Lorna Doone

by: R. D. Blackmore

Simplified by: Michael West, M.A., D.PHil.

I translated the above book from English to Persian in September 1994, but unfortunately I couldn't publish it due to my publisher's economical problems. Since this story is a very good tale that I have ever read, I decided to present only its introduction as below:

Lorna Doone is a beautiful story. Thousands of men and women have known it and loved it ever since it was first printed in 1869. It was written by R. D. Blackmore.

Exmoor is a very wild part of England. There are very few houses or fields there. Two hundred and fifty years ago it was even wilder. In a valley in Exmoor there lived a powerful family named Doone. They rode out from their valley and killed people and carried off their money and their goods. Everyone was afraid of them.

John Ridd tells this story. He was the son of a farmer living near the Doone valley. When the story begins he was at school. One day he was called out of the school and told that the Doones had killed his father, and he decided that sooner or later he would find the man who killed his father and punish him. One day he climbed up a stream near the Doone valley and met at the top of it a beautiful girl named Lorna. She said that her name was Lorna Doone. John loved Lorna Doone, and yet she was one of the family who had killed his father. He did not see her often, but as the years went by and John grew into an unusually big and strong man, he loved her more and more. After many excitements John was able to steal Lorna away from the Doones and bring her to his own home. The Doones followed and attacked the house, but they were driven off. Then it was discovered that Lorna was not really a Doone. She was the relation of a noble lord who lived in London. When the noble lord heard of her, he asked her to come to London; and so she left John Ridd and went about with her great relations among all the great and noble people of London. But in the end you will find how John was able to marry Lorna and how he met and killed the man who killed his father.

Why have so many people loved this story? Because of the simple and yet wonderfully real way in which it is told - as if we were taking part in it ourselves; because John is a very fine man and Lorna a very lovable girl, and it all happens among wild hills and valleys and in an Exmoor farm.

Thus, I advise every one to read this interesting book. In addition, I'm consulting with some friends of mine for publishing a complete translation of the book in Persian. If I'm able to do that, I'll present both the original and translation script of the book in my website.

Good luck,

Taghi Vahidi, March 2008