Noite na Taverna
Encyclopedia
Noite na Taverna is a short story
book written by Brazil
ian Ultra-Romantic
author Álvares de Azevedo
under the pen name Job Stern. It was published posthumously, in 1855
.
Although it is a short story book, its chapters are linked to each other like in a novel.
, murder
s, necrophilia
, sexual violence
, drinking, among others.
. On a rainy night, he sees a shadow crying over a window. He realizes it is a beautiful woman. She leaves the house and Solfieri follows her, arriving at a nearby cemetery. There, the woman cries, kneeling before a headstone, as Solfieri falls asleep.
One year has passed since that happening. Solfieri, wandering the streets of Rome after an orgy
, gets into a church without knowing how. He sees a coffin and opens it, and sees the cemetery lady inside it. After realizing that she is still alive, he carries her (who is in a catatonic
state) through the city. Arriving at home, the woman dies two days later, of a very high fever. Solfieri buries her in his bedroom and orders a statue of the woman.
woman from Cadiz
, named Angela. They have an affair, when Bertram's sick father, living in Denmark
, calls for him. He goes, returning two years later; however, during the time he was away, Angela gets married and has one son. Bertram tries to maintain his affair with her, but Angela's husband finds out everything. Before her husband kills her, she kills him and her child, and flees with Bertram.
One day, without more explanations, she leaves him. His life gets desperate, as he tries to forget her, until he falls in front of a mansion and gets trampled by a chariot. He is helped by the owners of the mansion, an old man and his 18-year-old daughter. Bertram and the lady flee together, but he gets bored with her and sells the lady to a pirate in a card game. The girl poisons the pirate and throws herself in the sea.
In Italy
, the narrator decides to kill himself, but when he is about to do it, he is saved by a sailor whom he kills unintentionally. Bertram spends some time in the sailor's ship (a corvette
), where he gets in love with the captain's wife, being requited.
In the midst of this affair, the ship is attacked by pirates and sinks, but not without making the other one sink too. The captain, his wife, Bertram and two other sailors are able to save themselves in a raft
. Some time later, with no water or food, having the two sailors washed out by the sea, the three lot
in order to discover who will be killed and serve as food for the others. The chosen one is the captain, but he does not accept his fate and fights for his life. He loses the fight, and Bertram and the woman eat him because of the lack of food, maintaining themselves for two days.
Arriving at a beach, both already weakened by hunger, the woman asks Bertram for a last moment of love before her death. Afraid of dying, Bertram strangles her and lives at the beach until an English brig
rescues him.
, taking the baby with her.
The old painter, not knowing anything, visits his daughter's bedroom every night and, because of this, Gennaro starts sleeping with his wife. The painter is able to make Gennaro confess everything in a certain night. Days later, he takes him to a cliff and tries to kill him. However, Gennaro survives the fall and decides to return — initially to apologize, later to revenge. However, when he arrives at the painter's house, he finds Nauza and the painter dead.
, spots the beautiful duchess Eleonora at a horse race
and gets in love with her at first sight. He finds her once more in a theatre
, and during an entire week he stalks
her.
Certain night, he bribes
one of the duchess' lackeys for allowance to enter her house for an hour, and also a copy of her bedroom's keys. He puts sedative
in the Duchess' wine and takes advantage of her, returning for many nights.
In one of these nights, her husband, duke
Maffio, inadvertently drinks some of the sedative. Claudius, who planned to kill him, changes his mind and kidnaps Eleonora. Arriving in an inn
, she wakes up, and Claudius tells her everything, forcing her to stay with him. Optionless, she accepts.
Some days later, when Claudius returns home, he finds the duchess and her husband dead.
, France
. He was playing a game of carom billiards with a blonde-haired man named Arthur. Johann was losing the game, while Arthur only needed to score one point to win. When it is Johann's turn to play, Arthur bumps into the table (accidentally or not), detouring Johann's ball, thus making him lose the game. Infuriated, he defies Arthur to a duel, which he accepts. They stop at a hotel
to get the weapons, and the blonde man writes two notes. They head to a desert and dark street. In there, they choose their weapons — but only one is loaded.
They shoot. It is revealed that Johann's weapon was the loaded one, and Arthur, before dying, hands Johann the notes he wrote. The first note is addressed to Arthur's mother, and the another one is addressed to his girlfriend, accompanied with an address, a marked time and an engagement ring. Pretending to be Arthur, Johann decides to steal his girlfriend.
In the morning after they sleep together, Johann is attacked by a mysterious man. After a short struggle, he kills the man. However, after a close inspection, he discovers that the man he killed was his brother, and Arthur's girlfriend was his sister.
The figure is revealed to be Giorgia, Johann's sister, and Arnold is actually Arthur (that somehow survived the duel) under a false name. Giorgia reveals to Arthur that she wanted to get her revenge on Johann, and having done so, the honor Johann stole from her when they slept together is finally restored.
After trading some love words with Arthur, both decide to suicide.
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
book written by Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian Ultra-Romantic
Ultra-romanticism
Ultra-Romanticism was a Portuguese and Brazilian literary movement that occurred during the 1840s, 1850s and the early 1860s. Aesthetically similar to the Dark Romanticism, as the name implies it is an overvalue of the Romantic ideals....
author Álvares de Azevedo
Álvares de Azevedo
Manuel Antônio Álvares de Azevedo was a Brazilian Romantic poet, short story writer, playwright and essayist...
under the pen name Job Stern. It was published posthumously, in 1855
1855 in literature
The year 1855 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:* July 4 - In Brooklyn, New York, Walt Whitman's first edition of his book of poems titled Leaves of Grass is published....
.
Although it is a short story book, its chapters are linked to each other like in a novel.
Chapter 1: "Uma Noite do Século"
The first chapter of the book, "Uma Noite do Século" ("A Night of the Century"), introduces the book's setting — a tavern, populated by prostitutes, drunkards and libertines. At a table, influenced by the alcohol, friends start telling certain happenings of their lives. The five passages have, in common, aspects such as unsuccessful love stories, cannibalismCannibalism
Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...
, murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
s, necrophilia
Necrophilia
Necrophilia, also called thanatophilia or necrolagnia, is the sexual attraction to corpses,It is classified as a paraphilia by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association. The word is artificially derived from the ancient Greek words: νεκρός and φιλία...
, sexual violence
Sexual violence
Sexual violence occurs throughout the world, although in most countries there has been little research conducted on the problem. Due to the private nature of sexual violence, estimating the extent of the problem is difficult...
, drinking, among others.
Chapter 2: "Solfieri"
The character Solfieri tells a story of when he was in RomeRome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. On a rainy night, he sees a shadow crying over a window. He realizes it is a beautiful woman. She leaves the house and Solfieri follows her, arriving at a nearby cemetery. There, the woman cries, kneeling before a headstone, as Solfieri falls asleep.
One year has passed since that happening. Solfieri, wandering the streets of Rome after an orgy
Orgy
In modern usage, an orgy is a sex party where guests engage in promiscuous or multifarious sexual activity or group sex. An orgy is similar to debauchery, which refers to excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures....
, gets into a church without knowing how. He sees a coffin and opens it, and sees the cemetery lady inside it. After realizing that she is still alive, he carries her (who is in a catatonic
Catatonia
Catatonia is a state of neurogenic motor immobility, and behavioral abnormality manifested by stupor. It was first described in 1874: Die Katatonie oder das Spannungsirresein ....
state) through the city. Arriving at home, the woman dies two days later, of a very high fever. Solfieri buries her in his bedroom and orders a statue of the woman.
Chapter 3: "Bertram"
Bertram tells about his love for a SpanishSpain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
woman from Cadiz
Cádiz
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
, named Angela. They have an affair, when Bertram's sick father, living in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, calls for him. He goes, returning two years later; however, during the time he was away, Angela gets married and has one son. Bertram tries to maintain his affair with her, but Angela's husband finds out everything. Before her husband kills her, she kills him and her child, and flees with Bertram.
One day, without more explanations, she leaves him. His life gets desperate, as he tries to forget her, until he falls in front of a mansion and gets trampled by a chariot. He is helped by the owners of the mansion, an old man and his 18-year-old daughter. Bertram and the lady flee together, but he gets bored with her and sells the lady to a pirate in a card game. The girl poisons the pirate and throws herself in the sea.
In Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, the narrator decides to kill himself, but when he is about to do it, he is saved by a sailor whom he kills unintentionally. Bertram spends some time in the sailor's ship (a corvette
Corvette
A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role...
), where he gets in love with the captain's wife, being requited.
In the midst of this affair, the ship is attacked by pirates and sinks, but not without making the other one sink too. The captain, his wife, Bertram and two other sailors are able to save themselves in a raft
Raft
A raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is the most basic of boat design, characterized by the absence of a hull...
. Some time later, with no water or food, having the two sailors washed out by the sea, the three lot
Lot
Lot or lots may refer to:*Lot , a unit of weight used in many European countries since Middle Ages until the beginning of the 20th century*Lot, a set of goods, together for sale in an auction; or a quantity of a financial instrument...
in order to discover who will be killed and serve as food for the others. The chosen one is the captain, but he does not accept his fate and fights for his life. He loses the fight, and Bertram and the woman eat him because of the lack of food, maintaining themselves for two days.
Arriving at a beach, both already weakened by hunger, the woman asks Bertram for a last moment of love before her death. Afraid of dying, Bertram strangles her and lives at the beach until an English brig
Brig
A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...
rescues him.
Chapter 4: "Gennaro"
The painter Gennaro tells a story of when he was the young apprentice of Godofredo Walsh. Walsh had a young, beautiful wife named Nauza (whom Gennaro loved) and a young, beautiful daughter named Laura (who loved Gennaro). One day, Laura gets pregnant of Gennaro, but when she proposes marriage to him, he declines. Displeased, she dies of depressionDepression (mood)
Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behaviour, feelings and physical well-being. Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, or restless...
, taking the baby with her.
The old painter, not knowing anything, visits his daughter's bedroom every night and, because of this, Gennaro starts sleeping with his wife. The painter is able to make Gennaro confess everything in a certain night. Days later, he takes him to a cliff and tries to kill him. However, Gennaro survives the fall and decides to return — initially to apologize, later to revenge. However, when he arrives at the painter's house, he finds Nauza and the painter dead.
Chapter 5: "Claudius Hermann"
Claudius Hermann, a gamblerGambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
, spots the beautiful duchess Eleonora at a horse race
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
and gets in love with her at first sight. He finds her once more in a theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
, and during an entire week he stalks
Stalking
Stalking is a term commonly used to refer to unwanted and obsessive attention by an individual or group to another person. Stalking behaviors are related to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person and/or monitoring them via the internet...
her.
Certain night, he bribes
Bribery
Bribery, a form of corruption, is an act implying money or gift giving that alters the behavior of the recipient. Bribery constitutes a crime and is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or...
one of the duchess' lackeys for allowance to enter her house for an hour, and also a copy of her bedroom's keys. He puts sedative
Sedative
A sedative or tranquilizer is a substance that induces sedation by reducing irritability or excitement....
in the Duchess' wine and takes advantage of her, returning for many nights.
In one of these nights, her husband, duke
Duke
A duke or duchess is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy...
Maffio, inadvertently drinks some of the sedative. Claudius, who planned to kill him, changes his mind and kidnaps Eleonora. Arriving in an inn
INN
InterNetNews is a Usenet news server package, originally released by Rich Salz in 1991, and presented at the Summer 1992 USENIX conference in San Antonio, Texas...
, she wakes up, and Claudius tells her everything, forcing her to stay with him. Optionless, she accepts.
Some days later, when Claudius returns home, he finds the duchess and her husband dead.
Chapter 6: "Johann"
Johann's story is set in a different tavern, situated in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. He was playing a game of carom billiards with a blonde-haired man named Arthur. Johann was losing the game, while Arthur only needed to score one point to win. When it is Johann's turn to play, Arthur bumps into the table (accidentally or not), detouring Johann's ball, thus making him lose the game. Infuriated, he defies Arthur to a duel, which he accepts. They stop at a hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
to get the weapons, and the blonde man writes two notes. They head to a desert and dark street. In there, they choose their weapons — but only one is loaded.
They shoot. It is revealed that Johann's weapon was the loaded one, and Arthur, before dying, hands Johann the notes he wrote. The first note is addressed to Arthur's mother, and the another one is addressed to his girlfriend, accompanied with an address, a marked time and an engagement ring. Pretending to be Arthur, Johann decides to steal his girlfriend.
In the morning after they sleep together, Johann is attacked by a mysterious man. After a short struggle, he kills the man. However, after a close inspection, he discovers that the man he killed was his brother, and Arthur's girlfriend was his sister.
Chapter 7: "Último Beijo de Amor"
In the last chapter, "Último Beijo de Amor" ("Last Love Kiss"), the orgy ends; everyone is sleeping. A mysterious hooded figure walks into the tavern and kills Johann, and then heads toward a man named Arnold.The figure is revealed to be Giorgia, Johann's sister, and Arnold is actually Arthur (that somehow survived the duel) under a false name. Giorgia reveals to Arthur that she wanted to get her revenge on Johann, and having done so, the honor Johann stole from her when they slept together is finally restored.
After trading some love words with Arthur, both decide to suicide.