Jésus-Christ en Flandre
Author | Honoré de Balzac |
---|---|
Language | French |
Series | La Comédie humaine |
Publication date | 1831 |
Publication place | France |
Jésus-Christ en Flandre (English "Christ in Flanders") is a short story by Honoré de Balzac. It was published in 1831 and is one of the Études philosophiques of La Comédie humaine.[1]
Plot summary
The story is told in the first person by an unnamed narrator. In the first half he tells the story of a miracle that occurred in Flanders at some unspecified time in the past. A small boat is about to make a voyage from the island of Cadzand to Ostend. The wealthy passengers sit in the stern, and the poorer ones at the front. The crew are rowing in the middle. At the last minute a stranger boards the boat. The rich passengers will not make room for him so he has to sit with the poorer passengers. It then sets off to Ostend. During the journey, there is a storm, and the boat is soon in danger. The stranger gives a message of reassurance to the poorer passengers, whilst the wealthier passengers view him with disdain or skepticism. The boat capsizes a short distance from Ostend. The stranger walks on the water to the shore, and poorer passengers walk with him to safety at a house on shore. The wealthy passengers drown. The stranger then goes back to the water to rescue the boat's captain and takes him back to the house. It is realised afterwards that the stranger was Jesus Christ.
A convent was built on the spot of the miracle.
In the second half of the story, the narrator visits the convent's church in Flanders in 1830 just after the July Revolution. When he is there he has a vision of meeting an old woman in the church. He follows her to her home, and there she briefly transforms into a young woman who shows him a vision of churches. He then is woken up by an attendant in the convent church and realises he was dreaming. The narrator sees the dream as a message to defend the church.
References
- ^ Honoré de Balzac. The Human Comedy: Introductions and Appendix. Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
External links
- "Christ in Flanders", translation (by Ellen Marriage) at Project Gutenberg (full text)
- v
- t
- e
- La Maison du chat-qui-pelote
- Le Bal de Sceaux
- La Bourse
- La Vendetta
- Madame Firmiani
- Une double famille
- La Paix du ménage
- La Fausse Maîtresse
- Étude de femme
- Autre étude de femme
- La Grande Bretèche
- Albert Savarus
- Mémoires de deux jeunes mariées
- Une fille d'Eve
- La Femme de trente ans
- La Femme abandonnée
- La Grenadière
- Le Message
- Gobseck
- Le Contrat de mariage
- Un début dans la vie
- Modeste Mignon
- Béatrix
- Honorine
- Le Colonel Chabert
- La Messe de l'athée
- L'Interdiction
- Pierre Grassou
- Ursule Mirouët
- Eugénie Grandet
- Pierrette
- Le Curé de Tours
- La Rabouilleuse
- L'illustre Gaudissart
- La Muse du département
- La Vieille Fille
- Le Cabinet des Antiques
- Le Lys dans la vallée
- Illusions perdues
- Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes
- Un prince de la bohème
- Un homme d’affaires
- Gaudissart II
- Les Comédiens sans le savoir
- Ferragus
- La Duchesse de Langeais
- La Fille aux yeux d'or
- Le Père Goriot
- César Birotteau
- La Maison Nucingen
- Les Secrets de la princesse de Cadignan
- Les Employés
- Sarrasine
- Facino Cane
- La Cousine Bette
- Le Cousin Pons
- Les Petits Bourgeois
- Une ténébreuse affaire
- Un épisode sous la Terreur
- Madame de la Chanterie
- L'Initié
- Z. Marcas
- Le Député d'Arcis
- Le Médecin de campagne
- Le Curé de village
- Les Paysans
- La Peau de chagrin
- La Recherche de l'absolu
- Jésus-Christ en Flandre
- Melmoth réconcilié
- Le Chef-d'œuvre inconnu
- L'Enfant maudit
- Gambara
- Massimilla Doni
- Les Marana
- Adieu
- Le Réquisitionnaire
- El Verdugo
- Un drame au bord de la mer
- L'Auberge rouge
- L'Elixir de longue vie
- Maître Cornélius
- Sur Catherine de Médicis
- Louis Lambert
- Les Proscrits
- Séraphîta
- La Physiologie du mariage
- Petites misères de la vie conjugale
- Fernand Lotte: Armorial de la Comédie Humaine