The Dead Lake, and Other Tales

A storm sweeps across a mountain lake as a weary traveller reaches an inn whose trade has dwindled since a new road diverted passing traffic. The household greets him with a mixture of suspicion and practical concern. He declines supper, asks for water, and makes an unusual request to fish by torchlight. Paul Heyse builds the opening tale through weather, small gestures and the uneasy exchanges of people sharing a remote shelter.

Mary Wilson's English translation brings together German short fiction concerned with private feeling and difficult personal attachments. A later passage takes the form of dated reflections on Morrik's fever, a conversation with his doctor and the decision to care for him. The effort to offer comfort is complicated by anxiety about how such concern will look to others. Readers drawn to stories of emotional strain can find close attention to illness, isolation and the tensions between inner experience and outward manners.