Lucerne (Tolstoy)

This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.

The short story Lucerne by the Russian author Lev Nikolajewitsch Tolstoy was published in 1857 and describes the notes of the fictional Prince D. Nekhludov. In it Tolstoy portrays the beautiful landscape around Lucerne on the one hand positively , on the other hand the growing tourism of the arrogant English and the aversion of the locals towards a beggar negatively.

content

Lucerne in 1857: Prince D. Nechljudow spends one night at the Hotel Schweizerhof from July 7th to 8th . For himself, he slightly criticizes the Schweizerhofquai , which was built up in 1852 , but enjoys the beautiful landscape with Lake Lucerne and the mountains, especially the Rigi , whose summit offers one of the most magnificent views in the world. After dinner he leaves the hotel in a bad mood because the taciturn English people have put him in a sad mood.

After an unsatisfactory walk in the alleys of Lucerne, he returns to the hotel. As he approaches the hotel, he hears delightful music. A black-clad male plays a guitar and sings along with it. The gentlemen in the hotel come out on the balconies and passers-by stop to listen to the beautiful music. After this, however, none of those present manages to give anything to the poor beggar. This moves away. Prince D. Nekhludov hurries after him after a moment to buy him a round at the hotel.

In the hotel, however, the prince and the beggar are not allowed to enter the fine dining room, but have to take a seat opposite in the taproom. There, too, the two of them are treated roughly by the staff, by the tourists in the hallway and by the other locals. The prince therefore deliberately orders the best champagne and listens to the male's story in detail. At the end of the story, the prince criticizes so-called liberal Europe and the new republican laws of Switzerland. He does not understand why people are still treated as badly as if they were of a lower class.

German-language editions

• Lucerne. German by Alexander Eliasberg . Pp. 230–261 in: Gisela Drohla (Ed.): Leo N. Tolstoj. All the stories. Second volume. Insel, Frankfurt am Main 1961 (2nd edition of the edition in eight volumes 1982)