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This essay is comprised of the following; Preface 1) The origins of the ‘Maelstrom’ 2) The sources of ‘A Descent into the Maelström’ by E. A. Poe and its influences abroad. The author’s Japanese translation of the ‘Maelstrom’ in the Encyclopaedia Britannica (1798) 3) Poe’s story and its outline 4) The structure and peculiarities of Poe’s story as seen from his style 5) A brief history of the translation of ‘A Descent into the Maelstrom’ from the end of the Meiji period to the middle of the Showa period (i.e. 1911～1960s) 6) The whirlpool in Naruto（鳴門）, Shikoku Island, as described in the old Japanese poems, Haiku (i.e. Japanese 17 syllabled poem) and essays 7) The causes of the Maelstrom 8) Poe’s message to his readers as seen from his story Postface. The author’s abstract in English. The writer of this essay has long wanted to read the article of the ‘Maelstrom’ in the Encyclopaedia Britannica (1797), however, missed the opportunity for more than 50 years. But thanks to the support of many people, I was able to read it. This led me to study ‘A Descent into the Maelstrom’ by Poe in detail. The only places where we can enjoy looking at the vortex on the globe are Norway, Scotland, Canada, and Japan. Oxford English Dictionary gives the origins of the Maelstrom and their different passages. The word Maelstrom is mainly used in the literary sense. The word is supposed to have originated in Low German or old Dutch and is found in all modern Scandinavian languages (O.E.D). The world-famous Maelstrom in Norway occurs between Moskenesöen, in the Lofoten Islands, and Moskan Island and is called ‘Moskenstraumen’. The sources of Poe’s story are almost made known now by such scholars as Profs. Killis Campbell, Arlin Turner, and Thomas Ollive Marbott in the States. Writers seldom disclose the tricks of their trade. Poe was very skillful at handling the materials. He stealthily utilized the Encyclopaedia Britannica, English and French periodicals (i.e. especially nautical yarns), the voyages and Natural History of Norway etc., at his office or in the libraries. Five years before Poe died, La Quotidienne carried the adaptation of his ‘William Wilson’ titled ‘James Dixon, ou la funeste ressemblance’ signed by G. B (i.e. Gustave Brunot) in December 1844. Thus Poe was tirst discovered by France. Two years later the French translation ‘Une descente au Maëlstrom’ came out in the Revue Britannic in September 1846. The translation was signed by Old Nick (i.e. Emile Drang Forgue). Though the translation had many defects it contributed to making Poe known to France. Forgue was followed by Isabella-Mary-Hack and Charles Baudelaire. Guy de Maupassant (1850～93, a short story writer) knew the works of Poe by C. Baudelaire’s translation. In his short story titled ‘Le Tic’ (1884), Maupassant used Poe’s idea of changing one’s black hair to white due to unexpected fear. Poe’s story is based on narrative style. In order to describe realistically he used audio visual, acoustic, and colorific techniques at the same time. His rhetorical efforts reside in onomatopoeia, simile, exaggerated expression ― climax, italics, dash, and colour effects. Poe loved using black colour which represents fear, evil omen, despair, and death in all ages and countries. Before being dragged into the whirlpool, the hero’s hair was ‘raven-black’, which turned white due to the incident. Poe’s word ‘raven-black’ corresponds with the Japanese expression ‘Karasu no nureba iro’ (i.e. the colour of raven’s wet feathers). The first Japanese translation of Poe was ‘Black Cat’, which appeared, in a condensed form, in the ‘Yomiuri Shinbun’ (i.e. The Yomiuri) in the 20th year of the Meiji period (i.e. 1887). Ōgai Mori (1862～1922, 森鷗外, army surgeon, novelist, critic, and translator) was the first person to translate Poe’s story into Japanese. But he translated the story not from English but from the German translation (i.e. ‘Im Strudel des Malströms’ ― E.A. Poe Werk, 1904), which was published in the magazine ‘Bungei Kurabu’ (1910.8). The title was ‘Uzushio’ (i.e.「うずしほ」, an eddying current). Ōgai’s version was a kind of free translation which was full of defects. He also translated ‘Der Teufel in Glocken Stuhl’ (i.e.「13時」, The Devil in the Belfry) and ‘Der Mord in der Spitalgasse’ (i.e.「病院横町の殺人犯」, The Murders in the Rue Morgue) from the German. These two were also published in the Bungei Kurabu. In the 2nd year of the Taisho period (i.e. 1913), Sanemaro Okada (1878～?, 岡田実麿, Prof. of Daiichi Kōogakko, nowadays Tokyo Univ.) published ‘Uzumaki’ (i.e.「渦巻」, a swirl) by Poe. Except for the incorrect reading of the islands, the translation was on the whole correct. In the 14th year of the same period (i.e. 1925), Ryoji Yoshida (1883～1966, 吉田両耳, Prof. of Mito Highschool, nowadays Ibaragi Univ.) translated Poe’s story into Japanese whose title was ‘Naruto no Soko’ (i.e. 「鳴門の底」, the Bottom of the Naruto’s vortex) which enjoyed the reputation of being an accurate translation. Ryoji Yoshida was followed by Seiji Tanizaki (1890～1971, 谷崎精二, Prof. of Waseda Univ.), Yukata Morimura, Takuji Sawamura, Ranpo Edogawa (1894～1965, 江戸川乱歩), Naojiro Sasaki (佐々木直次郎), Nihei Yagi (八木仁平), Jun Tanaka (田中準), and Kazuo Ogawa (小川和夫), etc. After the Pacific War (i.e. 1945), the city of Tokyo was flooded with magazines and books. Nihei Yagi’s ‘Uzumaki’ (i.e.「うずまき」, a swirl) appeared in the ‘Tsuki ni nobotta otoko’ (『月に昇った男』, ‘The Man who travelled to the Moon’) with illustrations worth mentioning because of its interesting, easy reading. The first separate volume of the Japanese translation of ‘A Descent into the Maelstrom’ (『渦巻』, ‘Uzumaki’) was published by Kōbundo in May, 1949. The translator was the Professor of the Liberal Arts Department at Hosei University. ‘Naruto’ (鳴門) is a city located in the north-eastern part of Tokushima Prefecture. It was also called ‘Awanomito’ (粟門) in the 8th century. When the tide changes every 6 hours whirlpools between 15 and 230 meters in diameter form in several places in the Naruto Straits. The Strait is located between Magosaki (孫崎), Ōgejima island (大毛島), Tokushima Prefecture and Tozaki (門崎), at the south-western end of Awaji Island (淡路島). The distance of these islands extends some 1350 meters. The current runs about 10 knots per hour. The Naruto vortex was expressed as ‘Uzumaki’ ‘Uzu’ ‘Uzushio’ ‘Mizuno uzumaki’ and so on in the sundry literature in Japan. Poe was a professional writer who worked mainly for magazines and newspapers. What he cared most about was how to attract readers. While most writers were deeply concerned themselves in the theme, he turned his attention more towards producing ‘the novel effect’ relying on ‘genuine materials’, which controls the work. The flaws of English and American writers were fettered by their predecessors in terms of old abuses. In Poe’s view they were only following well beaten paths of their forerunners discarding ‘novel design’. Poe valued ‘an original idea’ without which would render the works trash. He also thought much of the ‘style’. He thought his style was not only easy to understand but was rich in convincing power. The development of plot, effect and incident makes the story interesting. What he wanted to tell us was to break usage cultivating original ideas.
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