''In Desert and Wilderness'' ( pl, W pustyni i w puszczy) is a popular

young adult novel Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...

by the Polish author and

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

-winning novelist

Henryk Sienkiewicz Henryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz ( , ; 5 May 1846 – 15 November 1916), also known by the pseudonym Litwos (), was a Polish writer, novelist, journalist and Nobel Prize laureate. He is best remembered for his historical novels, especi ...

, written in 1911. It is the author's only novel written for children/teenagers. It tells the story of two young friends, Staś Tarkowski (14 years old) and Nel Rawlison (8 years old), kidnapped by rebels during the

Mahdist War The Mahdist War ( ar, الثورة المهدية, ath-Thawra al-Mahdiyya; 1881–1899) was a war between the Mahdist Sudanese of the religious leader Muhammad Ahmad bin Abd Allah, who had proclaimed himself the "Mahdi" of Islam (the "Guided On ...

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

. It was adapted for film twice, in

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

and in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

Plot

The story takes place in the late 19th century Egypt, during the Mahdist War. A 14-year-old Polish boy, Stanisław (Staś) Tarkowski, and 8-year-old English girl, Nel Rawlison, live with their fathers and grow up in the ton of

Port Said Port Said ( ar, بورسعيد, Būrsaʿīd, ; grc, Πηλούσιον, Pēlousion) is a city that lies in northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal. With an approximate population of 6 ...

. Their fathers are engineers who supervise the maintenance of the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...

. One day, the Mahdist War begins in Sudan, led by a Muslim preacher, the

Mahdi The Mahdi ( ar, ٱلْمَهْدِيّ, al-Mahdī, lit=the Guided) is a Messianism, messianic figure in Islamic eschatology who is believed to appear at the Eschatology, end of times to rid the world of evil and injustice. He is said to be a de ...

. Staś and Nel are captured as hostages by a group of Arabs who hope that they can exchange the children for Fatima, Mahdi's distant relative, who had been arrested by the British at the beginning of the novel. Nel and Staś are forced to travel through the

Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

Desert to

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...

, where they are to be presented to Mahdi. The journey is difficult and exhausting, especially for delicate and vulnerable Nel. Staś, who is a brave and responsible boy, protects his friend from the abductors' cruelty, even though that means that he is beaten and punished. His plans to escape fail and the children gradually lose their hope. When the group arrive in Khartoum (precisely -

Omdurman Omdurman (standard ar, أم درمان ''Umm Durmān'') is a city in Sudan. It is the most populated city in the country, and thus also in the State of Khartoum. Omdurman lies on the west bank of the River Nile, opposite and northwest of the ...

) the Arabs are disappointed by the fact that Mahdi, busy with leading the revolt, ignored their "mission" and turned down their offers. They take out their anger and frustration on the children. Staś is summoned to meet with the Mahdi and turns down the rebel leader's offer to convert to Islam. For that he is strongly reprimanded by another European captive, a Greek who did agree to convert in order to save his family and himself. The Greek tells Staś that such a forced conversion does not count since "God sees what is inside your heart" and that, by his intransigence, Staś may have doomed Nel to terrible death. Staś and Nel, exhausted by heat, thirst, hunger and poor treatment, live for some time in the city ruined by war, poverty and diseases. After a while the children and Arabs make another journey further south, to

Fashoda Kodok or Kothok ( ar, كودوك), formerly known as Fashoda, is a town in the north-eastern South Sudanese state of Upper Nile State. Kodok is the capital of Shilluk country, formally known as the Shilluk Kingdom. Shilluk had been an independe ...

. One day the group encounters a lion who attacks them. The Arabs (who do not know how to fire a

shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which usually discharges numerous small p ...

) hand the weapon to Staś and beg him to shoot the beast. Staś kills the lion, and then shoots down the Arabs as well. This is dictated by the despair and fury: the boy knows that the men were not going to set the children free. He hated the Arabs for abusing them – especially Nel. Free of the Arabs, the children are marooned in the depth of Africa. They set out on an arduous journey through the African desert and jungle in the hope that sooner or later they would encounter European explorers or the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. The journey is full of dangers and adventures. The children, accompanied by two black slaves (a boy named Kali and a girl named Mea) whom Staś had freed from the Arabs, encounter a number of wonders and perils. The children stop for a rest on a beautiful hill near a waterfall. They soon find out that a gigantic elephant has been trapped in a

gully A gully is a landform created by running water, mass movement, or commonly a combination of both eroding sharply into soil or other relatively erodible material, typically on a hillside or in river floodplains or terraces. Gullies resemble lar ...

nearby. Nel, who loves animals, takes pity on the beast and saves it from starvation by throwing fruits and leaves into the gorge. The girl and the elephant (which is extremely intelligent and benign and whom Nel calls "King" because of its size) quickly become friends. Soon Nel is stricken with

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

and is about to die. Staś, mad with grief, decides to go to what he thinks is a

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and A ...

camp and beg for

quinine Quinine is a medication used to treat malaria and babesiosis. This includes the treatment of malaria due to ''Plasmodium falciparum'' that is resistant to chloroquine when artesunate is not available. While sometimes used for nocturnal leg cr ...

. When he gets to the camp he find out that it belongs to an old Swiss explorer named Linde. The man had been severely injured by a

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

and is waiting for death. All of his African servants have fallen ill to

sleeping sickness African trypanosomiasis, also known as African sleeping sickness or simply sleeping sickness, is an insect-borne parasitic infection of humans and other animals. It is caused by the species ''Trypanosoma brucei''. Humans are infected by two typ ...

and die one after another. Although horrified by this gruesome death camp, Staś becomes friend with Linde who generously supplies him with food, weapon, gunpowder and quinine. Thanks to the medicine, Nel recovers. Staś, grateful for Linde's help, accompanies the Swiss until the man's death. Then, using Linde's gunpowder, he frees King from the trap and they set out on a further journey. Accompanying the children further on their journey is Linde's 12-year-old slave boy, Nasibu. The group sojourns on top of a small mountain mentioned by Linde before his death where Staś teaches Kali how to shoot. On a certain day, a furious

gorilla Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four or fi ...

on the mountain attacks Nasibu but he is rescued by their now-tamed elephant which attacks and kills the gorilla. Deciding that the mountaintop is no longer safe, the group move on to the village of Wa-Hima. The tribes-people, seeing Staś riding upon an elephant, honor him and Nel as a Good Mzibu (a good spirit/goddess). The group stays in the village a short time, for Kali is by birthright the prince of the Wa-Hima tribe and therefore well-known. Staś is further venerated by the villagers when he kills the ''wobo'' (a black leopard) that was plaguing the village. On reaching Kali's home village, the group learns that his tribe has been invaded by and attacked by their enemies since time immemorial, the Sambur tribe. Due to assistance from Kali's tribe and the guns carried by Staś and Nel, the war is won in the protagonist's favour. Because of his good nature, Staś and Nel command that the tribes-people of the Sambur tribe not be killed but rather united with the Wa-Hima. Staś urges the tribes to accept Christianity and live peacefully together. Staś, Nel, Saba, King, Kali and 100 Sambur and Wa-Hima tribes-people move on to the east, which has not been mapped, in hope of reaching the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

and being found by English explorers who might be searching for them. Kali has brought with him two witch doctors, M'Kunje and M'Rua, fearing that they might plot against him while he is away from home. However, it finishes tragically for the group: both of the witch doctors steal food and the last of the water but are soon found killed by either a lion or leopard. Many of the tribes-people accompanying Nel and Staś die for lack of water. After the group has gone for at least three days without any water in the scorching dry desert, the children are saved at the last moment by two familiar officers who had recovered kites inscribed by Staś and Nel earlier in their plight describing their whereabouts and destination. The group is saved and is informed that Mahdi has died of a heart attack. Staś, Nel and Saba are reunited with their fathers and they return to Europe. Kali and his tribe members return to their settlement on

Lake Rudolf Lake Turkana (), formerly known as Lake Rudolf, is a lake in the Kenyan Rift Valley, in northern Kenya, with its far northern end crossing into Ethiopia. It is the world's largest permanent desert lake and the world's largest alkaline lake. By ...

. In a postscript it is told that, after growing up, Staś and Nel are married and visit their friends in Africa after ten years. Revisiting the places where they had trudged with so much difficulty and danger has become quick, easy and safe, since everything was taken over by the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

which started building railways.

Characters

* Nel Rawlison - 8-year-old English girl. She is very pretty and sweet. Although at the beginning of the novel she seems to be timid and shy, latershe shows that she can be courageous and stubborn. She treats Staś with respect and obedience, and often looks up to him. * Stanisław Tarkowski ( dim. Staś) - a 14-year-old Polish boy. At the beginning of the novel he seems to be a little bit scornful and bigheaded. However, as the dramatic events develop, it is revealed that Staś is extremely chivalrous and willing to sacrifice his own life to save Nel whom he loves like his own sister. *

Kali Kali (; sa, काली, ), also referred to as Mahakali, Bhadrakali, and Kalika ( sa, कालिका), is a Hinduism, Hindu goddess who is considered to be the goddess of ultimate power, time, destruction and change in Shaktism. In t ...

- African boy from Wa-hima tribe, Staś's servant who quickly becomes his friend. He faithfully serves his master and helps him to go through the dangers of Africa. Kali became popular when a Polish colloquial saying about

double standard A double standard is the application of different sets of principles for situations that are, in principle, the same. It is often used to describe treatment whereby one group is given more latitude than another. A double standard arises when two ...

was coined around the so-called "Kali's morality": "If somebody takes Kali's cow, it's a bad deed. If Kali takes somebody's cow, it's a good deed." * Mea - African girl from the

Dinka The Dinka people ( din, Jiɛ̈ɛ̈ŋ) are a Nilotes, Nilotic ethnic group native to South Sudan with a sizable diaspora population abroad. The Dinka mostly live along the Nile, from Jonglei to Renk, South Sudan, Renk, in the region of Bahr el Gh ...

tribe, Nel's servant. Shy and quiet, she loves her little mistress and protects her from dangers. * Chamis - one of the kidnappers. Earlier a servant of Staś and Nel's fathers. * Idris - a

Beduin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and Ar ...

, one of the Mahdi's followers. Relatively well-behaved towards the children, he admired Staś's courage. He was tasked with bringing the children safely to the Mahdi. * Gebhr - the cruel younger brother of Idris. * Mrs. Oliver - Nel's teacher, a Frenchoman. * Linde - Swiss explorer, encountered by Staś. * Smain - husband of Fatma, relative of the Mahdi. * Caliopuli -

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

worker employed by the Mahdi. * Nasibu - servant of Linde, after his death he joined with the children on their further journeys. * Faru - leader of the Samburs, the tribe opposing Kali's tribe. * M'Kunje and M'Rua - witch doctors of Wa-Hima, hostile to Kali. * Doctor Clary - relative of Nel. * Captain Glen - met by Staś and Nel in the train. * Władysław Tarkowski - Staś's widowed father, an engineer. * George Rawlison - Nel's widowed father, a director of the Suez Canal Company. * Fatma - a relative of the Mahdi. Her detention was the reason for the abduction of Staś and Nel.

Film adaptations

The first movie version was directed by Władysław Ślesicki in 1973. It lasts about three hours and is composed of two parts which were shown separately in theaters. Work on it started in 1971 and it was released in 1973. The movie was filmed in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

and

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

, with an international cast and crew. A mini-series was created at the same time. This version was shown in the U.S. on HBO in fall 1975. The 2001 version was directed by

Gavin Hood Gavin Hood (born 12 May 1963) is a South African filmmaker, and actor, best known for writing and directing ''Tsotsi'' (2005), which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. He also directed the films ''X-Men Origins: Wolverine'', ' ...

in only about three months. It was filmed in South Africa,

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

and

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

. The original director fell ill at the very beginning of filming and his role was taken by Hood. A mini-series was made at the same time.

Follow-up stories by other authors

*In 1961, a Polish writer and screenwriter

Marian Brandys Marian Brandys (25 January 1912 – 20 November 1998) was a Polish writer and screenwriter born in Wiesbaden into an assimilated Jewish family of the Polish intelligentsia. Brandys grew up in Łódź. His father owned a bank. Their prosperity ...

published ''Śladami Stasia i Nel'' (''Following the path of Staś and Nel'') and, in 1962 a related story, ''Z Panem Biegankiem w Abisynii'' (''In Abyssinia with Mister Bieganek''). *Władysław Ślesicki, the director of the 1973 movie released a book about making the movie, ''Z Tomkiem i Moniką w pustyni i w puszczy'' (''In Desert and Wilderness with Tomek and Monika''). *In 1993, Wojciech Sambory (a pen name for a writing team) wrote ''Powrót do Afryki'' (''A Return to Africa''), as a sequel to the novel (published by Reporter-Oficyna Wydawnicza, ). *The comic strip ''Nowe przygody Stasia i Nel'' (''The New Adventures of Staś and Nel'') from ''Piechur'' weekly magazine is another sequel to Sienkiewicz's novel. It was published online on ''

Steampunk Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and aesthetics inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the Victorian era or ...

'' in 2005. *In 2017, Andrew Anzur Clement published in English the ''Keepers of the Stone'' trilogy, a continuation of Staś's and Nel's story partially inspired by Sienkiewicz's original work.

Other Polish children books related to Africa

* Alina i Czesław Centkiewiczowie - ''Tumbo z Przylądka Dobrej Nadziei'' (''Tumbo from Cape of Good Hope'') * Kamil Giżycki - ''Nil - rzeka wielkiej przygody'' (''Nile - River of Great Adventure'') * Kamil Giżycki - ''W pogoni za mwe'' (''Chasing After mwe'') * Kamil Giżycki - ''W puszczach i sawannach Kamerunu'' (''In Wilderness and Savannah of Cameroon'') * Wacław Korabiewicz - ''Kwaheri'' *

Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski (27 May 1876 – 3 January 1945) was a Polish writer, explorer, university professor, and anticommunist political activist. He is known for his books about Lenin and the Russian Civil War in which he participated. ...

- ''Życie i przygody małpki'' (''Monkey's Life and Adventures'') * Barbara Rybałtowska - ''Szkoła pod baobabem'' (''School Under Adansonia'') *

Alfred Szklarski Alfred Szklarski (; 21 January 1912 – 9 April 1992) was a Polish author of youth literature. He also published his books under the pseudonyms Alfred Bronowski, Fred Garland and Alfred Murawski. Biography Szklarski was born in Chicago, Illi ...

- ''Tomek w grobowcach Faraonów'' (''Tomek in Pharaohs' Tombs'') *

- ''Tomek na Czarnym Lądzie'' (''Tomek on the Black Continent'')

Poems

*''

Murzynek Bambo "Murzynek Bambo" (''Bambo the black child'') is a children's poem by Jewish-Polish author Julian Tuwim (September 1894 – December 1953), written in 1934, which tells a story of a fictitious African child named Bambo.Maciej Tramer"Bambo zrobił ...

'' by

Julian Tuwim Julian Tuwim (13 September 1894 – 27 December 1953), known also under the pseudonym "Oldlen" as a lyricist, was a Polish poet, born in Łódź, then part of the Russian Partition. He was educated in Łódź and in Warsaw where he studied la ...

References

External links

* (1917 Drezmal translation) * (Mary Webb Artois translation) * * The novel in Polish * * {{Authority control 1911 novels Afro-Polish history Anti-black racism in Europe Polish novels Novels by Henryk Sienkiewicz Young adult novels Polish novels adapted into films Novels set in Sudan Khartoum in fiction Polish historical novels Novels set in Africa 20th-century Polish novels Polish children's novels 1911 children's books Novels set during the Mahdist War