The Misadventures of the Student Anselm. - Healthy Conrector Paulman tobacco and golden-green snakes.
On the day of the Ascension, around three in the afternoon, a young man was rapidly walking through the Black Gate in Dresden and just fell into a basket of apples and pies that was being sold by an old, ugly woman - and he fell so successfully that part of the contents of the basket was crushed, and everything that successfully escaped this fate scattered in all directions, and the street boys joyfully rushed to the prey that the clever young man delivered to them! At the old woman’s cries, her friends left their tables, where they were selling pies and vodka, and surrounded her. young man and they began to scold him so rudely and furiously that he, numb with vexation and shame, could only take out his small and not particularly full wallet, which the old woman greedily grabbed and quickly hid. Then the tight circle of merchant women parted; but when the young man jumped out of it, the old woman shouted after him: “Run away, damn son, so that you will be blown away; You’ll fall under glass, under glass!...” There was something terrible in this woman’s sharp, shrill voice, so the walkers stopped in surprise, and the laughter that had been heard at first suddenly fell silent. Student Anselm (it was he who was the young man), although he did not understand at all strange words old woman, but felt an involuntary shudder and quickened his steps even more in order to avoid the gaze of the curious crowd directed at him. Now, making his way through the stream of smartly dressed townspeople, he heard everywhere saying: “Ah, poor young man! Oh, she’s a damned woman!” In a strange way, the old woman’s mysterious words gave the funny adventure a certain tragic turn, so that everyone looked with sympathy at the man whom they had not noticed at all before. Female persons in view tall the young man and his handsome face, the expressiveness of which was enhanced by hidden anger, willingly excused his awkwardness, as well as his costume, very far from any fashion, namely: his pike-gray tailcoat was cut in such a way as if the tailor who worked for him had only I knew from hearsay about modern styles, and black satin, well-preserved trousers gave the whole figure a kind of magisterial style, which was completely inconsistent with his gait and posture.
The world of Hoffmann's fairy tale has distinct features romantic dual world, which is embodied in the work different ways. Romantic dual worlds are realized in the story through the characters’ direct explanation of the origin and structure of the world in which they live.
“There is this world, the earthly world, the everyday world and another world, the magical Atlantis, from which man once originated. This is exactly what is said in Serpentina’s story to Anselm about her father, the archivist Lindgorst, who, as it turned out, is the prehistoric elemental spirit of fire Salamander, who lived in the magical land of Atlantis and was exiled to earth by the prince of spirits Phosphorus for his love for his daughter Lily the snake” Chavchanidze D. L. “Romantic irony” in the works of E.T.-A. Hoffman // Scientific notes of the Moscow State Pedagogical Institute named after. IN AND. Lenin. - No. 280. - M., 1967. - P.73..
This fantastic story is perceived as an arbitrary fiction that has no serious significance for understanding the characters of the story, but it is said that the prince of spirits Phosphorus predicts the future: people will degenerate (namely, they will cease to understand the language of nature), and only melancholy will vaguely remind of the existence of another peace ( ancient homeland man), at this time the Salamander will be reborn and in its development will reach man, who, having been reborn in this way, will begin to perceive nature again - this is already a new anthropodicy, the doctrine of man. Anselm belongs to the people of the new generation, since he is able to see and hear natural miracles and believe in them - after all, he fell in love with a beautiful snake that appeared to him in a flowering elderberry bush.
Serpentina calls this "naive poetic soul“, which is possessed by “those young men who, due to the excessive simplicity of their morals and their complete lack of so-called secular education, are despised and ridiculed by the crowd” Hoffman E.T.-A. “The Golden Pot” and other stories. -M., 1981. - P. 23.. A man on the verge of two worlds: partly an earthly being, partly a spiritual one. In essence, in all of Hoffmann’s works the world is structured exactly this way. See: Skobelev A.V. On the problem of the relationship between romantic irony and satire in Hoffmann’s works// Art world THIS. Goffman.-M., 1982. - P.118..
Duality is realized in the character system, namely in the fact that the characters clearly differ in their affiliation or inclination to the forces of good and evil. In The Golden Pot, these two forces are represented, for example, by the archivist Lindgorst, his daughter Serpentina on the side of good, and the old witch on the side of evil. The exception is main character, which finds itself under the equal influence of one and the other force, is subject to this changeable and eternal struggle good and evil.
Anselm’s soul is a “battlefield” between these forces, see, for example, how easily Anselm’s worldview changes when he looks into Veronica’s magic mirror: just yesterday he was madly in love with Serpentine and wrote down the history of the archivist in his house with mysterious signs, and Today it seems to him that he was only thinking about Veronica, “that the image that appeared to him yesterday in the blue room was again Veronica and that fantastic fairy tale about the marriage of Salamander with the green snake was only written by him, and not told to him in any way. He himself marveled at his dreams and attributed them to his exalted state of mind, due to his love for Veronica...” Hoffman E.T.-A. “The Golden Pot” and other stories. -M. 1981. - P. 42.. Human consciousness lives in dreams and each of these dreams always seems to find objective evidence, but, in fact, all these mental states are the result of the influence of the fighting spirits of good and evil. The ultimate antinomy of the world and man is characteristic feature romantic attitude.
“The dual world is realized in the images of the mirror, which in large quantities found in the story: a smooth metal mirror of an old fortune teller, a crystal mirror made of rays of light from the ring on the hand of the archivist Lindhorst, magic mirror Veronica, who bewitched Anselm” Chavchanidze D.L. “Romantic irony” in the works of E.T.-A. Hoffman // Scientific notes of the Moscow State Pedagogical Institute named after. IN AND. Lenin. - No. 280. - M., 1967. - P.84..
The color scheme used by Hoffmann in the depiction of objects from the artistic world of “The Golden Pot” reveals that the story belongs to the era of romanticism. These are not just subtle shades of color, but necessarily dynamic, moving colors and whole color schemes, often completely fantastic: “pike-gray tailcoat” Hoffman E.T.-A. “The Golden Pot” and other stories. -M., 1981. - P.11., “snakes shining with green gold” Ibid. - P. 15., “sparkling emeralds fell on him and entwined him with sparkling golden threads, fluttering and playing around him with thousands of lights” Ibid. - P.16., “blood spurted from the veins, penetrating the transparent body of the snake and coloring it red” Ibid. - P.52., “from gemstone, as if from a burning focus, rays came out in all directions, which, when combined, made up a brilliant crystal mirror.” Ibid. - P.35..
The sounds in the artistic world of Hoffmann’s work have the same feature - dynamism, elusive fluidity (the rustling of elderberry leaves gradually turns into the ringing of crystal bells, which, in turn, turns out to be a quiet, intoxicating whisper, then bells again, and suddenly everything ends in rough dissonance, noise the water under the oars of the boat reminds Anselm of a whisper).
Wealth, gold, money, jewelry are presented in the artistic world of Hoffmann's fairy tale as a mystical object, a fantastic magic remedy, an item somewhat from another world. “A spice thaler every day - it was this kind of payment that seduced Anselm and helped him overcome his fear in order to go to the mysterious archivist, it is this spice thaler that turns living people into chained ones, as if poured into glass” Hoffman E.T.-A. “The Golden Pot” and other stories. -M., 1981. - P.33.. Lindgorst’s precious ring can charm a person. In her dreams of the future, Veronica imagines her husband, court councilor Anselm, and he has “a gold watch with a rehearsal, and he gives her cute, wonderful earrings of the latest style” Ibid. - P.42..
The heroes of the story are distinguished by their obvious romantic specificity. Archivist Lindgorst - keeper of ancient mysterious manuscripts containing, apparently, mystical meanings, in addition, he is also engaged in mysterious chemical experiments and does not allow anyone into this laboratory. Anselm is a copyist of manuscripts who is fluent in calligraphy. Anselm, Veronica, Kapellmeister Geerbrand have musical ear, are able to sing and even compose music. In general, everyone belongs to the scientific community and is associated with the production, storage and dissemination of knowledge.
The nationality of the heroes is not definitely stated, but it is known that many heroes are not people at all, but magical creatures generated from marriage, for example, a black dragon feather and a beetroot. However, the rare nationality of the heroes as an obligatory and familiar element romantic literature is still present, although in the form of a weak motive: the archivist Lindgorst keeps manuscripts in Arabic and Coptic, as well as many books “such as those written in some strange characters that do not belong to either known languages"Ibid. - P.36..
The style of “The Golden Pot” is distinguished by the use of the grotesque, which is not only Hoffmann’s individual originality, but also that of romantic literature in general. “He stopped and looked at a large door knocker attached to a bronze figure. But just as he wanted to take up this hammer at the last sonorous strike of the tower clock on the Church of the Cross, suddenly the bronze face twisted and grinned into a disgusting smile and the rays of its metal eyes sparkled terribly. Oh! It was an apple trader from the Black Gate...” Hoffman E.T.-A. “The Golden Pot” and other stories. -M., 1981. - P.13., “the bell cord went down and turned out to be a white, transparent, gigantic snake...” Ibid. - P.42., “with these words he turned and left, and then everyone realized that the important little man was, in fact, a gray parrot” Ibid. - P.35..
Fiction allows you to create the effect of a romantic two-world: there is a world here, a real one, where ordinary people they think about a shot of coffee with rum, double beer, dressed up girls, etc., but there is a fantastic world. Fantasy in Hoffmann's story comes from grotesque imagery: with the help of the grotesque, one of the characteristics of an object is increased to such an extent that the object seems to turn into another, already fantastic one. For example, the episode with Anselm moving into the bottle.
The image of a man chained in glass, apparently, is based on Hoffmann’s idea that people sometimes do not realize their lack of freedom - Anselm, having found himself in a bottle, notices the same unfortunate people around him, but they are quite happy with their situation and think that they are free, that they they even go to taverns, etc., and Anselm went crazy (“he imagines that he is sitting in a glass jar, but is standing on the Elbe Bridge and looking into the water” Ibid. - P. 40.).
Author's digressions appear quite often in the story's relatively small text volume (in almost every one of the 12 vigils). Obviously, artistic sense of these episodes is to clarify the author's position, namely the author's irony. “I have the right to doubt, gentle reader, that you have ever happened to be clogged in glass vessel..." Ibid. - P.40.. These obvious authorial digressions set the inertia of perception of the rest of the text, which turns out to be completely permeated with romantic irony See: Chavchanidze D.L. “Romantic irony” in the works of E.T.-A. Hoffman // Scientific notes of the Moscow State Pedagogical Institute named after. V. I. Lenin. - No. 280. - M., 1967. - P.83.
Finally, the author's digressions fulfill one more important role: in the last vigil, the author announced that, firstly, he would not tell the reader how he knew this whole secret story, and secondly, that Salamander Lindgorst himself suggested to him and helped complete the story of the fate of Anselm, who moved, as it turned out, together with Serpentina from ordinary earthly life to Atlantis. The very fact of the author’s communication with the elemental spirit Salamander casts a shadow of madness over the entire narrative, but last words the stories answer many of the reader’s questions and doubts, reveal the meaning of key allegories: “Anselm’s bliss is nothing other than life in poetry, through which the sacred harmony of all things is revealed as the deepest of nature’s secrets!” Goffman E.T.-A. “The Golden Pot” and other stories. -M., 1981. - P.55..
Sometimes two realities, two parts of a romantic dual world intersect and give rise to funny situations. So, for example, a tipsy Anselm begins to talk about the other side of reality known only to him, namely about true face archivist and Serpentina, which looks like nonsense, since those around them are not ready to immediately understand that “Mr. archivist Lindgorst is, in fact, Salamander, who devastated the garden of the prince of spirits Phosphorus in his hearts because the green snake flew away from him” Ibid. - P.45.. However, one of the participants in this conversation - registrar Geerbrand - suddenly showed awareness of what was happening in a parallel real world: “This archivist is really a damned Salamander; he flicks fire with his fingers and burns holes on his coats in the manner of a fire pipe.” Ibid. - P.45.. Carried away by the conversation, the interlocutors completely stopped reacting to the amazement of those around them and continued to talk about characters and events that only they understood, for example, about the old woman - “her dad is nothing more than a tattered wing, her mother is a bad beetroot” Goffman E.T.-A. “The Golden Pot” and other stories. -M., 1981. - P.45..
The author's irony makes it especially noticeable that the heroes live between two worlds. Here, for example, is the beginning of Veronica’s remark, who suddenly entered the conversation: “This is vile slander,” Veronica exclaimed with her eyes sparkling with anger...” Ibid. - P.45.. For a moment it seems to the reader that Veronica, who does not know the whole truth about who the archivist or the old woman is, is outraged by these crazy characteristics of her acquaintances Mr. Lindhorst and old Lisa, but it turns out that Veronica is also aware of the matter and is outraged by something completely different: “...Old Lisa is a wise woman, and the black cat is not an evil creature at all, but an educated young man of the most subtle manner and her cousin germain.” Ibid. - P.46..
The conversation between the interlocutors takes on completely ridiculous forms (Gerbrand, for example, asks the question “can Salamander eat without burning his beard..?” Ibid. - P.46), any serious meaning is completely destroyed by irony. However, irony changes our understanding of what came before: if everyone from Anselm to Geerband and Veronica is familiar with the other side of reality, then this means that in ordinary conversations, happened between them before, they hid from each other their knowledge of another reality, or these conversations contained hints, ambiguous words, etc., invisible to the reader, but understandable to the heroes. Irony, as it were, dispels the holistic perception of a thing (person, event), instills a vague feeling of understatement and “misunderstanding” of the surrounding world See: Skobelev A.V. On the problem of the relationship between romantic irony and satire in Hoffmann’s works // The Artistic World of E.T.-A. Hoffman. - M., 1982. - P. 128.
The listed features of Hoffmann's story “The Golden Pot” clearly indicate the presence of elements of a mythological worldview in this work. The author constructs two parallel worlds, each with its own mythology. The ordinary world with its Christian worldview does not attract the author’s close attention as far as mythology is concerned, but the fantastic world is described not only in the brightest details, but for it the author also came up with and described in detail mythological picture his devices. That is why Hoffmann’s fantasy is not inclined to forms of implicit fantasy, but on the contrary, it turns out to be explicit, emphasized, magnificently and unrestrainedly developed - this leaves a noticeable imprint on the world order romantic fairy tale Hoffman.
1813 Better known at that time as a musician and composer than as a writer, Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann becomes director opera troupe Seconds and moves with her to Dresden. In a besieged city under Napoleon's attack, he conducts an opera. And at the same time he conceived the most striking of his early works - a phantasmogorical fairy tale "Golden Pot".
“On Ascension Day, around three in the afternoon, a young man was quickly walking through the Black Gate in Dresden and just fell into a basket of apples and pies that was being sold by an old, ugly woman - and he fell so successfully that part of the contents of the basket was crushed, and everything that successfully escaped this fate scattered in all directions, and the street boys joyfully rushed to the prey that the clever young man delivered to them!”
Isn't it true, the first phrase is addictive, as if witchcraft spells? Luring with playful rhythm and beauty of style? Let's attribute this to the wonderful translation of Vladimir Solovyov, but it is not Solovyov who is to blame for the fact that the Russian classic rests on Hoffmann's shoulders from Gogol to Dostoevsky, capturing, however, the twentieth century. Dostoevsky, by the way, read all of Hoffmann in translation and in the original. Not a bad characterization for an author!
However, let's return to the "Golden Pot". The text of the story is magical and bewitching. Mysticism permeates the entire content of the story-fairy tale, tightly intertwined with the form. The rhythm itself is musical and enchanting. And the images are fabulous, colorful, bright.
“Here the student Anselm’s monologue was interrupted by a strange rustling and rustling sound that arose very close to him in the grass, but soon crawled onto the branches and leaves of the elderberry tree spread over his head. It seemed as if the evening wind was moving the leaves; that it is birds fluttering here and there in the branches, touching them with their wings. Suddenly there was some whispering and babbling, and the flowers seemed to ring like crystal bells. Anselm listened and listened. And so - he himself did not know how this rustle, and whisper, and ringing turned into quiet, barely audible words:
“Here and there, between the branches, along the flowers, we wind, intertwine, spin, sway. Sister, sister! Swing in the radiance! Hurry, hurry, up and down, - the evening sun shoots rays, the breeze rustles, moves the leaves, falls dew, the flowers sing, we move our tongues, we sing with the flowers, with the branches, the stars will soon sparkle, it’s time for us to go down here and there, we wind, weave, spin, sway; sisters, hurry!”
And then the intoxicating speech flowed.”
The main character of the fairy tale is student Anselm, a romantic and clumsy young man, whose hand is sought after by the girl Veronica, and he himself is in love with the beautiful golden-green snake Serpentina. A mystical hero helps him in his adventures - Serpentina's father, archivist Lindgorst, and in fact mythical character Salamander. And the intrigues are being plotted by an evil witch, the daughter of a black dragon's feather and a beetroot (beets were fed to pigs in Germany). And Anselm’s goal is to overcome obstacles in the form of those who have taken up arms against him dark forces and connect with Serpentina in distant and beautiful Atlantis.
The meaning of the story lies in irony, reflecting Hoffmann's credo. Ernst Theodor Amadeus is the worst enemy of philistinism, everything philistine, tasteless, and mundane. In his romantic consciousness two worlds coexist, and the one that inspires the author has nothing in common with the philistine dream of well-being.
A certain plot feature caught my attention - the moment when student Anselm finds himself under glass. This reminded me of the main idea famous film "Matrix", when the reality of some people is just a simulation for the chosen hero.
“Then Anselm saw that next to him, on the same table, there were five more bottles, in which he saw three students of the Cross School and two scribes.
“Ah, dear sirs, comrades of my misfortune,” he exclaimed, “how can you remain so carefree, even contented, as I see from your faces?” After all, you, like me, sit sealed in bottles and cannot move or move, cannot even think anything meaningful without a deafening noise and ringing rising up, so that your head will crackle and buzz. But you probably don’t believe in the Salamander and the green snake?
“You are delusional, Mr. Studiosus,” one of the students objected. - We have never felt better than now, because the spice talers that we receive from the crazy archivist for all sorts of meaningless copies are good for us; Now we no longer need to learn Italian choirs; Now every day we go to Joseph’s or to other taverns, enjoy strong beer, look at the girls, sing, like real students, “Gaudeamus igitur...” - and are happy.”
Hoffmann also depicted his own image, divided in two, in The Golden Pot. As you know, he wrote music under the pseudonym Johannes Kreisler.
“Archivist Lindgorst disappeared, but immediately reappeared, holding in his hand a beautiful golden glass, from which a blue, crackling flame rose high.
“Here you have,” he said, “the favorite drink of your friend, bandmaster Johannes Kreisler.” This is a lit arrack into which I threw a little sugar. Taste a little, and I’ll now take off my dressing gown, and while you sit and watch and write, I, for own pleasure and at the same time, in order to enjoy your dear company, I will sink and rise in my glass.
“As you wish, venerable Mr. Archivist,” I objected, “but only if you want me to drink from this glass, please do not...
- Don't worry, my dear! - exclaimed the archivist, quickly threw off his dressing gown and, to my great surprise, entered the glass and disappeared in the flame. Lightly blowing off the flame, I tasted the drink - it was excellent!”
Magical, isn't it? After the creation of The Golden Pot, Hoffmann's reputation as a writer began to strengthen more and more. Well, in the meantime, Seconda fired him from the post of director of the opera troupe, accusing him of amateurism...
On Ascension Day, around three hours In the afternoon, in the area of the Black Gate in Dresden, student Anselm runs into a seller of apples and pies. He gives her his wallet to replace the damaged goods, but in return receives a curse. At the Link Baths, a young man realizes that the holiday is passing him by. He chooses for himself secluded place under an elderberry bush, fills his pipe with healthy Conrector Paulman tobacco and begins to complain about his own clumsiness. In the rustling of the branches, Anselm hears the gentle singing of snakes shining with green gold. He sees dark blue eyes fixed on him and begins to experience a sensual attraction to them. With the last ray of sunshine, a rough voice calls the snakes home.
Second Vigil
The young man comes to his senses from a townswoman’s remark about his madness. The woman's husband thinks the student drank too much. Having escaped from the venerable family, Anselm meets Conrector Paulman with his daughters and registrar Heerbrand by the river. While riding along the Elbe with them, he almost jumps out of the boat, mistaking the reflection of fireworks for golden snakes. Conrector Paulman does not take Anselm’s story about what happened to him under the elder tree seriously: he believes that only madmen and fools can dream in reality. His eldest daughter- Sixteen-year-old Veronica stands up for Anselm, saying that he must have had a dream, which he mistook for the truth.
The festive evening continues at the house of Conctor Paulman. Registrar Geerbrand offers Anselm a job as a copyist for the archivist Lindhorst, where the student appears the next day, is strengthened for courage with Conradi's gastric liqueur and Once again encounters an apple seller, whose face he sees in a bronze door figure. Anselm grabs the bell, the cord of the latter turns into a snake that strangles the student until he loses consciousness.
Vigilia the third
Archivist Lindgorst tells the guests of the coffee shop the story of the creation of the valley in which the love of the Fire Lily and the beautiful young man Phosphorus was born. From a kiss last girl flared up and in its fire a new creature emerged, leaving both the valley and its lover. A black dragon emerging from the rocks caught the wonderful creature and in his arms it again turned into a Fire Lily. The young man Phosphorus challenged the dragon to a duel and freed his beloved, who became the queen of the beautiful valley. He calls himself a descendant of the Fire line. Everyone laughs.
Archivist Lindgorst says he told them the honest truth, after which he tells new story- about a brother who was angry that his father bequeathed a luxurious onyx not to him, but to his brother. Now he is a dragon living in a cypress forest near Tunisia and guarding the famous mystical carbuncle of a necromancer living in a country house in Lapland.
Registrar Geerbrand introduces student Anselm to the archivist. Lindgorst says that he is “pleased” and quickly runs away.
Vigilia IV
The author tries to explain to the reader what state the student Anselm was in at the time he began working with the archivist Lindgorst: the young man fell into dreamy apathy and dreamed of a different, higher existence. He walked alone through the meadows and groves and dreamed of a green and golden snake under an elder tree. One day the archivist Lindgorst came across him there. In the voice of the latter, Anselm recognized the man who was calling the snakes home. The student told the archivist everything that happened to him on Ascension. Lindhorst explained to Anselm that he saw his three daughters and fell in love with the youngest, Serpentina. In the emerald mirror formed from the rays of the precious stone on the ring, the archivist showed the student his beloved and once again invited him to copy the manuscripts. Anselm explained why he didn't show up for work last time. Lindgorst handed him a small bottle of golden-yellow liquid and ordered him to splash it into the bronze face of the apple vendor, after which he said goodbye to the student, turned into a kite and flew off to the city.
Vigilia fifth
Conrector Paulman considers Anselm an unfit subject. Registrar Geerbrand stands up for the student and says that he could become a collegiate assessor or court councilor. Veronica dreams of becoming Madam Court Councilor Anselm. A student who drops in for a few minutes deftly kisses her hand. A hostile image destroys the girl’s romantic illusions. Veronica tells her friends, the Osters ladies, about the little gray man who came to her for tea. The eldest, Angelica, shares her joy about the imminent return of her lover - wounded in right hand officer Victor. She gives Veronica the address of the clairvoyant - Frau Rauerin, where the girl goes after breaking up with her friends.
Frau Rauerin, in whom the reader can recognize the apple seller, advises Veronica to abandon Anselm, who entered the service of the salamanders and dreams of a wedding with a snake. Veronica, angry at her words, wants to leave. Frau Rauerin throws herself on her knees and asks her to recognize the old Lisa. The former nanny promises Veronica help in getting Anselm. She makes an appointment for the girl on the night of the autumn equinox at a crossroads in a field.
Vigilia sixth
Student Anselm decides to refuse to drink gastric liqueur before visiting the archivist, but this does not save him from a vision of an apple vendor, into whose bronze face he splashes the liquid given to him by Lindhorst.
Anselm goes to his place of work through the most beautiful greenhouse filled with amazing talking birds. In the blue hall with golden columns he sees a wonderful golden pot. The student copies the first manuscript in a high room with bookcases. He understands that the blots that he saw on the samples of his work did not appear there by chance, but he does not say anything about this to Lindgorst. Serpentina invisibly helps Anselm in his work. Lindhorst turns into a majestic prince of spirits and predicts the student's fate.
Seventh Vigil
Bewitched by the apple seller, Veronica can't wait for the autumn equinox and, as soon as it arrives, she immediately hurries to meet the old woman. At night, in a storm and rain, the women go out into the field, where old Lisa digs a hole in the ground, throws coals into it, sets up a tripod, puts a cauldron in which she begins to brew a magic potion, while Veronica constantly thinks about Anselme.
The author appeals to the imagination of the reader, who could find himself on September 23 on the road leading to Dresden. He depicts the beauty and fear of Veronica, the ugliness of the old woman, the hellish magic glow and assumes that anyone who saw this would want to break the evil spell.
Veronica sees student Anselm emerging from the cauldron. A huge eagle descends on old Lisa. The girl loses consciousness and comes to her senses during the day, in her own bed. Younger sister- Twelve-year-old Frenzchen gives her tea and shows her a wet raincoat. On her chest, Veronica finds a small round, smoothly polished metal mirror, in which she sees the student Anselm at work. Dr. Eckstein prescribes medication for the girl.
Eighth Vigil
Student Anselm works hard for the archivist Lindgorst. One day, he takes him to an azure hall with a table covered with a purple blanket and a velvet chair and offers him a manuscript, originally looking like a palm leaf, for copying. Anselm realizes that he will have to work on the story of the marriage of Salamander with a green snake. Serpentina comes out to the student. She hugs the young man and tells him about the magical country of Atlantis, where he reigned mighty prince spirits Phosphorus, served by elemental spirits. One of them, Salamander, once saw a beautiful green snake in the garden, fell in love with it and stole it from his mother, Lily. Prince Phosphorus warned Salamander about the impossibility of marriage with a unique lover, who, like her mother, flared up and was reborn into a new creature, after which the unfortunate lover fell into grief, burned Phosphorus’ beautiful garden and was cast down to the earthly spirits. The Prince of Spirits said that in magical land The salamander will return no earlier than the time of universal blindness comes on earth; he himself will marry Lilia and receive from her three daughters, each of which will be loved by an earthly youth who believes in the fabulous Atlantis. One of the earthly spirits gave the snake girls a magic pot as a gift. The apple merchant, according to Serpentina, is the product of one of the dragon feathers and some kind of beetroot, a creature hostile to both Salamander and Anselm.
Serpentina's story ends at six in the evening. The student is surprised to find it on the parchment. He spends the evening with Lindgorst and Geerbrand in the Link Baths.
Vigilia Ninth
Against his will, Anselm begins to think about Veronica. Conrector Paulman, who met a friend on the street, invites him to visit. A girl captivates a student a fun game While trying to catch up, he accidentally breaks her box and finds a magic mirror, looking into which he begins to mistake the story with Serpentina for a fairy tale. Anselm is late for the archivist. The Paulmans treat him to soup. In the evening, Registrar Geerbrand arrives. Veronica is preparing punch. Under the influence of wine fumes, Anselm again begins to believe in miracles. The company gets drunk. At the height of the fun, he enters the room small man in a gray coat and reminds the student about working for Lindgorst.
The next morning, the sober Anselm, who dreams of becoming a court councilor and marrying Veronica, puts an ink on the parchment and ends up in a glass flask on the table in the archivist’s library.
Vigilia tenth
The student endures incredible torment. He constantly calls out to Serpentina, who eases his suffering. Next to him on the table, he sees five more young people, imprisoned in banks, but believing that in fact they are having fun, walking around taverns with Lindhorst's money. The apple vendor mocks Anselm and tries to steal the golden pot. Archivist Lindgorst enters into a fight with her and wins. The witch's black cat is overcome by a gray parrot. The archivist frees Anselm from under the glass.
Vigilia Eleventh
Conrector Paulman doesn’t understand how it was possible to get so drunk the day before? Registrar Geerbrand blames Anselm for everything, whose madness spread to the others. Conctor Paulman rejoices in the absence of a student in his house. Veronica explains to her father that the latter cannot come because he fell under glass. The girl is sad. Dr. Eckstein prescribes his entertainment.
One of the most famous works THIS. Hoffmann - a fairy tale story "Pot of Gold" was created under the roar of shells in Dresden besieged by Napoleon in 1814. Fierce battles and cannonballs flying into the city, tearing people apart before the author’s eyes, naturally pushed the writer out of the world of everyday life into an incredibly vivid fantasy about the wonderful country of Atlantis - an ideal world in which reigns "sacred harmony of all things".
Hoffmann himself gave his work a characteristic subtitle that defines it genre – "a fairy tale from new times". In different research work“The Golden Pot” was called a story, a story-fairy tale, literary fairy tale, novella. All these genre designations are fair, since they reflect certain features of the work: chronicle plot (a feature of the story), emphasis on magical story(fairy tale), relatively small volume (short story). IN "a fairy tale from new times" and the fairy tale story we see a direct indication of the principle of romantic dual worlds, which is formed in Hoffmann through the recreation, interpenetration and comparison of two worlds - the real and the fantastic. "New Times"/story - early 19th century, Dresden; fairy tale - an indefinite passage of time (perhaps eternity), the magical country of Atlantis.
Dresden of the 19th century in the “Golden Pot” is a real city with specific geographical places (Black Gate, Link Baths, Castle Street, Lake Gate, etc.), with characteristic features of burgher life (folk festivities on Ascension Day, boat rides, drinking punch in the house of Conrector Paulmann, the visit of the Osters ladies to their friend Veronica, the girl’s visit to the fortune teller Frau Rauerin) and mention of historical signs of the time (names of positions - Conrector, registrar, court councilor, archivist; strong drinks - beer, punch, gastric liqueur Conradi and etc.).
The magical country of Atlantis is a fictional world by the writer, in which there is an unattainable real life harmony between all things. The fairy-tale space is formed in the “Golden Pot” in the oral stories of the archivist Lindgorst (Salamander) and his daughter Serpentina and in written stories, which are carefully copied by the main character of the story, student Anselm. A beautiful valley filled with picturesque flowers exuding sweet aromas, bright birds whose language is understandable to man, amazingly fresh streams, emerald trees - classic markers of romanticism - are partially transferred from Atlantis to home garden archivist Lindhorst - one of the spirits of a magical land, expelled by its prince Phosphorus for his love for the Fire Lily and the destruction of the beautiful princely garden.
The Lord of Atlantis predicts Salamander's future (life on Earth until the time when everyone living on the planet forgets about the miraculous, reunification with his beloved, the appearance of three daughters - green-golden snakes and return home after three young men who believed in the possibility of the existence of a miracle), thereby confirming the idea of omnipotence fairy world and the eternal permeability of time. Salamander, like Phosphorus, has the gift of predicting the future, which he uses in relation to the student Anselm. The daughter of the Dragon Feather (the enemy of Phosphorus and Salamander) and the beetroot, who appears in the “Golden Pot” under the guise of an apple merchant (for student Anselm), Frau Rauerin (for residents of Dresden) and old Lisa (for Veronica), have the same abilities.
Artistic characters who emerged from the fabulous Atlantis, penetrating into the real world, do not lose their magical ability to transform - both themselves and the surrounding space: the archivist Lindhorst appears before Anselm either as a venerable German burgher, or as a majestic prince of spirits; Veronica sees Frau Rauerin either in the form of a vile old woman or in the form of a nanny she knows from childhood - old Lisa; The apple vendor frightens the student Anselm with the brutal face he sees in the bronze door figure.
The “Dresden” characters belonging to the real world - Conrector Paulman, Registrar Geerbrand, Veronica - are practically deprived of the ability to observe magic. Conrector Paulman does not recognize anything miraculous in principle, considering it an expression of mental illness; registrar Geerbrand gives the miraculous a chance only within the framework of a romantic vision of the world (fictional, but not real); Veronica, as a girl in love, is most open to the influence of otherworldly forces, but as soon as a happy marriage with a court councilor and new earrings begin to loom on the horizon, she immediately renounces everything magical.
Student Anselm - a young man with "naive poetic soul"- a character who came out of real world, but internally belonging to the world fairy tales. From the very beginning of the story, he does not fit into surrounding reality- knocks over the apple seller's basket, almost capsizes the boat and constantly thinks about how awkward and unlucky he is. As soon as the young man gets a job with the archivist Lindhorst and falls in love with Serpentina, everything gets better for him - in both art spaces. As soon as he betrays Serpentine’s love (not of his own free will), the situation does not return to normal, but worsens in a fairy-tale space - student Anselm ends up in glass jar, standing on the library table of archivist Lindgorst. Next to him, the young man sees five more sufferers, but due to their usual nature, they do not understand their own limitations and, moreover, think that they live cheerfully and richly, walking around Dresden coffee shops on spice talers.
The reunion with Serpentina after the final battle between good and evil (archivist Lindgorst against the apple merchant) opens up the magical country of Atlantis to Anselm. Together with his beautiful beloved, he receives a wonderful golden pot - a classic transformed by Hoffmann romantic symbol of a sublime dream, which was output before it in the form « blue flower» (Novalis). Here the author's inherent romantic irony emerged: the writer does not deny the magical properties of Serpentina's dowry, but sees in it almost the same image of bourgeois happiness that Veronica Paulman, whose engagement took place over a cup of steaming soup, aspired to.
