Peter Schlemihl
1814
What would you sacrifice for unlimited wealth? In this hauntingly original German novella, young Peter Schlemihl arrives in a new city with nothing but ambition, only to encounter a mysterious grey man who offers him an impossible bargain: sell your shadow, and receive the purse of Fortunatus, overflowing with endless gold. Peter accepts. He is suddenly, fabulously rich. But wealth cannot purchase what he has lost. Without his shadow, he becomes an outcast, shunned by society, refused by the woman he loves, seen as something less than human. The shadow, it turns out, is not merely a trick of light but the very substance of belonging. Written by French aristocrat Adelbert von Chamisso living in exile in Germany, this 1814 fairy tale operates on multiple levels: a satirical jab at materialistic society, a Faustian meditation on identity and soul-selling, and a poignant exploration of what it means to be seen. The result is strange, unsettling, and strangely funny, a tale that has lost none of its power to disturb.
Editions
X-Ray
“I am a solitary wave in the dark and desolate sea: and the sparkling glass I drank was drugged with misery.””
— Adelbert von Chamisso
“What use would wings be to a man bound in iron fetters? They would only drive him to even greater despair.””
— Adelbert von Chamisso
“In Wirklichkeit war ich schon wach, aber ich hielt noch die Augen zu, um die Traaumgestalten noch länger vor meiner Seele zu behalten.””
— Adelbert von Chamisso
“Alles, was der Mensch tut, unvollkommen ist. Aber wer will sich schon seine Unvollkommenheit eingestehen?””
— Adelbert von Chamisso
“Was sein soll, muß geschehen, und was sein sollte, das geschah.””
— Adelbert von Chamisso
“L'impressione che mi resi conto di aver fatto sulla bella mi fece diventare, esattamente come lei desiderava, simile ad uno scemo””
— Adelbert von Chamisso
“Morao sam, naravno, da izigravam ćudljivog osobenjaka. Ali bogatašima to lepo pristaje.””
— Adelbert von Chamisso
“Ko samo nogom kroči sa pravoga puta, naći će se neočekivano na drugim stazama koje će ga vući sve niže i niže.””
— Adelbert von Chamisso
Link to this book
Add a free, dofollow link to Lex on your blog, forum, syllabus, or reading list.
<a href="https://lex-books.com/book/peter-schlemihl-2a4b200b-70b3-4e20-adfd-035ea8653880"><img src="https://lex-books.com/badges/read-on-lex.svg" alt="Read Peter Schlemihl by Adelbert von Chamisso free on Lex" width="160" height="40"></a>[](https://lex-books.com/book/peter-schlemihl-2a4b200b-70b3-4e20-adfd-035ea8653880)[url=https://lex-books.com/book/peter-schlemihl-2a4b200b-70b3-4e20-adfd-035ea8653880][img]https://lex-books.com/badges/read-on-lex.svg[/img][/url]Read Peter Schlemihl by Adelbert von Chamisso free on Lex: https://lex-books.com/book/peter-schlemihl-2a4b200b-70b3-4e20-adfd-035ea8653880Cite this book
Reading this edition for a paper or guide? Copy a citation.
Chamisso, Adelbert von. Peter Schlemihl. Lex, lex-books.com/book/peter-schlemihl-2a4b200b-70b3-4e20-adfd-035ea8653880.Chamisso, A. V. (1814). Peter Schlemihl. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/peter-schlemihl-2a4b200b-70b3-4e20-adfd-035ea8653880Chamisso, Adelbert von. Peter Schlemihl. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/peter-schlemihl-2a4b200b-70b3-4e20-adfd-035ea8653880.
