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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 1906)
BE mm A1TTftv yisP WW mo NERO" t y. .... "v. -V. By Alexander Jessup, Litt. D., Kdltor of th "French Men of Letters"! Series) I STRANGE similarities between thoe phenomenally popular work of Action, General 1-ew Wallace's "H.-n-Hur" and gienklewlci's "Quo. Yadis." have Just been dlseovereJ In u forgotten book by the great; French romanoer Alexandra Du-, mu. himself the author of two of the world's mint popular work! of fiction, "Thei Three Musketeers" and "The Count of Monte CrlatQ." Ona will look In vain for any mantlon of thli book In the encyclo paedia or "libraries" of literature, even In those of the moat extensive character. Millions of pertona have read "The Three Musketeer" and "Monte Cristo." but who! ha even heard of "Acte, a Story of the Days of Nero?" Tot this forgotten book really contains the glt of both Wallace s and Slenklewlci's celebrated novels. 1 have not been able to discover that Lew Wallace's favorite diversion consist ed in the reading of French (lotion; never theless the similarities that exist are al most unexplalnabl. so close are they. Most authors "read up" In the books of a period so remote from our n times as the days of Nero. Even Oonan (Doyle, In writing of such a comparatively up to data period as that of the Cavalier and Houndhead. which he depicted in Ms "Mlcah Clarke," la said to hav "devoured" several hundred book treating of that time. ''Ben-Hur" reveals careful prepa ration, so ths strongest sort of circumstan tial evidence would Incline one to the be lief that Lew Wallace had mad consider able as of 'Act." Let me not be misunderstood. I do not "accuse" Lw Wallace of plagiarism. Mo one should definitely accuse an author of plagiarism unless proof positive exists In support of such accusation, especially when ho Is no longer with us to answer such charge. But while I do not aocuse btm of plagiar ism for far of traduslng ths memory of an Innocint man, "Ben-Hur" and "Act" xlst sid by side, and every on la at lib erty to draw his own aonoluslen. I have already drawn mln. "Act," which hi ever bn translated Into Bngllsh and which has been almost lost sight of sven in France, Is, 1 undsrstand, sees to appear la English with the imprint of a leading American publisher. I presume It will, now that It has Anally been brought into the light o publicity, have a big a "run" a ltbr of lis Imitations. "Btn-Hur" and "Quo Vadls." It 1 In asveral respect su perior to either. In the sheer art of Ing a story" la a way 10 Intsrest a largs number of readers Dumas Is surely the best man of the three. Just as "the play's the thing," so In a work of Action "ths story's the thing'' of chisf moment. Bom recent writers of Action 1 might name Em 11 Zols-seera to have forgotten this. THE POWER OF "ACTE." The writer of the present article hap pened to be making some researches In the French literature of the thirties and forties of ths nineteenth century, lu connection with the editing of the "French Men of Letters'' series, and one day came across this passage, written by da. Hlppolyt Parlgot; "Scott could not have written the Arst two hundred pages of 'Aot.' Kenan, who wrote of the martyrdom of Blandlna, would not hava been ashamed of them. Tacitus. Suetonius and St. Paul are ,h authorities tor his facts. Duma doe not' U .1 proceed a slngl step without a document 01 ln previous aay, clothed In a green on wnloh to take his stand. Nero's' tunic, mounted ln a chariot of Ivory and triumphal entry Into th free elite through fold, and driving with purpls rslns a mag breach mads In ths battlements bv the nIAcent team of four white horse. IT Don cltlsens, his "Golden House.' hi colossal nl head, where one looked In vain for the tatue, th enormous port 'oies. the supper I wrestling orowa, glittered a dassllng dr at Bales, ths games In ths circus, ths figbt cl "k nat with which painters surround f Sila with Ui beasts, th Eatrad du I the fac of tti sun; and, by way of further Prince.' the lettcre (rjm Uul. whloh in- addition to his rassmblancs to that daitv. terrupt ths games in short, ths whol story. Including Nero s filght and his death' In the villa of Plancus Is drswn from th most authentic source. And wlia what Srace. with what wealth of imagination, oes Dumas maks Uils prodigious epoch Vv again befor our ayes! As he unfolds the story with consummate art all tires pictures, brought togsthsr with suoh lav lah expenditure of Intellectual force, be come one Uvlag whole, ef which we our selves form a part. Ws gilds with Sporus over the lake, bordered by vaat stretches or tun. waer. in me miast of artiflcisl ruins. wUd beast disport thamsslves as' ir in an Amian oeseri. penetrate be- nesHt th thick gloom of pin and yea mores, whoa dens foliage deadens th plaintive crlee of the Christian crowJed together la the adjacent prison. W gaae 011 me xxuperor goa, l,uciu me ilaautlful. uu n irg, oucius ill tioaut ful, the golden bearded, as. clad la white tonic and erowiMKl with olive, he languidly re- Pes . ,uch. sings, and masterTf id maB. th world, until w srs coiiiDali.a v. before the grandeur of ths Imajflnaii. that can thus Infuse Ufa imA mTL a ments and restor monurnen ta has crumbled Into duet. Guided bv . hT. paaaage, a tracing of th story was a comparatively ' mmv & , , . Dumas arohe for his play 'Callg a produced at eh Theatre ula," whMB was proausad at ch Theatre irmsw isevaiuuer as, jarr. had led htm to study Nero, whose remarkable ca reer greatly Interested him. rinding a heroine la Nero's freed woman aad mis tress. Aot. he decided to write a kia. oiaia ta whloh Mar aad Aot TRIKINQLY SIGNIFICANT SIMILARITIES DISCOVERED BETWEEN THESE AND ALEXAN DRE DUMAS' NOVEL, "ACTE, A STORY OF THE DAYS OF NERO." UNTIL NOW UN TRANSLATED INTO ENQLISH. OF SIENKIEWICZ SEEM FRENCH ROMANCER. v$ v r wer to be, naturally, the principal char acter. "Act" was the first piece of hls torloal Action of any value produced by that Dumas whom his admlrsrs - delight In styling Alexandre the Oreat. It ap peared in book form In 1839. But there exists a eopy that was published In Brus sels whloh bears the date IBS. The Arst Paris edition appears to be dated 1SS1 as to som copies and 1M0 as to othsrs. But it is not sufficient to say tfWt "Ben Hur" is very Ilk "Act" and that "Act" reads like "Quo Vadls." Such a state ment, la order to hare value, must be supported fey concrete example. Very well, then; let us take h chapter de scribing h otoartot race In "Ben-Hur" and a chapter describing ths sams thing In "Aot" and let us compare the two. I had at first thought to "work the deadly narallel" bv nutting the two slds by Side In parallel columns. But Wallace's scene Is so much longer than Dumas' that the similar portions would hardly come oppo site each other and this article must have a spaas limit. So I give parts of. Uie chariot race from "Act" only. "THfi CHARIOT RACE." . "Next day all Corinth decked Itself In festal array from earliest dawn. The tell-'chariot race, though not the mot ancient oX sports, were the most solemn, being cele brated in the presence of the images 01 the god. The sacred statues, brought to gether during the night into the Temple of Jupiter, whloh rose near the gate of the harbor of Lechaeum, that Is to say, en ths east side of the town, had to traverse the entire length of the city In order to reach the circus, which was built In ths opposite quarter, within sight of the har bor of Crlssea. The procession started at ten In the morning, that 1 to aay, toward the fourth hour of the day according to the Roman division of time. The Procon sul Lentulua led the way, mounted In a chariot and wealing the garb ef a tri umphant general ; than, behind hlra, came a troop of youths of fourteen or fifteen years old, all sons of knights, riding mag nificent horses adorned with scarlet end gold saddle clothe. Behind these cams ths competitors for ths pnss of the day. Lu 01 th bead of them, a th winner hl beard was sprinkled with gold dust, Behind him came a young Greek from TbeaseJy, proud and handsom as AclUl- tes. ciotnea In a yellow tunic, and driving a bronse chariot drawn hv four Mark steed. Th last two consisted of an I Albanian who claimed descent from Al-I - mnJi m a 1 K.w - . . 1 , v m " j . -tuj sua tanneo face. The Aret of these two wore a blue tunic and let his long, dark and perfumed lock float in th wind; th second was clad la a sort of white robe tied close to the figure by a Psrstan girdle band, like me son at xsnmasl: hla ha.il Ma a,,. rounded by a whit 'turbanVs sparkling as lha imw that ain.. .w. " . . - .miuu wi Sln.il. "Toward rmdday th prooeasloii reached! w viHimoce 10 m ruppodrom. This was1 an Inwneaae hulldlnv tv .V " u,nT.T!T . Ta . ,M " m ft? t 2 'M"ld ro4. I ?Z ? r ht . . . " - ' "-- wniCTI X lengt of tit buildlns T ssuon ef a passage aide n"ih for chariot at each an.i . ,.,. ' "T. Ital awaiting the statu. ss wuisa wouia occupy them for iiiu suivina voosuuoa eaiv. rtn. j . . hippodrome was aauolad hv th ' or start nc piece, ah othetr bv nu ..." isioro uenunee. At eac ul U she waJJ, wwra the trianruiar turnin had to be dooiW aav.n ti.TT!.' L ,k. ...h 7rZS"' auv uml as we nave seen. as. auroed the olor of the various parties whtak divided t at thla Urn; aad, as OENERAL WALLACES CHARIOT RACE AND THE BE MERE COPIES FROM THIS WORK OF THE OREAT TO i r-fi." f-ceM f largs amounts had been wavsred before hand, those who had made bets had adopt ed tne colors or such of ths charioteers as had, by their smart appearance, th pedi gree of their horses or their previous vto tories, inspired them rsspectlvely wtta most confidence. Nearly all the beoohes In th hippodrome then were throne; e4 with spectators, who addad to the enthusiasm generally inspired by the chariot races th personal Intsrest whloh they took In those whom they were backing. Ths ladls themselves had their different favorites, as could be seen by their girdle and veil corresponding to the color worn by the four competitors. Accordingly, when the pro cession was neard approaching, a Strang movement that seemed to thrill It like an electric shock surged through sll this hu man sxpanse. and all the heads wsved like the surging billow of ths sea. When the doors wsre opened the small specs that still remained unoccupied was over whelmed by torrents of fresh spectators - who beat Ilk a flood against th walls of " iauiiw iiuiii uuuiuii. m fourth part of the sightseers who aooom- Pnled the proceaalon wer able to eatax. and the remainder, thrust back by the auard. mtaht ba seen luoklns highest points which allowed 1 lu ovenooa iae nippuarvnui , euinejiug to me ouusns ok ireee. nanamsi over nil. bi battlements and crowning, as It wsrs. with living dowsr work ths terras of "eare.t house. i "At the same moment their names were thrown UUo a basket, Slnoe their boaitluua determined by lot ln order . t. . . .w.. . , -. rn.ih, wall running down ths middle might have no ground to omplala of th aookleot, V tf.;4 K V. "AM :4 1! ' A wUcii gave them a larger circle to tra verse. The order in which the names were drawn would assign to ech th po sition be was to Occupy. "The Proounsul shuffled ths names, writ- ten on pieces of paper folded up. drew them out and opeued them one after the ; uar, m ur tarn muu w on t ;au. w.u u. wwv u w..w left his piacs and drew up doss to ths wall In suuh a way that ths axleUe of hi chariot was parallel with a line drawn with ohaik on tb sand. The second was thst of the Atheulan, in the blue tunic, who placed himself Host Is the tmu. iTh e th'til was that of ths Tneaaai.an, in . i m i.,t -mmm diai Af i.uraua a whom Fortune hsd assigned the most dl. advantageous position, as though aa wer 1 ,7 "lira';'' ,rWiik,, V: already Jealous of his victory on ths pre vious day. The laat two named at once placed themselves alongside of their rivals. Then a band of young slaves paased be tween the chariots, decking ths horses' mane with their masters' colors, and waving little flags before the eyes of these noble animals to arouse their mettle, while the starters, holding a chain fas tened to two rings, brought tb four aba riots into an saactly sven Uns. "Then came a moment of noisy expecta tion, wagere were redoubled, fresh be' wer offered and taken, oonfused about were Interchanged. Suddenly a trumpet is heard and Instantly ail Is hushed. Th spectator who had been standing set down and th surfacs of that human sea. Just now so tumultuously agitated, be earns calm and assumed the appearance of a sloping prairie e'erspread with a thou sand colors. At ths last not of the trum pet th chain dropped and Cha four txari ots started, whirled aluog at th utmost speed of the horses. "Two circuits wsre ecoompllshcd, during whloh th competitors rrd pretty nearly their respective positional however, th quality ef ch team baa to be dis tingulahabl to th eye of suoh of th spectators as were Judge of borsensah. The Syrian had difflourty in controlling: his headstrong steeds with their slender lege, habituated to run wild In ths desert, aad whlua toy dint of patience and aklll he had trained from a wild state to bear th yoke, and on felt that wiiea be gave them full liberty they would carry him as swiftly ssisuocaas and shouted to him to pull In Ida th aimuuii. which they had often out- horses; but the animals, taking these snipped in those vast, sandy plain strtlch-! snouts a signs of encouragement, quick ina from the foot of the mountain of nsd thatr pacs. and. foamlna and !. Judea to the shores of th Dead bea. e e e e "At the third round the advantages, real r apparent, were more elearly pronounced. The Athenian had gained two spear lengths on Ch ThesssHan. th foremost of his competitors; ths Syrtaa, holding In his Arab steeds with ail hi aught, had al lowed himself to be passed ln th certainty ef being able to regain tns lead, while and uit a th god who, ; Luotu) 1 ill I LEW WALLACE. corTrreicrr iQOi "BY T90CVOOX3,J.V statue he see toed to be, appeared to b watching a contest to whiuli bs was a stranger and In whloh he took no special Interest so smiling was bis oountananc. so studied his attitude In aocordano with the moat precise rules of mlmstlo action. "At the fourth turn, aa Incident diverted attention from th other three competi tor, and Axed It mor especially on Lu cius; to whip, whloh had a lash of rhlnooaroe skin, and was inlaid with gold, fell from his band to ths ground. In stantly Lucius pulled up bis horses, sprang lue Che arena, picked up th whip which hitherto bad aaemed a quit un necessary Instrument, and, mounting his chariot, found himself left about thirty yard behind hi rival, dbort as th de lay had been. It had struck a terrible blow at the hope, and interests of the green faction; but their fear disappeared like nasn ox ugntaing. tor Luclua leaned over cm nor, and. without using the . J frxoxlu W features, con- . awuawi wiu giving a peculiar whistle Instantly rhev ax ,..h endowed wttfe the wing of Pegasus, and befor th fourth round, was finlahed Lu lu7 redslnsd hla f urn er po.ltlon amid Mad shouts of applause. s.., Only two circuit now remained to ba made, and from ths sxcltement tu7Z spectators and combatants th crisis was .... u wyiMwuiuig. An supporters of - ---.-".- , tue lineman, ap- !Parad visibly uneasy at their momentar ing. showed mat they would apeedilv ex- oaust weir remaining siracgin. imalnlng strength. It was at ttti moment that the Svrian gave th rata to hi courser and hat the sons of th desert, left to their own free will, began to encroach on th Athenian's lead. Th Thvssalian was for a luuuient taken aback by the speed at whloh tha went, but Immediately letUnc bis faithful companion heir his voloe, he, too, dashed torWMxl as though bora by a woirtwuid. VVti 'JtJ 7 A for Lucius, h contented himself with th whistle with which tie had already urged hi horses on, and, without the.r sven yst appearing to exert their full strength, kept hla position. e e e Then ensued a grand speotacl; th peed of the sight horses ws so swift snd so sven that one might have thought thy wer harnessed abreat; a cloud or ilust (unrounded them, and a In a tempeit one sees the lightning rend the sky and hears th rattle of th thunder, so was hrard ths rattls of ths wheels; and ons seemed to perceive through the whirlwind of iluit th horse bresthlng Asme. Th whol assemblage ross to Its feet; those who had laid wagers waved thslr veils and their green and white cloaks frsnticslly. and even those who hsd lost through backing the blue of th Thassallan or th yellow of the Athenian, forgetful of their recent de feat, encouraged the two rivals with shouts snd applause. At laat It seemed as thouh ths Syrian must win th day, for his horse passed those of his advsrsary by a head; but at th sams Instant, and as though hs hsd only been waiting for thta to happen, Lucius with one stroks of hi whip drew a bloody line scross the hind quarters of his horses. . The nhle beasts nslghed shrilly with surprise and pain; then, with a simultaneous spring, dashing away like the eagle, like the arrow. Ilk the thunderbolt, tliey passed the van quished Syrian, accomplished the required distance, and, leaving him mors than fifty yard behind, stopped at ths goal aftsr completing the entire oourse that l t aay, seven times the circuit of the arena. "Deafening shout of admiration rent th air, and the excitement rose almost to frenxy. Thl young Roman, victor In th previous day' wrestling, victor in th rue to-day, was Theseus, ws Caitor, perhaps Apollo come down to earth once more, but assuredly ha wss a favorite of th gods. Meanwhile, as thoug'n accustomed to such triumph, hs had leaped lightly from his chariot onto the wall, mounted som step leading to a pedestal, where he exhibited himself to th gate of t'ie spectators, whll a herald preolalmed hi nam and victory, and Lentulus, descending from hi box, went and placed In his hand an Idumaeaa palm and surrounded his head with a crown of gold and silver leave intsrlared with purple fillets. A for the money prise, which consisted of gold coins brought to him In a bra vessel, Lucius handed It baak to the Proconsul to be distributed la hi name to th aged poor snd ths orphan of ths city. "Than he Immediately made a rapid alga to Sporus, who rsn rapidly toward him, holding In hi hands a pigeon which be had taken that morning from Nydla s pigeon bouse. Lu.-ltia passed round th neck of ths bird of Venu a purpls string to Which wer tied two leave from th golden crown. NOW READ "BEN-HUR." , "Ben-Hur" I readily accessible to every 'on, and each reader oaa see fur himself th resemblances that exM. In both .'scenes, for examola. a chariot whaal la crushed by another chariot, being drive Into It and this Is a most Important Inci dent In both jiJ thr are other sin. sar in too numerous to mention, including the similarity uf whole phrases. In "Quo Vadls" ths "coincidences" are In a way even more pronounced. Th right of Silas with th beasts in "At" ha Its counterpart In L'rsu' fight la tn arena, la "Quo Vadls. And this, Ilk "tb chariot racs" resemblance. Is all the more airtaUBg fceoaua both "th oharlot race" and th fight ta the arena depict ortees in their reapeetiv book. And Nero lb a leading character In both Quo Vadl" and "Act." The Nero of Stenkiewici'a novel la sxaotly like Dumas' Nero. My conclusion, then, 1 that, though only clrcumetantlal avldenoe extols, it seems very likely that both Law Wallace and Slenklewlca borrowed whole scenes from Lmiuas book; la short, niavde undu use of it. ttlenklewlcs is still living; ac cordingly, when these words come to hi attention. I trust h wUl sea St t raJr is