The story is told in the first person by an unnamed narrator. In the first half he tells the story of a miracle that occurred in Flanders at some unspecified time in the past. A small boat is about to make a voyage from the island of Cadzand to Ostend. The wealthy passengers sit in the stern, and the poorer ones at the front. The crew are rowing in the middle. At the last minute a stranger boards the boat. The rich passengers will not make room for him so he has to sit with the poorer passengers. It then sets off to Ostend. During the journey, there is a storm, and the boat is soon in danger. The stranger gives a message of reassurance to the poorer passengers, whilst the wealthier passengers view him with disdain or skepticism. The boat capsizes a short distance from Ostend. The stranger walks on the water to the shore, and poorer passengers walk with him to safety at a house on shore. The wealthy passengers drown. The stranger then goes back to the water to rescue the boat's captain and takes him back to the house. It is realised afterwards that the stranger was Jesus Christ.
A convent was built on the spot of the miracle.
In the second half of the story, the narrator visits the convent's church in Flanders in 1830 just after the July Revolution. When he is there he has a vision of meeting an old woman in the church. He follows her to her home, and there she briefly transforms into a young woman who shows him a vision of churches. He then is woken up by an attendant in the convent church and realises he was dreaming. The narrator sees the dream as a message to defend the church.
Referencesedit
^Honoré de Balzac. The Human Comedy: Introductions and Appendix. Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
External linksedit
"Christ in Flanders", translation (by Ellen Marriage) at Project Gutenberg (full text)
February 25, 2024
jésus, christ, flandre, english, christ, flanders, short, story, honoré, balzac, published, 1831, Études, philosophiques, comédie, humaine, authorhonoré, balzaccountryfrancelanguagefrenchseriesla, comédie, humainepublication, date1831plot, summary, editthe, st. Jesus Christ en Flandre English Christ in Flanders is a short story by Honore de Balzac It was published in 1831 and is one of the Etudes philosophiques of La Comedie humaine 1 Jesus Christ en FlandreAuthorHonore de BalzacCountryFranceLanguageFrenchSeriesLa Comedie humainePublication date1831Plot summary editThe story is told in the first person by an unnamed narrator In the first half he tells the story of a miracle that occurred in Flanders at some unspecified time in the past A small boat is about to make a voyage from the island of Cadzand to Ostend The wealthy passengers sit in the stern and the poorer ones at the front The crew are rowing in the middle At the last minute a stranger boards the boat The rich passengers will not make room for him so he has to sit with the poorer passengers It then sets off to Ostend During the journey there is a storm and the boat is soon in danger The stranger gives a message of reassurance to the poorer passengers whilst the wealthier passengers view him with disdain or skepticism The boat capsizes a short distance from Ostend The stranger walks on the water to the shore and poorer passengers walk with him to safety at a house on shore The wealthy passengers drown The stranger then goes back to the water to rescue the boat s captain and takes him back to the house It is realised afterwards that the stranger was Jesus Christ A convent was built on the spot of the miracle In the second half of the story the narrator visits the convent s church in Flanders in 1830 just after the July Revolution When he is there he has a vision of meeting an old woman in the church He follows her to her home and there she briefly transforms into a young woman who shows him a vision of churches He then is woken up by an attendant in the convent church and realises he was dreaming The narrator sees the dream as a message to defend the church References edit Honore de Balzac The Human Comedy Introductions and Appendix Project Gutenberg Retrieved 7 July 2020 External links edit Christ in Flanders translation by Ellen Marriage at Project Gutenberg full text Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Jesus Christ en Flandre amp oldid 1189176707, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
