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On Thu, 4 Jun 1998 Robert Borski wrote:
[The account of Mr.D on p. 147 dates the Running Blood incident back 15 years, which would mean Victor was still only one year old. Hence my dating.]
What account? Is there material in other editions absent from my Ace edition? In my edition, the only statement quoted by "Mr. D" which has any bearing on the 15-year figure is "'I don't know. Might be fifteen years ago, or it might not. Our years are longer here--did you know that?'" (160)
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The 15 year figure is given on p. 147 by Mr. D. If you chose to contest this, what does the 15 years refer to? Especially since the only other seemingly close dates in the narrative concern Victor's age. It's not chaff; it's a clue.
I have no idea what the 15 years refers to, but I don't see any evidence it's the Running Blood incident. If anything, Mr. D's remarks immediately following the 15 year quote strike me as evidence against it. If he had just been describing how the French slaughtered the Annese, it seems unlikely that he would continue: "'Well, those Frenchmen used to have all kinds of stories about them...What kinds of stories? Oh, just nonsense. They're an ignorant people, the French are.'" (If he intended that these "stories" were the motivation for the massacre, surely he would have spoken of them before speaking of the massacre.)
--Adam