Deconstructing Jack by Simon Wood

[Abby Normal]

Shot himself twice in the mouth?

maybe he just wanted to make sure he was dead.

[Henry Flower]

maybe he just wanted to make sure he was dead.

Genius!

[Herlock Sholmes]

maybe he just wanted to make sure he was dead.

Better safe than sorry

Regards
Herlock

[David Orsam]

The Daily Northern Argus story reproduced by Simon was sourced to the "Provincial Press Agency" and dated "London, March 3". The original story might have come from Madrid (and certainly must have done originally if it was in any way a genuine story). If it did, the only way was by telegram but it may well have passed through many hands, having probably been transcribed and then translated by hand, before it reached the Provincial Press Agency in London, and then on to the Australian Daily Northern Argus, so words could easily have got corrupted as it was transmitted.

In this respect, I note that the word in Spanish for brains is "los sesos" while the word for twice is "dos veces" which is not too dissimilar. If you run this sentence through an online translator:

"El inglés acababa de meterse el cañón de un revólver en la boca y de disparase un tiro que le saltó la tapa de los sesos."

You get:

"The Englishman had just put a gun barrel in his mouth and shot a shot that popped the top of his head."

One would obviously change that to "fired a shot". I assume it could also read, if translated literally, "fired a shot that blew the lid of his brains off". But if you just replace the last two words with "dos veces" so that it reads:

"El inglés acababa de meterse el cañón de un revólver en la boca y de disparase un tiro que le saltó la tapa de dos veces."

You get:

"The Englishman had just put the muzzle of a revolver in his mouth and fired a shot that jumped the lid twice."

So someone at a press agency, filing the story in a hurry, could easily have interpreted that has Pigott firing twice. I don't say that is definitely what happened but it's a good demonstration, I think, of how such mistakes could easily have been made.

[Robert St Devil]

la tapa de los sesos is a spanish refrain david thats better understood in its entirety rather than translated verbatim. the refrain is typically used in sentences where someone gets shot in the head with a gun. your posted newspiece literally means what you think it means - the Englishman put the pistol barrel in his mouth and blew his brains out.

an english example is constables knocking up people in the morning. im like, what?

[Robert St Devil]

On a follow-up to clarify. i noticed that you have included the word just in your translations david. it,s not to be understood like we commonly use in english eg. "just about", where an action or resolution is about to occur in the near future. in this sentence its to be understood as a sequence of events that happens immediately - he shoots himself just after putting the pistol in his mouth. you,re supposed to derive that he committed suicide.

[David Orsam]

Hi Robert, I wasn't posting those two translations as the best translations - they were simply taken verbatim from an online translator - rather to show how the word "twice" could have crept in if you substitute "dos veces" for "los sesos". The reason I gave what I referred to as the literal translation was because I explained that "los sesos" means "brains" but, when the sentence is translated by the online translator, the word "brains" does not appear and someone might have been confused by that.

For anyone interested in a human translation of that sentence, here is it how it was translated by the British Embassy in 1889:

The Englishman had placed the revolver in his mouth, had fired it off, and had blown his brains out.

[Robert St Devil]

hi david. first off, all the respect for not fearing the spanish. You were close in your first translation, the Embasssy translation is the best; and you're right, without understanding los sesos as brains the meaning of the sentence is lost. overall, i understand that he committed suicide by shooting himself, but it's being phrased in jargon & lacks some sensitivity.

de disparase un tiro - fired a shot

Again, you're right about dos veces but it would have appeared in this part of the sentence ie. he fired twice or he fired two shots off.

que le saltó la tapa de los sesos - that assaulted ["jumped"] his brain-top, or blew his brains out

I have my doubts about dos veces being understood here only bc the sentence is a complete exclamation that spanish society understands. Plus, the sentence establishes that only one shot was fired, so i'd be left wondering why there were two reactions. Any transcriptionist/translator worth his pay would have noted a discrepancy and corrected it.

Could there be anything in the other sentences that might refer to two shots?

[Henry Flower]

Hi Robert, I wasn't posting those two translations as the best translations - they were simply taken verbatim from an online translator - rather to show how the word "twice" could have crept in if you substitute "dos veces" for "los sesos". The reason I gave what I referred to as the literal translation was because I explained that "los sesos" means "brains" but, when the sentence is translated by the online translator, the word "brains" does not appear and someone might have been confused by that.

For anyone interested in a human translation of that sentence, here is it how it was translated by the British Embassy in 1889:

The Englishman had placed the revolver in his mouth, had fired it off, and had blown his brains out.

In whose mouth? Had fired his mouth off, or the gun off? AND had blown his brains out? (By another means altogether?)

This translation is very confusing.

[David Orsam]

I have my doubts about dos veces being understood here only bc the sentence is a complete exclamation that spanish society understands. Plus, the sentence establishes that only one shot was fired, so i'd be left wondering why there were two reactions. Any transcriptionist/translator worth his pay would have noted a discrepancy and corrected it.

Of course, that's true, any correct translation would not have done this but one does need to bear in mind the circumstances in 1889 where news would first be written out for the Spanish telegraph operator who then sent the telegram: that telegram would be received and its contents typed or written out in London in Spanish, then copied by hand for various agencies, then translated (and possibly that translation copied out). All possibly done in a hurry to meet a deadline. The opportunities for error were enormous. It's not surprising there were mistakes.

If we look further at the report in the Daily Northern Argus - at a sentence not reproduced by Simon - it also says "On examining the remains, it was found the scapular or shoulder blade was broken." So something has clearly gone wrong there too!

Could there be anything in the other sentences that might refer to two shots?

The only express mention of "two" would be of the "dos hombres" outside Pigott's room.

[David Orsam]

In whose mouth? Had fired his mouth off, or the gun off? AND had blown his brains out? (By another means altogether?)

This translation is very confusing.

I assume you are joking here Mr Flower?

[Robert St Devil]

If we look further at the report in the Daily Northern Argus - at a sentence not reproduced by Simon - it also says "On examining the remains, it was found the scapular or shoulder blade was broken."

Is there a Spanish sentence for this too?

[David Orsam]

Is there a Spanish sentence for this too?

No, unless someone can discover the original in a Spanish newspaper, we only have the English for Simon's report and have to guess how any mistakes were made.

[Henry Flower]

I assume you are joking here Mr Flower?

Yes, but with very serious intent.

Always fascinated by the depth and detail in your research, David. Much appreciated.

[Robert St Devil]

No, unless someone can discover the original in a Spanish newspaper, we only have the English for Simon's report and have to guess how any mistakes were made.

if i can ever open Biblioteca Nacional de Espana's website, ill take a look

http://www.library.illinois.edu/hpnl/newspapers/news_search_results.php?title=&city=madrid&call_no=&state=&year=1889&country=sp&collection=&portfolio=&language=&subject=ALL&format=&library=