Narrative
Maanaine
Not translated into English
Peet Vallak · 1921
Synopsis
Reet, an old peasant woman, enters the shop of the merchant Urbak to buy a nib, a pen holder and ink. To try the nib, she must write something on a scrap of paper, and the merchant suggests sentences to her: outside it is raining, a dog is running along the road, the head is empty. None suits her, one does not write just anything with so important an object, and Reet remains leaning over the counter, searching for the one thought worthy of the new ink.
Context
The story appeared in 1921, in the early years when its author signed as Peet Vallak, and was then collected in 1925 in the volume Epp Pillarpardi Punjaba potitehas and again in 1938, among the novelettes, satires and grotesques of Lambavarga Näpsi lorijutte. These two pages have become a classic: the two words with which they end have passed into present-day Estonian folklore, and critics see in them the very example of an ending that is at once external and intimate.
Who it is for
Two pages in Estonian, never translated into French or English. It helps to know that the whole weight of the story rests on its last words.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as a classic of Estonian literature, it is still read in class at secondary school.