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Immensee By: Theodor Storm (1817-1888) |
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BY THEODOR W. STORM TRANSLATED BY C. W. BELL M. A.
PREFACE We are at the beginning of a new era which will, it is to be hoped, be
marked by a general rapprochement between the nations. The need to
know and understand one another is being felt more and more. It follows
that the study of foreign languages will assume an ever increasing
importance; indeed, so far as language, literature, and music are
concerned, one may safely assert that fas est et ab hoste doceri . All those who wish to make acquaintance with the speech of their
neighbours, or who have allowed their former knowledge to grow rusty,
will welcome this edition, which will enable them, independently of
bulky dictionaries, to devote to language study the moments of leisure
which offer themselves in the course of the day. The texts have been selected from the double point of view of their
literary worth and of the usefulness of their vocabulary; in the
translations, also, the endeavour has been to unite qualities of style
with strict fidelity to the original.
INTRODUCTION Theodor W. Storm, poet and short story writer (1817 1888), was born in
Schleswig. He was called to the Bar in his native town, Husum, in
1842, but had his licence to practise cancelled in 1853 for
'Germanophilism,' and had to remove to Germany. It was only in 1864
that he was able to return to Husum, where in 1874 he became a judge
of the Court of Appeals. As early as 1843 he had made himself known as a lyrical poet of the
Romantic School, but it was as a short story writer that he first took
a prominent place in literature, making a most happy début with
the story entitled Immensee . There followed a long series of tales, rich in fancy and in humour,
although their inspiration is generally derived from the humble town
and country life which formed his immediate environment; but he wrote
nothing that excels, in depth and tenderness of feeling, the charming
story of Immensee ; and taking his work all in all, Storm still
ranks to day as a master of the short story in German literature, rich
though it is in this form of prose fiction.
IMMENSEE
THE OLD MAN One afternoon in the late autumn a well dressed old man was walking
slowly down the street. He appeared to be returning home from a walk,
for his buckle shoes, which followed a fashion long since out of date,
were covered with dust. Under his arm he carried a long, gold headed cane; his dark eyes, in
which the whole of his long lost youth seemed to have centred, and
which contrasted strangely with his snow white hair, gazed calmly on
the sights around him or peered into the town below as it lay before
him, bathed in the haze of sunset. He appeared to be almost a
stranger, for of the passers by only a few greeted him, although many
a one involuntarily was compelled to gaze into those grave eyes. At last he halted before a high, gabled house, cast one more glance
out toward the town, and then passed into the hall. At the sound of
the door bell some one in the room within drew aside the green curtain
from a small window that looked out on to the hall, and the face of an
old woman was seen behind it. The man made a sign to her with his
cane. "No light yet!" he said in a slightly southern accent, and the
housekeeper let the curtain fall again. The old man now passed through the broad hall, through an inner hall,
wherein against the walls stood huge oaken chests bearing porcelain
vases; then through the door opposite he entered a small lobby, from
which a narrow staircase led to the upper rooms at the back of the
house. He climbed the stairs slowly, unlocked a door at the top, and
landed in a room of medium size. It was a comfortable, quiet retreat. One of the walls was lined with
cupboards and bookcases; on the other hung pictures of men and places;
on a table with a green cover lay a number of open books, and before
the table stood a massive arm chair with a red velvet cushion. After the old man had placed his hat and stick in a corner, he sat down
in the arm chair and, folding his hands, seemed to be taking his rest
after his walk... Continue reading book >>
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Genres for this book |
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Fiction |
Literature |
Romance |
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