The Secret · American Version Page 19
Page 19 of the American edition of The Secret
Plate · page 19, American edition Zoom Full-size scan

The Mystery of the Buried Jewels

The Litany of the Jewels Page 19

It is the nature (or perhaps we should say PRE- TERNATURE) of Fairies to love beautiful things: star- shine and flowers, of course, and trees; rushing streams, dew-bright morning spider webs, and mu- sic. But of all the desires of the Fair People, there is one thing for which Man shares the same passion: Jewels. To the Fairies, gold is pretty enough stuff. It re- minds them of sunlight dancing on water and of the turning leaves in autumn. (Catch a Leprechaun, they say, and demand of him his golden treasure: you’ll sleep a hundred years and wake with dead leaves in your pocket-he keeps his word.) Likewise, they cherish silver, for it puts them in mind of moonlight and icicles. But precious stones they value for themselves; per- haps because, like them, gems are earthbom, rare, and beautiful. When it comes to jewelry (and the Fairies are great craftsmen of jewelry)-to rings and pendants, bracelets and necklaces, to broaches and

Two editions, one page

The American and Japanese printings side by side. Click either page to zoom in.

Page 19 of the American edition of The Secret
American edition page 19
Page 19 as printed in the Japanese edition
日本語版 · Japanese edition

日本語版の本文

The Japanese text with an English back-translation.

Japanese text

美しいものを愛するのは、 妖精たちが生まれついてもちあわせた性質である。 いや、むしろなみはずれた偏愛というべきかもしれない。夜空に輝く星、 愛らしい野の花、 サラサラと音をたてて流れる小川、 露をきらめかせるえかな朝のクモの巣、 そして妙なる音を奏でる音楽。そうした自然のもつ美しいきらめきの瞬間を妖精たちはたいせつにいつくしむ。しかし、ひとつだけ人間と共通して大好きなものがある。 宝石だ。妖精にとって、 黄金は水面に反射する陽の光や、秋に舞う木の葉を想わせて心を浮きたたせてくれるものだ。 たとえば、 小人の妖精レプラコーンは地下に埋められた財宝を自分のものにしていて、 人間におどかされるとそのありかを教えてくれるのだが、 財宝を手にした人間はそれとひきかえに100年のあいだ眠

English back-translation

To love beautiful things is a quality fairies are born with. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to call it an extraordinary, almost excessive devotion. Stars shining in the night sky, lovely wildflowers, babbling brooks, morning spiderwebs glittering with dew, and music playing its mysterious melodies. The fairies cherish and treasure these fleeting beautiful moments of nature’s radiance. But there is one thing they love just as much as humans do. Jewels. To a fairy, gold evokes the sunlight reflected on water’s surface, or leaves dancing in the autumn wind — lifting the heart with joy. For instance the dwarf fairy Leprechaun keeps buried treasure as his own, and when threatened by humans will reveal its hiding place — but the human who takes the treasure sleeps for a hundred years in exchange…

2 Comments

  1. Joel

    Preternature – …exceeding what is natural or regular (Merriam Webster).

    This is word is 12 letters long and found in the chapter on the Litany of the Jewels. So many other things of importance in this book have 12; 12 pictures, 12 verses, 12 stones, etc. And why capitalize all 12 letters if it does not mean something other than just a basic descriptive of fairies?

    Does anyone else think this is a clue or key to help with the puzzles?

    Reply
    • Ruben Russi

      I think so and it refers to something mixing with nature

      Reply

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