Martin Kačur Cankar, Ivan; Cox, John K
03/2009
eBook
The novel Martin Kačur, which dates from 1907, tells the engrossing story of a young schoolteacher who moves from one provincial Slovene town to the next, trying to enlighten his countrymen and ...countrywomen but instead receiving only the mistrust and scorn of the traditional-minded and petty population. The novel is ruthless in its analysis and self-analysis of the failure of this abstract idealist.
Title: Slovenci inJugoslovani (The Slovenes and the Yugoslavs) Originally published: a lecture at the social-democratic society Vzajemnost, 12 April, 1913, published in the social democrat’bulletin, ...Zarja, 15–17 April, 1913 Language: SloveneThe excerpts used are from Ivan Cankar, Izbrana dela (Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, 1973), pp. 314–326. About the author Ivan Cankar 1876, Vrhnika (Ger. Laibach Altober, present-day Slovenia) -1918, Ljubljana (Ger. Laibach): story writer, playwright, poet...
CHAPTER ONE Ivan Cankar
Martin Kačur,
03/2009
Book Chapter
Mudstained and damp with dew, Martin Kačur walked into the small restaurant attached to the post courier’s station.
“Does the coach to Zapolje leave soon?”
“Yes, soon! In half an hour,” answered the ...sleepyeyed tavern-keeper.
Kačur took a seat at the table and ordered brandy and bread. He tossed the large bundle from his thick staff onto the bench.
His ruddy, robust face brimmed with the freshness of an autumn morning, as did his moist, merry eyes. He already had a lengthy pilgrimage behind him, two tough hours; and a whiff of pungent fog and black dawn still clung to
CHAPTER ONE Ivan Cankar
Martin Kačur,
03/2009
Book Chapter
Underneath a set of gentle, wave-like hills clad in a growth of bushes and small trees, and laced with long clearings, a large village unfolded. The settlement, Lazi, lay spread over bottomland, ...hilltops, and slopes. By a stream in the green valley, the tall, white houses pressed closely against each other. But the higher the roads led, and the more they snaked around, the more the huts and cottages avoided each other and the lower and more modest their shapes became.
A cumbersome wagon rocked slowly along the main road. There was only a tired-looking nag hitched to it, and
CHAPTER THREE Ivan Cankar
Martin Kačur,
03/2009
Book Chapter
Ferjan and Kačur were sitting in the conference room. Kačur cowered there with his hands upon his knees. His face looked old and clay-colored, and his blood-rimmed eyes were dull.
Ferjan, already ...rather corpulent, starting to gray, was visibly nervous and uncomfortable. He crumpled a piece of paper in his hand and stared at the table.
“We were once colleagues,” he said, taking a quick peek at Kačur’s profile next to him. “Colleagues and friends! By God, I did not violate this friendship, and whenever some stupidity got in the way, we took care of it as appropriate. But, look
CHAPTER THREE Ivan Cankar
Martin Kačur,
03/2009
Book Chapter
Kačur was making his way to the conference room when his colleague, the teacher Ferjan, came up behind him on the stairs and grabbed his coat.
“Hang on a second!—If you don’t want them to totally ...wring your neck in there, take my advice: be submissive, bow, and say yes, even if they offer to lynch you. These scoundrels can handle anything save pride or protest. Be humble and repentant, and smile, and by evening you’ll have incited all Zapolje to rebellion, if sedition is such a big deal to you. Of me they say I am a drinker
