The horse that chased the buzzard
The horse that hunted the buzzard is a volume with selected stories by the Dutch writer Maarten 't Hart , translated by Marianne Holberg.
The German edition The horse that chased the buzzard was published in 2002 by Arche-Verlag Zurich ( ISBN 3-7160-2295-0 ) and in 2004 as a paperback edition by Piper-Verlag Munich ( ISBN 3-492-23827-0 ) .
The stories in this edition are taken from various Dutch anthologies that were published between 1974 and 2001 by Uitgeverij De Arbeiderspers , Amsterdam. The original texts have been slightly changed for the German edition in consultation with the author.
The stories
The stories Maarten 't Hart in the German anthology have a few things in common: They have a strong autobiographical basis, all play more or less in a Calvinist milieu and expose the people behind the various masks of social roles. In detail:
Wasteland
What happens to a little boy when he has to endure the Sunday sermon? He knows: "A sermon takes about six mints to suckle." How should he understand the pastor's messages with his still limited vocabulary? Does someone have to vomit if he “breaks the earth to a wasteland”? And what happens to a seven-year-old when death strikes next to him in the pew?
Brachland is an amusing story about life and death in a small space. It describes the attempt to go beyond the limits of the mind, and how a sense can still be found in failure of the same.
The Hinnoms Valley
If the bride and groom's families want to outdo each other in rank and good behavior, it can be like this short story. Long sermons and afternoon piety with Bible verses protect the plaguing nudibranchs from being cut up alongside. Faithfulness to the Bible turns into hypocrisy when - far away from the festivities - the fathers haggle: the last unmarried daughter including a tomato sorter for the last unmarried son, in case he marries the wallflower.
The valley of Hinnoms contrasts the piety of society with the egoism of the individual.
The player
Freezing January. And finally you can skate again in Holland. Uncle Henk is an unbeatable checkers player and has been waiting for evenly matched opponents for years, but nobody wants to play with him anymore until the moment when he gives his deceased son's skates to his nephew. He practices diligently with the children's bier of his father, the undertaker, as a support. And then, when he is fit enough to run on the Bommeer ... - from then on things will be different for Uncle Henk.
The player is a story that tells of everyday grind and monotony. And about how you can look forward to apparent defeats.
The trade
Uncle Klaas, the organ dealer, uses rogue maneuvers to pull money out of people's pockets and call it business acumen. His little nephew accompanies him because Klaas has offered him a vacation job. He is amazed to see that at the end of the day not one guilder falls off for him ...
A story about greed, avarice and the beauty of everyday life.
The nephew of Mata Hari
“He could describe hell in such a way that one left the church with blisters on it.” (Quote) - When the long pastor raises his voice to preach or sing psalms, everyone is cast under his spell. But if you go to church on your racing bike, blast drunk German folk good, the pubs keep preaching to customers, or enter or leave your house exclusively through the window, you create opponents. When the rumor spreads that the pastor was Mata Hari's nephew , it wasn't enough to dig the water out of him. At best, it makes the bird of paradise even more colorful and the blasphemies even more moronic. But visits to the brothel in Rotterdam are too much of a good thing even for the most liberal minds.
A story of double standards, envy and fear of being different.
The home visit
The desire for control and conversion of two pious Calvinist bean counters fails because of the self-confidence and clear demeanor of a father who is not prepared to be intimidated.
A story of double standards, conditioning, and the power of free thought.
Midsummer in April
An unusual spring that lets the lilacs wither without the buds opening. Midsummer at Easter. Wasp attacks in April. And four friends ask themselves the following questions: Will the climate change forever? Is the apocalypse in the house? And they discuss whether human extinction would be a loss or ultimately a gain.
Midsummer in April puts people under the microscope as the "crown of creation" and questions technological progress.
Rat love
A woman feeds rats that she has seen on the drainpipe at the house, thus triggers an increase in rodents and tries to domesticate a male rat. This soon turns out to be the "master of the house" and puts the family members in fear and terror. How do you get rid of such a roommate?
A short story about a misunderstood love of animals and its consequences.
The horse that chased the buzzard
Two married scientists meet at a congress for animal behavioral research. Is one weekend enough to displace all conditioning and tear down all protective walls, to give in to being in love and to indulge in lust?
A story about the courtship behavior of animals and the division of people.
Uncle job
The compulsive Uncle Job learns of his brother's death and rides his old bicycle several times a day to “look at the corpse”. On his unwanted condolence visits, he always offers his sister-in-law money and always plays the same sentences: “And Lena? Is it okay again, or is it still difficult for you, still difficult, can I still do something? Money? Money? Are you already saying money? ”- All acquaintances and relatives stroll through the house to see the dead man and indulge in pious sayings - until the widow can no longer stand it.
A story of mendacity and the plague of guilty conscience in the face of death.
Concerto russian
During a summer stroll, the narrator perceives the sounds of an unknown violin concerto from a house hidden behind high privet hedges , to which he listens for a few minutes and which captivates his thoughts. After a long and unsuccessful search for the piece of music, he returns to the house and contacts the old, somewhat eccentric owner, who initially reacts sullenly, but then thaws out when he realizes that he has a music expert in front of him. A strange friendship begins: in weekly meetings full of ritualized processes, they listen to violin concertos from the lonely old man's almost inexhaustible record fund. In the beginning, the narrator always has the goal of rediscovering the extraordinary five minutes of music that have impressed himself on him and with which it all began. But that becomes more and more irrelevant. Until one day everything takes a frightening turn ...
A story about dementia , music and friendship. Also a tribute to Édouard Lalo and his works.
Krammetsvogel
The narrator dreams of being a Krammetsvogel every night and wakes up with threatening cardiac arrhythmias . He ignored the condition for almost a year before placing himself in the hands of a cardiologist . Treated with electric shocks , he is prescribed a supportive psychotherapy , which ends in hopeless escape from the huge and rude therapist. With an old fellow patient, he finally had a long conversation about growth and decay.
A story about the way things go and the fear of life.
criticism
With unbelievable patience Maarten 't Hart describes natural phenomena and everyday things and draws terrifying but also lovable characters. The great narrative power of the author casts a spell over you. Humorous, deep, and knowledgeable, 't Hart manages to captivate the reader with incidents that they would not even think of on their own. Time judges: “You can't tear yourself away - simply because Maarten 't Hart is a gorgeous narrator.” (Quote)