De Verliefde Ezel

In ancient Thessaly, land of sorceresses and whispered curses, young Charmides embarks on a trading journey with his merchant father's gold. But Charmides carries a dangerous affliction: wherever beauty blooms, his heart follows, and his romantic distractibility has become legendary. When his infatuations grow too bold, a comic curse descends: he is transformed into a donkey, forced to bear burdens and face humiliations that slowly teach him what it means to truly see another creature's soul. Louis Couperus, the master of Dutch Decadence, weaves a delightful fantasy that channels the ancient Greek romances of Lucian and Apuleius. His Thessaly is vivid and strange, populated by witches who speak in riddles, enchanted objects that blur the line between human and beast, and lovers who transform not just their bodies but their very nature. The donkey transformation becomes both literal curse and metaphorical gift, allowing Couperus to satirize romantic obsession while quietly arguing that true love requires shedding one's vanity. Beneath its playful surface, this early 20th-century novella pulses with Couperus's characteristic wit and psychological acuity. For readers who loved The Golden Ass, who delight in mythological comedy, or who seek forgotten European gems that balance the risible with the profound.