hy dat zyn buffel geslacht was, zooals de andere buffels die het distriktshoofd afnam aan de bevolking.  
And so he feared that his buffalo had been slaughtered, like the other buffaloes the district chief took from the people.
> Passive of state geslacht was: geslacht was ('had been slaughtered') is the zijn-passive of the resulting state, in the verb-final dat-clause. Fronted Daarom triggers inversion in the main clause (vreesde hy).
> Relative die, verb-final: die relativizes buffels ('the other buffaloes that the district chief took'); the contact relative is verb-final with afnam (past of separable afnemen). afnemen aan ('to take from') governs aan for the dispossessed party.

En Saïdjah schreide veel als hy dacht aan den armen buffel waarmede hy twee jaren zoo innig had omgegaan. En hy kon niet eten, langen tyd, want zyn keel was te nauw als hy slikte.  
And Saïdjah wept much when he thought of the poor buffalo with which he had been so close for two years. And he could not eat, for a long while, for his throat was too tight when he tried to swallow.
> Pronominal adverb waarmede + pluperfect: waarmede ('with which') relativizes buffel; the clause closes with the pluperfect had omgegaan (separable omgaan met, 'to associate/be close with'). den armen shows the dative/accusative -en.
> Modal kon + coordinating want: kon (past of kunnen) sends eten to the end as a bare infinitive, negated by niet. want ('for') is a coordinating conjunction and leaves its clause in main-clause order (was second).

Men bedenke dat Saïdjah een kind was.  
Let it be remembered that Saïdjah was a child.
> Hortative subjunctive bedenke: bedenke is the third-person subjunctive ('let it be considered / let one remember'), used with men as a solemn appeal to the reader. This optative form is characteristic of the elevated 1860 register.

De nieuwe buffel leerde Saïdjah kennen, en nam in de genegenheid van 't kind zeer spoedig de plaats in van zyn voorganger ... al te spoedig eigenlyk. Want, helaas, de wasindrukken van ons hart worden zoo licht gladgestreken, om plaats te maken voor later schrift.  
The new buffalo came to know Saïdjah, and very soon took, in the child's affection, the place of its predecessor ... all too soon, really. For, alas, the wax impressions of our heart are so easily smoothed away to make room for later writing.
> Separable innemen, split wide: innemen ('to take/occupy') splits across the whole clause: the prefix in lands far to the right, after the object — 'took the place of.' This wide separation is typical of Dutch main-clause order.
> Present passive with worden: worden ... gladgestreken is a present-tense process passive ('are so easily smoothed away'), with gladstreken's participle gladgestreken at the end. The metaphor of wax impressions is Multatuli's.

Hoe dit zy, de nieuwe buffel was wel niet zoo sterk als de vorige ... wel was 't oude juk te ruim voor zyn schoft ... maar 't arme dier was gewillig als zyn voorganger die geslacht was, en al kon dan Saïdjah niet meer roemen op de kracht van zyn buffel by 't ontmoeten van Adinda's broertjes aan de grens, hy beweerde toch dat geen ander den zynen overtrof in goeden wil. En wanneer de vore niet zoo rechtlynig liep als voorheen, of als er aardklonten ondoorgesneden waren omgegaan, werkte hy dat gaarne by met zyn patjol, zooveel hy kon.  
However that may be, the new buffalo was indeed not as strong as the last one ... indeed the old yoke was too wide for its withers ... but the poor beast was as willing as its predecessor that had been slaughtered, and though Saïdjah could no longer boast of his buffalo's strength when he met Adinda's little brothers at the boundary, he maintained nonetheless that no other surpassed his own in goodwill. And whenever the furrow did not run as straight as before, or whenever clods of earth had passed by uncut, he would gladly make it good with his patjol, as much as he could.
> Subjunctive zy: Hoe dit zy ('however that may be') uses the present subjunctive zy of zijn, a fixed archaic concessive formula. zy is also the period spelling of zij.
> Concessive al + inversion: al ('even though') introduces a concession and, like fronting, triggers inversion: kon dan Saïdjah. The modal kon sends roemen to the end as a bare infinitive.
> Possessive den zynen + negation geen: den zynen is the nominalized possessive 'his (one),' in old accusative form. geen ander ('no other') is the single negative; overtrof is the strong past of overtreffen.

Bovendien, geen buffel had een oeser-oeseran als de zyne.  
Besides, no buffalo had an oeser-oeseran like his.
> Negation geen + possessive de zyne: geen negates the indefinite subject buffel ('no buffalo had...'); de zyne is the nominalized possessive 'his (one).' Fronted Bovendien triggers inversion in the original clause order.

De penghoeloe zelf had gezegd dat er ontong was in den loop van die haarwervels op de achterschoften.  
The penghoeloe himself had said that there was ontong in the course of those whorls of hair on its hindquarters.
> Existential er in reported speech: er ... was ('there was') is the existential construction inside the dat-clause, which is verb-final. die haarwervels glosses the Javanese oeser-oeseran for the Dutch reader.

Eens, in 't veld, riep Saïdjah tevergeefs zyn buffel toe, wat spoed te maken.  
Once, out in the field, Saïdjah called to his buffalo in vain to make some haste.
> Separable toeroepen + te-infinitive object: toeroepen ('to call out to') splits, with toe at the end; riep is the strong past. The te-infinitive te maken ('to make haste') is the content of the call. Fronted Eens triggers inversion.

Het dier stond pal.  
The beast stood stock-still.
> pal staan: pal staan is an idiom meaning to stand firm, immovable, stock-still. stond is the strong past of staan. The short sentence stops the narrative dead, like the beast itself.

Saïdjah, verstoord over zoo groote en vooral zoo ongewone weerspannigheid, kon zich niet weerhouden een beleediging te uiten. Hy riep: a.s.  
Saïdjah, exasperated at such great and, above all, such unusual stubbornness, could not refrain from uttering an insult. He cried: etc.
> Reflexive zich + modal kon: zich weerhouden ('to restrain oneself') is reflexive; the modal kon sends weerhouden to the end, and te uiten is the te-infinitive complement. niet negates the whole.
> Participial adjective verstoord: verstoord ('exasperated, vexed') is a past participle used as a predicative adjective describing Saïdjah's state. It heads a long appositive phrase before the main clause resumes.

Ieder die in Indie geweest is, zal my verstaan. En wie me niet verstaat, wint er by dat ik hem de uitlegging spaar van een grove uitdrukking.  
Anyone who has been in the Indies will understand me. And whoever does not understand me gains by my sparing him the explanation of a coarse expression.
> Free relative wie + separable winnen + er: wie ('whoever') opens a headless relative (verb verstaat at the end); the main clause winnen erbij ('to gain by it') uses the split pronominal er ... by. me verstaat negated by niet.

Saïdjah bedoelde evenwel niets kwaads daarmede.  
Saïdjah meant nothing wicked by it, however.

Hy zei 't maar omdat hy 't zoo dikwyls had hooren zeggen door anderen, als ze ontevreden waren over hun buffels.  
He said it only because he had so often heard it said by others when they were displeased with their buffaloes.
> Pluperfect + double infinitive (IPP): had hooren zeggen is a pluperfect where the perception verb horen and the verb zeggen both stay as infinitives (the 'infinitivus pro participio') rather than horen becoming gehoord. The whole stands at the end of the omdat-clause.

Maar hy had het niet behoeven te zeggen, want het baatte niets: zyn buffel deed geen stap verder.  
But he need not have said it, for it did no good: his buffalo took not a step further.
> behoeven te + infinitive in the pluperfect: had ... behoeven te zeggen ('need not have said it') is a pluperfect; behoeven ('to need') appears as an infinitive (IPP) and itself governs te zeggen. niet negates the need.
> Coordinating want + negation niets: want ('for') keeps main-clause order (baatte second). niets ('nothing') is the single negative word — 'it availed nothing.' baten ('to avail') is now mostly fixed in such negative phrases.

Hy schudde den kop als om 't juk aftewerpen, men zag den adem uit zyn neusgaten ... hy blaasde, sidderde, rilde ... er was angst in zyn blauw oog, en de bovenlip was opgetrokken zoodat het tandvleesch bloot lag ...  
It shook its head as if to throw off the yoke; one could see the breath from its nostrils ... it snorted, shuddered, trembled ... there was terror in its blue eye, and its upper lip was drawn back so that the gums lay bare ...
> Purpose om ... te with separable verb: als om ... aftewerpen frames purpose ('as if to throw off'); aftewerpen is the joined period spelling of af te werpen (separable afwerpen split by te). den kop again carries the dative/accusative -en.
> State passive opgetrokken: was opgetrokken ('was drawn back') reads as a resulting-state passive with zijn; opgetrokken is the participle of separable optrekken. The line builds the beast's terror in a series of such states.

"Vlucht, vlucht, riepen op-eenmaal Adinda's broertjes, Saïdjah, vlucht!  
"Flee, flee," Adinda's little brothers cried all at once, "Saïdjah, flee!
> Imperative vlucht: vlucht is the imperative (bare stem) of vluchten ('to flee') — a direct command, repeated for urgency. The imperative drops the subject entirely.
> Quotative inversion: After the fronted quoted speech, the verb riepen ('cried') precedes the subject Adinda's broertjes — verb-second applied to a quotative tag. riepen is the strong past of roepen.

Daar is een tyger!"  
There is a tiger!"
> Existential daar / er: Daar is here functions like er — 'there is a tiger.' This locative-existential opener is common in exclamations of sudden danger.

En allen ontdeden hun buffels van de ploegjukken, en slingerden zich op de breede ruggen, en galoppeerden weg door sawahs, over galangans, door modder, door kreupelhout en bosch en allang-allang, langs velden en wegen. En toen ze hygend en zweetend binnenrenden in het dorp Badoer, was Saïdjah niet by hen.  
And they all freed their buffaloes from the plough yokes, and flung themselves onto the broad backs, and galloped away across sawahs, over galangans, through mud, through brushwood and forest and alang-alang, along fields and roads. And when, panting and sweating, they came rushing into the village of Badoer, Saïdjah was not among them.
> Chained strong pasts + reflexive zich: Three coordinated simple pasts (ontdeden, slingerden, galoppeerden) drive the action; slingerden zich ('flung themselves') is reflexive. ontdoen van means 'to rid/free of.'
> Fronted toen-clause + inversion: The toen-clause (verb binnenrenden, separable binnenrennen, at the end) is fronted, so the main clause inverts: was Saïdjah. niet negates the predicate.

Want toen deze zyn buffel, bevryd van het juk, had bestegen als de anderen om te vluchten als zy, had een onverwachtte sprong van het dier hem 't evenwicht benomen en ter-aarde geworpen.  
For when he had mounted his buffalo, freed of its yoke, like the others, in order to flee as they did, an unexpected leap of the animal had thrown him off balance and cast him to the ground.
> Pluperfect benemen: had ... benomen is the pluperfect of benemen ('to take away from'); 't evenwicht benemen means 'to throw off balance.' The dative hem marks the person deprived.
> Participle as reduced clause: bevryd ('freed') is the participle of bevrijden used adjectivally to modify zyn buffel — a compact reduced relative, 'his buffalo, freed of its yoke.'

De tyger was zeer na ...  
The tiger was very near ...

Saïdjah's buffel, voortgedreven door eigen vaart, schoot eenige sprongen voorby de plek waar zyn kleine meester den dood wachtte.  
Saïdjah's buffalo, carried on by its own momentum, shot a few bounds past the spot where its little master awaited death.
> Participle + door-agent: voortgedreven ('carried on, driven forward') is the participle of separable voortdrijven, used as a reduced passive phrase with the agent marked by door — 'driven on by its own momentum.'
> Relative adverb waar: waar ('where') relativizes plek; the clause is verb-final with wachtte (past of wachten). den dood again shows the old accusative -en.

Maar door eigen vaart alleen, en niet door eigen wil, was het dier verder gegaan dan Saïdjah. Want nauw had het de stuwing overwonnen die alle stof beheerscht, ook na 't ophouden van de oorzaak die haar voortstuwde, of 't keerde terug, zette zyn lomp lyf op zyn lompe pooten als een dak over het kind, en keerde zyn gehoornden kop naar den tyger.  
But it was by its own momentum alone, and not by its own will, that the animal had gone further than Saïdjah. For scarcely had it overcome the impetus that governs all matter, even after the cause that drove it has ceased, than it turned back, set its clumsy body on its clumsy legs like a roof over the child, and turned its horned head toward the tiger.
> Correlative nauw ... of: nauw ... of ('scarcely... when') is a correlative construction; fronting nauw inverts the first clause (had het), and of introduces the sudden follow-up. overwonnen is the participle of strong overwinnen.
> Relative die, verb-final: die relativizes oorzaak ('the cause that drove it on'); voortstuwde (separable voortstuwen) closes the clause. haar refers back to feminine stof/stuwing.

Deze sprong ... maar hy sprong voor 't laatst. De buffel ving hem op zyn hoornen, en verloor slechts wat vleesch dat de tyger hem uitsloeg aan den hals.  
The tiger sprang ... but it sprang for the last time. The buffalo caught it on its horns, and lost only a little flesh, which the tiger tore from it at the neck.
> Demonstrative Deze as subject: Deze ('this one') points to the tiger as subject; sprong is the strong past of springen. maar is a coordinating conjunction, so hy sprong keeps main-clause order.
> Relative dat for a het-word: dat relativizes the neuter vleesch ('flesh that the tiger tore'); the clause is verb-final with uitsloeg (separable uitslaan). Compare die, which would be used for a de-word.

De aanvaller lag daar met opgescheurden buik, en Saïdjah was gered.  
The attacker lay there with its belly ripped open, and Saïdjah was saved.
> Participial adjective with dative -en: opgescheurden is the participle of separable openscheuren/opscheuren used attributively ('with belly ripped open'), carrying the old dative -en after met. Saïdjah was gered is a zijn-passive of state ('was saved').

Wèl was er ontong, geweest in de oeser-oeseran van dien buffel!  
There had indeed been ontong in the oeser-oeseran of that buffalo!
> Existential er + perfect of zijn: er ... geweest is the existential 'there had been' built on the pluperfect of zijn (was + geweest). Fronted Wèl ('indeed') triggers inversion (was er). The line ironically confirms the earlier omen of luck.

Toen deze buffel aan Saïdjah's vader was afgenomen, en geslacht ...  
When this buffalo was taken from Saïdjah's father, and slaughtered ...
> Coordinated state passives: was afgenomen ... en geslacht coordinates two zijn-passives ('was taken away and slaughtered') under one auxiliary. The toen-clause breaks off mid-thought — an emphatic narrative dash.

Ik heb u gezegd, lezer, dat myn verhaal eentonig is.  
I have told you, reader, that my tale is monotonous.
> Perfect + pronoun u: heb ... gezegd is the perfect of zeggen. u is the polite second-person pronoun (dative 'to you'), the address the narrator uses to the reader throughout. The dat-clause is verb-final (is).

... toen deze buffel geslacht was, telde Saïdjah twaalf jaar, en Adinda weefde sarongs, en batikte die met puntige kapala.  
... when this buffalo was slaughtered, Saïdjah numbered twelve years, and Adinda wove sarongs and patterned them with pointed kapala.
> Passive of state + fronted toen-clause: geslacht was is the zijn-passive ('was slaughtered'), verb-final in the toen-clause; the main clause then inverts (telde Saïdjah). telde and weefde are weak simple pasts.

Ze had reeds gedachten te brengen in den loop van haar verfschuitje, en ze teekende droefheid op haar weefsel, want ze had Saïdjah zeer treurig gezien.  
She had already learned to bring thoughts into the play of her dye-shuttle, and she traced sorrow upon her cloth, for she had seen Saïdjah very downcast.
> Pluperfect of hebben + te-infinitive: had ... te brengen is the pluperfect of hebben with the noun object gedachten plus the te-infinitive te brengen: 'she already had thoughts to bring into the flow of her dye-shuttle.' No form of leren appears in the text.
> Coordinating want + pluperfect: want keeps main-clause order; had ... gezien is the pluperfect of zien with treurig ('downcast') as a depictive — 'had seen Saïdjah very sorrowful.'

En ook Saïdjah's vader was bedroefd, doch zyn moeder het meest. Deze toch had de wonde genezen aan den hals van het trouwe dier dat haar kind ongedeerd had thuis-gebracht, nadat zy op de mare van Adinda's broertjes gemeend had dat het was weggevoerd door den tyger.  
And Saïdjah's father too was grieved, but his mother most of all. For she it was who had healed the wound on the neck of the faithful beast that had brought her child home unharmed, after she had believed, from the news brought by Adinda's little brothers, that he had been carried off by the tiger.
> Superlative het meest + archaic doch: het meest is the superlative 'most of all.' doch ('but, yet') is the archaic adversative conjunction, lending the sentence its solemn 1860 colour.
> Relative dat + pluperfect: dat relativizes the neuter dier ('the beast that had brought her child home'); had ... thuis-gebracht is a pluperfect of separable thuisbrengen, verb-final. ongedeerd ('unharmed') is a depictive.

Ze had die wond zoo dikwyls bezien met de gedachte hoe diep de klauw die zóó ver indrong in de ruwe vezelen van den buffel, zou voortgedreven zyn in 't weeke lyf van haar kind, en telkens als ze versche geneeskruiden had gelegd op de wonde, streelde zy den buffel en sprak hem eenige vriendelyke woorden toe, dat het goede trouwe dier toch weten zou hoe dankbaar een moeder is!  
She had looked at that wound so often, with the thought of how deep the claw that drove so far into the buffalo's rough fibres would have driven into the soft body of her child, and every time she had laid fresh healing herbs upon the wound, she stroked the buffalo and spoke a few kind words to it, that the good faithful beast might after all know how grateful a mother is!
> Conditional perfect with zou: zou voortgedreven zyn ('would have driven') is a conditional perfect built on the passive/perfect of voortdrijven — a counterfactual: how deep the claw would have gone into the child's body. The hoe-clause is verb-final.
> Iterative als + inversion: The fronted telkens als ('every time') clause (verb-final had gelegd) makes the main clause invert: streelde zy. den buffel carries the old accusative -en.

Ze hoopte later dat de buffel haar toch mocht verstaan hebben, want dan had hy ook haar schreien begrepen toen hy werd weggevoerd om geslacht te worden, en hy had geweten dat het niet Saïdjah's moeder was, die hem slachten liet.  
She hoped afterward that the buffalo had truly understood her, for then it would also have understood her weeping when it was led away to be slaughtered, and would have known that it was not Saïdjah's mother who had it killed.
> Modal mogen in a perfect infinitive cluster: mocht verstaan hebben ('might have understood') stacks the modal mocht with a perfect infinitive (verstaan hebben) at the end of the dat-clause. This expresses a hoped-for possibility in the past.
> worden-passive + passive om ... te: werd weggevoerd is a past process passive ('was led away'); om geslacht te worden is a passive purpose clause ('in order to be slaughtered'), with te worden carrying the passive infinitive.

Eenigen tyd daarna vluchtte Saïdjah's vader uit het land. Want hy was zeer bevreesd voor de straf als hy zyn landrenten niet betalen zou, en hy had geen poesaka meer om een nieuwen buffel te koopen, daar zyn ouders altyd in Parang-Koedjang, woonden, en hem dus weinig hadden nagelaten.  
Some time afterward Saïdjah's father fled the country. For he was greatly afraid of the punishment if he should not pay his land taxes, and he had no poesaka left with which to buy a new buffalo, since his parents had always lived in Parang-Koedjang and had thus left him little.
> Causal daar (subordinator): daar here is the archaic causal conjunction 'since/because' (not the adverb 'there'), sending the verb woonden to the end. This causal daar is a literary, period feature.
> Pluperfect of separable nalaten: hadden ... nagelaten is the pluperfect of separable nalaten ('to leave behind, bequeath'); the dative hem marks the heir — 'had left him little.'

Ook de ouders van zyn vrouw woonden altyd in hetzelfde distrikt.  
His wife's parents, too, had always lived in the same district.

Na 't verlies van den laatsten buffel hield hy zich nog eenige jaren staande door te werken met gehuurde ploegdieren. Maar dit is een zeer ondankbare arbeid, en bovenal verdrietig voor iemand die in 't bezit van eigen buffels geweest is.  
After the loss of the last buffalo he kept himself going for a few more years by working with hired draught animals. But this is very thankless labour, and above all distressing for someone who has been in possession of buffaloes of his own.
> Reflexive zich staande houden + door te: zich staande houden ('to keep oneself going, stay afloat') is a reflexive idiom; door te werken ('by working') is a means clause with door + te-infinitive. Fronted Na 't verlies triggers inversion (hield hy).
> Relative die + perfect of zijn: die relativizes iemand ('someone who has been...'); geweest is is the perfect of zijn, verb-final. in het bezit zyn van means 'to be in possession of.'

Saïdjah's moeder stierf van verdriet, en toen maakte zyn vader in een moedeloos oogenblik zich weg uit Lebak en uit Bantam, om werk te zoeken in 't Buitenzorgsche.  
Saïdjah's mother died of grief, and then, in a moment of despair, his father took himself away from Lebak and from Bantam to look for work in the Buitenzorg district.
> Strong past stierf + reflexive zich wegmaken: stierf is the strong past of sterven ('to die'). zich wegmaken ('to take oneself off') is reflexive and separable (weg to the end). Fronted toen inverts the second clause (maakte zyn vader).
> Purpose om ... te: om ... te zoeken is a purpose clause ('to look for work'), closing with the te-infinitive. 't Buitenzorgsche is an adjectival place-name, 'the Buitenzorg district.'

Hy werd met rottingslagen gestraft omdat hy Lebak verlaten had zonder pas, en door de policie teruggebracht naar Badoer.  
He was punished with strokes of the rattan because he had left Lebak without a pass, and was brought back by the police to Badoer.
> worden-passive with coordinated participles: werd ... gestraft ... en teruggebracht is a past process passive with worden, two participles sharing one auxiliary ('was punished... and brought back'). The means is marked by met, the agent of teruggebracht by door.
> omdat + pluperfect: omdat ('because') sends the verb cluster verlaten had to the end. zonder pas ('without a pass') captures the colonial pass-laws restricting native movement.

Hier werd hy in de gevangenis geworpen omdat men hem voor krankzinnig hield, wat zoo onverklaarbaar niet zou geweest zyn, en omdat men vreesde dat hy in een oogenblik van matah-glap, misschien amokh maken of andere verkeerdheden begaan zou.  
Here he was thrown into prison because he was thought to be insane — which would not have been so inexplicable — and because it was feared that in a moment of matah-glap he might run amok or commit some other wrongdoing.
> worden-passive + omdat-clause: werd ... geworpen is the past process passive ('was thrown'); fronted Hier triggers inversion (werd hy). The omdat-clause sends hield to the end. iemand voor X houden means 'to take someone for X.'
> Sentential wat + conditional perfect: wat refers back to the whole preceding clause ('which would not have been so inexplicable'); zou geweest zyn is a conditional perfect of zijn.

Maar hy was niet lang gevangen, wyl hy kort daarop stierf.  
But he was not long imprisoned, for he died shortly afterward.
> Archaic causal wyl: wyl (modern wijl) is an archaic causal/temporal conjunction, 'because/while,' sending stierf to the end. It belongs to the elevated literary register of 1860.

Wat er geworden is van de broertjes en zusjes van Saïdjah, weet ik niet.  
What became of Saïdjah's little brothers and sisters, I do not know.
> Fronted wat-clause + inversion: The embedded question Wat er geworden is van... ('what became of...') is fronted as object, so the main clause inverts to weet ik. er ... van is the split pronominal; worden van means 'to become of.'

Het huisje dat zy bewoonden te Badoer, stond eenigen tyd ledig, en spoedig viel het in, daar 't slechts van bamboe gebouwd was, en gedekt met atap.  
The little house they had lived in at Badoer stood empty for a while, and soon collapsed, since it was built only of bamboo and roofed with atap.
> Diminutive huisje + relative dat: huisje is the diminutive of huis (neuter), so its relative pronoun is dat ('the little house that they lived in'). The contact relative is verb-final with bewoonden.
> Causal daar + zijn-passive: daar ('since') is the archaic causal conjunction; gebouwd was is the zijn-passive of state ('was built'), verb-final. The construction explains why the house collapsed.

Een weinig stof en vuil dekte de plek waar veel geleden werd.  
A little dust and dirt covered the spot where much had been suffered.
> Impersonal passive werd geleden: geleden werd ('was suffered') is a subjectless process passive — there is no grammatical subject, only the action. The relative waar ('where') links it to plek. This impersonal passive lets the suffering stand alone, agentless.

Er zyn veel zulke plekken in Lebak.  
There are many such spots in Lebak.
> Existential er zyn: Er zyn ('there are') is the existential construction asserting the existence of many such spots. zulke ('such') is a determiner taking -e before the plural. The bare, flat statement lands the chapter's accusation.

Saïdjah was reeds vyftien jaar, toen zyn vader naar Buitenzorg vertrok. Hy had dezen niet daarheen vergezeld omdat hy grooter plannen in zyn gemoed omdroeg.  
Saïdjah was already fifteen when his father set off for Buitenzorg. He had not gone there with him, because he carried greater plans in his heart.
> Strong past vertrok + toen-clause: vertrok is the strong simple past of vertrekken ('to depart'); the toen-clause is verb-final. reeds ('already') is a literary equivalent of al.
> Demonstrative dezen (accusative): dezen is the old masculine accusative of deze ('this one, him'), object of vergezeld ('accompanied'). had ... vergezeld is a pluperfect, negated by niet.

Men had hem gezegd dat er te Batavia zooveel heeren waren die in bendies reden, en dat er dus misschien voor hem een dienst zou te vinden zyn als bendie-jongen, waartoe men gewoonlyk iemand kiest, die nog jong is en onvolwassen, om niet door te veel zwaarte achter op het tweewielig rytuig, 't evenwicht te breken.  
He had been told that at Batavia there were so many gentlemen who rode about in bendies, and that there might therefore be a place to be found for him as a bendie-boy — a post for which one usually chooses someone still young and not yet grown, so as not to upset the balance of the two-wheeled carriage by too much weight behind.
> Existential er + zou te vinden zyn: er ... zou te vinden zyn is an impersonal conditional ('there might be a place to be found'), combining existential er, conditional zou, and a passive te-infinitive (te vinden zyn). The verb cluster stands at the clause end.
> Negated purpose om ... te: om niet ... te breken is a purpose clause negated by niet ('so as not to upset the balance'). Note the long middle field between om and the closing te breken.

Er was, had men hem verzekerd, by goed gedrag veel te winnen in zoodanige bediening. Misschien zelfs zou hy op deze wyze binnen drie jaren geld kunnen oversparen, genoeg om twee buffels te koopen.  
There was, he had been assured, much to be gained by good conduct in such employment. Perhaps he might even, in this way, save up enough money within three years to buy two buffaloes.
> Existential er + te-infinitive of possibility: Er was ... veel te winnen ('there was much to be gained') combines existential er with a te-infinitive of possibility. The interpolated had men hem verzekerd ('he had been assured') is a parenthetical clause.
> Conditional zou + modal kunnen: zou ... kunnen oversparen stacks conditional zou with the modal kunnen and the separable infinitive oversparen ('to save up') — 'might be able to save up.' Fronted Misschien zelfs triggers inversion (zou hy).

Dit vooruitzicht lachte hem toe.  
This prospect smiled upon him.
> Separable toelachen: toelachen ('to smile upon, to appeal to') splits, with toe at the end — 'this prospect smiled upon him.' lachte is a weak simple past. The dative hem marks the one to whom it appeals.

Met fieren tred, zooals iemand gaat die groote zaken in den zin heeft, trad hy na 't vertrek zyns vaders by Adinda binnen, en deelde haar zyn plan mede.  
With a proud step, like a man who has great matters in mind, he came in to Adinda after his father's departure, and told her his plan.
> Genitive zyns vaders: zyns vaders is a fully inflected old genitive ('of his father'), with both the possessive and the noun marked -s. Modern Dutch would say na het vertrek van zijn vader.
> Two separable verbs: binnentreden, mededelen: binnentreden ('to enter') and mededelen ('to tell, communicate') both split, sending binnen and mede to their clause ends. trad is the strong past of treden. Fronted Met fieren tred triggers inversion (trad hy).

--Denk eens, zeide hy, als ik wederkom zullen wy oud genoeg zyn om te trouwen, en we zullen twee buffels hebben!  
"Only think," he said, "when I come back we shall be old enough to marry, and we shall have two buffaloes!"
> Imperative denk + softener eens: Denk is the imperative of denken ('think!'); eens softens it to a gentle 'just think, only think.' The particle eens is a common imperative softener.
> Fronted als-clause + future zullen + om te: The als-clause (verb wederkom, archaic for terugkom, at the end) is fronted, so the main clause inverts: zullen wy. zullen ... zyn is the future, and om te trouwen a purpose clause.

--Heel goed, Saïdjah! Ik wil gaarne met je trouwen als je terugkomt.  
"Very well, Saïdjah! I will gladly marry you when you come back.
> Modal wil + je / fronted als-clause: wil (from willen) sends trouwen to the end as a bare infinitive. je is the informal 'you,' which Adinda uses with Saïdjah. gaarne is the literary 'gladly' (modern graag). The als-clause is verb-final (terugkomt).

Ik zal spinnen, en sarongs en slendangs weven, en batikken, en heel vlytig zyn al dien tyd.  
I will spin, and weave sarongs and slendangs, and batik, and be very diligent all that time."
> Future zullen over a chain of infinitives: A single zal ('I shall') governs four coordinated infinitives at the end (spinnen, weven, batikken, zyn). al dien tyd ('all that time') keeps the old accusative -en on the demonstrative and noun.

--O, ik geloof je, Adinda! Maar ... als ik je getrouwd vind?  
"Oh, I believe you, Adinda! But ... what if I find you married?"
> Resultative participle getrouwd: vind ... getrouwd uses the participle getrouwd as a resultative complement — 'find you married.' The als-clause has verb-final order in writing, though here it stands as an anxious half-question.

--Saïdjah, je weet immers wel dat ik met niemand trouwen zal. Myn vader heeft me toegezegd aan uw vader.  
"Saïdjah, you know perfectly well that I will marry no one. My father has promised me to your father."
> Negation niemand + future zal: niemand ('no one') is the single negative; trouwen zal ('will marry') is the future, verb-final in the dat-clause. The particle immers ('after all, surely') appeals to shared knowledge.
> Perfect of separable toezeggen + pronoun uw: heeft ... toegezegd is the perfect of separable toezeggen ('to promise'). uw is the polite/formal possessive 'your,' which the lovers use toward each other's elders. me is the dative 'me.'

--En jyzelf?  
"And you yourself?"
> Emphatic pronoun jyzelf: jyzelf is the emphatic 'you yourself' (jy = period spelling of jij, + zelf). The informal jy contrasts with the formal uw the lovers use of each other's parents.

--Ik zal trouwen met u, wees daar zeker van!  
"I will marry you — be sure of that!"
> Future zal + imperative wees: zal trouwen is the future. wees is the irregular imperative of zijn ('be!'); daar ... van is the split pronominal adverb 'of that.' Note Adinda switches to formal u here.

--Als ik terugkom, zal ik roepen in de verte ...  
"When I come back, I will call out from afar ..."
> Fronted als-clause + future inversion: The als-clause (terugkom at the end) is fronted, so the main clause inverts to zal ik. zal ... roepen is the future of roepen.

--Wie zal dat hooren, als we ryst stampen in 't dorp?  
"Who will hear that, when we are pounding rice in the village?"
> Interrogative wie + future + als-clause: wie ('who') is the question word; zal ... hooren is the future. The als-clause sends stampen to the end. ryst stampen ('to pound rice') is the noisy daily work that would drown out his call.

--Dat is waar. Maar Adinda ... o ja, dit is beter: wacht me by het djati-bosch, onder den ketapan waar je my de melatti hebt gegeven.  
"That is true. But Adinda ... oh yes, this is better: wait for me by the djati forest, under the ketapan where you gave me the melatti."
> Imperative wacht: wacht is the imperative of wachten ('wait!'); me is the object 'for me.' den ketapan keeps the old accusative -en after onder.
> Relative adverb waar + perfect: waar ('where') relativizes the place; hebt gegeven is the perfect of geven, verb-final. my is the dative 'to me.'

--Maar, Saïdjah, hoe kan ik weten wanneer ik moet heengaan om je te wachten by den ketapan?  
"But, Saïdjah, how can I know when I am to go out to wait for you by the ketapan?"
> Modals kan / moet + om te: kan sends weten to the end; the embedded wanneer-clause then has moet heengaan ('must go') verb-final. om je te wachten is a purpose clause ('to wait for you'). heengaan is separable.

Saïdjah bedacht zich een oogenblik, en zeide:  
Saïdjah thought for a moment, and said:
> Reflexive zich bedenken + weak past zeide: zich bedenken ('to reflect, think it over') is reflexive. zeide is the older literary form of the irregular weak past of zeggen ('said'), beside the more colloquial zei (zeggen is irregular weak: past zei/zeide, participle gezegd).

--Tel de manen. Ik zal uitblyven driemaal twaalf manen ... deze maan rekent niet mee.  
"Count the moons. I shall be away three times twelve moons ... this moon does not count.
> Imperative tel: Tel is the imperative of tellen ('count!'). manen is the plural of maan, here in the sense 'moons' = lunar months — the way Saïdjah measures the years of his absence.
> Future + separable uitblijven: zal uitblyven ('shall stay away') is the future of separable uitblijven; here the prefix stays attached to the infinitive at the end. driemaal twaalf ('three times twelve') counts the thirty-six months.

Zie, Adinda, kerf een streep in je rystblok by elke nieuwe maan.  
See, Adinda, carve a notch in your rice-block at each new moon.
> Imperative kerf: kerf is the imperative of kerven ('carve, notch'). The middle field orders the adverbials: place in je rystblok before the time phrase by elke nieuwe maan, a typical Dutch arrangement.

Als je driemaal twaalf strepen hebt ingesneden, zal ik den dag die dáárop volgt, aankomen onder den ketapan. Beloof je, dáár te zyn?  
When you have cut three times twelve notches, I will arrive under the ketapan on the day that follows. Will you promise to be there?"
> Fronted als-clause + future inversion: The als-clause (verb cluster hebt ingesneden, separable insnijden, at the end) is fronted, so the main clause inverts: zal ik. den dag die dáárop volgt is a relative clause, 'the day that follows it.'
> te-infinitive after beloven: beloven ('to promise') governs a te-infinitive: dáár te zyn ('to be there'). The question inverts the verb beloof before the subject je.

--Ja, Saïdjah! Ik zal onder den ketapan by het djatibosch wezen als je terugkomt.  
"Yes, Saïdjah! I will be under the ketapan by the djati forest when you come back."
> Future + infinitive wezen: zal ... wezen is the future, with wezen an older variant of the infinitive zijn. The als-clause is verb-final (terugkomt). den ketapan again keeps the accusative -en.

Nu scheurde Saïdjah een strook van zyn blauwen hoofddoek, die zeer versleten was, en hy gaf dat stukje lynwaad aan Adinda, dat ze 't bewaren zou als een pand. En toen verliet hy haar en Badoer.  
Now Saïdjah tore a strip from his blue headcloth, which was very worn, and he gave that little piece of linen to Adinda, that she should keep it as a pledge. And then he left her, and Badoer.
> Frozen -n on the adjective: The masculine accusative -en ending survives here: 'zyn blauwen hoofddoek' (his blue headcloth) keeps the old -n where modern Dutch writes 'zijn blauwe hoofddoek'. It is a fossil of the case system, automatic before masculine de-words in 1860 prose.
> Relative clause sends the verb to the end: 'die zeer versleten was' (which was very worn) is a relative clause introduced by 'die' for the de-word hoofddoek; note how the finite verb 'was' drops to the very end. Choose 'die' for de-words and 'dat' for het-words.
> Purpose clause with future-in-the-past: 'dat ze 't bewaren zou als een pand' uses 'zou' (the past of zullen) for a wish or intention seen from the past — 'so that she should keep it'. In this subordinate clause the verbs cluster at the end as 'bewaren zou'.
> pand — a pledge: Here 'pand' means a love-token or pledge of fidelity, not the modern sense of 'building/premises'. The little strip of cloth is given as a keepsake guaranteeing his return.

Hy liep vele dagen voort.  
He walked on for many days.
> Separable verb: voortlopen: 'voortlopen' (to walk onward) is separable: in this main clause the prefix 'voort' splits off and lands at the end — 'Hy liep ... voort'. The verb 'liep' is the strong past of lopen.
> Period spelling: Hy for hij: Throughout this 1860 text 'y' stands for modern 'ij': 'hy' = hij, 'myn' = mijn, 'zyn' = zijn. The pronunciation is unchanged; only the spelling is older.

Hy ging Rangkas-Betoeng voorby, dat nog niet de hoofdplaats was van Lebak, en Waroeng-Goenoeng waar toen de adsistent-resident woonde, en den volgenden dag zag hy Pandeglang dat daar ligt als in een tuin.  
He passed by Rangkas-Betoeng, which was not yet the chief town of Lebak, and Waroeng-Goenoeng, where the assistant resident lived at that time, and the next day he saw Pandeglang, which lies there as though in a garden.
> Separable verb voorbijgaan: 'voorbygaan' (to pass by) is separable; in the main clause the prefix breaks off to the end: 'Hy ging Rangkas-Betoeng voorby'. Modern spelling joins it as voorbij.
> Accusative -n on a time phrase: 'den volgenden dag' (the next day) shows the masculine accusative den + adjective -en, a case form used for definite time expressions in older Dutch. Modern Dutch flattens this to 'de volgende dag'.
> Relative 'dat' for a het-word place: Pandeglang takes the relative pronoun 'dat' (which/that) rather than 'die', and the verb 'ligt' falls to the end of the clause. 'dat daar ligt' = 'which lies there'.

Weder een dag later kwam hy te Serang, aan, en stond verbaasd over de pracht van zulke groote plaats met vele huizen, gebouwd van steen, en gedekt met roode pannen.  
A day later again he came to Serang, and stood amazed at the splendour of so large a town with its many houses, built of stone and roofed with red tiles.
> Separable aankomen, split across the clause: 'aankomen' (to arrive) splits: 'kwam hy ... aan'. The finite past 'kwam' stands second after the fronted time phrase 'Weder een dag later', pushing the subject 'hy' to third position — verb-second order in action.
> Past participles as adjectives: 'gebouwd' (built) and 'gedekt' (roofed) are past participles used adjectivally to describe the houses. Both are weak participles formed with ge- and a -t/-d ending.
> zulk — 'such (a)': 'zulke groote plaats' = 'so large a town / such a great place'. 'zulk(e)' is a quantifier of degree common in literary register; here it lacks the article, an archaic flavour.

Saïdjah had nooit zoo-iets gezien.  
Saïdjah had never seen anything like it.
> Pluperfect: had + participle: 'had ... gezien' (had seen) is the pluperfect — the imperfect of hebben plus the participle 'gezien', placed at the end. It marks an event prior to the past narrative.
> One negative: nooit: 'nooit' (never) alone carries the negation — 'had never seen anything like it'. Dutch allows only one negative word per clause, so no further 'niet' is needed.

Hy bleef daar een dag omdat hy vermoeid was, maar 's nachts in de koelte ging hy verder, en kwam tot Tangerang den volgenden dag, voor nog de schaduw gedaald was tot zyn lippen, hoewel hy den grooten toedoeng, droeg, dien zyn vader hem had achtergelaten.  
He stayed there a day because he was weary, but at night, in the cool, he went on, and reached Tangerang the next day, before the shadow had yet fallen as far as his lips, even though he wore the great toedoeng that his father had left him.
> omdat sends the verb to the end: 'omdat hy vermoeid was' (because he was weary) is a subordinate clause: the conjunction 'omdat' forces the finite verb 'was' to the very end, after the predicate adjective.
> Genitive remnant in 's nachts: 's nachts' (at night) is a frozen genitive: the 's is a shrunken 'des', and 'nachts' carries the old genitive -s. The same fossil appears in 's morgens, 's avonds.
> Concessive hoewel + verb-final: 'hoewel hy ... droeg' (even though he wore) is a concessive subordinate clause; 'hoewel' drives the verb 'droeg' to the end. Note 'den grooten' — accusative case marking on article and adjective.

Te Tangerang baadde hy zich in de rivier naby de overvaart, en hy rustte uit in 't huis van een bekende zyns vaders, die hem wees hoe men stroohoeden vlecht, even als die van Manilla komen.  
At Tangerang he bathed in the river near the crossing, and rested in the house of an acquaintance of his father's, who showed him how one plaits straw hats, just like those that come from Manila.
> Reflexive zich: 'baadde hy zich' (he bathed himself) uses the third-person reflexive pronoun 'zich' as the object of the reflexive verb 'zich baden'. 'baadde' is the weak past with -de.
> Separable uitrusten: 'uitrusten' (to rest up) splits in the main clause: 'hy rustte uit'. The prefix 'uit' detaches and follows the finite verb.
> True genitive: zyns vaders: 'een bekende zyns vaders' (an acquaintance of his father's) is a genuine inflected genitive: 'zyns' is the genitive of zijn and 'vaders' carries genitive -s. Modern Dutch would say 'een bekende van zijn vader'.
> Generic 'men' + present tense: 'hoe men stroohoeden vlecht' (how one plaits straw hats) uses 'men', the impersonal 'one', with a third-person present 'vlecht'. In this indirect question the verb still moves to the end.

Hy bleef daar een dag om dit te leeren, omdat hy bedacht hiermee later iets te kunnen verdienen, in-geval hy niet slagen mocht te Batavia.  
He stayed there a day to learn this, because he reckoned he might later earn something by it, in case he should not succeed at Batavia.
> Purpose: om ... te + infinitive: 'om dit te leeren' (in order to learn this) is a purpose clause framed by 'om' and closed by 'te leeren'. The object 'dit' sits between om and te.
> te + modal + main infinitive: 'hiermee later iets te kunnen verdienen' stacks 'te kunnen verdienen' (to be able to earn): the marker 'te' attaches to the modal 'kunnen', which itself governs the bare infinitive 'verdienen'.
> Pronominal adverb hiermee: 'hiermee' (with this) fuses 'hier' + 'mee' (= met). Dutch replaces 'met dit/dat' for things with a pronominal adverb, giving hiermee, daarmee, waarmee.
> Conditional 'mocht' for a remote case: 'in-geval hy niet slagen mocht' (in case he should not succeed) uses 'mocht', the past of mogen, in a hypothetical sense — 'should he happen not to succeed'. The modal sends 'slagen' to the end as a bare infinitive.

Den volgenden dag tegen den avend toen 't koel werd, bedankte hy zyn gastheer zeer, en ging verder.  
The next day, toward evening, when it grew cool, he thanked his host warmly and went on.
> Accusative time phrases up front: 'Den volgenden dag' and 'tegen den avend' both carry the old masculine accusative -en on article and adjective. Fronting the time phrase triggers verb-second: 'bedankte hy'.
> toen + verb-final past: 'toen 't koel werd' (when it grew cool) is a subordinate clause: 'toen' (for a single past event) pushes the verb 'werd' to the end. The dummy subject ''t' (het) is impersonal here.

Zoodra 't geheel donker was, opdat niemand het zien zou, haalde hy het blad tevoorschyn, waarin hy de melatti bewaarde, die Adinda hem gegeven had onder den ketapan-boom. Want hy was bedroefd geworden omdat hy haar niet zien zou in zóó langen tyd.  
As soon as it was wholly dark, so that no one should see it, he drew out the leaf in which he kept the melatti that Adinda had given him under the ketapan tree. For he had grown sad because he would not see her for so long a time.
> Zoodra opens a verb-final clause: 'Zoodra 't geheel donker was' (as soon as it was wholly dark) is a temporal subordinate clause; the conjunction 'zoodra' sends 'was' to the end. The fronted clause then forces verb-second in the main clause: 'haalde hy'.
> opdat — literary purpose clause: 'opdat niemand het zien zou' (so that no one should see it) is a formal purpose clause with 'opdat'; the verbs cluster at the end as 'zien zou'. 'niemand' supplies the single negation.
> Separable tevoorschijn halen: 'tevoorschyn halen' (to draw out / produce) splits in the main clause: 'haalde hy het blad tevoorschyn'. The fixed adverbial particle lands at the end.
> Relative clause with pluperfect at the end: 'die Adinda hem gegeven had' (that Adinda had given him) is a relative clause for the de-word melatti; the verb cluster 'gegeven had' (pluperfect) sits at the very end.
> want does NOT invert; perfect with worden: 'Want hy was bedroefd geworden' (for he had grown sad) opens with the coordinating 'want', which keeps normal subject-verb order. 'was ... geworden' is the perfect of the worden-passive/inchoative — 'had become sad'.

Den eersten dag, en ook den tweeden, had hy minder sterk gevoeld hoe alléén hy was, omdat zyn ziel geheel was ingenomen door 't groote denkbeeld geld te verdienen tot het koopen van twee buffels, daar zyn vader zelf nooit meer bezeten had dan één, en zyn gedachten richtten zich te veel op 't weerzien van Adinda, om plaats te bieden aan veel droefheids over 't afscheid.  
On the first day, and the second too, he had felt less keenly how alone he was, because his soul was wholly taken up with the great idea of earning money to buy two buffaloes — since his father himself had never owned more than one — and his thoughts were too fixed on seeing Adinda again to leave room for much sorrow over the parting.
> Pluperfect after a fronted time phrase: 'Den eersten dag ... had hy minder sterk gevoeld' fronts the accusative time phrase, triggering verb-second 'had', with the participle 'gevoeld' at the end — the pluperfect.
> Passive with door (the agent): 'was ingenomen door 't groote denkbeeld' (was taken up by the great idea) is a passive: the agent is marked with 'door'. The state/perfect passive uses a form of zijn plus the participle 'ingenomen'.
> Nominalised infinitive after a preposition: 'tot het koopen van twee buffels' (toward the buying of two buffaloes) turns the infinitive 'koopen' into a neuter noun with the article 'het', then links its object with 'van'. This is how Dutch makes a verb the object of a preposition.
> Causal 'daar' = since/because: 'daar zyn vader zelf nooit meer bezeten had' uses 'daar' in its literary causal sense ('since'), opening a verb-final clause with the pluperfect 'bezeten had'. This 'daar' is archaic for modern 'aangezien/omdat'.
> Reflexive zich richten op: 'zyn gedachten richtten zich te veel op 't weerzien' (his thoughts were fixed too much on the reunion) uses the reflexive 'zich richten op' — literally 'directed themselves at'. 'richtten' is the weak past.

Hy had dat afscheid genomen in overspannen hoop, en in zyn gedachten het vastgeknoopt aan 't eindelyk terugzien onder den ketapan.  
He had taken that parting in a fever of hope, and had fastened it in his thoughts to the eventual reunion under the ketapan.
> Pluperfect of nemen: 'had ... genomen' (had taken) is the pluperfect; 'genomen' is the strong participle of nemen, placed at the end after the object 'dat afscheid'.
> Separable vastknopen + nominalised infinitive: '(had) het vastgeknoopt aan 't ... terugzien' joins it (in thought) to the reunion; 'vastknopen' is separable, and 'terugzien' is again an infinitive used as a neuter noun with ''t' (het).

Want zóó groote rol speelde het uitzicht op dat weerzien in zyn hart, dat hy, by 't verlaten van Badoer dien boom voorbygaande, iets vroolyks voelde, als waren ze reeds voorby, de zes-en-dertig manen die hem scheidden van dat oogenblik.  
For so great a part did the prospect of that reunion play in his heart that, on leaving Badoer and passing by that tree, he felt something joyful, as if they were already past — the thirty-six moons that parted him from that moment.
> Fronted object forces verb-second: By fronting 'zóó groote rol' (so great a part), the writer triggers inversion: the finite verb 'speelde' comes second and the subject 'het uitzicht' follows — the verb-second rule.
> Present participle as adverbial: 'voorbygaande' (passing by) is a present participle in -ende, here used adverbially: 'on leaving Badoer, passing that tree'. Note the archaic accusative 'dien boom'.
> Subjunctive 'waren' in an as-if clause: 'als waren ze reeds voorby' (as if they were already past) inverts the verb 'waren' to the front, a literary 'als + subjunctive' construction equivalent to 'alsof ze ... waren'. The verb form is the past subjunctive.
> Relative die + verb-final: 'die hem scheidden van dat oogenblik' (that parted him from that moment) is a relative clause for the plural de-word 'manen'; the verb 'scheidden' drops to the end.

Het was hem voorgekomen dat hy slechts omtekeeren had alsof hy reeds terugkwam van de reis, om Adinda te zien, hem wachtende onder dien boom.  
It had seemed to him that he had only to turn around, as though he were already coming back from the journey, to see Adinda waiting for him under that tree.
> Impersonal voorkomen: 'it seemed': 'Het was hem voorgekomen dat ...' (it had seemed to him that) uses dummy 'het' as subject with the experiencer in the dative-like 'hem'. 'voorkomen' here means 'to seem/appear', not 'to occur/prevent'.
> Archaic 'te + infinitive' joined: omtekeeren: In 1860 spelling the te-infinitive of a separable verb is written as one word: 'omtekeeren' = om te keren (to turn around). 'had ... omtekeeren' carries an obligation: 'had only to turn'.
> Present participle in apposition: '(Adinda) ... hem wachtende' (Adinda waiting for him) again uses the -ende participle as a reduced clause. The accusative 'dien boom' marks the masculine de-word in the prepositional phrase.

Maar hoe verder hy zich verwyderde van Badoer, en hoe meer hy lette op den vreeselyken duur van één dag, hoe meer hy de zes-en-dertig manen die voor hem lagen, begon lang te vinden.  
But the further he drew away from Badoer, and the more he marked the dreadful length of a single day, the longer he began to find the thirty-six moons that lay before him.
> Correlative hoe ... hoe (the more ... the more): 'hoe verder ... hoe meer ... hoe meer' is the correlative comparison 'the further ... the more ...'. Each 'hoe'-clause is subordinate, so its verb goes to the end ('verwyderde', 'lette', 'begon').
> Reflexive zich verwijderen: 'zich verwyderen van' (to draw away from) is reflexive; the 'zich' is required. 'verwyderde' is the weak past in -de.
> Accusative on object of 'op letten': 'lette op den vreeselyken duur' shows the old accusative 'den ...-en' after the preposition op. Modern Dutch drops the case ending: 'op de vreselijke duur'.

Er was iets in zyn ziel, dat hem minder snel deed voortstappen. Hy voelde droefheid in zyn knieën, en al was 't geen moedeloosheid die hem overviel, het was toch weemoed die niet ver is van moedeloosheid.  
There was something in his soul that made him step less briskly. He felt sorrow in his knees, and though it was not despair that came over him, it was nevertheless a melancholy not far from despair.
> Existential er: 'Er was iets in zyn ziel' (there was something in his soul) opens with existential 'er' plus a form of zijn — the standard Dutch way of asserting that something exists, like English 'there was'.
> Causative doen + bare infinitive: 'dat hem minder snel deed voortstappen' (that made him step less quickly) uses 'doen' as a causative auxiliary taking a bare infinitive 'voortstappen' — 'made him step'. Like laten, doen needs no 'te'.
> Concessive al + inversion: 'al was 't geen moedeloosheid' (though it was no despair) is a concessive with 'al' and front-placed verb 'was'. 'geen' negates the indefinite noun moedeloosheid — geen, not niet, because it negates a noun.

Hy dacht er aan, terugtekeeren, maar wat zou Adinda zeggen van zóó weinig hart?  
He thought of turning back, but what would Adinda say of so little heart?
> Pronominal adverb eraan + infinitive: 'Hy dacht er aan' (he thought of it) splits the pronominal adverb 'eraan' into 'er ... aan' around the verb — a hallmark of Dutch. The afterthought 'terugtekeeren' (= terug te keren) names what he thought of.
> Conditional zou for speculation: 'wat zou Adinda zeggen' (what would Adinda say) uses 'zou' + infinitive 'zeggen' to express a hypothetical — the conditional. As a question, the verb 'zou' stands second after 'wat'.

Daarom liep hy door, al ging hy minder snel-dan den eersten dag.  
And so he walked on, though he went less briskly than on the first day.
> Fronted daarom + separable doorlopen: 'Daarom liep hy door' (therefore he walked on): the adverb 'daarom' is fronted, forcing verb-second 'liep', while the separable prefix 'door' goes to the end.
> Comparative minder + concessive al: 'al ging hy minder snel dan den eersten dag' (though he went less quickly than the first day) pairs concessive 'al' (with inverted 'ging') and the comparative 'minder ... dan'. 'dan' is the Dutch 'than'.

Hy had de melatti in de hand, en drukte die dikwyls tegen zyn borst.  
He held the melatti in his hand, and pressed it often against his breast.
> Demonstrative 'die' as object pronoun: 'drukte die ... tegen zyn borst' (pressed it against his breast): here 'die' is a demonstrative standing in for the de-word 'melatti' — Dutch often uses die/dat as a stressed 'it/that one'.

Hy was veel ouder geworden sedert drie dagen, en begreep niet meer hoe hy vroeger zoo kalm geleefd had, daar toch Adinda zoo naby hem was en hy haar zien kon telkens en zoo lang hy wilde.  
He had grown much older in three days, and no longer understood how he had once lived so calmly, when Adinda was so near him after all, and he could see her whenever and as long as he liked.
> worden-perfect with zijn: 'was ... geworden' (had grown/become) is the perfect of worden, which takes zijn as auxiliary, not hebben. 'ouder' is the comparative of oud.
> Indirect question goes verb-final: 'hoe hy vroeger zoo kalm geleefd had' (how he had once lived so calmly) is an embedded question; the pluperfect 'geleefd had' sits at the end. 'niet meer' = 'no longer'.
> Modal willen with omitted infinitive: 'zoo lang hy wilde' (as long as he wanted) is a verb-final clause; the modal 'wilde' (past of willen) stands at the end, its infinitive 'zien' left understood from earlier.

Want nù zou hy niet kalm wezen als hy verwachten kon dat ze straks voor hem staan zou.  
For now he would not be calm if he could expect that she was about to stand before him.
> Conditional zou + archaic 'wezen': 'zou hy niet kalm wezen' (he would not be calm) is the conditional 'zou' + infinitive. 'wezen' is the older/colloquial infinitive of zijn (to be), common in 1860 prose.
> Stacked conditionals: kon ... zou: 'als hy verwachten kon dat ze straks voor hem staan zou' nests two clauses, each verb-final: the modal 'kon' closes the if-clause, and 'staan zou' (would stand) closes the inner dat-clause.

En ook begreep hy niet dat hy na 't afscheid niet nogeens was teruggekeerd om haar nog éénmaal aantezien.  
Nor did he understand how, after the parting, he had not turned back once more to look at her one last time.
> Pluperfect of motion verb with zijn: 'niet nogeens was teruggekeerd' (had not turned back once more) is the pluperfect of 'terugkeren', a verb of motion that takes zijn (not hebben). The negation 'niet' precedes the verb cluster.
> om ... te (joined: aantezien): 'om haar nog éénmaal aantezien' = om ... aan te zien (in order to look at her once more). The separable 'aanzien' wraps 'te' inside it, all written as one word in period spelling.

Ook kwam hem voor den geest hoe hy nog kort geleden met haar getwist had over de koord die ze spon voor den lalayang van haar broertjes, en die gebroken was omdat er, naar hy meende, een fout was in haar spinsel, waardoor een weddingschap was verloren gegaan tegen de kinderen uit Tjipoeroet. "Hoe was 't mogelyk, dacht hy, hierover boos te worden op Adinda?  
There came back to him too how, not long before, he had quarrelled with her over the cord she had spun for her brothers' lalayang, which had broken because, as he believed, there was a flaw in her spinning, by which a wager had been lost against the children of Tjipoeroet. "How was it possible," he thought, "to grow angry with Adinda over this?
> Impersonal idiom: te binnen schieten / voor de geest komen: 'kwam hem voor den geest hoe ...' (there came to his mind how ...) is an idiom where the experiencer 'hem' precedes the subject clause. 'voor den geest komen' = to come to mind.
> Strong past 'spon': 'die ze spon voor den lalayang' (the cord she spun) uses 'spon', the strong simple past of spinnen (modern: spon). Strong verbs change the stem vowel rather than adding -te/-de.
> Pronominal adverb waardoor + passive-like perfect: 'waardoor een weddingschap was verloren gegaan' (by which a wager had been lost) opens a relative clause with 'waardoor' (= door welke). 'verloren gegaan' is the participle of verloren gaan, which takes zijn.

Want al hàd zy een fout gesponnen in de koord, en al ware de weddingschap van Badoer tegen Tjipoeroet verloren dáárdoor, en niet door de glasscherf--zoo ondeugend en handig dan geworpen door den kleinen Djamien die zich verschool achter den pagger--had ik zelfs dàn zoo hard mogen wezen tegen haar, en haar noemen met onbehoorlyke namen?  
For even had she spun a flaw into the cord, and even had the wager of Badoer against Tjipoeroet been lost by it, and not by the glass shard — so mischievously and deftly thrown by little Djamien, who hid behind the pagger — would I, even then, have had the right to be so harsh with her, and to call her by unseemly names?
> Concessive 'al' + inverted pluperfect: 'al hàd zy een fout gesponnen' (even had she spun a flaw) is a concessive clause with 'al' and fronted auxiliary 'had' — equivalent to 'even though she had spun'. 'gesponnen' is the strong participle of spinnen.
> Past subjunctive 'ware': 'al ware de weddingschap ... verloren' uses 'ware', the past subjunctive of zijn, in a hypothetical concessive — 'even had the wager been lost'. This subjunctive survives only in literary/archaic Dutch.
> Modal mogen in the perfect (permission/right): 'had ik ... zoo hard mogen wezen' (would I have had the right to be so harsh) shows the perfect of the modal 'mogen' as a bare infinitive next to the main 'wezen' — the so-called infinitivus pro participio (mogen, not gemogen).
> Reflexive zich verschuilen + strong past: 'die zich verschool achter den pagger' (who hid behind the fence) is a relative clause; 'zich verschuilen' is reflexive and 'verschool' is its strong past. Note the accusative 'den pagger'.

Wat zal 't zyn, als ik sterf te Batavia zonder haar vergeving te hebben gevraagd voor zóó groote ruwheid?  
What will it be, if I die at Batavia without having asked her forgiveness for so great a rudeness?
> Present tense for a future condition: 'als ik sterf te Batavia' (if I die at Batavia) uses the present 'sterf' for a future possibility — Dutch routinely lets the present carry future meaning in conditional clauses.
> zonder te + perfect infinitive: 'zonder ... te hebben gevraagd' (without having asked) builds a perfect infinitive after 'zonder te': te + hebben + the participle 'gevraagd'. This expresses an action not completed before the main event.

Zal 't niet wezen alsof ik een slecht mensch ben die scheldwoorden werpt op een meisje?  
Will it not be as though I were a bad man who flings abuse at a girl?
> Future zullen + alsof clause: 'Zal 't niet wezen alsof ik een slecht mensch ben' (will it not be as though I am a bad man) uses the future 'zal ... wezen' and an 'alsof' clause that sends its verb 'ben' to the end.
> Relative die + present tense: 'die scheldwoorden werpt op een meisje' (who flings abuse at a girl) is a relative clause for 'mensch'; the present 'werpt' goes to the end. 'werpen op' = to hurl at.

En zal niet, als men hoort dat ik gestorven ben in een vreemd land, ieder te Badoer zeggen: het is goed dat Saïdjah stierf, want hy heeft een grooten mond gehad tegen Adinda?"  
And will not everyone at Badoer, when they hear that I have died in a foreign land, say: it is well that Saïdjah died, for he had a big mouth toward Adinda?"
> Perfect of sterven with zijn: 'dat ik gestorven ben' (that I have died) is the present perfect of 'sterven', a verb that takes zijn. The participle 'gestorven' is strong, ending in -en.
> Idiom: een grote mond hebben: 'hy heeft een grooten mond gehad tegen Adinda' (he had a big mouth toward Adinda) is the idiom 'een grote mond hebben' — to speak insolently. Built as a present perfect with hebben + gehad.
> een grote mond — insolence: Literally 'a big mouth', the idiom 'een grote mond hebben' means to be lippy or to talk back rudely — exactly Saïdjah's self-reproach for having scolded Adinda.

Zoo namen zyn gedachten een loop die veel verschilde van de vorige overspanning, en onwillekeurig uitten ze zich, eerst in halve woorden binnen'smonds, weldra in een alleenspraak, en eindelyk in den weemoedigen zang waarvan ik hier de vertaling laat volgen.  
So his thoughts took a course quite different from his earlier exaltation, and uttered themselves unbidden — first in half-words under his breath, soon in a soliloquy, and at last in the melancholy song of which I here give the translation that follows.
> Fronted zoo + verb-second: 'Zoo namen zyn gedachten een loop' (so his thoughts took a course): fronting the adverb 'zoo' inverts subject and verb, giving 'namen zyn gedachten'. 'namen' is the strong past plural of nemen.
> Reflexive zich uiten: 'uitten ze zich' (they uttered/expressed themselves) is the reflexive 'zich uiten'. Fronting the adverb 'onwillekeurig' again triggers verb-second.
> waarvan + causative laten: 'waarvan ik hier de vertaling laat volgen' (of which I here let the translation follow) opens with the pronominal relative 'waarvan' (= van welke) and uses causative 'laten' + the bare infinitive 'volgen'.

Eerst was myn voornemen wat maat en rym te brengen in die overzetting, doch evenals Havelaar vind ik beter dat keurslyf wegtelaten. "Ik weet niet waar ik sterven zal.  
At first it was my intention to bring some measure and rhyme into that rendering, but, like Havelaar, I find it better to leave that corset off. "I do not know where I shall die.
> te-infinitive as delayed subject: 'myn voornemen ... te brengen' (my intention to bring) governs an infinitive with 'te'. Fronting 'Eerst' inverts to 'was myn voornemen'; the bulky te-clause is extraposed to the end.
> Archaic 'doch' + joined wegtelaten: 'doch' is a literary 'but/yet'. 'wegtelaten' is the period one-word spelling of 'weg te laten' (to leave off), the te-infinitive of separable weglaten.
> keurslijf — a corset, figuratively: 'keurslyf' literally names a bodice or corset; figuratively it is any rigid constraint. Multatuli means the straitjacket of metre and rhyme, which he chooses to discard in translating Saïdjah's song.

Ik heb de groote zee gezien aan de Zuidkust, toen ik daar was met myn vader om zout te maken.  
I have seen the great sea on the South coast, when I was there with my father to make salt.
> Present perfect for lived experience: 'Ik heb de groote zee gezien' (I have seen the great sea) is the present perfect with hebben + 'gezien'. Saïdjah's song uses the perfect to list what he has witnessed in his short life.
> toen-clause + om ... te purpose: 'toen ik daar was' (when I was there) is a temporal clause with verb 'was' at the end; 'om zout te maken' (to make salt) is its purpose tail with om ... te.

Als ik sterf op de zee, en men werpt myn lichaam in het diepe water, zullen er haaien komen. Ze zullen rondzwemmen om myn lyk, en vragen: "wie van ons zal het lichaam verslinden dat daar daalt in het water?"  
If I die on the sea, and they cast my body into the deep water, sharks will come. They will swim round my corpse, and ask: "which of us shall devour the body that sinks there in the water?"
> Conditional present + future result: The if-clauses use the present ('sterf', 'werpt'); the consequence uses the future 'zullen ... komen'. After the fronted condition the main clause inverts to 'zullen er haaien komen'.
> Quantitative/existential er with an indefinite subject: 'zullen er haaien komen' (sharks will come) inserts 'er' before an indefinite subject — Dutch routinely uses 'er' when the subject is non-specific, as in 'er komen haaien'.
> Interrogative wie + relative dat: 'wie van ons' (who of us) is the interrogative pronoun for persons; 'dat daar daalt in het water' is a relative clause for the het-word 'lichaam', verb 'daalt' at the end.

Ik zal 't niet hooren. Ik weet niet waar ik sterven zal.  
I shall not hear it. I do not know where I shall die.
> Embedded question: zal at the end: 'waar ik sterven zal' (where I shall die) is an indirect question; the future cluster 'sterven zal' falls to the end of the subordinate clause. This refrain anchors Saïdjah's whole song.

Ik heb het huis zien branden van Pa-ansoe, dat hyzelf had aangestoken omdat hy mata-glap was. Als ik sterf in een brandend huis, zullen er gloeiende stukken hout neervallen op myn lyk.  
I have seen the house of Pa-ansoe burn, which he himself had set alight because he was mata-glap. If I die in a burning house, glowing pieces of wood will fall down upon my corpse.
> Relative dat + pluperfect of separable aansteken: 'dat hyzelf had aangestoken' (which he himself had set alight) is a relative clause for the het-word 'huis'; the pluperfect cluster 'had aangestoken' closes it, with the separable participle aangestoken.
> Future + er + separable neervallen: 'zullen er gloeiende stukken hout neervallen op myn lyk' uses the future 'zullen ... neervallen', existential 'er' for the indefinite subject, and the separable verb neervallen whose infinitive joins the cluster at the end.

En buiten het huis zal een groot geroep zyn van menschen die water werpen om het vuur te dooden. Ik zal 't niet hooren.  
And outside the house there will be a great clamor of people throwing water to put out the fire. I will not hear it.
> Future with archaic infinitive zyn: 'zal een groot geroep zyn' (there will be a great clamour) puts the future 'zal ... zyn' around the subject. The fronted 'buiten het huis' triggers inversion.
> Relative die + om ... te purpose: 'die water werpen om het vuur te dooden' (who throw water to kill the fire) joins a relative clause (verb 'werpen' final) with a purpose tail 'om ... te dooden'.

Ik weet niet waar ik sterven zal. Ik heb den kleinen Si-oenah zien vallen uit den klappa-boom, toen hy een klappa plukte voor zyne moeder.  
I do not know where I shall die. I saw little Si-oenah fall from the coconut palm as he was picking a coconut for his mother.
> Perception verb + bare infinitive; IPP: 'Ik heb ... zien vallen' (I saw fall) chains two bare infinitives: 'zien' (a perception verb) governs 'vallen' with no 'te', and in the perfect 'zien' itself appears as an infinitive, not a participle (infinitivus pro participio).
> toen-clause with weak past: 'toen hy een klappa plukte' (when he picked a coconut) is a temporal clause; 'plukte' is the weak simple past in -te, sitting at the end. 'zyne moeder' shows the archaic full possessive 'zyne'.

Als ik val uit een klappa-boom, zal ik dood nederliggen aan den voet, in de struiken, als Si-oenah. Dan zal myne moeder niet schreien, want zy is dood.  
If I fall from a coconut palm, I shall lie dead at its foot, among the bushes, like Si-oenah. Then my mother will not weep, for she is dead.
> Future + predicative 'dood': 'zal ik dood nederliggen' (I shall lie dead) is the future of 'nederliggen' (archaic for neerliggen), with 'dood' as a predicative adjective. The condition 'Als ik val' fronts and forces inversion.
> Future + want (no inversion): 'Dan zal myne moeder niet schreien' fronts 'Dan' for inversion; 'want zy is dood' (for she is dead) uses coordinating 'want', which keeps normal order. 'schreien' is to weep.

Maar anderen zullen roepen: "zie, daar ligt Saïdjah! met harde stem. Ik zal 't niet hooren.  
But others will cry out: "look, there lies Saïdjah!" in a loud voice. I will not hear it.
> Coordinating maar + future: 'Maar anderen zullen roepen' (but others will cry) opens with coordinating 'maar', which does not invert. The future 'zullen ... roepen' brackets the clause.

Ik weet niet waar ik sterven zal. Ik heb het lyk gezien van Pa-lisoe, die gestorven was van hoogen ouderdom, want zyne haren waren wit.  
I do not know where I shall die. I saw the body of Pa-lisoe, who had died of great old age, for his hair was white.
> Relative die + pluperfect of sterven (zijn): 'die gestorven was van hoogen ouderdom' (who had died of great old age) is a relative clause; the pluperfect uses zijn ('was gestorven') because sterven is a zijn-verb. 'hoogen' keeps the archaic genitive/dative -en (the preposition 'van' historically governs the genitive, not the accusative).
> want + plural 'haren': 'want zyne haren waren wit' (for his hair was white) uses coordinating 'want' (no inversion). Note 'haren', the plural of haar (hair), with archaic possessive 'zyne'.

Als ik sterf van ouderdom, met witte haren, zullen de klaagvrouwen om myn lyk staan. En zy zullen misbaar maken als de klaagvrouwen by Pa-lisoe's lyk.  
If I die of old age, with white hair, the mourning-women will stand about my body. And they will raise a wailing, as the mourning-women did beside Pa-lisoe's body.
> Future + compound klaagvrouwen: 'zullen de klaagvrouwen ... staan' is the future bracketing the clause. 'klaagvrouwen' is a noun compound (klaag + vrouwen), the right-hand noun heading the whole — 'mourning-women'.
> Comparative als + apostrophe-s genitive: 'als de klaagvrouwen by Pa-lisoe's lyk' (like the mourning-women at Pa-lisoe's body) uses 'als' for comparison and the 's genitive on a name — 'Pa-lisoe's', the everyday possessive even in 1860.

En ook de kleinkinderen zullen schreien, zeer luid. Ik zal 't niet hooren.  
And the grandchildren too will weep, very loudly. I will not hear it.

Ik weet niet waar ik sterven zal. Ik heb velen gezien te Badoer, die gestorven waren.  
I do not know where I shall die. I have seen many at Badoer who had died.
> Perfect main + pluperfect relative: 'Ik heb velen gezien' (I have seen many) is present perfect; the relative 'die gestorven waren' (who had died) is pluperfect with zijn. The tense shift sets the dead apart in time from the seeing.

Men kleedde hen in een wit kleed, en begroef hen in den grond. Als ik sterf te Badoer, en men begraaft my buiten de dessah, oostwaarts tegen den heuvel, waar 't gras hoog is, Dan zal Adinda daar voorbygaan, en de rand van haar sarong zal zachtkens voortschuiven langs het gras...  
They dressed them in a white cloth and buried them in the ground. If I die at Badoer, and they bury me outside the village, eastward against the hill, where the grass grows tall, then Adinda will pass by there, and the edge of her sarong will glide softly along the grass...
> Generic men + weak/strong pasts: 'Men kleedde hen ... en begroef hen' (they clothed and buried them) uses 'men' for an unspecified subject. 'kleedde' is a weak past in -de; 'begroef' is the strong past of begraven.
> Conditional present chained with en: The conditions stay in the present ('sterf', 'begraaft') and are joined by coordinating 'en'. The long if-block then fronts the consequence: 'Dan zal Adinda daar voorbygaan'.
> Future + separable voortschuiven: 'zal zachtkens voortschuiven' (will glide softly onward) is the future of separable 'voortschuiven'; its infinitive joins the future cluster. 'zachtkens' is an archaic adverb 'softly'.

Ik zal het hooren."  
I shall hear it."
> The song's reversal: 'I shall hear it': 'Ik zal het hooren' (I shall hear it) is the future 'zal ... hooren'. It pointedly overturns the refrain 'Ik zal 't niet hooren': only Adinda's nearness, even at his grave, would reach him.

Saïdjah kwam te Batavia aan.  
Saïdjah arrived at Batavia.
> Separable aankomen + place 'te': 'kwam te Batavia aan' splits separable 'aankomen', with 'aan' at the end. The preposition 'te' (= at, in) marks place names in formal/older Dutch.

Hy verzocht een heer hem in dienst te nemen, hetgeen die heer terstond deed omdat hy Saïdjah niet verstond. Want te Batavia heeft men gaarne bedienden die nog geen maleisch spreken en dus nog niet zoo bedorven zyn als anderen die langer in aanraking waren met europesche beschaving.  
He asked a gentleman to take him into service, which that gentleman did at once, precisely because he could not understand Saïdjah. For at Batavia people gladly take servants who do not yet speak Malay and are therefore not yet so spoiled as others who have had longer contact with European civilization.
> verzoeken + te-infinitive object clause: 'verzocht een heer hem in dienst te nemen' (asked a gentleman to take him into service) governs a 'te'-infinitive. 'in dienst nemen' (to hire) is a fixed expression with separable nemen.
> Relative 'hetgeen' for a whole clause: 'hetgeen die heer terstond deed' (which that gentleman did at once) uses the formal relative 'hetgeen' to refer back to the entire preceding fact, not a single noun — a literary, period choice over modern 'wat'.
> Stacked relatives + comparison als: Two relatives chain here: 'bedienden die ... niet zoo bedorven zyn' and within it 'anderen die langer in aanraking waren'. The comparison 'zoo ... als' (so ... as) sets the two groups against each other.

Saïdjah leerde spoedig maleisch, maar paste braaf op want hy dacht altyd aan de twee buffels die hy koopen wilde, en aan Adinda.  
Saïdjah soon learned Malay, but kept honestly to his duties, for he thought always of the two buffaloes he wished to buy, and of Adinda.
> Separable oppassen + 'braaf': 'paste braaf op' (kept honestly to his duties) splits separable 'oppassen' (to behave / take care). 'braaf' here means dutifully/well-behaved, not 'brave'.
> Relative clause + modal at the end: 'die hy koopen wilde' (that he wished to buy) is a relative clause; the modal 'wilde' (wanted) takes the bare infinitive 'koopen' and both close the clause.
> braaf — false friend: 'braaf' looks like English 'brave' but means 'good, honest, well-behaved, dutiful'. Saïdjah 'paste braaf op' — he behaved properly and stuck to his work.

Hy werd groot en sterk omdat hy alle dagen at, wat te Badoer niet altyd wezen kon.  
He grew tall and strong, because he ate every day, which at Badoer had not always been possible.
> Inchoative worden + omdat-clause: 'Hy werd groot en sterk' (he grew tall and strong) uses 'worden' for becoming. 'omdat hy alle dagen at' is a causal clause; 'at' is the strong past of eten, at the end.
> Relative 'wat' + modal kon: 'wat te Badoer niet altyd wezen kon' (which at Badoer was not always possible) uses 'wat' as a relative referring to the whole preceding fact. The modal 'kon' takes 'wezen' (to be) at the end.

Hy was bemind in den stal, en zou zeker niet afgewezen zyn als hy de dochter van den koetsier ten-huwelyk gevraagd had.  
He was well liked in the stable, and would surely not have been refused had he asked the coachman's daughter in marriage.
> Conditional passive + counterfactual if-clause: 'zou zeker niet afgewezen zyn' (would surely not have been refused) is a conditional passive: zou + the participle 'afgewezen' + zyn. The if-clause 'als hy ... gevraagd had' uses the pluperfect — a counterfactual.
> van-genitive + archaic 'ten-huwelyk': Possession is shown analytically with 'van den koetsier' (of the coachman), while 'ten-huwelyk' (= te + den, in marriage) is a frozen dative remnant in the idiom 'ten huwelijk vragen' (to ask in marriage).

Zyn heer zelf hield zooveel van Saïdjah, dat deze spoedig werd verheven tot huisbediende. Men verhoogde zyn loon, en gaf hem bovendien gedurig geschenken, omdat men zoo byzonder tevreden was over zyn diensten.  
His master himself was so fond of Saïdjah that he was soon raised to the post of house-servant. They increased his wages, and gave him besides continual gifts, because they were so particularly pleased with his service.
> Demonstrative 'deze' as subject + worden-passive: 'deze spoedig werd verheven' (he was soon raised): 'deze' picks up Saïdjah as 'this one/the latter'. 'werd verheven' is a worden-passive — the process of being promoted.
> Generic men with two past verbs: 'Men verhoogde ... en gaf hem' (they raised ... and gave him) uses impersonal 'men' for 'they/people'. 'verhoogde' is weak past; 'gaf' is the strong past of geven.
> omdat-clause, verb to the end: 'omdat men zoo byzonder tevreden was over zyn diensten' (because they were so particularly pleased with his service) is causal; 'omdat' drives 'was' to the end.

Mevrouw had den roman van Sue gelezen die zooveel kort gerucht maakte, en dacht altyd aan prins Djalma wanneer ze Saïdjah zag. Ook de jonge meisjes begrepen beter dan vroeger hoe de javaansche schilder Radhen Saleh zoo grooten opgang had gemaakt te Parys.  
The lady of the house had read Sue's novel, which caused such a brief stir, and thought always of Prince Djalma whenever she looked at Saïdjah. The young girls too understood better than before how the Javanese painter Radhen Saleh had made such a great sensation at Paris.
> Relative die + idiom gerucht maken: 'die zooveel ... gerucht maakte' (which caused such a stir) is a relative clause for 'roman'. 'gerucht maken' = to make a noise / cause a sensation.
> wanneer + verb-final: 'wanneer ze Saïdjah zag' (whenever she saw Saïdjah) is a temporal subordinate clause; the conjunction 'wanneer' sends 'zag' (strong past of zien) to the end.
> Indirect question + pluperfect; adjective -e: 'hoe de javaansche schilder ... opgang had gemaakt' is an embedded question with the pluperfect 'had gemaakt' at the end. 'javaansche' takes the attributive -e (here -sche in old spelling).

Maar men vond Saïdjah ondankbaar toen hy, na byna drie jaren dienst, zyn ontslag vroeg en om een bewys verzocht dat hy zich goed gedragen had.  
But they thought Saïdjah ungrateful when, after nearly three years of service, he asked for his discharge and for a certificate stating that he had conducted himself well.
> maar + toen-clause: 'Maar men vond Saïdjah ondankbaar' (but they thought Saïdjah ungrateful) opens with non-inverting 'maar'; the 'toen'-clause that follows sends its verbs ('vroeg', 'verzocht') to the end.
> Reflexive zich gedragen in the pluperfect: 'dat hy zich goed gedragen had' (that he had behaved well) is a content clause; 'zich gedragen' is reflexive, and 'gedragen had' is the pluperfect at the end.

Men kon hem dit echter niet weigeren, en Saïdjah ging met een vroolyk hart op reis.  
They could not, however, refuse him this, and Saïdjah set out on his journey with a glad heart.
> Modal kon + double object: 'Men kon hem dit echter niet weigeren' (they could not, however, refuse him this) puts the modal 'kon' second and its infinitive 'weigeren' at the end, with two objects 'hem' (him) and 'dit' (this).
> Idiom op reis gaan: 'ging ... op reis' (set out on a journey) is the fixed phrase 'op reis gaan' — to go travelling. 'met een vroolyk hart' = with a cheerful heart.

Hy ging voorby Pising, waar eens Havelaar woonde, lang geleden.  
He passed by Pising, where Havelaar had once lived, long ago.
> Relative 'waar' for place: 'waar eens Havelaar woonde' (where Havelaar once lived) uses 'waar' as a relative adverb of place; the verb 'woonde' (weak past) goes to the end. 'eens' = once.

Maar dit wist Saïdjah niet. En al had hy 't geweten, hy droeg heel iets anders in de ziel dat hem bezig hield.  
But Saïdjah did not know this. And even had he known it, he carried something quite different in his soul that kept him occupied.
> Fronted object 'dit' + verb-second: 'Maar dit wist Saïdjah niet' (but Saïdjah did not know this): fronting the object 'dit' inverts to 'wist Saïdjah'. 'wist' is the strong past of weten.
> Concessive 'al' + counterfactual pluperfect: 'al had hy 't geweten' (even had he known it) is a concessive with 'al' and inverted pluperfect 'had ... geweten' — a counterfactual standing for 'even if he had known'.
> Relative dat + separable bezighouden: 'dat hem bezig hield' (that kept him occupied) is a relative clause for the het-word 'iets'; 'bezighouden' is separable, splitting into 'bezig ... hield' at the clause end.

Hy telde de schatten die hy t'huisbracht.  
He was counting the treasures he was bringing home.
> Relative + separable thuisbrengen: 'die hy t'huisbracht' (that he was bringing home) is a relative clause; 'thuisbrengen' (here t'huisbracht) is separable, its parts joining at the end of the clause. ''t huis' = thuis, home.

In een bamboezen rol had hy zyn pas en 't getuigschrift van goed gedrag.  
In a roll of bamboo he had his pass and his certificate of good conduct.
> Fronted place phrase + verb-second: 'In een bamboezen rol had hy zyn pas' fronts the place phrase, inverting to 'had hy'. 'bamboezen' is an adjective from bamboe (of bamboo) with the material-adjective -en.

In een koker die aan een lederen riem bevestigd was, scheen iets zwaars gedurig te slingeren tegen zyn schouder, maar hy voelde dit gaarne ... ik geloof 't wèl!  
In a case fastened to a leather strap, something heavy kept swinging against his shoulder, but he was glad to feel it... I quite believe it!
> Relative die + zijn-passive (state): 'die aan een lederen riem bevestigd was' (which was fastened to a leather strap) is a relative clause whose verb cluster 'bevestigd was' is a state passive with zijn — the result of fastening.
> schijnen + te-infinitive: 'scheen iets zwaars gedurig te slingeren' (something heavy kept seeming to swing) uses 'schijnen' (to seem) governing 'te slingeren'. 'iets zwaars' (something heavy) shows the partitive genitive -s on the adjective after iets.

Dáárin waren dertig spaansche-matten, genoeg om drie buffels te koopen.  
In it were thirty Spanish dollars, enough to buy three buffaloes.
> Pronominal adverb daarin + existential: 'Dáárin waren dertig spaansche-matten' (in it were thirty Spanish dollars): 'daarin' (= in it) is a pronominal adverb, fronted for emphasis and inverting the verb 'waren'.
> genoeg + om ... te: 'genoeg om drie buffels te koopen' (enough to buy three buffaloes) shows 'om ... te' after 'genoeg' — the result/purpose construction 'enough to do X'.

Wat zou Adinda zeggen!  
What would Adinda say!
> Exclamatory conditional zou: 'Wat zou Adinda zeggen!' (what would Adinda say!) is the conditional 'zou + zeggen', used here as a joyful exclamation rather than a real question.

En dit was nog niet alles.  
And this was not yet all.

Op zyn rug zag men de met zilver beslagen scheede van een kris dien hy in den gordel droeg.  
On his back one could see the silver-mounted sheath of a kris that he wore in his sash.
> Fronted phrase + accusative relative 'dien': Fronting 'Op zyn rug' inverts to 'zag men'. The relative 'dien' (accusative of die) marks the masculine de-word 'kris' as the object — modern Dutch would use plain 'die'.
> Participial phrase before the noun: 'de met zilver beslagen scheede' (the silver-mounted sheath) packs a whole participial phrase ('met zilver beslagen') in front of the noun as one big adjective — a very Dutch, compact attributive construction.

Het gevest was zeker van fyn uitgesneden kamoening, want hy had het met veel zorg gewikkeld in een zyden omhulsel.  
The hilt was surely of finely carved kamoening wood, for he had wrapped it with great care in a silken covering.
> Participle as adjective: uitgesneden: 'fyn uitgesneden kamoening' (finely carved kamoening wood) uses the past participle 'uitgesneden' (of separable uitsnijden) attributively, with adverb 'fyn' modifying it.
> want + pluperfect of wikkelen: 'want hy had het met veel zorg gewikkeld' (for he had wrapped it with great care) uses coordinating 'want' (no inversion) plus the pluperfect 'had ... gewikkeld'.

En hy bezat nog meer schatten.  
And he possessed still more treasures.

In de wrong van den kahin om zyn lendenen bewaarde hy een buikband van breede zilveren schakels, met gouden ikat-pendieng.  
In the fold of the kahin about his loins he kept a girdle of broad silver links, with a golden ikat-pendieng.
> Heavy fronted phrase + verb-second: A long fronted prepositional phrase still leaves the finite verb second: 'bewaarde hy'. The verb 'bewaarde' (kept) is weak past.

Het is waar dat de band kort was: maar ze was zoo slank ...  
It is true the girdle was short: but she was so slender...
> 'ze' = she, not it: After saying the band was short, the narrator slips: 'maar ze was zoo slank' (but she was so slender) — 'ze' jumps from the de-word band to Adinda herself, a tender grammatical sleight that reveals his thought.

Adinda!  
Adinda!

En aan een koordjen om den hals, onder zyn voor-baadjoe droeg hy een zyden zakje, waarin eenige verdroogde melatti.  
And on a little cord round his neck, beneath his outer baadjoe, he carried a small silken pouch, in which lay a few dried melatti blossoms.
> Diminutive koordjen (= koordje): 'koordjen' is the diminutive of koord (cord) — 'a little cord'. The -je/-jen suffix shrinks the noun and makes it neuter; the old spelling writes -jen for modern -je.
> Relative waarin + participle adjective: 'waarin eenige verdroogde melatti' (in which a few dried melatti) uses pronominal-relative 'waarin' (= in which). 'verdroogde' is a past participle used as an attributive adjective, taking -e.

Was 't wonder dat hy te Tangerang zich niet langer ophield dan noodig was tot het bezoeken van den bekende zyns vaders, die zoo fyne stroohoeden vlocht?  
Was it any wonder that at Tangerang he did not linger longer than was needed to visit his father's acquaintance, the man who plaited such fine straw hats?
> Rhetorical 'Was 't wonder dat ...' + reflexive: 'Was 't wonder dat ...' (was it any wonder that ...) opens a string of rhetorical questions with dummy 't (het). 'zich ophouden' (to linger) is reflexive and separable; 'ophield' splits at the end.
> Genitive zyns vaders + strong past vlocht: 'zyns vaders' is the inflected genitive (of his father). The relative 'die ... vlocht' uses the strong past of vlechten (to plait), with attributive '-e' on 'fyne'.

Was 't wonder dat hy weinig zeide tot de meisjes op zyn weg, die hem vroegen: "waarheen, vanwaar?" zooals de groet is in die streken? Was 't wonder dat hy Serang, niet meer zoo voornaam vond, hy die Batavia had leeren kennen?  
Was it any wonder that he said little to the girls along his way who asked him: "whither, and whence?" as the greeting goes in those parts? Was it any wonder that he found Serang no longer so grand, he who had come to know Batavia?
> Pronominal interrogatives waarheen / vanwaar: 'waarheen' (whither, to where) and 'vanwaar' (whence, from where) are directional question-adverbs built on 'waar'. The relative 'die ... vroegen' (who asked) refers to the girls.
> Apposition 'hy die ...' + double infinitive: 'hy die Batavia had leeren kennen' (he who had come to know Batavia) appends an emphatic relative. The perfect 'had leeren kennen' chains two infinitives (leren + kennen) instead of a participle — the IPP construction.

Dat hy niet meer wegkroop in de Pagger, zooals hy deed voor drie jaren, toen de resident kwam voorbyryden, hy die den veel grooteren heer had gezien, die te Buitenzorg woont en de grootvader is van den Soesoehoenan van Solo?  
That he no longer slipped away into the hedge, as he had done three years before, when the resident came riding by, he who had seen the far greater lord who lives at Buitenzorg and is the grandfather of the Soesoehoenan of Solo?
> Separable wegkruipen + 'niet meer': 'wegkroop' is the strong past of separable 'wegkruipen' (to creep away); the prefix and stem rejoin only in the infinitive. 'niet meer' = no longer.
> toen-clause + bare infinitive after komen: 'toen de resident kwam voorbyryden' (when the resident came riding by) uses 'komen' + a bare infinitive 'voorbyryden' — a motion verb taking another verb with no 'te'.

Was 't wonder dat hy weinig acht sloeg op de vertellingen van wie een eind wegs met hem gingen en spraken van al 't nieuws in Bantan-Kidoel? Dat hy nauwelyks luisterde toen men hem verhaalde dat de koffikultuur na veel onbeloonde moeite geheel was ingetrokken?  
Was it any wonder that he paid little heed to the tales of those who walked a stretch of the road with him and spoke of all the news in Bantan-Kidoel? That he scarcely listened when he was told that the coffee cultivation, after much unrewarded toil, had been wholly given up?
> Idiom acht slaan op: 'weinig acht sloeg op de vertellingen' (paid little heed to the tales) is the idiom 'acht slaan op' — to pay attention to. 'sloeg' is the strong past of slaan.
> Relative 'wie' without antecedent + genitive 'wegs': 'van wie ... met hem gingen' (of those who went with him) uses 'wie' as a free relative for persons. 'een eind wegs' shows the old partitive genitive -s on weg (a stretch of road).
> Pluperfect passive: was ingetrokken: 'dat de koffikultuur ... geheel was ingetrokken' (that the coffee cultivation had been wholly withdrawn) is a content clause; 'was ingetrokken' reads as a state/passive perfect with separable intrekken.

Dat het distriktshoofd van Parang-Koedjang wegens roof op den publieken weg was veroordeeld tot veertien dagen arrest ten-huize van zyn schoonvader? Dat de hoofdplaats was verlegd naar Rangkas-Betoeng?  
That the district chief of Parang-Koedjang had been sentenced, for robbery on the public road, to fourteen days' confinement at his father-in-law's house? That the chief town had been moved to Rangkas-Betoeng?
> Pluperfect passive: was veroordeeld: 'was veroordeeld tot veertien dagen arrest' (had been sentenced to fourteen days' arrest) is a passive in the past: zijn + participle 'veroordeeld'. 'wegens' (on account of) governs the cause.
> Passive with worden/zijn: was verlegd: 'Dat de hoofdplaats was verlegd' (that the chief town had been moved) is again a past passive with zijn + 'verlegd'. The whole sentence is one more 'Dat ...' echo in the rhetorical chain.

Dat er een nieuwe adsistent-resident gekomen was, omdat de vorige was gestorven, eenige maanden geleden? Hoe die nieuwe beambte gesproken had op de eerste sebah-vergadering?  
That a new assistant-resident had come, because the former one had died some months ago? How that new official had spoken at the first sebah-gathering?
> er + perfect of komen (zijn): 'Dat er een nieuwe adsistent-resident gekomen was' (that a new assistant-resident had come) inserts existential 'er' before an indefinite subject, with the pluperfect 'gekomen was' (komen takes zijn).
> omdat + pluperfect of sterven: 'omdat de vorige was gestorven, eenige maanden geleden' (because the previous one had died some months ago) is causal; 'was gestorven' is the pluperfect with zijn.

Hoe er sedert eenigen tyd niemand was gestraft wegens klachte, en hoe men onder de bevolking hoopte dat al 't gestolene zou worden weergegeven of vergoed? Neen, schooner beelden vertoonden zich voor 't oog zyner ziel.  
How for some time past no one had been punished for lodging a complaint, and how among the people there was a hope that all that had been stolen would be restored or made good? No, fairer images rose before the eye of his soul.
> er + passive + single negative niemand: 'Hoe er ... niemand was gestraft wegens klachte' (how no one had been punished for a complaint): existential 'er', the passive 'was gestraft', and 'niemand' as the sole negative word.
> Conditional worden-passive: zou worden weergegeven: 'dat al 't gestolene zou worden weergegeven of vergoed' (that all the stolen goods would be restored or made good) stacks conditional 'zou' + passive 'worden' + the participle — a future-in-the-past passive. ''t gestolene' nominalises a participle.
> Comparative schooner + reflexive zich vertonen: 'schooner beelden vertoonden zich' (fairer images showed themselves) uses the comparative 'schooner' (more beautiful) and the reflexive 'zich vertonen'.

Hy zocht den ketapan-boom in de wolken, te vèr nog als hy was om dien te zoeken by Badoer. Hy greep naar de lucht die hem omgaf, als wilde hy de gestalte omvatten die hem wachten zou onder dien boom.  
He sought the ketapan tree among the clouds, far off as he still was, too far to seek it near Badoer. He grasped at the air around him, as though he would clasp the form that would be waiting for him beneath that tree.
> te + adjective + om ... te: 'te vèr nog ... om dien te zoeken' (still too far to seek it) is the 'te + adjective + om ... te' pattern — 'too far to do X'. 'dien' is the accusative of die for the masculine ketapan.
> Literary 'als + inversion' = as if: 'als wilde hy de gestalte omvatten' (as though he would clasp the form) fronts the modal 'wilde' in an 'als'-clause meaning 'as if he wanted to'. The modal takes the bare infinitive 'omvatten'.
> Relative die + separable/strong omgeven: 'de lucht die hem omgaf' (the air that surrounded him): 'die' for the de-word lucht, with 'omgaf', the strong past of omgeven, at the clause end.

Hy teekende zich Adinda's gelaat, haar hoofd, haar schouder ... hy zag den zwaren kondeh, zoo glinsterend zwart, gevangen in eigen strik, afhangend in haar hals ... hy zag haar groot oog, schitterend in donkeren weerschyn ... de neusvleugels die ze zoo fier optrok als kind, wanneer hy--hoe was't mogelyk!--haar plaagde, en den hoek van haar lippen waarin zy een glimlach bewaarde. Hy zag hare borst, die nu zwellen zou onder de kabaai ... hy zag hoe de sarong, die zyzelf geweven had, haar heupen nauw omsloot, en, de dy volgend in gebogen lyn, langs de knie neerviel in heerlyke golving op den kleinen voet ...  
He drew for himself Adinda's face, her head, her shoulder... he saw the heavy kondeh, so glistening black, caught in its own knot, hanging down at her neck... he saw her great eye, sparkling in dark reflection... the nostrils she used to draw up so proudly as a child, whenever he—how was it possible!—teased her, and the corner of her lips where she kept a smile. He saw her breast, which now would swell beneath the kabaai... he saw how the sarong she had woven herself clasped her hips close, and, following the thigh in a curving line, fell along the knee in a lovely flow down upon the small foot...
> Ethical dative zich + 's genitive: 'Hy teekende zich Adinda's gelaat' (he drew for himself Adinda's face) uses 'zich' as a benefactive/ethical dative ('for himself'). 'Adinda's' is the everyday 's genitive on a name.
> Relative + separable optrekken; period ze: 'die ze zoo fier optrok als kind' (which she drew up so proudly as a child) is a relative clause; 'optrekken' is separable, 'optrok' being its strong past placed at the end.
> Relative die + pluperfect of weven: 'die zyzelf geweven had' (which she herself had woven) is a relative clause; 'geweven had' is the pluperfect of strong 'weven'. 'zyzelf' = zij zelf (she herself).

Neen, hy hoorde weinig van wat men hem zeide.  
No, he heard little of what was said to him.
> Free relative 'wat' + men: 'van wat men hem zeide' (of what was said to him) uses 'wat' as a headless relative ('that which'). 'zeide' is the older weak past of zeggen (modern: zei).

Hy hoorde geheel andere tonen. Hy hoorde hoe Adinda zeggen zou: "zy wèl gekomen, Saïdjah!  
He heard quite other tones. He heard how Adinda would say: "welcome, Saïdjah!
> Indirect speech + conditional zou: 'hoe Adinda zeggen zou' (how Adinda would say) embeds an indirect clause whose verbs 'zeggen zou' fall to the end. 'zou' colours it as imagined/conditional.
> 'zij wèl gekomen' — a welcome: 'Zy wèl gekomen, Saïdjah' renders a Malay/Sundanese greeting of welcome word-for-word into Dutch ('be well come'). Multatuli keeps the calqued phrasing to preserve Adinda's voice.

Ik heb aan u gedacht by spinnen en by weven, en by 't stampen van de ryst in het blok dat driemaal twaalf kerven draagt van myne hand.  
I have thought of you at the spinning and the weaving, and at the pounding of the rice in the block that bears three times twelve notches cut by my hand.
> Perfect + pronominal verb denken aan: 'Ik heb aan u gedacht' (I have thought of you) is the present perfect of 'denken aan' (to think of). 'u' is the polite/literary 'you'. 'by spinnen ... by weven' nominalise the infinitives.
> Relative dat for a het-word: 'dat driemaal twaalf kerven draagt' (that bears three times twelve notches) is a relative clause for the het-word 'blok'; the verb 'draagt' goes to the end. 'myne hand' = mijn hand.

Hier ben ik onder den ketapan, den eersten dag der nieuwe maan.  
Here I am beneath the ketapan, on the first day of the new moon.
> Fronted 'Hier' + verb-second: 'Hier ben ik onder den ketapan' (here I am beneath the ketapan): fronting 'Hier' inverts to 'ben ik'. 'den eersten dag der nieuwe maan' shows the genitive 'der' (of the).

Zy wèl gekomen, Saïdjah: ik wil uw vrouw zyn!"  
Welcome, Saïdjah: I will be your wife!"
> Modal willen + bare infinitive: 'ik wil uw vrouw zyn' (I will be your wife) uses the modal 'willen' (to want/will) with the bare infinitive 'zyn' at the end. 'uw' is the possessive of 'u' — your.

Dàt was de muziek die in zyn ooren weerklonk, en hem belette te luisteren naar al 't nieuws dat men hem verhaalde op zyn weg.  
That was the music that rang in his ears, and kept him from listening to all the news that was told him along his way.
> Demonstrative subject 'dat' + relative die: 'Dàt was de muziek die in zyn ooren weerklonk' (that was the music that rang in his ears): stressed 'dat' is the demonstrative subject; 'die ... weerklonk' is a relative clause for de-word muziek.
> beletten + te-infinitive: '(en) hem belette te luisteren' (and kept him from listening) governs a 'te'-infinitive. 'beletten' = to prevent; it takes te + infinitive 'luisteren'.

Eindelyk zag hy den ketapan. Of liever hy zag een donkere plek die veel sterren bedekte voor zyn oog.  
At last he saw the ketapan. Or rather, he saw a dark patch that hid many stars from his eye.
> Fronted adverb + accusative den ketapan: 'Eindelyk zag hy den ketapan' (at last he saw the ketapan): fronting 'Eindelyk' inverts to 'zag hy'; 'den' marks the masculine de-word as accusative object.
> Relative die + weak past bedekte: 'die veel sterren bedekte voor zyn oog' (that hid many stars from his eye) is a relative clause for the de-word 'plek'; weak past 'bedekte' lands at the end.

Dat moest het Djati-bosch wezen, by den boom waar hy Adinda zou weerzien, den volgenden dag na 't opgaan van de zon.  
That must be the Djati forest, by the tree where he would see Adinda again, the next day after the rising of the sun.
> Epistemic modal moeten ('must be'): 'Dat moest het Djati-bosch wezen' (that must be the Djati forest) uses 'moeten' in an inferential sense — 'must be'. The modal 'moest' takes the bare infinitive 'wezen' (to be).

Hy zocht in het duister, en betastte vele stammen. Weldra vond hy een bekende oneffenheid aan de zuidzyde van een boom, en hy legde den vinger in een gleuf die Si-Panteh daarin gehakt had met zyn parang, om den pontianak te bezweren die schuld had aan de tandpyn van Panteh's moeder, kort voor de geboorte van zyn broertje.  
He felt about in the dark, and ran his hands over many trunks. Before long he found a familiar unevenness on the south side of a tree, and laid his finger in a groove that Si-Panteh had hacked there with his parang, to ward off the pontianak who was to blame for the toothache of Panteh's mother, shortly before the birth of his little brother.
> Strong past zocht + weak past betastte: 'zocht' is the strong/irregular past of zoeken (to seek); 'betastte' is the weak past of betasten (to feel/touch) with -te. The two coordinate with 'en'.
> Relative die + pluperfect; daarin: 'die Si-Panteh daarin gehakt had' (that Si-Panteh had hacked in it) is a relative clause; 'gehakt had' is the pluperfect, and 'daarin' (= in it) a pronominal adverb pointing back to the groove/tree.

Dàt was de ketapan dien hy zocht.  
That was the ketapan he was seeking.
> Accusative relative 'dien': 'de ketapan dien hy zocht' (the ketapan he was seeking) uses 'dien', the masculine accusative of die, because the tree is the object of 'zocht'. Modern Dutch flattens it to 'die'.

Ja, wèl was dit de plek waar hy voor 't eerst Adinda anders had aangezien dan zyn overige speelnootjes, omdat ze daar voor 't eerst geweigerd had deeltenemen aan een spel dat ze toch had meegespeeld met alle kinderen, knapen en meisjes, nog kort te voren. Dáár had ze hem de melatti gegeven.  
Yes, this was indeed the spot where for the first time he had looked at Adinda differently from his other playmates, because there, for the first time, she had refused to take part in a game she had nonetheless played with all the children, boys and girls, only a short while before. There she had given him the melatti.
> Emphatic 'wèl' fronted + relative waar: 'wèl was dit de plek' fronts emphatic 'wèl', inverting to 'was dit'. 'waar hy voor 't eerst Adinda anders had aangezien' is a place-relative with the pluperfect 'had aangezien' (separable aanzien) at the end.
> omdat + pluperfect + joined deeltenemen: 'omdat ze ... geweigerd had deeltenemen' (because she had refused to take part): causal omdat with pluperfect 'geweigerd had'; 'deeltenemen' is the period one-word spelling of 'deel te nemen'.

Hy zette zich neder aan den voet van den boom, en zag op naar de sterren. En als er een verschoot, nam hy dit aan als een groet by zyn wederkomst te Badoer.  
He sat down at the foot of the tree, and gazed up at the stars. And when one shot across, he took it as a greeting on his return to Badoer.
> Reflexive + separable nederzetten: 'Hy zette zich neder' (he sat himself down) combines the reflexive 'zich' with separable 'nederzetten' (archaic for neerzetten); 'neder' goes to the end.
> Conditional als + er + separable aannemen: 'als er een verschoot' (whenever one shot across) uses existential 'er' with the indefinite subject 'een'. The main clause inverts ('nam hy ... aan'), splitting separable aannemen (to take/accept).

En hy dacht er aan, of Adinda nu slapen zou? En of ze wel goed de manen had ingesneden in haar rystblok?  
And he wondered whether Adinda were sleeping now. And whether she had cut the moons correctly into her rice-block?
> eraan + indirect yes/no question with of: 'Hy dacht er aan, of Adinda nu slapen zou' (he wondered whether Adinda was sleeping now): 'er ... aan' is the split pronominal adverb, and 'of' opens an indirect yes/no question with verbs 'slapen zou' at the end.
> of-question + pluperfect of insnijden: 'of ze wel goed de manen had ingesneden in haar rystblok' (whether she had cut the moons correctly) is a second 'of'-clause; 'had ingesneden' is the pluperfect of separable insnijden.

Het zou hem zoo smarten wanneer zy een maan had overgeslagen, alsof 't niet genoeg ware ... zes-en-dertig! En of ze schoone sarongs en slendangs zou gebatikt hebben?  
It would grieve him so if she had skipped a moon, as though it were not enough already... thirty-six! And whether she had batiked fine sarongs and slendangs?
> Impersonal het + conditional + counterfactual: 'Het zou hem zoo smarten' (it would grieve him so) uses dummy 'het' with the conditional 'zou ... smarten'. The 'wanneer'-clause carries the counterfactual pluperfect 'had overgeslagen' (separable overslaan, to skip).
> alsof + past subjunctive ware: 'alsof 't niet genoeg ware' (as though it were not enough) pairs 'alsof' with the past subjunctive 'ware' of zijn — the literary subjunctive of unreal comparison.

En ook vroeg hy zich, wie er toch wel wonen zou in zyns vaders huis? En zyn jeugd kwam hem voor den geest, en zyne moeder, en hoe die buffel hem had gered van den tyger, en hy bepeinsde wat er toch zou geworden zyn van Adinda als die buffel minder trouw ware geweest?  
And he wondered too who might be living in his father's house? And his childhood came back to his mind, and his mother, and how that buffalo had saved him from the tiger, and he pondered what would have become of Adinda had that buffalo been less faithful?
> Reflexive zich afvragen + embedded wie: 'vroeg hy zich' (he asked himself / wondered) is the reflexive 'zich afvragen'. The embedded question 'wie er toch wel wonen zou' uses 'wie' for persons, 'er' as a place-filler, and final 'wonen zou'.
> Indirect question + pluperfect redden: 'hoe die buffel hem had gered van den tyger' (how that buffalo had saved him from the tiger) is an embedded clause with the pluperfect 'had gered' at the end. 'den tyger' keeps the accusative -n.
> Conditional perfect + counterfactual ware geweest: 'wat er ... zou geworden zyn van Adinda' is a conditional perfect ('what would have become of Adinda'); the if-clause 'als die buffel minder trouw ware geweest' uses the subjunctive pluperfect 'ware geweest'.

Hy lette zeer op het dalen van de sterren in 't Westen, en by elke ster die aan de kim verdween, berekende hy hoe de zon weer iets nader was aan haren Opgang in het oosten, en hoeveel nader hyzelf aan 't weerzien van Adinda.  
He watched closely the setting of the stars in the West, and with each star that vanished at the horizon he reckoned how the sun was a little nearer to its rising in the east, and how much nearer he himself was to seeing Adinda again.
> Fronted phrase + relative + embedded question: A fronted phrase ('by elke ster die ... verdween') forces verb-second 'berekende hy'. The relative 'die ... verdween' (strong past of verdwijnen) and the embedded 'hoe ... was' both go verb-final.
> Archaic accusative possessive haren: 'haren Opgang' (its rising) shows the old inflected possessive 'haren' (feminine/accusative of haar), agreeing with the sun. Modern Dutch uses plain 'haar'.

Want zeker zou ze komen by den eersten straal, ja, by 't schemeren reeds zou ze daar zyn ... ach, waarom was ze niet reeds gekomen den vorigen dag?  
For surely she would come at the first ray, yes, at the very dawn she would already be there... ah, why had she not come the day before?
> want + conditional zou komen: 'Want zeker zou ze komen' (for surely she would come): coordinating 'want' (no inversion) with the conditional 'zou ... komen'. Fronted 'zeker' then inverts within the clause.
> Question + pluperfect of komen (zijn): 'waarom was ze niet reeds gekomen den vorigen dag?' (why had she not already come the day before?) is a pluperfect question with 'was ... gekomen' (komen takes zijn). 'den vorigen dag' is the accusative time phrase.

Het bedroefde hem dat ze 't niet was vooruitgeloopen, het schoone oogenblik dat hem drie jaren lang de ziel had voorgelicht met onbeschryfelyken glans.  
It saddened him that she had not run ahead to meet it, that beautiful moment which for three long years had lit his soul with an indescribable radiance.
> Impersonal het + extraposed dat-clause: 'Het bedroefde hem dat ...' (it saddened him that ...) uses anticipatory 'het' with the real subject in the 'dat'-clause. 'was vooruitgeloopen' is the pluperfect of separable vooruitlopen (vooruitlopen takes zijn).
> Relative-like dat + separable voorlichten: 'dat hem drie jaren lang de ziel had voorgelicht' (which had lit his soul for three years) is a relative clause for 'oogenblik'; pluperfect 'had voorgelicht' (separable voorlichten) closes it.

En, onbillyk als hy was in de zelfzucht zyner liefde, scheen 't hem toe dat Adinda had moeten dáár zyn, wachtende op hèm, hy die zich nu beklaagde--vóór den tyd reeds!--dat hy te wachten had op háár. Maar hy beklaagde zich ten-onrechte.  
And, unjust as he was in the selfishness of his love, it seemed to him that Adinda ought to have been there, waiting for him, he who now complained—before the time, already!—that he had to wait for her. But he complained without cause.
> Concessive 'als hy was' + genitive zyner: 'onbillyk als hy was' (unjust as he was) is a concessive comparison. 'zyner liefde' is the inflected genitive 'of his love' — feminine genitive 'zyner', archaic for 'van zijn liefde'.
> Impersonal toeschijnen + modal moeten in perfect: 'scheen 't hem toe dat ...' (it seemed to him that ...) is impersonal 'toeschijnen' with dummy 't. 'had moeten dáár zyn' shows the perfect of modal 'moeten' as a bare infinitive (IPP) governing 'zyn'.
> Reflexive zich beklagen: 'hy beklaagde zich ten-onrechte' (he complained without cause) is the reflexive 'zich beklagen' (to complain). 'ten-onrechte' = wrongly, is a frozen dative idiom (te + den).

Want nog was de zon niet opgegaan, nog had het oog van den dag geen blik geworpen op de vlakte.  
For the sun had not yet risen, the eye of day had not yet cast a glance over the plain.
> want + fronted nog + pluperfect opgaan: 'Want nog was de zon niet opgegaan' (for the sun had not yet risen): 'want' does not invert, but fronting 'nog' does, giving 'was de zon'. 'was opgegaan' is the pluperfect of opgaan (zijn-verb).
> geen negating an indefinite noun: 'had ... geen blik geworpen' (had cast no glance) negates the indefinite noun 'blik' with 'geen' rather than 'niet'. The pluperfect 'had ... geworpen' brackets it.

Wel verbleekten de sterren daar omhoog, beschaamd dat er spoedig een eind komen zou aan haar heerschappy ... wel vloeiden er vreemde kleuren over de toppen der bergen, die donkerder schenen naarmate ze scherper afstaken op lichteren grond ... wel vloog er hier-en-daar door de wolken in het oosten iets gloeiends--pylen van goud en van vuur die heen-en-weer werden geschoten, evenwydig aan de kim--maar ze verdwenen weer en schenen neertevallen achter de ondoordringbare gordyn die nog altyd den dag bleef verbergen voor de oogen van Saïdjah.  
True, the stars up above were paling, ashamed that their dominion would soon come to an end... true, strange colors flowed over the mountaintops, which seemed darker the more sharply they stood out against a lighter ground... true, here and there through the clouds in the east something glowing flew—arrows of gold and of fire shot back and forth, parallel to the horizon—but they vanished again and seemed to fall down behind the impenetrable curtain that still kept the day hidden from Saïdjah's eyes.
> Anaphoric 'wel' + er + komen zou: Each clause opens with concessive 'wel' (true/indeed), inverting the verb. 'dat er spoedig een eind komen zou aan haar heerschappy' uses 'er' and final 'komen zou' — 'that an end would soon come'.
> Comparatives with naarmate (the more ...): 'die donkerder schenen naarmate ze scherper afstaken' (which seemed darker the more sharply they stood out) pairs two comparatives ('donkerder', 'scherper') with 'naarmate' (in proportion as). Separable afsteken closes its clause.
> worden-passive in the past: werden geschoten: 'die heen-en-weer werden geschoten' (which were shot back and forth) is a process passive in the past: 'werden' (past of worden) + participle 'geschoten'. The arrows undergo the action.
> blijven + bare infinitive: 'bleef verbergen' (kept hiding) uses 'blijven' (to keep/remain) + a bare infinitive 'verbergen' — an aspectual auxiliary needing no 'te'. 'den dag' is the accusative object.

Toch werd het allengs lichter en lichter om hem heen. Hy zag reeds het landschap, en reeds kon hy de kuif onderscheiden van het klappa-boschje waarin Badoer verscholen ligt ... daar sliep Adinda.  
Yet it grew lighter and lighter around him. He could already see the landscape, and already he could make out the crest of the little coconut grove in which Badoer lies hidden... there slept Adinda.
> Impersonal het + worden + comparative: 'Toch werd het allengs lichter en lichter' (yet it grew lighter and lighter) uses dummy weather-'het' with 'worden' and the doubled comparative 'lichter en lichter'. Fronted 'Toch' inverts to 'werd het'.
> Diminutive boschje + relative waarin: 'boschje' is the diminutive of bosch (grove) — 'little grove'. 'waarin Badoer verscholen ligt' (in which Badoer lies hidden) is a relative with 'waarin' and verb 'ligt' at the end.

Neen, ze sliep niet meer! Hoe zou ze kunnen slapen?  
No, she slept no longer! How could she sleep?
> Strong past sliep + 'niet meer': 'ze sliep niet meer' (she slept no longer) uses 'sliep', the strong past of slapen, with 'niet meer' = no longer.
> Conditional zou + modal kunnen: 'Hoe zou ze kunnen slapen?' (how could she sleep?) stacks conditional 'zou' over modal 'kunnen', which governs the bare infinitive 'slapen' — a rhetorical question.

Wist ze niet dat Saïdjah haar wachten zou?  
Did she not know that Saïdjah would be waiting for her?
> Inverted question + embedded conditional: 'Wist ze niet dat ...?' (did she not know that ...?) inverts the verb 'wist' to first position for a yes/no question. The 'dat'-clause closes with conditional 'wachten zou' (would wait).

Gewis, ze had niet geslapen den ganschen nacht! Zeker had de dorpswacht geklopt aan hare deur, om te vragen waarom de pelitah voortbrandde in haar huisjen, en met lieven lach had ze gezegd dat een gelofte haar wakker hield om den slendang afteweven waaraan ze bezig was, en die gereed moest zyn voor den eersten dag der nieuwe maan ...  
Surely she had not slept the whole night through! Surely the village watchman had knocked at her door, to ask why the pelitah lamp burned on in her little house, and with a gentle laugh she had said that a vow kept her awake, to weave to the end the slendang she was working on, which had to be ready for the first day of the new moon...
> Pluperfect + accusative time phrase: 'ze had niet geslapen den ganschen nacht' (she had not slept the whole night) is a pluperfect; 'den ganschen nacht' keeps the accusative -n on article and adjective for the duration phrase.
> om te + embedded question: 'om te vragen waarom de pelitah voortbrandde' (to ask why the lamp burned on) is an om-te purpose clause containing an embedded 'waarom'-question; separable 'voortbranden' ends it.
> Separable wakker houden + joined afteweven: 'dat een gelofte haar wakker hield' (that a vow kept her awake) splits 'wakker houden'. 'afteweven' is the period spelling of 'af te weven' (to finish weaving), the te-infinitive of separable afweven.

Of ze had den nacht doorgebracht in 't donker, zittend op haar rystblok, en tellende met begeerigen vinger dat er wel waarlyk daarin zes-en-dertig diepe strepen stonden gekorven naast elkander.  
Or she had passed the night in the dark, sitting on her rice-block, counting with eager finger whether there were truly thirty-six deep notches carved there side by side.
> Pluperfect of separable doorbrengen: 'had den nacht doorgebracht' (had passed the night) is the pluperfect of separable 'doorbrengen' (to spend time); the participle 'doorgebracht' closes the cluster. 'den nacht' is accusative.
> Present participle tellende: 'tellende met begeerigen vinger' (counting with eager finger) is the -ende present participle used as an adverbial of accompanying action. 'begeerigen' keeps the accusative -n.
> of-question + er + state participle gekorven: An indirect 'of'-question with existential 'er': 'stonden gekorven' combines 'staan' with the participle 'gekorven' (carved) to express a settled state — 'stood carved'.

En ze had zich vermaakt met kunstigen schrik of ze zich misschien verrekende, of er wellicht nog eene ontbrak, om nogeens, en nogeens, en telkens weder te genieten van de heerlyke zekerheid dat er wel degelyk driemaal twaalf manen waren voorbygegaan sedert Saïdjah haar zag voor het laatst.  
And she had amused herself with a feigned alarm that perhaps she had miscounted, that perhaps one was still missing, so as again, and again, and each time anew to relish the lovely certainty that three times twelve moons had indeed and truly passed since Saïdjah last saw her.
> Reflexive zich vermaken in the pluperfect: 'ze had zich vermaakt' (she had amused herself) is the pluperfect of reflexive 'zich vermaken'. 'kunstigen' keeps the archaic accusative -n after 'met'.
> of + er + impersonal ontbreken: 'of er wellicht nog eene ontbrak' (whether perhaps one was still missing) is an indirect 'of'-question; 'ontbreken' (to be lacking) takes 'er' and an indefinite subject 'eene'.
> om ... te + pronominal verb genieten van: 'om ... te genieten van de heerlyke zekerheid' (so as to relish the lovely certainty) is an om-te purpose clause. 'genieten van' = to enjoy/relish, a fixed prepositional verb.

Ook zy zou thans, nu 't al zoo licht werd, haar oogen inspannen met vruchtelooze vermoeienis om de blikken te buigen òver de kim, opdat ze de zon zouden ontmoeten, de trage zon, die wegbleef ... wegbleef ...  
She too would now, as it grew so light, strain her eyes in fruitless weariness to bend her gaze beyond the horizon, that they might meet the sun, the slow sun, that stayed away... stayed away...
> Conditional zou + separable inspannen: 'zou ... haar oogen inspannen' (would strain her eyes) is conditional 'zou' + the infinitive of separable 'inspannen' at the end. Fronted 'Ook zy' inverts to 'zou ... zy'.
> opdat + conditional purpose: 'opdat ze de zon zouden ontmoeten' (that they might meet the sun) is a formal purpose clause with 'opdat'; the verbs 'zouden ontmoeten' go to the end.

Daar kwam een streep van blauwig rood die zich vastklemde aan de wolken, en de randen werden licht en gloeiend, en 't begon te bliksemen, en weer schoten er pylen van vuur door het luchtruim, maar ze vielen niet neder ditmaal, ze hechtten zich vast op den donkeren grond, en deelden hun gloed mede in grooter en grootere kringen, en ontmoetten elkander, kruisend, slingerend, wendend, dwalend, en ze vereenigden zich tot vuurbundels, en weerlichtten in gouden glans op een grond van paarlemoer, en er was rood, en blauw, en geel, en zilver, en purper, en azuur in dat alles ... o God, dat was de dageraad: dat was het weerzien van Adinda!  
There came a streak of bluish red that clung to the clouds, and the edges grew bright and glowing, and it began to flash like lightning, and again arrows of fire shot through the vault of the sky, but this time they did not fall down, they fastened themselves upon the dark ground, and spread their glow in larger and larger rings, and met one another, crossing, winding, turning, wandering, and they joined into sheaves of fire, and flashed with a golden brilliance upon a ground of mother-of-pearl, and there was red, and blue, and yellow, and silver, and purple, and azure in it all... oh God, that was the dawn: that was the seeing-again of Adinda!
> Relative die + reflexive zich vastklemmen: 'die zich vastklemde aan de wolken' (that clung to the clouds) is a relative clause; 'zich vastklemmen' is reflexive and separable, 'vastklemde' the weak past.
> Impersonal weather het + te-infinitive: ''t begon te bliksemen' (it began to flash/lightning) uses impersonal weather-'het' with 'beginnen te' + infinitive. Weather verbs always take dummy het as subject.
> Reflexive + separable zich vasthechten: 'ze hechtten zich vast' (they fastened themselves) is reflexive 'zich vasthechten', separable, with 'vast' at the end. The string of verbs (kruisend, slingerend, wendend, dwalend) are present participles.
> Reflexive zich verenigen: 'ze vereenigden zich tot vuurbundels' (they joined into sheaves of fire) uses reflexive 'zich verenigen' (to unite). 'vuurbundels' is a compound (vuur + bundels).

Saïdjah had niet geleerd te bidden, en 't ware ook jammer geweest hem dat te leeren want heiliger gebeden vuriger dank dan er lag in de sprakelooze opgetogenheid zyner ziel, was niet te vatten in menschelyke taal.  
Saïdjah had not been taught to pray, and it would have been a pity besides to teach him, for holier prayers, more fervent thanks than lay in the speechless rapture of his soul, could not be captured in human language.
> Pluperfect + te-infinitive object: 'had niet geleerd te bidden' (had not been taught / learned to pray) is the pluperfect 'had ... geleerd' governing the 'te'-infinitive 'te bidden'.
> Subjunctive 'ware ... geweest' + te-infinitive: ''t ware ook jammer geweest hem dat te leeren' (it would have been a pity, too, to teach him that) uses the past subjunctive 'ware ... geweest' (would have been) with impersonal 't and a 'te'-infinitive.
> zijn + te + infinitive (potential passive): 'was niet te vatten in menschelyke taal' (could not be captured in human language) is the 'zijn + te + infinitive' construction expressing possibility/necessity — equivalent to 'kon niet gevat worden'.

Hy wilde niet naar Badoer gaan. Het weerzien zelf van Adinda kwam hem minder schoon voor, dan de zekerheid haar straks te zullen weerzien.  
He did not want to go to Badoer. The seeing again of Adinda herself seemed less beautiful to him than the certainty of seeing her again in a little while.
> Modal willen + niet + infinitive: 'Hy wilde niet naar Badoer gaan' (he did not want to go to Badoer): modal 'wilde' second, negation 'niet', and the bare infinitive 'gaan' at the end.
> Comparison minder ... dan + te zullen + infinitive: 'kwam hem minder schoon voor, dan de zekerheid haar straks te zullen weerzien' compares with 'minder ... dan'. 'te zullen weerzien' stacks the te-marker on the future auxiliary zullen — 'to be going to see again'.

Hy zette zich aan den voet van den ketapan, en liet zyn oogen dwalen over de landstreek.  
He sat down at the foot of the ketapan, and let his eyes wander over the countryside.
> Reflexive + accusative den: 'Hy zette zich' (he sat himself down) is reflexive 'zich zetten'. 'aan den voet van den ketapan' shows two accusative/dative 'den's marking the masculine de-words.
> Causative laten + bare infinitive: 'liet zyn oogen dwalen' (let his eyes wander) uses causative 'laten' with the bare infinitive 'dwalen'. The construction 'laten + infinitive' means to let/have something happen.

De natuur lachte hem toe en scheen hem welkom te heeten als een moeder haar teruggekeerd kind. En even als deze haar vreugde schildert door eigenwillige herinnering aan de voorbygegane smart, by 't vertoonen van wat ze bewaarde als aandenken gedurende het afzyn, liet ook Saïdjah zich vermaken door 't weerzien van zoovele plekken die getuigen waren van zyn kort leven.  
Nature smiled upon him and seemed to bid him welcome like a mother her returning child. And just as a mother paints her joy by willfully recalling the sorrow now past, in showing what she has kept as a keepsake through the absence, so Saïdjah too let himself be cheered by the sight again of so many spots that had been witnesses of his short life.
> Separable toelachen + schijnen + te: 'lachte hem toe' splits separable 'toelachen' (to smile at). 'scheen hem welkom te heeten' uses 'schijnen' (to seem) + the te-infinitive idiom 'welkom heten' (to bid welcome).
> Comparative even als + causative laten + reflexive: 'even als deze ... schildert' (just as she paints) sets up a comparison; the main clause 'liet ook Saïdjah zich vermaken' uses causative 'laten' with reflexive 'zich' — 'let himself be cheered'.
> Relative die + adjective without -e: 'die getuigen waren van zyn kort leven' (that were witnesses of his short life) is a relative clause. 'zyn kort leven' — the adjective 'kort' lacks -e because 'leven' is a het-word with the indefinite-like 'zyn'.

Maar hoe ook zyn oogen of zyn gedachten ronddwaalden, telkens viel zyn blik en zyn verlangen terug op het pad dat van Badoer leidt naar den ketapan.  
But however his eyes or his thoughts wandered about, again and again his gaze and his longing fell back upon the path that leads from Badoer to the ketapan.
> Concessive 'hoe ook' + separable terugvallen: 'hoe ook ... ronddwaalden' (however ... wandered) is a concessive clause sending the verb to the end. The main clause inverts after 'telkens', splitting separable 'terugvallen' — 'viel ... terug'.
> Relative dat + present 'leidt': 'dat van Badoer leidt naar den ketapan' (that leads from Badoer to the ketapan) is a relative clause for the het-word 'pad'; present 'leidt' goes to the end.

Alles wat zyn zinnen waarnamen, heette Adinda.  
Everything his senses took in was named Adinda.
> Free relative 'wat' after 'alles': 'Alles wat zyn zinnen waarnamen' (everything his senses took in) uses 'wat' as the relative after 'alles'; the verb 'waarnamen' (strong past of separable waarnemen) goes to the end. 'heette' = was called.

Hy zag den afgrond links, waar de aarde zoo geel is, waar eens een jonge buffel verzonk in de diepte: daar hadden de dorpelingen zich verzameld om het dier te redden--want het is geen geringe zaak een jongen buffel te verliezen--en ze hadden zich neergelaten aan sterke rottan-koorden.  
He saw the ravine to the left, where the earth is so yellow, where once a young buffalo sank into the depths: there the villagers had gathered to rescue the animal—for it is no small matter to lose a young buffalo—and they had let themselves down on strong rattan ropes.
> Relative waar + strong past verzinken: 'waar eens een jonge buffel verzonk' (where once a young buffalo sank) uses place-relative 'waar'; 'verzonk' is the strong past of verzinken. 'een jonge buffel' shows attributive -e on jonge.
> geen + te-infinitive subject: 'het is geen geringe zaak ... te verliezen' (it is no small matter to lose) negates the noun 'zaak' with 'geen', with dummy 'het' anticipating the 'te'-infinitive subject. 'een jongen buffel' keeps the accusative -n.
> Reflexive zich neerlaten in the pluperfect: 'ze hadden zich neergelaten' (they had let themselves down) is the pluperfect of reflexive, separable 'zich neerlaten'. 'rottan-koorden' is a compound (rotan + koorden), rattan ropes.

Adinda's vader was de moedigste geweest ...  
Adinda's father had been the bravest of all...

O, hoe zy in de handen klapte, Adinda! En daarginds, aan de andere zyde, waar 't kokosboschje wuift over de hutten van het dorp, daar ergens was Si-Oenah uit een boom gevallen, en gestorven.  
Oh, how she clapped her hands, Adinda! And over yonder, on the other side, where the little coconut grove waves above the huts of the village, somewhere there Si-Oenah had fallen from a tree, and died.
> Exclamatory 'hoe' + dislocated subject: 'hoe zy in de handen klapte' (how she clapped her hands) is an exclamatory 'hoe'-clause with the verb 'klapte' at the end; 'Adinda' is added in apposition, a dislocation for emotional emphasis.
> Relative waar + diminutive kokosboschje: 'waar 't kokosboschje wuift over de hutten' (where the little coconut grove waves over the huts) is a place-relative. 'kokosboschje' is a diminutive compound (kokos + bosch + -je).

Hoe schreide zyn moeder: "omdat Si-Oenah nog zoo klein was" jammerde zy ... alsof ze minder bedroefd zou geweest zyn als Si-Oenah grooter geweest ware.  
How his mother wept: "because Si-Oenah was still so little," she lamented... as if she would have grieved any less had Si-Oenah been bigger.
> Exclamatory 'Hoe' + inversion: 'Hoe schreide zyn moeder' (how his mother wept) fronts exclamatory 'Hoe', inverting to 'schreide zyn moeder'. 'schreien' = to weep, an archaic/literary verb.
> Counterfactual: alsof + zou + subjunctive ware: 'alsof ze minder bedroefd zou geweest zyn als Si-Oenah grooter geweest ware' is a double counterfactual: 'alsof ... zou geweest zyn' (as if she would have been) with the if-clause 'als ... geweest ware' (had been) in the subjunctive.

Maar klein was hy, dàt is waar, want hy was kleiner en zwakker nog dan Adinda ...  
But little he was, that is true, for he was smaller and weaker even than Adinda...
> Fronted predicate + verb-second: 'Maar klein was hy' (but little he was): fronting the predicate adjective 'klein' inverts to 'was hy'. 'dàt is waar' = that is true.
> Comparatives kleiner / zwakker + dan: 'kleiner en zwakker ... dan Adinda' (smaller and weaker than Adinda) uses two comparatives in -er with 'dan' for 'than'. Coordinating 'want' keeps normal order.

Niemand betrad het wegje dat van Badoer leidde naar den boom.  
No one set foot on the little path that led from Badoer to the tree.
> Single negative niemand + diminutive wegje: 'Niemand betrad het wegje' (no one trod the little path): 'niemand' alone carries the negation. 'wegje' is the diminutive of weg — a little path. 'betrad' is the strong past of betreden.
> Relative dat for het-word wegje: 'dat van Badoer leidde naar den boom' (that led from Badoer to the tree) is a relative clause for the diminutive het-word 'wegje'; 'leidde' (weak past) at the end.

Straks zou ze komen: o, zeker.. 't was nog zoo vroeg!  
Soon she would come: oh, surely.. it was still so early!
> Fronted 'Straks' + conditional zou komen: 'Straks zou ze komen' (soon she would come): fronting 'Straks' inverts to 'zou ze'. 'zou ... komen' is the conditional/expectational future. ''t was nog zoo vroeg' uses impersonal 't.

Saïdjah zag een badjing die met dartele vlugheid heen-en-weersprong tegen den stam van een klappa-boom.  
Saïdjah saw a badjing that with playful nimbleness sprang up and down the trunk of a coconut palm.
> Relative die + separable heen-en-weer springen: 'een badjing die met dartele vlugheid heen-en-weersprong' (a squirrel that sprang to and fro) is a relative clause; the verb 'sprong' (strong past of springen) joins the directional 'heen-en-weer' at the end.

Het diertje--de ergernis van den eigenaar des booms, maar lief toch in gedaante en beweging--klauterde onvermoeid op-en-neder.  
The little creature—the vexation of the tree's owner, yet charming in shape and movement all the same—clambered tirelessly up and down.
> Frozen genitive: des booms: Both den (an old strong-masculine ending) and des booms ('of the tree', genitive des + noun + -s) are inflected case-remnants kept alive in 1860 literary prose. Modern Dutch would write de eigenaar van de boom.
> Diminutive -tje: Het diertje ('the little creature') is the diminutive of dier with the -tje suffix, which also forces neuter gender and the article het.
> op-en-neder: An archaic, hyphenated form of op en neer, 'up and down'; neder is the older literary variant of neer.

Saïdjah zag het, en dwong zich er naar te blyven zien, wyl dit aan zyn gedachten rust gaf van den zwaren arbeid dien ze verrichtten sedert het opgaan der zon ... rust na 't afmattend wachten.  
Saïdjah saw it, and forced himself to keep watching it, since this gave his thoughts rest from the heavy labor they had been performing since the rising of the sun... rest after the wearying wait.
> Reflexive zich + pronominal adverb: dwong zich is the reflexive 'forced himself' (3rd-person zich), and er naar is a split pronominal adverb (ernaar, 'at it') with the preposition pulled to the end before the te-infinitive.
> Inflected relative dien: dien is the old accusative masculine form of the relative die ('which/that'), agreeing with the masculine den zwaren arbeid; modern Dutch uses die throughout.
> wyl = omdat: wyl (modern wijl) is an archaic causal conjunction, 'because / since', spelled here with period y for ij.

Welhaast uitten zich zyn indrukken in woorden, en hy zong wat er omging in zyn ziel.  
Soon his impressions found voice in words, and he sang what was passing within his soul.
> Inversion after Welhaast (V2): The clause opens with the adverb Welhaast ('soon'), so the finite verb uitten comes second and the subject zyn indrukken follows it — the verb-second rule. The verb is also reflexive: zich uiten, 'to express themselves'.
> Free relative wat + er: wat here is a headless relative pronoun ('what / that which'), and er supports the impersonal omging ('was going on') — the separable verb omgaan with its prefix split off.

Het ware my liever u zyn lied te kunnen voorlezen in 't maleisch, dat italiaansch van het Oosten doch ziehier de vertaling:  
I would rather be able to read you his song in Malay, that Italian of the East, but here is the translation:
> Subjunctive ware + dative my: ware is the archaic past-subjunctive of zijn ('it would be'), and my ('to me') here carries an old dative sense — together a solemn 'I would rather'. The construction governs a te-infinitive, voorlezen.

"Zie hoe de badjing zyn levensonderhoud zoekt Op den klappa-boom.  
"See how the badjing seeks his living On the coconut palm.
> Imperative Zie: Zie ('See!') is the bare-stem imperative opening the song; the dependent question hoe ... zoekt pushes its finite verb to the clause end.

Hy stygt, daalt, dartelt links en rechts, Hy draait om den boom, springt, valt, klimt, en valt weder: Hy heeft geen vleugels, en is toch zoo vlug als een vogel.  
He climbs, descends, frolics left and right, He circles the tree, springs, falls, climbs, and falls again: He has no wings, and yet is as nimble as a bird.
> geen for an indefinite plural: geen negates an indefinite noun ('no wings'), where niet could not be used; it covers both singular and plural indefinites.
> Old accusative den: den boom keeps the strong masculine accusative ending -en after the preposition om, a case-remnant standard in 1860 print but gone from modern de boom.
> weder = weer: weder is the literary/archaic form of weer, 'again'; valt weder = 'falls again'.

Veel geluk, myn badjing, ik wensch u heil!  
Much good fortune, my badjing, I wish you well!
> Pronoun u + period spelling wensch: u is the polite/elevated 'you' addressed to the squirrel, and wensch keeps the 1860 sch-spelling where modern Dutch has wens.

Ge zult gewis vinden het levensonderhoud dat ge zoekt...  
You will surely find the living that you seek...
> Future with zullen + archaic ge: zult (from zullen) builds the explicit future with the infinitive vinden at the end; ge is the literary 2nd-person subject pronoun of 1860.

Maar ik zit alleen by het djati-bosch, Wachtende op levensonderhoud van myn hart. Reeds lang is het buikje van myn badjing verzadigd...  
But I sit alone by the djati forest, Waiting for the living of my heart. Long since has the little belly of my badjing been filled...
> Diminutive buikje: buikje is the diminutive of buik ('belly'), the -je adding tenderness — 'the little belly' of the badjing — and making the noun neuter (het buikje).
> verzadigd = sated: verzadigd means 'sated, filled to satisfaction'; here the squirrel's belly is already full while the singer's heart still hungers.

Reeds lang is hy teruggekeerd in zyn nestje... Maar nog altyd is myn ziel En myn hart bitter bedroefd..  
Long since has he returned to his little nest... But still my soul And my heart are bitterly grieved..
> Perfect with zijn: Verbs of motion/change like terugkeren form the perfect with zijn, not hebben: is ... teruggekeerd = 'has returned'.
> Diminutive nestje: nestje, diminutive of nest, here connotes a small, cosy 'little nest'.

Adinda!"  
Adinda!"

Nog was er niemand op het pad dat van Badoer leidde naar den ketapan.  
Still there was no one on the path that led from Badoer to the ketapan.
> er-existential with inversion: The refrain fronts the adverb Nog, so the verb was comes second (V2) and er marks existence: 'there was still no one'. niemand is the single negative word standing in for a subject.
> Relative dat for a het-word: het pad is neuter, so the relative pronoun is dat (not die); the verb leidde sits at the end of the relative clause.

Saïdjah's oog viel op een kapel die zich scheen te verheugen omdat het begon warm te worden.  
Saïdjah's eye fell on a butterfly that seemed to rejoice because it was beginning to grow warm.
> Reflexive zich verheugen + te-infinitive: zich verheugen ('to rejoice') is a reflexive verb; scheen te verheugen uses schijnen 'to seem' governing a te-infinitive.
> Impersonal het + subordinate order: het is a dummy subject for the temperature ('it was growing warm'), and omdat sends the verbs to the clause end.
> kapel = butterfly: kapel is an older/regional word for 'butterfly' (modern vlinder, used in the next stanza); not the false friend 'chapel'.

"Zie hoe de vlinder daar rondfladdert. Zyn vlerkjes schitteren als een veelkleurige bloem.  
"See how the butterfly flutters about there. His little wings glitter like a many-colored flower.
> Separable verb rondfladderen: rondfladderen ('to flutter about') is separable; in this main clause within the hoe-question the prefix rond stays fused at the end with the verb.
> Diminutive plural vlerkjes: vlerkjes is the diminutive plural of vlerk ('wing'), 'little wings'; the diminutive plural always takes -s.

Zyn hartjen is verliefd op den bloesem der kenari.  
His little heart is in love with the blossom of the kenari.
> Diminutive hartjen + genitive der kenari: hartjen is an archaic spelling of hartje ('little heart'), and der kenari is the feminine genitive 'of the kenari', der being an old case-form.

Zeker zoekt hy zyn welriekende geliefde. Veel geluk, myn vlinder, ik wensch u heil!  
Surely he is seeking his sweet-scented beloved. Much good fortune, my butterfly, I wish you well!
> Inversion after fronted Zeker: Fronting the adverb Zeker ('surely') puts the finite verb zoekt in second position before the subject hy.
> Present participle as adjective: welriekend ('sweet-scented') is a present participle in -end used attributively, hence the adjectival -e: zyn welriekende geliefde.

Ge zult gewis vinden wat gy zoekt...  
You will surely find what you seek...
> Headless relative wat + verb-final: wat ('what') opens a free relative clause with no antecedent, and gy zoekt places the verb at the end. gy is the literary 2nd-person of 1860.

Maar ik zit alleen by het djati-bosch, Wachtende op wat myn hart liefheeft.  
But I sit alone by the djati forest, Waiting for what my heart loves.
> Present participle Wachtende: Wachtende is the -ende present participle of wachten, used absolutely ('waiting'); liefheeft is the separable verb liefhebben fused at the clause end.

Reeds lang heeft de vlinder gekust Den kenari-bloesem die hy zoozeer bemint...  
Long since has the butterfly kissed The kenari blossom that he loves so dearly...
> Perfect with hebben: gekust is the past participle (ge- + kus + -t) of the weak verb kussen, forming the present perfect with heeft.
> Accusative den + relative die: Den kenari-bloesem carries the old masculine accusative -en, and die is the relative for this de-word; bemint is the literary verb beminnen, 'to love'.

Maar nog altyd is myn ziel En myn hart bitter bedroefd... Adinda!"  
But still my soul And my heart are bitterly grieved... Adinda!"

En er was niemand op het pad dat van Badoer leidde naar den boom.  
And there was no one on the path that led from Badoer to the tree.
> Coordinating En keeps V2: En ('and') is a coordinating conjunction: unlike a subordinator, it does not count as a clause element, so the verb was still falls in second position with er.

De zon begon reeds hoog te staan ... er was al hitte in de lucht.  
The sun had already begun to stand high ... there was warmth in the air now.
> beginnen + te-infinitive: beginnen governs a te-infinitive (te staan); the adverb reeds ('already') sits in the middle field before it.
> Existential er: er was hitte = 'there was heat'; er introduces the existence of an indefinite subject, hitte.

"Zie, hoe de zon schittert daar omhoog, Hoog boven den waringi-heuvel! Ze voelt zich te warm, en wenscht neertedalen, Om te slapen in zee, als in de armen van een gade.  
"See how the sun glitters up there, High above the waringi hill! She feels herself too warm, and longs to descend, To sleep in the sea, as in the arms of a spouse.
> Reflexive zich + te-infinitive neertedalen: zich voelen ('to feel oneself') is reflexive; neertedalen is the period spelling of neer te dalen, the separable verb's prefix, te, and infinitive written as one word.
> Purpose clause om ... te: Om te slapen frames a purpose, 'in order to sleep'; om opens it and te + infinitive closes it.

Veel geluk, o zon, ik wensch u heil!  
Much good fortune, O sun, I wish you well!
> Apostrophe with u: The sun is addressed directly (apostrophe) and given the elevated pronoun u, sustaining the litany 'I wish you well' across squirrel, butterfly, and sun.

Wat gy zoekt, zult ge gewis vinden... Maar ik zit alleen by het djati-bosch, Wachtende op rust voor myn hart.  
What you seek, you will surely find... But I sit alone by the djati forest, Waiting for rest for my heart.
> Fronted object clause forces inversion: The whole clause Wat gy zoekt is fronted as the first element, so the main verb zult comes second before the subject ge — verb-second over a clausal topic.

Reeds lang zal de zon ondergegaan wezen, En slapen in de zee, als alles duister is... En nog altyd zal myn ziel En myn hart bitter bedroefd zyn....  
Long since will the sun have set, And be sleeping in the sea, when all is dark... And still my soul And my heart will be bitterly grieved....
> Future perfect: zal ... ondergegaan wezen: zal + the participle ondergegaan + the infinitive wezen builds a future perfect, 'will have set'; wezen is the archaic infinitive of zijn.
> Subordinator als sends verb to end: als ('when') opens a subordinate clause, so the verb is goes to the very end.

Adinda!  
Adinda!

Nog was er niemand op den weg die er leidt van Badoer naar den ketapan.  
Still there was no one on the road that leads from Badoer to the ketapan.
> Old dative den + relative die: den weg keeps the masculine -en after op; die is the relative pronoun for this de-word, and er ... leidt marks the path 'that leads' there.

"Als er niet langer vlinders zullen rondfladderen, Als de sterren niet meer zullen schitteren, Als de melatti niet meer welriekend zal wezen, Als er niet langer bedroefde harten zyn, Noch wild gedierte in het woud... Als de zon verkeerd zal loopen, En de maan vergeten wat oost en west is...  
"When there will be no more butterflies fluttering about, When the stars will glitter no more, When the melatti will be sweet-scented no more, When there are no longer grieving hearts, Nor wild beasts in the forest... When the sun will run its course awry, And the moon forget what east and west are...
> Conditional als-clauses with future: A stacked series of als-clauses ('when/if...') each push their verbs to the end; zullen rondfladderen is the future of the separable verb rondfladderen.
> Negative coordinator noch: noch ('nor') continues the negation across the list; Dutch keeps one negation logic and noch links further negated items.

Als dàn Adinda nog niet gekomen is, Dan zal een engel met blinkende vleugelen Neerdalen op aarde, om te zoeken wat daar achterbleef.  
If then Adinda has still not come, Then an angel with shining wings Will descend to earth, to seek what was left behind there.
> Conditional with verb-final perfect: The als-clause closes with the perfect gekomen is (motion verb, so zijn-auxiliary), and the main clause then opens with Dan zal — a textbook 'if X, then Y'.
> Purpose om te + separable achterblijven: om te zoeken states purpose; the embedded free relative wat daar achterbleef uses the separable verb achterblijven ('was left behind') at the clause end.

Dan zal myn lyk hier liggen onder den ketapan...  
Then my body will lie here beneath the ketapan...
> Future zullen + bare infinitive: After the fronted Dan, zal stands second and the bare infinitive liggen goes to the end: 'then my body will lie here'.
> lyk = corpse: lyk (modern lijk) is 'corpse/body'; not the English false friend 'like'. The y is the period spelling of ij.

Myn ziel is bitter bedroefd...  
My soul is bitterly grieved...
> Predicative adjective + adverb bitter: bedroefd ('grieved') is a predicative adjective (no -e ending in predicate position), modified by the adverb bitter, 'bitterly'.

Adinda!" Nog was er niemand op het pad dat van Badoer leidde naar den ketapan.  
Adinda!" Still there was no one on the path that led from Badoer to the ketapan.
> Refrain: relative dat + verb-final: The recurring refrain pairs neuter het pad with the relative dat and pushes leidde to the clause end — the structural anchor that returns after every stanza.

"Dan zal myn lyk door den engel gezien worden. Hy zal het zyn broederen aanwyzen met den vinger:  
"Then my body will be seen by the angel. He will point it out to his brothers with his finger:
> Future passive with worden: gezien worden is the process-passive (worden + past participle); with zal it becomes a future passive, 'will be seen'.
> Separable aanwijzen at the end: aanwijzen ('to point out') is separable; under the future zal the whole infinitive aanwyzen lands at the clause end. broederen is an archaic plural of broeder.

"Ziet, daar is een gestorven mensch vergeten, Zyn verstyfde mond kust een melatti-bloem.  
"See, here a dead man lies forgotten, his stiffened mouth kisses a melati blossom.
> Plural imperative Ziet: Ziet ('Behold, all of you') is the older plural/solemn imperative; gestorven is a past participle used attributively, 'a dead man'.
> Participle as adjective: verstyfde: verstyfd ('stiffened', from verstijven) is a past participle used attributively and so takes the adjectival -e: verstyfde mond.

Komt, dat wy hem opnemen en ten-hemel dragen, Hem, die op Adinda gewacht heeft tot hy dood was.  
Come, let us take him up and bear him to heaven, him who waited for Adinda until he was dead.
> Hortative dat wy + plural imperative Komt: Komt is the solemn plural imperative ('Come'); the dat-clause works as a hortative ('let us take him up...'), with the separable opnemen split at the clause end.
> ten-hemel = to heaven: ten is a fossilized contraction of te + den (old dative); ten hemel = 'to heaven', a frozen prepositional phrase.

Gewis, hy mag niet daar achterblyven, Wiens hart de kracht had zóó te beminnen!"  
Surely he may not be left behind there, he whose heart had the strength to love so!"
> Genitive relative wiens: wiens is the genitive masculine relative, 'whose': 'he whose heart had the strength'. It is the high-register counterpart of van wie.
> Modal mag + bare infinitive: mag (from mogen) is a modal sending the bare infinitive achterblyven to the end; niet negates the verb, not a noun.

Dan zal nog ééns myn verstyfde mond zich openen Om Adinda te roepen, die myn hart lief heeft...  
Then once more shall my stiffened mouth open to call Adinda, who holds my heart dear...
> Reflexive zich openen in the future: zich openen ('to open' intransitively) is reflexive; under zal the reflexive and infinitive sit together at the end of the fronted-Dan clause.
> om te + relative die: Om ... te roepen states purpose; the relative die (for the person Adinda) introduces 'who holds my heart dear', with the separable liefhebben at the end.

Nog éénmaal zal ik de melatti kussen Die zy me gaf...  
Once again shall I kiss the melati that she gave me...
> Relative die + past gaf: die ('which') refers back to the melatti; zy ('she') is the subject and gaf is the strong simple past of geven, with the verb at the clause end.

Adinda... Adinda!"  
Adinda... Adinda!"

En nog altyd was er niemand op het pad dat van Badoer leidde naar den boom.  
And still there was no one on the path that led from Badoer to the tree.

O, ze was gewis tegen den morgenstond in slaap gevallen, vermoeid van 't waken gedurende den nacht, van 't waken vele lange nachten door! Zeker had ze niet geslapen sedert weken: zóó was het!  
Oh, surely she had fallen asleep toward the break of morning, worn out from keeping watch through the night, from keeping watch through many a long night! Surely she had not slept for weeks: that was it!
> Pluperfect with zijn: was ... gevallen is the pluperfect ('she had fallen'); in slaap vallen uses zijn because it is a change of state, and the participle gevallen closes the clause.
> Nominalized infinitive 't waken: het waken is an infinitive used as a noun, 'the keeping watch'; vermoeid is a participle-adjective, 'worn out'.

Zou hy opstaan en naar Badoer gaan? Neen!  
Should he get up and go to Badoer? No!
> Conditional/deliberative zou: zou (from zullen) here frames a deliberative question ('should he get up...?'); the separable opstaan and the infinitive gaan land at the end.

Mocht het schynen alsof er twyfel was aan haar komst? Als hy den man riep die daarginds zyn buffel naar 't veld dreef?  
Should it seem as though there were any doubt about her coming? If he were to call the man who, off in the distance there, was driving his buffalo out to the field?
> Modal mocht + impersonal het: mocht is the past/conditional of mogen ('should it'), het is the dummy subject of schynen ('to seem'), and alsof ('as if') opens a subordinate clause sending was to the end.
> Relative die + middle-field order: die opens the relative clause; the adverbials order place/direction before the verb-final dreef ('drove'), illustrating Dutch middle-field ordering.

Die man was te ver. En bovendien Saïdjah wilde niet spreken over Adinda, niet vragen naar Adinda ... hy wilde haar weerzien, háár alleen, háár het eerst!  
That man was too far away. And besides, Saïdjah did not want to speak about Adinda, did not want to ask after Adinda... he wanted to see her again, her alone, her first of all!
> Modal wilde + bare infinitive: wilde (from willen) is a modal taking the bare infinitive spreken; niet negates the action ('did not want to speak').
> weerzien = to see again: weerzien ('to see again, reunite with') is a separable verb here used as an infinitive after wilde; the emphatic háár marks the longed-for object.

O zeker, zéker zou ze nu spoedig komen! Hy zou wachten, wachten ...  
Oh surely, surely she would come soon now! He would wait, wait...
> Conditional zou for expectation: zou + komen here voices Saïdjah's hopeful expectation ('she would come soon'); after the fronted O zeker, zéker the verb zou stands second.

Maar als ze ziek was, of ... dood?  
But what if she were ill, or... dead?
> Conditional als-clause: als ('if') opens the conditional; was sits at the clause end and the elliptical of ... dood leaves the verb understood.

Als een aangeschoten hert vloog Saïdjah 't pad op, dat van den ketapan leidt naar het dorp waar Adinda woonde.  
Like a wounded deer Saïdjah flew up the path that runs from the ketapan to the village where Adinda lived.
> Fronted simile + separable opvliegen: The simile Als een aangeschoten hert ('like a wounded deer') is fronted, so vloog comes second; op is the separable prefix of opvliegen, stranded at the end ('flew up the path').
> Stacked relatives dat ... waar: dat relates to neuter 't pad, and waar ('where') opens a locative relative clause whose verb woonde goes to the end.

Hy zag niets en hoorde niets, en toch had hy iets kunnen hooren, want er stonden menschen op den weg by den ingang van het dorp, die riepen: "Saïdjah, Saïdjah!"  
He saw nothing and heard nothing, and yet there had been something he might have heard, for there were people standing on the road at the entrance to the village, who called out: "Saïdjah, Saïdjah!"
> Modal in the perfect: kunnen hooren: With a modal, the perfect uses the bare infinitive (the 'infinitivus pro participio'): had ... kunnen hooren, not gekund — 'might have heard'.
> Existential er + plural verb: er stonden menschen = 'there stood people'; er introduces the indefinite plural subject, and the verb agrees in number (stonden).

Maar ... was 't zyn haast, zyn drift, die hem belette Adinda's huis te vinden?  
But... was it his haste, his frenzy, that kept him from finding Adinda's house?
> Relative die + te-infinitive complement: die refers to zyn haast, zyn drift; beletten ('to prevent') governs a te-infinitive, te vinden, placed last.
> Possessive -'s (genitive): Adinda's huis uses the -'s possessive, the surviving Dutch counterpart of an English genitive; period prose also keeps fuller inflected genitives elsewhere.

Hy was reeds voortgevlogen tot aan 't einde van den weg waar het dorp ophoudt, en als dolzinnig keerde hy terug, en sloeg zich voor 't hoofd omdat hy háár huis had kunnen voorbygaan zonder het te zien. Maar weer was hy aan den ingang, en--myn God, was 't een droom?--weer had hy Adinda's huis niet gevonden!  
He had already rushed onward to the end of the road where the village leaves off, and like one possessed he turned back, and struck himself on the head because he might have passed by her house without seeing it. But again he was at the entrance, and—my God, was it a dream?—again he had not found Adinda's house!
> Pluperfect of separable voortvliegen: was ... voortgevlogen is the pluperfect of the separable verb voortvliegen; with motion + zijn, the ge- of the participle sits inside, voort-ge-vlogen.
> omdat-clause with modal perfect: omdat sends the verb cluster to the end, where the modal perfect had kunnen voorbygaan ('might have passed by') uses bare infinitives; zonder ... te zien adds a te-infinitive of accompanying circumstance.

Nogeens vloog hy terug, en op-eenmaal bleef hy staan, greep met beide handen zyn hoofd, als om daaruit den waanzin wegtepersen die hem beving, en riep luide: "dronken, dronken, ik ben dronken!"  
Once more he flew back, and all at once he stopped, gripped his head with both hands, as if to wring out of it the madness that was overtaking him, and cried aloud: "drunk, drunk, I am drunk!"
> Inversion after op-eenmaal: The fronted adverb op-eenmaal ('all at once') triggers V2: bleef stands second, and the following coordinated verbs greep and riep keep main-clause order.
> als om ... te (pseudo-purpose): als om ... te wegtepersen means 'as if to wring out'; wegtepersen is the period one-word spelling of weg te persen, the separable verb wegpersen wrapped around te. daaruit is a pronominal adverb, 'out of it'.

En de vrouwen van Badoer kwamen uit hare huizen, en zagen met deernis den armen Saïdjah daar staan, want zy herkenden hem, en begrepen dat hy Adinda's huis zocht, en wisten dat er geen huis van Adinda was in het dorp Badoer.  
And the women of Badoer came out of their houses, and with pity watched poor Saïdjah standing there, for they recognized him, and understood that he was looking for Adinda's house, and knew that there was no house of Adinda's in the village of Badoer.
> Possessive hare + plural: hare is the archaic inflected form of haar ('their', referring to de vrouwen); modern Dutch drops the -e. The verb kwamen agrees with the plural subject.
> Coordinator want vs subordinator dat: want ('for') coordinates and keeps normal V2 order, while the embedded dat-clause sends its verb was to the end; geen negates the indefinite huis.

Want, toen het distriktshoofd van Parang-Koedjan den buffel van Adinda's vader had weggenomen ... Ik heb u gezegd, lezer, dat myn verhaal eentonig is.  
For, when the district chief of Parang-Koedjang had taken away the buffalo belonging to Adinda's father... I have told you, reader, that my tale is monotonous.
> Perfect heb ... gezegd + dat-clause: heb ... gezegd is the present perfect; the direct address lezer ('reader') breaks the narrative, and dat opens a subordinate clause with is at the end.

... toen was Adinda's moeder gestorven van verdriet. En haar jongste zusje was gestorven omdat het geen moeder had die 't zoogde.  
... then Adinda's mother had died of grief. And her youngest little sister had died because she had no mother to suckle her.
> toen + pluperfect with inversion: Fronted toen ('then') gives V2 (was second); gestorven (change of state, so zijn) makes the pluperfect 'had died of grief'.
> omdat + geen + relative die: omdat sends had to the end; geen moeder negates the indefinite noun, and die opens a relative clause ('who suckled it'). Note het for the baby (neuter zusje).

En Adinda's vader, die vreesde voor de straf als hy zyn landrenten niet betaalde ...  
And Adinda's father, who dreaded the punishment if he did not pay his land rents...
> Relative die + conditional als: die opens the relative clause about Adinda's father; the embedded als-clause ('if he did not pay') sends betaalde to the end, with niet negating the verb.

Ik weet het wel, ik weet het wel, dat myn verhaal eentonig is! ...  
I know it well, I know it well, that my tale is monotonous! ...

Adinda's vader was heengegaan uit het land. Hy had Adinda meegenomen, met hare broeders.  
Adinda's father had gone away out of the land. He had taken Adinda with him, along with her brothers.
> Pluperfect of separable heengaan: was heengegaan ('had gone away') is the pluperfect of the separable motion verb heengaan, taking zijn.
> Archaic possessive hare: hare is again the older inflected haar ('her'), 'with her brothers'; the -e ending is a period feature dropped in modern Dutch.

Maar hy had vernomen hoe de vader van Saïdjah te Buitenzorg was gestraft met rottingslagen omdat hy Badoer verlaten had zonder pas.  
But he had learned how Saïdjah's father had been punished at Buitenzorg with strokes of the rattan because he had left Badoer without a pass.
> Indirect question + passive pluperfect: hoe opens an embedded question (verb to the end), and was gestraft is a passive pluperfect: 'how Saïdjah's father had been punished'.

En daarom was Adinda's vader niet gegaan naar Buitenzorg, noch naar Krawang, noch naar de Preanger, noch naar de Bataviasche Ommelanden ... hy was gegaan naar Tjilang-kahan, het distrikt van Lebak, dat aan de zee grenst.  
And so Adinda's father had not gone to Buitenzorg, nor to Krawang, nor to the Preanger, nor to the Batavian Ommelanden... he had gone to Tjilangkahan, the district of Lebak that borders the sea.
> niet ... noch ... noch (negative series): A single niet is extended by repeated noch ('nor') across the list of places — one negation logic carried through coordinated items, not a double negative.

Daar had hy zich verscholen in de bosschen, en gewacht op de komst van Pa-Ento, Pa-Lontah, Si-Oeniah, Pa-Ansioe, Abdoel-Isma en nog eenige anderen die door het distriktshoofd van Parang-Koedjang beroofd waren van hun buffels, en die allen vreesden voor straf als ze hun landrenten niet betaalden. Daar hadden ze zich by-nacht meester gemaakt van een visschersprauw, en waren in zee gestoken.  
There he had hidden himself in the forests, and waited for the coming of Pa-Ento, Pa-Lontah, Si-Oeniah, Pa-Ansioe, Abdoel-Isma and several others who had been robbed of their buffaloes by the district chief of Parang-Koedjang, and who all dreaded punishment if they did not pay their land rents. There, by night, they had seized a fishing prau, and had put out to sea.
> Passive relative with door (agent): beroofd waren is a passive ('had been robbed'); door marks the agent, the district chief. The relative die introduces the men so robbed.
> Reflexive idiom zich meester maken van: zich meester maken van ('to take possession of, seize') is a reflexive idiom; hadden ... gemaakt is the pluperfect. waren in zee gestoken ('had put out to sea') again takes zijn.

Ze hadden westelyk gestuurd, en hielden het land rechts van zich, tot aan Java-punt.  
They had steered westward, keeping the land to their right, as far as the point of Java.
> Pluperfect then imperfect; reflexive zich: hadden gestuurd is pluperfect, then the narrative shifts to the simple past hielden; van zich ('to their right') uses the reflexive zich for the subject's own side.

Vanhier waren zy noordwaarts gestevend tot ze Tanahitam voor zich zagen, dat de europesche zeelieden Prinsen-eiland noemen. Zy waren dat eiland omgezeild aan de oostzyde, en hadden toen aangehouden op de Keizersbaai, zich richtende op den hoogen piek in de Lampongs.  
From here they had headed northward until they saw Tanahitam before them, which the European seamen call Princes' Island. They had sailed around that island on its eastern side, and had then held course for the Keizersbaai, taking their bearing on the high peak in the Lampongs.
> zijn vs hebben in the pluperfect: Motion across (omzeilen) takes zijn (waren ... omgezeild), while aanhouden ('to hold course') takes hebben (hadden ... aangehouden) — both separable participles split around ge-.

Zóó althans was de weg dien men elkander fluisterend vóórzei in 't Lebaksche, wanneer er gesproken werd over officieelen buffelroof en onbetaalde landrenten.  
Such, at least, was the route that men whispered to one another in the Lebak country, whenever there was talk of official buffalo-theft and unpaid land rents.
> Inflected relative dien + indefinite men: dien is the old accusative masculine relative agreeing with de weg, and men ('one, people') is the impersonal subject 'that people whispered'.
> Impersonal passive with werd: er gesproken werd is an impersonal worden-passive ('there was talk of'), with no real subject; wanneer sends the verb to the end.

Maar de verbysterde Saïdjah verstond niet duidelyk wat men hem zeide. Zelfs begreep hy niet goed het bericht van den dood zyn vaders.  
But the bewildered Saïdjah did not clearly understand what they were telling him. He did not even rightly grasp the news of his father's death.
> niet + headless relative wat: niet negates the verb verstond ('did not understand'); wat opens a free relative ('what they told him') with zeide at the end. men is again the impersonal 'they/people'.
> Genitive zyn vaders: zyn vaders is an inflected genitive, 'of his father' (modern van zijn vader); den dood keeps the old masculine accusative -en.

Er was een gegons in zyn ooren als had men op een gong geslagen in zyn hoofd. Hy voelde hoe 't bloed met schokken werd gewrongen door de aderen aan zyn slapen, die dreigden te bezwyken onder den druk van zoo zware uitzetting.  
There was a humming in his ears as though a gong had been struck inside his head. He felt how the blood was forced in jolts through the veins at his temples, which threatened to give way under the pressure of so heavy a swelling.
> Existential er + inverted als-simile: er was een gegons introduces the humming; the comparison als had men ... geslagen inverts the verb to the front (a literary 'as if'), an elevated alternative to alsof men ... had.
> Process passive werd gewrongen: werd gewrongen is the worden-passive in the past, 'was forced/wrung'; hoe opens an embedded clause sending the verb cluster to the end.

Hy sprak niet, en staarde met verdoofden blik rond zonder te zien wat om en by hem was, en berstte eindelyk uit in akelig gelach.  
He did not speak, and stared with a dulled gaze about him without seeing what was around and beside him, and at last burst out in a ghastly laugh.
> zonder te + headless relative: zonder te zien ('without seeing') uses a te-infinitive of accompanying circumstance; wat ... was is a free relative, 'what was around him'.
> Separable uitbersten: uitbersten ('to burst out') is separable; in this simple-past main clause the prefix uit strands at the end: berstte ... uit.

Een oude vrouw nam hem mede naar haar huisjen en verpleegde den armen dwaas.  
An old woman took him along to her little house and nursed the poor fool.
> Separable medenemen + diminutive huisjen: mede (modern mee) is the stranded prefix of medenemen ('to take along'); huisjen is an archaic spelling of huisje, the diminutive of huis.
> Old accusative den armen dwaas: den armen carries the masculine accusative -en on both article and adjective, an 1860 case-remnant; modern Dutch: de arme dwaas.

Weldra lachte hy niet meer zoo akelig, maar toch sprak hy niet.  
Before long he no longer laughed so ghastly, but still he did not speak.
> Inversion after Weldra; coordinator maar: Fronted Weldra ('before long') triggers V2 (lachte second); maar ('but') coordinates without sending the verb to the end, but toch then re-fronts and inverts sprak.

Alleen 's nachts werden de hutgenooten opgeschrikt door zyn stem, als hy toonloos zong: "ik weet niet waar ik sterven zal" en eenige bewoners van Badoer legden geld tezamen, om een offer te brengen aan de boaja's van den Tjioedjoeng voor de genezing van Saïdjah, dien men voor zinneloos hield.  
Only at night were the others in the hut startled by his voice, when he sang in a toneless way: "I do not know where I shall die," and several of the people of Badoer pooled their money together to bring an offering to the boajas of the Tjioedjoeng for the healing of Saïdjah, whom they took to be out of his senses.
> Process passive werden ... opgeschrikt: werden ... opgeschrikt is the worden-passive in the past ('were startled'); 's nachts is a frozen genitive of time ('at night'), and the fronted adverbial forces inversion.
> Purpose om ... te brengen: om ... te brengen states the villagers' purpose; dien men voor zinneloos hield is a relative clause with old accusative dien ('whom they held to be mad').

Maar zinneloos was hy niet.  
But out of his senses he was not.

Want eens by nacht, toen de maan helder lichtte, stond hy op van de baleh-baleh, en verliet zachtkens het huis, en zocht naar de plek waar Adinda gewoond had.  
For one night, when the moon shone bright, he rose from the baleh-baleh, and quietly left the house, and sought out the spot where Adinda had lived.
> toen-clause + main-clause separable opstaan: toen ('when') sends lichtte to the end of the time-clause; the main clause then inverts (verb second) with the separable op stranded: stond hy op.
> Locative relative waar + pluperfect: waar ('where') opens a relative clause; gewoond had is the pluperfect ('had lived') with the verb cluster at the end.

Het was niet gemakkelyk die te vinden, omdat er zoovéél huizen waren ingestort. Doch hy scheen de plaats te herkennen aan de wydte van den hoek dien sommige lichtlynen door 't geboomte vormden by haar ontmoeting in zyn oog, zooals de zeeman peiling neemt op vuurtorens of uitstekende bergpunten.  
It was not easy to find it, because so many houses had fallen in. Yet he seemed to recognize the place by the width of the angle that certain shafts of light had formed through the trees as they met in his eye, the way a sailor takes his bearing on lighthouses or jutting mountain peaks.
> omdat + er + pluperfect of instorten: omdat sends the cluster to the end; er supports the indefinite plural subject huizen, and waren ingestort is the zijn-pluperfect of separable instorten ('had collapsed').
> Inflected relative dien (accusative): dien is the old accusative masculine relative agreeing with den hoek ('the angle that...'); vormden ('formed') closes the relative clause.

Ja, dáár moest het zyn ...dáár had Adinda gewoond!  
Yes, it must have been there... there Adinda had lived!
> Modal moest + fronted dáár: moest (from moeten) is an epistemic modal, 'it must have been'; the stressed dáár ('there') is fronted twice, each time forcing inversion of the finite verb.

Struikelend over halfvergane bamboe en over stukken van 't neergevallen dak, baande hy zich een weg naar 't heiligdom dat hy zocht.  
Stumbling over half-rotted bamboo and over pieces of the fallen-in roof, he forced his way to the sanctuary that he sought.
> Fronted present participle Struikelend: The participial phrase Struikelend ('stumbling') is fronted, so the finite baande comes second; zich een weg banen ('to force one's way') is a reflexive idiom.
> Relative dat for a het-word: het heiligdom is neuter, so the relative is dat; zocht goes to the end of the relative clause.

En, waarlyk, hy vond nog iets terug van den opstaanden Pagger waarnaast Adinda's baleh-baleh gestaan had, en zelfs stak in dien pagger nog de bamboezen pin, waaraan ze haar kleed hing als ze zich te slapen legde ...  
And, truly, he found something still left of the standing pagger beside which Adinda's baleh-baleh had stood, and there even still stuck in that pagger the bamboo pin on which she had hung her dress when she lay down to sleep...
> Pronominal-adverb relative waarnaast: waarnaast ('beside which') is a pronominal-adverb relative (waar + naast) referring to the pagger; gestaan had is the pluperfect at the clause end.
> Inversion + waaraan: The locative in dien pagger is fronted (verb stak second), and waaraan ('on which') opens a relative clause; als ze zich te slapen legde uses reflexive zich + te-infinitive ('when she lay down to sleep').

Maar de baleh-baleh was ingestort als het huis, en byna vergaan tot stof.  
But the baleh-baleh had fallen in like the house, and had nearly crumbled away to dust.
> Pluperfect with zijn (collapse/decay): was ingestort and (was) vergaan are both zijn-pluperfects, since instorten and vergaan are changes of state; als het huis means 'like the house'.

Hy nam een handvol daarvan, drukte het aan zyn geopende lippen, en ademde zeer diep ...  
He took up a handful of it, pressed it to his parted lips, and breathed very deeply...
> Pronominal adverb daarvan + coordinated past: daarvan ('of it') is a pronominal adverb replacing van + the dust; the three coordinated simple-past verbs nam, drukte, ademde keep main-clause order.

Den volgenden dag vroeg hy aan de oude vrouw die hem verpleegd had, waar 't rystblok was dat er gestaan had op het erf van Adinda's huis?  
The next day he asked the old woman who had nursed him, where the rice-block was that had stood in the yard of Adinda's house?
> Embedded question waar + relative dat: waar opens an indirect question (verb was at the end), and dat er gestaan had is a relative pluperfect, 'that had stood there'.

De vrouw was verheugd dat ze hem hoorde spreken, en liep het dorp rond om dat blok te zoeken.  
The woman was glad to hear him speak, and ran round the village to look for that block.
> Perception verb hooren + bare infinitive: hoorde spreken uses a bare infinitive (no te) after the perception verb hooren: 'heard him speak'. The dat-clause sends the verb cluster to the end.

Toen zy den nieuwen eigenaar aan Saïdjah kon aanwyzen, volgde deze haar zwygend, en by 't rystblok gebracht, telde hy daarop twee en dertig ingekorven strepen ...  
When she could point out the new owner to Saïdjah, he followed her in silence, and once brought to the rice-block, he counted upon it thirty-two notched marks...
> toen + modal kon + bare infinitive: toen sends the cluster kon aanwyzen to the end; kon (from kunnen) is a modal with the bare infinitive aanwyzen ('could point out'). den nieuwen eigenaar shows the old accusative -en.
> Fronted past-participle clause + inversion: The reduced clause by 't rystblok gebracht ('once brought to the block') fronts a participle, so telde comes second; ingekorven is a participle-adjective, 'notched'.

Toen gaf hy die vrouw zooveel Spaansche-matten als noodig was tot het koopen van een buffel, en verliet Badoer.  
Then he gave that woman as many Spanish dollars as were needed for the buying of a buffalo, and left Badoer.
> Comparative correlative zooveel ... als + nominalized koopen: zooveel ... als ('as many ... as') is a comparative correlative; het koopen ('the buying') is an infinitive nominalized as a noun after tot.

Te Tjilang-Kahan kocht hy een visschersprauw, en kwam daarmede na eenige dagen zeilens in de Lampongs aan, waar de opstandelingen zich verzetten tegen het nederlandsch gezag.  
At Tjilangkahan he bought a fishing prau, and arrived in it after several days' sailing in the Lampongs, where the insurgents were resisting Dutch authority.
> Pronominal adverb daarmede + separable aankomen: daarmede ('with it', archaic for daarmee) is a pronominal adverb; aankomen is separable, so aan strands at the end (kwam ... aan). zeilens is an old genitive of the gerund, 'of sailing'.
> Locative waar + reflexive zich verzetten: waar opens a relative clause; zich verzetten ('to resist') is reflexive, and the verb sits in clause-final position.

Hy sloot zich aan by een bende Bantammers, niet om te stryden zoozeer als om Adinda te zoeken. Want hy was zacht van aard, en meer ontvankelyk voor droefenis dan voor bitterheid.  
He joined a band of Bantammers, not so much to fight as to seek out Adinda. For he was gentle by nature, and more given to sorrow than to bitterness.
> Reflexive aansluiten + paired om te clauses: zich aansluiten bij ('to join') is reflexive and separable; the contrast niet om te stryden ... als om ... te zoeken sets two purpose-clauses against each other.

Op zekeren dag dat de opstandelingen op-nieuw waren geslagen, doolde hy rond in een dorp dat pas veroverd was door het nederlandsche leger, en dus in brand stond.  
One day when the insurgents had again been beaten, he wandered about in a village that had just been taken by the Dutch army, and was therefore in flames.
> Old dative op zekeren dag + passive pluperfect: op zekeren dag keeps the masculine dative -en after op; waren geslagen is a passive pluperfect ('had been beaten').
> Relative dat + coordinator dus: dat relates to neuter dorp; veroverd was is a passive ('had just been taken'), and dus ('so, therefore') coordinates the consequence without verb-final order.

Saïdjah wist dat de bende die daar vernietigd was geworden, grootendeels uit Bantammers had bestaan.  
Saïdjah knew that the band which had been destroyed there had consisted largely of Bantammers.
> Perfect passive: was geworden: vernietigd was geworden is the perfect of the worden-passive ('had been destroyed'), where the participle of worden appears as geworden — the full process-passive in the past.
> bestaan uit + pluperfect: had bestaan is the pluperfect of bestaan ('to consist'); uit governs the source, 'consisted largely of Bantammers'.

Als een spook waarde hy rond in de huizen die nog niet geheel verbrand waren, en vond het lyk van Adinda's vader met een klewang-bajonetwonde in de borst.  
Like a ghost he roamed about in the houses that had not yet wholly burned, and found the body of Adinda's father with a klewang-bayonet wound in the chest.
> Fronted simile + relative die: The simile Als een spook is fronted, so waarde comes second; rondwaren ('to roam') is separable, and die ... verbrand waren is a relative passive clause ('that had not yet wholly burned').

Naast hem zag Saïdjah de drie vermoorde broeders van Adinda, jongelingen, byna kinderen nog, en een weinig verder lag het lyk van Adinda, naakt, afschuwelyk mishandeld ...  
Beside him Saïdjah saw the three murdered brothers of Adinda, mere youths, scarcely more than children still, and a little farther off lay the body of Adinda, naked, hideously abused...
> Predicative participle mishandeld: mishandeld ('abused') is a past participle used predicatively about Adinda's corpse; naakt is a bare predicative adjective. Multatuli's clipped phrasing leaves the horror unembellished.
> Inversion after fronted adverbial: The fronted phrase een weinig verder ('a little farther') forces V2, so lag stands before its subject het lyk.

Er was een smal strookje blauw lynwaad gedrongen in de gapende borstwond die een eind scheen gemaakt te hebben aan lange worsteling ...  
A narrow strip of blue linen had been thrust into the gaping wound in her breast, which seemed to have put an end to a long struggle...
> Existential er + passive gedrongen: Er was ... gedrongen is a passive with er ('a strip had been thrust'); strookje is the diminutive of strook, 'a narrow little strip'.
> Relative die + perfect te-infinitive: die relates to the wound; scheen ... te hebben governs a te-infinitive, and gemaakt te hebben is a perfect infinitive, 'seemed to have made an end'.

Toen liep Saïdjah eenige soldaten te-gemoet, die met geveld geweer de laatstlevende opstandelingen in 't vuur dreven van de brandende huizen. Hy omvademde de breede zwaardbajonetten, drukte zich voorwaarts met kracht, en drong nog de soldaten terug met een laatste inspanning toen de gevesten stuitten tegen zyn borst.  
Then Saïdjah ran toward some soldiers who, with leveled rifles, were driving the last surviving insurgents into the fire of the burning houses. He clasped his arms around the broad sword-bayonets, pressed himself forward with all his strength, and with one last effort drove the soldiers back still farther when the hilts struck against his chest.
> Relative die + middle-field; participle geveld: die opens the relative clause about the soldiers; met geveld geweer ('with leveled rifle') uses a participle-adjective, and the manner/object adverbials precede the verb-final dreven.
> toen-clause sends stuitten to the end: toen ('when') opens a time-clause; its verb stuitten ('struck against') goes to the very end. The coordinated main verbs omvademde, drukte, drong keep V2.

En weinig tyds later was er te Batavia groot gejubel over de nieuwe overwinning die weer zooveel lauweren had gevoegd by de lauweren van 't nederlandsch-indisch leger.  
And a little while later there was great jubilation at Batavia over the new victory that had once more added so many laurels to the laurels of the Dutch-Indian army.
> Existential er + relative die: After the fronted weinig tyds later, V2 puts was second with er ('there was great jubilation'); die ... had gevoegd is a relative pluperfect.

En de Landvoogd schreef naar 't Moederland dat de rust in de Lampongs hersteld was. En de Koning van Nederland, voorgelicht door zyn Staatsdienaren, beloonde wederom zooveel heldenmoed met vele ridderkruisen.  
And the Governor-General wrote to the Mother Country that peace in the Lampongs had been restored. And the King of the Netherlands, advised by his Ministers of State, rewarded so much heroism once again with many crosses of knighthood.
> dat-clause + passive hersteld was: dat opens reported speech (verb to the end); hersteld was is a passive ('had been restored'). The capitalized Moederland heightens the official register.

En waarschynlyk stegen er in zondagskerk of bidstond uit de harten der vromen dankgebeden ten-hemel, by 't vernemen dat "de Heer der heirscharen" weer had meegestreden onder de banier van Nederland ...  
And probably, in Sunday church or at prayer meetings, prayers of thanksgiving rose to heaven from the hearts of the pious, on learning that "the Lord of Hosts" had once more fought on the side of the Netherlands under her banner...
> Inversion + er + frozen ten-hemel: Fronting waarschynlyk gives V2 (stegen second) with existential er; ten-hemel ('to heaven') is a fossilized te + den dative phrase.

"Maar God, met zooveel wee begaan, Nam de offers van dien dag niet aan!" * * * * *  
"But God, moved with so much woe, would not accept the offerings of that day!" * * * * *
> Separable aannemen split by niet: aannemen ('to accept') is separable; the prefix aan strands at the end after the negated object, Nam ... niet aan — 'would not accept'. dien dag keeps the old accusative -en.

Ik heb 't slot der geschiedenis van Saïdjah korter gemaakt, dan ik had kunnen doen wanneer ik lust gevoeld had in 't schetsen van iets akeligs.  
I have made the close of Saïdjah's story shorter than I might have done had I felt any appetite for sketching something gruesome.
> Comparative dan + modal perfect: dan ('than') marks the comparison after korter; had kunnen doen is a modal perfect with a bare infinitive, and the wanneer-clause sends gevoeld had to the end.
> iets akeligs (-s genitive): After iets/niets/wat, an adjective takes -s: iets akeligs = 'something gruesome'. A small frozen genitive pattern still standard in modern Dutch.

De lezer zal opgemerkt hebben hoe ik verwylde by de beschryving van het wachten onder den ketapan, als schrikte ik terug voor de treurige ontknooping, en hoe ik over deze ben heengegleden met afkeer.  
The reader will have noticed how I lingered over the description of the waiting beneath the ketapan, as if I shrank back from the sorrowful denouement, and how I slid over it with revulsion.
> Future perfect + embedded hoe: zal opgemerkt hebben is a future perfect ('will have noticed'); hoe ik verwylde opens an embedded clause with the verb at the end.
> Inverted als + separable terugschrikken: als schrikte ik terug ('as if I shrank back') inverts the verb for an elevated 'as if'; terugschrikken is separable, with terug stranded.

En toch was dit myn voornemen niet, toen ik begon over Saïdjah te spreken.  
And yet this was not my intention when I began to speak of Saïdjah.
> toen + beginnen te + infinitive: toen opens the time-clause; beginnen governs te spreken, and the whole verb cluster sits at the clause end.

Want aanvankelyk vreesde ik, sterker kleuren noodig te hebben om den lezer te treffen by 't beschryven van zoo vreemde toestanden.  
For at first I feared I should need stronger colors to move the reader in describing such strange conditions.
> vrezen + te-infinitive; comparative sterker: vreesde ... te hebben uses a te-infinitive after vrezen ('feared I should need'); sterker is the comparative of sterk, 'stronger colors'.

Gaande-weg echter gevoelde ik dat het een beleediging voor myn publiek wezen zou, te gelooven dat ik meer bloed had moeten brengen in myn schildery.  
Little by little, however, I came to feel that it would be an insult to my public to believe that I ought to have brought more blood into my painting.
> Conditional zou + subject te-clause: wezen zou is conditional ('would be'); the extraposed te gelooven dat ... is a te-infinitive clause functioning as the real subject of 'it would be an insult'. wezen is the archaic infinitive of zijn.
> Modal perfect had moeten brengen: had moeten brengen ('ought to have brought') is a modal in the perfect with bare infinitives; meer is the comparative 'more'.

Toch had ik dit kùnnen doen, want ik heb stukken voor my liggen ... doch neen: liever een bekentenis.  
I could have done so, though, for I have documents lying before me... but no: rather a confession.
> Modal perfect kunnen doen: had ... kunnen doen is the modal perfect ('could have done so') with a bare infinitive; the inversion follows fronted Toch.
> Verb of position + bare infinitive liggen: hebben ... liggen ('to have lying') uses a bare positional infinitive: 'I have documents lying before me' — a construction with no te.

Ja, een bekentenis, lezer! Ik weet niet of Saïdjah Adinda lief had.  
Yes, a confession, reader! I do not know whether Saïdjah loved Adinda.
> Indirect yes/no question with of: of ('whether') opens an embedded yes/no question, sending lief had to the end. The separable liefhebben fuses there. This is the start of Multatuli's famous 'confession'.

Niet of hy naar Batavia ging. Niet of hy in de Lampongs werd vermoord met nederlandsche bajonetten.  
Nor whether he went to Batavia. Nor whether he was murdered in the Lampongs with Dutch bayonets.
> Elliptical of-clause + worden-passive: The fragments continue the Ik weet niet of ... pattern elliptically; werd vermoord is the worden-passive ('was murdered'), with the verb at the clause end.

Ik weet niet of zyn vader bezweek ten-gevolge van de rottingslagen die hem werden gegeven omdat hy Badoer had verlaten zonder pas. Ik weet niet of Adinda de manen telde door kerven in haar rystblok ...  
I do not know whether his father died as a result of the rattan-strokes given him because he had left Badoer without a pass. I do not know whether Adinda counted the moons by notches in her rice-block...
> of-clause + passive relative werden gegeven: of opens the embedded question (bezweek at the end); die ... werden gegeven is a worden-passive relative ('that were given him'). ten-gevolge van is a fixed prepositional idiom, 'as a result of'.

Dit alles weet ik niet!  
All this I do not know!

Maar ik weet meer dan dat alles.  
But I know more than all that.
> Comparative meer ... dan: meer ... dan ('more ... than') is the comparative; the pivot from the litany of 'I do not know' to 'I know more' turns the confession into Multatuli's central claim.

Ik weet en kan bewyzen dat er veel Adinda's waren en veel Saïdjah's, en dat, wat verdichtsel is in 't byzonder, waarheid wordt in 't algemeen.  
I know and can prove that there were many Adindas and many Saïdjahs, and that what is fiction in the particular becomes truth in the general.
> Existential er + plural -s on names: dat opens the content-clause; er + waren expresses 'there were many'; proper names pluralize with -'s (Adinda's, Saïdjah's), making the point general.
> Headless wat + worden: wat ... is is a free relative subject, and wordt (the linking verb 'becomes') drives the famous antithesis: 'what is fiction in the particular becomes truth in the general'.

Ik zeide reeds dat ik de namen kan opgeven van personen die, zooals de ouders van Saïdjah en Adinda, door onderdrukking werden verdreven uit hun land.  
I have said already that I can give the names of persons who, like the parents of Saïdjah and Adinda, were driven out of their land by oppression.
> Relative die + passive with door: die opens the relative clause; werden verdreven is the worden-passive past ('were driven out'), with door onderdrukking ('by oppression') marking the agent/cause.
> dat-clause + modal kan opgeven: dat sends the cluster to the end, where the modal kan takes the separable infinitive opgeven ('can give'). zeide is the literary simple past of zeggen.

Het is myn doel niet, in dit werk mededeelingen te geven als voegen zouden voor een vierschaar die uitspraak te doen had over de wyze waarop 't nederlandsch gezag in Indie wordt uitgeoefend, mededeelingen die slechts kracht van bewys zouden hebben voor wien het geduld had die met aandacht en belangstelling doortelezen, zooals niet verwacht kan worden van een publiek dat verstroojing zoekt in zyn lektuur.  
It is not my aim, in this work, to set down the kind of disclosures that would suit a tribunal called to pronounce on the manner in which Dutch authority is exercised in the Indies—disclosures that would carry weight as proof only for one who had the patience to read them through with attention and concern, such as cannot be expected of a public that seeks diversion in its reading.
> Relative die + te-infinitive obligation; waarop: die opens the relative; uitspraak te doen had is a te-infinitive of obligation ('had to pronounce'), and waarop ('on which') is a pronominal-adverb relative.
> Process passive wordt uitgeoefend: wordt uitgeoefend is the worden-passive ('is exercised'); the separable uitoefenen splits with its participle at the clause end.
> Inflected relative wien + period te-form: wien is the old dative/object relative ('for whom'); doortelezen is the 1860 one-word spelling of door te lezen, the separable doorlezen wrapped around te.

Daarom heb ik, in-plaats van dorre namen van personen en plaatsen, met de dagteekening er by, in-plaats van een afschrift der lyst van diefstallen en afpersingen, die voor me ligt getracht een schets te geven van wat er kàn omgaan in de harten der arme lieden die men berooft van wat dienen moet tot onderhoud van hun leven, of zelfs: ik heb dit slechts laten gissen, vreezende my te zeer te bedriegen in het teekenen der omtrekken van aandoeningen die ik nooit ondervond.  
That is why, instead of dry names of persons and places, with the dating attached, instead of a copy of the list of thefts and extortions that lies before me, I have tried to give a sketch of what may go on in the hearts of the poor folk who are robbed of what is needed to sustain their lives, or rather: I have only let it be guessed at, fearing to deceive myself too badly in tracing the outlines of feelings I have never undergone.
> Fronted in-plaats-van phrases + perfect: The doubled fronted in-plaats van ('instead of') phrases push the subject after the verb (heb ... getracht), a long periodic build typical of Multatuli; trachten governs te geven.
> Headless wat + modal kan + genitive der: wat opens a free relative, kàn omgaan is a modal with the separable infinitive omgaan, and der arme lieden is a genitive plural ('of the poor folk'); die men berooft is a relative ('whom one robs').
> Causative laten + bare infinitive: laten gissen ('to let be guessed at') is the causative laten with a bare infinitive; vreezende is a fronted present participle, 'fearing'.

Maar wat de hoofdzaak aangaat?  
But as for the main point?
> Idiom wat ... aangaat: wat ... aangaat ('as for ..., as regards ...') is a fixed framing idiom built on the separable verb aangaan, here used as a rhetorical pivot.

O, dat ik opgeroepen werde om te staven wat ik schreef!  
Oh, that I might be summoned to substantiate what I have written!
> Optative subjunctive werde + om te: werde is the present subjunctive of worden, voicing a wish ('oh, that I might be summoned'), a passive; om te staven states purpose, and wat ik schreef is a free relative.

O, dat men zeide: "ge hebt dien Saïdjah verdicht ... hy zong nooit dat lied ... er woonde geen Adinda te Badoer!" Maar dat het gezegd werd met de macht en den wil om recht te doen, zoodra ik zou bewezen hebben geen lasteraar te zyn!  
Oh, that someone might say: "you have invented this Saïdjah... he never sang that song... there lived no Adinda at Badoer!" But that it were said with the power and the will to do justice, the moment I had proven myself no slanderer!
> Optative dat-clauses (wish-mood): The repeated dat men zeide / dat het gezegd werd are optative subjunctives expressing a wish; gezegd werd is a worden-passive. ge hebt dien Saïdjah verdicht uses old accusative dien.
> zoodra + conditional perfect + te-infinitive: zoodra ('as soon as') sends the cluster to the end; zou bewezen hebben is a conditional perfect, and geen lasteraar te zyn is a te-infinitive complement ('to be no slanderer').

Is er logen in de gelykenis van den barmhartigen Samaritaan, omdat er misschien nooit een geplunderd reiziger is opgenomen in een samaritaansch huis?  
Is there a lie in the parable of the good Samaritan, because perhaps no plundered traveler was ever taken in by a Samaritan household?
> Existential er + omdat + perfect passive: Is er logen opens a rhetorical question with er; omdat sends the cluster to the end, where is opgenomen is a perfect passive ('was ever taken in'). nooit is the single clause-negator.

Is er logen in de parabel van den zaaier, omdat geen landbouwer zyn zaad zal uitwerpen op een rots? Of--om aftedalen tot meer gelykheid met myn boek--mag men de waarheid ontkennen die de hoofdzaak uitmaakt van de Negerhut, omdat er misschien nooit een Evangeline bestaan heeft?  
Is there a lie in the parable of the sower, because no farmer will cast his seed upon a rock? Or—to come down to something closer to my own book—may one deny the truth that makes up the main matter of Uncle Tom's Cabin, because perhaps no Evangeline ever existed?
> Modal mag + omdat-clause: mag (from mogen) is a modal with the bare infinitive ontkennen ('may one deny'); the omdat-clause uses er and the perfect bestaan heeft.

Zal men tot de schryfster van dat onsterfelyk pleidooi--onsterfelyk, niet om kunst of talent, maar door strekking, en indruk--zal men tot haar zeggen: "ge hebt gelogen, de slaven worden niet mishandeld, want ... er is onwaarheid in uw boek: het is een roman!" Moest niet ook zy, in-plaats eener optelling van dorre daadzaken, een verhaal geven dat die daadzaken inkleedde, om 't besef der behoefte aan verbetering te doen doordringen in de harten?  
Will anyone say to the authoress of that immortal plea—immortal not for its art or talent, but by its tendency and its impact—will anyone say to her: "you have lied, the slaves are not abused, for... there is untruth in your book: it is a novel!" Was she too not bound, instead of a tally of dry facts, to give a tale that clothed those facts, so as to drive home into people's hearts the sense of the need for reform?
> Fronted indirect object + resumptive haar: The long fronted tot de schryfster ... phrase is resumed by tot haar before the verb, a periodic structure; zal frames a future rhetorical question.
> Modal moest + om te-purpose: Moest (from moeten) frames the rhetorical 'was she not bound'; the relative dat ... inkleedde and om 't besef ... te doen doordringen (purpose with causative doen + doordringen) close the period.

Zou haar boek gelezen zyn, als ze daaraan den vorm had gegeven van een processtuk?  
Would her book have been read, had she given it the form of a legal brief?
> Conditional perfect passive + als-clause: Zou ... gelezen zyn is a conditional perfect passive ('would her book have been read'); the als-clause is verb-final (ze ... had gegeven, no inversion in Dutch); the English 'had she given' is the inverted-conditional equivalent. daaraan is a pronominal adverb ('to it').

Is 't haar schuld--of de myne--dat de waarheid, om toegang te vinden, zoo vaak het kleed moet borgen van de leugen?  
Is it her fault—or mine—that truth, to gain admittance, must so often borrow the garment of falsehood?
> Modal moet + om te-purpose: moet borgen places the modal moet with a bare infinitive at the clause end; om toegang te vinden ('to gain admittance') is an embedded purpose clause. A famous Multatuli aphorism.

En aan sommigen die misschien beweren dat ik Saïdjah en zyn liefde heb geïdealiseerd, moet ik vragen hoe ze dit weten kunnen? Slechts zeer weinig Europeanen immers achten het de moeite waard zich neertebuigen tot waarneming der aandoeningen van de koffi- en suikerwerktuigen die men "inlanders" noemt.  
And to certain ones who perhaps maintain that I have idealized Saïdjah and his love, I must ask how they can know this? After all, only very few Europeans think it worth the trouble to stoop to observing the feelings of the coffee- and sugar-machines whom people call "natives."
> Relative die + dat-clause perfect: die opens the relative ('certain ones who...'); the dat-clause sends heb geïdealiseerd to the end. moet ik vragen hoe ze dit weten kunnen embeds an indirect question.
> Reflexive + period te-form neertebuigen: zich neerbuigen ('to stoop') is reflexive; neertebuigen is the 1860 one-word spelling of neer te buigen. The bitter coffi- en suikerwerktuigen ('coffee- and sugar-machines') is a compound for the natives.

Doch al ware hun aanmerking gegrond, wie zùlke bedenkingen aanvoert als bewys tegen de hoofdstrekking van myn boek, geeft my een groote zegepraal. Want ze luiden, vertaald, "het kwaad dat gy bestrydt, bestaat niet, of niet in zoo hooge maat, omdat de inlander niet is als uw Saïdjah ... er ligt in de mishandeling der Javanen geen zoo groot kwaad als daarin liggen zou wanneer ge uwen Saïdjah juister geteekend hadt.  
Yet even if their objection were well founded, whoever advances such considerations as proof against the main thrust of my book hands me a great triumph. For, translated, they amount to this: "the evil you are fighting does not exist, or not to so high a degree, because the native is not like your Saïdjah... there lies in the mistreatment of the Javanese no such great evil as would lie there had you drawn your Saïdjah more truthfully.
> Concessive al + subjunctive ware: al ware ('even were', 'even if it were') is a concessive with the past-subjunctive ware of zijn; Doch is the archaic 'yet/but'. Both mark high literary register.
> Free relative wie as subject: wie ('whoever') heads a headless relative subject clause (verb aanvoert at the end), resumed by the main verb geeft; zùlke ('such') is an archaic/literary determiner.
> Coordinator want + relative dat + gy: want coordinates ('for'); the quoted dat gy bestrydt is a relative clause with the literary 2nd-person gy, and bestaat niet negates the verb. wanneer ge uwen Saïdjah juister geteekend hadt closes with comparative juister and old accusative uwen.

De Soendanees zingt zulke liederen niet, bemint zoo niet, gevoelt zoo niet, en dus ...  
The Sundanese does not sing such songs, does not love so, does not feel so, and therefore..."
> niet for general negation: Here niet (not geen) negates the verbs themselves rather than a noun, giving a clipped triple denial. With each finite verb in second position the negation trails after it.
> zoo = modern zo: The doubled-vowel spelling zoo is the 1860 form of modern zo, 'so / thus'. Repeated here ('does not love so, does not feel so') as an adverb of degree.

Neen, Minister van Kolonien, neen, Gouverneurs-generaal in ruste, niet dàt hebt gy te bewyzen!  
No, Minister of Colonies, no, retired Governors-General, that is not what you have to prove!
> Fronting + V2 inversion: The object 'niet dàt' is thrown to the front for emphasis, forcing the subject gy after the finite verb hebt — the hallmark of verb-second order. The construction hebt te bewyzen is 'have to prove' with te + infinitive.
> The literary pronoun gy: gy (gij) is the solemn, written 'you' of 1860 prose, here used to address the Minister directly and accusingly. Its spelling with y for ij is itself a period feature.

Ge hebt te bewyzen dat de bevolking niet mishandeld wordt, onverschillig of er sentimenteele Saïdjahs onder die bevolking zyn. Of zoudt ge durven beweren buffels te mogen stelen van lieden die niet beminnen, die geen droefgeestige liedjes zingen, die niet sentimenteel zyn?  
You have to prove that the population is not mistreated, regardless of whether there are sentimental Saïdjahs among that population. Or would you dare to claim that you may steal buffaloes from people who do not love, who sing no melancholy little songs, who are not sentimental?
> worden-passive in a subordinate clause: worden + the participle mishandeld forms the process passive ('is being mistreated'). Because dat opens a subordinate clause, the finite wordt is pushed to the very end.
> er with an indefinite subject: The little word er props up the existential clause 'whether there are sentimental Saïdjahs', sitting where English puts 'there'. The verb zyn closes the of-clause.
> Stacked modals + te-infinitive: zoudt (conditional zou) governs the bare infinitives durven beweren, which in turn governs te mogen stelen — a chain of modals where each verb sends the next to the end.

By een aanval op letterkundig gebied zou ik de juistheid der teekening van Saïdjah verdedigen, maar op staatkundigen bodem geef ik terstond alle aanmerkingen op die juistheid gewonnen, om te beletten dat de groote vraag worde verplaatst op verkeerd terrein.  
Under an attack on literary ground I would defend the accuracy of my portrayal of Saïdjah, but on political soil I at once concede every objection to that accuracy, so as to prevent the great question from being shifted onto the wrong terrain.
> Fronted adverbial forces inversion: The clause opens with the prepositional phrase 'By een aanval op letterkundig gebied', so the subject ik follows the finite zou — verb-second again. zou + verdedigen is the conditional 'I would defend'.
> Genitive case-remnant der: der is the frozen feminine/plural genitive article, here 'of the portrayal' (juistheid der teekening). Such des/der/den forms were standard in formal 1860 prose where modern Dutch would use van.
> om...te purpose + subjunctive: om ... te beletten frames the purpose ('so as to prevent'); inside it, worde is an archaic present subjunctive of worden ('be shifted'), a solemn register Multatuli favors.

Het is me geheel om 't even of men my houde voor een onbekwaam schilder, mits men my toegeve dat de mishandeling van den inlander is: VERREGAAND! Zóó toch luidt het woord op de nota des voorgangers van Havelaar, die door dezen getoond werd aan den kontroleur Verbrugge: een nota die voor me ligt.  
It is wholly the same to me whether I am taken for an incompetent painter, so long as it is granted me that the mistreatment of the native is: FAR-REACHING! For so indeed runs the wording on the memorandum of Havelaar's predecessor, which the latter showed to the controleur Verbrugge: a memorandum that lies before me.
> Idiom: 'it's all the same to me': The fixed idiom het is om 't even means 'it makes no difference / it's all one'. With me ('to me') it reads 'I don't care either way'.
> Archaic subjunctives houde / toegeve: The -e endings on houde and toegeve are old present-subjunctive forms ('whether one hold me... so long as one grant me'), a deliberately elevated, almost legal register.
> Case-remnant articles den and des: den is the old accusative/dative masculine article ('the native', 'the controleur') and des the genitive ('of the predecessor'). These inflected forms pepper Multatuli's prose and mark its 1860 formality.

Maar ik heb andere bewyzen!  
But I have other proofs!
> maar as a coordinating conjunction: maar ('but') joins two equal clauses and does NOT push the verb to the end: the word order stays subject–verb (ik heb). Note the period spelling bewyzen for modern bewijzen.

En dit is gelukkig, want ook Havelaar's voorganger kon zich vergist hebben.  
And this is fortunate, for Havelaar's predecessor too might have been mistaken.
> want + perfect infinitive of a reflexive: want ('for') is a coordinating conjunction keeping main-clause order. zich vergist hebben is the perfect infinitive of the reflexive zich vergissen ('to be mistaken'), governed by the modal kon.

Helaas, als hy zich vergiste, werd hy voor die vergissing zeer hard gestraft.  
Alas, if he was mistaken, he was very harshly punished for that mistake.
> Conditional als-clause then inverted main clause: The subordinate als-clause sends its verb to the end (vergiste); the main clause then begins with the finite werd before the subject hy — inversion after a fronted clause. werd ... gestraft is the past-tense worden-passive ('was punished').
---

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.