The dancer described
The dancer described is a story by Adalbert Stifter . It appeared in 1846 in the Rheinisches Taschenbuch for the year 1846 .
content
The narrative is divided into four chapters:
- The gray bush
- The colorful hit
- The green forest
- The dark tree
Prehistory:
The scene of the action is Stifter's birthplace Oberplan in the Bohemian Forest . On a hill outside the city, the Kreuzberg, there is a chapel, the construction of which goes back to a miracle of the Virgin Mary : She appeared to a blind man in a dream and told him to dig at a certain point on the mountain and find water. He should wash his eyes with him and see again. The blind man did as he was told, could see again and saw the image of Mary in the water. The residents of the area made pilgrimages to the place to pray, later a chapel was built. There is a belief in the area that children who pray in the chapel after their first confession will always be granted their request.
Action:
A woman lives with her daughter Hanna in a small house outside the village of Pichlern. During her first prayer, Hanna looks at the picture of the Virgin Mary and asks that at some point she herself should wear clothes as beautiful as Mary in the picture. Hanna grows up to be a young girl whose beauty is admired by everyone. The young woodcutter Hanns swarms around her, she reciprocates his feelings.
Rumor has it that the landlord of the country will travel to the area together with many other noble men and women to hunt in the woods and to celebrate big festivals on the Oberplaner meadows on the Vltava . When the company actually arrives, there is great excitement among the local population, everyone wants to watch the hunt and the festivities. The young nobleman Guido has his eye on Hanna, you often see the two of them together and rumor has it that he wants to marry her.
Hanns doesn’t notice any of this, as he works in a logging area far away and only comes back to town on Sundays. When he returns, preparations are under way for the last hunt and a dance the following day. He observes Hanna's and Guido's confidentiality and notes in which position in the forest Guido should position himself during the hunt, namely with the described Tännling - a fir tree in whose trunk lovers have been scratching their initials or names for generations. Hanns gets his ax and goes to the Lady Chapel to pray. Then he goes to the described dancer to spend the night there and wait for Guido, who arrives in the early morning. During the night the Virgin Mary appears to him, who looks at him sternly and seriously, whereupon Hanns now believes that his request will not be heard. The reader can assume here that Hanns intended to kill Guido. Instead he is now returning to his felling. Shortly afterwards it is announced that Hanna is now actually Guido's bride and will soon be living with him and her mother in his castle.
Many years later, Hanns still lives as a woodcutter in Oberplan and also looks after the three children of his deceased sister. One day Hanna drives through town again in her carriage, but doesn't recognize Hanns again. She throws him a thaler from the carriage, which Hanns brings to the chapel as a gift. The end of the story refers to the grace of wish fulfillment through the image of Mary: While Hanna's girlfriends at the time believe that Hanna's wish was fulfilled, “the ancient blacksmith in Vorderstift replied: 'Her [Mary's] curse was more attached to her than hers Grace shown - their wisdom, grace and miracles have shown themselves to someone else entirely. '"
Style and narrative
The plot is reproduced by an authorial narrator , who, however, is very reluctant to comment on the events and depict feelings and instead concentrates on the reproduction of the plot and a very precise description of nature and landscape. The story begins with a multi-page description of the area around Oberplan, the Kreuzberg and the view down from the mountain. The aristocratic society is also described in great detail, such as their clothing, food, behavior towards the people, and the elaborate preparations for the festival. Criticism of the extravagance of the hunting party is never explicitly expressed, but can be heard, especially from the contrast to the simple, godly life of the chief planners and from the doubts about Hanna's apparently happy fate.
source
- Adalbert Stifter: The described Dännling. Uta Verlag, Naumburg (Saale) 1948.