The
first of the tales, "Inclined Planes," is a discursive family chronicle,
showing the decadence of a fishing village under the influence of city
boarders. The second, "Love and Despatches," inculcates a double moral,
the usefulness of economy and the uselessness of mothers-in-law; and the
third, "The Cutter Wild Duck," is a shudderingly insipid composition
about a village lion who got drunk on his birthday, fell overboard, and
committed no end of follies. A later volume of "Little Tales" is,
indeed, so little as scarcely to have any excuse for being. The stories
have all more or less of a marine flavor; but the only one of them that
has a sufficient _motif_, rationally developed, is one entitled "How the
Pilot Got his Music-box." The novel, "A Supernumerary," is also a rather
weak performance, badly constructed, and overloaded with chaotic
incidents.
[25] Since this was written Drachmann has undergone a fresh
transformation, and is said to have returned to the radical camp.
_Voelund Smed_ (1895) is a cycle of spirited poems dealing with the
tragic fate of Weland the Smith, who took such a savage vengeance upon
the King for having maimed and crippled him.
Pages:
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257