The silent Baltic : $b or, Detained near Kiel, Marcus Knox

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by Marcus Knox

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The silent Baltic by Marcus Knox is a first-person wartime memoir and travel narrative written in the early 20th century. It follows an English visitor stranded in Holstein near Kiel at the outbreak of World War I, tracing her detention amid mobilization and suspicion, and her effort to reach safety. The book opens with idyllic summer scenes in a small Baltic town that are abruptly replaced by mobilization, censorship, and fear. Staying at a vicarage, the narrator watches soldiers depart, hears patriotic songs and propaganda, endures anti-British sentiment, and lives under restrictions that forbid even walking by the shore. She observes food hoarding, Red Cross preparations, and the town’s tense vigilance against spies, while meeting another English family under guard. After weeks of isolation, she goes to Hamburg to seek papers, then undertakes a difficult, largely solitary journey by train through Lübeck and Osnabrück, passing rigorous inspections at Bentheim and Oldenzaal, with scarce food and help from a few kind officials. Crossing into the Netherlands brings relief; from Rotterdam she reaches England, closing with a grateful reflection on freedom and home.

Summary generated automatically by Project Gutenberg.

Read time
43 min
Words
9,374
Chapters
1
Paragraphs
145
Price
Free
  • World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives
The silent Baltic : $b or, Detained near Kiel

At Eutin the crowds were dense.

En Eutin las multitudes eran densas.

While waiting on the platform we saw some curious people alight from a motor.

Mientras esperábamos en la plataforma, vimos a algunas personas curiosas bajar de un automóvil.

They were perhaps Russian spies coming from a reconnoitre of Kiel!

¡Quizás eran espías rusos que venían de un reconocimiento de Kiel!

We thought this later when we heard that so many had been taken.

Pensamos esto más tarde cuando supimos que tantos habían sido detenidos.

But our imaginations were on the alert to create sensations and unusual possibilities.

Pero nuestras imaginaciones estaban en alerta para crear sensaciones y posibilidades inusuales.

The incoming train was fearfully overcrowded with passengers, and our friend found only standing room in a restaurant car.

El tren entrante estaba espantosamente abarrotado de pasajeros, y nuestra amiga solo encontró espacio de pie en un vagón restaurante.

Unfortunately she could take none of her luggage in with her, and it had to be booked to Hamburg, where it was left, and we have since heard still is.

Por desgracia, no pudo llevar consigo ninguna de sus maletas, y tuvieron que facturarlas a Hamburgo, donde quedaron, y hemos oído desde entonces que aún están allí.

The crowd there on that first of August was so dreadful that no one could trouble about luggage, and were glad to escape with their lives.

La multitud allí, el primero de agosto, era tan espantosa que nadie podía preocuparse por el equipaje, y se alegraban de escapar con sus vidas.

Our return journey to Neustadt was peaceful enough, but as evening advanced events became more pronounced, and there appeared no longer any doubt that we were on the eve of a European War such as the world had never seen before.

Nuestro viaje de regreso a Neustadt fue bastante pacífico, pero a medida que avanzaba la tarde, los acontecimientos se volvían más evidentes, y ya no quedaba duda de que estábamos al borde de una guerra europea como el mundo nunca había visto antes.

All countries were being called to arms and much agitation filled all hearts.

Todos los países eran llamados a las armas y mucha agitación llenaba todos los corazones.

Everywhere men were being summoned away from wives and children and women stood about at street corners wringing their hands, but their grief was never loud or hysterical.

En todas partes los hombres eran llamados a dejar a sus esposas e hijos, y las mujeres permanecían en las esquinas de las calles retorciéndose las manos, pero su dolor nunca era ruidoso ni histérico.

Silent and heroic they faced their destiny.

Silenciosas y heroicas, enfrentaban su destino.

To think of having no choice in the matter.

Pensar en no tener elección en la materia.

How contrary to our idea of liberty!

¡Qué contrario a nuestra idea de libertad!

In England, I repeat again, it is impossible to have any idea of what war really is, or what it means to those whose homes are threatened, and where the male members of every family must leave,

En Inglaterra, repito una vez más, es imposible tener cualquier idea de lo que realmente es la guerra, o lo que significa para aquellos cuyos hogares están amenazados, y donde los miembros masculinos de cada familia deben marcharse,

in many cases, almost at a moment’s notice.

en muchos casos, casi de inmediato.

It was wonderful to see how they came out of their houses fully equipped in faultless uniform, willing, without hesitation, to leave their all for their Kaiser and country.

Fue maravilloso ver cómo salían de sus casas completamente equipados con uniformes impecables, dispuestos, sin vacilar, a dejarlo todo por su Kaiser y su país.

With stolid fortitude they obeyed the inevitable.

Con fortaleza estoica obedecieron lo inevitable.

It appeared to my overwrought imagination as if a soldier came out from every corner, from every house, and from every nook, in fact from everywhere, not singly, but in bunches.

Pareció a mi imaginación sobreexcitada como si un soldado saliera de cada rincón, de cada casa y de cada rincón, en efecto, de todas partes, no individualmente, sino en grupos.

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Book details

Original language
English
Translation
Spanish, machine translation
Source text
Project Gutenberg #78033
Licence
Public domain in the United States

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