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"The Wonderful Story of Peter Schlemihl". literary heritage Shamisso is small. The best of it is "The Wonderful Story of Peter Schlemil" and poems.
In his fairy tale story, Chamisso tells the story of a man who sold his shadow for a wallet in which money never runs out. The absence of a shadow, which is immediately noticed by everyone around, excludes Peter Schlemil from the society of other people; all his desperate attempts to achieve a position in this society and personal happiness fail, and Shlemiel finds some satisfaction only in communion with nature - in classes natural sciences.
In this story, therefore, there is an ordinary romantic situation: a person who does not find a place for himself in society, unlike those around him, that is, the situation of Byron's Childe Harold and Rene Chateaubriand, Sternbald Tieck and Johann Kreisler Hoffmann. But at the same time, the situation of Chamisso's story differs from all other versions in its irony over the hero's romantic loneliness, over romantic asociality.
Shlemil, having lost his shadow, is in a tragicomic position: after all, he has lost something that would seem to have no meaning, no value.
The "value" of the shadow lies only in the fact that it makes its owner look like all other people, and the question arises whether it is such a great honor to be like the fraudster Rascal and the smug rich John.
Schlemiel suffers from the mysterious absurdity of his loss, suffers from people who cannot imagine a person without a shadow and treat poor Schlemiel with horror or contempt, not devoid of a fair amount of comedy.
In his misfortune, Schlemil is comical, and at the same time, the consequences of this misfortune are tragic enough for him.
Ironically over the romantic "exclusivity" of his hero, Chamisso is at the same time full of sad sympathy for him. For Chamisso, asociality is neither the norm, as it was for Friedrich Schlegel in the 90s, nor an absolute tragedy of being, as for Hoffmann. Still remaining within the limits of romantic ideas, that is, not knowing either a way out for his hero from romantic loneliness, or a socio-historical explanation for this loneliness, Chamisso, however, with his sympathetic and ironic attitude towards him, outlines the path to overcome romanticism, leading the writer to poems late 20-30s, in which his departure from romanticism is clearly revealed.
Fiction serves the author to reveal the lack of spirituality of the world (the shadow and everything connected with it) and to introduce new topic- natural sciences (seven-league boots). The fairy tale here is combined with the story of life. ordinary people. fantasy story becomes a reflection of social relations, while the author tries to assure readers that the hero is a true person. The image of the shadow is symbolic, but the author does not seek to reveal its meaning - the possibility various interpretations. The hero and society ambiguously perceive the role of the shadow. All this creates an ominous flavor of the era, where the shadow means integrity, although its owner may be deprived of a sense of honor. Shlemiel gets surrounded by the rich, realizes his insignificance, this prepares him for the "deal with Fortunat's purse." But the ecstasy passes quickly, and Schlemil begins to understand that no amount of wealth can buy respect and happiness.
The author makes it clear: although gold is valued more than merit and honor and virtue, the shadow is respected even more than gold. The first stage of knowledge is connected with the understanding that society judges a person by external signs, and well-being is not only in wealth. This is the realization of the material essence of the act.
The second step is the result of spiritual enlightenment, this is already self-condemnation, he parted with his shadow for the sake of gold, "was sacrificing his conscience for the sake of wealth." But! Is the shadow equivalent to conscience? Bes honest people also have a shadow - therefore, the shadow is not the equivalent of morality, but only its outward sign. However, his shadow becomes for Schlemil a source of genuine spiritual suffering, which means that even an unconscious offense entails punishment, contracts with conscience are not necessary for this.
Leaving the question of the "shadow" debatable, the author delves into a purely romantic plane: Schlemil becomes a wanderer. The theme of wandering arose at the first stage of romanticism and was associated with spiritual perfection. Now the hero-wanderer has become a natural scientist. Science was alien to the "dreams" of the first wave. However, here science is directly related to nature, and the theme of nature and man's connection with it has always been in the field of view of romantics. Consequently, Chamisso, while departing from the romantic canon, at the same time remains within its framework.
Romantics combine the theme of loneliness with the theme of wandering. Schlemiel cannot become what custom dictates.
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Answers by foreign literature 18 - 19 centuries. Western European, German, English, french romanticism. Romantic art concepts. realistic schools.
This material includes sections:
General characteristics of Western European romanticism
General characteristics of German romanticism
Tale of L. Tick "Blond Ekbert" and its meaning. The originality of fiction in the work
The Place of the Brothers Grimm in German Romanticism
The story of A. von Chamisso "The Amazing Story of Peter Schlemil". Schlemiel's image. The originality of fantasy in the story
Hoffmann's fairy tale "The Golden Pot". The motif of duality in a fairy tale. Anselm's image
Hoffmann's fairy tale "Little Tsakhes". Images of Balthazar and Tsakhes. The peculiarity of Hoffmann's irony and grotesque
General characteristics of English romanticism. Preface to "Lyrical Ballads" by W. Wordsworth as a Manifesto of the "Lake School"
The concept of nature in Wordsworth's poetry. The image of a child in Wordsworth's poetry
Poem by S.T. Coleridge "Poems about the Old Sailor"
Byron's life and work
Genre originality of M. Shelley's novel "Frankenstein, or Modern Prometheus". The theme of scientist's responsibility in the novel
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Shamisso Adelbert
Amazing story Peter Schlemil
To Julius Eduard Gitzing by Adelbert von Chamisso
You, Edward, do not forget anyone; You, of course, still remember a certain Peter Schlemil, whom you met with me more than once in previous years - such a lanky fellow, who was reputed to be a bungler because he was clumsy, and lazy because he was slow. I liked him. Of course, you have not forgotten how once, in our “green” period, he dodged our poetic experiments: I took him with me to the next poetic tea party, and he fell asleep without waiting for the reading, while the sonnets were just being composed . I also remember how you joked about him. You've seen him before, I don't know where or when, in an old black Hungarian coat, which he wore this time as well. And you said
"This fellow could consider himself lucky if his soul were at least half as immortal as his jacket." What an unimportant opinion all of you had about him. I liked him.
From this very Schlemil, whom I lost sight of many years ago, I got the notebook, which I now entrust to you. Only you, Eduard, my second "I", from which I have no secrets. I trust her only to you and, of course, to our Fouquet, who also has a firm place in my heart, but to him only as a friend, not as a poet. You will understand how unpleasant it would be for me if the confession of an honest man who relied on my friendship and decency were ridiculed in literary work and even if they were treated without due reverence at all, as an unfunny joke, something that cannot and should not be joked with. True, I must confess, I am sorry that this story, which came out from the pen of the good little Schlemil, sounds absurd, that it is not conveyed with all the power of the comic contained in it by a skilled master. What would Jean-Paul make of her! Among other things, my dear friend, it is possible that living people are mentioned in it; this must also be taken into account.
A few more words about how these sheets came to me. I received them early yesterday morning, just waking up - a strange-looking man with a long gray beard, dressed in a worn black Hungarian coat, with a botanist over his shoulder and, despite damp rainy weather, in shoes over boots, inquired after me and left this notebook. He said he came from Berlin.
Adelbert von Chamisso
Kunersdorf,
P. S. I enclose a sketch made by the master Leopold, who was just standing at the window and was struck by an extraordinary phenomenon. When he learned that I valued the drawing, he willingly gave it to me.
To my old friend Peter Schlemil
Your long forgotten notebook
Accidentally fell into my hands again.
I remembered the days gone by again
When the world took us severely into learning.
I am old and gray, I have no need to hide
From a friend of youth, a simple word:
I am your old friend before the whole world,
Against ridicule and slander.
My poor friend, with me then crafty
He didn't play the way he played with you.
And in those days I was looking in vain for glory,
Soared uselessly in the blue heights.
But Satan has no right to boast,
That he bought my shadow that time.
With me is the shadow given to me from birth,
I am everywhere and always with my shadow.
And though I was not to blame for anything,
Yes, and face with you, we are not similar,
"Where is your shadow?" shouted around me
Laughing and making foolish faces.
I showed a shadow. What's the point in that?
They would laugh even on their deathbeds.
We have been given the strength to endure.
And it's good that we don't feel guilty.
But what is a shadow? - I want to ask
Although the question itself has been heard more than once,
And the evil light, giving a great price,
Didn't he exalt her too much now?
But the years that have passed
Revealed the highest wisdom for us:
We used to call the shadow the essence,
And now the essence and that is covered with dregs.
So let's shake hands with each other
Go ahead and let everything be as it used to be.
Let's not mourn for the past
When our friendship became closer.
Together we are approaching the goal
And the evil world does not frighten us in the least.
And the storms will subside, in the harbor with you,
Falling asleep, we will find sweet peace.
Adelbert von Chamisso
Berlin, August 1834
(Translated by I. Edin.)
After a successful, although very painful voyage for me, our ship finally entered the harbor. As soon as the boat brought me ashore, I took my meager belongings and, pushing my way through the bustling crowd, went to the nearest, modest-looking house, on which I saw the sign of the hotel. I asked for a room. The servant examined me from head to toe and led me upstairs, under the roof. I ordered to submit cold water and asked plainly to explain how to find Mr. Thomas John.
Now, behind the North Gate, the first villa right hand, big new house with columns, finished with white and red marble.
So. It was still early morning. I untied my belongings, took out a turned black frock coat, carefully dressed myself in my best, pocketed the letter of introduction, and went to the man by whom I hoped to fulfill my humble dreams.
Having passed the long Severnaya Street to the end, I immediately saw the columns behind the gates, white through the foliage. "So here!" I thought. He brushed the dust off his shoes with a handkerchief, straightened his tie, and, blessing himself, pulled the bell. The door swung open. In the hallway I was subjected to a real interrogation. The porter nevertheless ordered me to announce my arrival, and I had the honor of being led into the park, where Mr. John was walking in the company of friends. I immediately recognized the owner by his stoutness and his physiognomy shining with self-satisfaction. He received me very well - like a rich man of a beggar, he even turned his head towards me, though without turning away from the rest of society, and took the letter from my hands.
Well, well, well! From my brother! Haven't heard from him in a while. So you're healthy? Over there, - he continued, addressing the guests and without waiting for an answer, and pointed to a hillock with a letter, - over there I will build a new building. He tore open the envelope, but did not interrupt the conversation, which turned to riches. “Whoever does not have at least a millionth fortune,” he remarked, “forgive me for rude word, - hungry man!
Ah, how true! I exclaimed with the most sincere feeling.
He must have liked my words. He smiled and said:
Don't go away, my dear, maybe I'll find time later and talk to you about this.
He pointed to the letter, which he immediately slipped into his pocket, and then turned back to the guests. The owner offered his hand to a pleasant young lady, other gentlemen were kind to other beauties, each found a lady to his taste, and the whole company went to a hillock overgrown with roses.
I trudged along behind, not burdening anyone with myself, since no one was interested in me anymore. The guests were very cheerful, fooling around and joking, sometimes talking seriously about trifles, often talking about serious things and willingly joked about absent friends, I did not understand what was being discussed, because I was too preoccupied and preoccupied with my own thoughts and, being a stranger in them companies, did not delve into these riddles.
We reached the rose bushes. Charming Fanny, who seemed to be the queen of the holiday, took it her pleasure to pluck the flowering branch herself; she pricked her finger with a thorn, and scarlet drops fell on her tender hand, as if dropped by dark roses. This incident shocked the entire community. The guests rushed to look for an English patch. The silent gentleman in years, lean, bony and long, whom I had not noticed until then, although he walked along with everyone, immediately put his hand into the tightly fitting back pocket of his old-fashioned gray silk coat, took out a small wallet, opened it and with a respectful he gave the lady what he wanted with a bow. She took the patch without looking at the bearer or thanking him; the scratch was sealed, and the whole society moved on to enjoy the view from the top of the hill of the green labyrinth of the park and the endless expanse of the ocean.
The spectacle was truly grandiose and beautiful. On the horizon, between the dark waves and the azure sky, a bright dot appeared.
Get a spyglass here! shouted Mr. John, and before the servants, who had come running to the call, had time to fulfill the order, how gray man put his hand into the pocket of his coat, pulled out a fine dollar, and with a humble bow gave it to Mr. John. He immediately put a pipe to his eye and said that this was a ship that had weighed anchor yesterday, but because of the opposite wind, had not yet gone out to sea. The spyglass passed from hand to hand and did not return back to its owner. I looked at him with surprise and wondered how such a large object could fit in such a small pocket. But everyone else seemed to take it for granted, and the man in gray aroused no more curiosity in them than I did.
The motif of the loss of the shadow in Chamisso's fairy tale "The Amazing Adventures of Peter Schlemel"
fairy tale shadow andersen chamisso
The amazing story of Peter Schlemil is a novel whose hero Peter Schlemil, a poor man, unable to resist the temptation, sells his shadow to the devil for a magical purse that never runs out of money. However, wealth does not bring him happiness. The surrounding people resolutely do not want to deal with a person without a shadow. Shlemil breaks the alliance with the devil and throws away the purse. And he finds happiness in communion with nature, traveling the world in the seven-league boots he found. drawing hard life his hero, a noble and honest man, who finds himself expelled from among officials, merchants and philistines, Chamisso shows the profound insignificance of this environment. The originality of the work - in combination fantastic plot and realistic sketches of everyday life in Germany early XIX in.
A sharply critical attitude to the power of money, to its pernicious power, lies at the heart of Chamisso's well-known story-fairy tale "The Amazing Story of Peter Schlemil", written at the very height of the German liberation movement. Widely using science fiction, Chamisso reveals the essential contradictions of contemporary society.
The hero of the story is an eccentric guy unadapted to life, which abounded in the German romantic literature. He is one of those "unfortunate people" who, according to Chamisso, "breaks his finger, putting it in his vest pocket", "falls on his back and manages to break the bridge of his nose in the process." Peter Schlemil departs with letter of recommendation to the rich Thomas John, who calls everyone "hungry" who does not have at least half a million fortune. A successful Englishman is surrounded by a crowd of smartly dressed gentlemen and ladies. Among them, Shlemil was struck by a lean and long, "like a thread that slipped out of a tailor's needle," "a man in a gray tailcoat." He has the ability to work miracles. From his pocket, at the request of the public, he gradually removes a telescope, a large carpet, a tent, a pair of horses, etc. It becomes clear that the mysterious guest of Mr. John is Satan himself, personifying the mystical nature and miraculous power of money in the story. Like all german romantics, Chamisso writes about the supernatural, demonic origin of wealth. The bourgeois order for him is the fruit of an abnormal development. However, unlike other romantic writers, Chamisso, introducing fantastic motifs into the narrative, does not break with life, portrays it quite widely. Fantasy in his work acts not so much as an element of worldview, but as a stylistic device that makes it possible in a conditional romantic form to reveal the real contradictions of the era, in particular destructive power gold. It is characteristic that the “man in gray”, embodying his nature and his power, serves a privileged society, and here (Chamisso emphasizes this circumstance many times) no one pays attention to his miracles. Wealthy circles are accustomed to the fantastic power of money. It strikes the attention only of the poor Schlemiel, who wears a turned suit and lives in a hotel room under the very roof. The possibility of enrichment turned his head, "gold sparkled before his eyes," and he decides for Fortunat's purse, which never dries up, to give up his shadow to the demon-tempter. AT further action switches to the moral-psychological plan. The story raises the question, is wealth, especially bought at such a high price, capable of giving happiness to a person? Chamisso gives a negative answer to this. Schlemil's tragic experiences began immediately after the conclusion of the deal. The first to notice the absence of a shadow in Shlemil were the poor - an unfamiliar old woman, a watchman, compassionate gossips - and sympathized with him. Wealthy burghers, on the other hand, gloat over Shlemiel's inferiority. All this makes us think that by selling the shadow, the hero of the story lost some very important human qualities, valuable in social relations. A careful reading of the work leads to the conclusion that Shlemiel's shadow is associated with human dignity. This is such a property of a person that gives her the opportunity to appear openly in the sun, that is, to be the subject of public viewing. On the contrary, the loss of the shadow involuntarily drives the victim into darkness, for he is ashamed to appear in society. The owners of a good shadow in the story are, as a rule, honest people, not corrupted by the morality of the mercantile world. Such, above all, is Schlemil himself. Before meeting the “man in gray,” he had a “strikingly beautiful shadow,” which he cast from himself, “without noticing it.” Last words are especially noteworthy. Genuine human dignity, according to Shamisso, is possessed by modest people with a clear conscience. And it is characteristic that the poor, young girls, children react especially sharply to the lack of a shadow in Schlemil - those who are most sensitive to questions of a moral nature.
With such a decoding of the essence of the shadow, the interest in it of the “man in gray”, personifying fantastic nature and the social power of wealth. Rich people who make their fortunes through dirty tricks need a good shadow, i.e. they need to hide behind human dignity so that their commercial nature is invisible. Therefore, in the story they also cast a shadow, which, however, does not reflect, but, on the contrary, hides their true content. They do not have a shadow of their own, but bought with gold, it allows them to maintain a reputation for honest people.
Chamisso's story depicts the tragedy of a man who sold his human dignity for wealth. Schlemil quickly becomes convinced of the fallacy of his step. His love for Fanny collapses, Minna leaves him. Wealth bought at the cost of loss human dignity brings him nothing but misfortune. Chamisso, like other romantics, asserts with his work the superiority of "spirit" over "matter", internal, spiritual values over the external position of a person.
Shlemil finds the strength to break the hated treaty with Satan. He strongly rejects a new deal in which the "man in gray" promises to return the shadow in exchange for a soul. In the event of a treaty, Schlemil would become like Thomas John, who, having sold out completely to the devil, lost everything. human features. Having lost spirituality, the English businessman became like a dead man. His complete dependence on the "man in gray" is emphasized by the fact that he lives in his pocket.
Thomas John, who sold himself to the devil, is opposed in the story by spiritually rich, honest people. This is Schlemil's fiancee Minna, his servant Bendel. Upon learning of Schlemil's misfortune, Bendel does not leave him. His actions are driven by considerations of a humane order.
Schlemil finds the strength to give up wealth. But for the mistake he makes, he bears a heavy punishment: he loses his human dignity and thereby loses the right to respect people. Having accidentally bought seven-league boots at the fair, Schlemiel gets the opportunity to go around the whole world. He devotes all his time to the study of nature. Schlemil sees the only goal in life in serving science. The way out, which Chamisso points out of the contradictions of reality, does not testify to the active revolutionary position of the writer. His ideal is associated with an escape from society, and not with attempts to effectively overcome its contradictions.
Romantic protest against bourgeois acquisitiveness is clearly expressed by Chamisso in the fairy tale-story "The Amazing Story of Peter Schlemil" (1814), which brought the author wide fame. In terms of genre, it is close to such fairy tales by Hoffmann as "The Golden Pot", "Little Tsakhes"; it is a tale of the fatal power of gold. The trait, which here plays the traditional role of seducer and seducer precisely with the help of gold, is given a prosaic and everyday appearance by Chamisso. The devil in "Schlemil" - a silent gentleman in years, dressed in an old-fashioned gray silk coat - looks like a provincial usurer.
There are many interpretations of the main plot move: the hero's loss of his shadow. Some contemporaries identified the hero with the author, and the shadow with the homeland. T. Mann in this "fantastic story", as he defines its genre, the shadow seemed to be "a symbol of everything solid, a symbol of a strong position in society and belonging to the latter." But it is most likely to assume that Chamisso did not identify the shadow with any particular concept. As a romantic, he only raised the question that for the sake of gold, enrichment, a person should not sacrifice the slightest part of his being, even such a seemingly insignificant property as the ability to cast a shadow.
Having cut off romantic plot about a deal between a man and the devil, Chamisso completes the tale with an apotheosis scientific knowledge peace. In contrast to the romantic perception of nature (Novalis, Schelling), in the finale of Chamisso's tale, nature is depicted in the entire reality of its material existence - as an object of observation and study. This ending, as it were, anticipates the future scientific career of the writer, who became the director of the botanical garden in Berlin, but also outlines the path artistic development Chamisso-poet - from romanticism to realism.
In 1813, Adelbert von Chamisso fell into the hands of a notebook - the diary of his friend, Peter Schlemel. Brought it early in the morning a strange man with a long gray beard, dressed in a worn black Hungarian. Here is its content.
After a long voyage, I arrived in Hamburg with a letter for Mr. Thomas John from his brother. Mr. John's guests, among whom was the beautiful Fani, did not notice me. In the same way, they did not notice a long, bony man in years, dressed in a gray silk coat, who was also among the guests. To serve the masters, this man, one by one, took out from his pocket objects that could not fit in there - a telescope, a Turkish carpet, a tent, and even three riding horses. The guests did not seem to find anything miraculous in this. There was something so terrible in the pale face of this man that I could not stand it and decided to quietly leave.
How scared I was when I saw that the man in gray had caught up with me. He spoke to me courteously and offered to exchange any of his fabulous treasures - mandrake root, shifter pfennigs, homemade tablecloth, Fortunatto's magic purse - for my own shadow. No matter how great my fear was, at the thought of wealth, I forgot about everything and chose a magic wallet. The stranger carefully rolled up my shadow, hid it in his bottomless pocket, and quickly departed.
I soon began to regret what I had done. It turned out that it was impossible to appear on the street without a shadow - everyone noticed its absence. I began to awaken the consciousness that, although gold is valued on earth much more than merit and virtue, the shadow is respected even more than gold. I took a north-facing room in the most expensive hotel. I hired a man named Bendel to take care of my special one. After that, I decided to check again public opinion and went outside on a moonlit night. Due to the lack of a shadow, the men looked at me with contempt, and the women looked at me with pity. Many passers-by simply turn away from me.
In the morning I decided to find the man in gray at all costs. I accurately described him to Bendel and pointed out the place where I met him. But in the house of Mr. John, no one remembered him and did not know him. On the same day, Bendel met him at the door of the hotel, but did not recognize him. The man in gray asked me to tell you that now he is going overseas. Exactly one year later, he will find me, and then we can make a better deal. I tried to intercept him in the harbor, but the gray man disappeared like a shadow.
I confessed to the servant that I lost my shadow and that people despise me. Bendel blamed himself for my misfortune, because he missed the man in gray. He swore he would never leave me. I was convinced that it was not greed that guided him. Since then, I again decided to visit people and began to play known role in the light. Bendel managed to hide the absence of a shadow with amazing dexterity. As a very rich man, I could afford all sorts of eccentricities and whims. I was already calmly waiting for the visit promised by the mysterious stranger in a year.
Soon the beautiful Fani drew attention to me. This flattered my vanity, and I followed her, hiding from the light. I loved only with the mind and could not love with the heart. This trivial romance ended unexpectedly. One moonlit night Fani saw that I had no shadow and lost her senses. I hastily left the city, taking with me two servants: the faithful Bendel and the rogue named Rascal, who suspected nothing. We crossed the border and the mountains non-stop. Having crossed to the other side of the ridge, I agreed to stop to rest on the waters, in a secluded place.
I sent Bendel ahead, instructing him to find a suitable house. Approximately an hour from our destination, a festively dressed crowd blocked our way - this locals gave me a formal reception. Then for the first time I saw a girl, beautiful as an angel. Later I learned that I had been mistaken for the King of Prussia, traveling around the country under the name of a count. Since then I have become Count Peter. In the evening, with the help of servants, I held a magnificent feast, where I saw her again. She turned out to be the daughter of the chief forester named Minna.
By my truly royal extravagance and luxury, I subjugated everything to myself, but at home I lived very modestly and alone. No one, except Bendel, dared to enter my chambers during the day. I received guests only in the evenings. The most treasured thing in my life was my love. Minna was a kind, meek girl, worthy of love. I took over all her thoughts. She also selflessly loved me, but we could not be together because of my curse. I calculated the day of the meeting with the man in gray and waited for him with impatience and fear.
I confessed to Minna that I was not a count, but simply a rich and unfortunate man, but I never told the whole truth. I announced to the forester that I intended to ask for the hand of his daughter on the first day of next month, because from day to day I was expecting a visit from a man in gray. Finally, the fateful day arrived, but the stranger in gray never showed up.
The next day, Rascal came to me, declared that he could not serve a man without a shadow, and demanded a calculation. Rumors spread around town that I didn't have a shadow. I decided to return the floor to Minna. It turned out that the girl had already figured out my secret a long time ago, and the chief forester knew my real name. He gave me three days to get a shadow, otherwise Minna will become the wife of another.
I wandered off. After a while, I found myself in a sun-drenched clearing and felt someone grab my sleeve. Turning around, I saw a man in gray. He said that Rascal betrayed me, and now he is wooing Minna, in which he is helped by the gold stolen from me. The stranger promised to return the shadow to me, deal with Rascal, and even leave me a magic wallet. In return, he demanded my soul after death.
I flatly refused. Then he took out my poor shadow and laid it out in front of him. At that moment, Bendel appeared in the clearing. He decided to take away my shadow from the stranger by force, and began to beat him mercilessly with a club. The stranger silently turned and walked away, quickening his pace, taking my shadow and my faithful servant with him. I was left alone with my grief again. I did not want to return to the people, and lived for three days in the forest, like a shy animal.
On the morning of the fourth day, I saw a shadow without a master. Thinking that she had run away from her master, I decided to catch her and take her for myself. I caught up with the shadow and found that it still had an owner. This man carried an invisibility nest, and therefore only his shadow was visible. I took the invisible nest from him. It gave me the opportunity to appear among the people.
Unseen, I went to Minna's house. In the garden near her house, I found that a man in gray, wearing an invisibility cap, had been following me all this time. He began to tempt me again, fiddling with the parchment with the contract. Minna came out into the garden in tears. Her father began to persuade her to marry Rascal - a very rich man with an impeccable shadow. “I will do as you please, father,” Minna said softly. At this time, Rascal appeared, and the girl lost her senses. The man in gray quickly scratched my palm, and thrust a pen into my hand. From mental stress and anguish physical strength I fell into deep oblivion, never signing the contract.
I woke up late in the evening. The garden was full of guests. From their conversations, I learned that this morning the wedding of Rascal and Minna took place. I hastened away from the garden, and my tormentor was not far behind me. He kept repeating that my shadow would drag him everywhere with me. We will be inseparable until I sign the treaty.
I secretly made my way to my house and found it devastated by the mob that Rascal had incited. There I met the faithful Bendel. He said that the local police forbade me as a person of unreliable stay in the city and ordered me to leave its limits in twenty-four hours. Bendel wanted to go with me, but I did not want to subject him to such a test and remained deaf to his persuasion and entreaties. I said goodbye to him, jumped into the saddle and left the place where I had buried my life.
On the way, I was joined by a pedestrian, whom I soon recognized with horror as a man in gray. He offered to lend me my shadow while we traveled together, and I reluctantly agreed. Comfort and luxury were at my service again - after all, I was a rich man with a shadow. The man in gray pretended to be my valet and never left my side. He was convinced that sooner or later I would sign the contract. I firmly decided not to do this.
One day I decided to part with a stranger once and for all. He rolled up my shadow and put it back in his pocket, and then said that I could always call him by jingling gold in a magic purse. I asked if Mr. John had given him a receipt. The man in gray chuckled and pulled Mr. John out of his pocket. I was horrified and threw my wallet into the abyss. The stranger got up gloomily and disappeared.
I was left without a shadow and without money, but a heavy burden fell from my soul. I would be happy if I did not lose love through my own fault. With sadness in my heart, I continued on my way. I lost the desire to meet people and went deeper into the thicket of the forest, leaving it only to spend the night in some village. I was on my way to the mountain mines, where I expected to be hired to work underground.
My boots were worn out, and I had to buy used ones - there was no money for new ones. I soon lost my way. A minute ago I was walking through the forest, and suddenly I found myself among the wild cold rocks. The fierce frost forced me to quicken my pace, and soon I found myself on the icy shore of some ocean. I ran for a few minutes and stopped among rice fields and mulberry trees. Now I walked measuredly, and forests, steppes, mountains and deserts flashed before my eyes. There could be no doubt: I had seven-league boots on my feet.
Science is now the purpose of my life. Since then, I have worked with inextinguishable zeal, trying to convey to others what I saw with my inner eye. The earth was my garden. For housing, I chose the most hidden cave for myself, and continued my wanderings around the world, diligently exploring it.
During my wanderings, I became very ill. The fever burned me, I lost consciousness and woke up in a spacious and beautiful room. On the wall, at the foot of the bed, on a black marble board, my name was written in large gold letters: Peter Schlemil. I listened to someone reading something loudly, as my name was mentioned, but I could not catch the meaning. A friendly gentleman approached my bed with a very beautiful lady in a black dress. Their appearance was familiar to me, but I could not remember who they were.
Some time has passed. The place where I lay was called the Shlemium. What was read was a reminder to pray for Peter Schlemil as the founder of this institution. The friendly gentleman turned out to be Bendel, and the beautiful lady turned out to be Minna. because of long beard I was taken for a Jew. I got better, no one recognized. Subsequently, I found out that I was in the hometown of Bendel, who founded this clinic with the rest of my damn money. Minna is a widow. Her parents were no longer alive. She led the life of a God-fearing widow and did charity work.
I left there without revealing myself to my friends and returned to my previous activities. My strength is waning, but I console myself with the fact that I spent it not in vain and for a certain purpose. To you, dear Chamisso, I bequeath the amazing story of my life, so that it can serve as a useful lesson to people.
"The Wonderful Story of Peter Schlemihl". Chamisso's literary heritage is small. The best of it is "The Wonderful Story of Peter Schlemil" and poems.
In his fairy tale story, Chamisso tells the story of a man who sold his shadow for a wallet in which money never runs out. The absence of a shadow, which is immediately noticed by everyone around, excludes Peter Schlemil from the society of other people; all his desperate attempts to achieve a position in this society and personal happiness fail, and Shlemiel finds some satisfaction only in communion with nature - in the natural sciences.
In this story, therefore, there is an ordinary romantic situation: a person who does not find a place for himself in society, unlike those around him, that is, the situation of Byron's Childe Harold and Rene Chateaubriand, Sternbald Tieck and Johann Kreisler Hoffmann. But at the same time, the situation of Chamisso's story differs from all other versions in its irony over the hero's romantic loneliness, over romantic asociality.
Shlemil, having lost his shadow, is in a tragicomic position: after all, he has lost something that would seem to have no meaning, no value.
The "value" of the shadow lies only in the fact that it makes its owner look like all other people, and the question arises whether it is such a great honor to be like the fraudster Rascal and the smug rich John.
Schlemiel suffers from the mysterious absurdity of his loss, suffers from people who cannot imagine a person without a shadow and treat poor Schlemiel with horror or contempt, not devoid of a fair amount of comedy.
In his misfortune, Schlemil is comical, and at the same time, the consequences of this misfortune are tragic enough for him.
Ironically over the romantic "exclusivity" of his hero, Chamisso is at the same time full of sad sympathy for him. For Chamisso, asociality is neither the norm, as it was for Friedrich Schlegel in the 90s, nor an absolute tragedy of being, as for Hoffmann. Still remaining within the limits of romantic ideas, that is, not knowing either a way out for his hero from romantic loneliness, or a socio-historical explanation for this loneliness, Chamisso, however, with his sympathetic and ironic attitude towards him, outlines the path to overcome romanticism, leading the writer to poems late 20-30s, in which his departure from romanticism is clearly revealed.
The combination of great life concreteness and fantasy in Shamisso's story recalls creative manner Hoffmann. But if in Hoffmann this combination was ultimately intended to demonstrate the eternal disunity of the real world and the ideal world, then in Chamisso the fantastic is only a symbolic expression of some aspects of reality itself. Lyrics of Chamisso of the late 20s - early 30s. First separate edition Chamisso's poems were published in 1831.
Shamisso continued to write poems in the 30s.
In his poems of the late 20s and early 30s, Chamisso, under the influence of the awakening of the revolutionary democratic movement on the eve of the revolution of 1830 in France and in the early 30s in Germany, departs from romanticism.
For the first time in the history of 19th-century German lyrics, social and political topics were as widely represented as it was in Chamisso's lyrics (except for Heine's poems of the same years).
Chamisso in his poems refers to Everyday life, to the topic of the family, which the German romantic lyrics(cycles "Love and Life of a Woman", 1830; "Songs and Pictures of Life", "Stork", 1832), to the theme of the socially humiliated ("The Beggar and His Dog", 1829; "The Widow's Prayer", 1831; "The Old Laundress ", 1833; "The second song about the old laundress", 1838), to the theme of the liberation struggle and to the heroes of this struggle (poems, dedicated to wrestling Greeks for Freedom, "Voinarovsky", "Bestuzhev").
The poem "The Old Washerwoman" is one of Chamisso's best social poems. The poet draws with respect and sympathy life feat a selfless toiler who devoted her whole life to caring for her husband and children and saved up by the end of her life only for a shroud for herself. In the final line of the poem, the poet says that he would like to end his days with the same sense of accomplishment as this old laundress.
The poems "Voynarovsky" and "Bestuzhev" (Shamisso combined them under the general heading "Exiles") belong to the genre of lyric-epic poems widely represented in Shamisso's work. In the first of them, Shamisso freely retells Ryleev's poem "Voynarovsky". In the second, he sympathetically draws the image of the Decembrist Bestuzhev, a freedom fighter, a friend of Ryleev, who was exiled to Yakutsk.
The socio-political views of Chamisso are clearly expressed in one of his most famous poems, The Castle of Boncourt (1827). In this poem, he, recalling the family castle of his family, blesses the peasant, whose plow plows the land on which the castle stood.
In addition to the retelling of Ryleev's poem, Shamisso's interest in Russian literature is also evidenced by the translation of Pushkin's poem "A raven flies to a raven ...", which in turn is an adaptation of the Scottish folk song. Chamisso made his translation from the interlinear translation, which was compiled for him by Varnhagen von Enze, who knew Russian.
Chamisso had a sharply negative attitude towards the political orders of the Restoration period, being on bourgeois-democratic positions.
Some features, such as the depiction of genre scenes from everyday life, bring Chamisso's lyrics closer to Beranger's lyrics. Chamisso highly appreciated Beranger, primarily for the nationality of his work, and translated it.
In his poems, Chamisso, following in the footsteps of the romantics, willingly turns to the world of folk song, to folk legends, legends and anecdotes.
creative use folklore informs Chamisso's poems of simplicity, popularity, poetry and humor.
AT last years Chamisso's life published the German Almanac of Muses. Its co-editor was Gustav Schwab, a poet who belonged to the so-called Swabian school - the epigone romantic school. In the Almanac of the Muses, along with romantic poets - Uhland, J. Kerner, Eichendorff and others - also poets who had departed from romanticism were published; in the Almanac of the Muses, by the way, F. Freiligrat began to be published, who became one of well-known representatives revolutionary-democratic poetry of the 40s. During this period, much already separated Chamisso from the romantic poets; this was revealed in the next episode. Chamisso wanted to place a portrait of Heine, whom he personally knew and highly appreciated as a poet, in the Almanac for 1837. The poets of the Swabian school, who stood on conservative epigonic positions, about whom Heine spoke sharply negatively in his work The Romantic School, protested and took their poems from the Almanac.
Literary activity Chamisso already goes beyond romanticism. Having started as a romantic, Chamisso, like Heine, during the period of the revival of the revolutionary-democratic movement, moves to realistic and democratic positions, unlike other romantic poets - Tieck, Eichendorff, who, even during this period, continued to remain in conservative romantic positions and whose work gradually lost its meaning.
