Well into his 80’s when he received notice of the Nobel Prize, Paul Heyse said he was pleased because he could say without too much pride: “What I have done cannot then be entirely bad”. To my mind his humility is well founded. He wrote numerous books of poetry, seven novels, forty plays, one hundred and fifty novellas, translated the complete poetic works of five Italian poets, and edited anthologies of Italian and Spanish songs. From this sizable opus I was able to find two novellas which were translated to English. On reading them I understand why he slipped into obscurity. To my mind his greatest honor is he laid the ground work for Danielle Steele, Nora Roberts, and hundreds of anonymous Harlequin writers.
One of the commentators cited L’Arrabbiata (the Angry Woman, 1853) as among his best work. While a student he visited Italy where he met a beautiful dark-haired girl named Sorrento whom he transformed into Laurella, his first and best known heroine. She is beautiful, composed, and self-sufficient. She makes a living for herself and her mother by weaving silk and spinning yarn which she sells to noble women on the island of Capri. Her mother is invalided as the result of beatings received from her now deceased father. Having witnessed this abuse she has decided that a man shall never be a part of her life. On this occasion she shares a boat from the mainland to the island with a priest on his way to visit a heavy contributor to his parish. It is through her conversation with the priest that we get the background. We meet Antonino, the oarsman, but he remains in the background until he carries the priest from the boat onto the beach. When he returns for Laurella she has already hitched up her skirts, jumped into the water and waded ashore. God forbid that the handsome, bashful, caring, and smitten boatman should lay a hand on her. The priest plans to spend the night on the island. Laurella instructs Antonino to return to the mainland, she will find her own way home. Antonino waits all day in the hot sun. When she arrives and they set off he offers her some oranges, as she has had nothing to eat. She resolutely refuses. When he proposes she take them for her mother. She claims they have plenty of oranges, thank you! Antonino is overcome and declares his passion reaching out to touch Laurella. She reacts by biting his hand, ripping the flesh so badly blood gushes onto the floor of the boat. She then jumps into the sea and begins to swim for shore. Antonino knows it is too far to shore for her to swim. He apologizes for his impulsiveness and pleads, for the sake of her mother, she get back into the boat. She does and he rows her to shore where she jumps out and heads home. The wound is deep but Antonino is too contrite to seek help. He returns to his humble cottage where he is soon in the throws of a fevered sleep as the result of the infection. Very late on the moon lit night he awakes to soak his pounding hand when he hears someone at the door. Standing outside is Laurella with a basket of healing herbs she collected from the mountain. She cleans and dresses his wound. She is leaving when Antonino observes tears on her cheeks. Afraid he had offended her Antonino begins to apologize but Laurella sobs, rushes into his arms and declares her undying love for this honest boatman. I think we are to assume they married, had sixteen children, and lived happily ever after. Gag!
The Wine Guard is much longer and way more complicated but it follows the form. The handsome and honorable Andree is forced to guard the vineyards because he is hated and spurned by his mother, the Black Lassie. His beautiful sister, Lassie, loves him dearly and visits him surreptitiously. The ten o’clock Masser (assistant priest, the one who holds the second Mass) is wise and loved by all. The noble family of the area is headed by Joseph Hirzer. They own the vineyards and have influence in the valley. Joseph has a drunken loutish son, Franz, who wants to marry Lassie, and a pure and chaste daughter, Rosine, who is Lassie’s best friend. Also living with Joseph is Anna, his saintly sisters revered by the whole community, who is a friend and adviser to Andree and Lassie. The major problem for the wine guard is local soldiers who steal grapes and damage vines. One night in the course of his duties Andree strikes a soldier with his halberd and leaves him for dead. Racked with guilt and fearing reprisals, he commits himself to a local monastery. A few years later, when the Black Lassie died, Lassie comes to the monastery pleading with her brother to reenter the secular world to care for her. After much soul searching he leaves the monastery and they disappear together. The whole community tries to find them but they seem to have dropped off the face of the earth. A year later Andree appears at the home of the ten o’clock Masser asking if he is truly the son of the Black Lassie. He had heard that his mother brought him down from the mountain and he is a foundling. On this information he ran away with Lassie and they married. When she became pregnant she was racked with guilt and insisted on returning to their home and confessing their sin. Oh, the angst is overwhelming. When Franz hears that his desired is married to her “brother” he gets drunk and rouses the community to attack the sinners. And now the truth comes out. His aunt, the saintly Anna, was involved with a Lutheran gentleman (Oh, the shame) whom she was forbidden to marry. Her friend, the Black Lassie went with her into the mountains where the baby was delivered. On returning to town the Black Lassie and her husband claimed the child as their own. At this crucial moment the saintly Anna claimed her son and, confessing herself as the greatest of sinners, she went to the church arm in arm with her son and her new daughter-in-law where the ten o’clock Masser declared everything to be in order and of course they lived happily ever after.
Did you get the idea this was not my favorite author? I suspect the sheer mass of his work or some political pressure was involved in this award. My advice; don’t bother.
Now for the first time to Belgium, specifically Flanders. I am not sure why but the name Maurice Maeterlinck rings a bell. I must have seen or read one of his plays sometime in the past. Claude Debussy composed music to accompany one of his most successful plays. That makes choice of background easy. As to snacks it will be gauffers, Belgium waffles served with whipped cream and fruit. (I will need to spend a bit more time in the gym)
