The Hagestolz
The Hagestolz is the title of a story by the Austrian writer Adalbert Stifter . The work dates from 1844 and was included in the 1845 almanac “Iris. Paperback for the year 1845 ”first published.
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Victor, a young man, grows up as an orphan with his stepmother Ludmilla and his stepsister Hanna. One day, however, with a heavy heart, Victor leaves his familiar surroundings to begin a life as a civil servant. But first his uncle, the brother of his long-dead father, asks him to come to a remote island in the mountains.
After a long journey, he comes to his old uncle, who, however, seems to have little sympathy or appreciation for Victor at first. Victor, who feels like a prisoner on the island, impatiently awaits the day of departure. When he wanted to leave the island, however, his uncle forbade him to do so, which is why his displeasure with his uncle, who appeared cool, grew.
However, the relationship between the two relatives improves over time and so the uncle tells the young man his life story. Victor learns that his uncle was once in love with his stepmother, but that they never got married. In general, he makes it clear to Victor that a lonely existence is not desirable and that one has to suffer from it in old age. He recommends that Victor marry and not end up like him.
Victor, who made it clear at the beginning of the story that he did not want to marry, takes his uncle's words very much to heart and finally returns to his foster mother, with whom he discusses the matter. Later he took Hanna, the daughter of his foster mother, as his wife and thus heeded his uncle's advice.