Novel
Een dure eed
Not translated into English
Virginie Loveling · 1891
Opening lines
Marcellien liep nog eens in allerhaast langs den zoogezegden Kattewegel - dat was achter de hoven, tusschen de hagen heen - naar de afgelegen wijk het Opeelken.
Marcellien ran once more in great haste along the so-called Kattewegel, which went behind the gardens, between the hedges, to the remote quarter of the Opeelken.
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from dbnl.org
Synopsis
A costly oath: a village in Flanders, an evening at the end of April. The twins Filip and Marcellien leave the next day for France and go to say goodbye each to his sweetheart: Marcellien to Veria, Filip to Reine, a farm servant, who calls Veria “my sister” without being so. The jealous Filip, who fears another may take her to the fair, wrings from Reine a solemn promise under the great oak. It remains to be seen what an oath weighs when time works against it.
Context
The novel won the State's quinquennial prize for Dutch literature, which Guido Gezelle missed on this occasion. It is described as a psychological novel, built on the promise a young girl makes to her lover as he leaves. The idea behind it is that the natural impulse towards happiness prevails over the loftiest resolutions, and that solemn promises are powerless against the work of time.
Who it is for
A country novel of about two hundred and thirty pages; no French or English translation has been found.
Prizes and reception
Five-year prize for Dutch literature; one of the two principal works of its author, with a novel of 1904.