Short stories
Schwüle Tage
Not translated into English
Eduard von Keyserling · 1904
Opening lines
Schon die Eisenbahnfahrt von der Stadt nach Fernow, unserem Gute, war ganz so schwermütig, wie ich es erwartet hatte. Es regnete ununterbrochen, ein feiner, schief niedergehender Regen, der den Sommer geradezu auszulöschen schien.
Even the train journey from the town to Fernow, our estate, was just as melancholy as I had expected. It rained without a break, a fine, slanting rain that seemed simply to extinguish the summer.
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from zeno.org
Synopsis
Having failed his baccalaureate, young Count Bill von Fernow must spend the summer at the family estate, alone with his father, to prepare for the second session, while the rest of the family is at the seaside. His father, a distant and demanding man, speaks to him only of bearing and career. Bill seeks adventure in vain among the village girls, then becomes attached to his cousin Gerda, whom he meets during visits to the neighbouring estate, where preparations are under way for the engagement of his elder sister Ellita.
Context
The story appeared in 1904 in the Neue Rundschau and belongs to the impressionist manner its author adopted from 1903, in the world of a rural nobility frozen in its conventions. It was adapted for German television in 1978 by Hajo Gies, then for French television in 1995 by Jérôme Foulon, with Claude Rich. In French, Jacqueline Chambon and Peter Krauss translated it under the title Été brûlant, from Actes Sud, in 1986.
Who it is for
A short narrative, told by the son himself; the action comes down to a few gestures, and the heat of summer carries the rest.
Prizes and reception
One of the stories that led Keyserling to be regarded as one of the few great storytellers of German Impressionism.