Barbarossa, and Other Tales

A visitor seeking quiet in the mountains near Rome finds a talkative host in Signor Angelo, an apothecary with a large store of his own love poems. Their evening conversations lead to Angelo's account of Erminia, a local woman whose beauty and hard circumstances still occupy his memory. The opening tale moves from spring scenery and affectionate comedy into a story shaped by poverty, family burdens and remembered attachment.

Paul Heyse's collection brings together six German tales in English translation. In another scene, Lisabethli's nineteenth birthday ends with a storm over the river Aar, while she and her mother watch a disturbance at an island tavern. Such shifts from household conversation to public trouble give the stories their tension. The contrast between Angelo's expansive talk and the anxious watch beside the Aar makes this a useful choice for readers interested in how short fiction connects private feeling with a sharply drawn setting.