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  .., 2026.



Robert Louis Stevenson   

Kidnapped 



Dedication 

My dear Charles Baxter,    ! If you ever read this story, you will probably ask yourself more questions than I can answer.   -   , , ,    ,      . For example, you will ask: , ,  : how the murder at Appin fell in 1751;        1751 ; how the Torrens Rocks came to be so close to Erraid; or why the published account of the case is completely silent about everything that concerns David Balfour?                      ,    ? For those are nuts I cannot crack.       . But if you ask me whether Alan is guilty or innocent, I think I can stand by my story.       ,     ,   ,      . You might see for yourself that local tradition in Appin is still strongly in Alan's favour.       ,            . If you make inquiries, you may find that the descendants of 'the other man', the one who did the shooting, still exist in the area.    ,   ,    , ,  ,       . But you may ask as many questions as you like, and you will not hear the name of this other:     ,       : the Highlanders religiously observe this secret, respecting in general all secrets, both their own and those of their relatives.     ,    ,      . I can successfully justify one point, but I must admit that the other point cannot be justified;       ,   ,     ; it is better to admit at once how little interest I have in the desire to be precise.    ,       . I am writing a book not for a school library, but for reading on winter evenings, when classes are already over and bedtime is approaching.       ,     ,          . Honest Alan, who in his time was a dashing warrior, in his new reincarnation is brought out by me not with any special villainous intent, but only in order to distract the attention of some young gentleman from Ovid and turn it, at least for a while, to the Highlands of Scotland and the past century and send him to bed in such a mood that in his dreams there appeared some tempting images.  ,       ,         -   ,   ,    -                        ,      -  .

I cannot expect you, my dear Charles, to like this story.  ,   ,     ,       . But your son may like it when he grows up;  ,  ,   ,   ; he will be pleased to find his father's name on the flyleaf of the book.          . At the same time, it gives me pleasure to inscribe this name here in memory of many days, mostly happy, though sometimes sad, but which are now remembered with interest.               ,   ,    ,       . If it seems wonderful to me that I can look back across the double distance of time and space on the adventures of our youth, it is perhaps still more wonderful to you, as to a man who walks the same streets and can tomorrow open the door of the old hall where we began our acquaintance with Scott and Robert Umchet and with our beloved, but so little known Mackbin;    ,                ,    ,  ,  ,   ,               ,              ,    ; or go into that corner where the meetings of the great society were held IJR, where we drank our wine and sat in the same places where Berne once sat with his friends.     ,      I J R,           ,  -     . It seems to me that I see you walking through these places in broad daylight, seeing them with your own eyes, while for your friend all this can only be the subject of dreams.  ,   ,         ,     ,            . How the past resounds in memory during breaks among current affairs and activities!             ! Let this echo sound for you more often and awaken in you thoughts of your friend.                .

R L S.   .

Skerryvore, Bournemouth , .



I am going to Shoos-gauz I    -

I will begin the story of my adventures with a June morning in 1751, when I locked the door of my father's house behind me for the last time.          1751 ,           . As I walked down the road, the sun barely illuminated the tops of the hills, and when I reached the priest's house, thrushes were already whistling in the lilacs and the pre-dawn mist hanging over the valley began to rise and disappear.     ,     ,      ,        ,   ,    .

The kindly Issendy clergyman, Mr. Campbell, was waiting for me at the garden gate.   ,  ,     . He asked if I had breakfasted, and hearing that I wanted nothing, after a friendly handshake, he kindly took my arm.  ,   , , ,     ,        .

Well, Davy, he said, Ill walk with you to the ford to get you on the road.  , ,   ,      ,     .

And we set off in silence.      .

Are you sorry to leave Issendean?     ? he asked a little later.      .

I could answer you that if I knew where I was going and what would happen to me, I said.        ,   ,        ,   . Issendean is a nice place, and I was very happy here, but I didnt see anything else.      ,      ,        . My father and mother are dead, and if I stayed in Issendean, I would be as far from them as if I were in Hungary.     , ,   ,        ,      . Frankly, I would leave here very willingly if only I knew that my situation would improve in a new place.  ,      ,    ,       .

Yes!  ! said Mr. Campbell.     . Very well, Davy.   , . Then I must tell you your future, so far as it lies in my power. ,      ,     . When your mother died, and your fathera worthy Christian!    ,      !felt death approaching, he gave me a letter to keep, saying it was your inheritance.     ,      , ,     . As soon as I am dead, he said, and the house is set in order, and the goods sold (and all this was done, Davy), give this letter into my sons hand and send it to Shaws House, near Cramond.    ,   ,       ,    (    , ),            -,   . I came from there myself, he said, and thither my son should return.    ,   ,        . He is a brave young man and a good walker, and I have no doubt he will reach the place safely and be able to win everyones goodwill there.      ,    ,            .

 To Shoos-gauz!   -!  I exclaimed.    .

"Nobody knows for certain," said Mr. Campbell.      ,    . "But the owners of this place have the same name as you, Davy.          ,    , . The Balfours of Shaws are an old, honest, respectable family, but fallen into decay of late.     , ,  ,      . Your father, too, had the education due to his birth;     ,   ; no one managed a school more successfully than he, nor did he talk like a common schoolmaster;      ,  ,           ; on the contrary (you understand), I liked to have him with me when I entertained learned people, and even my own relations, the Campbells of Kilrennet, the Campbells of Dunswire, the Campbells of Minch, and others, all very learned people, found pleasure in his society.  (  ),  ,     ,     ,    ,   ,   ,     ,    ,     . And to complete all this, here is a letter from his will, written in his own hand.         ,    .

He gave me a letter addressed as follows:    ,   : "To Ebenezer Balfour, of Shaws, Esq., at Shaws House, in his own hand.  ,  , ,  -,   . This letter will be delivered to him by my son, David Balfour."       ,  . My heart beat violently at the thought of the brilliant future that suddenly opened before me, the seventeen-year-old son of a poor country schoolmaster in Ettrick Forest.         ,    ,        .

"Mr. Campbell," I said in a broken voice, "would you go there if you were in my place?"   ,     ,     ,     ?

"Certainly," answered the priest, "and without even delay.  ,   ,     . A big boy like you will reach Cramond (near Edinburgh) in two days.   ,  ,    (  )   . At the worst, if your noble relatives - and I suppose these Balfours are related to you - put you out of the door, you can come back in two days and knock at my door.    ,        ,     ,     ,             . But I hope you will be well received, as your father predicted, and in time you will become a person of importance.   ,    ,    ,       . And then, Davy, my boy," he concluded, "I consider it my duty to take advantage of the moment of parting and warn you of the dangers you may meet with in the world.  , ,  ,   ,             ,      .

At these words he hesitated for a moment, wondering how he could sit more comfortably, then sat down on a large stone under a birch tree by the road, stuck out his upper lip with importance and covered his three-cornered hat with his handkerchief, since the sun was now shining on us from behind two peaks.      , ,    ,         ,            ,        -  . Then, raising his index finger, he began to warn me first of the numerous heresies that did not tempt me at all, and to urge me not to neglect prayer and reading the Bible. ,   ,        ,     ,        . Then he described to me the noble house to which I was heading and gave me advice on how to behave with its inhabitants.      ,   ,    ,      .

Be yielding, Davy, in unimportant matters, he said.   , ,  ,   . Remember that, though you are of noble birth, you were brought up in the country.   ,      ,    . Do not disgrace us, Davy, do not disgrace us!   , ,   ! Be courteous in this large, crowded house, where there are so many servants.     ,  ,    . Try to be prudent, quick-witted, and reserved no worse than others.   ,      . As for the owner, remember that he is the laird.    , ,      . I will only say to you:   : give everyone their due.   . It is pleasant to obey the laird;   ; in any case, it should be pleasant for a young man.   ,      .

Maybe, I answered.   ,   . I promise you that I will try to follow your advice.    ,      .

An excellent answer, said Mr. Campbell cordially.   ,     . And now to the important matter, if I may play with words, or to the immaterial.         ,     ,    . Here is a packet containing four things.  ,    . As he spoke, he drew the packet with great effort from his side pocket.    ,          . Of these four things, the first is yours by law:           : it is a small sum, the proceeds of the sale of your fathers books and household goods, which I bought, as I explained at the beginning, with a view to reselling them at a profit to the new schoolmaster.   ,         ,   ,      ,         . The other three are presents from Mrs. Campbell and myself.          . And you will do us great pleasure if you accept them.      ,   . The first, the round one, will probably please you best at first, but, Davy, my boy, it is but a drop in the ocean: , , ,     , , ,  ,     : it will only lighten your step one step, and then disappear like the morning fog.        ,   . The second, flat, quadrangular, all covered with writing, will help you in life, like a good staff on the road and like a pillow under your head during illness. , , ,  ,     ,             . And the last, cubic, will show you the way to a better world:  , ,      : I will pray for this.     .

With these words he stood up, took off his hat, and for some time prayed loudly and in touching terms for the young man going out into the world, then suddenly he embraced me and kissed me passionately;     ,            ,   ,       ; then he pulled me away from him and, without letting go, looked at me for a long time, and his face was darkened by deep sorrow;     ,    ,    ,       ; finally, he turned and shouted to me: , ,  : Farewell! ! - and almost ran back along the road we had just taken.         ,     . Another would have found this funny, but it did not even occur to me to laugh.     ,        . I watched him until he was out of sight:    ,      : he continued to hurry and never looked back.          . It became clear to me that the reason for everything was separation from me, and my conscience began to reproach me strongly;   ,       ,      ; I myself was very happy, leaving the quiet village wilderness for a large, noisy house, where rich and respected nobles of the same family and name as me lived.     ,       ,  ,            .

Davi, Davy, I thought, have you ever seen such black ingratitude? , ,   ,       ? Can you really forget your old friends and their affection for you at the mere hint of nobility?                ? For shame, Davy, for shame! , , ! 

I sat down on the stone from which the good priest had just risen and opened the package to look at the gifts.    ,       ,   ,   .

I guessed that what Mr. Campbell called the cubic thing was, of course, a pocket Bible.  ,  ,      , , ,  . What he called the round thing turned out to be a shilling; ,     ,  ; and the third thing, which was supposed to be so wonderfully helpful to me, both in health and in sickness, turned out to be a piece of coarse yellow paper, on which the following words were written in red ink:   ,       ,    ,     ,        :

How to prepare lily of the valley water.    . Take sherry, make a tincture of lily of the valley flowers and take a spoonful or two when necessary.  ,            . This tincture restores the gift of speech to those who have lost their tongue;      ,    ; it helps with gout, strengthens the heart and memory.    ,    . Put the flowers in a tightly sealed jar and put it in an anthill for a month, then take it out and you will see a liquid secreted by the flowers in the jar, which you can store in a bottle;             ,          ,     ; it is useful for the healthy and the sick, both men and women. "     ,  ,   .

At the bottom was a note in the priests hand:     : It should also be rubbed in for dislocations, and for colic, take a tablespoon every hour.      ,         .

I laughed at this, of course, but it was a nervous laugh. , ,   ,     . I quickly hung my bundle on the end of my stick, crossed the ford and began to climb the hill on the other side of the river.       ,            . At last I reached the green road running through the heather, and took a last look at Essendean church, the trees around the rectory and the tall rowan trees in the churchyard where my parents were buried.      ,   ,       ,           ,    .



II I reach my destination II    

On the morning of the second day, having reached the top of the hill, I saw before me the whole country lying on the slope, right down to the sea, and in the middle of this slope, on a long mountain ridge, Edinburgh, smoking like a furnace.   ,   ,         ,   ,    ,    ,  , ,   . A flag was flying from the castle, and ships were floating or lying at anchor in the bay.    ,         . Despite the very great distance, I could see everything clearly, and my country heart was ready to jump out of my chest with joy.     ,     ,           .

Then I passed a shepherd's house, where I was given some rather rude directions to Cramond.     ,     ,    . And so, asking now one, now another, I walked past Colinton, west of the capital, until I came to the road leading to Glasgow.  ,   ,  ,         ,     ,   . And on it, to my great pleasure and surprise, I saw soldiers marching to the sound of flutes;   ,      ,   ,    ; in front of me, on a grey horse, rode an old general with a purple face, and behind came a company of grenadiers wearing caps resembling papal tiaras.          ,       ,   . A feeling of pride stirred in me at the sight of the soldiers in red uniforms and the sound of cheerful music.                .

A little further on they explained to me that I was in the parish of Cramond.    ,     . Then I began to inquire about Shaws-house.      -. My question seemed to surprise everyone. ,     . At first I thought that my simple country clothes, dusty from the road, did not fit in well with the grandeur of this place.   ,     ,   ,      . But, after two or three people, looking at me in the same way, evaded the answer, it began to occur to me that there was something strange about Shaws-house itself. ,      ,    ,   ,     ,    -  - .

To dispel my fears, I changed the form of my questions, and seeing an honest fellow riding along a country road, standing on a cart, I asked him if he had ever heard of Shoos-gauz.    ,    , ,   ,     ,   ,  ,    -  -.

He stopped the cart and looked at me just like the others.         ,   .

Yes, he answered.  ,   . What?    ?

Is this a big estate?    ? I asked.    .

Of course, he answered.  ,   . The house is very big.     .

Well, I asked, what kind of people live there?  ,   ,       ?

People!  ! he exclaimed.    . Are you crazy?      ! There are no people there.   .

And Mr. Ebenezer?    ? I asked.    .

Oh, yes!   ! he said.    . If you want the laird, hes there.      ,   . What business have you with him, my dear fellow?      , ?

I was told that I could find a place with him, I said, trying to appear as modest as possible.   ,      ,   ,     .

What?  ?  the man shouted so loudly that even the horse shuddered.      ,    .  Listen, my dear fellow, he continued, this is, of course, none of my business, but you seem like a decent fellow to me... Listen to my advice and stay away from Shoos-haus.    , ,   ,  , ,   ,       -       -.

Then I met a nimble little man in a beautiful white wig and realized that he was a barber making his rounds.           ,   ,    . Since I knew that all barbers were great talkers, I asked him bluntly what kind of man Mr. Balfour of Shaws House was.     ,     ,      ,       -.

Oh, said the barber, he looks very little like a man!  ,   ,       !

And he began to slyly ask me what I needed, but I was even more cunning, and he went to his client without learning anything more than he knew himself.    ,   ,     ,      ,     ,   .

I cannot describe the blow this dealt to my expectations!   ,       ! The vaguer the accusations, the less I liked them, for they left so much to the imagination.    ,     ,       . What kind of house was this, when the mere question:     ,   : Where is it?   ?  makes the whole parish shudder and stare?         ? And what kind of laird was this, when his ill fame ran along all the roads?      ,         ? If after an hour's walk I could find myself again in Essendean, I would give up my undertaking and return to Mr. Campbell.           ,           -. But I had already gone so far that pride would not allow me to retreat without checking what the matter was;      ,      ,  ,   ; from self-respect alone I had to see it through to the end.           . And although I did not like everything I heard, I nevertheless, although he slowed his steps, he continued to ask for directions and move forward.         ,   ,  -,    ,      .

It was late in the day when I met a plump, dark-haired woman with a sullen face, wearily descending a hill.    ,         ,    . When I addressed her with my usual question, she turned abruptly back, accompanied me to the summit from which she had just descended, and pointed out to me an enormous building standing alone on a clearing at the bottom of a nearby valley.         ,    ,    ,     ,      ,        . The surrounding countryside was very beautiful.     . The low hills were covered with forest and richly watered, and the fields, in my opinion, promised an extraordinary harvest.        ,  ,   ,   . But the house itself seemed to me to be a ruin.      - . There was no road leading to it;     ; no smoke came from any chimney, and there was nothing resembling a garden around it.       ,         . My heart sank.    .

- How?  ? This? ? - I exclaimed.    . The woman's eyes flashed with hostility.    .

It is the Shaws-haus!   -! she cried.    . Blood built it, blood stopped it, blood will destroy it.     ,   ,   . See, she cried, I spit on the ground and call down a curse upon it! ,   ,          ! Let all perish there!    ! If you see the laird, tell him my words, tell him that Janet Clouston for the thousand two hundred and nineteenth time calls down a curse upon him and his house, upon his byre and stable, upon his servant, guest, master, wife, daughter, childlet their doom be terrible!    ,    ,  ,                ,     ,   , , , , ,       !

And the woman, whose voice sounded like a terrible spell, suddenly jumped up, turned around and disappeared.  ,      ,  ,   . I continued to stand in the same place, and my hair stood on end.       ,     . In those days, people believed in witches and were afraid of curses.          . The curse of this woman, which was like a warning to me to stop while there was still time, completely deprived me of strength.   ,    ,   ,    ,    .

I sat down and began to look at Shoos-gauz.       -. The more I looked, the more beautiful the area seemed to me.    ,     . Everything around was covered with blooming hawthorn.      . The meadows were dotted with sheep.    . Rooks flew in large flocks across the sky.      . The richness of the soil and the beneficial climate were evident in everything, and only the house did not please me at all.        ,       .

While I was sitting there by the ditch, the peasants began to return from the fields, but I was so despondent that I didnt even wish them good evening.      ,     ,      ,       . Finally, the sun set, and I saw a stream of smoke rising right against the yellow sky.   ,     ,      . Although this stream was no wider than the smoke from a candle, it still served as proof that there was a fire and warmth and dinner and some living creature in the house.       ,    ,  -   ,     ,  ,  ,  -  . This thought encouraged me.    .

And I went forward along a path that disappeared into the grass and led to the house.         ,    . It seemed too inconspicuous to lead to an inhabited place, but I did not see any other.    ,     ,     . The path led me to a stone arch;      ; Next to it stood a roofless house, and at the top of the arch were traces of a coat of arms.       ,      . Apparently, this was supposed to be the main entrance, which was not completed.     ,    . Instead of a wrought iron gate, there were two wooden lattice doors tied with a straw strand;          ,   ; There was no garden fence, not the slightest sign of an access road, but the path I was following went around the arch on the right side and, winding, headed towards the house.     ,     ,  ,    ,      , ,   .

The nearer I approached it, the more gloomy it seemed.      ,    . It must have been only one of the wings of an unfinished house.  ,  ,      . Inside, its upper story was not roofed, and endless ledges and stairs loomed in the sky.           ,        . Many of the windows were missing glass, and bats flew in and out like pigeons in a dovecote.      ,         ,    .

When I came very close, it was already beginning to get dark, and in the three lower windows, located high above the ground, very narrow and locked with a bolt, the flickering light of a small fire flickered.     ,   ,     ,    ,      ,     .

So this is the palace where I am going!    ,   ! These are the walls within which I will seek new friends and must begin a brilliant career!   ,            ! There, in Yssen-Waterside, in my father's house, a bright fire shone for a mile around and the door opened for every beggar. ,  -,    ,            .




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