Translations

Act II opens on another warm day, a few days later, after most of the territory has been mapped. Yolland and Owen sit together in the schoolroom with a map spread out before them, pointing to landmarks and deciding how to translate their names into an area Name Book. This involves anglicizing the names to make them easier to spell, pronounce, or understand in English. For example, Cnon Ban, which means “Fair Hill” (38) in Gaelic, becomes Knockban in English.

Yolland has fallen in love with Ireland and seems eager to engage with the villagers. He tries to speak with Manus, who is standoffish toward him (42). When Manus leaves the room, Yolland asks Owen if his brother has always been lame. Owen explains that Manus’s leg was permanently injured when he was a baby and Hugh drunkenly fell on his crib (43). Owen also explains that Manus remains unmarried because he is not paid for his employment with the school.

The conversation returns to the British soldiers and their mutual participation in the Ordinance Survey. Yolland remarks that people here resent them, including a young girl, who spat on him. He speaks of the elusive Donnelly twins, who are reportedly leading a local uprising. In spite of these tensions, Yolland expresses curiosity toward Maire, romantically musing he might stay,and live in the village.

Doalty enters the room. Yolland tries to thank Doalty for using his scythe to cut a path through the long grass, but Doalty says he has no idea what Yolland is saying. Frustrated with his inability to communicate, Yolland declares that he might as well be in India, where his demanding father once tried to send him for a clerkship. Yolland explains that he only joined the army because he literally missed the boat for India and was afraid to face his father’s disappointment. He compares the overbearing personality of Lancey to his father, calling Lancey “the perfect colonial servant” (47). Though Yolland reflects that as an outsider, he may never truly understand Irish culture, Owen encouragingly tells him, “you can learn to decode us” (48). 

Hugh enters and takes repeated drinks, waxing about his plans to join a new national school. He recites a poem in Latin and bemoans Owen’s “plebeian” (49) English translation. Yolland tries to relate, saying his family used to live near a poet named William Wordsworth. Hugh tells Yolland that he doesn’t know English literature and is dismissive toward Yolland’s attempts to extol the Irish language. Hugh departs, and Owen makes fun of him, seemingly embarrassed. Yolland, on the other hand, finds him astute.

Yolland says he is concerned about what’s happening in the village, calling the mapping “an eviction of sorts” (52). Owen attempts to make light of Yolland’s concerns. Yolland objects to the anglicizing of a location called Tobair Vree, mocking the extremely convoluted history of this name. He explains that the name refers to a man and an incident almost no one in the village even remembers. Yolland insists that Owen include the Irish name in the Name Book; however, he mistakenly calls Owen “Roland” (54-55). The two of them laugh together at the absurdity of Yolland’s mistake, recognizing the ease with which names are lost in translation. 

Manus returns with the exciting news that two men just offered him a job teaching at a new hedge school in Inis Meadhon, an island fifty miles away (57). The offer, which includes a free house and a generous salary, represents a major step forward in Manus’s life. The men drink to celebrate.

Maire comes to the schoolhouse with a pail of milk for Manus. She shares the news that there will be a dance tomorrow night at Tobair Vree (60). Yolland is excited by this opportunity to mix with the locals and there is obvious romantic tension between him and Maire. Manus seems disturbed by this tension. He offers to walk Maire home, but she tells Manus she wants to stay for a drink. She and Yolland take a drink together as he declares the Irish whiskey is “bloody marvelous” (61). 

Act II ends with a second short scene that takes place the night of the Tobair Vree dance. In this scene, Yolland and Maire flee the dance together and enter the darkened schoolhouse. They attempt to communicate, despite their Irish-English language barrier. Maire enthusiastically recites the only English phrase she knows—“In Norfolk we besport ourselves around the maypoll”—and Yolland exclaims that his mother is from Norfolk. They mutually profess their love, and Maire declares that she wants to be with him “always.” Despite some confusion over the word “always,” the two embrace, and their feelings are understood by one another. Sarah enters the room, unseen, and witnesses this embrace. Startled, she runs to tell Manus what she has seen.