# Max Havelaar, Chapter 20

Max Havelaar · Multatuli · The Novel

Source: https://1732studios.com/books/havelaar/hoofdstuk-20. Data: https://1732studios.com/books/havelaar/hoofdstuk-20.json. Audio: https://audio.1732studios.com/havelaar/<line id>.m4a.


't Was avend.  
It was evening.

Tine zat te lezen in de binnengalery, en Havelaar teekende een borduurpatroon.  
Tine sat reading in the inner gallery, and Havelaar was sketching an embroidery pattern.
> 'zitten te' + infinitive (progressive): 'Zat te lezen' = 'sat reading / was reading': a posture verb ('zitten') + 'te' + infinitive expresses an ongoing action, one of Dutch's ways to render the English continuous. 'Teekende' is the weak past of 'teekenen' (to draw).

Kleine Max tooverde een legprent in elkaar, en maakte zich driftig omdat hy niet vinden kon: "het rooie lyf van die mevrouw." --Zou 't nu zóó goed wezen, Tine? vroeg Havelaar.  
Little Max was conjuring a jigsaw picture together, and grew cross because he could not find "the red body of that lady." --Would it be just right like this, Tine? asked Havelaar.
> Reflexive 'zich driftig maken' + 'omdat': 'Zich driftig maken' ('to get cross/worked up') is reflexive. 'Omdat' ('because') is a subordinating conjunction that sends its verb cluster 'vinden kon' to the end.
> Separable 'in elkaar tooveren': 'In elkaar' splits off to the end of the clause as the separable element of the verb ('to conjure together / piece together'). 'Tooverde' is the weak past of 'tooveren' (period spelling of 'toveren').
> Conditional 'zou' softening a question: 'Zou 't … wezen?' = 'would it be …?': the conditional 'zou' (with archaic 'wezen') softens the question into a tentative request for an opinion. ''t' is the clitic dummy 'het'.

Kyk, ik heb dien palm wat grooter gemaakt ... 't is nu juist the line of beauty van Hogarth, niet waar?  
Look, I have made that palm-frond a little bigger ... now it is exactly Hogarth's the line of beauty, is it not?

--Ja, Max! Maar die vetergaten staan te dicht op elkander.  
--Yes, Max! But those lace-holes are set too close together.
> Degree adverb 'te dicht': 'Te dicht' = 'too close': here 'te' is the degree adverb 'too' (not the infinitive marker), with 'dicht' ('close'). 'Op elkander' ('on one another') is the older form of 'op elkaar'.

--Zoo?  
--Are they?

En die anderen strooken dan?  
And those other scallops, then?

Max, laat me je broekjen eens zien!  
Max, let me see your little trousers a moment!
> Causative 'laten' + bare infinitive: 'Laat … zien' = 'let (me) see / show': 'laten' is the causative/permissive auxiliary taking a bare infinitive 'zien'. 'Broekjen' is the diminutive of 'broek' ('little trousers'), in the older -jen spelling for -je.
> Diminutive -jen / -je: 'Broekjen' adds the diminutive suffix to 'broek', making it small and dear ('little trousers') — and, like all diminutives, grammatically neuter (het broekje). The -jen ending is the 1860 spelling of modern -je.

Ei, heb je die strook aan?  
Ah, have you got that border on?

Ach, ik weet nog waar je die geborduurd hebt, Tine!  
Why, I still remember where you embroidered it, Tine!
> Indirect question + present perfect: 'Waar … geborduurd hebt' is an indirect question, verb-final, with the present perfect 'hebt geborduurd' ('embroidered'). 'Die' here is a stressed object pronoun pointing back to the border ('it').

--Ik niet. Waar dan?  
--I don't. Where, then?

--'t Was in den Haag, toen Max ziek was en we zoo geschrokken waren omdat de dokter zei dat hy een zoo ongewoon gevormd hoofd had, en dat er zooveel zorg vereischt werd om aandrang naar de hersenen te voorkomen, juist in die dagen was je bezig aan die strook.  
--It was at The Hague, when Max was ill and we were so frightened because the doctor said he had so unusually a shaped head, and that great care was needed to prevent a rush of blood to the brain — it was just in those days that you were busy with that border.
> 'toen' + verb-final past clauses: 'Toen' ('when', of a single past event) is subordinating, sending 'was' and 'waren geschrokken' to the end. 'Waren geschrokken' is the pluperfect of 'schrikken' ('to be startled'), which takes 'zijn'.
> 'er' + passive + purpose 'om … te': 'Er … vereischt werd' is an impersonal worden-passive with placeholder 'er' ('so much care was needed'). 'Om … te voorkomen' supplies the purpose ('in order to prevent').

Tine stond op, en kuste den kleine.  
Tine stood up, and kissed the little one.
> Nominalised adjective + dative 'den': 'Den kleine' = 'the little one': an adjective used as a noun ('the small [child]'), with the old masculine accusative 'den'. 'Kuste' is the weak past of 'kussen' ('to kiss').

--Ik hèb haar buik, ik hèb haar buik! riep 't kind vroolyk, en de rooie mevrouw was kompleet. --Wie hoort daar een tontong slaan? vroeg de moeder.  
--I've got her belly, I've got her belly! cried the child gleefully, and the red lady was complete. --Who is that I hear striking a tontong? asked the mother.
> Emphatic present 'hèb': 'Hèb' (with grave accent for stress) is the 1st-person present of 'hebben' ('I have/I've got'). The child's triumphant repetition shows the bare stem-based present tense in lively speech.

--Ik, zei kleine Max. --En wat beduidt dat?  
--I am, said little Max. --And what does that mean?

--Bedtyd! Maar ... ik heb nog niet gegeten.  
--Bedtime! But ... I haven't had any supper yet.

--Eerst kryg je eten, dat spreekt vanzelf.  
--First you'll get something to eat, that goes without saying.
> Fronted 'eerst' + inversion; idiom: Fronting 'eerst' ('first') forces verb-second: 'kryg je' (verb before subject 'je'). 'Dat spreekt vanzelf' is the fixed idiom 'that goes without saying'. 'Kryg' is period spelling of 'krijg'.

En ze stond op, en gaf hem zyn eenvoudig maal dat ze uit een goed gesloten kast in haar kamer scheen gehaald te hebben, want men had het knippen van vele sloten gehoord.  
And she rose, and gave him his plain little meal, which she seemed to have fetched from a well-locked cupboard in her room, for one had heard the snapping of many locks.
> 'schijnen' + perfect te-infinitive: 'Scheen … gehaald te hebben' = 'seemed to have fetched': 'schijnen' governs a perfect 'te'-infinitive ('te hebben gehaald'). 'Goed gesloten' is a participle ('well-locked') modifying 'kast'.
> Impersonal 'men' + perfect: 'Men' is the impersonal pronoun 'one/people'. 'Had … gehoord' is the pluperfect; 'het knippen' nominalises the verb ('the snapping'). 'Want' ('for') coordinates without sending the verb to the end.

--Wat geef je 'm daar? vroeg Havelaar.  
--What are you giving him there? asked Havelaar.

--O wees gerust, Max: 't is beschuit uit een blik van Batavia!  
--Oh, set your mind at rest, Max: it is rusk from a tin out of Batavia!
> Imperative 'wees': 'Wees gerust' = 'set your mind at rest / don't worry': 'wees' is the irregular imperative of 'zijn' ('be'). The bare-form command directs reassurance to Max.

En ook de suiker is altyd achter slot geweest.  
And the sugar too has always been kept under lock and key.
> Perfect 'is geweest' of a state: 'Is … geweest' is the present perfect of 'zijn' ('has been'). 'Achter slot' = 'under lock and key' (literally 'behind a lock'), an idiom for kept safely locked away.

Havelaars gedachten keerden terug naar 't punt waarop ze waren afgebroken.  
Havelaar's thoughts turned back to the point at which they had been broken off.
> Separable 'terugkeeren' + relative 'waarop': 'Keerden terug' separates the prefix of 'terugkeeren' ('to return'). 'Waarop ze waren afgebroken' = 'at which they had been broken off': 'waarop' is the pronominal-adverb relative, with pluperfect 'waren afgebroken'.

--Weet je wel, ging hy voort, dat wy de rekening van dien dokter nog niet betaald hebben ... o, dat is zeer hard?  
--Do you realize, he went on, that we have still not paid that doctor's bill ... oh, that is very hard?
> Separable 'voortgaan'; inversion: 'Ging … voort' is the separable 'voortgaan' ('to continue / go on'), the prefix 'voort' splitting to the end. Inversion ('ging hy') marks the inserted speech tag.
> 'nog niet' + present perfect in 'dat'-clause: 'Nog niet … betaald hebben' = 'have still not paid': 'nog niet' is 'not yet'. The 'dat'-clause is verb-final, so the present perfect 'hebben betaald' clusters at the end.

--Lieve Max, we leven hier zoo spaarzaam, weldra zullen wy alles kunnen afdoen!  
--Dear Max, we live so frugally here that before long we shall be able to settle everything!
> Future 'zullen' + modal + separable infinitive: 'Zullen … kunnen afdoen' = 'shall be able to settle': 'zullen' (future) over 'kunnen' (modal) over separable 'afdoen', all infinitives stacked at the end. Fronted 'weldra' ('before long') triggers inversion.

Bovendien, je zult wel spoedig resident worden, en dan is alles geregeld in weinig tyds.  
Besides, you are sure to be made resident soon, and then everything will be put right in no time.
> Future with 'zullen' + modal particle 'wel': 'Zult … worden' is the future ('will become'). The little particle 'wel' here softens into a confident prediction ('you're sure to become'). 'Resident worden' = 'to be made/become resident'.

--Dat is nu juist een zaak die me verdrietig maakt, zei Havelaar.  
--That is just the very thing that grieves me, said Havelaar.

Ik zou zoo heel ongaarne Lebak verlaten ... dit zal ik je uitleggen.  
I should so very reluctantly leave Lebak ... let me explain this to you.
> Conditional 'zou' + archaic 'ongaarne': 'Zou … verlaten' is the conditional ('I should/would leave'). 'Ongaarne' ('unwillingly, reluctantly') is the older negated form of 'gaarne' (gladly), now literary; modern Dutch says 'niet graag'.

Geloof je niet dat we nog meer van onzen Max hielden na zyn ziekte?  
Don't you think we loved our Max all the more after his illness?
> Comparative 'meer'; dative 'onzen': 'Meer … van … hielden' uses 'meer' (comparative of 'veel') with 'houden van' ('to love'). 'Onzen Max' shows the old masculine accusative possessive ending -en ('our Max'). 'Hielden' is the strong past of 'houden'.

Nu, zóó ook zal ik dat arme Lebak liefhebben na de genezing van den kanker waaraan 't lydt sedert zooveel jaren. De gedachte aan bevordering doet me schrikken: ik kan hier niet gemist worden, Tine!  
Well, just so I shall love that poor Lebak too, once the cancer it has suffered from for so many years is cured. The thought of promotion makes me shudder: I cannot be spared here, Tine!
> Relative 'waaraan' + fixed 'lijden aan': 'Waaraan 't lydt' = 'which it suffers from': 'waaraan' is the pronominal-adverb relative ('aan welke'), because 'lijden aan' ('to suffer from') takes the preposition 'aan'. 'Den kanker' carries the old accusative -den.
> Modal + passive infinitive: 'Kan … niet gemist worden' = 'cannot be spared': the modal 'kan' governs the passive infinitive 'gemist worden' ('to be spared/dispensed with'). 'Missen' here means 'to do without'.

En toch, aan den anderen kant, als ik weer bedenk dat we schulden hebben ...  
And yet, on the other hand, when I remember again that we are in debt ...
> 'als' + 'dat': stacked subordinate clauses: 'Als' ('when/if') sends 'bedenk' to the end of its clause, and the embedded 'dat'-clause sends 'hebben' to the end of its own. Two subordinators, two verb-final clauses nested.

--Alles zal wel goed gaan, Max! Al moest je nu van hier, dan kan je later Lebak helpen als je Gouverneur-generaal bent.  
--All will turn out well, Max! Even if you had to leave here now, you could still help Lebak later, when you are Governor-General.
> Concessive 'al' + resumptive 'dan': 'Al moest je …' = 'even if you had to …': 'al' + a finite verb (here past-tense 'moest' for hypothetical force) makes a concession, resumed by 'dan' in the main clause, which inverts ('kan je').
> 'als' + present for future: 'Als je … bent' ('when you are') uses the present tense for a future condition — Dutch routinely lets the present cover the future inside an 'als'-clause. The verb 'bent' goes to the end.

Daar kwamen woeste strepen in Havelaars borduurpatroon! Er was toorn in dat bloemsel, die vetergaten werden hoekig, scherp, ze beten elkaar ...  
Then wild strokes came into Havelaar's embroidery pattern! There was wrath in that foliage, the lace-holes turned angular, sharp, they bit at one another ...
> Fronted 'daar' + inversion: Fronting 'daar' ('there/then') puts the verb 'kwamen' before its subject 'woeste strepen' (verb-second). The plural verb 'kwamen' agrees with the plural subject 'strepen'.
> Existential 'er was': 'Er was toorn' = 'there was wrath': existential 'er' + 'was' introduces something into the scene. 'Bloemsel' is a rare collective for 'flowerwork/foliage' in the embroidery design.

Tine begreep dat ze iets miszegd had.  
Tine understood that she had said something amiss.
> Pluperfect of separable 'miszeggen': 'Miszegd had' is the pluperfect of 'miszeggen' ('to misspeak / say something amiss'); in the 'dat'-clause the verb 'had' goes to the end after its participle. 'Begreep' is the strong past of 'begrijpen'.

--Lieve Max ... begon ze vriendelyk.  
--Dear Max ... she began gently.

--Vervloekt!  
--Damnation!

Wil je die stumperts zóó lang laten hongeren?  
Would you have those poor wretches go hungry that long?
> 'willen' + causative 'laten' + infinitive: 'Wil je … laten hongeren?' = 'would you have … go hungry?': modal 'willen' governs causative 'laten', which itself takes a bare infinitive 'hongeren'. 'Stumperts' (period plural of 'stumper') are 'poor wretches'.

Kan jy leven van zand?  
Can you live on sand?
> Modal 'kan' + infinitive; archaic 'jy': 'Kan jy leven?' = 'can you live?': modal 'kan' sends the main verb 'leven' to the end. 'Jy' is the period spelling of 'jij' ('you'). 'Leven van' ('to live on') takes 'van'.

--Lieve Max!  
--Dear Max!

Maar hy sprong op. Er werd niet meer geteekend, dien avend.  
But he sprang up. There was no more sketching that evening.
> Separable 'opspringen': 'Sprong … op' separates the prefix of 'opspringen' ('to spring up'): finite verb 'sprong' (strong past of 'springen') in second position, prefix 'op' at the end.
> Impersonal passive with 'er': 'Er werd … geteekend' is an impersonal worden-passive with no real subject ('there was … sketching / no one sketched'). 'Niet meer' = 'no more/no longer'. 'Dien avend' shows the old accusative -den.

Hy ging toornig op-en-neer in de binnengalery, en eindelyk sprak hy op een toon die ruw en hard zou geklonken hebben aan iederen vreemde, doch door Tine heel anders werd opgevat:  
He paced angrily up and down the inner gallery, and at last he spoke in a tone that would have sounded rough and harsh to any stranger, but which Tine took in quite differently:
> Conditional perfect: zou + the perfect infinitive geklonken hebben builds a counterfactual: it 'would have sounded.' The zou-conditional pairs here with a perfect to project a hypothetical past.
> Separable directional: op-en-neer ('up and down') functions as a separable directional element trailing the verb ging, the typical Dutch pattern of putting motion adverbs after the finite verb in the middle field.
> Worden-passive, separable verb: werd opgevat is a process passive of separable opvatten ('to take/construe'): the imperfect of worden plus the participle, here 'was taken/construed.' Note the participle keeps the separable prefix op-.
> Inner gallery (Indies house): The binnengalerij is the covered inner veranda of a colonial Indies house — a recurring domestic setting in the novel. Spelled with period y for ij.
> Case-remnant -en ending: The adjective/determiner ending -en in iederen vreemde ('to any stranger') is a frozen masculine accusative/dative remnant, standard in 1860 written Dutch after a preposition.

--Vervloekt die lauwheid, die schandelyke lauwheid!  
--Curse this lukewarmness, this shameful lukewarmness!
> Lukewarmness: lauwheid ('lukewarmness, half-heartedness') is built from lauw ('tepid') plus the abstract suffix -heid. Havelaar curses the bureaucracy's moral indifference.

Daar zit ik nu sedert een maand te wachten op recht, en intusschen wordt er vreeselyk geleden door dat arme volk.  
Here I sit a whole month now, waiting on justice, and in the meantime that poor people suffers dreadfully.
> zitten te + infinitive (progressive): zitten/staan/liggen + te + infinitive is the Dutch way of marking an action in progress: zit ik te wachten = 'I sit waiting / I am waiting.' The posture verb carries the literal sense of how the subject waits.
> Impersonal passive with er: wordt er vreeselyk geleden ('there is dreadful suffering') is a subjectless worden-passive; the dummy er fills the subject slot for an intransitive verb that has no object to promote.
> Meanwhile (period spelling): intusschen ('meanwhile') shows the 1860 sch- where modern Dutch writes intussen. The sch cluster was later simplified to s before a consonant in many words.

De Regent schynt er op te rekenen dat niemand hem aandurft!  
The Regent seems to be counting on it that no one dares to face him!
> Pronominal adverb er...op: rekenen op ('to count on') splits into the pronominal adverb er...op when the object is a clause; erop te rekenen dat... = 'to count on it that...' Here er and op are separated across the verb cluster.
> aandurven — dare to face: aandurven ('to dare to take on / face up to') is a separable verb; niemand hem aandurft = 'no one dares to challenge him.' The prefix aan- adds the sense of confronting.

Zie ... Hy ging in zyn kantoor, en kwam terug met een brief in de hand, een brief die voor me ligt, lezer!  
Look ... He went into his office, and came back with a letter in his hand, a letter that lies before me, reader!
> Strong past + separable verb: ging (from gaan) and kwam (from komen) are strong imperfects with vowel change; terugkomen is separable, so terug splits off after the verb: kwam terug ('came back').
> Relative die for a de-word: brief is a de-word, so the relative pronoun is die: een brief die voor me ligt ('a letter that lies before me'). The relative clause is verb-final, with ligt at the end.

--Zie, in dezen brief durft hy me voorstellen doen over de soort van arbeid dien hy wil laten verrichten door de menschen die hy onwettig heeft opgeroepen. Is dit niet de onbeschaamdheid te vèr gedreven?  
--Look, in this letter he dares to make me proposals about the sort of labour he wants performed by the people he has unlawfully summoned. Is this not carrying impudence too far?
> Causative laten + bare infinitive: laten + infinitive means 'to have something done by someone': wil laten verrichten = 'wants to have performed.' Note the stack of three verbs at the end — modal wil, causative laten, main verrichten.
> Relative dien (case remnant): dien is the masculine accusative form of the relative die, a period feature: de soort van arbeid dien hy wil... Modern Dutch would use uninflected die here.
> Present perfect, separable verb: heeft opgeroepen ('has summoned') is the perfect of separable oproepen; in the participle the ge- infix sits inside, opgeroepen, and the whole form goes to clause end.
> Effrontery: onbeschaamdheid ('impudence, effrontery') = on- (un-) + beschaamd ('ashamed') + -heid: literally 'shamelessness.' Havelaar's rhetorical climax.

En weet je wie dat zyn?  
And do you know who those people are?
> Embedded question, verb-final: wie dat zyn is an indirect question functioning as object of weet; the interrogative wie introduces it and the verb zyn lands at the end. The relative/interrogative dat after wie is a period flavoring.

Dat zyn vrouwen met kleine kinderen, met zuigelingen, zwangere vrouwen die van Parang-Koedjang zyn gedreven naar de hoofdplaats om voor hèm te werken! Mannen zyn er niet meer!  
They are women with little children, with infants at the breast, pregnant women who have been driven from Parang-Koedjang to the chief town to work for him! There are no men left!
> Perfect passive with zijn: zyn gedreven ('have been driven') is the perfect passive: zijn + past participle, with the worden dropped. The relative die opens a verb-final clause closing on the participle gedreven.
> Existential er: er niet meer ('no longer any') uses existential er to assert (non-)existence: Mannen zyn er niet meer = 'There are no men left.' The fronted Mannen triggers verb-second inversion.
> Infants at the breast: zuigeling ('suckling, nursing infant') comes from zuigen ('to suck'). The image of pregnant women and nursing mothers driven to forced labour sharpens the indictment.

En ze hebben niets te eten, en ze slapen op den weg, en eten zand!  
And they have nothing to eat, and they sleep on the road, and they eat sand!
> Negative word niets: niets ('nothing') is a single negative carrying the whole clause's negation — no double negative is added. hebben niets te eten = 'have nothing to eat,' with the te-infinitive as complement.
> Dative remnant den: op den weg ('on the road') keeps the old masculine dative article den after the preposition op — a frozen case form normal in 1860 print, leveled to de today.

Kan jy zand eten?  
Can you eat sand?
> Yes/no question with modal: A yes/no question fronts the finite verb: modal Kan first, subject jy, and the main verb eten at the end as a bare infinitive. Period spelling jy for jij.
> Pronoun jy (period spelling): jy is the 1860 spelling of jij ('you,' familiar singular). Havelaar shifts to intimate jij/je with Tine — and rhetorically with the reader — versus the formal gij of the official letters.

Moeten ze zand eten tot ik Gouverneur-generaal ben?  
Must they eat sand until I am Governor-General?
> Modal question + subordinate tot: Modal Moeten heads the question and sends eten to the end as a bare infinitive; the conjunction tot ('until') opens a subordinate clause that is verb-final, ending on ben.

Vervloekt!  
Damnation!

Tine wist zeer goed op wien Max eigenlyk boos was, als hy zoo sprak tot haar die hy zoo liefhad.  
Tine knew very well with whom Max was truly angry, when he spoke this way to her whom he loved so dearly.
> Pied-piped relative wien: op wien ('with whom') uses the dative relative wien for a person after a preposition, a formal/period construction; modern Dutch prefers op wie. The whole is an embedded clause governed by wist.
> Relative die + separable liefhebben: haar die hy zoo liefhad ('her whom he loved so'): relative die opens a verb-final clause; liefhebben is separable, and in this subordinate clause the parts reunite as liefhad at the end.

--En, ging Havelaar voort, dat loopt alles ter myner verantwoording!  
--And, Havelaar went on, it all falls to my responsibility!
> Separable voortgaan, inverted: voortgaan ('to go on, continue') is separable; in this inserted speech tag the verb ging precedes the subject (V2 inversion after the fronted clause) and the prefix voort lands at the end.
> Frozen genitive ter ... -er: ter (= te + der) plus the genitive-flavored myner verantwoording is a fossilized inflected phrase ('to my account/responsibility'), typical of solemn 1860 register.

Als er op dit oogenblik van die arme wezens ronddwalen daar buiten ... als zy 't schynsel zien van onze lampen, zullen zy zeggen: "daar woont de ellendeling die ons beschermen zou! Daar zit hy rustig by vrouw en kind, en teekent borduurpatroontjes, en wy liggen hier als boschhonden op den weg verhongeren met onze kinderen!" Ja, ik hoor het wel, ik hoor het wel, dat roepen om wraak over myn hoofd!  
If at this very moment any of those poor creatures are wandering about out there ... if they see the glow of our lamps, they will say: "there lives the wretch who was supposed to protect us! There he sits snug with wife and child, sketching little embroidery patterns, while we lie out here like wild dogs on the road, starving with our children!" Yes, I hear it well, I hear it well, that cry for vengeance upon my head!
> Conditional sentence with als + zullen: An als ('if') clause states the condition (verb-final ronddwalen) and the main clause uses zullen + infinitive for the consequence: zullen zy zeggen = 'they will say.' Fronting the als-clause forces V2 inversion in the main clause.
> Relative + conditional zou: die ons beschermen zou ('who was supposed to protect us') is a relative clause with zou expressing an expectation/obligation that went unmet — the conditional softening into 'was meant to.'
> Diminutive -tje + plural: borduurpatroontjes = borduur- (embroider) + patroon (pattern) + diminutive -tje + plural -s. The diminutive drips with self-contempt here — trivial busywork while people starve.
> Wild dogs (compound, period sch): boschhonden ('forest/wild dogs') compounds bosch (period spelling of bos, 'forest') + honden ('dogs'). The double-h at the seam and the sch are both 1860 features.

Hier, Max, hier!  
Here, Max, here!

En hy kuste zyn kind met een wildheid die 't verschrikte. --Myn kind, als men je zeggen zal dat ik een ellendeling ben die geen moed had om recht te doen ... dat er zooveel moeders zyn gestorven door myn schuld ... als men je zeggen zal dat het verzuim van je vader den zegen wegstal van je hoofd ... o Max, o Max, getuig dan wat ik leed!  
And he kissed his child with a wildness that frightened it. --My child, if they should tell you that I was a wretch who lacked the courage to do what was right ... that so many mothers died through my fault ... if they should tell you that your father's neglect stole the blessing from off your head ... oh Max, oh Max, then bear witness to what I suffered!
> Indefinite men + future: men ('one/they') is the impersonal subject; als men je zeggen zal ('if they tell you') is a verb-final als-clause with the future zal pushed to the end with the infinitive.
> Perfect with zijn (motion/change): sterven ('to die') takes zijn, not hebben, in the perfect because it marks a change of state: zyn gestorven = 'have died.' The participle gestorven is strong.
> Imperative getuig: getuig ('bear witness!') is a bare-stem imperative addressed to his child. Dutch forms commands from the verb stem with no ending and no subject.

En hy berstte in tranen uit, die Tine afkuste.  
And he burst into tears, which Tine kissed away.
> Separable uitbarsten: uitbarsten ('to burst out') is separable; in this past-tense main clause the prefix uit lands at the end: berstte ... uit ('burst into [tears]'). Period spelling berstte for barstte.
> Relative die + separable afkussen: tranen ... die Tine afkuste ('tears, which Tine kissed away'): the de-word antecedent tranen takes relative die, and separable afkussen reunites as afkuste in this verb-final clause.

Zy bracht daarop kleinen Max naar zyn bedjen--een stroomat--en toen ze terugkwam, vond ze Havelaar in gesprek met Verbrugge en Duclari die zoo-even waren binnen getreden.  
She then took little Max to his bed — a straw mat — and when she returned, she found Havelaar in conversation with Verbrugge and Duclari, who had come in just a moment before.
> toen-clause, verb-final: toen ('when,' past) opens a subordinate clause that is verb-final: toen ze terugkwam ('when she came back'), with separable terugkomen reunited. toen is the past counterpart of als/wanneer.
> Adjective case ending -en: kleinen Max keeps the old masculine accusative -en on the adjective ('little Max,' as direct object). In modern Dutch this would simply be kleine Max.
> Diminutive bedje: bedjen (modern bedje) is the diminutive of bed ('bed'), with the period -en spelling of the suffix. Diminutives are always het-words and carry an affectionate note here.

Het gesprek liep over de verwachte beslissing van de Regeering.  
The talk ran on the decision expected from the Government.
> lopen over — to be about: Here lopen over means 'to be about / turn on a subject': het gesprek liep over... = 'the talk ran on / concerned...' A figurative use of the verb 'to walk/run.'
> Participle as attributive adjective: verwachte ('expected') is a past participle used attributively before a noun, and so takes the adjectival -e: de verwachte beslissing ('the expected decision').

--Ik begryp zeer goed dat de resident in een moeielyken toestand is, zei Duclari.  
--I quite understand that the resident is in a difficult position, said Duclari.
> dat-clause, verb-final: The conjunction dat opens an object clause that is verb-final: dat de resident in een moeielyken toestand is ('that the resident is in a difficult position'), with is at the very end.
> Adjective -en after een: moeielyken ('difficult') carries the masculine accusative/dative -en after the preposition in een ... toestand — a period inflection now reduced to moeilijke.

Hy kan 't Gouvernement niet aanraden gevolg te geven aan uw voorstellen, want dan zou er te veel aan den dag komen.  
He cannot advise the Government to act on your proposals, for then too much would come to light.
> Modal + te-infinitive complement: Modal kan governs the bare infinitive aanraden ('advise'), which in turn takes a te-infinitive object gevolg te geven aan ('to act on'). Watch the layered infinitive cluster.
> want + conditional zou with er: want ('for, because') is coordinating, so its clause keeps main-clause order: dan zou er te veel aan den dag komen. zou marks the hypothetical, and er supports the idiom aan den dag komen ('come to light').

Ik ben reeds lang in 't Bantamsche, en weet er veel van, meer nog dan uzelf, m'nheer Havelaar!  
I have been long in the Bantam country already, and I know a good deal about it, more even than you yourself, Mr. Havelaar!
> Substantivized region name: 't Bantamsche ('the Bantam country') is an adjective made a neuter noun for a region — the area of Bantam. The het-article plus -sche is a period regional naming pattern.
> Comparative with dan: meer ... dan uzelf ('more ... than you yourself') is a comparative: meer is the irregular comparative of veel, and dan introduces the standard of comparison.

Ik was reeds als onderofficier in deze streken, en dan komt men zaken te weten die de inlander zoo niet durft zeggen aan de ambtenaren.  
I was already here as a non-commissioned officer, and then one comes to learn of things the native does not dare to tell the officials.
> te weten komen — to find out: te weten komen is a fixed expression ('to come to learn, find out'); komt men ... te weten = 'one comes to learn.' Inversion puts komt before the impersonal subject men.
> Relative die, verb-final cluster: zaken die de inlander ... niet durft zeggen ('things the native does not dare to say'): relative die opens a verb-final clause where modal-like durft and the infinitive zeggen close it out.

Maar als nu na een openlyk onderzoek dat alles aan den dag komt, zal de Gouverneur-generaal den resident ter verantwoording roepen, en hem afvragen hoe 't komt dat hy in twee jaren niet ontdekt heeft, wat u terstond in 't oog is gevallen?  
But if now, after an open inquiry, all that comes to light, the Governor-General will call the resident to account, and ask him how it is that in two years he has discovered nothing of what struck your eye at once?
> Future zullen across two infinitives: A fronted als-clause triggers V2 inversion (zal before the subject), and zal carries two coordinated infinitives at the end: roepen ... en afvragen ('will call ... and ask').
> Relative wat + perfect with zijn: wat ('what / that which') is the relative for an indefinite/neuter antecedent; in 't oog vallen ('to catch the eye') forms its perfect with zijn: is gevallen.
> Embedded question + dat-clause: hoe 't komt dat... ('how it is that...') nests an indirect question inside, with the dat-clause verb-final on the perfect ontdekt heeft.

Hy moet dus natuurlyk trachten zoodanig onderzoek te verkomen ...  
So naturally he must try to forestall any such inquiry ...
> Modal moeten + te-infinitive: Modal moet governs trachten ('to attempt'), which itself takes a te-infinitive: trachten ... te verkomen ('try to forestall'). verkomen is an archaic/period-literary synonym of voorkomen (both 'to forestall, prevent') but morphologically distinct: ver- + komen, not voor- + komen — not a spelling variant.
> Inferential dus: dus ('so, therefore') draws a conclusion and, as a sentence adverb here, triggers V2 inversion: Hy moet dus ... trachten. (As a coordinator dus would not invert.)

--Ik heb dit ingezien, antwoordde Havelaar, en, wakker gemaakt door zyn poging om den Adhipatti te bewegen iets tegen my intebrengen--hetgeen schynt aantetoonen dat hy beproeven wil de kwestie te verleggen, door by-voorbeeld my te beschuldigen van ... ik weet niet wat--heb ik me hiertegen gedekt door afschriften van myn brieven rechtstreeks aan de Regeering te zenden.  
--I have seen this, Havelaar replied, and, roused by his attempt to move the Adhipatti to bring something against me — which seems to show that he means to try to shift the question by accusing me, for instance, of ... I know not what — I have guarded myself against this by sending copies of my letters straight to the Government.
> Passive participle phrase + agent door: wakker gemaakt door... ('roused by...') is a reduced passive participle clause; the agent is marked by door, the standard passive 'by.' wakker maken ('to wake/rouse') is separable.
> te-infinitive + bare infinitive cluster: bewegen ('to move/induce someone') takes a te-infinitive, and inbrengen ('to bring in / lodge') follows. intebrengen is the period joined spelling of in te brengen.
> Reflexive zich dekken, perfect: zich dekken ('to guard/cover oneself') is reflexive; me is the 1st-person reflexive. The perfect heb ... gedekt brackets the clause, with the participle at the end.

In een daarvan komt het verzoek voor, ter verantwoording te worden geroepen wanneer er misschien mocht worden voorgegeven dat ik iets misdaan had.  
In one of them there is a request to be called to account, should it perhaps be alleged that I had done something wrong.
> Separable voorkomen — to occur: voorkomen ('to appear/occur in a text') is separable; here komt ... voor splits across the fronted locative In een daarvan, with the prefix voor at the end.
> Passive te-infinitive: te worden geroepen ('to be called') is a passive infinitive with te: worden + participle in infinitival form. The idiom ter verantwoording roepen = 'to call to account.'
> Modal mocht + impersonal passive: mocht (past subjunctive-flavored of mogen) softens to 'should it perhaps...'; er ... worden voorgegeven is a subjectless passive, with dummy er holding the subject slot.

Als nu de resident my aantast, kan daarop in gewone billykheid geen beslissing worden genomen zonder dat men my vooraf heeft gehoord.  
Now if the resident attacks me, no decision can in ordinary fairness be taken on it without my having first been heard.
> Modal + passive infinitive: Modal kan governs the passive infinitive worden genomen ('be taken'); geen beslissing is the negated indefinite subject. Note geen (not niet) because it negates an indefinite noun.
> zonder dat clause: zonder dat ('without ...-ing') opens a verb-final subordinate clause: ...zonder dat men my vooraf heeft gehoord ('without my first having been heard'), closing on the perfect.

Dit is men zelfs een misdadiger schuldig, en daar ik niets misdaan heb ...  
This is owed even to a criminal, and since I have done nothing wrong ...
> Causal daar (archaic 'since'): daar as a conjunction means 'since, because' in older/literary Dutch and opens a verb-final clause: daar ik niets misdaan heb ('since I have done nothing wrong').
> Fronted object + indefinite men: Fronting the object Dit forces V2 inversion (is before men); schuldig zijn ('to owe') governs the dative een misdadiger. The sense: 'This one owes even to a criminal.'

Daar komt de post aan! riep Verbrugge.  
There comes the post! cried Verbrugge.
> Fronted Daar + separable aankomen: Fronting deictic Daar ('there') inverts to Daar komt...; aankomen is separable, so aan lands at the end: Daar komt de post aan! ('There comes the post!').

Ja, 't was de post! De post, die den volgenden brief meebracht van den Gouverneur-generaal van Nederlandsch Indie aan den gewezen adsistent- resident van Lebak, Havelaar.  
Yes, it was the post! The post, which brought the following letter from the Governor-General of Netherlands India to the former assistant resident of Lebak, Havelaar.
> Relative die + separable meebrengen: De post, die ... meebracht ('the post, which brought along'): relative die for the de-word, and separable meebrengen reunited as meebracht in this verb-final clause.
> Accumulated den ... -en case endings: den volgenden brief and aan den ... adsistent-resident show the full old masculine accusative/dative pattern: den on the article and -en on the adjective. Standard 1860 print declension.

"Kabinet.  
"Cabinet.

N° 54.  
No. 54.

Buitenzorg, 23 Maart 1856.  
Buitenzorg, 23 March 1856.

De wijze, waarop door u is te werk gegaan, bij de ontdekking of vooronderstelling van kwade praktijken van de Hoofden in de afdeeling Lebak, en de houding daarbij door u tegenover uwen Chef, den Resident van Bantam, aangenomen, hebben in hooge mate mijne ontevredenheid verwekt.  
The manner in which you have proceeded, upon the discovery or supposition of malpractices by the Chiefs in the district of Lebak, and the attitude therein adopted by you toward your Chief, the Resident of Bantam, have in the highest degree aroused my displeasure.
> Pronominal relative waarop + impersonal passive: waarop ('in/by which') is a pronominal-adverb relative (waar- + op); door u is te werk gegaan is a subjectless passive ('was proceeded by you'), the bureaucratic agentless style.
> Postposed participle phrase: de houding ... door u ... aangenomen ('the attitude adopted by you') is a heavy reduced passive clause with the participle aangenomen at the end and the agent in door — the dense officialese the letter is parodying.
> Possessive uwen (period/formal): uwen is the formal possessive uw ('your') with old masculine accusative -en, matching the formal gij/u address the Governor-General's letter uses throughout.

In uwe bedoelde handelingen worden evenzeer gemist bezadigd overleg, beleid en voorzichtigheid, zoo zeer vereischt in eenen ambtenaar met uitvoering van gezag in de binnenlanden bekleed (sic) als begrippen van ondergeschiktheid aan uwen onmiddelijken superieur.  
In your aforesaid actions there is wanting alike that calm deliberation, judgment and prudence so very requisite in an official invested with the exercise of authority in the interior (sic), as also any notion of subordination toward your immediate superior.
> Worden-passive, fronted: worden ... gemist ('are wanting/lacking') is a process passive with the subjects (overleg, beleid, voorzichtigheid) following — heavy inversion that buries the real subject, classic chancery prose.
> Dative eenen + participle modifier: in eenen ambtenaar shows the old masculine dative article eenen after in; bekleed met ('invested/clothed with') is a participle modifying ambtenaar.

Reeds weinige dagen na de aanvaarding uwer betrekking hebt gij kunnen goedvinden, zonder voorafgaande raadpleging van (sic) den Resident, het hoofd van het Inlandsch Bestuur te Lebak te maken tot het doelwit van bezwarende onderzoekingen.  
Already a few days after taking up your post you saw fit, without prior consultation of (sic) the Resident, to make the head of the Native Administration at Lebak the target of incriminating investigations.
> Formal gij + perfect of a modal: hebt gij kunnen goedvinden ('you saw fit') uses the formal pronoun gij and the 'infinitivus pro participio': after the perfect auxiliary, modal kunnen appears as a bare infinitive, not as a participle.
> te-infinitive object clause: The whole clause hangs on a te-infinitive: ...te maken tot het doelwit van bezwarende onderzoekingen ('to make ... the target of incriminating investigations'). bezwarende is a present-participle-style attributive adjective.

In die onderzoekingen hebt gij aanleiding gevonden, zonder zelfs uwe beschuldigingen tegen dat Hoofd door feiten, veel minder bewijzen te staven, tot het doen van voorstellen, die de strekking hadden een Inlandsch Ambtenaar van de stempel van den Regent van Lebak, een zestigjarigen doch nog ijverigen Landsdienaar, aan naburige aanzienlijke Regentengeslachten vermaagschapt, en omtrent wien steeds gunstige getuigenissen waren uitgebracht, aan eene hem moreel geheel vernietigende bejegening te onderwerpen.  
In those investigations you found occasion, without even substantiating your accusations against that Chief by facts, much less by proofs, to proceed to making proposals whose tendency was to subject a Native Official of the stamp of the Regent of Lebak — a man of sixty, yet still a zealous servant of the State, allied by marriage to neighbouring families of rank among the Regents, and concerning whom favourable testimonies had always been rendered — to a treatment morally annihilating to him.
> Perfect bracket over a long clause: The finite hebt and the participle gevonden bracket an enormous middle field of qualifications — the sentence's main verb pair is hebt ... gevonden ('you found [occasion]'). Reading 1860 prose means holding the opening verb until the participle lands.
> Stacked -en adjectives + archaic doch: zestigjarigen and ijverigen both take accusative -en agreeing with Landsdienaar; doch ('yet, but') is a literary/archaic adversative coordinator.
> Formal relative wien + pluperfect passive: omtrent wien ('concerning whom') uses formal dative wien; waren uitgebracht is a pluperfect passive of separable uitbrengen ('had been rendered').

Daarenboven hebt gij, toen de resident zich ongenegen betoonde aan uw voorstellen gereedelijk gevolg te geven geweigerd aan het billijk verlangen van uwen Chef te voldoen om volle opening te geven van hetgeen u omtrent de handelingen van het Inlandsch Bestuur te Lebak, bekend was.  
Moreover, when the resident showed himself disinclined to give ready effect to your proposals, you refused to satisfy the reasonable wish of your Chief that you should give full disclosure of what was known to you concerning the conduct of the Native Administration at Lebak.
> toen-clause + reflexive zich betonen: toen opens a verb-final past clause; zich betonen ('to show oneself [to be]') is reflexive, with zich the 3rd-person reflexive and ongenegen ('disinclined') its predicate.
> Perfect of weigeren + te-infinitive: geweigerd ('refused') governs a te-infinitive complement te voldoen aan ('to satisfy/comply with'); the whole sits inside the perfect bracket hebt gij ... geweigerd.

Zulke handelingen verdienen alle afkeuring, en doen lichtelijk gelooven aan ongeschiktheid voor het bekleeden eene betrekking bij het Binnenlandsch Bestuur.  
Such conduct deserves all censure, and readily gives reason to believe in unfitness to hold a post in the Interior Administration.
> doen + bare infinitive (causative): doen + infinitive is a causative like laten: doen ... gelooven aan = 'give cause to believe in / make one believe in.' lichtelijk ('readily') is an adverb in -lijk.
> Archaic zulk(e): zulke ('such') is the literary/period demonstrative-quantifier zulk + -e; in solemn register it replaces the more colloquial zo'n / dergelijke.

Ik heb mij verplicht gezien, u van de verdere vervulling der betrekking van Adsistent-resident van Lebak te ontheffen.  
I have seen myself obliged to relieve you of the further discharge of the post of Assistant Resident of Lebak.
> Reflexive perfect + te-infinitive: zich verplicht zien ('to see oneself obliged') is reflexive (mij); the perfect heb ... gezien brackets it, and a te-infinitive te ontheffen ('to relieve') states what he is obliged to do.
> Genitive article der: der ('of the') is the old feminine/plural genitive article: van de verdere vervulling der betrekking = 'of the further discharge of the post.' A frozen genitive normal in this formal prose.

Uit aanmerking evenwel van gunstige rapporten, vroeger omtrent u ontvangen, heb ik in het voorgevallene geen reden willen vinden, om u het uitzicht op eene wederplaatsing bij het Binnenlandsch Bestuur te benemen.  
In consideration, nevertheless, of the favourable reports formerly received concerning you, I have not wished to find in what has occurred any reason to deprive you of the prospect of a reassignment within the Interior Administration.
> Perfect of willen + om...te purpose: willen appears as a bare infinitive after the perfect heb (infinitivus pro participio); om u ... te benemen ('to deprive you of') is an om...te purpose clause closing on the infinitive.
> Reduced participle clause: gunstige rapporten, vroeger omtrent u ontvangen ('favourable reports formerly received concerning you') is a reduced passive participle phrase modifying rapporten — the participle ontvangen ends it.

Ik heb u daarom voorloopig belast met de waarneming der betrekking van Adsistent-resident van Ngawi.  
I have therefore provisionally charged you with the conduct of the post of Assistant Resident of Ngawi.
> Perfect belasten + genitive der: belasten met ('to charge with') in the perfect heb ... belast; der betrekking again shows the genitive article der ('of the post'). voorloopig ('provisionally') sits in the middle field.

Van uwe verdere handelingen in die betrekking zal het geheel afhangen of gij bij het Binnenlandsch Bestuur zult kunnen geplaatst blijven."  
Upon your further conduct in that post it shall depend entirely whether you can remain in the Interior Administration."
> Fronted PP + future zullen, twice: A fronted prepositional phrase inverts the main clause (zal het afhangen); the of-clause ('whether') is verb-final with a future zult plus a stacked infinitive cluster kunnen geplaatst blijven.
> Indirect yes/no with of: of ('whether') introduces an embedded yes/no question after afhangen ('to depend'); the clause is verb-final. This is the dependent counterpart of a yes/no question.

En daaronder stond de naam van den man, op wiens "yver, bekwaamheid en goede trouw" de Koning zeide te kunnen staat-maken, toen hy diens benoeming tot Gouverneur-generaal van Nederlandsch Indie onderteekende.  
And beneath it stood the name of the man on whose "zeal, ability and good faith" the King said he could rely, when he signed the man's appointment as Governor-General of Netherlands India.
> Genitive relative wiens + te-infinitive: wiens ('on whose') is the genitive relative for a person; zeide te kunnen staat-maken op ('said he could rely on') stacks the verb of saying with a te-infinitive containing modal kunnen.
> toen-clause + demonstrative diens: toen opens a verb-final past clause closing on onderteekende; diens ('that man's, his') is the genitive of die used to avoid ambiguity — formal and precise.

--We gaan van hier, beste Tine, zei Havelaar gelaten, en hy reikte den kabinetsbrief aan Verbrugge, die 't stuk las tezamen met Duclari.  
--We are leaving here, dear Tine, said Havelaar with resignation, and he handed the cabinet letter to Verbrugge, who read the document together with Duclari.
> Present tense for near future: gaan in the simple present here means 'we are leaving' — Dutch routinely uses the present tense for a settled near-future plan, with no need for zullen.
> Relative die + strong past las: die opens a relative clause; las is the strong imperfect of lezen ('to read'), with the vowel change e→a (the long e is written as a single e in the open syllable le-zen) typical of strong verbs.

Verbrugge had tranen in de oogen, maar sprak niet.  
Verbrugge had tears in his eyes, but said nothing.
> Coordinating maar (no inversion): maar ('but') is coordinating, so it does not send the verb to the end nor invert; the subject (here elided) and finite sprak keep main-clause order. niet negates the verb.

Duclari, een zeer beschaafd mensch, berstte in een wilden vloek uit:  
Duclari, a thoroughly well-bred man, burst out with a wild oath:
> Separable uitbarsten + accusative -en: uitbarsten splits (berstte ... uit); een wilden vloek keeps the old masculine accusative -en on the adjective after in. Period spelling berstte for barstte.

--G.......... ik heb hier in 't bestuur schelmen en dieven gezien ... ze zyn in eere van hier gegaan, en men schryft aan U zulk een brief!  
--G......... I have seen rogues and thieves here in the administration ... they left with honour, and to YOU they write such a letter!
> Perfect with zijn (motion): gaan forms its perfect with zijn because it is a verb of motion: ze zyn ... gegaan ('they went/left'). in eere ('in honour') keeps a frozen -e dative ending.
> Impersonal men + archaic zulk een: men ('they, one') is the impersonal subject; zulk een brief ('such a letter') is the literary periphrasis for zo'n brief, with zulk uninflected before een.

--'t Is niets, zei Havelaar, de Gouverneur-generaal is een eerlyk man: hy moet bedrogen zyn ... hoewel hy zich tegen dat bedrog had kunnen hoeden door my eerst te hooren. Hy is verstrikt in 't web van de buitenzorgsche ambtenary.  
--It is nothing, said Havelaar, the Governor-General is an honest man: he must have been deceived ... though he could have guarded himself against that deception by hearing me first. He is caught in the web of the Buitenzorg officialdom.
> Modal moeten (epistemic) + passive: moet here is epistemic ('must, surely'); bedrogen zyn is a state passive (zijn + participle): 'he must have been deceived.' bedrogen is the strong participle of bedriegen.
> hoewel + reflexive + modal pluperfect: hoewel ('although') opens a verb-final concessive clause; zich hoeden ('to guard oneself') is reflexive, and had kunnen hoeden is a pluperfect with the modal as a bare infinitive.
> Officialdom (pejorative): ambtenary ('officialdom, the bureaucracy,' modern ambtenarij) carries a dismissive ring — the self-serving administrative machine. Spelled with period y.

We kennen dat! Maar ik zal tot hem gaan en hem aantoonen hoe hier de zaken staan.  
We know that! But I shall go to him and show him how matters stand here.
> Future zullen over two infinitives: zal carries two coordinated end-infinitives: gaan ... en aantoonen ('go ... and show'). aantoonen ('to demonstrate') is separable but stays whole as a final infinitive.
> Embedded hoe-clause, verb-final: hoe ... de zaken staan ('how matters stand') is an indirect question functioning as the object of aantoonen, with the verb staan at the end.

Hy zal recht doen, ik ben er zeker van!  
He will do justice, I am sure of it!
> Pronominal adverb er...van (split): zeker zijn van ('to be sure of') uses the pronominal adverb er...van when the object is implied: ik ben er zeker van = 'I am sure of it,' with er and van split around the predicate.

--Maar, als ge naar Ngawi gaat ...  
--But, if you go to Ngawi ...
> Conditional als + pronoun ge: als ('if') opens a verb-final conditional clause closing on gaat; ge is the unstressed clitic of formal/literary gij ('you'), common in 1860 dialogue.

--Juist, ik weet dit! Te Ngawi is de Regent verwant aan het Djokjasche hof.  
--Just so, I know this! At Ngawi the Regent is related to the court of Djokja.
> State passive / adjectival verwant: verwant aan ('related to') is a participle-turned-adjective with zijn, giving a resulting state: is verwant aan = 'is related to.' It governs its object with aan.

Ik ken Ngawi, want ik was twee jaar lang in de Baglen, dat in de buurt is. Ik zou te Ngawi hetzelfde moeten doen wat ik hier gedaan heb: dat zou nutteloos heen-en-weer reizen zyn.  
I know Ngawi, for I was two years in the Baglen, which lies nearby. At Ngawi I should have to do the very same thing I have done here: that would be useless travelling back and forth.
> Relative dat for a het-word: de Baglen is treated as a het-region here, so the relative is dat: dat in de buurt is ('which lies nearby'), verb-final on is.
> Conditional zou + modal + relative wat: zou ... moeten doen ('should have to do') is a conditional with a modal; wat ik hier gedaan heb is a free relative ('what I have done here') with the perfect at the end.
> Travelling back and forth: heen-en-weer ('there and back, to and fro') is a fixed adverbial pair; heen-en-weer reizen = 'travelling back and forth.' nutteloos ('useless') modifies the whole.

Bovendien, 't is my onmogelyk dienst te doen op de proef alsof ik me slecht gedragen had! En eindelyk, ik zie in dat ik om een eind te maken aan al dat geknoei, geen ambtenaar moet wezen.  
Besides, it is impossible for me to serve on probation, as though I had behaved badly! And finally, I see that, to put an end to all this jobbery, I must not be an official.
> Impersonal het + te-infinitive: Dummy 't ('it') is the impersonal subject of 't is my onmogelyk ('it is impossible for me'), with the real content in the te-infinitive dienst te doen ('to serve'). my is the dative experiencer.
> alsof + reflexive pluperfect: alsof ('as if') opens a verb-final clause with counterfactual force; zich gedragen ('to behave') is reflexive, and the pluperfect gedragen had closes the clause.
> om...te purpose clause: om ... te maken ('in order to put an end') frames a purpose clause; een eind maken aan ('to put an end to') is the idiom. geknoei ('bungling, jobbery') is a ge-collective noun.

Als ambtenaar staan er tusschen de Regeering en my te veel personen die belang hebben by 't loochenen der ellende van de bevolking.  
As an official, there stand between the Government and me too many persons who have an interest in denying the misery of the population.
> Existential er + fronted Als ambtenaar: Fronting Als ambtenaar inverts the main clause; existential er introduces the count subject te veel personen ('too many persons'), the standard er-construction for 'there are.'
> Relative die + genitive der: die opens the relative clause; der ellende ('of the misery') is the genitive article der. loochenen ('to deny') is here nominalized as 't loochenen.

Er zyn nog meer redenen die my beletten naar Ngawi te gaan.  
There are still more reasons that keep me from going to Ngawi.
> Relative die + beletten + te-infinitive: beletten ('to prevent') governs a te-infinitive (te gaan); the relative die opens the clause and the infinitive cluster te gaan closes it, verb-final.

Die plaats was niet vakant ... ze is voor my open gemaakt, kyk!  
That post was not vacant ... it has been made open for me, look!
> Passive of separable openmaken: is ... open gemaakt is a state passive of separable openmaken ('to open up'): 'it has been made open.' The separable parts open and gemaakt straddle the agent phrase.
> Imperative kijk: kyk! ('look!,' modern kijk) is a bare-stem imperative. Havelaar's clipped commands — Zie, kyk, hoor — punctuate his demonstration to the others.

En hij toonde in de Javasche Courant die met dezelfde post was aangekomen, dat inderdaad by 'tzelfde besluit der Regeering waarby hem het Bestuur van Ngawi werd opgedragen, de adsistent-resident van die provincie verplaatst werd naar een andere afdeeling die vakant was.  
And he showed in the Java Courant, which had come by the same post, that indeed by the very same decree of the Government that assigned him the administration of Ngawi, the assistant resident of that province was transferred to another district that was vacant.
> Relative die + pluperfect with zijn: die ... was aangekomen ('which had arrived') is a relative clause with a pluperfect of separable aankomen, formed with zijn (motion) and the participle aangekomen.
> Pronominal relative waarby + worden-passive: waarby (waar- + by, 'by which') is a pronominal-adverb relative; werd opgedragen is a worden-passive of separable opdragen ('to assign'), with hem as dative recipient.

--Weet ge waarom ik juist naar Ngawi moet, en niet naar die vakante afdeeling?  
--Do you know why I am to go precisely to Ngawi, and not to that vacant district?
> Embedded waarom + verb-final modal: waarom ('why') introduces an indirect question, object of Weet; the clause is verb-final, ending on the modal moet ('am to / must'). ge is the clitic of gij.

Dat zal ik je zeggen! De resident van Madiven, waaronder Ngawi behoort, is de schoonbroeder van den vorigen resident van Bantam.  
I will tell you! The resident of Madiven, under whom Ngawi falls, is the brother-in-law of the former resident of Bantam.
> Pronominal relative waaronder: waaronder ('under whom/which') is a fused pronominal-adverb relative (waar- + onder); the clause is verb-final on behoort ('belongs/falls').
> Brother-in-law: schoonbroeder ('brother-in-law,' modern usually zwager) uses the schoon- prefix that marks relations 'by marriage' (schoonvader, schoonmoeder). Havelaar exposes the kinship web protecting the corrupt.

Ik heb gezegd dat de Regent vroeger zulke slechte voorbeelden had gehad ...  
I have said that the Regent had had such bad examples before him ...
> dat-clause + pluperfect: dat opens a verb-final object clause closing on the pluperfect had gehad ('had had'). zulke ('such') is the literary quantifier; slechte takes adjectival -e.

--Ah, riepen Verbrugge en Duclari tegelyk.  
--Ah, cried Verbrugge and Duclari at once.

Ze begrepen waarom Havelaar juist naar Ngawi verplaatst werd om op de proef te dienen, of hy zich misschien beteren zou!  
They understood why Havelaar was being transferred precisely to Ngawi to serve on probation, to see whether he might perhaps mend his ways!
> Embedded waarom + worden-passive: waarom opens the indirect question (object of begrepen); verplaatst werd is a worden-passive ('was being transferred'), verb-final.
> Indirect of-question + reflexive + zou: of ('whether') introduces an embedded yes/no clause; zich beteren ('to mend one's ways') is reflexive, and the conditional zou closes the verb-final clause.

--En om nòg een reden kan ik niet daarheen gaan, zeide hy. De tegenwoordige Gouverneur-generaal zal spoedig aftreden ... zyn opvolger ken ik, en ik weet dat er van hem niets te wachten valt.  
--And for yet one more reason I cannot go there, he said. The present Governor-General will soon retire ... I know his successor, and I know that nothing is to be expected from him.
> Fronted PP + V2 inversion: Fronting the reason phrase forces verb-second: kan precedes the subject ik. daarheen ('thither') is a pronominal-adverb direction word.
> Existential er + idiom te wachten vallen: er ... niets te wachten valt ('nothing is to be expected') is an impersonal er-construction with niets and the idiom te wachten vallen ('to be expected'), verb-final in the dat-clause.

Om dus nog tydig voor dat arme volk iets te verrichten, moet ik den tegenwoordigen Gouverneur spreken voor zyn vertrek, en als ik nu naar Ngawi ging, zou dat onmogelyk wezen.  
So, in order to do something in time for that poor people, I must speak to the present Governor before his departure, and if I went to Ngawi now, that would be impossible.
> Fronted om...te + V2 main clause: A fronted om...te purpose clause inverts the main clause (moet ik); the purpose closes on the infinitive te verrichten ('to accomplish').
> Counterfactual als + zou: An als-clause with the imperfect ging plus a main clause with zou (zou ... wezen, 'would be') builds an unreal present conditional. wezen is the older infinitive of zijn.

Tine, hoor eens!  
Tine, listen a moment!

--Lieve Max?  
--Dear Max?

--Je hebt moed, niet waar?  
--You have courage, haven't you?
> Tag question 'niet waar?': niet waar? ('isn't it? / right?') is the standard Dutch question tag appended to a statement to invite agreement — here softening 'You have courage.'

--Max, je weet dat ik moed heb ... als ik by je ben!  
--Max, you know that I have courage ... when I am with you!
> Conditional als clause, verb-final: als ('when, if') opens a verb-final clause closing on ben: 'when I am with you.' by je ('with you,' modern bij jou) uses the familiar clitic je.

--Welnu!  
--Well then!

Hy stond op, en schreef 't volgend rekwest, naar myn inzien een voorbeeld van welsprekendheid.  
He stood up, and wrote the following petition, in my view a model of eloquence.
> Separable opstaan + strong past schreef: opstaan ('to stand up') is separable (stond ... op); schreef is the strong imperfect of schrijven, with the ij→ee vowel change of strong verbs.
> Formal petition: rekwest ('petition, formal request,' a French/Latin loan) is the bureaucratic word for a written application to authority — fitting for Havelaar's resignation letter.

"Rangkas-Betoeng, 29 Maart 1856.  
"Rangkas-Betoeng, 29 March 1856.

Aan den Gouverneur-Generaal van Nederlandsch-Indie.  
To the Governor-General of Netherlands India.

Ik had de eer te ontvangen uwer Excellentie's kabinetsmissive van 23 dezer, N° 54.  
I had the honour to receive Your Excellency's cabinet dispatch of the 23rd of this month, No. 54.
> Formal idiom de eer hebben te + inf: de eer hebben te ('to have the honour to') is a fixed polite formula governing a te-infinitive: had de eer te ontvangen ('had the honour to receive').
> Genitive uwer + dezer: uwer ('your,' genitive of uw) and dezer ('of this [month]') are frozen genitive forms; van 23 dezer = 'of the 23rd of this [month]' — the dating formula of period correspondence.

Ik zie me genoodzaakt, in antwoord op dat stuk, Uwe Excellentie te verzoeken my te verleenen een eervol ontslag uit 's Lands dienst.  
I see myself constrained, in answer to that document, to request Your Excellency to grant me an honourable discharge from the service of the State.
> Reflexive + nested te-infinitives: zich genoodzaakt zien ('to see oneself compelled') is reflexive (me); it governs te verzoeken ('to request'), which in turn governs te verleenen ('to grant') — a chain of te-infinitives.
> Genitive 's Lands: 's Lands ('of the State,' literally 'of the land') is a contracted genitive ('s = des) frozen in formal phrases like 's Lands dienst ('the service of the State').

MAX HAVELAAR."  
MAX HAVELAAR."

Er was te Buitenzorg tot het verleenen van 't gevraagd ontslag niet zoo langen tyd noodig als er scheen vereischt geweest te zyn voor de beslissing hoe men Havelaars aanklacht kon afwenden.  
At Buitenzorg the granting of the discharge that had been requested took not so long a time as had seemed to be required for the decision how Havelaar's accusation might be parried.
> Comparative zoo...als + impersonal er: zoo ... als ('as ... as') frames the comparison; the impersonal er with scheen ... te zyn ('seemed to have been') builds a passive te-infinitive (vereischt geweest te zyn, 'to have been required').
> Embedded hoe + separable afwenden: hoe ('how') opens an indirect question, verb-final on the separable modal cluster kon afwenden ('could parry'). men is the impersonal subject.

Dit toch had een maand gevorderd, en 't gevraagd ontslag kwam binnen weinig dagen te Lebak aan.  
This, after all, had demanded a month, whereas the requested discharge arrived at Lebak within a few days.
> Particle toch + perfect: toch here is a modal particle ('after all, indeed') reinforcing the statement; had ... gevorderd is the pluperfect of vorderen ('to demand/take [time]').
> Separable aankomen, split: aankomen ('to arrive') is separable; 't gevraagd ontslag kwam ... aan splits the verb, with aan at the clause end. te Lebak ('at Lebak') uses the older locative te.

--Goddank, riep Tine, dat je eindelyk jezelf kunt zyn!  
"Thank God," cried Tine, "that you can at last be yourself!"
> dat-clause + modal verb-final: dat opens a verb-final clause; modal kunt sends zyn to the end as a bare infinitive: jezelf kunt zyn ('can be yourself'). jezelf is the emphatic reflexive of je.

Havelaar ontving geen last om 't Bestuur zyner Afdeeling voorloopig overtegeven aan Verbrugge, en meende dus zyn opvolger te moeten afwachten.  
Havelaar received no order to hand over the administration of his Division provisionally to Verbrugge, and so he supposed that he must wait for his successor.
> geen + om...te clause: geen ('no') negates the indefinite noun last ('order'); om ... overtegeven ('to hand over') is a purpose clause. overtegeven is the joined 1860 spelling of over te geven.
> menen + modal te-infinitive: menen ('to suppose') governs a te-infinitive containing a modal: te moeten afwachten ('to have to await'). zyner is a genitive possessive ('his') in the formal register.

Deze bleef lang uit omdat hy uit een geheel anderen hoek van Java komen moest.  
The man was long in coming, because he had to travel from an altogether different corner of Java.
> Separable uitblijven, strong past: uitblijven ('to stay away, fail to appear') is separable; bleef ... uit splits the strong imperfect of blijven with the prefix uit at the end.
> omdat clause, verb-final modal: omdat ('because') opens a verb-final causal clause; the modal moest pulls komen to the end as a bare infinitive: komen moest ('had to come').

Na byna drie weken wachtens schreef de gewezen adsistent-resident van Lebak, die echter nog altyd als zoodanig was opgetreden, den volgenden brief aan den kontroleur Verbrugge:  
After almost three weeks of waiting, the former assistant-resident of Lebak — who, however, had all the while continued to act as such — wrote the following letter to the comptroller Verbrugge:
> Genitive of the gerund: wachtens: wachtens is an old genitive of the verbal noun ('of waiting'): drie weken wachtens = 'three weeks of waiting.' A fossilized genitive surviving in set time phrases.
> Relative die + pluperfect optreden: die opens the relative clause; was opgetreden is the pluperfect of separable optreden ('to act, appear'), formed with zijn. als zoodanig = 'as such.'

"N° 153 Rangkas-Betoeng, 15 April 1856.  
"No. 153 Rangkas-Betoeng, 15 April 1856.

Aan den Kontroleur van Lebak.  
To the Comptroller of Lebak.

Het is u bewust dat ik by Gouvernements Besluit van den 4den dezer, N° 4, op myn verzoek eervol ben ontslagen uit 's Lands dienst.  
You are aware that, by Government Decree of the 4th of this month, No. 4, I have at my own request been honourably discharged from the service of the State.
> Impersonal het + dative experiencer: Het is u bewust ('it is known to you, you are aware') uses dummy het as subject and u as a dative experiencer, with the real content in the dat-clause.
> State passive + genitive 's Lands: ben ontslagen ('have been / am discharged') is a state passive with zijn; 's Lands dienst again shows the frozen genitive 's (= des).

Misschien ware ik in myn recht geweest, na de ontvangst van die beschikking myn betrekking van adsistent-resident terstond neerteleggen, daar het een anomalie schynt een funktie te vervullen zonder ambtenaar te wezen.  
I might perhaps have been within my rights, upon receiving that decision, to lay down at once my office of assistant-resident, since it seems an anomaly to fill a function without being an official.
> Subjunctive ware (conditional): ware is the past subjunctive of zijn ('were'); ware ik ... geweest = 'I might have been,' a counterfactual softened by Misschien. A literary subjunctive, rare in modern speech.
> Causal daar + nested te-infinitives: daar ('since') opens the clause; impersonal het schynt ('it seems') governs te vervullen, and zonder ... te wezen ('without being') is a second te-infinitive. wezen = older zijn.

Ik ontving evenwel geen aanschryving om myn betrekking overtegeven, en gedeeltelyk uit besef van de verplichting myn post niet te verlaten zonder behoorlyk afgelost te zyn, gedeeltelyk uit oorzaken van ondergeschikt belang, wachtte ik de komst van myn opvolger af, in de meening dat die ambtenaar spoedig--althans deze maand--zou arriveeren.  
I received, however, no instruction to hand over my office, and partly out of a sense of the obligation not to abandon my post before being properly relieved, partly from causes of lesser moment, I awaited the arrival of my successor, in the belief that this official would arrive soon — this month at the latest.
> Correlative pair (parallel adverbials): gedeeltelyk ... gedeeltelyk ('partly ... partly') is a balanced correlative listing two motives; both adverbial phrases sit in the middle field before the main verb wachtte.
> zonder + passive te-infinitive: zonder ... afgelost te zyn ('without being relieved') is a passive te-infinitive: the participle afgelost plus te zyn. aflossen ('to relieve [a post]') is separable.
> dat-clause + conditional/future zou: dat opens a verb-final clause; zou arriveeren here projects expectation ('would arrive'). althans ('at least') is a hedging adverb in the middle field.

Thans verneem ik van u dat myn vervanger nog niet zoo spoedig kan verwacht worden--ge hebt, meen ik, die tyding te Serang gehoord--en tevens dat het den resident verwonderde dat ik, in de zeer byzondere pozitie waarin ik verkeer, nog niet heb verzocht het Bestuur aan u te mogen overdragen. Niets kon my aangenamer zyn dan dit bericht.  
I now learn from you that my replacement cannot be expected so soon — you heard that news, I believe, at Serang — and likewise that the resident was surprised that I, in the very singular position in which I find myself, had not yet asked leave to make over the administration to you. Nothing could have been more welcome to me than this report.
> Fronted adverb + V2 + dat-clause: Fronting Thans ('now,' archaic) inverts to verneem ik; the dat-clause that follows is verb-final. Thans is a literary register marker for 'now / at present.'
> Modal + passive infinitive: kan ... verwacht worden ('can be expected') stacks modal kan over the passive infinitive verwacht worden (participle + worden).

Want ik behoef u niet te verzekeren dat ik, die verklaard heb niet anders te kunnen dienen dan ik hier deed ... ik die voor deze wyze van dienen ben gestraft met berisping, met een ruïneuze en deshonorante overplaatsing ... met den last om de arme lieden te verraden die op myn loyauteit vertrouwden --met de keus alzoo tusschen oneer en broodsgebrek!--dat ik na dit alles met moeite en zorg elk voorkomend geval te toetsen had aan myn plicht, en dat de eenvoudigste zaak my zwaar viel, geplaatst als ik was tusschen myn geweten en de principes van 't Gouvernement waaraan ik trouw schuldig ben zoolang ik niet ontheven ben van myn ambt. Deze moeielykheid openbaarde zich vooral by 't antwoord dat ik geven moest aan klagers.  
For I need not assure you that I — who have declared myself unable to serve otherwise than I did here ... I who for this manner of serving have been punished with a reprimand, with a ruinous and dishonouring transfer ... with the charge of betraying the poor folk who trusted in my loyalty — with the choice, then, between dishonour and want of bread! — that I, after all this, had with toil and care to weigh every case that arose against my duty, and that the simplest matter fell heavy upon me, placed as I was between my conscience and the principles of the Government to which I owe fidelity so long as I am not relieved of my office. This difficulty showed itself above all in the answer I had to give to those who came with complaints.
> Relative die + perfect + te-infinitive + dan: The relative die (referring to ik) opens a clause whose perfect verklaard heb governs te kunnen dienen ('to be able to serve'); dan ik hier deed ('than I did here') is the comparison standard.
> State passive with zijn: ben gestraft ('have been punished') is a state passive with zijn; the agent/instrument follows with met. deshonorante is a French loan ('dishonouring').
> Pronominal relative waaraan: waaraan ('to which') is a pronominal-adverb relative (waar- + aan); trouw schuldig zijn aan ('to owe fidelity to') governs its object with aan, fused into waaraan.

Eens toch had ik beloofd niemand te zullen overleveren aan de rankune zyner hoofden!  
For once I had promised to deliver no one to the rancour of his chiefs!
> Pluperfect + future te-infinitive: had ... beloofd ('had promised') governs a te-infinitive that itself carries a future: te zullen overleveren ('to deliver [in future]'). niemand is the negative object.
> Genitive possessive zyner: zyner ('his,' genitive of zijn) modifies hoofden: de rankune zyner hoofden = 'the rancour of his chiefs.' A formal inflected possessive of the period.

Eenmaal had ik--onvoorzichtig genoeg!--myn woord ten borg gesteld voor de rechtvaardigheid van 't Gouvernement.  
Once — imprudently enough! — I had pledged my word as surety for the justice of the Government.
> Pluperfect of a fixed idiom: ten borg stellen ('to pledge as surety') is a frozen idiom with ten (= te + den); had ... gesteld is its pluperfect. ten borg keeps an old dative.

De arme bevolking kon niet weten dat die belofte en die borgstelling gedesavoueerd waren, en dat ik arm en onmachtig alleen stond met myn zucht voor recht en menschelykheid.  
The poor population could not know that this promise and this surety had been disavowed, and that I, poor and powerless, stood alone with my craving for justice and humanity.
> Modal + dat-clause pluperfect passive: kon niet weten ('could not know') governs a dat-clause that is verb-final on a pluperfect passive: waren gedesavoueerd ('had been disavowed'). gedesavoueerd is a French loan-participle.
> Predicative adjectives in the middle field: arm en onmachtig ('poor and powerless') are predicative adjectives describing the subject's state, sitting before the verb stond in this verb-final dat-clause.

En men ging met klagen voort!  
And still they went on complaining!
> Separable voortgaan met: voortgaan met ('to go on with') is separable; ging ... voort splits, with the nominalized klagen ('complaining') as object of met. The whole: 'they kept on complaining.'

Het was grievend, na de ontvangst der kabinetsmissive van 23 Maart, dáár te zitten als vermeende toevlucht, als machtelooze beschermer.  
It was galling, after receiving the cabinet dispatch of 23 March, to sit there as a supposed refuge, as a protector without power.
> Impersonal het + te-infinitive subject: Het was grievend ('it was galling') uses dummy het, with the logical subject in the te-infinitive dáár te zitten ('to sit there'). The stressed dáár adds bitter emphasis.
> Genitive article der: na de ontvangst der kabinetsmissive ('after receiving the cabinet dispatch') uses the genitive der ('of the'), the formal alternative to van de.

Het was hartverscheurend de klachten aantehooren over mishandeling, uitzuiging, armoede, honger ... terwyl ikzelf nu met vrouw en kind honger en armoede te-gemoet ga.  
It was heartrending to hear out the complaints of ill-treatment, extortion, poverty, hunger ... while I myself now, with wife and child, go to meet hunger and poverty.
> Impersonal het + te-infinitive: Het was hartverscheurend ('it was heartrending'), again with dummy het and the real subject in the te-infinitive de klachten aantehooren ('to hear out the complaints'). aantehooren = joined 1860 aan te hooren.
> terwyl clause, verb-final: terwyl ('while') opens a verb-final clause; te-gemoet gaan ('to go to meet') puts the object honger en armoede before the verb ga at the end.

En ook 't Gouvernement mocht ik niet verraden.  
And the Government, too, I was not allowed to betray.
> Fronted object + modal mogen (permission): Fronting the object 't Gouvernement inverts to mocht ik; mogen here is the modal of permission, negated: mocht ... niet verraden = 'was not allowed to betray.'

Ik mocht tot die arme lieden niet zeggen: "gaat en lydt, want het Bestuur wil dat gy gekneveld wordt!" Ik mocht myn onmacht niet erkennen, één als ze was met de schande en de gewetenloosheid der raadgevers van den Gouverneur-generaal.  
I was not allowed to say to those poor folk: "Go and suffer, for the administration wills that you be ground down!" I was not allowed to confess my powerlessness, which was one with the shame and the unscrupulousness of the Governor-General's advisers.
> want + dat-clause passive: want ('for') keeps main-clause order; wil governs a dat-clause that is verb-final on a worden-passive: gy gekneveld wordt ('you are ground down/shackled'). gy is the formal pronoun.
> mogen (permission) negated: Ik mocht ... niet erkennen ('I was not allowed to acknowledge') again uses mogen for permission, sending the main verb erkennen to the end as a bare infinitive.
> knevelen — to extort / shackle: knevelen literally means 'to bind/gag,' figuratively 'to extort, oppress.' gekneveld wordt = 'is being ground down.' A loaded word for colonial exploitation.

Ziehier wat ik antwoordde:  
Here is what I answered:

"Terstond kan ik u niet helpen!  
"At once I cannot help you!

Doch ik zal naar Batavia gaan, ik zal den Grooten-Heer spreken over uw ellende.  
But I shall go to Batavia, I shall speak of your misery to the Great Lord.
> Future zullen + present for plan: ik zal ... spreken ('I shall speak') uses zullen for a promise/intention; the parallel ik zal naar Batavia gaan announces a planned act. zullen marks the explicit future.

Hy is rechtvaardig, en hy zal u bystaan.  
He is just, and he will stand by you.

Gaat voorloopig rustig naar huis ...verzet u niet ...verhuist nog niet ... wacht geduldig: ik denk, ik ... hoop dat er recht zal geschieden!"  
Go home quietly for the present ... do not resist ... do not yet move away ... wait patiently: I think — I ... hope that justice will be done!"
> Plural imperatives (period -t): Gaat, verhuist, wacht are imperatives addressed to several people, taking the old plural -t (modern would drop it: ga, verhuis); verzet u niet ('do not resist') is a reflexive imperative with u.

Zóó meende ik, beschaamd over de schending myner toezegging van hulp, myn denkbeelden in overeenstemming te brengen met myn plicht omtrent het Bestuur dat my nog deze maand betaalt, en ik zou aldus tot de komst van myn opvolger zyn voortgegaan, indien niet een byzonder voorval my heden in de noodzakelykheid bracht aan die dubbelzinnige verhouding een eind te maken.  
Thus I thought — ashamed at the breaking of my promise of help — to bring my own convictions into accord with my duty toward the administration that still pays me this month, and so I should have carried on until the arrival of my successor, had not a singular occurrence put me today under the necessity of ending that ambiguous relation.
> menen + te-infinitive, inverted: Fronting Zóó inverts to meende ik; menen governs the te-infinitive te brengen. The idiom in overeenstemming brengen met = 'to bring into accord with.'
> Archaic conditional indien: indien ('if') is the literary/formal conditional conjunction, opening a verb-final clause; here it states the counterfactual that did occur. de noodzakelykheid ... aan ... een eind te maken nests a te-infinitive.

Zeven personen hadden geklaagd.  
Seven persons had lodged complaints.
> Pluperfect of weak klagen: hadden geklaagd ('had complained') is the pluperfect of the weak verb klagen — weak verbs add the dental -d/-t participle (ge-klaag-d) with no vowel change.

Ik gaf hun bovenstaand antwoord.  
I gave them the answer set out above.

Zy keerden naar hun woonstede terug.  
They turned back toward their dwelling-place.
> Separable terugkeeren, past: terugkeeren ('to return') is separable; keerden ... terug splits in this past main clause, with terug at the end. woonstede ('dwelling-place') is an archaic/literary word.

Onder-weg ontmoet hen hun dorpshoofd.  
On the way their village chief met them.
> Historical present + V2 inversion: ontmoet is a vivid historical present (Havelaar narrates past events in the present for immediacy); the fronted Onder-weg inverts the verb before the subject hun dorpshoofd.

Hy moet ze verboden hebben hun kampong weder te verlaten, en nam ze--naar men my rapporteert--hun kleederen af, om hen te dwingen tehuis te blyven.  
He must have forbidden them to leave their kampong again, and — so I am told — took their clothes from them, in order to force them to stay at home.
> Modal moeten (epistemic) + perfect inf: moet ... verboden hebben ('must have forbidden') is epistemic moeten over a perfect infinitive; verbieden ('to forbid') governs a te-infinitive te verlaten ('to leave').
> Separable afnemen + om...te: afnemen ('to take away from') is separable (nam ... af) and takes a dative ze; om hen te dwingen ... te blyven ('to force them to stay') is a purpose clause with a nested te-infinitive.

Één hunner ontsnapt, vervoegt zich weder by my en verklaart: niet naar zyn dorp te durven terugkeeren.  
One of them escaped, presented himself again before me, and declared that he dared not return to his village.
> Historical present + reflexive zich vervoegen: ontsnapt, vervoegt, verklaart are vivid historical presents; zich vervoegen by ('to present oneself before') is reflexive. hunner ('of them') is a genitive partitive.
> te-infinitive with negation + durven: The reported content is a te-infinitive: te durven terugkeeren ('to dare to return'), negated by niet. durven here governs a bare terugkeeren inside the te-clause.

Wat ik nu dien man moet antwoorden, weet ik niet!  
What I am now to answer that man, I do not know!
> Fronted embedded question + V2: The whole indirect question Wat ik ... moet antwoorden is fronted as object, forcing inversion in the matrix: weet ik niet. dien man keeps the old accusative den/dien.

Ik kan hem niet beschermen ... ik mag hem myn onmacht niet bekennen ... ik wil 't aangeklaagd dorpshoofd niet vervolgen, daar zulks den schyn zou meebrengen alsof deze zaak pour le besoin de ma cause door my was opgerakeld: ik weet niet meer wat te doen ...  
I cannot protect him ... I may not confess to him my powerlessness ... I will not prosecute the accused village chief, since that would create the appearance that this affair had been stirred up by me pour le besoin de ma cause: I no longer know what to do ...
> mogen (permission) + double object: mag ... niet bekennen ('may not confess') uses mogen for permission; hem is the indirect (dative) object and myn onmacht the direct object, both before the final infinitive bekennen.
> Causal daar + archaic zulks + zou: daar ('since') opens the clause; zulks ('such a thing,' the neuter genitive-flavored form of zulk) is the subject; zou meebrengen ('would entail') is conditional, followed by alsof ('as if').
> French interjection: pour le besoin de ma cause ('for the needs of my case') is a French phrase Multatuli drops in untranslated — a mark of the educated register and the bilingual culture of the colonial elite.

Ik belast u, onder nadere goedkeuring des Residents van Bantam, vanaf morgen-ochtend met het bestuur der afdeeling Lebak. De Adsistent-resident van Lebak,  
I charge you, subject to the further approval of the Resident of Bantam, with the administration of the division of Lebak from tomorrow morning. The Assistant-Resident of Lebak,
> Genitive des + -s: des Residents ('of the Resident') is a full old genitive: the article des plus the -s ending on the noun. The most formal possessive form, alive in 1860 chancery prose.
> Performative present belasten: Ik belast u met ('I charge you with') is a performative present — the very utterance enacts the transfer of office. belasten met governs its object with met.

MAX HAVELAAR."  
MAX HAVELAAR."

Daarop vertrok Havelaar met vrouw en kind van Rangkas-Betoeng.  
Thereupon Havelaar departed from Rangkas-Betoeng with wife and child.
> Fronted Daarop + V2 + strong past: Fronting Daarop ('thereupon') inverts to vertrok Havelaar; vertrok is the strong imperfect of vertrekken ('to depart'), with vowel change e→o.

Hy weigerde alle geleide.  
He refused all escort.

Duclari en Verbrugge waren diep geroerd by 't afscheid.  
Duclari and Verbrugge were deeply moved at the parting.
> State passive geroerd: waren ... geroerd ('were moved') is a state passive with zijn describing an emotional state; the participle geroerd of roeren ('to stir, move') functions adjectivally.

Ook Max was aangedaan, vooral toen hy op de eerste wisselplaats eene talryke menigte vond, die weggeslopen was uit Rangkas-Betoeng om hem daar te begroeten voor het laatst.  
Max too was stirred, above all when at the first relay station he found a great crowd that had slipped away from Rangkas-Betoeng to greet him there one last time.
> Subordinate clauses send the verb to the end: After toen ('when') the finite verb vond moves to the clause's end, and the relative die weggeslopen was likewise closes on its verb. Two stacked verb-final clauses inside one sentence.
> Pluperfect with zijn: wegsluipen ('to slip away') forms its perfect with zijn (a verb of motion), and the imperfect was puts it one step further back: 'had slipped away'. The separable prefix weg- is glued to the participle.

Te Serang stapte de familie by den heer Slymering af, die haar met de gewone indische gastvryheid ontving.  
At Serang the family stopped at the house of Mr. Slymering, who received them with the usual Indian hospitality.
> Fronting + V2 + separable afstappen: The sentence opens with the place phrase Te Serang, so the finite verb stapte must come second; the separable prefix af- of afstappen ('to alight, stop') breaks off to the end.
> Dative remnant: den: After the preposition by, the masculine article appears as den — a frozen dative case-ending alive in 1860 prose (modern: bij de heer / bij meneer).

's Avends kwam er veel bezoek by den resident.  
In the evening many visitors came to the resident's.
> Existential er with inversion: er here introduces something onto the scene ('there came...'); fronting 's Avends forces V2, so kwam stands second and the subject veel bezoek follows.
> Frozen genitive 's: 's Avends ('in the evening') is a petrified old genitive: 's is the reduced article des. Avends spells modern avonds with period vowel choice.

Men zeide zoo beteekenisvol mogelyk, gekomen te zyn om Havelaar te begroeten, en Max ontving menig welsprekenden handdruk ...  
They said, as meaningfully as they could, that they had come to greet Havelaar, and Max received many an eloquent handshake ...
> Impersonal men + te-infinitive: men ('one / people') is the indefinite subject; zeggen here governs a reported infinitive clause, the perfect infinitive gekomen te zyn ('to have come').
> Inflected adjective on a masculine object: welsprekenden carries the old -en that masculine accusatives took after menig; modern Dutch would write menige welsprekende handdruk.
> beteekenisvol = 'meaningful, pointed': Period spelling of betekenisvol. Here it is sardonic: the visitors said 'as pointedly as possible' that they had come to greet Havelaar — hinting at sympathy they dared not voice openly.

Maar hy moest naar Batavia om den Gouverneur-generaal te spreken ...  
But he had to go on to Batavia to speak with the Governor-General ...
> Modal moeten + purpose om ... te: moest (past of moeten, 'had to') is a modal here used with a bare directional goal naar Batavia; the purpose is framed by om ... te spreken ('in order to speak').

Dáár aangekomen, liet hy om gehoor verzoeken.  
Having arrived there, he sent in a request for an audience.
> Participial absolute + causative laten: Dáár aangekomen ('having arrived there') is a participial phrase standing for a full clause. liet ... verzoeken is causative laten: 'he had a request made' rather than making it himself.

Dit werd hem geweigerd omdat er een fytzweer was aan den voet van zyn Excellentie.  
This was refused him, because there was a boil on the foot of His Excellency.
> worden-passive: werd ... geweigerd is the process passive (worden + participle): the request 'was refused'. The recipient hem stands in the dative without a preposition.
> omdat sends the verb to the end; existential er: The causal conjunction omdat opens a verb-final clause (here the verb 'was' precedes a heavy place PP 'aan den voet…', which normally follows, so 'was' is not literally the last word), and er ... was supplies the existential 'there was'.
> fytzweer = a whitlow / abscess: Period spelling of fijtzweer, a painful boil or whitlow. Multatuli's bathos: an empire's redress turns on a sore on the Governor-General's foot.

Havelaar wachtte tot die fytzweer genezen was.  
Havelaar waited until that boil was healed.
> tot-clause with verb-final pluperfect: tot ('until') subordinates the clause, so genezen was closes it. genezen with zijn marks a completed change of state ('had healed').

Toen liet hy andermaal verzoeken gehoord te worden.  
Then he asked once more to be heard.
> Causative laten + passive infinitive: Fronting Toen ('then') keeps liet in second position. laten ... verzoeken again has the request made on his behalf, and gehoord te worden ('to be heard') is a passive te-infinitive.
> andermaal = 'once again': A literary, slightly archaic adverb for 'a second time / once more', heightening the wearying repetition of Havelaar's requests.

Zyn Excellentie "had het zoo druk dat zy zelfs aan den Direkteur-generaal van financien een audientie had moeten weigeren" en kon dus ook Havelaar niet ontvangen.  
His Excellency "was so busy that he had even had to refuse an audience to the Director-General of Finance," and so could not receive Havelaar either.
> Perfect of a modal: the infinitivus pro participio: When a modal like moeten governs another verb in the perfect, it appears as a bare infinitive, not a participle: had moeten weigeren ('had had to refuse'), with two infinitives stacked at the end.
> dat-clause and the curious zy: dat opens a verb-final clause. Note the pronoun zy ('she') referring to the male Governor-General — the grammatical gender of zyn Excellentie ('His Excellency', a feminine-treated title) governs agreement, not the man's sex.

Havelaar wachtte tot zyn Excellentie zou heengeworsteld zyn door die drukte. Intusschen voelde hy iets als nayver op de personen die aan zyn Excellentie waren toegevoegd in den arbeid.  
Havelaar waited until His Excellency should have struggled through all that press of business. Meanwhile he felt something like envy of the persons who had been attached to His Excellency in the work.
> Future-perfect-in-the-past with zou: zou + the perfect infinitive heengeworsteld zyn expresses 'should have struggled through' — a conditional/future cast back into a past narration, all verbs clustered at the clause end.
> Relative die + worden-less past passive: Relative die ('who') refers to de personen; waren toegevoegd is the pluperfect passive ('had been assigned'), with the separable participle toegevoegd at the end.
> nayver = 'envy, jealousy': Period spelling of naijver — here a wry, almost tender envy: Havelaar, a man who loved hard work, envies those allowed to share the Governor-General's labour while he is left only to wait.

Want hy werkte gaarne snel en veel, en gewoonlyk smolten zulke "drukten" weg onder zyn hand.  
For he liked to work fast and much, and usually such "presses of business" melted away beneath his hand.
> want: a coordinating conjunction: want ('for, because') joins clauses as equals and does NOT send the verb to the end — hy werkte keeps normal main-clause order, unlike the subordinator omdat.
> Strong past + separable wegsmelten: smolten is the strong simple past of smelten ('to melt'), with the vowel change e→o; the separable prefix weg- splits off to the end ('melted away').
> gaarne = 'gladly, with pleasure': A literary equivalent of modern graag; gaarne ... werken means 'liked to work'. It survives today mainly in formal letters.

Hiervan echter was nu natuurlyk geen spraak.  
Of that, however, there could now of course be no question.
> Pronominal adverb hiervan + geen: hiervan ('of this') fuses hier- with the preposition van, fronted for emphasis. geen spraak negates the indefinite noun: 'no question/talk of it'.

Havelaars arbeid was zwaarder dan arbeid: hy wachtte!  
Havelaar's labour was heavier than labour: he waited!
> Comparative with dan: zwaarder is the comparative of zwaar ('heavy'), and dan ('than') introduces the comparison: 'heavier than labour'.
> Genitive -s on a name: Havelaars is the inflected genitive ('Havelaar's'), the one productive genitive ending still normal in Dutch, used freely with proper names.

Hy wachtte.  
He waited.

Eindelyk liet hy op-nieuw verzoeken om gehoord te worden.  
At last he asked again to be heard.
> Causative laten + passive purpose clause: Fronted Eindelyk triggers V2 (liet second). The request is again made for him (laten), with the purpose om gehoord te worden, 'in order to be heard'.

Men gaf hem ten-antwoord "dat zyn Excellentie hem niet kon ontvangen, wyl ze hierin verhinderd werd door de drukte van haar aanstaand vertrek."  
He was given for answer "that His Excellency could not receive him, being prevented from doing so by the press of his imminent departure."
> Archaic subordinator wyl + worden-passive: wyl ('because, while') is an older causal conjunction sending the verb to the end; werd ... verhinderd is the process passive, 'was prevented'.
> Impersonal men as agent-dodge: men ('they/one') keeps the refusing party faceless, mirroring the evasive bureaucracy; gaf ... ten-antwoord is a fixed phrase 'gave in answer'.

Max beval zich aan in de gunst van zyn Excellentie om één half uur gehoor, zoodra er een kleine ruimte wezen zou tusschen twee "drukten."  
Max commended himself to the favour of His Excellency for one half-hour's audience, as soon as some small gap should fall between two "presses of business."
> Reflexive zich + separable aanbevelen: zich aanbevelen ('to commend oneself') is reflexive: the 3rd-person reflexive zich, with the separable prefix aan splitting to the end.
> zoodra-clause + future-in-past wezen zou: zoodra ('as soon as') subordinates the clause; wezen is the old infinitive of zijn ('to be'), and zou casts it as a future-in-the-past: 'should fall/be'.

Eindelyk vernam hy dat zyn Excellentie den volgenden dag vertrekken zou!  
At last he learned that His Excellency would depart the following day!
> Reported clause with future zou(den): After vernam ('learned') the dat-clause is verb-final; vertrekken zou is the future-in-the-past, 'would depart', with zou last.
> Accusative-of-time den ...-en: den volgenden dag ('the following day') is a fossilised accusative of time: both article (den) and adjective (volgenden) carry the old masculine -en.

Dit was hem een donderslag.  
This was a thunderbolt to him.
> Dative of person without a preposition: hem here is a 'free dative' — 'to him this was a thunderbolt' — without any preposition, a construction Dutch still uses for affected persons.

Nog altyd hield hy zich krampachtig vast aan 't geloof dat de aftredende Landvoogd eerlyk man, en ... bedrogen was.  
Still he clung convulsively to the belief that the outgoing Governor was an honest man, and ... had been deceived.
> Reflexive zich + separable vasthouden: zich vasthouden ('to cling') is reflexive; the fronted Nog altyd forces V2 (hield second), and the prefix vast lands at the end. krampachtig ('convulsively') is adverbial.
> Present participle as adjective: aftredende ('outgoing, retiring') is the -end(e) present participle of aftreden used attributively, inflected with -e before a de-word.
> Landvoogd = 'governor of a land': A solemn, archaic synonym for the Governor-General — literally 'land-warden'. Multatuli varies his titles (Landvoogd, Gouverneur-generaal, Excellentie) for rhetorical colour.

Een vierendeel uurs ware voldoende geweest om derechtvaardigheid zyner zaak te bewyzen, en dit vierendeel uurs scheen men hem niet te willen geven.  
A quarter of an hour would have been enough to prove the justice of his cause, and that quarter of an hour they seemed unwilling to grant him.
> Subjunctive ware (irrealis): ware is the past subjunctive of zijn, surviving in 1860 to mark the unreal: 'would have been enough'. Modern Dutch uses zou ... zijn geweest.
> Genitive -s and possessive zyner: uurs and zyner are inflected genitives ('of an hour', 'of his cause') — 1860 still declines where modern Dutch prefers van: een kwartier, van zijn zaak.
> Raising verb schijnen + te-infinitive: schijnen ('to seem') takes a te-infinitive, here stacking a modal: te willen geven ('to be willing to give'). niet negates the whole verbal complex.

Ik vind onder Havelaars papieren de minuut van een brief dien hy aan den aftredenden Gouverneur-generaal schynt geschreven te hebben op den laatsten avend voor diens vertrek naar 't moederland.  
Among Havelaar's papers I find the draft of a letter that he seems to have written to the outgoing Governor-General on the last evening before that man's departure for the mother country.
> Relative dien + perfect te-infinitive: dien is the old masculine accusative of die ('that, which'), object of the relative clause; schynt ... geschreven te hebben means 'seems to have written'.
> Demonstrative genitive diens: diens is the genitive of die ('that man's') — a compact period form for 'before that man's departure', avoiding ambiguity with zijn.
> minuut = the draft/original of a letter: A false friend: here minuut is not 'minute' but a chancery term for the retained draft or master copy of a document — the rough text before the fair copy.

Op den rand staat met potlood aangeteekend: "niet juist" waaruit ik opmaak dat sommige zinsneden by 't afschryven veranderd zyn.  
In the margin there is noted in pencil: "not exact," from which I conclude that some passages were altered in the copying out.
> Pronominal adverb waaruit + dat-clause: waaruit ('from which') fuses waar- + uit and links to the noted phrase; the following dat-clause is verb-final, ending on the passive veranderd zyn ('were altered').
> Infinitive as a noun: afschryven ('to copy out') is used as a verbal noun governed by by: 'during the copying'. Such nominalised infinitives are neuter (het) — hence 't.

Ik doe dit opmerken, om niet uit het gemis aan letterlyke overeenstemming van dit stuk, twyfel te doen geboren worden aan de echtheid der andere officieele stukken die ik meedeelde, en die allen door een vreemde hand voor eensluidend afschrift zyn geteekend.  
I point this out so as not to let the lack of literal agreement of this piece breed any doubt as to the authenticity of the other official documents I have communicated, all of which have been certified by an outside hand as a true copy.
> Negated purpose om ... te + causative doen: om niet ... te ('so as not to ...') frames a negative purpose; doen geboren worden is causative doen ('cause to be born') over a passive — 'to make doubt be born'.
> Genitive article der: der is the old feminine/plural genitive article: der andere officieele stukken = 'of the other official documents'. Modern Dutch uses van de.
> Perfect passive with zijn: zyn geteekend is the perfect passive ('have been signed/certified'), the relative die referring to plural stukken; voor eensluidend afschrift = 'as a true copy'.

Misschien heeft de man aan wien deze brief gericht was, lust den volkomen-juisten tekst daarvan publiek te maken. Men zou door vergelyking kunnen zien hoever Havelaar is afgeweken van zyn minuut.  
Perhaps the man to whom this letter was addressed has a mind to make the wholly exact text of it public. By comparison one could see how far Havelaar departed from his draft.
> Relative wien after a preposition: When a relative refers to a person and follows a preposition, Dutch uses wie (here the old dative wien): aan wien ... gericht was, 'to whom ... was addressed'.
> Conditional zou + embedded indirect question: zou ... kunnen zien is the conditional 'one could see'; hoever ('how far') opens an indirect question that is verb-final, ending on the perfect is afgeweken.

Zakelyk korrekt was de inhoud aldus: "Batavia, 23 Mei 1856.  
In substance the contents ran thus: "Batavia, 23 May 1856.
> zakelijk / aldus: Zakelyk korrekt = 'correct in substance'; aldus is a formal 'thus, as follows', here introducing the quoted letter. korrekt and inhoud show period spelling habits.

Excellentie! Myn ambtshalve by missive van 28 Februari gedaan verzoek om aangaande de Lebaksche zaken te worden gehoord, is zonder gevolg gebleven.  
Excellency! My official request, made by dispatch of 28 February, to be heard concerning the affairs of Lebak, has remained without result.
> Perfect of blijven with zijn: blijven ('to remain') forms its perfect with zijn: is ... gebleven, 'has remained'. zonder gevolg = 'without result'.
> Noun + om ... te + passive infinitive: verzoek om ... gehoord te worden ('request to be heard') hangs a passive te-infinitive off the noun. ambtshalve = 'in one's official capacity'.

Evenzoo heeft Uwe Excellentie niet gelieven te voldoen aan myn herhaalde verzoeken om audientie.  
Likewise Your Excellency has not been pleased to comply with my repeated requests for an audience.
> Perfect of gelieven (infinitivus pro participio): heeft ... gelieven te voldoen: gelieven ('to please, deign') appears as a bare infinitive, not a participle, when it governs another verb in the perfect — the same pattern as modals.
> Honorific address Uwe Excellentie: Uwe is the older inflected form of uw ('your'); the title is grammatically feminine, so it takes haar/zy elsewhere. Evenzoo = 'likewise'.

Uwe Exellentie heeft dus een ambtenaar die gunstig by het Gouvernement bekend stond--dit zyn uwer Excellentie's eigen woorden!--iemand die zeventien jaren het Land in deze gewesten diende, iemand die niet alleen niets misdeed, maar zelfs met ongekende zelfverloochening het goede beoogde en voor eer en plicht alles veil had ... zóó iemand heeft Uwe Excellentie gesteld beneden den misdadiger. Want dien hoort men ten-minste.  
Your Excellency has thus set an official who stood in good repute with the Government — these are Your Excellency's own words! — a man who served the Land in these provinces for seventeen years, a man who not only did nothing amiss, but with rare self-renunciation aimed at the good and held all things cheap for the sake of honour and duty ... such a man Your Excellency has placed beneath the criminal. For him, at least, one hears.
> Heavily delayed participle + dative remnant den: The finite heeft is stranded far from its participle gesteld by a long appositive interruption — a deliberate rhetorical suspension. den misdadiger shows the old masculine accusative -en after beneden.
> Relative die + separable bekendstaan: die ('who') refers to ambtenaar; bekend stond is the separable bekendstaan ('to be known/reputed') with its prefix split in the verb-final relative clause.
> self-renunciation; veil hebben: zelfverloochening = 'self-denial, self-sacrifice'. iets veil hebben (voor) is an idiom: 'to be willing to sacrifice / hold cheap' something for a cause — here honour and duty.

Dat men Uwe Excellentie omtrent my misleid heeft, begryp ik. Maar dat Uwe Excellentie niet de gelegenheid heeft aangegrepen om die misleiding te ontgaan, begryp ik niet.  
That Your Excellency has been misled concerning me, I understand. But that Your Excellency has not seized the opportunity to escape that misleading, I do not understand.
> Fronted dat-clause as subject + V2: A whole dat-clause is fronted into first position, so the main verb begryp comes second and the subject ik follows: 'That ... I understand'. The pattern is repeated for emphatic contrast.
> Separable perfect + om ... te: heeft ... aangegrepen is the perfect of separable aangrijpen ('to seize'); om die misleiding te ontgaan is the purpose 'to escape that deception'.

Morgen gaat uwe Excellentie van hier, en ik mag haar niet laten vertrekken zonder nog eenmaal gezegd te hebben dat ik myn PLICHT heb gedaan, GEHEEL-EN-AL MYN PLICHT, met beleid, met bezadigdheid, met menschlievendheid, met zachtheid en met moed.  
Tomorrow Your Excellency departs from here, and I may not let you go without having said once more that I have done my DUTY, MY WHOLE DUTY ENTIRE, with prudence, with composure, with humanity, with gentleness, and with courage.
> Modal mogen + causative laten + bare infinitive: mag (modal, 'may') governs the bare infinitives laten vertrekken, causative laten 'let depart'. haar ('her') = the feminine-gendered Excellency.
> zonder + perfect te-infinitive: zonder ('without') governs a te-infinitive; the perfect gezegd te hebben means 'without having said' — a non-finite clause of accompaniment.
> A drumbeat of virtues: beleid = 'prudence, tact'; bezadigdheid = 'composure, level-headedness'; menschlievendheid = 'humanity, philanthropy'. The piled 'met ...' phrases hammer home Havelaar's conduct.

De gronden waarop gebazeerd is de afkeuring in Uwer Excellentie's kabinetsmissive van 23 Maart, zyn geheel-en-al verdicht en logenachtig.  
The grounds on which the censure in Your Excellency's cabinet dispatch of 23 March is based are wholly fabricated and false.
> Pronominal adverb waarop + inverted relative: waarop ('on which') opens the relative clause; the period order puts the participle gebazeerd before its long subject de afkeuring ... — verb-final but stylistically inverted.
> Double genitive Uwer ... 's: Uwer is the old genitive of uw, redundantly reinforced by the modern 's — a hyper-formal possessive, 'Your Excellency's'. kabinetsmissive is a noun compound.

Ik kan dit bewyzen, en dit ware reeds geschied, als Uwe Excellentie my één half uur gehoor had willen schenken. Als Uwe Excellentie één half uur tyd had kunnen vinden om recht te doen!  
I can prove this, and it would already have been done, had Your Excellency been willing to grant me one half-hour's hearing. Had Your Excellency been able to find one half-hour's time to do justice!
> Counterfactual conditional: An unreal condition: ware ... geschied ('would have happened') in the main clause, with the als-clause holding the pluperfect modal had willen schenken ('had been willing to grant').
> Perfect modal + purpose clause: had kunnen vinden stacks modal kunnen as a bare infinitive in the pluperfect; om recht te doen ('in order to do justice') is the purpose.

Dit is zoo niet geweest! Een deftig gezin is daardoor tot den bedelstaf gebracht ...  
This has not been so! A respectable family has thereby been brought to the beggar's staff ...
> Perfect passive + pronominal daardoor: is ... gebracht is the perfect passive ('has been brought'); daardoor ('thereby') is a pronominal adverb. den bedelstaf shows the dative/accusative remnant -en.
> Idiom: tot de bedelstaf brengen: Literally 'brought to the beggar's staff' — a set idiom meaning 'reduced to beggary, utterly ruined'. deftig = 'respectable, genteel', sharpening the fall.

Hierover evenwel klaag ik niet.  
Of this, however, I do not complain.
> Fronted pronominal adverb + V2 + niet: Hierover ('about this') is fronted, forcing inversion (klaag second, then ik); niet negates the verb. evenwel = 'however'.

Maar Uwe Excellentie heeft gesanktioneerd: HET STELSEL VAN MISBRUIK VAN GEZAG, VAN ROOF EN MOORD, WAARONDER DE ARME JAVAAN GEBUKT GAAT, en dáárover klaag ik.  
But Your Excellency has sanctioned: THE SYSTEM OF ABUSE OF AUTHORITY, OF PLUNDER AND MURDER, UNDER WHICH THE POOR JAVANESE GOES BOWED DOWN, and of that I do complain.
> Suspended object after the participle: The capitalised object HET STELSEL VAN MISBRUIK ... is held back until after gesanktioneerd ('has sanctioned'), a deliberate climactic dislocation. dáárover ... klaag ik = 'of THAT I do complain'.
> Relative pronominal waaronder + separable gebukt gaan: waaronder ('under which') opens a verb-final relative; gebukt gaan ('to go bowed down, to labour under') is an idiomatic separable verb closing the clause.

Dàt schreit ten hemel!  
That cries out to heaven!
> Idiom: ten hemel schreien: ten hemel schreien = 'to cry out to heaven', a Biblical-flavoured idiom for an injustice so gross it demands divine notice. ten preserves the old dative te + den.

Er kleeft bloed aan de overgegaarde penningen van uw dùs ontvangen indisch traktement, Excellentie!  
There is blood upon the hoarded coins of the Indian salary you have thus received, Excellency!
> Existential er + kleven aan: er here is the impersonal/existential opener; kleven aan ('to cling to, stick to') governs the prepositional object — 'there clings blood to ...'.
> Participle as pre-noun modifier: dùs ontvangen ('thus received') is a past participle used adjectivally before the noun traktement ('salary'), compressing a relative clause into the noun phrase.
> overgegaard / penningen: overgegaard = 'hoarded, saved up' (from overgaren); penningen are 'coins, pennies'. The image: the Governor-General's Indies salary is money with blood on it.

Nog éénmaal vraag ik om een oogenblik gehoor, zy het dezen nacht, zy het morgen vroeg!  
Once more I ask for a moment's hearing, be it this very night, be it tomorrow at dawn!
> Concessive subjunctive zij het: zy het ('be it') is the present subjunctive of zijn used concessively: 'be it tonight, be it tomorrow'. A fixed literary turn for offering alternatives.
> Accusative-of-time dezen: dezen is the old masculine accusative of deze, marking the time phrase dezen nacht ('this night'). Modern Dutch: deze nacht.

En alweder vraag ik dit niet voor my, maar voor de zaak die ik voorsta, de zaak van rechtvaardigheid en menschelykheid, die tevens de zaak is van welbegrepen politiek.  
And again I ask this not for myself, but for the cause I champion, the cause of justice and humanity, which is at the same time the cause of well-understood policy.
> Relative die + separable voorstaan: die ('which') refers to de zaak; voorstaan ('to champion, advocate') is separable, its clause verb-final. alweder = 'once again' (archaic).
> Relative die as subject linking clause: A second relative die opens a verb-final clause whose copula is closes it: 'which is at the same time the cause of well-understood policy'.

Als uwe Excellentie het met haar geweten kan overeenbrengen, van hier te vertrekken zonder my te hooren, het myne zal gerust zyn by de overtuiging al het mogelyke te hebben aangewend om de treurige, bloedige gebeurtenissen te voorkomen, die weldra 't gevolg zullen wezen van de eigenwillige onkunde waarin de Regeering wordt gelaten tenopzichte van hetgeen er omgaat onder de bevolking.  
If Your Excellency can reconcile it with your conscience to depart from here without hearing me, my own conscience will be at rest in the conviction of having done everything possible to forestall the mournful, bloody events that will soon be the consequence of the wilful ignorance in which the Government is kept regarding what is happening among the population.
> Conditional als-clause + extraposed te-infinitive: The als-clause is verb-final (kan overeenbrengen); the heavy te-infinitive subject van hier te vertrekken ('to depart from here') is pushed to the end for weight.
> Relative waarin + worden-passive: waarin ('in which') opens a verb-final relative ending on the process passive wordt gelaten ('is kept/left'). hetgeen er omgaat = 'what is going on'.
> eigenwillig / onkunde: eigenwillig = 'wilful, self-willed'; onkunde = 'ignorance'. The phrase accuses the Government of a deliberately cultivated not-knowing about conditions in the colony.

MAX HAVELAAR."  
MAX HAVELAAR."

Havelaar wachtte dien avend.  
Havelaar waited that evening.
> Accusative-of-time dien: dien is the masculine accusative of die, marking the time adjunct dien avend ('that evening') without a preposition — a living case-remnant in 1860.

Hy wachtte den gansche nacht.  
He waited the whole night through.
> Accusative duration den ... nacht: den gansche nacht ('the whole night') is an accusative of extent-of-time; den carries the old masculine ending. The bare-object time phrase needs no preposition.

Hy had gehoopt dat misschien verstoordheid over den toon van zyn brief bewerken zou, wat hy vergeefs getracht had te bereiken door zachtheid en geduld.  
He had hoped that perhaps irritation at the tone of his letter might bring about what he had vainly tried to achieve through gentleness and patience.
> Pluperfect + future-in-past + relative wat: had gehoopt is pluperfect; inside, bewerken zou is future-in-the-past, and wat ('what') is a free relative (no antecedent) whose clause ends getracht had te bereiken.
> verstoordheid / iets bewerken: verstoordheid = 'irritation, vexation'; iets bewerken = 'to bring something about, effect it'. Havelaar hoped his letter's harsh tone might achieve what gentleness had not.

Zyn hoop was ydel!  
His hope was vain!
> ijdel = 'vain, futile': ydel (period spelling of ijdel) here means 'in vain, fruitless' rather than 'vain/conceited' — a partial false friend. The terse exclamation lands the disappointment.

De Gouverneur-generaal vertrok zonder Havelaar te hebben gehoord.  
The Governor-General departed without having heard Havelaar.
> zonder + perfect te-infinitive: zonder ... te hebben gehoord ('without having heard') is a non-finite clause; vertrok is the strong past of vertrekken ('departed').

Er was weder een Excellentie ter-ruste gegaan in 't moederland!  
Yet another Excellency had gone to his rest in the mother country!
> Existential er + pluperfect of gaan: er ... was ... gegaan presents the event existentially; ter-ruste gaan ('to go to one's rest') forms its perfect with zijn. weder = 'again' (archaic).
> Bitter euphemism: ter ruste gaan literally 'to go to rest' — but here it sneers: another Governor-General has simply retired home to the Netherlands ('the mother country') untroubled, leaving the injustice intact.

* * * * * Havelaar doolde arm en verlaten rond.  
* * * * * Havelaar wandered about, poor and forsaken.
> Separable ronddolen + predicative adjectives: doolde ... rond is separable ronddolen ('to wander about'), prefix at the end; arm en verlaten ('poor and forsaken') are predicative adjectives, uninflected.

Hy zocht ...  
He sought ...

Genoeg, myn goede Stern!  
Enough, my good Stern!
> Vocative with inflected adjective: myn goede Stern is a vocative (direct address); goede takes -e after the possessive myn. The narrator now turns to dismiss his fictional storyteller.

Ik, Multatuli, neem de pen op.  
I, Multatuli, take up the pen.
> Separable opnemen, present tense: neem ... op is the present of separable opnemen ('to take up'); the prefix op lands at the end. de pen opnemen = 'to take up the pen', i.e. to begin writing.

Ge zyt niet geroepen Havelaars levensgeschiedenis te schryven.  
You are not the one called to write Havelaar's life-history.
> Archaic pronoun ge/gy + niet + te-infinitive: Ge (unstressed gij) is the literary 'you' of 1860; zyt is its verb form of zijn. niet geroepen ... te schryven = 'not called to write'.

Ik heb u in 't leven geroepen ... ik liet u komen van Hamburg ... ik leerde u redelyk goed hollandsch schryven, in zeer korten tyd ... ik liet u Louise Rosemeyer kussen, die in suiker doet ... het is genoeg, Stern, ge kunt gaan!  
I called you into being ... I had you come from Hamburg ... I taught you to write tolerably good Dutch, in a very short time ... I had you kiss Louise Rosemeyer, who is in sugar ... it is enough, Stern, you may go!
> Causative laten + bare infinitive: Repeated liet ... komen / liet ... kussen is causative laten ('had/made you come, kiss') with bare infinitives — the author asserting total control over his creature Stern.
> leren + bare infinitive: leren ('to teach') here takes a bare infinitive schryven ('to write'); u is the taught person, hollandsch the object. redelyk goed = 'reasonably well'.
> Idiom: in suiker doen: in suiker doen = 'to deal/trade in sugar', the family business. Multatuli reduces a love interest to a commodity merchant — a sardonic touch about the mercantile world he is exposing.

* * * * * Die Sjaalman en zyn vrouw ...  
* * * * * That Sjaalman and his wife ...
> Demonstrative die as a pointer: Die ('that') here is a demonstrative determiner pointing scornfully at a character; the sentence trails off, picked up violently in the next line.

Halt, ellendig produkt van vuile geldzucht en godslasterlyke femelary!  
Halt, you wretched product of foul greed and blasphemous cant!
> Imperative-like interjection + vocative: Halt! is a sharp command-interjection; ellendig produkt van vuile geldzucht en godslasterlyke femelary is a vocative insult flung at the Droogstoppel-figure.
> geldzucht / femelarij: geldzucht = 'greed, money-lust'; femelary (femelarij) = 'sanctimonious cant, hypocritical piety'. Together they name Droogstoppel's two sins: avarice dressed as religion.

Ik heb u geschapen ... ge zyt opgegroeid tot een monster onder myn pen ... ik walg van myn eigen maaksel: stik in koffi en verdwyn! * * * * *  
I created you ... you grew up into a monster beneath my pen ... I am sickened by my own handiwork: choke in coffee and vanish! * * * * *
> Perfect of separable opgroeien with zijn: zyt opgegroeid is the perfect of separable opgroeien ('to grow up'), built with zijn for a change of state. ge is the archaic 'you'.
> Imperatives: bare stems: stik ('choke') and verdwyn ('vanish') are bare-stem imperatives, the curt form of command. en coordinates the two orders.

Ja, ik, Multatuli "die veel gedragen heb" neem de pen op.  
Yes, I, Multatuli — "who have borne much" — take up the pen.
> Relative die agreeing with ik: die ('who') here relativises the first-person ik, so its verb takes the 1st-person form heb: 'I, who have borne much'. gedragen heb = perfect, the gloss on the name Multatuli.

Ik vraag geen verschooning voor den vorm van myn boek. Die vorm kwam my geschikt voor ter bereiking van myn doel.  
I ask no pardon for the form of my book. That form seemed to me fitting for the attainment of my purpose.
> Separable voorkomen + dative my: kwam ... voor is separable voorkomen ('to seem, appear'); my is the experiencer dative ('to me'), geschikt the predicate: 'that form seemed fitting to me'.
> Dative remnant ter + nominalised infinitive: ter is the contracted te + der (old feminine dative), governing the verbal noun bereiking ('attainment'): 'for the attainment of my purpose'.

Dit doel is tweeledig:  
This purpose is twofold:
> tweeledig = 'twofold': A compound adjective (twee + lid + -ig) meaning 'having two parts'. It sets up the famous two-part declaration of purpose that follows.

Ik wilde in de eerste plaats het aanzyn geven aan iets dat als heilige poesaka zal kunnen bewaard worden door kleinen Max en zyn zusje, als hun ouders zullen zyn omgekomen van ellende. Ik wilde aan die kinderen een adelbrief geven van myne hand.  
In the first place, I wished to bring into being something that might be kept as a holy poesaka by little Max and his sister, when their parents shall have perished of misery. I wished to give those children a patent of nobility from my own hand.
> Modal stack in a passive future relative: Inside the relative dat-clause, zal kunnen bewaard worden stacks future zullen + modal kunnen + past participle bewaard + passive worden, all verbs at the end: 'that will be able to be kept'.
> Future perfect with zullen + zijn: zullen zyn omgekomen is the future perfect ('shall have perished'), omkomen taking zijn. The als-clause is verb-final.

En in de tweede plaats:ik wil gelezen worden.  
And in the second place: I want to be read.
> Modal willen + passive infinitive: wil (modal willen) governs the passive infinitive gelezen worden ('to be read') — the book's most famous demand, here stated plainly.

Ja, ik wil gelezen worden!  
Yes, I want to be read!
> Emphatic repetition of the passive demand: The same wil + gelezen worden returns as a cry; Dutch keeps the passive infinitive worden at the very end, the rhythmic hammer of Multatuli's refrain.

Ik wil gelezen worden door staatslieden, die verplicht zyn te letten op de teekenen des tyds.. door letterkundigen, die toch ook eens 't boek moeten inzien waarvan men zooveel kwaads spreekt ... door handelaren, die belang hebben by de koffiveilingen ... door kameniers, die me huren voor weinige centen ... door Gouverneurs-generaal in-ruste ... door Ministers in bezigheid ... door de lakeien van die Excellentien ... door bidpredikers, die more majorum zullen zeggen dat ik den Almachtigen God aantast, waar ik slechts opsta tegen 't godje dat zy maakten naar hun beeld ... door duizenden en tienduizenden van exemplaren uit het droogstoppelras, die--voortgaande hun zaakjes op de bekende wys te behartigen--'t hardst zullen meeschreeuwen over de mooijigheid van m'n geschryf ... door de leden der Volksvertegenwoordiging, die weten moeten wat er omgaat in 't groote Ryk over zee, dat behoort tot het Ryk van Nederland ...  
I want to be read by statesmen, who are bound to attend to the signs of the times ... by men of letters, who must after all once look into the book of which so much ill is spoken ... by traders, who have an interest in the coffee auctions ... by lady's-maids, who hire me for a few pennies ... by Governors-General in retirement ... by Ministers in office ... by the lackeys of those Excellencies ... by sermonizing chaplains, who will say more majorum that I assail Almighty God, where I rise up merely against the little god they fashioned in their own image ... by thousands and tens of thousands of copies among the Droogstoppel breed, who — going on tending their little affairs in the well-known manner — will shout loudest of all about the prettiness of my scribbling ... by the members of the People's Representation, who must know what is happening in the great Empire across the sea that belongs to the Realm of the Netherlands ...
> Passive agent door + a chain of relatives: The whole sentence is the passive gelezen worden expanded: each agent is introduced by door ('by'), and each gets a verb-final relative die-clause. An anaphoric catalogue of every reader Multatuli summons.
> Genitive des tyds: des is the old masculine/neuter genitive article: de teekenen des tyds = 'the signs of the times', a Biblical turn frozen in the genitive.

Ja, ik zal gelezen worden!  
Yes, I shall be read!
> Future passive: a vow: zal ... gelezen worden shifts the verb from wil ('want', s222) to zal ('shall') — desire hardens into prophecy: 'I SHALL be read'. The future passive stacks zullen + worden.

Als dit doel bereikt wordt, zal ik tevreden zyn.  
If this purpose is attained, I shall be content.
> Conditional als + worden-passive, then future main: The als-clause holds a present-passive (bereikt wordt, 'is attained') and is verb-final; the main clause inverts to zal ik because the subordinate clause fills first position.

Want het was me niet te doen om goed te schryven ... ik wilde zóó schryven dat het gehoord werd.  
For it was not my aim to write well ... I wished to write in such a way that it would be heard.
> Idiom: het is iemand te doen om: het is me te doen om X = 'what I care about / am after is X' — a fixed idiom. The te-infinitive om goed te schryven ('to write well') is its complement.
> Result clause dat + worden-passive: zóó ... dat ('in such a way that') opens a result clause that is verb-final; gehoord werd is the process passive in the past, 'that it was heard'.

En, even als iemand die roept: "houdt den dief!" zich weinig bekommert over den styl zyner geïmprovizeerde toespraak aan 't publiek, is 't ook my geheel om 't even hoe men de wyze zal beoordeelen waarop ik myn "houdt den dief" heb uitgeschreeuwd.  
And just as a man who cries out: "Stop, thief!" troubles himself little over the style of his improvised speech to the public, so too it is wholly indifferent to me how people will judge the manner in which I have shouted out my "Stop, thief."
> Reflexive zich bekommeren + comparison even als: zich bekommeren over ('to trouble oneself about') is reflexive; even als ('just as') sets up the long simile that frames the whole clause.
> Idiom: het is mij om het even: het is mij om het even = 'it is all the same to me, I'm indifferent'. Fronting the simile forces inversion (is 't ...). my is the experiencer.
> 'Stop, thief!': houdt den dief is the old plural/polite imperative ('hold the thief!'). Multatuli's governing image: his book is a street-cry of alarm, not a polished oration — content over style.

"Het boek is bont ... er is geen geleidelykheid in ... jacht op effekt ... de styl is slecht ... de schryver is onbedreven ... geen talent ... geen methode ...  
"The book is motley ... there is no continuity in it ... a hunting after effect ... the style is bad ... the writer is unskilled ... no talent ... no method ...
> Predicative adjectives (uninflected): After the copula is, predicative adjectives stay bare: bont ('motley'), slecht ('bad'), onbedreven ('unskilled') take no -e. Multatuli ventriloquises his critics in clipped clauses.
> The critics' vocabulary: bont = 'motley, disjointed'; geleidelykheid = 'gradualness, smooth continuity'; onbedreven = 'unpracticed, unskilled'. He pre-empts every charge his unconventional book will draw.

Goed, goed, alles goed!  
Good, good, all of it good!

Maar ...  
But ...

DE JAVAAN WORDT MISHANDELD! Want: wederlegging der HOOFDSTREKKING van myn werk is onmogelyk!  
THE JAVANESE IS BEING MALTREATED! For: any refutation of the MAIN PURPORT of my work is impossible!
> worden-passive at full volume: wordt mishandeld is the bare process passive: 'the Javanese IS BEING maltreated'. The present tense + worden stresses an ongoing, unfinished wrong.
> Genitive der + noun compound: der is the old genitive article ('of the'); HOOFDSTREKKING ('main purport') is a noun compound (hoofd + strekking). The sentence's verb is delayed to the end after a heavy subject.

Hoe luider overigens de afkeuring van myn boek, hoe liever 't my wezen zal, want des te grooter wordt de kans gehoord te worden.  
The louder, moreover, the condemnation of my book, the dearer it will be to me, for so much the greater grows the chance of being heard.
> Correlative hoe ... hoe (the more ... the more): hoe + comparative ... hoe + comparative is the Dutch correlative 'the louder ..., the dearer ...'. Each limb is a comparison; wezen is the old infinitive of zijn.
> want + des te + comparative: want is coordinating (verb keeps second place). des te grooter ('so much the greater') is a fixed intensifier with a frozen genitive des; wordt inverts after it.

En dit wil ik! Doch gy, die ik stoor in uw "drukten" of in uw "rust" gy Ministers en Gouverneurs-generaal, rekent niet te zeer op de onbedrevenheid myner pen.  
And that is what I want! But you, whom I disturb in your "presses of business" or in your "rest," you Ministers and Governors-General, do not count too much on the clumsiness of my pen.
> Archaic gy + plural imperative rekent: gy is the literary 'you'; rekent (with -t) is its imperative, 'do not count'. Doch is an archaic 'but/yet'. Multatuli turns from his readers to threaten the officials directly.
> Relative die with fronted object reading: die ('whom') is the object of stoor: 'you, whom I disturb in your busy-ness'. The relative clause is verb-final after the prepositional phrase.

Ze zou zich kunnen oefenen, en met eenige inspanning misschien geraken tot een bekwaamheid die ten-laatste zelfs de waarheid zou doen gelooven door 't Volk!  
It might train itself, and with some effort might perhaps attain a skill that in the end would make even the truth believed by the People!
> Conditional zou + reflexive zich oefenen: Ze (= myner pen, 'my pen') with zou ... kunnen oefenen is the conditional 'might train itself'; zich oefenen is the reflexive 'to practise oneself'.
> Relative die + conditional causative doen: die relativises bekwaamheid; zou doen gelooven is conditional + causative doen ('would make believed'), with door 't Volk naming the agent who is made to believe.

Dan zou ik aan dat Volk een plaats vragen in de Vertegenwoordiging al ware 't alleen om te protesteeren tegen certifikaten van rechtschapenheid, die door Indische specialiteiten vice versa worden uitgereikt misschien om op 't vreemd denkbeeld te brengen dat men zelf waarde hecht aan die hoedanigheid ...  
Then I should ask that People for a seat in the Representation, were it only to protest against certificates of integrity that Indian dignitaries issue to one another vice versa — perhaps to suggest the strange notion that one sets some value on that quality oneself ...
> Fronted Dan + conditional zou: Fronting Dan ('then') forces inversion: zou ik. The conditional zou ... vragen ('I should ask') projects a hypothetical future course of action.
> Concessive al + subjunctive ware: al ware 't = 'even were it, even if only' — concessive al with the subjunctive ware. om te protesteeren is the purpose 'in order to protest'.
> rechtschapenheid; mutual certificates: rechtschapenheid = 'integrity, uprightness'. The barb: colonial 'specialists' hand each other certificates of integrity vice versa (mutually), as if to manufacture a value they do not hold.

Om te protesteeren tegen de eindelooze expeditien en heldendaden tegen arme ellendige schepsels, die men vooraf door mishandeling dwong tot opstand.  
To protest against the endless expeditions and feats of heroism against poor, wretched creatures whom one first drove to rebellion by ill-treatment.
> Anaphoric om te + relative die: Each protest-clause opens with the purpose om te protesteeren; the relative die ('whom') refers to schepsels and is verb-final, ending on dwong (strong past of dwingen).
> Impersonal men as hidden colonial agent: men ('one, they') keeps the oppressor faceless — 'whom one first drove to revolt by ill-treatment'. dwong is the strong simple past.

Om te protesteeren tegen de schandelyke lafhartigheid van cirkulaires die de eer der Natie schandvlekken door 't inroepen van publieke liefdadigheid voor de slachtoffers van kronischen zeeroof.  
To protest against the shameful cowardice of circulars that disgrace the honour of the Nation by appealing to public charity for the victims of chronic piracy.
> Relative die + genitive der: die relativises cirkulaires (plural, hence verb schandvlekken); der Natie is the old genitive 'of the Nation'. door 't inroepen = 'by appealing to', a nominalised infinitive.
> zeeroof = 'piracy': zeeroof (zee + roof) = 'sea-robbery, piracy'; kronischen carries the old masculine -en. Multatuli mocks circulars that beg public charity for victims of piracy while ignoring colonial plunder.

't Is waar, die opstandelingen waren uitgehongerde geraamten, en die zeeroovers zyn weerbare mannen!  
It is true, those rebels were starved skeletons, and those pirates are able-bodied men!
> Demonstrative die + tense contrast: Twin demonstratives die ('those') frame a pointed antithesis; the tense shifts from past waren (the starved rebels) to present zyn (the able-bodied pirates) for bitter immediacy.
> The cruel contrast: uitgehongerde geraamten = 'starved skeletons'; weerbare mannen = 'able-bodied / fit men'. The irony: the state crushes starving rebels yet pities well-fed pirates.

En als men my die plaats weigerde ... als men my by voortduring niet geloofde ...  
And if that seat were refused me ... if I continued to be disbelieved ...
> Conditional als-clause + niet: als ('if') subordinates the clause (geloofde verb-final, imperfect of geloven); by voortduring = 'continually'. niet negates the verb: 'if I continued not to be believed'.

Dan zou ik myn boek vertalen in de weinige talen die ik ken, en in de vele talen die ik leeren kan, om te vragen aan Europa, wat ik vruchteloos zou hebben gezocht in Nederland.  
Then I should translate my book into the few languages I know, and into the many languages I can learn, to ask of Europe what I should have sought in vain in the Netherlands.
> Two parallel relative die-clauses: Each die ('that, which') heads a verb-final relative — ken and the modal leeren kan close their clauses. The parallelism ('the few I know / the many I can learn') is Multatuli's rising threat.
> om te + free relative wat + conditional perfect: om te vragen ('in order to ask') governs the indirect object aan Europa; wat is a free relative, and zou hebben gezocht is the conditional perfect 'should have sought'.

En er zouden in alle hoofdsteden liederen worden gezongen met refreinen als dit: er ligt een roofstaat aan de zee, tusschen Oostfriesland en de Schelde!  
And in every capital city songs would be sung, with refrains like this one: there lies a robber-state by the sea, between East Friesland and the Scheldt!
> Conditional future passive with er: er ... zouden ... worden gezongen stacks existential er + conditional zouden + passive worden: 'songs would be sung'. The triple verb cluster ends the main clause.

En wanneer ook dit niet baatte?  
And what if even this were of no avail?
> Conditional wanneer + niet: wanneer ('when, if') here opens a hypothetical condition standing alone as a question; baatte is the imperfect of baten ('to avail'), negated by niet.

Dan zou ik myn boek vertalen in 't maleisch, javaansch, soendasch, al-foersch, boegineesch, battaksch ...  
Then I would translate my book into Malay, Javanese, Sundanese, Alfur, Buginese, Battak ...
> Anaphoric Dan zou ik (escalation refrain): The clause repeats the fronted-Dan + conditional zou pattern that drives this whole crescendo; each repetition raises the stakes of Multatuli's threatened campaign.

En ik zou klewang-wettende krygszangen slingeren in de gemoederen van de arme martelaren wien ik hulp heb toegezegd, ik, Multatuli.  
And I would hurl klewang-whetting war-songs into the hearts of the poor martyrs to whom I have pledged my help — I, Multatuli.
> Relative wien (dative) + separable toezeggen: wien is the old dative relative for persons ('to whom'); heb ... toegezegd is the perfect of separable toezeggen ('to promise'), with toe- on the participle.

Redding en hulp, op wettelyken weg, waar het kan ... op wettigen weg van geweld, waar het moet.  
Rescue and help, by lawful means where it can be done ... by the lawful path of force, where it must be.
> Relative-adverb waar + modal verb-final: waar ('where') opens two clipped verb-final clauses; the modals kan / moet stand last. The antithesis 'where it can / where it must' frames lawful versus forcible means.
> wettelijk / wettig weg: wettelyk and wettig both mean 'lawful, legal'. The oxymoron op wettigen weg van geweld — 'by the lawful path of force' — frames violence as a legitimate last resort.

En dit zou zeer nadeelig werken op de Koffiveilingen van de Nederlandsche Handelmaatschappy!  
And this would weigh very heavily upon the Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company!
> Conditional zou + werken op: zou ... werken is conditional 'would act/weigh'; werken op ('to bear upon') governs a prepositional object. nadeelig = 'detrimentally'.

Want ik ben geen vliegenreddende dichter, geen zachtmoedige droomer, zooals de getrapte Havelaar die zyn plicht deed met den moed van een leeuw, en honger lydt met het geduld van een marmot in den winter.  
For I am no fly-sparing poet, no gentle dreamer like the trampled Havelaar, who did his duty with the courage of a lion and goes hungry with the patience of a marmot in winter.
> geen negating indefinites + present participle compound: geen negates the indefinite nouns ('no ... poet, no ... dreamer'). vliegenreddende is a present-participle compound ('fly-saving'), used attributively with -e.
> Comparison zooals + relative die: zooals ('like, such as') sets up the comparison; the relative die ('who') opens a verb-final clause. getrapte = past participle 'trampled', used attributively.
> The marmot's patience: A marmot hibernates, enduring winter motionless and hungry — Multatuli's image for Havelaar's saintly, near-passive patience, which he himself disavows in the next breath.

Dit boek is een inleiding ...  
This book is a preface ...

Ik zal toenemen in kracht en scherpte van wapenen, naarmate het noodig zal wezen ...  
I shall grow in strength and in the sharpness of my weapons, in proportion as it shall be needful ...
> Future zal + naarmate correlation: zal toenemen is the future 'I shall increase'; naarmate ('in proportion as') opens a verb-final clause, here itself future (zal wezen). wezen = old infinitive of zijn.

God geve dat het niet noodig zy!  
God grant that it not be needful!
> Optative subjunctive geve / zy: geve and zy are present subjunctives expressing a wish: 'God grant that it not be needful'. This optative subjunctive survives in fixed pious phrases.

Neen, 't zal niet noodig zyn!  
No, it shall not be needful!
> Future zal + niet: zal ... zyn is the plain future; niet negates the predicate noodig. The flat assertion answers the preceding prayer with defiant certainty.

Want aan U draag ik myn boek op, Willem den derden, Koning, Groothertog, Prins ... meer dan Prins, Groothertog en Koning ... KEIZER van 't prachtig ryk van INSULINDE dat zich daar slingert om den evenaar, als een gordel van smaragd ...  
For to You I dedicate my book, William the Third, King, Grand Duke, Prince ... more than Prince, Grand Duke, and King ... EMPEROR of the splendid realm of INSULINDE that coils there about the equator, like a girdle of emerald ...
> Fronted aan U + separable opdragen: Fronting aan U ('to You') forces inversion (draag ik); the separable prefix op of opdragen ('to dedicate') lands at the end. U is capitalised in royal address.
> Relative dat + reflexive zich slingeren: dat ('that, which') relativises the het-word ryk; zich slingeren ('to coil, wind') is reflexive, and den evenaar shows the dative -en after om.

Aan U durf ik met vertrouwen vragen of 't uw keizerlyke wil is: Dat Havelaar wordt bespat met den modder van Slymeringen en Droogstoppels?  
Of You I dare to ask, in confidence, whether it is Your imperial will: That Havelaar be spattered with the mud of the Slymerings and Drystubbles?
> Indirect yes/no question with of: of ('whether') opens an embedded yes/no question that is verb-final (is closes it). durf ik ... vragen inverts after the fronted Aan U.
> worden-passive in the embedded clause: wordt bespat is the process passive ('be spattered'); den modder shows the dative remnant after met. The Slymeringen / Droogstoppels are pluralised proper names.

En dat daarginds Uw meer dan dertig millioenen onderdanen worden MISHANDELD EN UITGEZOGEN IN UWEN NAAM? * * * * *  
And that out there Your more than thirty millions of subjects are MISTREATED AND PLUNDERED IN YOUR NAME? * * * * *
> Closing worden-passive, in capitals: worden mishandeld en uitgezogen is a double process passive ('are mistreated and sucked dry'); IN UWEN NAAM keeps the dative remnant -en. The book ends on the present-passive, the wrong still in progress.
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Source text: public domain (Multatuli / Eduard Douwes Dekker, d. 1887; Dutch 1860, Project Gutenberg #11024). English translation: original, © 1732 Studios (2026); rendered freshly from the public-domain Dutch, not derived from any prior English translation. Sentence-aligned by 1732 Studios.