A History of Bohemian LiteratureLützow, Francis, hrabe
History
A History of Bohemian Literature
Lützow, Francis, hrabe
Czech literature -- History and criticism
Lomnický is a voluminous writer, and, as already mentioned, found it
advantageous to be so. Besides the numerous gifts which he received
from the noble patrons to whom he dedicated his works, he was also
ennobled by Rudolph II. in recognition of his poetical works. Of
his larger works, one of the earliest is his _Advice to a Young
Landowner_ (or farmer), which has always been the most popular of
Lomnický's writings, and has in recent times, since the revival of
Bohemian literature, been twice reprinted. The book is devoid of
poetic merit, but is curious as a study of the social life of Bohemia.
In the preface Lomnický has explained the purpose of the book, which
is personified, and thus addresses the reader: "God be with you,
gentle reader--And you in particular, young farmer.--I am again
sent out to you--If you will take me to yourself--We will converse
together--Rhyme together in Bohemian.--You will, I am sure, say that
I am right--And occasionally even smile at my remarks--Through me you
will learn--What is beseeming for your household--You will not require
much patience--For I have but little to say--For only to a moderate
extent--And having regard to brevity--Will I teach you husbandry--You
may imagine what I leave unsaid." The reader of this singular book will
sometimes regret that Lomnický did not leave more things unsaid.
Lomnický begins his book by moralising on the inequalities of fortune.
He writes in the first chapter of his book: "It is a well-known
thing in the world--Both in winter and in summer--Both when buying
and when selling--That no one always possesses happiness--With one
man everything succeeds--With another everything goes amiss--In
every sort of trade--One has gain, the other loss.... Thus too with
agriculture--As with every other description of work--One is successful
in everything--With another everything is failure--One man has a
virtuous wife--Faithful, bashful, loving--Another marries so slatternly
a drab--That all food becomes nauseous to him--One has obedient
servants--Requiring but little correction--Another may scold as much
as he likes--Nothing will be better--His house will be hell--They (=the
servants) will take no notice of him--Perhaps even laugh at him.--In
your own children too--You can see how different they are--Some give
pleasure--Others cause but grief." This quotation is sufficient to
prove that Lomnický extended his reflections far beyond the domain of
agriculture. His book contains chapters "on wisdom," "on enemies," "on
ill-conducted old women," "on female servants and their punishment,"
"on conjugal fidelity," "on dress," and on many other matters as little
connected with his subject.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account