Ten Little Niggers

OK, I know what you are thinking. Let me explain a bit. This is the title of a book. Not just any book. The seventh best-selling book in the WOLRD! It has been translated into at least 67 different languages. Now, there are six books before it on that list of best-selling books. The first five are religious in nature - the Bible is number one with over one billion copies sold, the Qua ran is number three, the Book of Mormon is number five (go figure). As a sin, number six is the first Harry Potter book! But there it is, Ten Little Niggers is number seven.

Let me say that again. "Ten Little Niggers" is the seventh best selling book in the world - OK - 900 million copies sold, and growing.

OK, there has been a real push to include a trailer here. So here it is. It is the trailer for the Russian film - the best I might add - so enjoy... BTW, the title of the film - in Russian - is Desyat Negrityat (Russian: Десять негритят), which in case it isn't obvious, translates to, you guessed it, Ten Little Niggers.

Tatyana Dubrich's personification of Vera Claythorne is way over the top - perfect. And you have to totally believe her death by hanging. I couldn't imagine it better acted. So enjoy ... the subtitling is very good too. Very close to the Russian that is spoken. Enjoy. Put it on full screen.




Now, I know you are thinking, as is my style, that I am making this up. So, suffer ...

Considered by myself and numerous others as the finest mystery novel ever written, it differs from other Christie novels in having no famous detective in charge. It is isolated entirely. Ten people are invited to an island off the coast of England to an enchanting manor, and each is killed within two days. Plain and simple. Each guest finds a wall-hanging framed poem in his or her room. It is the same in every case:

Ten little nigger boys went out to dine;

One choked his little self and then there were Nine.

Nine little nigger boys sat up very late;

One overslept himself and then there were Eight.

Eight little nigger boys traveling in Devon;

One said he'd stay there and then there were Seven.

Seven little nigger boys chopping up sticks;

One chopped himself in halves and then there were Six.

Six little nigger boys playing with a hive;

A bumble bee stung one and then there were Five.

Five little nigger boys going in for law;

One got into Chancery and then there were Four.

Four little nigger boys going out to sea;

A red herring swallowed one and then there were Three.

Three little nigger boys walking in the Zoo;

A big bear hugged one and then there were Two.

Two little nigger boys sitting in the sun;

One got frizzled up and then there was One.

One little nigger boy left all alone;

He went out and hanged himself and then there were None.

Hmm, politically incorrect. Certainly. Clearly Barnes and Noble will not have this one on their shelves under this title. It is published in this country as 'And Then There Were None'. But, that is a cop-out. On a copy I borrowed from the Rhinebeck library, on the copyright page, it clearly identifies the title as 'Ten Little Nigger's'. Christie herself refused to change the title. The Dame said 'that is the way I wrote it. Fuck you'. You've got to respect that.

I first learned this nursery rhyme as a child from my CZ grandmother. She would recite it to me as 'ten little indians', but always told me it was really 'ten little niggers'. I remember eating these tasty little chocolate candies when I was a young tot. They were shaped like little children and were called 'nigger babies'.

Well, it didn't make me racist or anything else like that. It was simply a part of life. This is part of the challenge for a teacher. You see, this book is read by most tweens while in junior high school. And it is the teacher's task to explain the use of that 'n'-word. Just as must be done when teaching 'Huckleberry Finn', in which Nigger Jim is one of the few likable characters.

BTW, Christie goes further in the novel (it is truly a novel ... over 250 pages long). She uses the phrase 'There's a nigger in the woodpile' several times. Well, why should that be meaningful to anyone living in or near to Rhinebeck? Please don't insult me by not being able to answer that question. Well, just in case, here is the answer to that:

During and before the Civil War, many negro slaves came to the North, and Rhinebeck, via the 'underground railroad'. Nothing more than a long chain of underground tunnels, it enabled many thousands of slaves to escape their 'masters' in the South and start a new life in the North. This complex network of tunnels had a nexus right here in Rhinebeck - the Cigar Shop in the middle of town is a well-known junction. Entrance and exit from the railroad was kept hidden, but usually involved a woodpile hiding the hole. Hence 'there's a nigger in the woodpile' meaning 'let us check out the woodp9le for an entrance to the railroad'.

Aha, there's an answer to everything if we just look.

So, let there be a nigger in your woodpile.

te sarut ... (kisses in RO)

Rich