It was translated into English by Alexander Trocchi (using the pseudonym "Oscar Mole") as The Debauched Hospodar (1953); by Nina Rootes as Les onze mille verges: or, The Amorous Adventures of Prince Mony Vibescu (1976); and later by Alexis Lykiard as The Eleven Thousand Rods (2008).
[1] Les Onze Mille Verges tells the fictional story of the Romanian hospodar Prince Mony Vibescu, in which Apollinaire explores all aspects of sexuality: sadism alternates with masochism; ondinism / scatophilia with vampirism; pedophilia with gerontophilia; masturbation with group sex; lesbianism with male homosexuality.
The writing is alert, fresh and concrete, humour is always present, and the entire novel exudes an "infernal joy",[attribution needed] which finds its apotheosis in the final scene.
Admirers of Les Onze Mille Verges included Louis Aragon, Robert Desnos and Pablo Picasso, who dubbed the novel Apollinaire's masterpiece.
[2] In a different case judge Bonello, in his concurring opinion, after citing the description of the book from Wikipedia, described the work as a "smear of transcendental smut”.