<ul> <li>This edition includes the following editor&#39;s introduction:<i> </i><i>The importance of water in the literature of Joseph Conrad</i></li></ul><br />First published in 1897 as <i>The Children of the Sea</i>, &quot;The Nigger of the &#39;Narcissus&#39;&rdquo; (<i>AKA The Nigger of the &#39;Narcissus&#39;: A Tale of the Forecastle</i>) is a maritime novella by Polish-British author Joseph Conrad. Controversy surrounding the use of the word nigger in the title led not only to the altered US title in 1897, but to the 2009 version <i>The N-Word of the Narcissus</i>.<br /><br />&quot;The Nigger of the &#39;Narcissus&#39;&rdquo; narrates the story of James Wait, a dying West Indian black sailor on board the merchant ship<i> Narcissus</i>, on which he finds passage from Bombay to London. All life on board the <i>Narcissus</i> revolves around Wait. Other members of the crew include the strong Captain Allistoun; Craik, an Irish religious fanatic; and Donkin, an arrogant, lazy Cockney. The superstitious sailors cater to Wait, even steal food for him, and rescue him when the ship capsizes during a fierce storm. However, he is also the cause of dissension aboard ship, leading to a near mutiny...<br /><br />&ldquo;The Nigger of the &#39;Narcissus&#39;&rdquo; captured the late-Victorian era&#39;s maritime obsession and identified the strikingly original talent of Joseph Conrad as a sea writer in what has proved to be a landmark of sea literature. Because of the novella&#39;s superb quality, many critics have placed it as the best work of Conrad&#39;s early period.