Ἀποκριάτικη νυχτιά
Αλέξανδρος Παπαδιαμάντης (1851–1911), 1892
A shy, poetry-writing lodger hides upstairs while the whole neighbourhood dances below him — and spends Carnival night richer than anyone at the party. A quiet, lyrical story of shy longing and Carnival noise heard from a rented room, moving at a gentle, reflective pace.
Feels like wonder. About solitude and love.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you enjoy interior, gently satirical portraits and the contrast between a crowded celebration and one person's solitude. The Greek is old-fashioned and demands patience, and much of the story stays inside the lodger's hesitant thoughts rather than in action.
Why read it
It offers a tender, comic look at envy and shy love during Carnival, and a vivid sense of a neighbourhood celebrating while one man listens alone.
Pages from the book
He couldn't face the party. Lying alone, he ends up at all four of them at once.
Εἶναι ἀληθὲς ὅτι αἱ δύο κόραι τὸν εἶχον προσκαλέσει νὰ μετάσχῃ τῆς ἑσπερινῆς διασκεδάσεως, ἀλλὰ πῶς νὰ ὑπάγῃ αὐτός, δειλός, ἄπειρος τοῦ κόσμου, κακοφορεμένος, ἐν μέσῳ τόσων ἀγνώστων; Ἔπειτα πρὸς τὴν μίαν αὐτῶν, τὴν Κούλαν, ἔτρεφεν ἁβρὸν αἴσθημα ἐρωτικόν, καὶ ἦτο ζηλιάρης· δὲν θὰ ἠνείχετο νὰ τὴν βλέπῃ νὰ χορεύῃ μὲ τόσους καὶ τόσους… καὶ αὐτὸς νὰ μὴν ἠξεύρῃ εὐρωπαϊκὸν χορόν! Εἶχε δειπνήσει τὴν ἑβδόμην ὥραν κ᾽ ἐπειδὴ τὴν ἑσπέραν ἐκείνην ἐνωρὶς τὰ καφενεῖα ἔκλεισαν, ᾐσθάνετο δὲ καὶ ἐλαφρὸν πόνον εἰς τοὺς ὀδόντας, ἀπεσύρθη ἀπὸ τῆς ὀγδόης εἰς τὸ δωμάτιόν του μὲ τὸ παράπονον ἐκεῖνο, οἷον ὁ ξένος ἔχει μέσα του εἰς τοιαύτας ἡμέρας. Ἀλλ᾽ ἅμα ἔφθασεν εἰς τὸ δωμάτιον, ἡ λύπη του διεσκεδάσθη, καὶ τώρα, ἐξηπλωμένος ἐπὶ τῆς κλίνης του ἐρρέμβαζε κ᾽ ἐπαρηγορεῖτο, σκεπτόμενος ὅτι αὐτὸς ἦτο ἀναμφιβόλως ὁ εὐδαιμονέστερος, διότι χωρὶς νὰ παρευρίσκεται εἰς καμμίαν διασκέδασιν, μετεῖχε τριῶν ἢ τεσσάρων συγχρόνως. The moment a house stops being walls and becomes music.
Ἡ ἀνατολικὴ θύρα τῆς οἰκίας δὲν ἐπρόφθανε ν᾽ ἀνοίγῃ καὶ νὰ κλείῃ. Εἰσήρχοντο κατὰ ζεύγη, κατὰ ὁμάδας, ἄνδρες, γυναῖκες, μετημφιεσμένοι καὶ ἄλλοι, προσωπίδες καὶ πρόσωπα. Ἔτριζεν ἡ θύρα μὲ τοὺς στροφεῖς, ἐστέναζε τὸ πάτωμα, ἀντήχει ὁ διάδρομος, ἐβόμβει ἡ αἴθουσα ἀπὸ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν προσκεκλημένων. Αἱ δύο νεάνιδες δὲν ἐπρολάμβανον νὰ τρέχωσιν ἀνὰ πᾶν δεύτερον ἢ τρίτον λεπτὸν εἰς τὴν θύραν, προϋπαντῶσαι τοὺς ἐρχομένους, ἢ προπέμπουσαι τοὺς τυχὸν ἀπερχομένους, νὰ ἐπιστρέφωσιν εἰς τὴν αἴθουσαν, περιποιούμεναι τοὺς μένοντας, νὰ μεταβαίνωσιν εἰς τὰ δωμάτια, ἀνταλλάσσουσαι ὁμιλίας μὲ τοὺς οἰκειοτέρους. Καὶ ὁ χορὸς ἔπαυε καὶ ἀνενεοῦτο κάθε δέκα λεπτά. Ἡ Κούλα ἐχόρευεν ὡς νὰ εἶχε πτερὰ εἰς τοὺς πόδας, ἐκλέγουσα αὐτὴ διὰ νεύματος τοὺς συγχορευτάς της, ἐπιτρέπουσα ὡς βασίλισσα νὰ τὴν παρακαλέσωσι νὰ χορεύσῃ. Ἡ Μέλπω ἐδέχετο πᾶσαν πρόσκλησιν, συμπονετική, μὴ θέλουσα ν᾽ ἀπορρίψῃ κανενὸς τὴν παράκλησιν. A whole class of society swaying between the old ways and the new.
Σπεύδω νὰ εἴπω, πρὸς καθησύχασιν τοῦ ἀναγνώστου, ὅτι τὰ ἤθη τῆς οἰκογενείας, περὶ ἧς ὁ λόγος, ἀνειμένα κατὰ τὸ φαινόμενον, πράγματι ἦσαν αὐστηρά. Ἀλλ᾽ ἡ οἰκία ἔπλεεν εἰς τὸ μεταίχμιον τὸ ἀόριστον καὶ ἀβέβαιον, εἰς τὸ λυκόφως ἐκεῖνο, μεταξὺ παραδόσεως καὶ νεωτερισμοῦ, ὅπερ ὡς λυκόφως δὲν δύναται νὰ διαρκέσῃ, ἀλλ᾽ ἀναγκαίως θὰ ὑποχωρήσῃ εἰς τὸν ζόφον καὶ θὰ γίνῃ νύξ. Αλέξανδρος Παπαδιαμάντης.Papadiamantis wrote this carnival tale as a satirical counterpoint to his own austere Lent; he lived as a near-hermit in Athens, translating and writing by night in a bare rented room.
Books that feel like this
More by Αλέξανδρος Παπαδιαμάντης
Λαμπριάτικος Ψάλτης
Αλέξανδρος Παπαδιαμάντης, 1912
A priest waits for a helper on Easter night in a crumbling chapel above the sea, while a stranded elder takes the wrong path in the moonlight.
Θέρος-Ἔρος
Αλέξανδρος Παπαδιαμάντης, 1911
Spring and hunger, maidens and wolves, on a Greek island where the fields blaze with poppies and a gypsy girl reads a letter three times.
Στο Χριστό στο Κάστρο
Αλέξανδρος Παπαδιαμάντης, 1892
A priest vows to hold Christmas liturgy in a ruined cliff-top church. To keep it, he must cross a winter sea with his parish.
Where to get it
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Questions readers ask
- Is Ἀποκριάτικη νυχτιά for me?
- You may like it if you enjoy interior, gently satirical portraits and the contrast between a crowded celebration and one person's solitude. The Greek is old-fashioned and demands patience, and much of the story stays inside the lodger's hesitant thoughts rather than in action.
- What is Ἀποκριάτικη νυχτιά like?
- A quiet, lyrical story of shy longing and Carnival noise heard from a rented room, moving at a gentle, reflective pace. Feels like wonder. About solitude and love.
- What should I read after Ἀποκριάτικη νυχτιά?
- If you liked Ἀποκριάτικη νυχτιά, try The Forerunner (Kahlil Gibran), Peter Pan (J. M. Barrie) and Short Fiction (Xavier de Maistre).
A taste of the feed
When opposing forces find common ground, what does that common ground look like?
They say the jackal and the mole Drink from the self-same stream Where the lion comes to drink. And they say the eagle and the vulture Dig their beaks into the same carcass, And are at peace, one with the other, In the presence of the dead thing. O love, whose lordly hand Has bridled my desires, And raised my hunger and my thirst To dignity and pride, Let not the strong in me and the constant Eat the bread or drink the wine That tempt my weaker self.
The Forerunner · Kahlil Gibran
No one gets over the first time they are treated unfairly.
Not the pain of this but its unfairness was what dazed Peter. It made him quite helpless. He could only stare, horrified. Every child is affected thus the first time he is treated unfairly. All he thinks he has a right to when he comes to you to be yours is fairness. After you have been unfair to him he will love you again, but will never afterwards be quite the same boy. No one ever gets over the first unfairness; no one except Peter. He often met it, but he always forgot it. I suppose that was the real difference between him and all the rest.
Peter Pan · J. M. Barrie
Every attempt to make mankind happy has failed. One dog has not.
Man’s nature is such, that happiness appears to be a thing unattainable; unconsciously and unintentionally friend offends friend, and even lovers inevitably fall out and quarrel at times. And since all legislators, from Lycurgus down to those of today, in their attempts to bestow happiness on mankind have failed miserably, I can at least comfort myself greatly with the thought of having made even one dog happy.
Short Fiction · Xavier de Maistre
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