Martin Paz
Martin Paz is a short story by the French author Jules Verne . It was published in French in August 1852 under the title L'Amérique du Sud. Moeurs péruviennes. Martin Paz, nouvelle historique in the Musée des familles . The short story was later published as an appendix to the novel The Chancellor ( Le Chancellor ) under the name Martin Paz on February 1, 1875 by Pierre-Jules Hetzel in Paris .
action
In Peru , at the time the story takes place, society is made up of three main groups. These are the descendants of the Spanish conquistadors , the mixed race of Europeans and natives ( mestizos ) and the Indians . The Marquis Don Vergal, whose fortune is steadily declining, is a Spaniard, the aspiring nouveau riche Andreas Certa a mestizo and Martin Paz an Indian.
In Lima , Andreas Certa has secured the benevolence of a moneylender, the Jew Samuels, through a secret contract, who has promised Certa his pretty daughter Sarah in return. However, Sarah fell in love with Martin Paz. Certa's efforts to get Sarah are not hidden from Certa. After a knife fight in front of Samuel's house, Martin Paz has to flee. He throws himself into a raging river in front of the pursuers. The persecutors assume his death, but Paz manages to save himself and finds shelter with the noble Marquis Vergal. In his protection, Paz can reach the coast of Chorillos . The Marquis Don Vergal tries to save his protégé there, but at the same time wants to keep him from the liaison with the Jewess Sarah, which in his opinion would be improper. However, Sarah has approached the thought of the Catholic Church and secretly attends the Catholic worship service.
Certa also makes a trip to Chorillos with Samuel. Certa loses some money in the casino there . Samuel, on the other hand, doesn't mind because he owns the casino. Certa retires to the open sea with Samuel for an undisturbed consultation. Paz saw them by chance and secretly follows them swimming. He learns that Sarah is not the daughter of Samuel, but the daughter of a rich, Spanish-born nobleman, whose wife and their then two-year-old daughter were surprised by a storm during a sea voyage. The ship was abandoned by the crew and ran aground. Samuel, also on board, saved the toddler from drowning. The child's mother died in the floods. Certa wants to marry Sarah so that, with the help of her noble descent, he can enter the higher circles he is striving for. Samuel wants to give him proof of noble descent for money.
Before the wedding with Certa, Martin Paz can come near Sarah. A rebellion of the Indians begins. Martin Paz is seen by them as an apostate because he has put his private interests before those of the community. In the rebellion, Samuel is killed. When the insurgents storm Samuel's house, Paz and Sarah escape to Vergal. Vergal learns that Sarah is his daughter, whom he believed to be dead. The Indians, disappointed by Paz, let the people around the Marquis Don Vergal and Martin Paz run into the knives of the mestizo Certa with his people as revenge. However, Vergal and Paz manage to escape. Sarah is kidnapped by the Indians, Don Vergal and Martin Paz pursue the kidnappers. Sarah is sentenced to death by the Indians in revenge. She is said to be thrown to death in a canoe at a waterfall . Don Vergal and Martin Paz are caught in the hail of arrows from the Indians. Paz falls into the canoe and dies with Sarah.
literature
- Heinrich Pleticha (ed.): Jules Verne manual . Deutscher Bücherbund / Bertelsmann, Stuttgart and Munich 1992.
- Volker Dehs and Ralf Junkerjürgen: Jules Verne . Voices and interpretations of his work. Fantastic Library Wetzlar, Wetzlar 2005.
- Volker Dehs : Jules Verne . Jules Verne. A critical biography. Artemis & Winkler, Düsseldorf 2005. ISBN 3-538-07208-6
Web links
- "Martin Paz" as an e-book in HTML on zeno.org
- Martin Paz in Andreas Fehrmann's Jules Verne Collection