Līga Horgana is back with another literature review, this time Rudolfs Blaumnais' "Nāves ēnā," translated into English as "In The Shadow of Death" by Uldis Balodis
The
short story “In the Shadow of Death” (“Nāves ēnā” in Latvian) is a masterpiece
of classical Latvian literature written in 1899 by Rūdolfs Blaumanis
(1863-1908). The author and his collective
literary works, especially his short stories, are included in the Latvian Culture Canon as one of
Latvia’s 99 cultural treasures that span eras and various cultural spheres. The
story tells about a group of winter fishermen lost at sea on a large slab of
ice, drifting away from the shore and ever nearer to their deaths. In 2018, Uldis
Balodis’ translation of the story was published in the United Kingdom by Paper +
Ink.
The
story begins when a sixteen-year old boy realizes that the ice where thirteen
of his fellow fishermen, their two horses, and all of their fishing equipment are
standing on has broken off and started floating out to sea. The men spend five
days eating semi-raw fish and trying to survive the hunger, cold, and lack of
drinking water. Most importantly, they attempt to stay calm and accept the reality
that these might be the last moments of their lives, and they will never return
home to see their loved ones ever again. Although there are a variety of
characters — young, unmarried lads alongside steady family men and the elder, the
poor and the wealthy, the greedy and the selfless, the confident and those with
low self-esteem — they all have the common desire to stay alive. The hope to
get saved by a ship or a fishing boat doesn’t leave them until the very end. However,
when a boat does eventually arrive, another existential decision has to be made
— since there is not enough space for all of them, who is going to leave and
who is going to stay on the ice slab?
The
critical circumstances have limited the fishermen’s ability to act and change
anything, so the interactions and personal inner experiences are the focus of
the narrative. The center becomes the close relationship that arises between the
teenager Kārlēns, with his physical suffering, anger, fear, and sadness, and Birkenbaums,
a handsome, well-built, young, life-loving man who cannot come to terms with
the idea that life can be cut short in its most beautiful time.
“Kārlēns was asleep. But the boy’s peaceful breathing, which the young man could not hear but only feel from the rise and fall of his chest and the warmth of his fingers, reminded him of nights that had nothing in common with this tired boy’s peacefulness.
So. Everything was done for. Never again would he lie in bed with a warm, beating heart and open eyes, waiting until everyone had fallen asleep so he could get up silently and, placing his bare feet on the cool floor, crawl over to the other side… Never again would he open up the little barn’s doors; never again would he sleep in the shade of a haystack, lingering with sunburned fingers…
How could it be? How did he get here? Way over in the Eagle Hills, he’d been a herdsman; he’d lived there for many years, gotten drunk, gone wild, had fun, played around, sat in jail for two days just as a gag, and now …and now …now he was sitting on a fisherman’s sled and the sea was raging around him, and he was going to his death.”[1]
Like
many other plots by Rūdolfs Blaumanis, this one was inspired by an actual
incident that happened with a group of unfortunate fishermen the writer had
read about in the newspaper. We know Rūdolfs Blaumanis as an author who gives
great insight into the society of his time, particularly the everyday lives of
peasants. The psychologically well-constructed characters are even often
inspired by real people from his neighbourhood. This can be said about “In the
Shadow of Death” as well, where he used his own father, godson and other real
people as the prototypes for the main characters.[2]
Although the plot might seem dark and the
story itself old fashioned, I think that everyone who is even slightly
interested in Latvian culture should read this work as it really is a
fundamental cornerstone of our literature. It is a work every school child has
read and knows, as it has been included in school programmes for many years.
This is also one of the most translated works by Rūdolfs Blaumanis, and this new
translation by Uldis Balodis (2018) is already the second English language version
of the story, with the first having come out in 1923. In addition, this “Paper+Ink” tiny format book of 63 pages will most
likely not take more than an hour or two to be read.
[1]
Rūdolfs Blaumanis “In the Shadow of Death”, translated by Uldis Balodis, Paper
+ Ink, 2018. 32-34
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Thank you for the anotation for this masterpiece. Latvian Society already have forgotten this masterpiece.
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